Gordon Kelly, writing for Forbes, put together a list of what he thinks is the best and the worst things about the iPhone 6. It’s certainly not an exhaustive list, but he does cover the main things that are brought up by most people. Do you think he’s right? Did he miss something, good or bad? Let us know what you think.
Article – Troubleshooting 8 known iOS 8 issues
TechRepublic.com has a good article on troubleshooting 8 known issues with iOS 8. The issues they cover are
- Wi-Fi connectivity issues
- Battery drain
- Safari slow page loads
- Low volume through earpiece during phone calls
- iMessage errors/can’t connect to server
- Apps not updating/stuck downloading
- Slowdowns/sluggish behavior
- No phone calls in or out
If you are having any of those issues, you can check out their possible solutions.
Newton Gene in OS X – Inkwell
I happened to be reading about the Apple Newton and its handwriting recognition capability named Inkwell. Remembering that it was once a part of OS X, I searched for it. I found the following article that shows a history of OS X features and when they were introduced. Inkwell was introduced with Sherlock in OS X 10.2 Jaguar back in 2002, but the article indicates it was dropped.
Can it really be that long and when was it dropped? Another article indicated that it was still around in 2012. It also said that doesn’t show up unless a pen-based tablet is attached. I dug out my old (10 yrs?) Wacom Intuos GD tablet and attached it to my new Mac Mini running Yosemite. When opening System Preferences, a new extension name “Ink” had appeared. Unfortunately, the tablet didn’t work. I downloaded the latest driver from Wacom but it still didn’t work. The tablet works on my old Power Mac G5 running Tiger 10.4. From the Wacom legacy driver website, it looks like Wacom finally dropped support for this tablet after Snow Leopard 10.6
So if you have a newer tablet than I do, rest assured that the Inkwell handwriting recognition technology from the Newton is still available. Read the following articles for more info.
http://mac.appstorm.net/reviews/utilities/how-to-use-ink-your-macs-built-in-handwriting-recognition-feature/
Article – 26 Crazy Facts You Never Knew About Google
Think you’re a Google expert?
Maybe your Google-fu skills allow you to find any bit of information that’s ever graced the World Wide Web. You know all the right search tricks, which Boolean operators are allowed, the shortcuts, the easter eggs, the games. Your friends and family know you’re the go-to person for any trivia questions or obscure facts they’re burning to know. With Google at your fingertips, nothing can stop you from seeking out any truth.
But having Google search savvy doesn’t make you a Google expert. There’s a lot more to Google itself than even the savviest searchers know.
Google has grown and changed a lot since its founding in 1998, and there’s a lot of history packed in those years, some of which might surprise you.
Apps that are on Sale
A number of apps for OS X and iOS are on sale today. You can find more apps on sale at AppSanta.co.
Mac Apps
Day One (Journal / Notes / Diary): $7.99, normally $9.99 (4.5 stars)
Record life as you live it. From once-in-a-lifetime events to everyday moments, Day One’s elegant interface makes journaling your life a simple pleasure.
Better Rename 9: $1.99, normally $19.99 (4.5 stars)
Better Rename 9 is the most complete renaming solution available on the market today. That’s why, since 1996, tens of thousands of hobbyists, professionals and businesses depend on Better Rename to organize and maintain files. Better Rename’s user interface supports complex renaming tasks without sacrificing ease and speed of use. Simply drag the files you want to rename straight from the Finder into the large preview table or the application icon.. or use our Finder context menu and hot key.
Deliveries: a package tracker: $3.99, normally $4.99 (4.5 stars)
Deliveries helps you keep track of all your packages, so you always know when they’re going to arrive. Whether it’s the latest gadget you’ve preordered online, or a new graphic novel you can’t wait to dive into, Deliveries will keep tabs on it so you don’t miss the doorbell.
PCalc: $6.99, normally $9.99 (5 stars)
PCalc is the powerful choice for scientists, engineers, students, programmers, or indeed anybody looking for a feature rich calculator. It includes an optional RPN mode and multi-line display, a choice of button layouts, an extensive set of unit conversions and constants, a paper tape, multiple undo and redo, engineering and scientific notation, as well as support for hexadecimal, octal, and binary calculations.
Unibox: $1.99, normally $17.99 (4.5 stars)
Unibox is an email client that groups your messages by person. This way your emails are organized automatically and you always find what you are looking for.
NetSpot Wi-Fi Reporter: $1.99, normally $49.99 (unrated)
Installing a wireless network isn’t always easy. Interference from neighboring networks, and radio noise from electronic devices can cause serious connection problems. While you can overcome those by trial and error, there’s a much better solution: NetSpot is here to do the job for you!
Prizmo 3 – Scanning, OCR & Speech: $24.99, normally $49.99 (3 stars)
Prizmo 3 is a scanning application with Optical Character Recognition (OCR) in over 40 languages with powerful editing capability, text-to-speech, and iCloud support. No matter what capture device’s at hand, Prizmo is the key for scanning and performing OCR. It works with pictures taken with your iPhone, iPad, or digital camera, with documents coming from connected or Wi-Fi scanners, even with screenshots! It will help you easily scan any documents (invoices, receipts, boards, giant advertisements…) of any sizes (US Letter, US Legal, A4, and custom)…
iOS Apps
Vert – Unit and Currency Converter: Free, normally $2.99 (5 stars)
Vert is the most amazing, efficient, elegant unit and currency iOS converter. You can personalise it to meet your requirements at its best. Let it be students, people of business, worldwide travellers, rock climbers, anyone who uses on-line recipes or shops on-line, etc. – they all appreciate Vert’s functionality. It blends in with your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad beautifully.
PCalc – The Best Calculator: $6.99, normally $9.99 (5 stars)
PCalc is the powerful choice for scientists, engineers, students, programmers, or indeed anybody looking for a feature rich calculator. It includes an optional RPN mode and multi-line display, a choice of button layouts, an extensive set of unit conversions and constants, a paper tape, multiple undo and redo, engineering and scientific notation, as well as support for hexadecimal, octal, and binary calculations.
Day One (Journal / Notes / Diary): $0.99, normally $4.99 (4.5 stars)
Record life as you live it. From once-in-a-lifetime events to everyday moments, Day One’s elegant interface makes journaling your life a simple pleasure.
Deliveries: a package tracker: $2.99, normally $4.99 (4.5 stars)
Deliveries helps you keep track of all your packages, so you always know when they’re going to arrive. Whether it’s the latest gadget you’ve preordered online, or a new graphic novel you can’t wait to dive into, Deliveries will keep tabs on it so you don’t miss the doorbell.
Printer Pro – print documents, photos, web pages and email attachments: $2.99, normally $6.99 (4.5 stars)
Print attachments, documents, web pages and more right from the iPad on any Wi-Fi or USB printer. Printer Pro lets you wirelessly print from the iPad. It can print directly to many Wi-Fi printers or any printer attached to your Mac or PC via helper application installed on your computer.
Mileage Log+: $4.99, normally $9.99 (4 stars)
Mileage Log+ is an essential app for anyone who needs to track mileage for tax deduction or reimbursement. With predictive input, auto-entry, auto-calculation, and quick access to frequent trips, Mileage Log+ does the hard work for you. A few quick taps will create useful data ready to search, sort, and generate email reports.
Prizmo – Scanning, OCR, and Speech: $4.99, normally $9.99 (3.5 stars)
Prizmo is a universal photo-based scanner app that lets you scan and recognize text documents, business cards, and images, and then export them as PDF/Text, vCard, or JPEG/PNG. Prizmo relies on state-of-the-art technologies, like a highly accurate OCR, real-time page detection, and beautiful image cleanup. Using iCloud, you can even shoot the picture on your iPhone, and finish editing on your iPad or Mac. All of this in an elegant and intuitive user experience.