Apples to Android to Apples

As I’ve mentioned a few times on the site, I own an iPhone 4S. But this wasn’t always the case.

For Christmas in 2008, I received an iPhone 3G. By then, the app store existed. It was my first steps into a brave new world of smart phones. At the time, Apple owned the entire market. All was well.

But the iPhone 3G wasn’t necessarily designed to run apps. After all, it was little more than the original iPhone with a new design and a 3G antenna. With the release of the 3GS and its speed upgrades, many apps quickly began to take advantage of the added processing power. The iPhone and iPhone 3G were quickly being left in the dust.

Crimson: Steam Pirates

It has come to my attention that Crimson: Steam Pirates, one of my favorite iPad games, is both on iPhone and free this weekend. If you have any iOS devices, you owe it to yourself to check out this game.

c25k

For those of you who are unfamiliar, c25k is an abbreviation for Couch to 5K. It is a running program designed to turn someone who can’t run very far for long into a person capable of running five kilometers without stopping or walking. My friend Pete tackled this program last year, and he seemed to really enjoy it. iPhone in hand (well, pocket), I began the routine myself today.

On the tech side, there are many ways of managing your runs with your various, portable electronics. The program works by starting off participants in a cycle of walking and running. As you progress, you walk less and run more. While you could just keep time and know when to do what, that’s no fun! There are pre-recorded podcasts and apps that you can get on your smart phone or iPod Touch to handle this for you.

WiFi Sync – The iOS feature I’ve always wanted and no loner need.

When I had my iPhone 3GS, there was one feature I always craved. The ability to sync my phone via WiFi. Owning an iHome, I loved being able to drop my phone onto the top of my alarm clock and let it charge over night. But what if I wanted top update my podcasts? Or sync new albums? Or maintain a daily backup? Since these processes, especially the backup, could take a while, many nights I’d be plugging my phone into my computer. It left me wondering why I bought this fancy alarm clock.

Fast forward to iOS 5, and we finally have WiFi sync! It’s just like I always wanted. I put my iPhone 4S on my iHome or dock my iPad, and the sync starts automatically.

What’s that? iOS 5 sends my backup to the cloud automatically once a day? Well that’s good. Frees up some space on my MacBook. Now I’m syncing songs and apps like a pro. Then iTunes Match arrived.

Why I Love Siri

“Xbox. Kinect.”

“Navigate to (pause) Pittsburgh.”

Voice commands have been in vogue of late. And they’re becoming much more useful than ever. I found myself using them in everyday life.

Then Siri came along.

Suddenly the whole concept of voice commands seemed to evolve in an instant. The rigid vernacular of my Xbox’s Kinect or the Android’s voice actions melted away. I could just talk to my phone. Here’s an example of how I would get my old Android phone to play the new Muppets soundtrack.

“Listen to (pause) The Muppets.”

I found the pause helpful and at time necessary to help the phone differentiate between the verb of the command and the object of the command. Now with my iPhone 4S, it goes like this.

Now Listening: The Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Special Orchestra CD

If you’re playing The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, I hope you bought the special edition. And if you haven’t bought it yet, you absolutely should. Not only do you get a lovely Wii Remote Plusin Zelda gold for half of what a Wii Remote Plus would usually cost, but you get the phenomenal The Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Special Orchestra CD.