Creating an iPad Application

One of the great things about the iPhone is how limited it is; to design an application for it, you just need to take one very simple idea and implement it really nicely. With the iPad, it won't be as simple; you have a lot more screen real-estate and the interaction model with the device is totally different. Can you imagine a fart app selling on this device? I certainly can't.

Instead of scaling up iPhone applications for the iPad, it's going to be more that we'll have to scale down desktop applications. There's an instant disadvantage to any developer who hasn't got established desktop software in their repertoire. Most of our iPhone apps simply will not work on the iPad because the apps' concepts do not fit this new platform. Noel of SnappyTouch has already 'announced' that he will not be porting his existing iPhone app to iPad, and I think that will ring true with many other developers.

The sky is the limit with the iPad platform, and there are some exciting times ahead. As mentioned in the keynote, this will be a whole new gold rush for developers.

"Magic"

And guys, they have a point. This thing could save the publishing industry and the newspaper/magazine industry. It could revolutionize the digital fine arts. It does essentially everything that can possibly fit on a screen that size, almost unconsciously. It is so magic that it does things you’d never imagine wanting something to do.

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That Changes Everything

Some people are claiming the iPad is a large iPod Touch, but I think that nothing could be further from the truth.

Precisely because the iPad is larger, it’s not a device you’re going to carry in your pocket. It’s something that’s going to be laying on your desk, or piled on top of a few books on the coffee table. And that changes everything.

Noel Llopis muses as to where the iPad really fits in the market.

I agree with pretty much everything except for the demographics; I think the iPad could also be a major influence on college/university students (and hey, I'm one of them).

A Mere Pop-Up Window

Yes, it’s closed–and developers still need to get Apple’s blessing before iPad users can install their wares. But, in fact, that’s really a feature–not a detraction.

If we seriously want computing appliances to fade into the background and put the focus on what they can do for their users, such safeguards and gating are necessary today.

Bill Heyman in his post "The iPad Surfaces!".

You know, on a related note, one of the amazing things about the iPad is that an entire iPhone-app's worth of complexity and power can be implemented as a mere pop-up window in a real iPad application. This thing blows the doors off mobile computing.

"…nothing will be quite the same again"

You may or may not be in the queue for an iPad in March, April, May or June. Or you may decide to stay your hand for version 2.0 or 3.0. But believe me the iPad is here to stay and nothing will be quite the same again.

Stephen Fry on Apple's new iPad.

'Apple's Tablet Obsession Reaches a Fevered Pitch'

Whatever Apple does announce, you can be sure that the result will be another lemming trail leading up to the local Apple Store. Until Steve Jobs steps down, that's going to be the result of virtually everything the man announces. I'd never bet against him.

Paul Thurrott over at his SuperSite for Windows.

Apple Planning Own Search Engine?

There's a lot of talk now about Apple thinking of replacing Google as the default search engine on iPhone, however the most interesting quote is from BusinessWeek suggesting Apple is working on their own search engine:

Even if it’s consummated, an Apple-Bing deal may prove short-lived. The person familiar with Apple’s thinking says Apple has a “skunk works” looking at a search offering of its own, and believes that “if Apple does do a search deal with Microsoft, it’s about buying itself time.” Given the importance of search and its tie to mobile advertising — and the iPhone maker’s desire to slow Google — “Apple isn’t going to outsource the future.”

It reminds me of Steve Ballmer's telling quote from the second Engadget Show in late 2009:

It doesn't feel very optional to be a significant player in the computer business in 2009 and not be trying on Search.

We're possibly about to see Google forcefully uprooted from iPhone OS 4.0, with Apple now owning their own mapping company, advertising company, and now in talks to bring Bing in as the default search engine. Let's hope the YouTube app doesn't get pulled, a lot of people use it regularly. Perhaps it will be moved to a download on the App Store?

I guess Apple needs something to do with their new $1bn server farm. :-)

The Apple Licensing Myth

Legends die hard. In the pre-Web days, they got printed and reprinted, told and retold and so became official, like spinach being good for you because it held the iron your red cells needed. After decades of the disgusting veggie inflicted upon young kids - I remember, a scientist went back to the bench and found out there was no digestible iron whatsoever in spinach. You don’t get calcium by ingesting chalk, you need a calcium compound that’ll get through the sophisticated filters in the digestive system. Eating spinach gives you as much digestible iron as sucking nails.

Once top Apple exec, and founder of Be, Inc., debunks the theory that Apple must license the iPhone OS.

Nook v1.0 on Android Emulator

I decided to check out the Nook earlier today; naturally it's not available in Ireland so I downloaded the firmware update from Barnes and Noble and set to work on getting it to run on something.

I didn't expect to get very far, but after a little hacking it was actually working.

To get it to run I had to:
• grab the firmware update using the tools at http://code.nookdevs.com/
• unpack the system folder out of the firmware update using said tools and gunzip
• replace lib/libaudioflinger.so with that from a clean Cupcake build of Android (took it from the emulator)
• disassemble the classes.dex file inside framework/services.jar using baksmali
• modify 'ServerThread.smali' to remove the line " if-lt v0, v1, :cond_483 " (it looped on waiting for eInk display)
• recompile the dex file using smali and re-insert it into the jar
• create a system.img from the system folder using mkyaffs2image
• replace the system.img of my Cupcake emulator build with the Nook one just created
• boot the emulator with a resolution of 480x944 (the highest I could get it; it's about 120px too thin for the eInk display)

This is by no means a guide, but it should hopefully point more capable Android hackers in the right direction if they want to get this booting. I'm pretty sure that's all that was required.

Networking is working fine; and the arrow keys on the keyboard control the page turning

Here are some screenshots!




UPDATE:
A video for you non-believers ;-)

Nook on Android Emulator from Steven Troughton-Smith on Vimeo.

Grace - Picture Exchange For Autistic Children

First look at Grace, our picture exchange communication application for individuals with autism spectrum disorder.

THE IPHONE is set to become a communication tool for children with autism, with the testing of a new application for the device.

The application is designed to be used in a similar way to the Picture Exchange Communication System (Pecs), which allows children to build sentences using a book of laminated pictures attached to a board by Velcro.

The application, which is being developed under the working title Grace, is the brainchild of Lisa Domican, a parent of two children with autism. She was inspired by O2’s marketing campaign for the iPhone. Before the launch of the device in 2008, the mobile operator ran advertisements on buses in Dublin. Ms Domican noticed the advertisements and realised the phone’s potential as an alternative to the Pecs books used by her 10-year-old daughter, Grace.

“You are constantly having to replace loose cards and make new ones,” said Ms Domican. “With the iPhone, the screen looks like a Pecs book. It’s ok to have a four-year-old walking around with a Pecs book; it’s not ok for a 10 or 12-year-old. They’re very personal to the kids; it’s their voice. The [Pecs books] really stand out, whereas the iPhone is discreet and always there.”

The idea is backed by O2 Ireland, which supplied the devices for the development and testing of the application. The mobile network is already involved with Irish Autism Action and it was through this link that Ms Domican got backing from O2.

Ms Domican linked up with Steven Troughton-Smith, a software developer for the iPhone who has created a number of bestselling applications.

Mr Troughton-Smith, a student at Dublin City University, took the description of what Ms Domican wanted and turned it into a working version of Grace.

He developed the application to look exactly like a Pecs book. So instead of carrying around a Pecs book, older children can use the iPhone to choose from a range of pictures and place them on a virtual strip of Velcro.

Ms Domican’s daughter Grace has become so comfortable with the technology that she adds her own photos to the application’s library using the iPhone’s camera.

The application is undergoing trials on five devices in three schools to see if other children, parents and tutors can use it easily. Once testing has been completed, it will be submitted to the iPhone App Store.

CIARA O'BRIEN
The Irish Times

Orbit 1.0 - Week in Review

Orbit has been available a full week now, and has performed phenomenally in the market. It's about to cross the 50,000 users mark, and I thought it would be a good idea to share some statistics of the Cydia Store market.

Here's the device breakdown (of 45,254 devices):



It's interesting to note that the iPhone 3G and the iPhone 3GS are almost identical in market share so far (in fact, for most of this week the 3GS was ahead by about 4%, but the 3G pulled ahead at the last minute). Remember, the 3GS is only a couple months old.

So, with that in mind, what OS is everyone running?



As you can see, the majority are on the latest version of iPhone OS, although there is a significant number remaining on 3.0.

Orbit has been received positively in the media, too, although the highlight of my week was getting the great Stephen Fry to use Orbit. From his e-mail to me, he said…

"Smooth and stable and genuinely useful. It’s there on my dock, the first app ever to deserve a place there…"

I can't wait to wrap up v1.1 and push it out to all of you - and if you like Orbit, please tell your friends! It's only $1.99 on the Cydia Store, and you get free updates.

Orbit - bringing 'SpringBoard Exposé' to life

Early this month Ocean Observations posted a video on YouTube of a concept they dubbed 'SpringBoard Exposé'; a way to quickly navigate the multitude of home screen pages many of us have on our iPhones or iPod touch.

In chatting with Louie over at The Iconfactory, he 'suggested' I go and see if I could make it into a reality. After two hours of work, I had the concept up and running on my iPhone.

Simply tap the Orbit icon and you're zoomed to what I dub the 'Orbital View' of your home screen, from there you can tap any of the pages to zoom directly there. For anyone with many pages of apps, this will change the way you use your device, I guarantee!

Fast forward to today, its first day of release, and Orbit is a huge hit on the Cydia Store. Louie cooked up some awesome artwork with a little prodding from me, and the reviews across the web have been outstanding. For posterity, here are some of the reactions from users on Twitter:

"Very polished, works flawless for me"

"Just bought Orbit from Cydia. It kicks ass!"

"Just purchased, and installed Orbit!!! This is the best iphone app I have on my phone.. I works GREAT!!! Thank You!!!"

"Just installed Orbit... My life is so much easier now. Thank you! Probably the best thing ever for the iPhone."

Orbit 1.0 is available now from the Cydia Store at $1.99, but the story only begins here. There are many awesome improvements in the pipeline, and I hope you all enjoy Orbit as much as I have enjoyed making it. Please spread the word!

'Expose' for iPhone

Working on this little [jailbreak] modification, hope you all get to see it very soon. Still trying to figure out a name for it (can't use Expose or Spaces, would be nice to have a name of its own).

Haven't done any caching yet, so there are a load of speed improvements coming. But for anyone trying to navigate 11 home screens, even this as-is is really really cool.

Stack v3 Alpha 2 Released

Stack v3 Alpha 2 is now up for contributors; check here for more details.

Whatever you do, make sure to read the readme as there are some important gotchas!

New in Alpha 2:
• Multiple Stacks
• Dimming of screen when opening a Stack
• Reflective Dock support
• Support for iTunes 9's App Management
• Stack Update Notifications (notification when there's a new version available)
• New Grid View animations (temporary)
• Stacks are findable/openable using Spotlight