Category Archives: iOS
iPhone 5: Would Jobs agree?
The stage was set; the event was setup much as it was in previous years. However, when Tim Cook came out and announced the iPhone 5, he forgot to mention one thing: the innovation that’s usually bursting out of the sockets of the iPhone. As I was watching the keynote, I was not impressed, excited, or moved. To be honest, the new iPod Nano looked like a much more appealing electronic to buy (but that post is for another time). Now you have to wonder, is this how Steve Jobs would have done it, or is this an iPhone on training wheels? I believe this iPhone was totally designed without any guidance from Steve Jobs at all for multiple obvious reasons.
The patent system is destroying innovation
The year 2012 will go down in history as the Year of the Patent Wars. Since January, there have been so many patent lawsuits in the mobile phone market alone that it is nearly impossible to follow who is suing whom anymore. A synopsis of some of the most high-profile patent lawsuits this year goes something like this: Apple vs. HTC, Apple vs. Samsung, Apple vs. Motorola, Google vs. Oracle… among several others. The common denominator in many of the most recent cases has been Apple. As a matter of fact, a July 2012 article in Bloomberg reported that Apple is at the center of 60% of major mobile patent lawsuits today. In most of those cases, Apple is the one suing another company.
Check out this interesting twist, though. This past Wednesday, Apple announced the next generation of their mobile devices, including the iPhone 5. Although the iPhone 5 leaves much to be desired, Apple finally decided to include 4G LTE capability in their new device. The inclusion of LTE was expected by many; since the new iPad came out with LTE connectivity back in March, it would be natural for Apple to include LTE in their next iPhone. Smartphone manufacturers such as Samsung and HTC also expected the iPhone to pack LTE radios, and they both anticipated to file lawsuits against Apple if they did. When the iPhone 5 debuted on Wednesday, they both announced they will be doing exactly that. HTC was the first vendor to introduce an LTE smartphone, and Samsung’s devices are wildly popular around the world as well. Both manufacturers own hundreds of LTE-related patents, and they seem determined to identify one or more that Apple is infringing upon. Their ultimate goal is to completely block the sale of the iPhone 5 in the U.S. and in Europe.
Google adds handwriting recognition to mobile search
Image credit: Google
Google added a new weapon to its arsenal of ways to search today – handwriting recognition on mobile devices. This feature is disabled by default. To enable it, go to Settings and tap Enable under Handwrite.
Google gives the perfect example of when this functionality could come in handy for entering short queries, but not necessarily for typing long search strings:
“Say you’re standing on a busy street corner, in a bumpy taxi ride, talking with a friend, or sitting on the couch with your tablet. Handwrite enables you to search by just writing letters with your finger most anywhere on your device’s screen—there’s no keyboard that covers half of the screen and no need for hunt-and-peck typing.”
This functionality is available on iPhones and iPads running iOS5+, as well as phones on Android 2.3+ and tablets running Android 4.0+. Handwriting recognition works for 27 languages.
Image credit: Google
