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mobile Trends - #iOS , #iOS7. Apple Stays Closed As iOS Shuts The Door On Developers. Apple demonstrated that it will keep its iron grip on iOS 7, despite Tim Cook saying it's time for Apple to start opening up. Rather than debut new opportunities for developers, Apple squelched them at WWDC by building its own substitutes for widgets, phone modifications, and whole categories of existing apps. Long ago, Apple declared war on inconsistency. When critics say 'closed', Apple hears dependable. Buy an iPhone or MacBook Pro and Apple wants your experience to be reliably great. It will do what it takes to protect that reputation. That means keeping its software largely unaltered by third-party developers. Apple's homemade apps and operating system infrastructure might not be the best, especially compared to Google's, but they're easy and simple and usually get the job done. Hardcore users and third-party developers are the casualties of this war. And WWDC was a battle lost for them. Considering it's supposed to be a developers conference, Monday's event was all about Apple. So much so it may have left a sinking feeling in the stomachs of those hopeful to build helpful experiences for users…as well as those who already had. NATIVE FEATURES BOX OUT DEVELOPERS At WWDC, Apple debuted iOS 7, calling it the biggest change to its mobile operating system since its launch in 2007. But what stayed the same was Apple's disregard for customizability. In iOS 7, you still won't be able to modify your lock or home screen with widgets, shortcuts, or launchers. Those tools allow Android holders to make their devices uniquely their own. Real-time feeds of information surface data from within apps so you don't have to open them. Shortcuts let users jump straight to important parts of the OS or quickly toggle settings. Launchers let you choose from custom themes and employ different gesture controls for navigation. None of those things are coming to iOS. It's still a one-size-fits-all operating system. Developers hoping to port their customization apps to iOS are likely out of luck for at least another year. Instead, Apple built several of the most important shortcuts into a single panel called Control Center. A swipe up reveals a number of crucial switches and sliders you used to have to dig out of different tabs of the Settings menu. There's airplane mode, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, rotation lock, Airdrop, and Airplay. Maybe most beneficial will be the brightness slider, which is critical to adjust as you move between direct sunlight and dark night so you don't drain your battery. There's also instant access to the music controls, which could combine nicely with the new iTunes Radio. But there was one little icon in Control Center that surely struck fear in the hearts of quite a few developers. A flashlight. In a pinch, your mobile phone can help you find things in the dark by turning and leaving the camera's flash on. Until now, Apple left it up to scrappy developers to offer apps that do this. There are over 1,000 flashlight apps in the App Store, 50 in our own CrunchBase, and even one that's venture funded. They're all in trouble now. Why download or waste home screen space on an app when you can use Apple's native version with just a swipe up and a tap? Sure, these apps probably didn't take long to develop, and maybe their makers should have predicted Apple might launch its own flashlight, but still, they deserve a little sympathy. Finally, the most direct example of Apple's quest to stay closed is what it did with call and text blocking. Everyone uses the phone and SMS apps in their iPhone, but you can't do much to customize them. Compare that with Android, which lets downloaded apps like Mr Number drastically modify the phone to allow for blocking of whole area codes of numbers, options to send specific numbers to voicemail, and even crowdsourced address books so nearly every incoming call comes with a name attached. Apple could have opened up developer hooks so iOS apps could have similar abilities to modify the phone app. But Apple isn't built on “open.” So instead, it announced at WWDC that iOS 7 will support basic blocking for calls, texts and FaceTime from specific numbers. That takes the wind out of any Android phone modification app hoping to port to iOS. And with the expectation that Apple will keep improving these phone privacy features, it will be hard for any new developers to eke out enough value in the space to gain traction. SKEUOMORPHISM OFF, TRAINING WHEELS ON iOS is falling behind. While many say the iPhone/iPad software is less advanced than the newest builds of Android, it's how it treats users that isn't aging well. We've become more tech literate, and especially more mobile literate in the six years since iOS launched. Yet the operating system still acts like we have no idea what we want. That hand-holding is starting to drag us down. Apple saw that in its mobile design scheme. iOS 7 shed its predecessor's skeuomorphism, dropping antiquated metaphors that made its calendar app resemble a physical paper planner many young users would hardly recognize. Now it's time to let the functionality of iOS grow up, too. There must be a way for Apple to offer the same reliability that's made it a household name, but still offer flexibility to developers and power users. For example, a series of stern prompts could warn people that they are going to change their operating system by installing and activating certain apps. Apple could even prompt people at regular intervals to confirm their modifications, allowing them a quick way to uninstall these customization apps to make sure no one gets stuck with an unwanted foreign experience. iOS was a marvelous introduction to smartphones for millions of people, and it will continue to be. But if Apple wants to satisfy us all and compete with the ever-evolving Android, it needs to let iOS mature. We certainly have.
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College Basketball Community Power Users, Please Help I know college basketball season is still a few months away but I need your help to continue to build this community. Below is a list of the power users that have posted the most and provide the best content: +Aaron Mead, +Christian McNierney, +Kevin Mitts, +Ankith Kodali, +Isaac Clark, +Steve Richards, +William Jones, +Zachary Desai, +Kelvin D. Davis, +Robert Rayos, +Cody Cahill, +Sakya Schuler, +M. Shannon Smallwood, +John Martin, +Jermaine Jinks Please use the "Invite People" tab on the right of the community and invite those that you think will enjoy this atmosphere. I am working on getting some big names in hangouts this fall and during college basketball season so the more active you are the more likely I can get you in a few of them. Who is in? Let's get this ball rollin! #collegebasketball #basketball
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Computers are too damn hard to use! The reason PC sales are declining is because they're too damn hard to use. Why buy a computer when you can get a cheap tablet or Chromebook? Most people just need something to browse the web, check email, social network stuff and do school work. You don't need a computer for this anymore. Hell you can do all this with a web browser. Business users are the only ones who really need computers anymore, yet I'd dare guess most of them could get by with a web browser too. It's really only the power users, content creators, gamers that need a real computer anymore. Everyone else can get by with much less. Most computer users don't even know how to use a computer anyway and they don't care to learn. I see people all day long that can't differentiate between web browsers, office suites and OS's. When asked what operating system they use they usually say 2007, 2010, Google Chrome or the Blue E thing. And these are educated people! When asked to type in a URL they go to Google.com and type it in the search box. They have no idea what an address bar is. Or how to get out of fullscreen mode when they accidentally hit F11. These are your typical computer users. Most of them operate their computers with several viruses either because they don't have anti-virus software or it's out of date. Nor do they keep their computers patched, most click cancel when asked to do anything. If they even read the message at all. It's not a wonder tablets and Chromebooks are taking off they're simple to use, they don't get viruses, they are easy to update and don't require much knowledge to use. They turn on and 'just work' or they dont and you buy a new one. This is the direction computers are going. Cheap and simple to use. If computer companies and software companies want to keep their consumer business they must start making computer appliances and stupid simple software. Otherwise business users will be their only business.
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A couple of weeks back I had a conversation with some members of the community about the Pixel and Chromebooks in general. Much of what I said then I still believe. I own a Samsung Series 5 550. For basic use and some design work, it's great. Google has to add more standard functionality but it does work. But I couldn't see the justification of the Pixel at those prices. Well, Let me give my apologizes to some of the members that were on the opposite side of the table during that debate. Yesterday I went to Best Buy with one of my sisters to help her pick out a laptop. For her needs I was going to recommend either a Surface Pro RT or a decent Ultrabook. She was curious about the Chromebook because it was better for her budget and I like mine overall. I showed her the Pixel and we were both floored. I still cringed at the price tag but after using it for twenty minutes (my second test drive, with a clearer mind as it was for someone else) my thoughts were "goddamn this is a sexy ass device..." My sister looked at it and the first thing out of her mouth was "Wooooooow look at the screen." In short. She bought a Chromebook after looking at Windows laptops, Ultrabooks and the Surface. The expression on her face looking at the other devices spoke volumes..."I don't care about this. I want the Chromebook." I was reminded of something yesterday of why Microsoft is scared of Google. Regardless of the potential of the Surface Pro (let's be real, RT at the end of the day is pointless) or the innovations of Win8, Wp8, Google is selling hardware for budget prices and giving the OS away. A OS that has none of the annoying problems of Windows. The Pixel is an exception in terms of price, but Google is selling to the masses. Many power users may frown at Chromebooks but I know legions that just simply want to check email, news, Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. Everything Chromebooks handle very well. I felt I had to share this story. I had Best Buy credit card in my wallet with more than enough to cover the Pixel. I had to literally run from the store before I had a cashier ring one up. Again, guys, you have my apologies. I can admit when I was wrong with no shame.
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1911 vs Hi-power Submitted by: Kurt M. John Browning is rightfully famous as a gun designer and innovator. If you are ever in a bet over if some manner of gun was either designed by Browning or influenced by a Browning design, the safe bet is to always say Browning somehow was involved, because it's normally true. He touched everything, from over-under shotguns to full auto machine guns; and everything he touched turned to gold, given the lasting popularity of his gun designs. Nowhere is this more true than in the design of semi-auto pistols. Browning's most famous handguns, the 1911 and the Hi-power, are still widely used even today and have a longevity few designs can claim. Naturally people like to compare the two. For many American shooters there are two kinds of handguns, 1911's, and other guns people buy until they try a 1911. Yet globally the Hi-power is by far the more popular gun, and was the issue handgun for military and police use in about 90 countries. The Hi-power was the last handgun Browning worked on before he died, and many Hi-power users will suggest that the Hi-power is a product improved 1911; everything Browning wanted the 1911 to be. So which side of an argument that often nears religious intensity is right? First I'll talk about how the guns came about, and then I'll compare the two. The 1911 exists as a result of the Spanish-American War. The actual war itself was over after a few months in 1898, but it caused a real shift in American military thinking. I think it's pretty widely known that America entered the war using the Krag rifle, and that the military was so impressed with the performance of the German Mauser rifles Spanish troops used that by 1903 we were producing a new rifle that was a copy of the Mauser. So much so that we lost a court battle with Mauser and had to pay the company royalties for every 1903 Springfield we made prior to our entry into World War One. Less well known is that the same thing happened on the handgun side. American troops entered the Spanish American War using the Colt model 1892, a double action revolver in .38 caliber. After the conflict, we wanted to use what Germany was using; which happened to be semi-automatic, and not a revolver. We very nearly ended up adopting the Luger instead of the 1911, but unlike the Germans, our gun had to be in .45 caliber. The reason why we had to have a gun in .45 caliber was because of combat experience fighting in the Philippines. The Philippines were a Spanish colony that America took over after the war. Many of the people of the Southern Philippines are Muslim, and were and are called Moros. For generations they fought the Spanish in guerilla warfare, and when our troops occupied the region, they took up with us where they left off with the Spanish. Many Moros believed that a man could go to heaven by being killed while killing infidels; these men were called Juramentado, and they were the forerunners of the modern suicide bomber. They would ambush American patrols in the jungle, or would attempt to blend in with the civilian population and get as close as they could to Americans before pulling out signature wavy swords and charging. They would often be drugged up and had no intention of surviving the encounter; the goal was to kill as many Americans as possible. This way of thinking frightened American soldiers as I think it would anyone. This was up-close and personal fighting and of course officers were especially targeted. Many of them carried .38 caliber revolvers, and anecdotally there are stories of men emptying their revolvers point-blank into Juramentado and having them keep coming at them. At the time some officers would carry personal side arms, and many of the older officers were still carrying black powder Colt Single Action Army revolvers, which was the issue sidearm before the Colt 1892. The Single Action Army was in .45 caliber, and anecdotally, that would drop them dead. Stopping power was considered such a problem that the army even pulled the Single Action Army revolvers out of storage and started issuing them again. So why was the 1911 picked and not a .45 caliber Luger? Of course you hear that it was because the Luger is a German gun, but really it's because the 1911 was the compromise choice. Now over a hundred years later, I think it's hard for some people to imagine that most Americans were devoted revolver users, and really looked at semi-autos with a lot of skepticism. They thought they were unreliable. What these people wanted was a .45 caliber revolver, like the Colt New Service that supplemented the 1911 in World War One as the issue sidearm. The Luger was just too different. They could live with the 1911. They liked the external single action hammer, and after the slide safety was added, the rest was history. The Hi-power exists as a result the French military looking for a new sidearm after World War One. The French entered that war still using bolt action Lebel rifles from the 1880s, and a revolver design from the 1890s. After the war the military was spilt in thinking between those who wanted to keep using those same guns, and those who wanted to convert the military over to semi-auto rifles and handguns. As is typical, French politicians had no trouble finding money to pay for creating experimental gun designs, but when it came down to actually adopting a design they suddenly didn't have any money to spend. So it was that in the early 1920s the French put out a contract for a 9mm pistol that would be a double stack(at least 10 rounds in the magazine), and have a magazine disconnect safety. I'll pause for a moment because the disconnect safety is one aspect of the gun design that many American shooters do not like, and have removed. The reason why the French wanted it was because their military structure was very much top down. French rifles did not have manual safeties because a soldier was supposed to wait for an order to load, and then was supposed to keep firing until ordered to stop and then empty the gun. It's the same logic with the pistol; the gun will not shoot until a magazine is inserted in the gun, which would happen when ordered to do so. Browning at first wanted nothing to do with the contract because of the double stack magazine requirement, which he felt could not be made to be as reliable as a single stack. He didn't want a double stack pistol to hurt the brand. By this point in his life, Browning was working pretty consistently with a Belgian gun manufacturer, Fabrique Nationale, or FN; FN wanted to compete for the contract, so Browning had a Belgian understudy, Dieudonne Saive, work on it. Saive came up with a double stack magazine that worked consistently, and then Browning approved the magazine design and started work designing a handgun around the magazine. At which point Browning died, as legend would have it while working on the hi-power, which has led to a lasting controversy over how much of the gun was really his. Browning died in 1926, the French didn't get around to actually adopting a new handgun until 1935. During that period Saive took over as the chief gun designer at FN, and he tinkered with projects left over. The Hi-power was one of those projects, which is why people question if the hi-power should really be considered one of Browning's designs. I think yes, it seems that the basic design was laid out before Browning died, and if nothing else it is set up just like a browning handgun, so close enough for me. Unsurprisingly, after a decade of working on the gun, the French rejected the Hi-power and adopted a different semi-auto in 1935. However the story doesn't end there; the Belgian military adopted the gun, and then during world war two both sides issued the Hi-power. Saive left Belgium for Canada, and supposedly from memory was able to draw up blueprints to manufacture the gun. The Germans occupied the FN plant and had them keep making hi-powers. The Hi-power's popularity exploded during war, and had the odd distinction of being popular on both sides of the conflict. After the war, there was push in NATO to adopt common firearms, and the Hi-power was selected as the handgun NATO would use. The UK decided to phase them out of service about a month or two ago, but many other countries are using them right up to the present. The secret to the longevity of both guns is that they feel great in the hand. For me the hi-power is the only double stack handgun I really like. The Hi-power feels very slim in the hand. Most double stacks, be they Glocks or Berettas just feel too wide for my hand to be right, a problem I don't have with the Hi-power. The gun is very comfortable to shoot, especially if you're comparing it to polymer frame guns; compared to a Beretta 92 maybe a bit more snappy recoil, but not in a real noticeable way. It would be a very nice gun for a woman to learn to shoot a handgun with. The 1911 is of course the king of ergonomic pistols, I know people who prefer other guns, but I've never met someone who didn't like the feel of the 1911 in the hand. The single stack magazine really allows for a comfortable grip. The recoil for me is very manageable; it feels like a push back as opposed to a snappy feel of 9mms. I guess the push back on a 1911 is more noticeable than the snap with a Hi-power, but I don't find either bad, especially compared to polymer frame handguns. The thing that the 1911 does best over the Hi-power is in the trigger pull. The 1911 has a very light trigger pull so it can be a real confidence booster because most people shoot them very well. The Hi-power has a kind of heavy trigger pull, I don't feel that it's a bad one, but the 1911 is just so good. The Hi-power easily beats the 1911 in terms of field striping. A Hi-power is easier to take apart than a Glock; it's very straight forward. Putting a 1911 back together after a cleaning is more of an art than a science. I always find myself jiggling the
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