It is an indicator of his impact on our modern life that news of Steve Jobs passing has spread like wild fire across not only the internet, but across broadcast television as well. I can think of no other instances where a person has not only impacted, but in many ways defined our modern life. At the helm of Apple, Jobs defined what personal computing was meant to be; he redefined how we listen to music; he ushered in what the modern age of mobile computing is.
His vision has shaped and defined my industry. No longer is it simply enough to have a killer device, you must have an ecosystem to go with it. Within the ecosystem he shepherded in, entire industries are taking shape. And make no mistake, while other ecosystems have arisen to challenge the Apple ecosystem, the sweet spot, the one where all of the action truly is, is still the Apple ecosystem.
My family is in no small part supported by the machine that Jobs put into motion. The industry I work in would only be a shadow of its current self had the iPhone never existed, and the iPhone was one of Jobs' babies.
I will never be a man of vision like Steve Jobs. Yet I would count it an incredible blessing to work with one whose vision is like his was. Perhaps one day I'll turn around and find that I have had the opportunity to work with someone of his vision, but such was his vision that it could not be appreciated in the moment, but only in hind-sight.
I am and will be forever grateful for the impact that Steve Jobs has had on not just my industry, but on this world. Our lives are better off having tasted the fruits of Jobs labor. The world is a much more exciting place having had the benefit of Steve Jobs' genius.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Indoctrination and the Mac App Store
A couple days ago I bought my first Mac. It is a 13" MBP, all aluminum and glass, light and airy and ridiculously sexy in its design. It is hands down the nicest laptop I've ever worked on. I get why folks love these things.
Now, I've been using Apple products in the form of iPhones for several years, so this isn't my first Apple device, and there's one thing that I'm finding very compelling on this MBP that I didn't think I would: the Mac App Store. Every time I've needed some miscellaneous app, I've fired up the App Store first. Why?
I've been indoctrinated by my iPhone to always look there for my apps, and that paradigm is moving with me as I delve into this entirely different segment of Apple's products. And, while I've heard many people disparage the Mac App Store, I'm willing to bet that it's going to be a lot more successful than folks are giving it credit for.
There are a lot of people that are coming to Apple computers as their second or third Apple device. Those initial devices will almost invariably be iOS devices, and on iOS you look to the App Store to find all the killer things you need. There's now a link between Apple and App Store in people's heads, and that link will hold true as people dive into Apple computers.
So beware, all you haters. As the late adopters show up to the party, this Mac App Store thing might just take off.
Now, I've been using Apple products in the form of iPhones for several years, so this isn't my first Apple device, and there's one thing that I'm finding very compelling on this MBP that I didn't think I would: the Mac App Store. Every time I've needed some miscellaneous app, I've fired up the App Store first. Why?
I've been indoctrinated by my iPhone to always look there for my apps, and that paradigm is moving with me as I delve into this entirely different segment of Apple's products. And, while I've heard many people disparage the Mac App Store, I'm willing to bet that it's going to be a lot more successful than folks are giving it credit for.
There are a lot of people that are coming to Apple computers as their second or third Apple device. Those initial devices will almost invariably be iOS devices, and on iOS you look to the App Store to find all the killer things you need. There's now a link between Apple and App Store in people's heads, and that link will hold true as people dive into Apple computers.
So beware, all you haters. As the late adopters show up to the party, this Mac App Store thing might just take off.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Music: Ownership vs. Access
I've recently signed up for two different music services, Google Music Beta and Rdio, but it was the Rdio account that really got me thinking about whether or not I needed to own my music. Up 'til recently, ownership was really the only way to go. With traditional ownership you can select the music you want to listen to, organize it into playlists and carry it with you on the go (on your smartphone or iPod).
Rdio, however, allows you to gain all of these benefits from traditional ownership. With Rdio, you can select the music you want to listen to as long as it is in Rdio's library, and Rdio has quite a hefty library. You can organize the music into play lists and if you're willing to pay for the premium account you can carry it with you on your smartphone or iPod (by either streaming or syncing). There's one big difference, though. If you stop paying for Rdio, you lose access to all of this music.
It's that exact thought, the fact that Rdio provides access, not ownership, that got me thinking: Is ownership really as important today as it was in the past?
Parity
There has been movement on the traditional ownership front as well that has brought the two (ownership and access) back to feature parity: cloud storage (aka: bit lockers). Both Amazon and Google have recently launched services that allow you to store your owned copies of music in the cloud and stream them to your devices or computer via http. The size limits are such that you can feasibly store quite a bit of music (in the 100 GB range) in the lockers. You can then access web pages or apps which will stream this music back to you. It's worth noting that this scheme has yet to be tested in court, and almost certainly will be, though both Amazon and Google maintain that since they are only streaming music the user owns, there's nothing that requires additional licensing.
Cost
While Google Music is in beta and is free for the time being, Amazon charges for the storage space, $1/GB per year. For 100GB of music, you're looking at $100/year for the service, which equates to $8.33/month. It's interesting to note, though, that Rdio charges about the same for premium access at $9.99/month. If all you want is streaming on your computer and not mobile access, then you can get the service for $4.99/month. Google Music allows you to store by the song, not the GB, and will allow you to store 20,000 songs. In practice that will equate to about 100 GB of music.
It would appear that the services are similarly priced, until you take into account the fact that you will also need to buy (as none of my dear readers would dare torrent an album, I'm sure) your own music on Amazon or Google. Depending on how much music you buy, this can incur a significant cost. As long as that music is in Rdio's library, you can just add it to your collection and listen as much as you want without incurring any additional fees.
Music Library
But, the library is the rub. As I discovered when talking about this with a friend, Rdio's library doesn't contain much of anything that you can't get from the major labels. We went through a list of bands that had only released on CD, were brand spankin' new, or were only together for a special project. None of them were in Rdio's library, though several were at least taken note of and had pages in Rdio. With Google and Amazon, all you need to do is rip those CDs and upload them and you're good to go.
Uploading
Uploading, though, can be a pain. As I write this, Google Music Manager has been eating my bandwidth for at least 24 hours to upload 2000 of 3600 songs. Amazon Cloud Drive is in much the same boat. That initial upload is a real killer. I anticipate at least another 20 hours of uploads. If I lived in Canada, that would most certainly rail my bandwidth for the month.
Conclusion
So where does that leave us? There are, of course, reasons to go with something like Cloud Drive or Google Music. You ostensibly own the music and if you decide you don't want to pay the storage fee you can keep listening past that monthly/yearly payment off of whatever it is you store that music on. As well, you can upload whatever you would like: None of the edge cases are denied you as long as you have the music in hand, so the only library limits are based on what you actually own.
But, the question of ownership vs. access comes down to one of cost of exploration in my book. With services like Rdio, I can explore and find new music to my hearts content. I pay one monthly fee for the privilege. I can pay the premium price and take that music with me on my devices, as well, without having to constantly stream. To explore said music with a service like Google Music or Amazon Cloud Drive, I would have to pay the cost of the storage plus the cost of the exploration in buying new music. In my case, that cost of exploration could get quite high. Rdio helps me keep that cost down.
In my eyes, access wins. I'll pay a marginal monthly fee to keep access to such a vast library happily, one that I can explore to my hearts content.
Edit: Changed some font colors
Rdio, however, allows you to gain all of these benefits from traditional ownership. With Rdio, you can select the music you want to listen to as long as it is in Rdio's library, and Rdio has quite a hefty library. You can organize the music into play lists and if you're willing to pay for the premium account you can carry it with you on your smartphone or iPod (by either streaming or syncing). There's one big difference, though. If you stop paying for Rdio, you lose access to all of this music.
It's that exact thought, the fact that Rdio provides access, not ownership, that got me thinking: Is ownership really as important today as it was in the past?
Parity
There has been movement on the traditional ownership front as well that has brought the two (ownership and access) back to feature parity: cloud storage (aka: bit lockers). Both Amazon and Google have recently launched services that allow you to store your owned copies of music in the cloud and stream them to your devices or computer via http. The size limits are such that you can feasibly store quite a bit of music (in the 100 GB range) in the lockers. You can then access web pages or apps which will stream this music back to you. It's worth noting that this scheme has yet to be tested in court, and almost certainly will be, though both Amazon and Google maintain that since they are only streaming music the user owns, there's nothing that requires additional licensing.
Cost
While Google Music is in beta and is free for the time being, Amazon charges for the storage space, $1/GB per year. For 100GB of music, you're looking at $100/year for the service, which equates to $8.33/month. It's interesting to note, though, that Rdio charges about the same for premium access at $9.99/month. If all you want is streaming on your computer and not mobile access, then you can get the service for $4.99/month. Google Music allows you to store by the song, not the GB, and will allow you to store 20,000 songs. In practice that will equate to about 100 GB of music.
It would appear that the services are similarly priced, until you take into account the fact that you will also need to buy (as none of my dear readers would dare torrent an album, I'm sure) your own music on Amazon or Google. Depending on how much music you buy, this can incur a significant cost. As long as that music is in Rdio's library, you can just add it to your collection and listen as much as you want without incurring any additional fees.
Music Library
But, the library is the rub. As I discovered when talking about this with a friend, Rdio's library doesn't contain much of anything that you can't get from the major labels. We went through a list of bands that had only released on CD, were brand spankin' new, or were only together for a special project. None of them were in Rdio's library, though several were at least taken note of and had pages in Rdio. With Google and Amazon, all you need to do is rip those CDs and upload them and you're good to go.
Uploading
Uploading, though, can be a pain. As I write this, Google Music Manager has been eating my bandwidth for at least 24 hours to upload 2000 of 3600 songs. Amazon Cloud Drive is in much the same boat. That initial upload is a real killer. I anticipate at least another 20 hours of uploads. If I lived in Canada, that would most certainly rail my bandwidth for the month.
Conclusion
So where does that leave us? There are, of course, reasons to go with something like Cloud Drive or Google Music. You ostensibly own the music and if you decide you don't want to pay the storage fee you can keep listening past that monthly/yearly payment off of whatever it is you store that music on. As well, you can upload whatever you would like: None of the edge cases are denied you as long as you have the music in hand, so the only library limits are based on what you actually own.
But, the question of ownership vs. access comes down to one of cost of exploration in my book. With services like Rdio, I can explore and find new music to my hearts content. I pay one monthly fee for the privilege. I can pay the premium price and take that music with me on my devices, as well, without having to constantly stream. To explore said music with a service like Google Music or Amazon Cloud Drive, I would have to pay the cost of the storage plus the cost of the exploration in buying new music. In my case, that cost of exploration could get quite high. Rdio helps me keep that cost down.
In my eyes, access wins. I'll pay a marginal monthly fee to keep access to such a vast library happily, one that I can explore to my hearts content.
Edit: Changed some font colors
Thursday, May 5, 2011
moo.com Card Unboxing
I received a box of 50 business cards in the mail today from http://moo.com. I was so impressed with the packaging that I decided to do an unboxing video. The cards look great, as you can see in the video, and the packaging is impressive.
Couple quick insights into ordering cards from moo:
- Each card can have a different image
- If you're ordering from a connected service like http://about.me, then moo will include a QR code that points back to your entry on that site (for instance, my QR codes point back to http://about.me/michaelrollins)
- The card creation wizard is really easy to use
- My cards were a special free offer (only had to pay for shipping). They have a black advert at the bottom for moo.com. That will not be present on fully paid cards, but it's not distracting at all.
I'm impressed enough that I'm going to order more.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Nokia BH-905i Blog Review
As Breaking Benjamin's "Fade Away" came roaring out of the BH-905i's for the first time, I realized that I was in possession of a very slick set of headphones. Listening to the clockwork strains of "Fade Away", I was pleased with how full the sound was, and how awesome the lows sounded. Turns out that Breaking Benjamin is an ideal band to listen to on the BH-905i's, but more on that later. First off, let's get into the what the BH-905i's are, and what they come with.
The BH in BH-905i stands for bluetooth headset, but as you can probably ascertain from this picture here, they come chock-full with wiring capabilities. The "i" indicates that they are specifically engineered to work with an iOS device. They have active noise cancellation, as well, and it does a good job of blocking out any persistent background sounds.
The BH-905i's come with a very nice foam padded leather case that zips up. Inside is a place to nest your headphones, along with a smaller bag to hold all of the various cables and plugs that come with the headphones. On the back is a small pouch for carrying any additional gear you may not be able to stow inside. All in all, it's a handy way to transport your headphones, keeping them safe and secure the whole time.
Inside, you'll find a cable for iPhone connectivity, a cable for "Nokia AV" 3-prong connectivity and a cable for slotting into a regular headphone jack. You'll also find multiple tips for 6.35mm, 3.5mm and 2.5mm. As well, there is an airline jack. There is also a splitter which splits the 3-prong "Nokia AV" cable into it's component headphone and mic jacks, allowing one to plug the BH-905i's into a computer. No one has actually sighted the kitchen sink, but rumor has that it may be present as well.
Bluetooth Performance
I tested the bluetooth functionality with my iPhone 4 running a jailbroken version of iOS 4.2.1. Sound over bluetooth was surprisingly good. The performance of the headphones left me feeling more like I was listening plugged in than over bluetooth. As a means of comparison, over bluetooth the BH-905i's sound much better than the cheap earbuds that Apple ships with all of their iDevices.
There are a set of buttons on the right earphone which control playback, allowing you to play/pause the music, skip forward and back, and turn your volume up and down. All of these worked just fine and were easy to get accustomed to without having to see the headphone. All of the controls are on the right-hand side, which makes sense if you're a righty, but I don't believe lefties will have any major problems manipulating the controls.
Over bluetooth calls, the BH-905i's do a respectable job of transmitting the sound from the person on the other end of the line. However, I found that I would have rather taken the call directly on my iPhone than on the headphones. Two things contributed to this. First, peoples voices tend to sound thin over the headphones. Second, since the headphones cover both of my ears entirely, I found that I was having a hard time hearing myself when I talked. I ended up thinking I needed to talk louder than necessary. It would be nice if some of my side of the audio was piped back into the headphones so that I could feel like I only needed to talk at a normal volume.
On the other end, the callers that I spoke with all said that I sounded great. They didn't have a hard time hearing me at all. The sound was so clear, in fact, that when I started whistling on one call, the person I was speaking with asked me to stop, as they said it was too loud. When I talked at a normal volume, though, everyone said I was coming in loud and clear.
Wired Performance
Bluetooth performance was good, but wired performance is much better (as it should be). When you plug these headphones in, you are really in for a treat... Depending on the type of music you're listening to. This is where I started to notice that the audio performance was not the same across the board.
Let's start with the (slightly) negative: mids are a bit muddy, and highs aren't quite as crisp as I would have liked them to be. In practice, though, this can be overcome with a little judicious use of a graphic equalizer. By bumping up the mids a tad and the highs a bit more, I found that I could correct for this performance issue. It's also only a problem that shows up in certain types of music.
For instance, as I mentioned above, Breaking Benjamin sounded outstanding on the BH-905i's. Nickel Creek and the Civil Wars, though, needed some adjustment. But as the latter two bands are folk and not dependent on rumbling bass and rely instead on mids and highs to convey their sound, you start to notice the sound difference. Bumping up the mids and highs took care of the problem and ultimately listening to these bands was a treat on the BH-905i's.
And that leads me to where the BH-905i's really shine: in the lows. Listening to any kind of music that relies on good lows (even low-mids) conveys a sound that is outstanding. Breaking Benjamin, Metallica, Red, all these bands sounded absolutely magical on these headphones. I found myself going to this music over and over while in possession of these beasts, hearing things in the music I had never heard before. It was truly an ear-opening experience, hearing nuances of the music I had never heard before.
Conclusion
In the end, I have to say that I'm going to be sad to part with these headphones. I have thoroughly enjoyed listening to music on them. I have heard things in the music that I've never heard before. The bluetooth connectivity is nice, but ultimately you'll probably want to be listening to these plugged in as it's the preferred way to get the best sound. Just keep in mind, though, that these are premium headphones. While the sound is outstanding, for a retail of $299 I think I would want to get more.
With that said, you can have these on Amazon for $179 new. At that price point, I feel like these may be worth it. The extra utility that is represented by doubling as a very decent communications headset is nice, doing more than just allowing you to listen to music.
Edit: Added tags
Edit 5/25/11: Added some missing words to a sentence
The BH-905i's come with a very nice foam padded leather case that zips up. Inside is a place to nest your headphones, along with a smaller bag to hold all of the various cables and plugs that come with the headphones. On the back is a small pouch for carrying any additional gear you may not be able to stow inside. All in all, it's a handy way to transport your headphones, keeping them safe and secure the whole time.
Inside, you'll find a cable for iPhone connectivity, a cable for "Nokia AV" 3-prong connectivity and a cable for slotting into a regular headphone jack. You'll also find multiple tips for 6.35mm, 3.5mm and 2.5mm. As well, there is an airline jack. There is also a splitter which splits the 3-prong "Nokia AV" cable into it's component headphone and mic jacks, allowing one to plug the BH-905i's into a computer. No one has actually sighted the kitchen sink, but rumor has that it may be present as well.
Bluetooth Performance
I tested the bluetooth functionality with my iPhone 4 running a jailbroken version of iOS 4.2.1. Sound over bluetooth was surprisingly good. The performance of the headphones left me feeling more like I was listening plugged in than over bluetooth. As a means of comparison, over bluetooth the BH-905i's sound much better than the cheap earbuds that Apple ships with all of their iDevices.
There are a set of buttons on the right earphone which control playback, allowing you to play/pause the music, skip forward and back, and turn your volume up and down. All of these worked just fine and were easy to get accustomed to without having to see the headphone. All of the controls are on the right-hand side, which makes sense if you're a righty, but I don't believe lefties will have any major problems manipulating the controls.Over bluetooth calls, the BH-905i's do a respectable job of transmitting the sound from the person on the other end of the line. However, I found that I would have rather taken the call directly on my iPhone than on the headphones. Two things contributed to this. First, peoples voices tend to sound thin over the headphones. Second, since the headphones cover both of my ears entirely, I found that I was having a hard time hearing myself when I talked. I ended up thinking I needed to talk louder than necessary. It would be nice if some of my side of the audio was piped back into the headphones so that I could feel like I only needed to talk at a normal volume.
On the other end, the callers that I spoke with all said that I sounded great. They didn't have a hard time hearing me at all. The sound was so clear, in fact, that when I started whistling on one call, the person I was speaking with asked me to stop, as they said it was too loud. When I talked at a normal volume, though, everyone said I was coming in loud and clear.
Wired Performance
Let's start with the (slightly) negative: mids are a bit muddy, and highs aren't quite as crisp as I would have liked them to be. In practice, though, this can be overcome with a little judicious use of a graphic equalizer. By bumping up the mids a tad and the highs a bit more, I found that I could correct for this performance issue. It's also only a problem that shows up in certain types of music.
For instance, as I mentioned above, Breaking Benjamin sounded outstanding on the BH-905i's. Nickel Creek and the Civil Wars, though, needed some adjustment. But as the latter two bands are folk and not dependent on rumbling bass and rely instead on mids and highs to convey their sound, you start to notice the sound difference. Bumping up the mids and highs took care of the problem and ultimately listening to these bands was a treat on the BH-905i's.
And that leads me to where the BH-905i's really shine: in the lows. Listening to any kind of music that relies on good lows (even low-mids) conveys a sound that is outstanding. Breaking Benjamin, Metallica, Red, all these bands sounded absolutely magical on these headphones. I found myself going to this music over and over while in possession of these beasts, hearing things in the music I had never heard before. It was truly an ear-opening experience, hearing nuances of the music I had never heard before.
Conclusion
In the end, I have to say that I'm going to be sad to part with these headphones. I have thoroughly enjoyed listening to music on them. I have heard things in the music that I've never heard before. The bluetooth connectivity is nice, but ultimately you'll probably want to be listening to these plugged in as it's the preferred way to get the best sound. Just keep in mind, though, that these are premium headphones. While the sound is outstanding, for a retail of $299 I think I would want to get more.
With that said, you can have these on Amazon for $179 new. At that price point, I feel like these may be worth it. The extra utility that is represented by doubling as a very decent communications headset is nice, doing more than just allowing you to listen to music.
Edit: Added tags
Edit 5/25/11: Added some missing words to a sentence
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Video Review: Nokia BH-905i Bluetooth Stereo Headset
I have recently had the privilege to review the Nokia BH-905i Bluetooth Stereo Headset through the WOMWorld project. It's quite a nice set of headphones, with lots of nifty features. Watch the review to hear more.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Final Admission of the Rock Star
Well, what a wacky and wild week so far. And it's only Monday (it is Monday, right?).
Long story short, Cole started running mild fevers on Thursday night. We took him in Friday, but the fevers cleared up. Per protocol, they drew cultures. Saturday morning at 6:30 AM we got the call that the cultures grew bacteria. And not only did they grow, they grew with zest! Back to the hospital (this time through the ER) where they drew more cultures (the second set) and admitted us up to good ol' 8B.
Keep in mind that Cole has been completely asymptomatic this whole time. He's the picture of 5 year old health. With that mentality, we waltzed up to 8B.
It was a bit like walking into Cheers, and Cole was Norm. Nurses and clins would look at Cole (without recognizing him), look at me, remember me, then realize who this big boy was that was standing next to me must be. Their jaws would drop open, they'd do a double take back to Cole, then yell "COLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
At one point, I had to leave the room for about 15 minutes. I came back to find Cole, sitting on the bed with two nurses, telling them all about his plans to be a marine biologist and study at UNCW. He's been like a rock star. The floor staff all remember him, and they all love him. It does a daddy's heart good to know there's a special place where his little boy is loved so dearly.
Here's the medical low-down. Cole's line has most likely been "colonized" by a common skin bacteria (Staph epi, for those that keep track of these things). Colonized means that the bacteria has likely been living there for some time, but it's not causing Cole any trouble. It's also likely the cause of the positive culture that grew back in January. It's not really dangerous, but it's still a potential source for infection and the best way to treat it is to take his line out.
Now, quite miraculously in my mind, this line has lasted us for two years of being accessed once to twice a week. That's hard use for a port-a-cath line, and by all rights we should have had an infection well before now. But, the line lasted almost exactly as long as it needed to. I'll let you attribute that to what you will, but I know where I'll attribute that kind of providence.
So, tomorrow, Cole's line will get pulled. He'll have two more days of IV antibiotics (through a regular old IV) and then, sometime Thursday, we get to go home.
And when we go home, Cole will be well and truly finished with his cancer treatment.
Long story short, Cole started running mild fevers on Thursday night. We took him in Friday, but the fevers cleared up. Per protocol, they drew cultures. Saturday morning at 6:30 AM we got the call that the cultures grew bacteria. And not only did they grow, they grew with zest! Back to the hospital (this time through the ER) where they drew more cultures (the second set) and admitted us up to good ol' 8B.
Keep in mind that Cole has been completely asymptomatic this whole time. He's the picture of 5 year old health. With that mentality, we waltzed up to 8B.
It was a bit like walking into Cheers, and Cole was Norm. Nurses and clins would look at Cole (without recognizing him), look at me, remember me, then realize who this big boy was that was standing next to me must be. Their jaws would drop open, they'd do a double take back to Cole, then yell "COLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
At one point, I had to leave the room for about 15 minutes. I came back to find Cole, sitting on the bed with two nurses, telling them all about his plans to be a marine biologist and study at UNCW. He's been like a rock star. The floor staff all remember him, and they all love him. It does a daddy's heart good to know there's a special place where his little boy is loved so dearly.
Here's the medical low-down. Cole's line has most likely been "colonized" by a common skin bacteria (Staph epi, for those that keep track of these things). Colonized means that the bacteria has likely been living there for some time, but it's not causing Cole any trouble. It's also likely the cause of the positive culture that grew back in January. It's not really dangerous, but it's still a potential source for infection and the best way to treat it is to take his line out.
Now, quite miraculously in my mind, this line has lasted us for two years of being accessed once to twice a week. That's hard use for a port-a-cath line, and by all rights we should have had an infection well before now. But, the line lasted almost exactly as long as it needed to. I'll let you attribute that to what you will, but I know where I'll attribute that kind of providence.
So, tomorrow, Cole's line will get pulled. He'll have two more days of IV antibiotics (through a regular old IV) and then, sometime Thursday, we get to go home.
And when we go home, Cole will be well and truly finished with his cancer treatment.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Learning Android: Appcelerator's Titanium vs. Native-built Apps
I have finally been able to take the time to do something I've been wanting to do for a long time: some mobile development. I decided to work on some Android apps first, as the barrier to entry is a little lower. As this was an exploratory mission, I thought I would give a few development options a try. Those development options were native Android development via Eclipse and Appcelerator's Titanium Platform.
By way of explanation, Appcelerator's Titanium Platform is a development environment that allows you to write HTML/CSS/JavaScript apps and have them compiled down to native code (Android or iOS). Titanium provides a rich framework of APIs from which to build your apps. For instance, the UI components in Titanium are analogous to the UI components in Android. The advantage to Titanium is that you can take one app and compile it down to any of the supported platforms, like Android or iOS. Since Titanium compiles down to native code, you're not running interpreted, though there are some specific wrappings that Titanium has to build in.
The app: Quotious
For my app, I had a few necessities. First, it had to be twitter-like, meaning that it was a bunch of short messages that can be displayed as a list. I also wanted the data to be served up from some external source and arrive packaged in JSON.
Based partly on these needs, and partly on an idea I got from a buddy, I decided to build an app that captured quotes. You could specify the author of the quote, the source of the quote and the quote itself. Nothing too fancy. I called it "Quotious".
In light of that, I first built out a small Jetty based server which I could run on my local. It was backed by a MongoDB database. The server simply served up the contents of the database in a RESTful manner (I really only implemented the GET). I seeded the database with a bunch of quotes from Darth Vader, as he is a worthy source of quotes all over the interwebs.
Then, I got to work building the apps.
Titanium Quotious
I decided to delve into Titanium first, as I was most excited about that. While I can do all the Java programming anyone could ask for, I absolutely love working with JavaScript. Titanium seemed like it would be a fun experience.
From start to finish, it took me about two days to turn out the Quotious app in Titanium. Titanium offers a great example app called "Kitchen Sink" that implements examples of an incredible number of their APIs. I relied heavily on an example twitter app that comes included with Kitchen Sink, adapting it for my needs.
The Titanium implementation of Quotious doesn't have a persistent store and pulls the data over a RESTful call every time you fire up the app. In that manner, it's not very robust, but the real story here is that it was almost trivial to implement. I was able to bring all of my traditional web app skills to bear and had I really been trying I could have turned it out faster.
Native Quotious
After I was done with the Titanium version of the app, I turned my hand to a natively built implementation done in Eclipse. I quickly went through all the tutorials and found myself in an interesting position: After Hello World, there wasn't a clear path to building up my understanding. So, I turned to The Goog and found this superb implementation of a twitter app that is put together as a tutorial by Marakana.
This app took me about twice as long to build, roughly 4 or 5 days. The reason, though, is significant. Titanium abstracts away much of the underlying Android structure. You are free to basically build your app as if it were a web app and not worry about the inner workings of Android. While those inner workings can only suffice to make your app stronger, they're not strictly necessary to simply build an app with Titanium.
As I worked through the Marakana example, I was enlightened about all of the various moving parts that truly make up an Android app. From the Manifest.xml to the views, from the actions to the intents, I had to actually learn what went into an Android app. This accounted for much of the increased time of development.
The native app that I developed is slightly more robust than the Titanium version. It is backed by a SQLite database. As updates are fed from the web source they are placed into the database. As those changes go in, the UI is updated and what you see on the left is what is created. In light of the database, my app will survive a loss of connectivity with grace, serving up what it has already seen and remembered in the past.
Conclusion
Let me not give the impression that Titanium is only about building web-app like Android apps. It's not. There is rich support for what makes a truly native app within Titanium. You can create and manipulate a database, you can work with actions and intents. You can do all of these things. (Update: See the first link below for some info on how to do all of these things)
But you don't have to. And therein lies what might be the most seductive thing about Titanium. You can build your app as if it is a web app, only it runs natively. You don't have to expand your skill set to understand all of the ins-and-outs of what makes up an Android app. All you have to do is take your current skill set for building JavaScript heavy web apps and port them over to your device of choice.
If developer time is your main constraint, then Titanium is likely the way to go. You can hit the ground running faster with Titanium. You don't really have to be an "app developer" to develop apps with Titanium. What's more, and something I only lightly touched on, with very little augmentation, you can port your app to an entirely different platform such as iOS. With very little, if any, changes, I can run the Titanium version of Quotious on an iOS device by simply compiling it down.
One word of caution, though: If you choose the Titanium route, don't eschew learning what really goes into an Android app. Knowing the actuals behind Android can only make you a stronger developer in the long run.
Edited: For formatting
Updated: Added pointer to first comment with additional information
By way of explanation, Appcelerator's Titanium Platform is a development environment that allows you to write HTML/CSS/JavaScript apps and have them compiled down to native code (Android or iOS). Titanium provides a rich framework of APIs from which to build your apps. For instance, the UI components in Titanium are analogous to the UI components in Android. The advantage to Titanium is that you can take one app and compile it down to any of the supported platforms, like Android or iOS. Since Titanium compiles down to native code, you're not running interpreted, though there are some specific wrappings that Titanium has to build in.
The app: Quotious
For my app, I had a few necessities. First, it had to be twitter-like, meaning that it was a bunch of short messages that can be displayed as a list. I also wanted the data to be served up from some external source and arrive packaged in JSON.
Based partly on these needs, and partly on an idea I got from a buddy, I decided to build an app that captured quotes. You could specify the author of the quote, the source of the quote and the quote itself. Nothing too fancy. I called it "Quotious". In light of that, I first built out a small Jetty based server which I could run on my local. It was backed by a MongoDB database. The server simply served up the contents of the database in a RESTful manner (I really only implemented the GET). I seeded the database with a bunch of quotes from Darth Vader, as he is a worthy source of quotes all over the interwebs.
Then, I got to work building the apps.
Titanium Quotious
 |
| Titanium Quotious |
From start to finish, it took me about two days to turn out the Quotious app in Titanium. Titanium offers a great example app called "Kitchen Sink" that implements examples of an incredible number of their APIs. I relied heavily on an example twitter app that comes included with Kitchen Sink, adapting it for my needs.
The Titanium implementation of Quotious doesn't have a persistent store and pulls the data over a RESTful call every time you fire up the app. In that manner, it's not very robust, but the real story here is that it was almost trivial to implement. I was able to bring all of my traditional web app skills to bear and had I really been trying I could have turned it out faster.
Native Quotious
After I was done with the Titanium version of the app, I turned my hand to a natively built implementation done in Eclipse. I quickly went through all the tutorials and found myself in an interesting position: After Hello World, there wasn't a clear path to building up my understanding. So, I turned to The Goog and found this superb implementation of a twitter app that is put together as a tutorial by Marakana.
 |
| Native Quotious |
As I worked through the Marakana example, I was enlightened about all of the various moving parts that truly make up an Android app. From the Manifest.xml to the views, from the actions to the intents, I had to actually learn what went into an Android app. This accounted for much of the increased time of development.
The native app that I developed is slightly more robust than the Titanium version. It is backed by a SQLite database. As updates are fed from the web source they are placed into the database. As those changes go in, the UI is updated and what you see on the left is what is created. In light of the database, my app will survive a loss of connectivity with grace, serving up what it has already seen and remembered in the past.
Conclusion
Let me not give the impression that Titanium is only about building web-app like Android apps. It's not. There is rich support for what makes a truly native app within Titanium. You can create and manipulate a database, you can work with actions and intents. You can do all of these things. (Update: See the first link below for some info on how to do all of these things)
But you don't have to. And therein lies what might be the most seductive thing about Titanium. You can build your app as if it is a web app, only it runs natively. You don't have to expand your skill set to understand all of the ins-and-outs of what makes up an Android app. All you have to do is take your current skill set for building JavaScript heavy web apps and port them over to your device of choice.
If developer time is your main constraint, then Titanium is likely the way to go. You can hit the ground running faster with Titanium. You don't really have to be an "app developer" to develop apps with Titanium. What's more, and something I only lightly touched on, with very little augmentation, you can port your app to an entirely different platform such as iOS. With very little, if any, changes, I can run the Titanium version of Quotious on an iOS device by simply compiling it down.
One word of caution, though: If you choose the Titanium route, don't eschew learning what really goes into an Android app. Knowing the actuals behind Android can only make you a stronger developer in the long run.
Edited: For formatting
Updated: Added pointer to first comment with additional information
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Working from Home: What are Your Pro Tips?
For the past month and a half, I've had the privilege of working from home.
The benefits are unquestionable: I don't commute, I simply walk up and down the stairs to go to work; I can pitch in throughout the day if my wife finds herself in a pinch; Should sudden inspiration hit me, I am mere steps away from a comfortable work environment.
But I find that there are some surprising catches that I didn't expect. For instance, now that my work and home are effectively the same place, it's harder for me to "leave work behind". Without a commute, there's no time to wind down. It's much harder to hold "meetings" as I have to work around the sleep schedules of my young children.
Another interesting side-effect is that I am finding myself working more. After the kids go to bed it's way to easy to walk upstairs and continue what I left behind earlier in the afternoon. This is time my wife and I have traditionally spent together. I also tend to "get to work" earlier, walking upstairs with coffee in hand, having spent only a few minutes walking around downstairs like a zombie til I am almost fully awake.
So, while working from home is truly an awesome thing (at least for me), I'm finding that it requires a completely different set of coping mechanisms. I wanted to toss out the question to all of you that do or have had the opportunity to work from home:
What survival skills have you developed to allow you to be more productive while working from home?
Leave your comments below, and after a bit, I'll compile these pro tips into a blog post.
The benefits are unquestionable: I don't commute, I simply walk up and down the stairs to go to work; I can pitch in throughout the day if my wife finds herself in a pinch; Should sudden inspiration hit me, I am mere steps away from a comfortable work environment.
But I find that there are some surprising catches that I didn't expect. For instance, now that my work and home are effectively the same place, it's harder for me to "leave work behind". Without a commute, there's no time to wind down. It's much harder to hold "meetings" as I have to work around the sleep schedules of my young children.
Another interesting side-effect is that I am finding myself working more. After the kids go to bed it's way to easy to walk upstairs and continue what I left behind earlier in the afternoon. This is time my wife and I have traditionally spent together. I also tend to "get to work" earlier, walking upstairs with coffee in hand, having spent only a few minutes walking around downstairs like a zombie til I am almost fully awake.
So, while working from home is truly an awesome thing (at least for me), I'm finding that it requires a completely different set of coping mechanisms. I wanted to toss out the question to all of you that do or have had the opportunity to work from home:
What survival skills have you developed to allow you to be more productive while working from home?
Leave your comments below, and after a bit, I'll compile these pro tips into a blog post.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
The Last Dying Gasps of Cancer
As many of you may know, my oldest son, Cole, was diagnosed with ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia), a type of cancer, on November 14, 2007, just days after his second birthday. It has been a long, trying road to see him through his treatment. Much of the first year or so is covered extensively in this blog, and I invite you to peruse the archives going back to November of 2007. But there is wonderful news to report.
On January 17, 2011, Cole took his last dose of chemo. It was a monumental event, one that we had planned on celebrating with a small party of close friends who have been with us on this journey. But, alas, the party was not meant to be, at least not yet.
Cancer had one last, desperate attempt to rope us back into the land worry and concern that pervades any experience with cancer. One last dying gasp, if you will.
Our family had been sick for about a week, with each of us but Cole having a moderate cold. The two younger kids ran fevers and felt miserable, but as he has been wont to do during his whole treatment, Cole seemed to be riding it out unscathed.
Then, the Saturday before the 17th, just two days before Cole was done with chemo, it happened, he ran a fever. In peds cancer-land, if you have a fever, you earn a trip straight to the hospital. If you're lucky, it's on a weekday, during business hours, so you get to go hang out at clinic. If not (and we never were lucky) you get to go sit in the ER for hours on end.
So, Dalynn and I accessed Cole, he and I packed a bag, and off to the ER we went!
Now, Cole and I are old pros at handling these visits. You get to be that way after 3+ years. So, we came prepared with iPhone and lots of games. We got ushered back to a room quickly, got our stuff down, then turned on the TV and BOOM! Star Wars: A New Hope was on! (Epic, truly epic...)
The doctors and nurses came and went, there were x-rays taken, and then there was some distressing issues with his line. We had to de-access and re-access his port (which he hates) but things got cleared up. Since Cole wasn't running any more fevers, after about 5 hours and 4 new iPhone apps we got to go home.
A call came in the next day, Sunday, in the early afternoon: Cole has a slight touch of pneumonia, take an anti-biotic. No big deal.
Then, a couple hours later, we got the dreaded second call from CHKD: His lab cultures grew something, come back in.
Bah, a second trip to the ER! Now we're just one day from end of chemo.
So, Cole and I grab the bag we had packed and off we go.
This time, I was fairly certain that we'd be admitted and staying for a few days. Much to my surprise, we were let out a mere 4 hours later, no fevers, repeat labs, everything looked fine.
Monday, the 17th, we went to follow up with clinic and also have a GI consult. They had spotted elevated liver enzymes and Cole's liver was enlarged. Thus began our (hopefully) last medical mystery in cancer-land.
There was a lot of worrying and concern, I have to say, and Cole went the following Friday for an ultra-sound and a doppler of his liver, but I'm happy to report that the liver concerns were most likely the result of some virus, and his levels have normalized. I thought especially of our friends the Lemn's who have endured a liver transplant for their young daughter.
These things have a way of making you feel grateful for what you do have, especially when confronted with what you might lose or don't know. While it was a bit of a rude awakening and it really reminded us of darker days, back when Cole was so sick, it's almost refreshing. This is something we won't have to live with much longer.
At the end of February/beginning of March, Cole will be completely done with both chemo and anti-fungals. His port will come out and we'll be ushered from the world of "my son has cancer" to the world of "my son had cancer". What a glorious thing.
On January 17, 2011, Cole took his last dose of chemo. It was a monumental event, one that we had planned on celebrating with a small party of close friends who have been with us on this journey. But, alas, the party was not meant to be, at least not yet.
Cancer had one last, desperate attempt to rope us back into the land worry and concern that pervades any experience with cancer. One last dying gasp, if you will.
Our family had been sick for about a week, with each of us but Cole having a moderate cold. The two younger kids ran fevers and felt miserable, but as he has been wont to do during his whole treatment, Cole seemed to be riding it out unscathed.
Then, the Saturday before the 17th, just two days before Cole was done with chemo, it happened, he ran a fever. In peds cancer-land, if you have a fever, you earn a trip straight to the hospital. If you're lucky, it's on a weekday, during business hours, so you get to go hang out at clinic. If not (and we never were lucky) you get to go sit in the ER for hours on end.
So, Dalynn and I accessed Cole, he and I packed a bag, and off to the ER we went!
Now, Cole and I are old pros at handling these visits. You get to be that way after 3+ years. So, we came prepared with iPhone and lots of games. We got ushered back to a room quickly, got our stuff down, then turned on the TV and BOOM! Star Wars: A New Hope was on! (Epic, truly epic...)
The doctors and nurses came and went, there were x-rays taken, and then there was some distressing issues with his line. We had to de-access and re-access his port (which he hates) but things got cleared up. Since Cole wasn't running any more fevers, after about 5 hours and 4 new iPhone apps we got to go home.
A call came in the next day, Sunday, in the early afternoon: Cole has a slight touch of pneumonia, take an anti-biotic. No big deal.
Then, a couple hours later, we got the dreaded second call from CHKD: His lab cultures grew something, come back in.
Bah, a second trip to the ER! Now we're just one day from end of chemo.
So, Cole and I grab the bag we had packed and off we go.
This time, I was fairly certain that we'd be admitted and staying for a few days. Much to my surprise, we were let out a mere 4 hours later, no fevers, repeat labs, everything looked fine.
Monday, the 17th, we went to follow up with clinic and also have a GI consult. They had spotted elevated liver enzymes and Cole's liver was enlarged. Thus began our (hopefully) last medical mystery in cancer-land.
There was a lot of worrying and concern, I have to say, and Cole went the following Friday for an ultra-sound and a doppler of his liver, but I'm happy to report that the liver concerns were most likely the result of some virus, and his levels have normalized. I thought especially of our friends the Lemn's who have endured a liver transplant for their young daughter.
These things have a way of making you feel grateful for what you do have, especially when confronted with what you might lose or don't know. While it was a bit of a rude awakening and it really reminded us of darker days, back when Cole was so sick, it's almost refreshing. This is something we won't have to live with much longer.
At the end of February/beginning of March, Cole will be completely done with both chemo and anti-fungals. His port will come out and we'll be ushered from the world of "my son has cancer" to the world of "my son had cancer". What a glorious thing.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Porting Numbers from AT&T to Google Voice (Updated)
Google is testing the option to port your number from your current carrier to your Google Voice account. For some, the option has shown up and then disappeared, for others, it was never there. For me, the option is still available.
However, porting a number in modern day carrier parlance signals that you are cancelling your account. According to AT&T, the contract resides on the number, and you cannot move the contract to a different number.
Therefor, if you're tied into a contract on the number you wish to port to Google Voice, then you cannot port that number without incurring any cancellation penalties that you might be subject to.
The good news is that if you do port your number, you have 59 days in which to come back without incurring the penalties. But, you have to bring the same number back.
Turns out those numbers are gold.
Update: Google has officially started rolling this out to everyone (over time). They also confirm that porting your number cancels your contract with your carrier.
Lifehacker has a nice write up on the ins-and-outs of porting your number to Google Voice, go check it out.
(Image pulled from Lifehacker)
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Switching: iPhone to Android (Email)
Once you're contacts are moved over, you need to move your email. Now, let's be frank: Gmail is one of the killer apps on the Android platform. Though many a BlackBerry addict may disagree, it is by far the best email client on any mobile device. It supports all of the major Gmail features: threaded conversations, labels, search, etc. The Gmail client on Android is light years beyond the native client on the iPhone, and once you get used to it, you won't want to go back.
The problem here, though, is that the Android Gmail client works with just Gmail. If you're already a Gmail/Google user, this is a non-issue for you. When you sign into your Android phone, your mail will come over automatically. You don't have to fuss or fret. It'll just be there.
If you're not a Gmail user you're faced with some decisions. Once again we come back to the crux of the Android platform: really getting the best out of Android requires a commitment to Google. So, what are your options?
Switch to Gmail
The most effective, but probably the most drastic method (if you're committed to your email provider), is to switch your email over to Google and use Gmail lock, stock and barrel. There are a lot of ways to do this. Probably the easiest is to just start using Gmail without bringing any old messages along with you. Send out the "this is my new email" message and call it a day.
However, that might not be an option for a lot of folks. History is important, and those old email messages are your history. Taking them with you might be high on your list.
If your old email provider is a POP provider, you can import your email into Gmail using the import feature. Google has a great tutorial on the subject which will walk you through importing from some common email providers. This method should really work for any POP provider, though, so even if your provider isn't on the list, don't give up, try anyway. Don't forget to check the box that you'd like to be able to send email as from that account, too. That way, you can still be seen as sending email from your old email address.
Pro Tip: You can still use your old email account through Gmail. Setting it up this way, via POP, means that Gmail becomes your mail client, just like Outlook or Thunderbird. The feature that really makes it possible is the one that allows you to select which account you're sending from. When you create a message, click on the top of the compose message window where your Gmail address is and you'll get the option to select any account that has been verified. Since Gmail is pulling your messages from your old account, and since you're sending messages as from that account, no one will know that you've changed.
Another method revolves around using your current email client (including the iPhone) to connect to Gmail via an IMAP connection. Once you do that, you can copy over any messages that you would like to keep on Gmail. Here's a tutorial from the Gmail FAQ on how to go about it. There's a second page attached to the first, linked to configuration instructions under the "Great, how do I get started?" heading. Look for the configuration methods for your primary email client. Just keep in mind, this is going to be a bit easier on a desktop.
Switching to Gmail for the Insane Over-Achiever
The above IMAP method works if you have a few hundred or so messages to copy over. But, what if you have more? A whole lot more? I found a great tutorial on setting up a local email server on your machine (looks like it's rather Windows-centric) and using that email server to move your files over via POP. This is by no means a simple process, though. Just keep in mind that this is for the advanced (and slightly crazy) user. Attempt at your own risk!
But I Love My Email Provider
So, switching to Gmail isn't for you? Don't despair, you're not completely up the creek, though you may be in for a sub-excellent email experience. If you're on Yahoo, there is a Yahoo mail app that you can place on your phone. As well, most modern Android phones ship with a native email client other than Gmail. You should be able to set up that email client to connect to your old email via POP.
Wrap Up
Moving to a new email provider can be tough, traumatic work. But in the end, it will make your life better, insofar as your Android phone is concerned. The Gmail client on Android is the best email client out there, matching all of the major Gmail features. Using it is a sheer joy, especially when you come from such an archaic email client as the native iPhone client.
But, if switching isn't in the cards for you, you will still probably have options. The great thing about Android is that there's an app for most anything. You can most likely find a good email app to work with.
The problem here, though, is that the Android Gmail client works with just Gmail. If you're already a Gmail/Google user, this is a non-issue for you. When you sign into your Android phone, your mail will come over automatically. You don't have to fuss or fret. It'll just be there.
If you're not a Gmail user you're faced with some decisions. Once again we come back to the crux of the Android platform: really getting the best out of Android requires a commitment to Google. So, what are your options?
Switch to Gmail
The most effective, but probably the most drastic method (if you're committed to your email provider), is to switch your email over to Google and use Gmail lock, stock and barrel. There are a lot of ways to do this. Probably the easiest is to just start using Gmail without bringing any old messages along with you. Send out the "this is my new email" message and call it a day.
However, that might not be an option for a lot of folks. History is important, and those old email messages are your history. Taking them with you might be high on your list.
If your old email provider is a POP provider, you can import your email into Gmail using the import feature. Google has a great tutorial on the subject which will walk you through importing from some common email providers. This method should really work for any POP provider, though, so even if your provider isn't on the list, don't give up, try anyway. Don't forget to check the box that you'd like to be able to send email as from that account, too. That way, you can still be seen as sending email from your old email address.
Pro Tip: You can still use your old email account through Gmail. Setting it up this way, via POP, means that Gmail becomes your mail client, just like Outlook or Thunderbird. The feature that really makes it possible is the one that allows you to select which account you're sending from. When you create a message, click on the top of the compose message window where your Gmail address is and you'll get the option to select any account that has been verified. Since Gmail is pulling your messages from your old account, and since you're sending messages as from that account, no one will know that you've changed.
Another method revolves around using your current email client (including the iPhone) to connect to Gmail via an IMAP connection. Once you do that, you can copy over any messages that you would like to keep on Gmail. Here's a tutorial from the Gmail FAQ on how to go about it. There's a second page attached to the first, linked to configuration instructions under the "Great, how do I get started?" heading. Look for the configuration methods for your primary email client. Just keep in mind, this is going to be a bit easier on a desktop.
Switching to Gmail for the Insane Over-Achiever
The above IMAP method works if you have a few hundred or so messages to copy over. But, what if you have more? A whole lot more? I found a great tutorial on setting up a local email server on your machine (looks like it's rather Windows-centric) and using that email server to move your files over via POP. This is by no means a simple process, though. Just keep in mind that this is for the advanced (and slightly crazy) user. Attempt at your own risk!
But I Love My Email Provider
So, switching to Gmail isn't for you? Don't despair, you're not completely up the creek, though you may be in for a sub-excellent email experience. If you're on Yahoo, there is a Yahoo mail app that you can place on your phone. As well, most modern Android phones ship with a native email client other than Gmail. You should be able to set up that email client to connect to your old email via POP.
Wrap Up
Moving to a new email provider can be tough, traumatic work. But in the end, it will make your life better, insofar as your Android phone is concerned. The Gmail client on Android is the best email client out there, matching all of the major Gmail features. Using it is a sheer joy, especially when you come from such an archaic email client as the native iPhone client.
But, if switching isn't in the cards for you, you will still probably have options. The great thing about Android is that there's an app for most anything. You can most likely find a good email app to work with.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Switching: iPhone to Android (Contacts)
First and foremost, you need contacts. You certainly don't want to actually remember the phone number and email address of every person you know or have met in passing. That's why smartphones were originally invented! No, you probably have a whole slew of contacts stored in your iPhone.
So, how do you get your contacts out?
Unfortunately, the answer to that question is situational. There are several ways to manage your contacts on an iPhone: natively; via Exchange; via third party providers like Google or Yahoo. If you're already using Google to manage your contacts on your iPhone, well, you're done. For every other option there's a bit of elbow grease involved.
If You Already Use Your Google Account on Your iPhone
It is important to note that there are two ways to set up your mail for Gmail on your iPhone, but only one of which allows you to sync your contacts.
If you selected "Gmail" when creating your email account on your iPhone, this does not sync your contacts with Google. You are also not getting "push" mail. You're only checking the server every 15 minutes or so for your email. If you created your Gmail mail account this way, then your contacts are being managed by other means.
However, if you get push mail, then you set up your Gmail account through the "Microsoft Exchange" option. This will give you the ability to sync your contacts.
You can check if you are syncing your contacts by going to Settings -> "Mail, Contacts, Calendars" and choosing your Gmail account (it will be named yourusername@gmail.com, most likely). Choose that account, and if Contacts is set to "on" (as pictured on the right), then your contacts are already synced with your Google account.
Pro Tip: If Google is managing your contacts, then all of your iPhone contacts will appear in your "My Contacts" group in your Gmail account. When you switch to Android, your Android phone will pull not only this group, but all of your contacts in Gmail, so you may end up with more contacts in Android than you have on the iPhone.
Native: Via iTunes
If you use the iPhone Contacts app to natively manage your contacts, then they will be synced up with the iTunes profile for your phone. Syncing your contacts into your Google account is rather easy, once you know what to do. The basic gist is that there is an option in iTunes to sync your contacts to your Google account.
Here are the how-tos from Google:
For PC
For Mac
Via Exchange
If you use Exchange to manage your contacts, email and calendar, then it's very likely that you are an enterprise user. There's no easy and straight forward way to go from Exchange to your Google account, but there is a tried-and-true method for contacts: the CSV file.
The short answer: Export your contacts from Outlook into a CSV (comma separated value) file, then import that CSV file into Gmail.
There are literally hundreds of sites which can tell you how to do each of these steps, but here's an article on c|net which walks you through the process from start to finish on Outlook 2003 and 2007. The article is from 2008 (meaning the Gmail import may be slightly different now-a-days), but should demonstrate the export process well enough:
Exporting contacts from Outlook to Gmail
Here's the Google help page for importing a CSV file into Gmail:
Importing a CSV file into Gmail
Pro Tip: Even if your iPhone is using an Exchange account for your contacts, it doesn't necessarily mean that you're connecting to an Exchange server. A lot of third party providers, for instance Google, use the Exchange format as it is a standard way to sync email, contacts and calendars on the iPhone.
Via Third Party Providers
If you use a third party provider other than Google to manage your contacts on your iPhone, then you will need to look up how to move from your third party account to your Google account. Two of the big ones are Yahoo and Hotmail. Keep in mind that this is more of a question of moving your contacts from your current provider to your Google account, not necessarily from your iPhone directly.
For moving contacts from Yahoo to your Google account, look here:
Import Yahoo contacts into Gmail (when you export, export for Microsoft Outlook, then follow the above instructions for importing a CSV file into Gmail)
To move from Hotmail to Google, look here:
Google Support on Moving from Hotmail to Gmail
For any other providers, you will need to look them up individually. A useful Google search is "export contacts from XXXXXX into Gmail", where XXXXXX is the provider you're using.
So, how do you get your contacts out?
Unfortunately, the answer to that question is situational. There are several ways to manage your contacts on an iPhone: natively; via Exchange; via third party providers like Google or Yahoo. If you're already using Google to manage your contacts on your iPhone, well, you're done. For every other option there's a bit of elbow grease involved.
 |
| Mail account type selection screen |
It is important to note that there are two ways to set up your mail for Gmail on your iPhone, but only one of which allows you to sync your contacts.
If you selected "Gmail" when creating your email account on your iPhone, this does not sync your contacts with Google. You are also not getting "push" mail. You're only checking the server every 15 minutes or so for your email. If you created your Gmail mail account this way, then your contacts are being managed by other means.
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| Example Google Account via Exchange |
You can check if you are syncing your contacts by going to Settings -> "Mail, Contacts, Calendars" and choosing your Gmail account (it will be named yourusername@gmail.com, most likely). Choose that account, and if Contacts is set to "on" (as pictured on the right), then your contacts are already synced with your Google account.
Pro Tip: If Google is managing your contacts, then all of your iPhone contacts will appear in your "My Contacts" group in your Gmail account. When you switch to Android, your Android phone will pull not only this group, but all of your contacts in Gmail, so you may end up with more contacts in Android than you have on the iPhone.
Native: Via iTunes
If you use the iPhone Contacts app to natively manage your contacts, then they will be synced up with the iTunes profile for your phone. Syncing your contacts into your Google account is rather easy, once you know what to do. The basic gist is that there is an option in iTunes to sync your contacts to your Google account.
Here are the how-tos from Google:
For PC
For Mac
Via Exchange
If you use Exchange to manage your contacts, email and calendar, then it's very likely that you are an enterprise user. There's no easy and straight forward way to go from Exchange to your Google account, but there is a tried-and-true method for contacts: the CSV file.
The short answer: Export your contacts from Outlook into a CSV (comma separated value) file, then import that CSV file into Gmail.
There are literally hundreds of sites which can tell you how to do each of these steps, but here's an article on c|net which walks you through the process from start to finish on Outlook 2003 and 2007. The article is from 2008 (meaning the Gmail import may be slightly different now-a-days), but should demonstrate the export process well enough:
Exporting contacts from Outlook to Gmail
Here's the Google help page for importing a CSV file into Gmail:
Importing a CSV file into Gmail
Pro Tip: Even if your iPhone is using an Exchange account for your contacts, it doesn't necessarily mean that you're connecting to an Exchange server. A lot of third party providers, for instance Google, use the Exchange format as it is a standard way to sync email, contacts and calendars on the iPhone.
Via Third Party Providers
If you use a third party provider other than Google to manage your contacts on your iPhone, then you will need to look up how to move from your third party account to your Google account. Two of the big ones are Yahoo and Hotmail. Keep in mind that this is more of a question of moving your contacts from your current provider to your Google account, not necessarily from your iPhone directly.
For moving contacts from Yahoo to your Google account, look here:
Import Yahoo contacts into Gmail (when you export, export for Microsoft Outlook, then follow the above instructions for importing a CSV file into Gmail)
To move from Hotmail to Google, look here:
Google Support on Moving from Hotmail to Gmail
For any other providers, you will need to look them up individually. A useful Google search is "export contacts from XXXXXX into Gmail", where XXXXXX is the provider you're using.
Switching: iPhone to Android
In case you missed it, Android is hot. So hot, in fact, that according to Nielsen (as reported by Boy Genius Report) it's picked up the highest adoption rate in the past six months. 40.8% of all smartphones purchased in the last six months were Android phones. While iOS still has the largest consumer footprint among smartphones in the US, with 28.6% of smartphones overall being iOS devices, Android devices have pulled to within 2.8%, with 25.8% of smartphones overall being Android devices, and the rate of growth far exceeds that of iOS.
Given those figures, even if you're a current iOS fanboy user, it's highly likely that you've given some thought to what it would be like to switch to an Android phone. You know, just thought about it. But, how does one go about such a thing?
Switching smartphones is quite a daunting prospect, in some ways more difficult than switching computer OSes. How do you get your contacts, email and calendar transferred? What about the apps you use day in and day out? The answers may surprise you.
Before we get into the basics, though, let's talk about one of the killer, compelling reasons to use an Android phone: Google.
Most Android phones (some of the Samsung phones on Verizon being the notable exceptions) are tightly integrated with the Google experience. By tightly, I mean that your contacts, email, calendar, IMs, etc will all reside in the cloud, synced with Google's servers. This is a beautiful, beautiful thing. If your phone ever dies or you switch to another Android phone, the fact that everything is synced in the cloud means that getting it all back is as easy as signing in to your Google account on your Android phone.
While using an Android phone without a Google account is doable, why would you want to do this? Some of the true power of Android is derived from this close association with the Google services. Another way to look at it is like this: If you don't want to buy into the Google experience lock, stock and barrel, then an Android phone probably isn't for you.
It doesn't mean you have to use Google solely, there are great apps out there for things like Yahoo Mail and Messenger, for instance. But, if you don't even want to set up a Google account and use the killer Google provided apps, then maybe you should stick with your iPhone. You'll probably be a lot happier in the long run.
The blog posts in this series are designed to give a bit of a walk through on switching from your iPhone to an Android phone. We'll cover the basics, such as moving your contacts, email and calendar. We'll also delve into some of the alternatives Android provides to the iOS ecosystem, like living without iTunes, or better yet, living with iTunes and Android. We'll take a look at killer apps that you can't (and shouldn't) live without, and we'll look at shortcomings of both the iPhone and Android. Finally, in the end there will hopefully be a clear path on how to migrate from your iPhone to an Android phone.
Be forewarned, though: This is not for the faint of heart. It is not without pain and it's not as easy as pushing a button and making it go. But, in the end, you can move from your iPhone to an Android phone, and when you do, you may never look back.
Series Posts
Switching Contacts
Series Posts
Switching Contacts