There’s a lot of big tech sites out there, but for very in depth comparison pieces, Ars Technica is unparalleled. Their hit streak continues with this look at a Apple/iTunes branded mastering technique to squeeze better quality out of MP3s. A lot is covered here, including basics on how music is moved from a master copy to CD or MP3.
A decidedly not cool move by Apple here. Note that Apple is not rejecting Dropbox and Rdio API integration as a whole (that’s front page, “bring the pitchforks” kind of news); instead it’s about the way their APIs authorize users. In particular:
If the user does not have Dropbox application installed then the linking authorization is done through Safari (as per latest SDK).
Once the user is in Safari it is possible for the user to click “Desktop version” and navigate to a place on Dropbox site where it is possible to purchase additional space.
Apple views this as “sending user to an additional purchase” which is against rules.
This is a stretch, at best. As the cloud storage wars among these big players heat up, this kind of sidestepping by Apple looks especially shady.
Update: A lot of other bloggers have pointed out that Apple’s 11.13 rule that restricts external purchases has been around for a while. Others say it’s a simple fix on Dropbox’s part. I think both, while true, somewhat miss the point. First, it appears Facebook Connect is in a similar predicament for authentication (you get bounced to a web page where it’s possible after several clicks to purchase or sign up), yet didn’t get rejected, which implies Dropbox is being treated differently. In addition, just asking Dropbox to fix or patch doesn’t excuse overzealousness on Apple’s part.
Bottom line, it’s one thing to reject an authentication web page that has a direct buy/sign up link on the first page – I see Apple’s concern there – but it’s another to reject sign up/buy several clicks away.
A three part documentary testing the latest crop of high end digital video cameras. 12 cameras are tested head to head, from the expensive Red One M-X (getting increasingly popular on the indie film circuit) to the well known Canon 5D Mark II and Nikon D7000 DSLRs.
It’s rather technical, but if you want to see where the film and camera industry is moving, this is a good start.
I first heard about this over at the Brooklyn Creative League, and I’m digging this collaborative tech for project management. It’s crazy cheap ($3 a year for 3 minigroups and a gig of storage) and looks very straightforward. It’s so inexpensive I’d consider it for non-work web collaboration with friends out of NYC.
Invariably this article, like the ones on Foxconn working conditions, will be dismissed as something that all multinational corporations do, not just Apple. Be it better working conditions in China, more jobs in the U.S., or paying a fair share of California taxes, Apple won’t do it because it won’t “maximize competitive shareholder value.”
Yet don’t we expect more from Apple? Many wouldn’t think twice of criticizing Mitt Romney’s 15% effective tax rate, yet Apple gets a free pass? It’s clear to stay competitive Apple can’t change everything. But something, from donations to California public schools, to bumping up the price on iPhones and Macs (or at least presenting the option) by a few bucks for better working conditions, can be done.
As the debut of Google Drive underlined this week, there's a lot of options out there for cloud storage. To help you decide what's best for your needs, Ars Technica breaks down the pros and cons of each service.
(For the record, I'm pretty happy with the 8GB I get via Dropbox. Some great iOS integration with key apps doesn't hurt either.)
Twitter is awesome, yet I’m very selective with my follow list; a lot of people I otherwise respect just don’t tweet with either a frequency or content that I’m comfortable constantly scrolling through. For that reason a lot of Twitter recommendation engines I find don’t work well.
Peep could change all that. It’s a little tool, produced during this year’s Seven on Seven conference, where you type in any user name and get a private list added to your account which mirrors all their followers. In other words, you get a list that mirrors their timeline. Clever.
The Oatmeal strikes again with another winner. I had a good laugh with his FlareGramster idea.
Really nice roundup by Verge writer Nilay Patel on the privacy implications of each cloud service. Not crazy about Apple’s ability to delete “objectionable” material, but then again, I’m not the audience for buying iCloud space.
“Save for later” apps – apps like Instapaper that capture and cleanly format text articles for later consumption – are essential to my workflow. I rely on them to read long form content for my job, for blog posts and just for fun almost every night. But last week there was a serious shakeup: Popular app Read It Later reinvented itself as Pocket. It aims to be a save later service for not just text articles but almost anything online, from videos to photos and mp3 clips. That’s ambitious, something I had to investigate further.
Thirty articles and a few days later with the app I’m hooked. Overall Pocket is an awesome app, albeit with a few rough patches. It’s a tool I’d recommend to almost anyone, especially to iOS newbies given its straightforward setup process. There are several things that Pocket does especially well:
A consistent experience across multiple platforms. A lot of other media apps provide a smart UI on both the iPhone and iPad. Yet it’s rare to see an app ecosystem work so consistently on the iPhone, iPad and the desktop. With Pocket there’s a uniform, drop down based navigation on each device that’s easy to use. Its grid based, Flipboard-esque layout works especially well on the iPad or web while remaining fully usable on the iPhone.
Visual design. Many apps dedicated to browsing or media discovery have a color scheme and layout that is heavy on contrast or overly skeuomorphic. It makes a strong first impression but can get a bit boring or distracting when you’re trying to browse through or read individual articles. Pocket avoids these problems by leveraging a light palette with subtle contrast and few gradients to maximize readability. This minimalist design looks borderline “non-native” to the iOS platform, but I think for Pocket it’s a smart move. The look feels fresh and distinctive, much in the same way the Twitter client Tweetbot distinguished itself visually with a chrome, metal and gradient heavy design.
App integration. This is where a lot of competition falls short; you can have an awesome reading experience, but that becomes meaningless if you can’t move articles in and out of your save for later app easily. That’s not a problem with Pocket. It uses the same API as Read it Later which has been around for years and consequently there’s huge app support.
Video integration. I’m a big film nerd, so naturally I capture a lot of clips, video essays and trailers. Pocket has native support for Youtube and Vimeo, which gives each saved video article a proper headline and thumbnail. With two taps I’m watching a video full screen on my device. Instapaper, Readability and other choices either can’t play video at all or add a lot of cruft around the video itself.
The setup process. Pocket goes out its way to make capturing content as easy as possible. On iOS devices it identifies other apps that are Pocket compatible and provides custom setup instructions for each. To add a web bookmarklet, an essential capture tool, its step by step tutorial is best in class.
Nevertheless Pocket isn’t perfect. The app’s filter for switching between text articles, images and videos is occasionally inaccurate; usually the articles view accidentally pulls in a few videos or vice versa. Also Pocket’s web site needs a bit for work on typography; its body text color is too light and it doesn’t offer the same font choices available on its iOS app. Finally while the default sans serif and serif options look nice, text customization (i.e. font choice, line height, margin size) lags behind what Instapaper provides.
So is Pocket better than Instapaper? Yes and no. If you trend toward content that’s graphic heavy, video based, or anything that strays from pure text, Pocket should be your first choice. For die hard readers of news articles, blog posts and other text-heavy content, stick with Instapaper.
I plan on using both: Instapaper for reading, Pocket for videos and everything else. I’ll detail in a future post exactly how I integrate both apps into my daily workflow.