iPhoney Baloney
While iPhone-maniacs are drooling over what Apple has in store for the new version of the iPhone 3G this summer, fans are already speculating as to what an iPhone 4G will look like and what features it will have. Never mind the fact that for Apple to have an iPhone on a 4G network they'd have to be free of AT&T.
We've combed the Web to bring you our 'Photoshopped' favorites. Afterwards, let us know what you think about these concept iPhones and if there's one we missed.
Memory Maven
Obviously the concept here is that there'll be more memory (for all those "luxury" apps on tap) and the staple Apple silver shell.
Good Genes
If the PowerBook and the iPhone 3G had a baby. Here we have a titanium and glass model that hopes for an OLED screen, front camera for iChat, removable battery (yeah, that'll happen), a 3.2 Megapixel camera, video and, of course, more memory at 32 GB.
It's Ultra, Man!
Dubbed the "iPhone Ultra", this concept looks a lot like other 4G iPhoneys with a titanium and glass casing, and an OLED display. Under the hood, there's a 1.2 GHz processor and the "specs" list also includes a 5.2 megapixel camera, 4G connectivity, WiFi, Bluetooth 10x and iPhone OS 2.7.
It's Ultra, Man! The Sequel
Another view of the iPhone Ultra. Note the 64 GB of internal memory. Concept specs note that the battery of the phone would provide energy for 18 hours of video
playback and 48 hours of audio playback. That would indeed be sweet.
Luxe Life
The "iPhone Luxe" is a deluxe version of the iPhone Ultra, with a whopping internal memory of 128 GB and black, elegant case.
Game On!
According to a ComScore report, iPhone users are about ten times more likely to download games for their phones than other smartphone users -- and this design takes gaming to heart. Not sure this looks better than a PSP, but still interesting. Will the next-gen iPhones offer a gaming focus? Will there be a new iPod gaming device in the works?
Dangerous Curves
Nice curves! This iPhone 4G concept appears inspired by the MacBook Air and would offer us something we're currently missing in current iPhone models -- a videochat. Combined with GPS, this could prove a powerful feature. Like other 4G concepts, this design has a front camera.
Key-Bored?
Still amazed at concept iPhones that incorporate QWERTY keyboards. This design seems antithetical to what the iPhone offers, but still like the titanium shell.
Say Cheese!
Another odd design that looks like it was built by Nokia with its QWERTY slide-out keyboard. What's up with the camera lens? Maybe it's just a way to say that this designer wants the iPhone to boost the camera features.
A Keyboard, a Camera -- and Game-Ready
The "iPhone Pro" looks a lot like the previous concept (keyboard and honking camera) but has a a little hint to gaming interface. Not quite up to Apple's design standards, but like the gaming nod.
Sleek and Curvy
Another concept with curves -- this design is sleeker than the existing 3G model. As with other concepts in this batch, this device-hopeful has a titanium back plate (a la the original iPhone). The headphone slot is replaced by longer and thinner one that stretches across the top of the phone's display. There's no mute switch here (a problem for sure), but there appears to be a few feature items missing from this offering.
802.11n and More
This iPhone 4G concept from TERANFX tech blog, hopes for 802.11n (which appears to be on the way for the next version of the iPhone 3G), FM radio, and video editing.
For more information about enterprise networking, go to NetworkWorld. Story copyright 2008 Network World Inc. All rights reserved.
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10 Top Overlooked Features of Google Maps
Get the most out of Google Maps with the help of these pointers.
James Hutchinson, Good Gear Guide
Google Maps: Feature Rich
Google Maps is a great Web site with more features than you can poke a stick at. Unfortunately, this means that there are probably features you don't know about or don't know how to use, which can dampen the entire experience and stop you from making full use of the service. Here are 10 of the things you may not have known you could do.
Share Exact Map Details
One of the most annoying things about sharing route or map details is that it is often hard (and sometimes impossible) to recreate the map exactly as you saw it on a different computer or for a friend. Google has addressed this by creating dynamic links which automatically update to include all information about your Google Maps session. Click the small "Link" button in the top right hand corner and the HTML link will contain all the information needed to create an exact replica of what you are seeing, from zoom level to travel routes to photo or transit layers.
Embed Google Maps into Your Web Page
A link is great for sharing your map with one or two people but if you want to share it on your Web site, you can go further than simply pasting an HTML link. In the same way you can easily embed a YouTube video into your site, you can also embed the map you want, complete with customisable sizes to suit your site's layout. Posting a dynamic map onto your Web site instead of a static one means that your users can easily see what you want them to see, as well as venture around the area and see the context of your map.
View Geotagged Photos within Street View
Street View is a great tool for having a look at a particular location, but it only uses photos taken from a vehicle on the road and is often limited in its scope. To fill the gaps, Google Maps uses the photo sharing service Panoramio. Provided the photos are properly geotagged, Google Maps can automatically place them in their correct location and allow you to view photos other people have taken of that location. A small thumbnail in the top right corner automatically shows the best user photo depending on the angle you are looking at, but you can view any of the available photos to gain a better picture of the location.
Change Your Travel Route
Google Maps has long had the ability to give you directions between point A and point B but this was often a static route that chose the shortest distance. As any discerning driver will know, this becomes a problem when there is traffic or you know a better way. You might not be able to access traffic information like the SUNA Traffic Channel through Google Maps but you can change the route through dots placed along the route. Drag a dot to the desired place and the route will dynamically shift to suit the new path.
Google My Maps
An increasingly popular feature of Google Maps is the My Maps function, which allows you to create a personalised maps with specific points of interest, routes, photos and videos. You can then share your map with friends or with the wider Google Maps community. You can also search for and navigate along maps created by others. If you are a tourist in a foreign country or simply want to find a new place to go, searching for an existing My Map will allow you to see where others have been and their recommendations.
Find the Best Restaurant
Google has continued to build upon its database of points of interest and already has an extensive list of restaurants and places to eat categorised by location and cuisine. Of course, having a list of the dozens of Italian restaurants in the Sydney suburb of Leichhardt isn't much help when you don't know which ones are good or not. Thankfully, Google Maps sources reviews from several Web sites and its own community in order to help you. It will provide review abstracts from the top 10 restaurants depending on your search query, and give you easy to access to reviews for those that aren't in the top 10. You also have the chance to review the restaurant yourself.
Add Your Business to Google Maps
We mentioned this last year but it remains a relatively unknown feature that can rival the publicity afforded by the likes of the Yellow Pages. Google Maps allows you to create a business listing with contact information, a description and the exact location of your business. If you have several outlets or own a franchise, you can even submit an Excel document (provided it is formatted correctly) to cut down on time.
The Ins and Outs of Public Transport
Google Transit is another budding feature of Google Maps, allowing you to see public transport details for a given city. Coverage isn't always extensive — in Australia only Perth and Adelaide have the Transit feature — and even in supported cities the amount of information varies. However, provided you're in a supported city simply click the More button in the top left corner, tick the Transit feature, and a new layer will appear on the map with train, ferry, bus and tram public transport information where available. For some cities the information even extends to individual bus and train routes and timetables for each route.
Send Map Information to Your GPS Navigation Device
There are numerous benefits to planning your trip from home. Many GPS manufacturers offer proprietary software for planning routes while you're at home. The information can then be transferred onto your GPS device. If you're used to Google Maps, however, then you can use your existing routes or create new ones to transfer to support GPS devices. Google provides step-by-step guides for individual GPS devices, so it is a breeze to set up.
Create a Profile to Track Your Submissions
Google Maps is quickly becoming a community in its own right. From the My Maps available on the Web site to the avid community of Sketch Up artists creating 3D rendering for buildings on Google Earth, it has become the work of disparate individuals rather than just a single company. Creating a Google Maps profile allows you to track your own submissions to Google Maps, including restaurant/location reviews and your created maps. You can also see other profiles, allowing you to track the more active users and see their progress on a given journey, or simply use their content to enhance your own Google Maps experience.
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Sure, spyware, spam and wireless routers that have the lifespan of a mosquito annoy us all. But what do we really hate about technology? Here's my current top 10 list:
1. People Who Talk on Smartphones 24/7. One would think that I'd be over this by now. No, I'm not. It's 2009, people! You're not cool or special just because you can talk away on your pink BlackBerry Pearl. You're just like everybody else! Now get back in your Hummer, drive home to your McMansion and watch "Real Housewives of Orange County" on your 100-inch HDTV. Thanks.
2. Cloud Computing. I'm mere days away from spontaneously vomiting every time I hear some tech vendor CEO or industry pundit use this overhyped and nebulous phrase (see Wall Street Journal article for more disgust). Saleforce.com is not helping my cause. Its new corporate tagline: The Enterprise Cloud Computing Company.
3. The Hour or So It Takes to Start a PC. Seriously! Seriously? It's ridiculous how long it takes to start or restart a Windows PC these days. Shouldn't we have improved this by now? I hope President Obama targets this as one of the key inefficiencies dragging down the U.S. economy.
4. Moronic High-Tech Product Names. Listen, I know most of the good names have been taken already (see our list of how 10 of the most famous got their iconic names), but there's got to be something better out there than G1, Yatt'it and Intel Dual Socket Extreme Desktop Platform (thanks to The Pollywog Blog for the ammunition).
5. Twitter. Tweet this: NOBODY REALLY CARES WHAT YOU ARE DOING RIGHT NOW!
6. High-Tech Vendor Press Releases. Too many high-tech PR firms hire entry-level staffers to churn out useless releases that follow the same template: "Type in the date, your company's name and add any combination of these words and/or phrases around your company's product(s) name(s): robust, industry-leading, rich-user experience, nascent, cloud, real-time, first of its kind, flexible, road map, solution, collaboration, mission-critical, green, smart for these tough economic times." Done.
7. Apple. It's so close to jumping the shark that The Fonz is currently warming up his motorcycle and listening to "Happy Days" on his iPod. "Sunday, Monday, Happy Days...."
8. Microsoft Bashing.
Artwork: Chip Taylor
Yes, you read that right. MS is like a drug that everyone happily takes -- quite regularly -- but then denies to everyone who'll listen that they actually take their MS Meds. Of course, they gladly tell everyone how much they "hate Microsoft." You love Microsoft. You really, really do.
9. The Laptop Crowd at Starbucks and Panera. Wireless networking technologies have enabled a generation of do-nothings and posers to look busy in coffee shops and restaurants instead of finding themselves all alone in their dark basements.
10. Today's Pandemic of IT Industry Pundits and Blowhards. Thanks to the Internet and pervasive (and free) blogging platforms, everybody and his brother now has the ability to pontificate and unleash ill-formed opinions on Apple, Oracle, Facebook and whatever else in the tech universe that offends their far-superior sensibilities. Get a date, guys. You sound lonely.
by PCworld
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