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Lior Izik asked:


The Apple Computers Inc., which is focused on software and electronic products development, announced their intention to create a new mobile phone in January 2007. The new hand set was proudly released and shown to the public in July 2007. iPhone is not a simple device which main function is to perform telephone calls; it is a powerful smart phone with a lot of useful features such as multi-touch screen, virtual keyboard, camera, and so on. All iPhone applications are developed on a high level of quality and a standard set of software includes portable medial player, web browser and e-mail client. iPhone’s hardware is also impressive. The device features Wi-Fi, quad-band GSM, EDGE, 3G, UMTS, HSDPA and GPS modules.

Operational system that runs on the iPhone is called “iPhone OS”. The system kernel is based on “Mach”, operation system microkernel, which can also be found in Mac OS X. It includes a new software component, “Core Animations”, commonly used by iPhone application developers. The Apple Computers Inc. provides fast and regular updates, as well as security patches, to the iPhone operating system.

Apple Computers Inc carries the democratic iPhone application development policy. That supposes that users can employ both applications supplied by the original vendor and applications produced by third-party developers. Standard set of functions includes text notepad, SMS messaging, calendar, photos view, camera, Google maps, YouTube browser, weather forecast, calculator, adjust settings and iTunes store. If you decide that they are not enough for you and do not meet all your requirements, you can easily develop your own application. Thanks to software development kit, which was announced in March 2008, you can express all your ideas and create applications no worse than a professional application developer. iPhone SDK allows developers to create genuine and native applications for iPhone and iPod, which can be tested in “iPhone simulator” and then debugged. The software development kit is easy to master. Developers from all over the world are free to make changes in any application. It takes about a year to master the iPhone application development and become a professional iPhone application programmer. But if you do not have enough time or desire to do it, you can hire an iPhone developer to create your own customized iPhone application which meet all your requirements.

With constantly gaining popularity iPhone, iPhone Software development becomes crucial for companies and professionals seeking their niche. As this top-notch device provides a steady Internet access, developing application for iPhone can be compared to the process of web design.

There are numerous companies that render iPhone Development services of high quality ensuring that you make the most of your touch screen and get the best offer of iPhone applications available on the market. Their services are limitless and range from adjusting your gadget to the browser to changing its interface in order to make it suit your specific needs.

related resources: iphone application development - how to easy start own iphone application development campaign. iphone application developer - hire own dedicated iphone application developer.

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Chris Simpson asked:


Costing about $500 or $600 (depending on the specific model), the Apple iPhone might seem significantly more expensive than its Plain Jane cellphone counterparts which only cost $100 to $200. But let’s take a closer look at whether it is a fair comparison.

Apple’s products, like Japanese manufacturer Sony, have always commanded a premium in the market.

While it’s easy to say that a similar cellphone might cost significant less, and represent better value for money, is that really the case?

For starters, Apple has emphasized a great deal on the design and ergonomics of its products, as well as the usability of its products.

Witness the Apple Macintosh.

When released in 1984, it signalled a revolution for users everywhere.

Where computers used to be cryptic devices where you needed to learn to type cryptic codes to get it working, the Macintosh brought the Graphical User Interface (or GUI for short) to the forefront.

Suddenly, users who had “PC Phobia” were taking to computers which seemed so much easier to use.

Likewise, for the iPhone, it looks set to conquer the smartphone market.

Instead of cryptic commands to perform complex operations, the Apple iPhone has incorporated several ’smart’ features, such as the ability to magnify and reduce screen images by “pinching” or “squeezing” the iPhone’s display screen.

It incorporates an ambient light sensor which automatically adjusts lighting levels in response to the lighting around, preserving battery life and making the screen easy to view.

The intelligence of the device also automatically switches the screen display from a portrait to a landscape orientation when the device is flipped from a vertical to a horizontal orientation.

And if you should answer a phone call, the iPhone is smart enough to recognize that the phone is being brought close to your face and the keypad automatically deactivates itself, so you don’t hit a key accidentally when the phone brushes against your face.

Apple certainly has a multitude of competitors in the market and a sign that it is a lucrative market is when there are a multitude of competitors snapping at your heels.

While it is easy to brush off the Apple iPhone as an “expensive phone”, it certainly will not do any justice to the design and effort which has gone into the innovative product.

Can you place a measure on being able to do something easily and simply, without having to fiddle through a thick manual, or look through several “help” pages?

With the Apple iPhone, this certainly won’t be an issue.



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Chris Simpson asked:


More than just a music player which also doubles up as a cell phone, the Apple iPhone is fully loaded to support Third Party Web 2.0 applications.

Web 2.0 applications provide greater interactivty and importantly for product owners and merchants, the ability to conduct secure data access and transactions, similar to those used for purchases from sites like Amazon.com, stock purchases and bank funds transfers.

This opens up an arena of possibilities for the iPhone to take center stage in a digital economy.

Imagine this, you use the iPhone’s built-in 2 megapixel camera to take photos at a friend’s birthday party, you upload it to a web-based photo sharing website like Flickr and you send a text or email broadcast to your friends.

They then visit your site and live interactive comments, similar to services found on Twitter.

As an additional option, you could include links to real-time print-on-demand photography services, and your friends can request for photos to be printed and sent to them overnight.

But the real breakthrough will come when you’re able to pay for purchases with your iPhone.

Imagine travelling without your wallet or purse, making payment at a parking meter, buying cinema tickets, paying for a meal with just a single touch of a payment button on your iPhone.

The iPhone’s technology architecture means that developers can create innovative applications for the device.

Can you picture youself controlling the functions of your home with your trusty iPhone?

Imagine being able to turn your sprinklers and your sprinklers on and off, setting the washing machine to start up, with just an instruction sent to your home automation network.

If you’re away on vacation, your iPhone provides real-time video access to your home’s security system, giving you the ability to ensure that your home is safe and sound, even while you might be a continent away.

The first of the supported Web 2.0 application can be found accessed using the smartphone.

Google Maps provides the ability not just to search maps, it also gives you the ability to find businesses and get directions to locations.

While the iPhone will initially be available only in the United States in the middle of 2007, it will also be available in Europe by the end of 2007 and in Asia the following year.

The iPhone marks Apple’s first entry into the cellphone market and judging by the responses seen so far, it certainly looks set to make a big splash.



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Jeremy Thompson asked:


The year 2008 has started and I am sure everybody is excited about turning over a new leaf and entering a new year. If you are gadget and electronic freak like me then I’m sure you are excited about all the new gadgets the new year will brings as well. I’m going to talk about a few of the gadgets I’m most excited about which we will see in 2008.

First off the SanDisk Sansa TakeTV Video Player. This cool little gadget bridges the gap between your TV and computer. You plug the SanDisk TakeTV flash drive into your computer and download video on to it. Anything from YouTube videos to funny videos clips you get as attachments in your email. Then you place the TakeTV drive into the TakeTV cradle which is hooked up to your TV. That is it. The videos on the flash drive can now be played on your TV. The SanDisk Sansa TakeTV Video Player even comes with a remote control. You can find the TakeTV at your local electronics store like BestBuy, Circuit City, and Office Depot.

Now of course one of my top gadgets for 2008 would be related to the Apple iPod. I mean how could not pick a gadget for an iPod. This iPod accessory is a small device which you insert into certain Nike shoes. It will then track distance, time, pace and calories burned as you workout or walk your way to being more healthy. Plus the device gives real-time verbal feedback as your workout and can track your progress and fitness goals as well. Now that is a cool iPod accessory.

Next up is a USB device. If you are like me then you have all kinds of gadgets which use USB as a power source. Well what do you do when you need to power up that device and you are not by your computer or have a friends computer close by? The 4 Port USB Car Charger is the answer. You can plug this gadget into any standard lighter jack in your car and you have 4 USB ports to charge all your gadgets. How convenient is that?

Last but definitely not least is the Sony PS3. Now I know what you are thinking the PS3 has been out for over a year now its not a new electronic. You are right but 2008 is going to be the year that the PS3 really takes off. It just got a price cut a few months ago and Sony just won the battle of the next generation DVDs with Blu-ray over HD-DVD. Plus there are a lot of hot games coming up in the next few months for the PS3. Can you say Grand Theft Auto? Yep it will be out shortly and I can guarantee it will help sell a few PS3. Gran Turismo will be out next month and if you have not seen the previews for it go take them out. They are unreal.

So there you have four of my favorite gadgets for 2008. This is sure to be an exciting year for gadgets and electronics.



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Cory Threlfall asked:


Buying your first iPhone is a long process, longer than you could have initially expected. It does not only involve the actual purchase of the iPhone, you have to acquire various iPhone accessories, to be able to become the really trendy owner of your new gadget, and in some cases, to protect it, or to maximize its capabilities. Iphone accessories are simply things from which you will always seek more of.

Here are some of the basic ones…

iPhone Cases

Have you ever wondered why you are actually purchased your third iPhone case in half a year? Even these iphone cases, the simplest iPhone accessories are always becoming better, until you see something new. You can have reddened and hard cases, leather cases, metal cases, red, yellow, pink and black cases, cases that actually protect your iPhone and the ones that just look good on it or that go with your new dress. Well, it is just natural that Apple as a leading force and its partners, should substance a wide variety of iPhone accessories, and it is just natural that you will eventually own more of these cases, to meet the occasion or your mood, or just to protect you iPhone from nearby children.

iPhone Headset and Travel Charger

Your next purchase after an iphone case should perhaps be an iPhone Bluetooth Headset, to be able to answer your calls wirelessly, easily and elegantly and you will also need to get a travel/car charger, to be able to charge your phone when you are on the move. When you get bored with these basic iPhone accessories, having purchased earphones and perhaps some speakers as well, you might be interested in what they have on substance outside the realm of customary accessories for iPhones.

Well, as could be expected, the list is literally endless. You can purchase for example mini screen wipers for your iPhone, to clear the smudges on your screen. Or to prevent even these smudges, you can acquire a arrange of phone fingers in different sizes, that you can just fit on your fingers patch using the touch screen and it will stay totally clear. You might also want to try the iPhone travel pillow, with built in speakers, this way, you will have a pillow for your flight, and your ears won’t be hurting from the earphones.

Any iPhone accessory could basically come handy once, though it’s quite manifest that a unify of mini screen wipers for your screen is slightly less essential than a decent case, so try to grab this latter first. However, purchasing an iPhone will generally just introduce you to the magical world of iPhone accessories.

Have fun with your iPhone, for this is only the beginning.

Apple has a lot more in store for its knight in shinning armor, and am sure they have some pretty cool new iphone accessories in the works for you hard core iphone users.

It still amazes me to this day how they can pack so much into something so little.



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Stig Kristoffersen asked:


The Apple iPhone is an amazing device that invites  creativity. You′ve probably said to yourself: ‘I wish I  could do that on my iPhone.’

With the iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK), programmers can make your ideas reality - even if you yourself don’t know the difference between a C-pointer  and a SQLite database.

More than 200 iPhone application projects have already  been posted on Elance.com. Check out these tips in this article to get  your project kick-started.

We focus on the development of applications for the Apple iPhone, and we asked Nick Dalton, iPhone SDK specialist, to give Elance buyers a few tips on how to scope and post an iPhone Application project. Here’s what he had to say:

The iPhone is an amazing device that invites creativity. If you’re an iPhone owner I’m sure you’ve said to yourself: ‘I wish I could do that on my iPhone, or I have a great idea for an iPhone application’.

With the iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK), programmers can make your ideas reality – even if you yourself don’t know the difference between a C-pointer and a SQLite database. But before you go ahead and post your application idea to the buzzing iPhone project area on www.Elance,com. here are some pointers to get your project kick-started:

Study the Masters

Apple has already spent a lot of time thinking about how to present information and build interactive applications on the iPhone. The applications that come with the iPhone are the results of this research. Study them in great detail and try to apply as many of the user interface metaphors as possible to your application.

Not only will Apple be flattered if you imitate the user interface in their applications, but they actually mandate it to a great level of detail as described in their Human Interface Guidelines.

Dream in Color Screens

Most applications for the iPhone will be very visual. Therefore it makes sense to provide your requirements as screen images or sketches. You don’t have to be a graphics artist to do this effectively. An iPhone programmer is looking for the following information:

- The type of layout each screen should have

- The buttons on the screens

- The actions associated with each button

The exact shape and format of your screen sketches is secondary. As long as they are readable, it’s a great way to communicate your application design to a programmer.

Be Realistic About Your Budget

Look at other iPhone projects posted on Elance to get a sense for the bid amounts on these projects. Read the descriptions of these projects to see if they seem to be larger or smaller projects than what you have in mind. If you set your budget to under $500 for something that is realistically going to take a programmer two months to implement, you are not likely to attract many bidders.

From a programming perspective, some things are easy to do on the iPhone, while other seemingly simple things are very time consuming. For example the beautiful cover-flow animation used in the music application on the iPhone should be simple to use in other applications. Unfortunately you can’t. If you want this animation within your application it will have to be written from scratch, probably costing a one month of work.

If you talk to an approved iPhone developer early in your application design process you can learn how to get most out of your budget by avoiding the things that are really difficult to do on the iPhone.

Don’t Be Too Original

iPhone users already know how to do certain tasks on their phones by convention. For example, if you tap an item in a list that has a > icon next to it, you expect to be taken to another screen with more information about that item. If your application needs similar functionality, don’t be creative and come up with a new way to solve the same problem. Use the conventions already established by Apple.

New conventions are difficult to establish especially with the touch interface because there is no way to discover how your application works on the iPhone. Unlike a website where you can hover with the mouse pointer over areas that look like you can interact with them and a tool tip or the status bar will reveal some clues to you.

Know Your Limitations

The current version of the iPhone SDK, which is used to write applications for the iPhone, has many restrictions and limitations. Some of them are common sense, e.g. you can’t send text messages from an application. Imagine an application that sends out thousands of text messages without your knowledge, who is going to pay the phone bill for that?

Other restrictions are maddening: applications cannot access the log of phone calls, or interact in any way with the calendar or the music stored on the iPhone.

To Apple’s credit, the iPhone SDK is an amazing piece of software especially given that it was publicly released as a Beta just three months ago. Some of the shortcomings listed above will likely be addressed in future releases of the SDK.

As a buyer with an idea for an iPhone application, you should educate yourself about these limitations before you spend too much time designing an application that is impossible to implement. Talk to a developer or company that specializes in iPhone development (and there are many available on Elance) and they can help you get on the right track from the start.

About

Nick Dalton (username: 360mind) is an experienced iPhone SDK specialist and Elance.com service provider. He has 15+ years of background in programming, and currently focuses his business, 360mind, 100% on the development of iPhone applications. For more information on Nick, check out his book, 101 iPhone Tips and Tricks.

 



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Alvaro Castillo asked:


You won’t read this in the glossy ads of a pregnancy magazine, but motherhood often leaves women feeling burned out, disappointed at times, and confused about who they are anymore. As a writer on this topic, one of my major conclusions is that it’s not our reality that is necessarily so difficult, but rather the gap between our expectations and reality that drives us crazy.

What creates this gap? It begins with the romanticization of motherhood, the buildup to the “big day” of childbirth, like the idealization of a wedding as opposed to the reality of a marriage. Mothers-to-be are marketed to like crazy, and I am concerned that high-tech gadgets have a particular role in this problem.

The marketing of gadgets raises the bar of expectation even higher, and gadgets tend to promise new parents an unrealistic level of control and certainty. Take the BabyPlus “prenatal education system.” Hey, I guess a regular baby isn’t good enough any more. You need to produce a baby PLUS. This little pod is the latest gadget that a pregnant woman is supposed to strap to her belly to give her fetus a jump-start on academic achievement.

The device “introduces patterns of sound to the unborn child in only the language he or she understands - the maternal heartbeat.” The promised benefits include better sleep, better nursing, more self-soothing…right up to improved school readiness.

Now I can’t say whether this program has any effect or not, but the marketing really bothers me. The BabyPlus ad in Fit Pregnancy Magazine takes the prenatal certainties even further. The pregnant model says, “I know it’s a boy. I know his name is Ryan. I know he will be calmer, happier, and brighter because of BabyPlus.”

Might as well decorate Ryan’s nursery as a Tar Heels fan and send in his application to UNC. The truth is that you can’t really know these things ahead of time no matter what you do. So many high-tech products promise to take the uncertainty out of pregnancy or parenting. That idea may make us feel better now, but it sets us up for disappointment later. Parenting is an ongoing challenge.

It is humbling to realize how much is actually out of our direct control. You can be a great parent and you will still run into problems, hurdles, and painful life lessons. I relished the mystery of pregnancy, the wonder of carrying around a little stranger whom I had not met yet. We didn’t know whether we were expecting a boy or girl, and we decided we wouldn’t settle on a name until after our baby was born.

Making peace with that bit of uncertainty helped me remember later on that I can’t always expect motherhood to conform to my expectations and wishes. Another problem with the way baby gadgets are promoted is that new parents will feel guilty if they don’t try a program that might help.

The marketing messages play on the worries generated by the inherent uncertainties of childbirth. This blurb appeared as a “What’s Hot for Tots” Featured Review but it reads like straight BabyPlus promotional copy:

From the moment you find out you are going to be a mom the worries and concerns in your head go wild. You wonder and pray…will they be healthy, will they be a good baby, will they nurse, and will they sleep…and so on. Then you wonder about their milestones and childhood development it is a natural thought process every mom and dad goes through. I am expecting my third and I try to do everything that is important for the health of my unborn baby. As I take my daily prenatal vitamins I think of our child’s daily prenatal environment.

That is why I am so happy to have the BabyPlus® education system. When I came across this product I knew it was important for my unborn child’s development…. If a pregnant woman wasn’t anxious before, that “review” sure gives her a lot to worry about.

The truth is that BabyPlus can’t promise that your baby won’t be colicky, or that your child won’t grow up to have dyslexia, or ADD, or adjustment issues at school. BabyPlus can’t promise a stable marriage, secure finances, siblings who get along, or healthy grandparents.

When your 9-year old shoplifts, is BabyPlus going to be there to help you explain why that’s wrong? At that point it’s not going to help to say “Ryan, BabyPlus babies don’t steal.” Parenting is an art as much as a science, and no gadget can trump the on-the-job training that each of us will receive.



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