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The iPad is out! Looks “magical” but what’s with the name?

Julian Oscar — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 12:50:37 +0000

In a highly anticipated debut yesterday, Steve Jobs and crew announced the iPad, a revolutionary device that is essentially a Nook or Kindle on steroids. If I were Jeff Bezos over at Amazon I would be ticked, and rightly so. Apple, for the umpteenth time in their history, has made every other product in world look like it was made in the stone age.

The iPad, despite the name, looks incredibly fun. It’s got a 9.7 inch screen, .5 inches thick and supposedly lightning fast thanks to the custom Apple-built processor. It does a host of things, including (obviously) e-book functionality and the ability to browse and buy e-books through the iBookStore. But, most interestingly enough, Apple has found a way to make all 140,000 applications in the App Store work on it. I’m excited to see my application on it, and I’m very interested in seeing how they scale to such a large screen.

The iPad does have some drawbacks, namely the lack of a camera and the fact that Apple refuses to partner with Adobe to let Flash into their mobile Safari browser, but all said, I can’t wait to get my hands on it. The web experience on it is something I’ve looked forward to for a long time. Being able to surf the New York Times, or ESPN, click on an embedded video and watch it, is exactly what I’ve been waiting for.

http://www.apple.com
http://www.engadget.com
http://www.pcworld.com

U.S. ARMY

Julian Oscar — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 15:53:57 +0000

U.S. ARMY

[rating:3.5]

The U.S. Army released an iPhone app that is surprisingly robust. You can get news from around the Army world, pictures and video. It even has a fun little game.

Download from the App Store

BeenVerified: run background checks on your friends and be creepy.

Julian Oscar — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 17:25:11 +0000

Background Check App

BeenVerified.com has released an iPhone app that allows you to conduct 3 free background checks per week. You can find anyone’s criminal records, property info, relatives, neighbors, age, etc.

Generally speaking, this is probably a super great and super bad idea at the same time. Part of me wants to say, “Yes, it’s the best! Muhahaha”. But, upon conducting a background check on myself, I was instantly horrified. Either way, background checks are quickly becoming big business on the web. However, regardless of what site you use, they always seem to require hordes of money before letting you close to anything resembling information. This app gets you closer to discovering the location of your friend’s secret lair and does so for free.

Download from the App Store

White House debuts new iPhone app

Julian Oscar — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 19:47:18 +0000

The White House iPhone app

The White House may have lost their filibuster-proof strangle hold on the republicans, but all is not lost. The White House iPhone app is now in the app store – it’s free and it’s pretty sweet. With this app you can get “up-to-date information directly from the Obama administration right to your iPhone”. Sounds great. Also, you get the latest in videos, blog posts, and events.

All said, the Obama administration has always pushed to use technology to communicate effectively and swiftly to the American public. Whether this app helps them to pass Health Care reform, is another story.

Download from the App Store

USAA App is Mobile Bank

Julian Oscar — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 23:29:27 +0000

USAA, a fairly small bank which services mostly military personnel around the world, has added to its iPhone app the ability to take a picture of your check and submit it for deposit. USAA doesn’t have branches, and customers have had to scan both sides of their check and upload it to USAA for deposit. With this change, the iPhone is essentially acting as a mobile bank.