WhatsApp

WhatsApp is one of several cross-platform smartphone applications which provides text and multimedia messaging. The difference between your 'normal' SMS and MMS system is two fold. Firstly WhatsApp, and the like, use your smartphones data connection to send and receive messages at no cost other than your data tariff. Secondly, there are several functionality improvements over traditional messaging.

WhatsApp includes group messaging, delivery reports, photo and video messages, all for nothing and extremely quickly. Whatsapp can also be used on tablets running Android or the iPad which can't recieve SMS messages.

The catch is that you need a data connection, something that you may struggle with in some areas. Another catch is that after spending the one off download cost (for the iOS devices the UK price is 59p, US ¢99) you may only have a few contacts to use the service with. WhatsApp uses the mobile numbers of your contacts, which is a great time saver. And auto-adds new users to your 'favourites' tab.

In the next release of iOS, iOS 5, Apple will be including a new App called iMessage. It appears to be largely based on these instant messaging stlye apps, but with the restriction that it will only allow communication between Apple mobile devices running iOS 5. It may be too late by Autumn to get users onboard for iMessage, particularly with WhatsApp gaining users all the time and Facebook's latest 'Message Centre'. Facebook Messages cater's for group conversation over your data contract. Facebook's advantage is not only that it is crossplatform on smartphones like WhatsApp is, but accessible from any desktop or laptop PC as well, allowing the most flexible form of digital contact. Laptop to smartphone - desktop to desktop - smartphone to multiple devices. The icing on the cake for Facebook is that they have over 500 million active users.

For more information on WhatsApp, check out www.whatsapp.com, for iMessage try http://www.apple.com/ios/ios5/features.html and everyone knows where Facebook.com is!

iWork for iOS vs QuickOffice

iWork from Apple is a suite of office applications for the Mac, Pages (word processor), Numbers (spreadsheets), and Keynote (presenations). It's also available for iOS devices, now including the iPhone. The concept looks extremely impressive and promises complete integration with the desktop version of iWork application and even Microsoft Office applications. In practice I would be surprised if the compatibility was smooth as formatting and fonts often prove a challenge in these situations.

File transfers are via MobileMe's iDisk (subscription required) or iTunes file sharing (connection required). In order to make the best use of the app, integration with online services is a must, and for Apple to only offer their own premium service is a disappointment. An alternative is QuickOffice. It's a similar price to Pages or Keynote or Numbers but can work with the same Microsoft Office file types for each of the equivalent programs (Word, Excel & Powerpoint). QuickOffice has issues with fonts and formatting but only because it doesn't have the vast number of files that Word, for example, as behind it. For creating documents on the go and working on them later it's great. Particularly as it integrates with cloud storage services such as Google Doc's, Dropbox and Box.net. You can even manage the files on the device via your web browser if you are on the same Wi-Fi network. This flexibility is a preview of the Post-PC era.

More information from Apple about Pages
More information from QuickOffice for iPhone

iOS 4.3

Apple have released iOS 4.3 for the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPod Touch (3rd & 4th generation), iPad & iPad 2. Note that iPhone 3G has been dropped from the updates now, this leaves iPhone 3G owners a bit put out as their software seems increasingly slow and buggy since updating to iOS 4. The new update includes better AirPlay options, iTunes Home Sharing and Personal Hotspot.

iTunes Home Sharing lets you listen to content from your iTunes library anywhere around the house through the Wi-Fi connection on your device, similar to streaming on an Apple TV.

Personal Hotpost is similar to the existing Internet Tethering option only it allows the sharing to happen over Wi-Fi and to up to 5 devices in total (3 through the Wi-Fi connection).

iOS 4.3 also offers a significant boost in speed for javascript handling on these mobile devices.

For more information: http://www.apple.com/ios/

Working on the Go

As a an experiment this blog post is being typed using an iPhone on the go. A previous blog post on Web Warp Blog hinted towards using an iPhone (or similar smart phone) as a netbook replacement. In fact it's a netbook that lives in your pocket and not your breifcase.

To maximise the productivity of working on the go it is wise to look into QuickOffice for the iPhone. The premium version of the app allows integration with several online cloud storage services including Google Docs, Dropbox, Box.net and Apple's MobileMe iDisk. This app allows editing for Word and Excel files on the go. Some features aren't available such as graphs in the spreadsheet editor. As a basic editting tool for word documents the app performs seamlessly.

To make typing easier the iOS 4 software for the iPhone and iPod Touch allows you to use a bluetooth keyboard (excludes iPhone 3G).

The only issue is getting a decent 3G signal, but that really depends to where you are.

Happy Mobile Computing!

Online Sync Options Overview

Backing up is VERY important. If your computer broke right now - completely - where would it leave you? Some users would have lost every file they have ever created. They would no longer have their email contacts, documents, photos and music. Just think of all those holiday snaps and memories gone because you failed to backup. Well I don't think this should ever be an issue for webusers again because there are loads of services out there that allow you to store you personal files on the internet in a safe password protected area of a server.

Unfortunately for users these services are a little complicated to compare. They typically provide multiple services which make each seem unique, however they are all essentially the same. They are online storage for you to store information. The main differences are:

• The applications/methods used to move your data to and from these services.
• The encouraged use of the storage in terms of data type (i.e. photos / contacts etc).
• Collaboration and sharing options.
• Price.

Well Web Warp Blog is here to help enlighten you as to whats available out there and few pros and cons for your consideration. There are so many services that this post is limited to only a few examples as I would probably online trust well establishes companies to look after my data which I share with their servers. And after all, I'm trying to be concise!

In previous analysis of these services Web Warp Blog looked at them for their life organising skills which synchronising web bookmarks (favorites to IE users), contacts, calendars etc. To have a quick read: Google Sync vs Apple's MobileMe.

So a quick summary of the services of note are:

• Windows Live Sync - Allows syncing of files across computers on the same network.
• MobileMe - Focused on syncing personal data such as contacts & calendars.
• Google - Focuses on online editing of office type documents.
• Flickr - Purely based on Photo uploads and public sharing.
• Dropbox - Allows syncing of files and version backup.
• Box - Focused on business customers and large storage amounts.
• Humyo - Emphasises trust. 

So Web Warp Blog will look some of these services in more detail in a series of blog posts.

iOS 4 Available

Apple iOS 4 is now available to download from iTunes. It updates the Operating system on iPhones, iPod Touches and the iPad. The Apple website will take you through which features suit your device. As a quick review all I can say is "wow!".

I love the new features. Apple have added functionality where required, it is just a little better everywhere. It's the little things which make the difference everytime you pick up your phone. For example there is now a spellchecker inbuilt into the keyboard. And speaking of keyboards... my favourite feature has to be the support for Bluetooth keyboards!

Embed Twitter into Blogs

You can now embed twitter into blogs such as...

Test tweet for embedding...less than a minute ago via webwebwarpblog
webwarpblog

To help you achieve this yourself (assuming it works for me) I will post a guide later.

Twitter Official Mobile Apps

Edit: The Twitter app for iPhone is now available, click here. Here is the Twitter announcement and more information/screen shots, click here. The Twitter for iPhone app is one of the best iPhone applications out there, very well made.

Twitter is accessed through computers, smart phones and via text messaging, but all the smart phones applications have been made by 3rd Party Companies - until now. Twitter have acquired Tweetie, which is one of the most popular Twitter apps for the iPhone. Here is the Twitter Announcement. Tweetie 2 will be renamed 'Twitter for iPhone' and made FREE, where as it is £1.79 at the moment. They have also launched an official Twitter app for Blackberry's. Here is the info from Twitter. Both apps are really good and include all the latest Twitter features such as new style retweets.

So happy official mobile app tweeting! Feel free to follow www.webwarp.co.uk on Twitter at @webwarpblog.

iPhone OS 4

Apple iPhone OS 4 has been announced in Apples headquarters in California. Currently iPhone users are running OS 3 which included enhancements such as multimedia messaging (MMS) and cut, copy, paste facilities. The new software will bring over 100 new features. Some small changes which will only affect certain types of users, such as multiple Microsoft Exchange Account support and other features will affect all users. The OS 4 upgrade will be available for the iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch 3^rdGen. For iPhone 3G users the upgrade is available but will not include multitasking.

The main features are going to be:

Multitasking

Folder’s for Apps

Bluetooth Keyboard support

iBooks app

Gaming Centre (Xbox Live style multiplayer)

The update will be available in Summer 2010 for the iPhone and Autumn 2010 for iPad. 

Monopoly City Streets in Down for Maintenance

http://www.monopolycitystreets.com/ is down for maintenance:

The site is down for maintenance from 2AM EST today, for approximately 4-8 hours. We intend to repair out of sync streets and ensure the data within the game is stable before we implement further improvements we have planned for the game.
Thank you for your continued patience as we work to improve the game.

Symbian open beta to rival Apple's App Store

"Horizon" will be an app store rival from Symbian (The OS of choice for most Nokia smartphones)according to the BBC News website. Developers can sign up now to work on their mobile apps. Developers can sign up here.

Google Maps My Location Comes To the Computer

Google Maps for Mobile has had 'My Location' for a while now and users of A-GPS handsets (such as the iPhone 3G and Nokia N series phones) have enjoyed fast and accurate location aware maps. This service is now coming to the desktop version of Google Maps. The service will use wifi/GPS/3G all if available to locate as accurately as possible your current location.

This is only available with Mozilla Firefox 3.5 natively or any browser with Google Gears latest version installed such as Google Chrome.

For more information check out the Google LatLong Blog Post.

Adobe release Reader 9

Adobe Reader 9 is now available to download. Here are some reasons to upgrade: Improved Launch Speed, compatibility with Adobe Acrobat 9 Formats including PDF Portfolios, compatibility with new online features. For more a more in depth analysis of what's new in 9 click here.

WWDC09 Kicks off

WWDC09 - Apple's World Wide Developer Connection Conference 2009 starts today and runs until Friday. Mac rumour sites suggest iPhone hardware updates. From the developer special event a few months ago we know that iPhone OS 3.0 will be unveiled complete with new apps that utilise it's new features. We will keep you update with ground breaking annoucments here at www.webwarp.co.uk.
For information click here for the WWDC09 website.