Android App Review: Is it Raining Yet?

There are an almost innumerable amount of weather apps around for your smartphone or tablet so finding one that does the job in a good looking way is quite a job.  I've been using Accuweather's offering for a while now but both the BBC and Yahoo have released standalone weather apps of their own which I've been trying out on my Android powered HTC One X.

BBC's new weather app was released today. (image androidcentral.com)

Google Street View Hyperlapse

A San Fransisco digital company, Teehan+Lax Labs, have created a nifty app to create a 'hyperlapse' (video technique using timelapse and a moving camera) using the data from Google StreetView.  It's very clever and inventive, the original files that created it are available to the public (who know how to use it) and it's very addictive!

I've been trying to tour around Lincoln Cathedral using the Hyperlapse app.

The Beauty of Second Screen Viewing

Second screen viewing has become commonplace with the advent of social media and portable technology.  Services such as Twitter and Zeebox combine with smartphones and tablets to allow entertainment to be multiplied onto a second screen; not just your television but also your portable device.

For example, the Zeebox app is to be used whilst watching television and gives real-time information about locations, people and topics that are included on that show right in your hands.  Channel 4 is also a great user of Twitter hashtags in their television shows so that you can follow along on the social media platform to see what others are saying about it.

Today I've found a development in this idea using the iPad and a BluRay disk and it has excited me a lot!

The Dark Knight Rises Second Screen app in action.

Instagram Finally Rolls Out Web Profiles

Recently purchased by Facebook for $1billion, Instagram is a very fast growing image sharing network for photographers that use their mobile devices.  Simply take a photo, add a pre-rendered filter, add some gausian blurs (if you like) and share, share, share!

Previously, Instagram has only been available on iPhone but has gone on to appear on Android and other operating systems.  Yet not until this week has it been possible to view Instagram profiles away from mobile devices as Instagram roll out web profiles.

Nike's Instagram account is one of the first to experience the new web profile.

Merging RSS Feeds: Yahoo Pipes

This is a copy of my latest post on my site for the project I'm currently working on for the College of Social Science at the University of Lincoln.  Hopefully it will be useful to readers who see this blog too.

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You should see, on the right of this website, a ‘Latest College Research News’ box which collates and prints the latest blog posts from all the College of Social Science research units. It means that you, viewers of this blog, can see, at a glance, what is going on across the College in terms of research, without having to search and explore each individual site.

The tool that has helped me do this is the very clever and quite pretty Yahoo Pipes.

Pipes allows you to make a string of data from inputs (such as RSS feeds and Flickr images), filter, merge or split them and output them in a whole new RSS feed that collate your inputs. This is really useful for situations such as that described previously but also for other uses, for example, collating news items from a variety of sources on a certain topic and outputting them on a Twitter account (using something like Twitterfeed in conjunction).

The possibilities are vast and it’s even just fun moving around the boxes on your pipe and watching the curvy lines move with them!

Apple Regress with iOS6 Maps App

The slightly overlooked (thanks to the iPhone5) iOS upgrade to version 6 has been taken to across the world this week with, amongst others, one major change: Google Maps is gone and is replaced with Apple's own version of Maps.

It has a fresh look to it with different colours and different fonts and there is a very nice 3D mode and added navigation (using TomTom's very successful data).  But there are some major problems that have arisen with the new app and many Apple users are not happy.

Uses for White Space and Google+'s Redesign

Google+ has been rolling out a redesign in the past few days to a mixed reception.  Rather than the quite regular, centric design we had before when Google's social network was just starting out, we had a left-aligned, much more integrated appearance with some new and interesting features.

Standing out for me is the left hand navigation bar, the new cover/profile image, the trending on Google+ section and the massive white space...

Social Media is Impersonal? It's Time for Skype

A big debate has arisen alongside the emergence of social media over the past years as to whether the technology is replacing traditional forms of communication (you know, meeting face to face?) with impersonal forms in the virtual world where you hide behind a screen and use text only.  Skype, the free online video conferencing software, is a part of this debate and has certainly taken a side.

A direct attack at Twitter? (adweek.com)

Google Re-invents the Touch Screen Keyboard

Google has for a long time been at the front of invention and innovation and have released yet another new way of dealing with everyday technology.  In an attempt to solve the problem of needing a very small keyboard on the small screens that smart phones naturally have, they have enlisted a relative of Morse Code co-inventor Samuel F B Morse to develop a new way of inputting text.

Gmail Tap, in the new Gmail app for smart phones, gets rid of the normal keyboard and replaces it with just two buttons for Morse Code input; one for dot and one for dash.  The Gmail Tap website gives a guide to learning Morse Code and, once learnt, users can write two things simultaneously, raising productivity twofold.

Tweets for the Streets

I saw this article retweeted by a friend, Phil, today and thought it was ingenious.  It is written by a man called Andrew Wilson on the New Frontiers Theology blog (original post). Some really good and intriguing answers too.  What do you think to them?  Do you have any questions or any better answers (in 140 characters or less, of course!)?

Lots of people go out on the streets at this time of year, to talk to people about Jesus, the gospel and the meaning of Christmas. When those conversations happen, we often encounter questions or comments which sound simple – ‘Who made God?’ or ‘Why does God allow suffering?’ or ‘Science has disproved God’ – but to which simple, pithy answers may not come easily. Lengthy analytical responses, or book recommendations, or even blog-length answers, are not what you need at times like that. You sometimes need a quick, simple response, whether in the form of a question or a statement, which summarises your position and helps the conversation move on. My friend Simon Holley was talking to me about this recently, and he said it would be really useful to have a list of tweet-length answers to common questions like this. Tweets for the streets, if you will. 

Mexican Football Club Identifies with Twitter

  It's been said that you are no more than your Twitter account and Mexican Primera Division club Jaguares how taken that phrase to the next level by using players' Twitter accounts in place of their normal back of shirt names.  They've even adopted the light blue Twitter colour and added a Tweet bird to the design of the shirt.

Kids of the Future

  I was sent a link to this video today by a colleague, created by global media agency PHD Worldwide, commenting on what the landscape of society and consumerism will be like in ten years time.  I thought it was very thought-provoking and a clever way of putting forward the discussion of how companies will have to relate to consumers in years to come with technology growing as it is.

  There's been a lot of bad reaction to this video for exploiting children actors (who do a good job, in my opinion) and portraying them in such a demanding and selfish light.  They also criticise the film-makers for painting such a cynical view of the future and putting a dampener on the youth of today.

  I disagree.  The video plainly presents these children as the voice of the future, talking about the future on numerous occasions and using the future tense.  They paint the logical conclusion of where this selfish society is heading in such a technologically progressive time and I think it's a very clever, thought-provoking and stylistic video.

  What do you think?  Are the film makers at fault creating this film?  Does it paint a plausible picture of the future of consumerism?

  Whatever you think, Chris, the guy who sent the video to me, said he 'prefurred' this version of the video.

Study Shows the "Stupidest" Browser Users

  Users of Internet Explorer have been horrified to find the results of a study correlating IQ and browser use put them at the bottom of the pile.  The study, by psychometric consultants Aptiquant, measured the IQ of 100, 000 people and matched the results with the internet browser they used with interesting results.

Aptiquant's findings.

  In reality, the study doesn't show that users of IE are stupid but that those of a low IQ are more likely to use the browser from Microsoft.  This could be down to the fact that they do not know to upgrade from the default browser they receive with their PC or the amount of "tech geeks" that use the more open source, minority browsers such as Opera and Camino.

  I'm a user of Google Chrome, which I would wholly recommend due to its speed, customisation and overall user-friendliness.  However, do try out the different browsers for yourself: don't quickly delete IE in case your IQ suddenly drops or struggle with Opera in an attempt to become more clever.  The results are just for fun, don't take it too seriously!

Update


  In the end, it turns out this study was a hoax with Aptiquant a fake company and completely falsified data.  Could have been a publicity stunt, a student project or someone with a hatred of Microsoft but, whatever happened, they managed to fool worldwide media (BBC, CNN, Daily Mail, Telegraph and more) which is pretty impressive!

Arcade Fire's New Media

  HTML5 is looking like becoming the natural progression of web languages, succeeding Flash, it's predecessors and other technologies.  YouTube has moved to it, among others, and anyone creating web technologies has to think about something similar to it to get it onto Apple devices (which doesn't accept Flash).  This is the nicest way I've seen it used so far and it's well worth a look.

  The video is of Arcade Fire's new single The Wilderness Downtown and you can see the video here.  After asking you for the location that you grew up in, the video uses HTML5 to jump the imagery around your screen, integrating images of that location as part of the narrative.  It also asks for you to interact with it by writing a postcard of advice to your growing up self which can be sent around the world to other viewers of the video.  I like the concept and it is definitely conducted well.  Have a look for yourself and see what could be the future of music videos.

Twitter Makes Lincoln a Safer Place

  Not a lot of people really understand Twitter.  It's not just a replacement or an alternative for Facebook, it very much should be used alongside Facebook.  As it's been said, Facebook is for people you know but don't like and Twitter is for people who you like but don't know (not completely true but quite humourous nevertheless!).  I like to use Twitter mainly for new articles and comment but I found a great account to follow today which is one of the many other ways Twitter has revolutionised the internet.

  James Newall (@james_newall) is the Lincolnshire Police Press Officer and he makes sure that press releases from the Lincolnshire Police Force gets to the public.  This includes his latest post detailing where Lincolnites can get their bikes security marked in response to the raise of bike thefts in Lincoln and also a Crimewatch-esque call to identify a pure-thief caught on CCTV.  

  Some say social media is taking over the world.  I don't think that is always a bad thing.

Apple Releases Final Cut Revamp, Has to Give Answers

  This last week Apple released it's update of Final Cut, Final Cut Pro X, to very mixed reviews.  Many of them poor.  It was missing a lot of features from previous versions which pro-editors deemed vital, it wouldn't take projects from previous versions and to many looked like a posh version of iMovie (not great for a professional studio).

  However, surprising to me and many others, Apple released a web page answering questions that people had for the program, mostly questions that conjured their negative reactions to the software.  The questions are all ones asked by pro-editors that were unhappy and most answered with 'yes' or 'not yet' implying a bit update soon.  Kudos to Apple for answering their haters but hopefully they haven't made a big mistake and forced many professionals to AVID or Adobe Premiere Pro or this could be the end for FCP as we know it.

Sony Make an iPad/DS Thing...

  Ever thought 'wow, I like the iPad and I also like the dual screens of the DS...if only they would come together'?  Well no is the chance for your dreams to come true with Sony's new tablet, the S2.  I've only just watched this video so you'll have to decide for yourself what it's all about.  You can read more here.

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Ministry of Defence: "Think Before You Tweet"

  Have you ever seen the video before DVDs asking you if you'd ever steal a handbag?  Well, in this spirit, the UK's Ministry of Defence is asking if you'd ever share your family photo album with a terrorist.  In a very nicely made video, light-hearted yet serious enough to make a point, the MoD warn internet users to be careful when using social media and the like not to share vulnerable information.

  In this technological age, the age-old 'careless talk costs lives' adage is still true, in another form.  It makes sense really: it's much more likely a dangerous militant is reading your public status updates than a German spy was listening to your chatter in the 40s.  Have a look.

A poster against careless talk from WW2.

MacBook App Solves Crimes

  Had your MacBook stolen?  There's an app for that.  It's called Hidden and has recently received worldwide media attention in one particular crime that it has solved in California.  Joshua Kaufman is the man who benefited from Hidden yesterday when, after over three months, the man who was using his stolen MacBook was arrested.

Josh with his recovered computer. (bbc.co.uk)

   From $15 per year, you can activate this App when your Mac goes missing and it will send you back pictures from the webcam, screenshots of how the computer is being used and location details of where the machine actually is.  Josh had reported the computer stolen to the police and even provided them with the details he received to aid them in their search but it wasn't until his online record of the events got media attention that they acted.

  His site, This Guy Has My MacBook, chronicled the events of his stolen computer, providing the images he was receiving for the viewing pleasure of its readers and lambasted the Californian police for not acting quicker.  Apparently, it was filed incorrectly and that is why there was such a wait but either way, this a great piece of software for any MacBook user and at around £9 per year, worth it.

  In the meantime, have a laugh at the guy caught on camera before he was caught by the police. 

PSN Back but Hackers are the Ultimate Winners

  This week PlayStation Network came back online! Yay!  Not completely yet but I'm a happy online gamer again now and once the rest of Sony's online services are back up there will be a nice Welcome Back package available including a couple of free game downloads which will give about £25 worth of games; nice.

  Unfortunately it looks like the hackers, who had some beef with Sony, will have won in the end.  They allegedly got a lot of personal details from PSN users but I think it was more the damage to Sony which they were after.  As Edge Magazine reported, there was a 200% increase on users trading in PS3s for cash or X-Box 360s, sales of points for online use inevitably slumped and game pre-orders switched from PS3 to X-Box or simply cancelled.

  Sony will keep their hard-core fans and will probably appease them nicely with their Welcome Back package but damage was done and it will take a lot to get those gamers who were too impatient back to the PlayStation platform.