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Why the iPad’s user agent string presents a problem
Apple marketed the iPad at launch as an internet device designed for the full web. So why then are they explicitly classifying it as a mobile device?Read the story »
Flash CS5 public beta cancelled by Adobe
Well, that was quick. Adobe has pulled the plug on the previously planned for Flash CS5 public beta, initially announced at MAX in October. So much for getting iFosfr rolling before final release. Official statement from Adobe after the break.
Microsoft launches Bing iPhone app. Yes, you read that right.
Microsoft launched a fantastic iPhone app today. That sentence really says an awful lot, and what's more first blush impressions of this app are very impressive. Echoing the functionality of the web portal itself, the app offers a fantastic image search system, maps and navigation, news, and local business and movie search. The app even offers speech to text for entering searches. It definitely looks as if Microsoft has put their $99/year Apple developer license to good use. The app is available now in the app store. Additional screen grabs after the break.
Nuance Dragon Dictation app removes contact upload requirement
Nuance has reacted quickly to the initial negative response towards the required upload of a user's contact names to their servers, releasing a 1.1 update to their Dragon Dictation app today that makes the upload optional, and allows existing users to remove their existing data from Nuance's servers if they had already opted in. The data upload is intended to improve the recognition of contact names by the speech to text algorithms, however the previous requirement of this upload of personal data was a frequent topic of concern in initial reviews of the app.
See my original review of the app here.
How paid apps increase platform loyalty
If you've ever considered the switch from PC to Mac or vice-versa, you've undoubtedly faced a slew of decisions before opting to take the plunge. One of the biggest that is not readily apparent to many is the cost of software purchased for your platform. Depending on computing needs, the software dollars pumped into one's platform of choice can range from next to nothing if you are internet only user to thousands or more if professional applications are in the mix. But what about switching mobile platforms?
Dragon Dictation iPhone app review
Solely responsible for the now near ubiquity of the colloquial term 'app', the iPhone app store has received vast amounts of both praise and criticism for what it does well and what it fails to do, respectively. As an iPhone app developer myself, I am accutely aware of the pitfalls of the app store from a content creater perspective. However, on a day to day basis, I am more aware of the pitfalls as a user consuming apps from the app store, and the largest issue by far is a severe lack of useful apps. In my glances through the app store several times per week, it is growing increasingly rare that I look at an app and say, "yes...THAT is an app I need." Some blame it on the app store interface itself, some on the content creators, some on the restrictions in the API from Apple. Whatever the case, the app store has a very well earned reputation of content bloat.
Bucking that trend of repititive or marginally useful apps comes an elegantly simple yet profoundly useful app from Nuance. Best known as the company behind the well-known Dragon Naturally Speaking speech recognition software, they have released the first version of what could potentially be the next killer productivity app for mobile devices, Dragon Dictation.
Jeff dePascale is a web and mobile applications professional based in Fairfield County, CT.
