iOS 4 features

• Multitasking: Small threads run in background: streaming music (Pandora), VoIP (Skype, Fring), or GPS (TomTom), or completing a short task like uploading photos, possibly alerting ("local notification"). [No IM, RSS, twitter, etc. downloads in background.] (Requires 3GS+ or Touch 3)

• Folders: Hold app icon, then drag to folder (to add) or another app (to create a folder). Tap folder to pop up contents (up to 12 apps, looking like OSX5+ Stack). Hold to drag apps out of folder, or edit folder name.

• Recent apps: Double tap Home button to replace Dock with swipable list of MRU apps ("fast app switcher"). Hold to delete icons and reset state (does not kill app). Swipe left for iPod or Pandora transport controls. (Some betas suggest Click-Hold to bring up Camera etc.)

• Safari plays HTML5 video inline (like iPad) rather than fullscreen.

• Mail adds unified inbox (including multiple Exchange accounts) and threads: Tap subject to see, not message, but list of messages ("thread"). Gmail relabels Delete button to Archive.

• Notes sync OTA to IMAP (bug: no Exchange): Tap Accounts. View in Mail.app or gmail folder (?) (Settings/Mail/Notes)

• iTunes podcast streaming is more reliable, saves states, and allows scrubbing.

• iPod shows lyrics and other metadata (Tap on album art; Settings/iPod)

• iPod can edit playlists (replacing On-The-Go playlist)

• Digital zoom: Tap then swipe horizontally (still photos only)

• Tap to focus in video recording (requires 3GS+)

• Photos works in landscape, lets you chose shrinking upon emailing, and adds Events, Faces, and Places (GPS) (like iPad; requires iPhoto 09)

• Bluetooth keyboard support [for world's smallest laptop] (not on 3G or Touch 2)

• iTunes "File Sharing"

• Spell check: Dotted-red underline, replace menu

• Spotlight searches google and wikipedia

• Voice Control now answers "what time is it?"

• Settings let you disable cell data, disable GPS for specific apps,

• SpringBoard background wallpaper

• GPS indicator in status bar

• Safari search bar suggests. Bing option

• State Save API, allowing apps to resume, keeping your place

• iAd: HTML5 banner ads in xCode. Tap for fullscreen ad webapp, with upper-left exit button, and ability to download apps directly (without App Store)

• FaceTime video calling button replaces Hold when you voice call another iPhone 4 user.

• iBooks (RSN) reads PDFs, syncs notes, bookmarks, and highlights between iOS devices. Chock full of Project Gutenberg.

• Still missing Growl, wireless sync, Reader, Extensions.

• Free for iPhone 3G+ and TOUCH 2+

http://www.tipb.com/2010/06/14/ios-4-walkthrough/

iPad arrives

Today arrived my iPad. Here are my impressions.

It took the Chinese manufacturer a week to build my iPad, and FedEx three days to ship it to me, exactly on schedule. (But subjectively, of course, it was a long ten days.)

The brown cardboard shipping box was bigger and heavier than I expected. But inside was a smaller box, like a nested Russian doll.

Inside that inner box was the iPad, its charger, and a manual. I expected a big powerful charger, but it looks exactly like the little one that came with my iPhone. I had heard the manual was a "thin book no one will read," and certainly the bloggers didn't, or they'd realize it was only a postcard showing the location of the power button.

Pushing that power button showed that China had politely fully charged my iPad, but also that it was a useless brick until I connected to a PC running iTunes. Like the 1997 Palm Pilot pocket computer, the iPad is clearly a mere adjunct to a "real computer," and not a fully-functional "netbook killer," at least not on its first day.

iTunes registered the iPad, after requesting my Apple credentials, and a few tedious "Accept license" and "Continue" clicks.

iTunes then offered to restore my iPhone backup to my iPad. This was exactly what I had hoped for. Last night I prepared for this eventuality, staying up late, syncing and backing up my iPhone, which is pretty much my primary computer. I still can't sync my iPhone apps, without iTunes threatening to erase my year of data (passwords, settings, and ebooks) but I did learn how to copy my apps from my iPhone to iTunes, and discovered I had 474 apps (!)

The "Do you want to restore" screen claimed I had previously sync'ed another iPad with this PC, which was plumb wrong. It also asserted that previous iPad was called "iPhone." Oops. Apple programmers must have been in a mad, mad rush to get this all out the door.
The restore took about an hour. (Deep breaths help the waiting.)

iPad vs. laptop

Compared to a netbook, the iPad again costs double, has half the weight yet twice the battery life, lacks a keyboard and webcam, and features but a tenth the disc space. The iPad and Touch are more attractive, much faster, less fiddly, and easier to use in their niche: consuming mail, news, magazines, books, games, music, photos, and movies, mostly streamed from the internet or synced from a desktop. So they're perfect PCs for Grandma. They're less able to produce music, video, web sites, graphics, and text. But even producers can use them to relax, reading their email, news, and facebook.

iPad vs. iPod Touch

Compared to the iPod Touch, the iPad costs double, is five times heavier, enjoys twice the speed and twice the battery life, and sports five times the pixels, on seven times the surface area.

iPad reviewed at BestBuy

The iPad is small but heavy, good for typing (!) and very slick.

• Smaller than I though. Just like a 10" 4:3 digital photo frame, natch. (Of course everything looks smaller in BestBuy.)

• Heavy. When holding standing, need switch hands every minute, or find some new kind of grip exercise!

• While standing, with landscape iPad, either flat on table or on Apple's slightly tilted acrylic disc platform, CAN IMMEDIATELY TYPE WITH TEN FINGERS very rapidly, making few mistakes (like one a sentence. Can even glance away from keyboard and type "blind" for a second. Dragon Dictate also works great. Portrait typing will require some getting use to, and may even be impossible. Thumb typing is slow and awkward in either orientation.

• Keynote app is fantastic. Pick template, then double tap to edit text. Menus format, animate, and insert photos.

• 2x sized apps look fine. Text is noticeably blocky. Great for Grandma. Safari text can be small, but double tapping zooms as expected.

• iBooks is great. Buy just like App Store, or sample. Easily adjust font and size.

• $280 10" netbook was moved far away, but still suffers in comparison. Hardware and screen contents are much much uglier.

Walt Mossberg’s iPad Review

Qualitatively different: You have to feel it, to use it, to fully understand it and decide if it is for you.

USE

• Can indeed replace a heavier, bulkier laptop a lot of the time. A pleasure to use for 80% of computing: Satisfying and fun for consuming web, facebook, video, photos, music, books, and games. Adequate for light content creation like noting and email. Fall back on laptop for the 20% of writing or editing longer documents and spreadsheets, viewing Flash videos, and video chat.

• Large color screen beats Kindle and doesn't strain eyes. But heavier, needs two hands, and lacks notes.

• Digital picture frame.

• Pay AT&T either $15/250mb/month or $30/month unlimited—a significant reduction from typical laptop 3G.

HARDWARE

• Thinner (1/2") and lighter (1.5 pounds) than any netbook.

• Typed accurately and quickly on on-screen keyboard. More comfortable than many notebooks' cramped keyboards and touchpads. But can't touch type.

• Battery lasts 11:28 minutes playing videos with push wifi email, and a fairly bright screen. TV, web, and books burn similar juice, mostly powering the screen. The battery ran down so slowly that I forgot about it.

• Wicked fast. Screens appear almost instantly, and home Wi-Fi ran as fast as a laptop.

* Decent speaker and tiny microphone.

• Bug: Old-skool 4:3 screen letterboxes or crops TV.

• Bug: Lacks physical keyboard, webcam, USB.

SOFTWARE

• Every tested iPhone app worked properly, in either a tiny iPhone-sized hole, or blown up to double size and blocky type.

• iPad apps might cost more ($4-50) but some are free.

• Portrait "popover" menus and landscape panes speed list/detail views in built-in apps, like email, like a laptop.

• $30 iWork imports and (Pages only) exports Office files, sometimes unreadably.

• Bug: Lacks multitasking, Flash, email rules, group addressing

original

Buzz

Buzz = Google's Facebook clone (post status, photos, links, etc. to stream where readers Comment and Like) + tiny profile + Twitter @ replies.

Writing buzz

• Automatically posts your Google Chat status, Google Reader shared items, and Picasa public albums.
• Easily import your BlogSpot, YouTube, Twitter, and Flickr feeds.
• Email photos and text from your gmail account to buzz@gmail.com
• Or type in a post, optionally mentioning a @username, and attaching uploaded photos and URLs
• Set privacy on any post, to Public or a gmail contacts group; setting sticks, applying to future posts.

Reading Buzz

• Automatically follows the google contacts you most email and chat with.
• Followee posts appear in a "buzz" pane in gmail.
• Readers can comment, "like", "mute", "report abuse", delete, or reply by email or chat.
• Comments and @ replies appear in gmail inbox.
• When you've few followee posts, google will "recommend" random posts
• AI learns which kind of posts you like (?) hiding those you indicate are boring.

iPhone (and Android 2+) Buzz

• Post by voice using Google app: Say "Post buzz [message]"
• Includes GPS in your posts (toggle globally or for specific posts) which displays a map for your readers.
• Shows nearby people and places with comments, like FourSquare or Yelp.
• buzz.google.com

Review