Star Trek and the iPad
For those of you who can’t get enough “Star Trek,” here are some clips posted on You Tube from the series that predicted the coming of the iPad. Some in this post date back at least 20 years.
Most are from “The Next Generation” but you can find on the Web all kinds of reports that illustrate how “Star Trek” decades ago envisioned the technology that we use today — such as Skype for video conferencing, flip mobile phones, Blue Tooth headsets, portable translators, interactive video gaming, voice-activated computers and more.
Star Trek never mentioned apps as a way to access the Enterprise’s main computer system, however. But this blog post foreshadows Tuesday’s Get App-y column on NewsOK.com anyway. Stay tuned. …
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Jean Luc Pickard and an iPad predecessor
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And yet another …
What will the next real-life technology be that was first imagined by “Star Trek”? Cloaking to make an entire ship invisible? The Holodeck for video gaming? Comment below or email me.
~ Lillie-Beth (lbrinkman@opubco.com)
Free eBooks from the Metropolitan Library System
Did you know you can get free eBook downloads for your iPhone or Android phone from the Metropolitan Library System’s website in central Oklahoma?
In researching the Barnes and Noble Nook e-reader over Christmas, I found out you can check out books from the library to that particular device (although not the Kindle). I didn’t know that the same file formats that allow electronic book borrowing to the Nook also can work on your smart phone.
Go online to www.metrolibrary.org for free eBook downloads from your phone. As the library system announced last month, the OverDrive Media Console app, used on many eReaders, is now available for iPhone, iPod touch and Android phones/tabloids. The app lets you download both EPUB eBooks and MP3 audioboos directly to your device.
“This has been one of our most requested services, and we’re so glad to be able to offer it,” said Kellie Delaney, manager of web development and support for Metropolitan Library System, in a news release. “Not only is it great to be able to read our library books on your phone, but you can download them easily whenever you are connected to a WiFi or cellular network.”
To get the app, new users can search for “OverDrive Media Console” in the Apple App Store and Android Market, while current users will be alerted to update the existing OverDrive app on their devices. MLS eBooks and audiobooks can be downloaded by going to www.metrolibrary.org and clicking on eMedia.
The eBook reading experience includes user-inspired features for bookmarking and adjusting brightness and font size. Additional features will be added as the apps evolve, including highlighting, annotation, in-app text-to-speech, and more.
Currently the iPhone app will work on iPad with iOS 4 and enables the full browse, check-out, download experience. However, an optimized version for iPad — with improved resolution and additional features — is coming soon, along with apps for BlackBerry and other mobile devices.
How do you like your e-reader? Did you get one for Christmas? Which is your favorite? E-mail me, or post a comment below.
~ Lillie-Beth Brinkman (lbrinkman@opubco.com)
Protect children online with digital parenting
I liked these tech tips for parents that I received by e-mail from SocialShield, a company that offers tools and social network monitoring for parents wanting to protect their children online, especially as they unwrap more Internet-enabled mobile devices this Christmas. While I am not familiar with this startup company, these tips are some good ones. As Social Shield says, “parents need to stay equally savvy, making sure their parenting goes digital.”
Here is SocialShield’s advice:
1. Encourage a positive online reputation: Oversharing, cyberbullying and other online hazards can seriously affect kids’ online reputations. The most direct precaution to take against these risks is to talk to your kids about how they use the Internet. Discuss their activity on social networking sites, and come up with strategies for using websites wisely.
2. Keep computer usage in shared family rooms: The best way to monitor your kids’ Internet use is to put the computer in living or family rooms. This also encourages them to share positive findings and activities online, such as festive videos that put everyone in the holiday spirit.
3. Discuss technology use: If your child has just received a new smartphone or iPad, now is the time to set ground rules or limitations on how often they use these devices. With more personal ways to access the Internet — and more time to spare during vacation – kids shouldn’t be spending all their time online. Also make sure that with their current free time they aren’t friending random people just out of boredom.
4. Make sure personal information isn’t shared online: Even if your child is excited about making plans with friends during their school break, remind them that the more information they put online, the more access other people (cyberstalkers, cyberbullies) have to them. They should avoid oversharing any information meant for only close friends or family.
5. Reinforce courtesy and politeness: Although you can’t control the behavior of everyone your kids interact with online, you can stress the importance of being polite to avoid bullying and minimize arguments. Remind your kids that it’s just as important to be considerate and compassionate on the Internet as it is in the real world.
6. Block or filter sites if necessary: Kids can be impulsive, and they might get restless after a few days away from school during their holiday break. With monitoring software and services, you can have a better idea of how they’re spending their time online.
7. Make strict rules about chat rooms and chat software: Unfortunately, chat rooms are havens for cyberbullies and online predators. And it’s not just your kids who are on a holiday vacation! Parents of young kids may want to disallow chat rooms altogether, or you can only allow your kids to chat with known and approved friends.
8. Monitor downloads: Free downloads that kids get really excited about – music, videos, games – can make your system vulnerable to viruses, spyware or attacks. Encourage your kids to ask permission before downloading anything onto the computer, or find holiday music or games that you can download and enjoy together.
9. Beware of intrusive apps on mobile devices: They may be free or low-cost alternative to buying expensive game consoles, but many applications and games on Apple and Android devices send out personal information…without you even knowing! Advise your kids to not enter any personal information on the device, no matter what kind of rewards a game promises to give.
How do you monitor your child’s Internet/mobile device behavior? I wrote about this last summer, but I still would like to hear from you either by e-mail or in the comments below. Enjoy your new gadgets this holiday!
~ Lillie-Beth Brinkman (lbrinkman@opubco.com)
Billboard’s music app winners
Dog gets help singing with LaDiDa mobile app, nominated for Billboard’s Best Music Creation app. Winners posted below video.
In a recent Get App-y column (posted below on this blog), I talked about Billboard’s first-ever mobile app awards. Here are the winners, along with the nominees. Whether they won or not, if you’re into music, check them out, and let me know which ones you like. Winners are in red.
Best Music Engagement App:
Tap Tap Revenge 3
SoundHound Infinity √
Mix Me In2 Taylor Swift
(From Lillie-Beth: All three of these are worth playing around with. SoundHound might be less well known than Shazam, but it does the same thing very well. It’s the one I use. My daughter has also had fun with the Taylor Swift app, too, while my son likes the Tap Tap series, which is like Guitar Hero for the mobile device.)
Best Music Creation App:
LaDiDa
AmpliTude iRig
MorphWiz √
(I’m not familiar with the winner MorphWiz or AmpliTude iRig, but LaDiDa comes from a former Oklahoman, who, with her husband, designed an app to make singers of all types sound better.
As for the rest of these apps, I haven’t done much with them — R5 and Bonnaroo are for specific events and/or the music scene in specific cities, and the music streaming apps often require subscription. I have a subscription to Pandora and iTunes and that’s it for now.)
Best Music Streaming App:
Rhapsody
MOG √
Thumbplay
Best Touring App:
Live Phish √
R5
Bonnaroo
Best Artist-based App:
Linkin Park 8-Bit Revolution
I Am T-Pain √
TouchChords: Jimmy Vaughan
Best Branded App:
50s Sound Lab
ZOOZbeat Sprite
Gibson √
Let me know if you have any more music apps that you like.
~ Lillie-Beth Brinkman (lbrinkman@opubco.com)
Want codes? Get App-y has them for a NewsOK app giveaway
Here's a screenshot of what you can see on the Life home page of the NewsOK app.
Did you hear that NewsOK has its own news app now? We launched it earlier this summer on Apple’s iTunes store, although the rollout was quiet. But now, as NewsOK’s Digital Managing Editor Alan Herzberger wrote recently on his blog, The Digital Desk, you can tell everyone about it. Find his take on the app here: http://bit.ly/boZ2Go. You can then buy the app and get all its cool features on the iTunes store. I just bought it Monday night, and like always, I’ll be exploring the app at the same time you are.
For 99 cents, you get access to The Oklahoman’s and NewsOK’s news, blogs and more, all in one place. Whether you’re into Oklahoma news, arts and entertainment, sports business or the opinion page, you’ll find it on this extensive app. So download it today, or …
… win it from the Get App-y blog! The most exciting part about this Get App-y post is that I have at least two codes to give away that will get you the NewsOK app for free. If you win, you’ll get to read all of our content on this app free. Zip. Nada. But even 99 cents is a small price to pay to stay informed about Oklahoma.
Here’s what to do to win:
Send an e-mail to lbrinkman@opubco.com about what apps you are loving right now, for any smart phone — Google’s Android, Apple’s iPhone, the Blackberry — and tell me why. Your e-mail is your entry, but please leave a comment so others can join the discussion.
I’ll pick a random winner, and I’ll contact you by e-mail with a code to download the app. I’ll also post the names and ideas of the winners on the Get App-y blog. I might even consider your ideas for one of my future Get App-y columns, which run on Tuesday. Check out the app featured in today’s column, Knocking Live Video, at NewsOK.com/life.
Comments will close at noon on Wednesday for this giveaway, and I’ll pick a winner soon after that.
However, keep checking back here. There’s more to come as we get an apps discussion started.
~ Lillie-Beth (lbrinkman@opubco.com)
Getting your mobile app idea to the iTunes store is all in your "App-titude" and finding people who can help
Heath Clinton with Phase 2 Interactive, Holly and Clay Healey of AIC Title Co., and web developer Josh Wright hold images of the apps they helped bring to Apple's iTunes store.
So, you and your friends have this great idea for an application for the iPhone that you think will change the world and make you a millionaire because so many people would want to download it.
Now what do you do? How do you develop it?
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about three Oklahomans who have taken apps from concept to the iTunes store in different ways. Read the article at http://bit.ly/cNEFdl, or read below for information on how to contact them for your own app idea.
One of the Oklahomans, Heath Clinton, leads an Oklahoma City company, Phase 2 Interactive, that develops both mobile and web apps for individuals and businesses. In addition to developing websites, such as for the Oklahoma Heritage Association and SandRidge Energy, Phase 2 received attention this spring for its OKC Memorial Marathon mobile app. The company has others in the works, so stay tuned. Its developers’ first effort was a game called “Quadrangle”; a more recent one was for technology trends speaker Scott Klososky.
Another Oklahoman, Holly Healey, had an idea for an app and wanted to learn what it meant to outsource something to India, a trend that she had read about. She turned to Brickwork India first and was connected to Rajan Barma, who has since formed his own company, Diya IT Solutions, based in Fremont, Calif. The app, “Who Owns That Plane?”, developed for AIC Title Co. of Oklahoma City, owned by Healey’s husband, is now on the app store. She has stayed in touch with “Raj” for other app ideas.
The third Oklahoman, Josh Wright of Norman, is a Web developer from Norman who decided to play around with his ideas for the iTunes store on his own. He has several, including “Pocket Tap,” grouped under the name “Bendy Tree.”
Three Oklahomans found slightly different ways to take their ideas from concept to an actual app.
If you’re interested in getting in touch with the two who do this for a living, here’s how to reach them:
Phase 2 Interactive, which has been in business in Oklahoma City for more than a decade, developing custom websites and software for businesses and institutions and has now branched into the mobile app area.
http://www.phase2online.com
4100 Perimeter Center, Suite 310 Oklahoma City, OK 73112
Phone: (405) 917-3777
Fax: (405) 917-3799
Email: info@phase2online.com.
Rajan Barma with Diya IT Solutions, Fremont, Calif., which develops web and mobile applications on any platform, providing project management and working with local resources if required.
www.DiyaIT.com
E-mail: info@diyait.com or raj@diyait.com
Phone: (510) 857-6880
~ Lillie-Beth Brinkman (lbrinkman@opubco.com)
Wishlist Wednesday: All the new technology, or at least to understand it
Choices, choices, mind-boggling technology choices:
An iPhone 4, an Android or an HTC EVO 4G, which, apparently, is sold out almost everywhere? (I don’t know anything about the Evo. Please enlighten me.)
An iPad, with the 3G network or just wifi?
A mobile phone that tethers to a wireless network so I can have wifi with me all the time? (Or, does the wifi tether to the mobile phone?)
Switch to AT&T or stick with U.S. Cellular? Do I really need an iPhone or can I live happily ever after with my iPod Touch?
A CDMA network or a GS one? What the heck does that mean anyway?
A Wii trade-in at Game Stop so I can get a new one with an enhanced motion-sensor remote for $50 and download Netflix movies onto it?
How do I pay for it all? How are other people paying for all this stuff? Do I NEED it or just WANT it, concepts I’m always stressing to my kids in trying to teach them how to spend money?
With all these new devices, there’s too much technology coming at me all at once these days. I’m trying to sort through it all, and I appreciate the sales clerk at Best Buy who explained some information about mobile phones to me yesterday: The business people still like the Blackberry; younger people like some other phone; developers like the Droid, which is more open and easier to program; different types of users like the iPhone for its ease of use, and so on. At least that’s what I think he said.
My mobile phone contract isn’t up for another year, and my garage sale profits from last Saturday won’t get me anywhere close to an iPad, so luckily I don’t have to make decisions about what I might use as extensively as my iPod Touch anytime soon.
It’s good to be ready, isn’t it? Whew. My brain is tired. Is yours?
I’d love an iPad, but the iPhone 4 is awfully appealling. I could use it to explore all the photo apps, for one. But I will also need a phone that’s I’ll use for real conversations and texting; is the iPhone good for that? I like U.S. Cellular’s network because I can always get through on it at a crowded OU football game while many of my AT&T friends can’t. I’m mostly content with my Blackberry Pearl Flip, although a year from now … ?
The “wow” factor continues for me as I watch all these new products roll out. I want them all, but I don’t know where to start to narrow it down. Also, for which ones do I wait for the second generation? Any ideas?
~ Lillie-Beth Brinkman (lbrinkman@opubco.com)
