Web Warp Blog has been retired. For new posts please head to dmather.com.

Thursday 30 May 2013

New iPod Touch

Apple have quietly switched their 16 GB iPod touch model from the iPod Touch 4th Generation to a new cut down version of the 5th Generation variant. This change has already taken affect on the US and UK Apple Store's online and will filter into retail outlets from tomorrow. This makes the iPod Touch range far more consistent as the entire range now has the iPhone 5 spec 4 inch retina display and the A5 processing chip.

The previous version, the 4th Generation also came in a 32 GB option. This has been dropped. The new 16 GB iPod Touch costs £199 in the UK, which is the same price as the outgoing 4th Gen iPod Touch with twice as much storage at 32 GB. The new version is also only available one colour - a black facia with silver back. Previously the iPod Touch was very similar to the iPhone with white and black options or though they had a mirrored back as per previous versions too.

A comparison of the now discontinued iPod Touch 4th Generation and the current iPod Touch range, featuring the new 16 GB model, is shown below.


This is an interestingly timed change as we are only weeks away from Apple's WWDC 2013 conference. This shows a firm commitment to the 4 inch retina display with 6 rows of apps as all of the current iPod Touch's have now moved away from the 3.5 inch retina display which is still available on the iPhone 4 and the 4S which are both current models for sale in addition to the iPhone 5.

Wednesday 29 May 2013

Gmail's New Inbox

Google recognise that these days peoples Gmail inboxes are bombarded with loads of emails. They created Priority Inbox in 2010 (info here) but now it's time for another inbox revolution. This time they are calling it Gmails 'new inbox'.

The basic principle is a set of customisable tabs for managing emails which are Updates, Offers, Social or, and most importantly, Primary. The emails are filtered automatically. Here's an image of the new layout from Gmail's blogger page.



Here's a description of the new feature on Google's website: click here.  And below is a promo video for the service. Gmail users should get this automatically added to their account in the coming weeks however from Gmail's blogger page:
If you'd like to try out the new inbox on Desktop sooner, keep an eye on the gear menu and select Configure inbox when it appears in the Settings options.

Friday 17 May 2013

Copy enters the online storage fray

So what do you look for in an online storage solution? If the answer is an unlimited referral scheme then 'Copy' is a new service which you will love. It's a direct competitor of Dropbox, and their service is very familiar to Dropbox users. Just like Dropbox you can access your data via mobile apps and securely share specific files or folders with other users.

Unlike Dropbox the referral scheme gives you 5 GB instead of 500 MB and it isn't caped to 32 GB but is unlimited. At time of writing +Chris Pirillo has 3.5 TB from collecting a load of 5 GB referral bonuses!

Get a Copy account today with a bonus of 5 GB: https://copy.com?r=0zuL03

Or try Dropbox and get a bonus of 500 MB: http://db.tt/iTCsG6x

Should Dropbox, Box.net or Mega be worried about losing market share to Copy? Maybe it's best not to worry and just to take full advantage of Copy's generous offer!

Wednesday 15 May 2013

The New Google+

Google's developer conference started today and with it came a raft of updates from Google about various products and services which they offer. Google+ has received a complete redesign, with a slick, stylish and more intelligent website. You can see how great the site looks for yourself by clicking here, as it's up and running already. The pages themselves, such as Web Warp Blog's page are surprisingly similar in layout to Facebook pages.

The new page and in built intelligence is demonstrated in this Google promotional video:



What do you think of the new Google+? Feel free to comment below using our new Google+ powered commenting system!

Saturday 11 May 2013

Boeing 787 Dreamliner

The 787 Dreamliner, Boeings latest passenger jet, has suffered from technical difficulties which have lead to delays. Boeing has moved past these problems now and are increasing the speed of their production, reports the Los Angeles Times. This is exciting news as the 787 is one of two planes (the other being the Airbus A380) which are set to increase luxury and space on long haul flights.

The plane was demonstrated at Farnborough Air Show last year, and pushed to the extreme! This YouTube video below shows you how the 787 will not be flown with passengers on board!

Thursday 2 May 2013

iSocial Network

Could Apple be looking to create a social network? Apple created computers for people. Then they created portable music devices which became iconic with digital music. They added a set of touch screen devices which would of seemed science fiction only a decade ago.

Apple contribute to a huge amount of our technological lives. Even 'non-Apple' users enjoy the latest movie trailers which are often distributed by Apple using Quicktime and many Windows users organise their music with iTunes. But where next for this technological giant. A sceptic will say that the bubble will eventually burst and Apple's fortune will change. It's speculated that their glory days are over following the death of Steve Jobs and the increasing strength of the competition in the mobile device markets. But more optimistic folk may point out that Apple never stay still and that new products and services will come online to fuel the frenzy associated with Apple fan boys.

They already have numerous services wrapped up under the iCloud brand. These include email, calendar, notes, to do lists etc. This is similar to Google who have a primary focus on web services and of course launched Google+ as a (second) attempt to compete with social networking sites such as Facebook. Their previous service, Buzz, was far from successful. So would Apple try to create a social network to compete with Facebook and Google+?

With Shared Photostreams they have created the ability to share photo content with other iPhone/iPad users. This is similar to a social network as you can comment on, or like, photos (sound familiar). But this feature is limited on the computer and doesn't include a 'profile page' etc. that would expect from a social network. The iMessage service is Apple device specific messaging but again this performs one of the tasks required of a social network and simply replaces SMS messages for iPhone users messaging each other.

Their iOS operating system for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch and OS X Mountain Lion for their computers integrate with Facebook and Twitter already. And Apple have tried before to create a social network - Ping - was a music orientated network built within iTunes to help users share music. But this already happend on existing social networking sites, and users often had concerns over their privacy. Who want's to publish online every track they buy from iTunes. No one used to stand over your shoulder when you picked up a CD in HMV or Woolworths!

Based on Apple's previous trend to keep services limited to it's own hardware (iTunes being a notable exception) it is hard to believe that a social network would build any momentum in this cross platform world where Facebook lets you communicate over any device to anyone else using different platform. Would Apple end up competing with device specific services like BBM? Not a great move for the future.

Bottom line is no one needs or wants another social network, especially one that would not be cross-platform or webpage based. And it would not help Apple sell hardware. What Apple could do is integrate more of the existing social networks, such as Google+, into it's iOS and OS X operating systems to make their products more flexible (like Android devices, which can share content to millions* of services)

*millions is probably an exaggeration.