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Loopt to Become First Third-Party iPhone Service to Run in Background
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Its hard enough finding someone who actually uses loopt, it would be even harder to find someone who would be willing to pay for it! Yes, I know the feature is optional. However, its not going to work or sell ... this really should be a free option which would really promopt people to try the platform.
A 14 day trail is also rather comical. When you first come across loopt your like, oh cool I can keep in touch with friends way easier. Then you realized that only a few of your friends that even have a device that supports it. Then getting them to actually use it more then 2 times its almost impossible. That short of a trial will result in very few subscriptions.
A 14 day trail is also rather comical. When you first come across loopt your like, oh cool I can keep in touch with friends way easier. Then you realized that only a few of your friends that even have a device that supports it. Then getting them to actually use it more then 2 times its almost impossible. That short of a trial will result in very few subscriptions.
You're exactly right. The user community would just see it as APPLE's iPhone being slow, rather than the 3rd party apps and the user's decisions making it slow. Lesser of two evils in Apple's eyes.
Lost phone assistance
Great idea-guess it will help people find their lost phone also. But Im kinda amazed since Loopt has been hanging when it starts and draining battery (not just on my Iphone) since update 3.0, and the support staff just say well have our technicians look at it.
Great idea-guess it will help people find their lost phone also. But Im kinda amazed since Loopt has been hanging when it starts and draining battery (not just on my Iphone) since update 3.0, and the support staff just say well have our technicians look at it.
Pay $3.99 a month for something my phone should already be able to do... hmm, sounds like a certain company I know... oh yeah, AT&T
Hahaha, I'm sorry for laughing but I said his would happen so many times and that it wouldn't stop. I never say things without reason. I experienced abuse when I was with AT&T and now everyones starting to see. I said by the time AT&T is finished, everyone would have a $300 phone bill just to use all the features the phone already comes with. Well you live and you learn I guess.
Take a look at http://www.crysp.uwaterloo.ca/software/nearbyfriend. They have a Pidgin plugin that alerts you of nearby friends. It's privacy friendly because there is no broadcasting of location information, neither to a single centralized server, as in the case of Loopt, nor to your friends.
Backgrounder works with every app to put the app in the background with ease. But lets not get out of hand here, you can do about 5 or 6 apps at once till all your 256mb ram is gone or it just crashes.
It's not a big of a deal if you have your iphone jailbroken.
It's not a big of a deal if you have your iphone jailbroken.
I honestly didn't think anyone would even notice this. I am also surprised that it isn't the full 9.99 a month.
Poor...
This loopt thing seems poor compared to what's on offer by the fone group.
http://www.thefonegroup.com
Up to the second updates on their fone sential, and they run a heap of stuff for facebook and twitter.
This loopt thing seems poor compared to what's on offer by the fone group.
http://www.thefonegroup.com
Up to the second updates on their fone sential, and they run a heap of stuff for facebook and twitter.
loopt is the last app i'd like to background. though, i'm sure this is a big breakthrough in the stalker community.
Mobile computing revolution... I know I'm new iPhone user, but that's just too much. The thing I've used in all my previous mobile devices for more than past five years is soon going to be a revolution? Multitasking works perfectly in some other mobile platform (e.g. Maemo and S60) without much additional battery drain. Sure if you use GPS in background it will drain your battery as fast as it would be on your active screen, but that's common sense. What's it really useful is flicking between apps and letting the most used light apps (like email, todo, caledar, sms, etc.) just running in the background so that when it will easy and fast to switch between apps. All these notifications and such are great addition to multitasking/backround, but only in limited uses.
I would think the main culprit is Apple's "poor" coding. When you design the OS to run only one app at a time it's really hard to make it lighter later to allow problem free multitasking. If multitasking would have been one of the design key points, then the picture would have been different. And yes I know some Apple's own programs run in the background, but that's more or less trivial because it's only these few apps that could be easily optimised. On the contrary what I really want is my 3Gs to have as good multitasking as the new N900. Check how it does multitasking here (start at 4:40): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_WlpCpwVq4
Exactly what I was thinking. I can see someone paying $3.99 once for this, but on a monthly basis? That seems pretty steep for something that seems like more of a novelty than a necessity.
I didn't mean that multi-tasking is the mobile computer revolution. I am saying that the mobile computing revolution is in full force as we speak. Because of that, we can see that things are evolving and advancing at a rapid pace like when the desktop computing revolution happened.
I also know that Apple needs to implement multi-tasking. And I am also VERY SURE that Apple knows that and is already working on a solution. Like I said, it is just a matter of time. My guess is that iPhone OS 4.0 will multi-task.
I know Apple left out some key features for quite a while in the iPhone OS, but you have to look at the bigger picture. Some things they left out for political reasons, like MMS, they wanted to push email instead because it is better and more efficient. But, because of sheer demand, they are adding it, and it is even a better more advanced implementation that other phones (it doesn't scale your photos down when sending them, and you can send GPS locations etc). Also, flash for example, it is not on the iPhone for political reasons. Apple is trying to get rid of it period. I fully support them doing so as well! Other features simply had to be put aside until later because they were doing MASSIVE amounts of work to launch the iPhone in the first place! And although it may have lacked a few features, the original iPhone was launched very well and rock solid!
You also need to take a step back and look honestly at how much Apple has done with the iPhone since it was introduced, and literally changed mobile devices and industries forever! I'm not saying Apple is perfect, or they haven't made some mistakes, but they are blazing a new trail to the future. This is all uncharted territory. The iPhone started this all. People can argue about phones that were out before the iPhone, but it is only delusional people that deny the massive impact the iPhone has had. The iPhone literally launched the entire industry 5 years ahead of where it was, and as always every company is now imitating and trying to catch up.
Apple had massive amounts of work to do when they introduced the iPhone originally. Later with 2.0 they did massive work to make sure they addressed the corporate environment. That was very important for adoption of the platform. A lot of these things they learned the hard way back with the Mac and the desktop computing revolution. Now with 3.0 they addressed a lot of consumer issues again. And now with 4.0 they will be working on multi-tasking and just having fun with other really cool killer features, i guarantee it. They will also be bettering the App Store and merging the product lines between their computers, Apple TV, the iPhone and the Tablet. This will create a seamless ecosystem for computing and digital entertainment.
All of these things take a LOT of work. So although some phones are showing off multi-tasking right now, they wouldn't even be where they are if the iPhone didn't come out for them to imitate. iPhone OS is hardly "poorly" coded. It is the best mobile OS in existence in my opinion. Is it perfect? No, none of them are. Will it be improved? ABSOLUTELY!
Personally, I think it is simply AMAZING that these mobile devices can even do what they do now. And all while being small enough to carry in our pockets. It is incredible! So, as I said before, relax, Apple is definitely working on multi-tasking and many other cool things. Just give them a little time to do things well and efficiently. Again, battery life is actually a valid concern, and I want it done right with a battery that lasts long still!
If you meant simply going mobile, a lot of us were doing that for years.
If you're talking about the current mass switch to smartphones, then I agree. But it reminds me a lot of when AOL and others suddenly let millions of naive users onto the Internet.
MMS is almost infinitely more efficient than email, because it uses no extra power to watch for the incoming notifications. Push or fetch email chews up battery in comparison.
AFAIK, Apple never said anything against MMS. That's the fanboys making up excuses for its absence.
Again, Apple never said any such thing. On the contrary, Jobs simply said that he didn't want it until it was more mobile ready.
Could it be partly political, because of bad blood between Apple and Adobe? That's always possible, but Apple has never said so.
Now, Java is something Jobs said he didn't want to support. Which is extra dumb since the Macs do.
The only thing Apple has changed, is moving the garden walls from a carrier to itself. Same greed and need for control, but it's them now.
The rest of your post is understandable fanboy enthusiasm. But this is just drivel.
The smartphone world has been out there for many years, with multitasking, touch, Google Maps, voice control, GPS and so forth.
RIM and others were doing just fine.
Apple just made it prettier and simpler for millions of casual users. The simplicity is both its initial attraction, and its eventual downside as users become more savvy.
Yes, the latter.
More efficient in that MMS is basically baby crippled email. There are no standards for it across networks, it scales pictures down, it is often unreliable, etc.
I think you need to research the history of the industry and Flash. It is widely seen by anyone that understands the industry and the situation that Apple is trying to strong arm Flash out of the picture. Computers are a different story because the history has come and gone, but the iPhone is a fresh new platform where Apple can decide its outcome! What Steve said is simply a PR response.
Not that there isn't any truth to that, but you are severely in denial it seems.
I never claimed Apple invented smart phones. You obviously don't understand what exactly Apple does, and how it innovates and changes industries with its products. There is a reason the iPod was so HUGE. There is a reason the iPhone is so HUGE! I could go on.
I don't see things quite the same way you see things. IMO mobile industry has been slowing down a lot in past two years. Ever since the N95 hit market in march '07 the hasn't been any progress in HW except evolutionary on already used HW. The things I did then with N95 are pretty much the same thing I do now. Mobile OS wise since then there's two new OSs, iPhone's and Android. iPhone did make it easier for masses to use the same functions that have already been used quite some time and loads of eye candy. It's better now that you have more to choose from but the essential features and uses haven't changed much.
I agree with you on this one. IMO it's iPhone's biggest plunder (alongside with missing filesystem/browser) not to have it. I thought I could live without it, but now that N900 is released with imo functionally superior OS, Maemo, I don't think I will keep the 3Gs very long.
For starters I've never been interested much about the reasons behind leaving things out if they are just excuses. MMS is part of telephony as SMS and phone calls wether Apple likes it or not. Same applies to flash, it's a part of internet. These "political decisions" are only hurting the end user and doesn't have any effect at all. In mobile industry Apple doesn't have much power to make people switch from MMS to email. Same for flash, I don't see how Apple is so against it when it's desktop OS supports it. In the end in computer business Apple has also small marketshare (3% globally?) so no power there either make any of these political decisions work.
Yes it's delusional to say iPhone hasn't affected the industry, but IMO it's insane to say iPhone was 5 years ahead when released. The work what Apple is doing to the other stuff since the launch in '07 is to catch up with features what the other OSs' already had. At the same time other makers started to make their UIs more like the iPhone (more graphical, TS, easier for masses). So the way I see it it's been a race where all the parties have the same goal, but different starting points.
Well that's just so wrong... Some phones have had multitasking ages ago. Even SE's featurephones have had multitasking Java apps for years. It's nothing new. Of course the progress in mobile OSs (as in any other commercial goods) is based on improvements by a single company which then others copy as they seem fit. Other OSs have copied from iPhone's best abilities (the UI namely), but the same applies the other way around too. This 3Gs is my first take on iPhones and I like it's OS. Have been using S60 for quite many years and wanted to try something else. iPhone's OS is still difficult to judge because some things have been done spot on and some are appalling. Mostly I've been buggered how restricting the OS feels. Hence I've been wanting to switch to Maemo, which is IMO just better for my requirements. BTW by "poorly" coded I meant that it uses too much resources. With 256MB ram is quite enough to run about twenty programs including big ones like browser, navigator, gmaps, etc. in S60v5. In Maemo 5 with 256MB RAM I've seen quite a lot open apps running without much slowing down.
Batterylife is a valid concern and I don't think anyone would want to have a iPhone with batterylife any worse than what it already is. I guess Apple just needs to work hard to make it drain less battery. It's not like it hasn't been done before in other OSs.
That may be true for feature phones but not smart phones. We are in the process of a mass migration to smart phones and mobile computing.
As far as you claiming the features have not changed, I could not disagree more! You ever heard of the App Store?
The file system will come eventually as well.
You need to research the history of the computer industry and the effect Apple has had in several ways in pushing technology and standards!
Speaking strictly in a technological sense, Flash and MMS both suck. I'm not saying I don't use them, but they are very inferior technologies that I would love to see die and replaced by all the better options out there!
You need to stop looking at simple features when basic your comparisons. This is all about SOFTWARE! The mobile computing revolution is about SOFTWARE, and the iPhone was easily 5 years ahead of anything when it launched. They have the most advanced OS and the App Store. End of story! Before the iPhone, it was all crippled, ugly, baby software.
I wasn't referring to the multi-tasking. I believe the iPhone has 128 MB of RAM now.
They are working hard! You honestly think they are just sitting around so others can catch up? I don't think people understand the mass amount of work and undertaking that this all is! The iPhone has seen constant updates like no other phone ever has, and they are still going, and will continue!
If it is anything like MMS the 3G users may get left out in the cold, for no apparent reason.
Please explain how MMS is inferior to email. What can email do that MMS can't?
You mean 256MB.
Sorry, you are correct. The 3Gs is 256MB. I was thinking of the fact that they doubled it but confused the new amount.
Do you know what MMS is? It is essentially baby crippled email. It also has no standards and is implemented differently on every network, hence the reason it is often unreliable.
Email has standards and is implemented accordingly. Email can manage any type of attachment. Email will not scale down your images and attachments. Email can be any length. Get the picture? It is the real deal, not some crippled form. That is why Apple tried to push email and not MMS initially, it is a superior technology. This is not an argument, these are facts.
MMS is not related to email. It serves a different purpose. It is SMS based. Which gives it the huge advantage of being true push, not a pull like all email is (except on the Blackberry).
You're obviously not talking about iPhone email, which is crippled more than some MMS implementations.
The original iPhone email crunched all photos down to 640x480. After the 2.x update, that was changed to (I believe) 800x600, but it's still scaled down.
Other smartphones deliver email with untouched attachments.
My G1 has 96 mb of ram. What I would kill for 256 D:
I have to use a task manager to end processes I'm not using anymore to prevent it becoming sluggish.
I have to use a task manager to end processes I'm not using anymore to prevent it becoming sluggish.
Well I've been using smartphones and tablets for quite a while. I agree that the big masses especially in US are moving to smart phone, but smartphones on the whole doesn't offer much more than it has for many years. Yes I use App Store. There's quite a lot of stuff in there, but I can't say that it's diversity in apps is any better than what I've used on other platforms. The games are better though. The VERY BIG downside of App Store is that it's the only way load apps on the phone.That may be true for feature phones but not smart phones. We are in the process of a mass migration to smart phones and mobile computing.
As far as you claiming the features have not changed, I could not disagree more! You ever heard of the App Store?
I use both of them and I want both of them on my phone (well flash so much than MMS though). Now I've got MMS, but I want to have flash too. I just don't care if Apple has some agenda against them. Both of them are needed. *Drools to Maemo's Browser's built in full flash support*
Yes software is important, but on this I disagree with you. What makes it 5 years ahead of others? The smooth UI? The crippled feature set of the OS? Good browser? Crippled BlueTooth implementation? The OS featurewise is IMO very uneven, some things are great and some things are appalling or can't do it. I like this OS alot, but imo it's not as great as you proclaim it is. In the same sense I see the benefit of App Store for the masses, but I don't like a one bit as the only way to add apps to the phone.