Digital Tools

iTunes Radio – Finer Things in Tech

/ Pete Denison / Leave a comment

In a recent post I outlined my first impressions of iTunes Radio, given it has now entered the music streaming market in Australia. Since that time I have been slowly building a few stations of my own, as well as sampling Apple’s curated stations.

As is often the case, David Chartier at Finer Things in Tech looks a little deeper at some of the other features of the service, which demonstrate those finer things that make the experience a little more elegant and to your personal taste.

Be sure read David’s article for more information on “tuning” your stations, having shared stations updated by all with access, using Siri or your syncing play history.

Four tips to rock, tune and sync iTunes Radio – Finer Things in Tech

 

iTunes Radio – First Impressions

/ Pete Denison / 1 Comment

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Almost a week ago Apple released iTunes Radio in Australia. As someone who listens to a reasonable amount of music, that same morning I began listening on my commute into the Brisbane CBD.

My main use of streaming services, (to date has involving both Pandora and Spotify), is to utilise the discovery type features to hopefully stumble across some new music I like. Given I have a reasonably sized collection of my own music accessed through iTunes Match, I have never seen the need to subscribe to the paid or premium levels of any streaming services.

After hearing about iTunes Radio last year, I was keen to see it released in Australia, knowing that as an iTunes Match subscriber I would avoid advertisements, yet have access to a free, curated streaming service. An added advantage was purported to be that iTunes Radio would learn my tastes, and adjust my stations accordingly.

Other features include the ability to build stations based on the artists or songs you choose; play iTunes Radio through any iOS device, Mac or Apple TV; check play history; immediately buy a track from iTunes (of course); utilise Siri for voice control of most features; and easily share stations.

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All of the PR aside, how good is it? For me – I have found a good mix of songs and artists in both the Apple curated Hot Alternative and my own stations based on the Arctic Monkeys and The National I have listened to so far. Although the lack of ads has been nice, this never really bothered me with Pandora, however became somewhat annoying at times when using Spotify (no great complaint though, as I realise I am accessing this music for free, and artists deserve to be paid). How well iTunes Radio learns my preferences will become more apparent with time.

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Personally I would recommend giving iTunes Radio a run. Others have found some faults with the service (relating to the use of the iTunes desktop interface, curation and lack of easy customisation). These aren’t really a problem given most of my listening takes place on iOS devices, and the other points I wouldn’t necessarily agree with from experience. Whether or not the results played by Apple when creating your own stations are to your taste, is simply a matter of, well…your taste. A comparison of Pandora and iTunes Radio and any conclusions drawn are more a reflection of personal taste rather than any definitive conclusion as to the merits of one over the other. Whether certain songs don’t belong in a playlist generated by a particular song or artist, is for you to decide, which again leads me to my recommendation – give it a try.

Is there really anything to lose apart from your time (which would be minimal if you work with music in the background anyway), and perhaps some data if you are streaming on your iPhone or iPad data plan, which, according to Gizmodo, will chew up around 28MB per hour (840MB over 30 days if used an hour per day) – though of course this is not unique to iTunes Radio, and applies to any music streaming. Probably one thing I would like to see is easier access to song and artist information within iTunes Radio itself, rather than having to follow the link back to the iTunes Store (this would be particularly useful with the “Spin the Globe” and “New Artists” featured stations).

I will certainly be utilising iTunes Radio quite a bit, and for the times I want to listen to an entire album or specific, queued tracks I’ll simply head back to iTunes Match. Whether or not the stations align more with my preferences over time remains to be seen, however my early impressions lead me to think Apple will be quite competitive in the music streaming market.

iOS Tips

/ Pete Denison / Leave a comment

In this dept4 x 4, tips relating to Apple’s mobile operating system, which in all likelihood you already know, though I find occasionally the simple things can be overlooked. I’ve found the following very useful, or at least a more elegant and efficient way of doing certain tasks in iOS.

1. Close all tabs in mobile Safari

When clicking through links from various sources of information I am reading on my iPhone, I invariably end up with numerous tabs open in mobile Safari. Whilst they can simply be brought up in card view through the Tab icon (two overlapping squares in the bottom right corner of the screen) and swiped left to close individually, a more efficient technique is as follows:

  1. Tap on the ‘Tab’ icon in the bottom right hand corner of the screen
  2. Tap on ‘Private’
  3. Tap ‘Close All’ when asked in the pop up
  4. Tap on the ‘Tab’ icon and tap ‘Private’ again (to exit Private browsing mode)
  5. Tap on ‘Done’

The above works for any number of open tabs, though I tend to use it most when there at least three or four open. More about Private browsing from Apple Support can be found here.

2. Turn off Flashlight from lock screen

The most common use I have for the flashlight on my phone is when I am delving deeply into an entanglement of cords, for example when switching peripherals on our home computer or television. The flashlight comes in handy in preventing me trying to ram a HDMI cable into a USB port.

After switching on the Flashlight function through Control Center, I lock my screen to avoid accidental taps. One tip I have found quite handy is tapping on the camera icon in the bottom right corner of the lock screen will turn off the flashlight. And yes, whilst I have Control Center access enabled for my lock screen, the above saves me having to swipe up to access Control Center, turn off the Flashlight and swipe down to close Control Center again. One tap is all it takes.

3. Power button phone shortcuts

With a call active on the iPhone, a quick press of the power button at the top of the device will end the call (note this will not work if you are in another App during the call or if an external ear piece/microphone is attached).

Although handy if your screen is unresponsive (ie severely cracked), I like this feature simply because of its ease of use. The power button also comes in handy for incoming calls, with a single press silencing the ringer (also stops vibration if in silent mode), or double press to send a call straight to voice mail.

4. iCloud Photo Sharing

Though probably a little more extensive than the quick use tips above, iCloud photo sharing (not to be confused with My Photostream) is a great way to give family and friends access to an album of photos without needing to message or email them to multiple people, or endlessly post to social media (aside from the fact they may not be photos you wish to share publicly).

Shared iCloud photo streams will support video (My Photostream will not), and the streams you create will be permanently stored (up to 100 streams with a 5000 photo limit per stream), rather than your last 1000 photos only, as is the case with My Photostream. More on this can be found on the Apple support page.

Shared iCloud streams are simple to set up:

  1. Access the “Shared” Tab at the bottom of the Photos app on your iOS device
  2. Tap the ‘+’ button to create a stream
  3. Name the stream
  4. Invite those you wish to share it with (sharing is optional, bypass by going straight to step 5)
  5. Tap on ‘Create’.
  6. Manually select photos to add photos to the stream.

Captions and comments can be added to photos by you or those who share the stream, and other members will be able to upload their own photos for all to see.

Overall, a great way to permanently store (and share) your photos by the power of iCloud.

Hopefully some or all of the four tips above will enhance your iOS experience, and finally, when next in the app switching view (after double clicking the home button), swipe on the row of icons along the bottom rather than the application panes for much faster scrolling.

What we can do today

/ Pete Denison / Leave a comment

There were indeed some interesting products featured at the recent 2014 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Curved screens, wearables and fitness trackers people! All jokes aside, there are some very talented tech people in this world, designing some phenomenal things. I am not about to delve into specifics, as this post has another message. For some more in-depth views on CES:

Reiterating a sentiment I have conveyed in a previous post, amidst the lure of new gadgets (particularly with a new Apple Store about to open a block from my workplace) it is easy to forget the sheer power we all currently hold in our pockets (in my case an iPhone 4s) – on occasion I still marvel at the things we can do today with our mobile devices.

For example, my 50 minute commute yesterday consisted of catching up on information and articles through Twitter, my RSS Reader, and Zite. Picking up a copy (that is, a download to my Kindle cloud reader) of a new novel, watching the Season 4 trailer for Game of Thrones, electronically thumbing through a copy of one of my favourite magazines, and updating my family of goings on via Path and Instagram. A phone call, a couple of iMessages and clearing email whilst listening to some music completes the picture.

And that was without even needing to take out my iPad.

A timely thought given last week’s seventh anniversary of the introduction of the iPhone:

An iPod, a phone, and an Internet communicator. An iPod, a phone…are you getting it? These are not three separate devices. This is one device. And we are calling it iPhone. Today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone.

– Steve Jobs

I am all for innovation, however don’t let anyone tell you what we can already do today isn’t amazing.

Pebble or Stone?

/ Pete Denison / 1 Comment

The recently updated Pebble smartwatch is now available, with this article from The Verge providing some images of the new offering, along with details of the release.

Admittedly I have not followed in any great detail the smartwatch market as I have no interest in purchasing such a device – not with what is currently available anyway.

Design them differently

John Gruber at Daring Fireball:

If Pebble, or any “smartwatch” maker, wants to succeed in the real world, they need to make watches that look good compared to any watch, not just “looks good compared to other even uglier smartwatches”.

While I mostly agree with the above comment, I can’t help but feel there is also a missed opportunity in this particular market. Do we really need to make a wearable piece of technology appear more like a “classic” watch? I’d argue we should acknowledge a classic watch is just that, and a smartwatch is…well, just not. For a very long time now we have had specific “sports” watches and more “classic” dress watches – why try and squeeze a smartwatch into one of these categories when it is an entirely different device altogether?

I am suggesting the entire approach to smartwatch design is heading in the wrong direction. Manufacturers should be making wrist wearable technology that looks nothing like a watch, for continuing to do so simply provides consumers with what ultimately looks like a tacky watch, as is the case with the Pebble. Tech sites suggesting the newer Pebble now brings some sort of “class” or “style” to the smartwatch, are tech blogs and not style blogs for a reason.

What then, should they look like? Not what they are today that’s for sure – a more space age looking band is preferable to the current designs. Perhaps something along the lines of that designed by Wired (albeit with a better looking band).

Further to this, if we accept these smartwatches are not, and will not, ever be in the same class as the classics (a quick look at any of the Pebble Steel images will certainly convince you of this), there is huge potential to develop a market where people will wear both – acknowledging they do indeed love their IWC Portofino Chronograph as much as their Pebble or Gear or iThing should it ever come along. Again, design and overall philosophy is the key, as those purveyors of style at Esquire suggest wearing two watches at once is definitively a no no.

My suggestion? A watch on the left and a smart insert product name here on the right. Or vice versa.

Why do I need another device?

I acknowledge many people buy the latest in tech already, with yearly upgrades in phones and tablets (of whichever maker and operating system they choose), however remember we are talking about an entirely new category here. Smartphones are entrenched in our lives and at the current time just about everyone has one, so an upgrade is (presumably) a better version of what you previously had. Adding a smartwatch has to provide something that was missing from the user experience along with seamless integration into how your current devices are used – it cannot replace anything you currently have.

While drafting this post, I came across a similar sentiment from Shawn Blanc:

Is it really that much faster and easier and more convenient to use the little buttons on your watch? I could be wrong here, but if the Pebble needs a smartphone to work (the apps can’t get their data without using the connected phone’s network signal) then what is the advantage of navigating a miniature version of the app on your wrist?

Perhaps there is an argument for portability, however as Shawn notes above, a phone remains essential in any event, which is entirely my point. The watch cannot replace the phone, so there needs to be a very compelling reason for many people to add another gadget into the mix – particularly one smaller and more fiddly than the last.

What’s that commotion I hear in the background? Oh, that’s right, the multitude of calls for Apple to release a phone with a larger screen to remain relevant in today’s market.

The point I am trying to make here is that if we really need to create products for a new market segment, then create them. Don’t try and squeeze something into what we currently have (remember when smart appliances were the next big thing), otherwise all we end up with is another internet connected refrigerator.