Gadgets: Apple iOS 4.3.3

While not everyone bothers to install iOS updates the minute they arrive, today’s 4.3.3 push shouldn’t be ignored if you count yourself among the legion of iPhone users who let out a collective horrified gasp when Apple’s kinda-sorta-secret location database was outed by researchers recently. While security pros like F-Secure’s Mikko Hypponen believed the data was being used to feed Apple’s global location database — enabling iOS devices to avoid unnecessarily probe for coordinates using GPS when a less power-hungry read could be accurately ascertained using WiFi. Plenty of other brainy types agreed, and it turns out they were right. Apple confirmed as much only days later.

Today’s iOS 4.3.3 update makes it very clear that it’s designed to nip location concerns in the bud, reducing the maximum size of the cache and deleting the database entirely when a users chooses to disable Location Services. The update also prevents the location database from being backed up to iTunes.

It remains to be seen how that whole lawsuit thing will be resolved, but remember that Apple did get users to opt in — albeit somewhat cryptically. Hypponen points to the fairly innocuous-looking “you can help Apple improve its products” dialog which appears during the iTunes installation process. While “diagnostic information” doesn’t sound at all like location data, clicking through to Apple’s privacy page makes it clear that your whereabouts are indeed part of the delicious information you agreed to transmit back to the collective.

Updating Over-the-Air

Updating any device with new firmware can be a real pain in the ass, and  its a time consuming process, depending on the device in question. The frustration of having to apply an update can be minimized by allowing the user flexibility of when and how to apply it.

In the category of how an update can be applied, Apple falls short compared to the competition requiring your iPhone be hooked up via USB to a computer running iTunes. Other smartphones offer the convenience of over-the-air updates, but until now Apple has not.

9to5Mac has multiple sources stating that Apple is about to change its limited update method and introduce over-the-air updates for iOS. Whether your iPhone has access to these updates will depend on your carrier, though, as they have to sign up to support these large downloads (iOS 4.3.3. is over 600MB). As well as handling the large downloads, carriers will have to have some form of backup system in place in case a phone battery dies, or the connection is lost making it more than just a data transfer problem.

The best way to avoid large data access fees, and potential data loss of over-the-air updates is to be in a location where WiFi access can be had.

Technology: Broadcasting - Going Mobile

Over recent years, we've seen a great deal of change in the way we receive our media content, primarily thanks to the internet, and more recently, our handheld mobile devices, such as the iPhone and BlackBerry.

The first to feel the winds of change was clearly print media such as newspapers, followed closely by the music industry with shifts from physical delivery systems such as the CD to "digital downloads" via the illegal types of Napster, Kazaa, and their legal brethren, iTunes. Walkmen laid way for the Discman, which has now become little more than a paperweight with the advent of the MP3 player, such as Apple's iPod devices, first introduced in fall 2001.

Years later, traditional television and radio broadcasting has had to address the way their viewers and listeners alike want to take in their content. Netflix has had a big hand in the way that viewers watch their content - in my own home, I can watch nearly any movie or TV show from my game console, any one of our many computers, or via our mobile phones. Most cable or satellite providers also make On Demand content available to their subscribers; they also make DVRs with large capacity storage for their subscribers to record any program they want, to watch at a later time. Long gone are the days where you had to hunt for a blank tape to record a specific show.

Smartphone penetration is significant and increasing. Pandora and other pureplay streaming listening is increasing. Still, the impact has been generally minimal on FM and AM radio. But make no mistake, habits are changing. The seeds of this are happening today with streaming audio, and radio can’t afford to ignore what is happening in that space. Its future depends on it.

For radio, we are seeing this accumulation of changing behavior occur before our eyes. From fewer commercials to the ability to share our listening experiences with friends to On Demand access via podcasts to pausing and skipping songs, there is a gap in functionality that will increasingly lead to a streaming tipping point.

When consumers start to say that radio annoys them because it can’t do this or it doesn’t have that, then you will start to see consumer adoption change. Many forward thinking broadcasters are already making the changes necessary to move with the times. Streaming audio has long been available via station websites, and many broadcasters are also offering their fare via applications for smartphones. One of the best parts of that is that you can now access stations from across the country that you couldn't before. It IS a small world, after all.

Gadgets: BlackBerry Taking Another "Crack" at Apple

Apple recently launched it's iPad 2, the predecessor to it's widely popular iPad, initially launched in Spring 2010. Now, RIM is taking a swing at the tablet market with it's BlackBerry Playbook, news of which leaked last month via a leaked image from Office Depot, which showed the 16GB WiFi model with an MSRP $499.

Today, RIM officially launched the PlayBook, available in three models including 16GB, 32GB or 64GB of storage, listed at $499, $599, or $699 respectively. Clearly, the Office Depot leak had some legitimacy to it.

RIM hopes to take on the iPad 2 and others with its first tablet aimed at both consumers and business users alike. It looks well-built, and the smaller display makes one-handed use easier. Early reviews show that performance is solid, based on a pre-release operating system, though just how well the TabletOS will behave remains to be seen. However, a 7″ display may be too small for some, and there’s a question mark over just how many and the overall quality of the apps on offer, and we won't know that for a few months to come.

Now, how can I get my hands on both an iPad 2 and a BlackBerry PlayBook for a Round 2?

Gadgets: Battle of the Smartphones!

I'm one of the few to own both an iPhone and a BlackBerry smartphone. I have the iPhone 4 16GB, and the Blackberry Curve 3G, but to make things fair for the purposes of this test, I've abducted my wife's BlackBerry Torch 9800. Both are on different networks, but that's not part of this comparison.

Let's get started, shall we?

First thing's first, a by-the-numbers side by side comparison.

	iPhone 4	BlackBerry Torch 9800
Professional Target Market	Tech Sector	Business Sector
Display Size	3.5” Retina Display (960x640 pixels)	3.2” High Resolution (480x360 pixels)
Interface	Multi-Touch Screen Only	Multi-Touch Screen and slide-out Qwerty keyboard, trackpad
OS	iOS 4.x	Blackberry OS 6
Processor	Apple A4 1GHz	624 MHz
Memory/Storage	512 MB RAM/16 or 32 GB flash drive	512MB RAM/4GB flash + 4GB microSD (expandable to 32GB)
Size/Weight	4.5”x2.31”x0.37” 4.8 ounces	4.37”(5.83” open)x2.44”x0.57” 5.68 ounces
Battery	Built-in 1420 mAh lithium-ion. 7 hours talk/300 hours standby (3G network)	1300 mAHr lithium-ion. 5.5 hours talk/18 days standby (3G network)
Camera	5-megapixel, w/autofocus, LED flash, 5x zoom. HD quality video (720p)	5-megapixel, w/autofocus, flash, 2.5x zoom. VGA quality video (640x480)
Audio Formats	AAC (8 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), HE-AAC, MP3 (8 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, 4, Audible Enhanced Audio, AAX, and AAX+), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV	MP3, AAC-LC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA, AMR-NB, MIDI, FLAC, Ogg Vorbis
App Selection	+350,000 available from iTunes App Store	+10,000 available from BlackBerry App World

Both phones have their ups and downs, and I do enjoy both, to a degree. The Torch's  big downside, for me, is that it is a little bulky, and the slide-out qwerty keyboard feels a little cramped, compared to other BlackBerrys. The iPhone's touchscreen keypad is a dream, once you get used to working with a touchscreen. But that's not a of the iPhone directly - that's just how touchscreens are. Win: iPhone 4

On the other hand, the Torch is better suited for selecting and copying text and other items and using the data in other applications than the iPhone, with the use of the trackball that's found on all BlackBerry phones. Win: BlackBerry Torch 9800

Personally, I enjoy navigating through the iPhone better. You can configure your apps to reside in folders, thus keeping like-apps together, instead of all over the place, like you have with the Torch. Win: iPhone 4

Both phones have a snappy, multitasking OS, and make it fairly easy to get around and be productive. The multitasking however, is a little better on the Torch, and although the processor is technically slower, it chugs along smoothly. Win: BlackBerry Torch 9800

The sheer amount and variety of apps available to iPhone users is just mind boggling. Apps, both paid and free, are available for virtually any task, for both professional and entertainment use. Apple's tagline of "There's an App for That" is beyond accurate. RIM's BlackBerry App World is lacking in this department, but since BlackBerrys are typically used by the business types, there are plenty to get the job done. Like with all cross-platform applications, some work better on the iPhone, and some work better on the BlackBerry. Win: iPhone 4

Syncing apps and music on the iPhone is done through Apple's iTunes software, and done very easily and intuitively. The BlackBerry Desktop Manager is fairly less so. Not that you can't syncronize everything you need to fairly seamlessly from your handheld to your computer, you can and you can do it well. Just not as well as with the iPhone 4. Both can easily syncronize with your Outlook account to manage your time, contacts and appointments. Handy, huh? Win: Draw

Ultimately, it all boils down to personal preference, but for me, the iPhone 4 is a much better phone/personal assistant, as I find myself reaching for my iPhone more often than my BlackBerry to execute most tasks.