Life.is/tech

Steve Jobs on iPhone4 Reception Issues

Andy Blazquez — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 18:08:39 +0000

Ok, very quickly, here’s what happened. Steve came out on stage and directly tackled the reception issues. He showed videos of other smart phones having the same problems when held a certain way. He quickly puts the blame on the industry… Brilliant.

Then, he starts flashing facts in front of our faces, like: only 0.55% of iPhone users actually called apple care to complain about iPhone 4. Also, return rates are down from the previous iPhone… (idk Steve, perhaps people were waiting to see what you would do with the issue before bitching about it.)

Finally, after blaming everything on everyone else, he pulls out all the stops to try to rectify the issue. No, really. Starting next week you can apply online for a free case or “bumper”… you can also return the iPhone for a complete refund with no restocking fee. There’s also that thing about the software update that magically fixes hardware issues somehow.

Good times, Steve.

side note: Our tech blog mostly covers apple and adobe. ‘Cause other tech shit is just wayy too nerdy.. Even for me. Thanks for understanding.

iPhone iOS4 Software Update

Andy Blazquez — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 13:02:54 +0000

With the release of the new iPhone just days away, Apple releases the new iOS4 (iphone operating system) into the hearts and pockets of current iPhone users… fo’ free. Simply plug your current iPhone into your comp, open iTunes, wait about 45 minutes for the tedious upgrades, et voila… You got a bunch of new features on your old ass iPhone.

Here are the ones I found interesting:

Multitasking: Double click the HOME button to reveal icons of the currently running applications.

App Folders: Now you can sort apps into folders. To do this, hold down an app until it starts to wiggle, then drag it on top of another app to create a folder containing both items. You can then rename and/or drag additional apps into the folder.

Orientation Lock: If you’re tired of your phone constantly switching between landscape and portrait mode, you can now lock the orientation by double clicking the home button, and clicking on the new “Orientation Lock” button.

5x Digital Zoom: Now your iPhone’s camera has a sucky, pixelated zoom on it. But I guess something is better than nothing.

For more information on the new iOS 4 features, check out Apple’s iPhone software update page.

It’s Official: New iPhone 4

Andy Blazquez — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 18:09:40 +0000

Today sees the official release of the leaked iPhone we’ve been seeing for a while. Since most of the details about the phone have already been leaked, Apple is coming up with clever little ways of making the announcement feel sorta, surprising.

Some New iPhone Features:

Retina Display – Which basically increases the amount of pixels displayed within a square inch.

Improved Picture Camera – Camera now does 5 MP instead of 3… also, it has a Flash.

Improved Video Camera – 720 P at 30 fps!!!!! (plus: iMovie for iPhone)

Front Facing Camera - A camera that faces forward, or, a facebook-profile-pic-vanity-cam.

Apple Kills Adobe

Andy Blazquez — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 20:10:04 +0000

The Apple vs. Adobe fight is seeing the beginning of the end. I’m using all of the available Clues and predicting the following: Apple kills Adobe in the Flash with Html 5. See what I did there? No? Movin’ on.

For those too cool to know this, Adobe’s main issue with Apple is that they ‘re excluding Flash from their mobile devices (iPad, iPhone, etc.). Apple’s main issue with Adobe is that Flash sucks balls. Even though I’ve made some pretty decent scratch creating Flash projects, I gotta side with Apple on this one. The only problem with their argument is that, until now, there haven’t been any viable alternatives to Flash technology. Enter: HTML 5, CSS3, and a whole lotta geeky magic.

Apple’s new HTML5 demo-page (Safari required) showcases a few of the things that HTML5 brings to the table. Video/Audio Embedding, Fancy Fonts, Dynamic Photo Galleries, Web Transitions, even 3D and Virtual Reality. Effectively kicking Flash in the nuts every time. Most importantly, allowing developers to create rich multi-media experiences without the need of an entire suite of clunky Applications that crash… a lot.

iPad + Velcro =

Andy Blazquez — Sun, 23 May 2010 21:58:58 +0000

When I saw the following video, I immediately realized that trying this shit is exactly how I will break my iPad. But the clever dude who made the video puts it best:

“Two of mankind’s greatest inventions, together at last. Note: this is an exploration of what is possible, not necessarily what is practical. Tweet from the street at your own risk!”

[via jesserosten]

Space Shuttle Time-lapse

Andy Blazquez — Sun, 23 May 2010 12:12:36 +0000

The space shuttle time-lapse video, or as I like to call it: nerd porn, was shot on Canon Mark II’s over the span of six weeks. To be quite honest, part of me still can’t assimilate the fact that we build things and then send them into friggin space. This video helps with that increduloucity (Im pretty sure that’s not a word.. but it should be).

Gizmodo Leaks Next iPhone

Andy Blazquez — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 00:04:59 +0000

If you listen closely to these images, you can almost hear someone at Apple getting fired, then re-hired, just so he can be fired again. It seems that a next-gen iPhone test unit was misplaced by some poor Apple employee. I could only imagine the plethora of intricate shapes formed by the purple veins on Steve Jobs’ neck as he saw that popular tech blog Gizmodo got their hands on the prototype and dissected it worse than that alien in the black and white video from Roswell.

I’m predicting it will be called the iPhone HD.

Some interesting specs:

- Front facing camera (for mobile video chats)

- Improved rear camera (HD?)

- Improved display (960×640)

- New material on back that improves reception by causing less interference.

New Commodore: Bad Idea.

Andy Blazquez — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 10:15:50 +0000

Back in the early 80’s, when computer companies were run by hippies and had gay logos, there was a smash hit of a machine called the Commodore 64. This revolutionary device was best known for its monitor-less design and its 64 whole kilobytes of memory (hence the 64). The product worked because laptops were scarce and monitors weighed a thousand pounds. It made sense to carry this thing around in your Delorean and plug it into an open monitor at work.

Fast forward to today – shit has changed a lot. While Apple has been busy cramming computers into the thinnest of flat-screen monitors, laptops, phones, and tablets – some genius named Barry Altman had the “brilliant” idea of recycling backwards-ass 30 year old technology. Think current laptop technology, except without a monitor!? Like a retarded version of convergence.

Let’s plot out the key moments behind this ill fated business idea:

STEP 1) The Idea: (toke, toke) “Hey dude, I have a totally original idea! Let’s remake an old product, slap the commodore logo on it and then try to buy the rights from whoever ends up suing us for trademark infringement.”

STEP 2) The execution: (sniff, sniff) “Listen bro, this whole Commodore thing is totally doable… People love retro shit.. Besides, I met a guy from Dubai in the bathroom the other day that said he’d totally back this thing… Oil money bitches..”

STEP 3) The Website: “Yeah Dawg, I bought Commodoreusa.net. My cousin Frankie is building us a totally profesh web site. Don’t worry man, people totally trust ‘.nets’… and dudes named Barry. ”

STEP 4) Upcoming Product Launch: “Doh!”

STEP 5) Upcoming Bankruptcy: ”Maybe making a laptop without a monitor wasn’t the bestests of ideas. But don’t worry, I just got a email from a Nigerian prince… I’m not clear on the details, but if we wire transfer him 15k, we’re gonna be fucking rich!”.

STEP 6) “DOH!”

UPDATE: Barry RESPONDS! Because all major computer CEOs totally check out my shitty blog right before they go buy Bentleys.

Ill leave the original comment in the comments, but here it is for dramatic purposes.

Andy,

Very humorous..I loved it. But here are a few corrections for accuracy:

STEP 1) The Idea: (sip, sip) “Hey Venture capitalists, I have a totally UNoriginal idea! Let’s remake an old product, brand it with the commodore logo on it and then buy the rights.

STEP 2) The execution: ( ) “Listen investors, this whole Commodore thing is totally doable… People love retro shit.. Besides, I met a Wall Street group from NY at my club the other day that said they’d totally back this thing… Old money investors..”

STEP 3) The Website: “Yeah Dawg, I bought Commodoreusa.net.(com was taken) We are building a totally profesh web site. Don’t worry man, people totally trust ‘.nets’… and dudes named Barry. “ that IS true!

STEP 4) Upcoming Product Launch: “Yea!” over 2400 units presold @ $1K average

STEP 5) Upcoming Expansion: ”we’re gonna be fucking rich!”.

STEP 6) “DOH!” Where’s the bank? and the nearest Bentley dealer?

Hey Barry, don’t sue us. We assume no one reads this site.

Self Balancing Unicycle U3-X

Andy Blazquez — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 23:50:07 +0000

Here’s a demo of Honda’s U3-X self balancing unicycle. While it does look pretty impressive, I’m predicting the same horrible fate as the segway. In fact, I’ll bet you a cool 20 that this thing will mostly be seen piloted by fat-asses and faggy beach cops.

iPad Jailbreak: That was quick

Andy Blazquez — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 00:13:28 +0000

Just one day after the iPad’s hyped release and they done-did hacked the thing already. While seemingly innocuous, hacks like these put a fire under Apple’s collective asses to keep the functionality of the device somewhat on-par with the thousands of hacked functionalities added by the tinkerers. Judging by the quickness of the jailbreak, by next week, this dude’s iPad will be cleaning his toilets and taking out the trash.

The video above shows a hack that allows the nerd to access the iPad through commands on his mac.