Official iCreate Blog > Ben Harvell

iCreate sister magazine Web Designer launches new online initiative

Today sees the start of an exciting new promotion on Web Designer magazine’s website. Over the next four weeks the UK’s premiere web design magazine will be updating its site daily, with features covering all aspects of web design as well as in-depth interviews with leading names from the cutting edge of the industry. Visitors will also find articles and features on eCommerce that cover the business end of creating professional web content. Visit www.webdesignermag.co.uk every day for the next four weeks and find out what’s on offer.

The latest episode of the iCreate podcast is now available on iTunes and www.imaginepodcasts.com

In this episode:

- Ben & Jimmy discuss the merits of the iPhone App Store & the sorry state of Apple’s MobileMe service

- Jimmy travels to MTech Laboratories to have some custom iPod headphones fitted

- The team tests Apple’s iPhone 3G adverts against real-world speeds

As MobileMe struggles to get up to full strength and Apple attempts to iron out its flaws, another email has been sent to MobileMe subscribers offering a similar deal to those using the free trial.

“We have already made many improvements to MobileMe, but we still have many more to make. To recognize our users’ patience, we are giving every MobileMe subscriber as of today a free 60 day extension. This is in addition to the one month extension most subscribers have already received. We are working very hard to make MobileMe a great service we can all be proud of. We know that MobileMe’s launch has not been our finest hour, and we truly appreciate your patience as we turn this around”

The MobileMe Team

While this small reward may work in the short term, Apple needs to make sure its services are fully functional soon to risk irreparably harming its credibility in the online domain. A free sixty days is a nice bonus for those unaffected by MobileMe outages but it also serves to highlight the issues with MobileMe to those who may have been previously unaware of them, thus spreading negativity.

Unsubstantiated rumours also point to the firing of MobileMe’s head (allegedly an Ex-Microsoft exec) for the incredibly un-Apple launch and subsequent issues.

www.apple.com/mobileme

We’ve been really enjoying wasting a significant amount of time “Tweeting” over the last few days.

If that sounds like the pressure of deadlines has finally driven us mad, you obviously
haven’t tried Twitter yet.

At it’s very base, Twitter provides the same service as Facebook’s Status without any of the other hassle.

“What’s the point of that?” You may well ask. We thought the same, but the truth is it’s incredibly addictive.

Simple updates via the web, IM and now iPhone apps mean that those “following” you (that’s keeping track of your updates, not stalking) can find out what you’re up to at any given time.

Give it a go, it’s the social networking equivalent of Marmite. You’ll either love it or hate it.

Follow us too, we’re simply: iCreateMagazine.

Tweet to you later!

Just like all those times your mum told you to tidy your room and you had better things to do, the same is true of maintaining your Mac.

For the third time in as many years, I had the logic board replaced on my iMac and, as a result of frantic hit and miss home repair attempts prior to sending it away, cleared out my HD.

The Mac is now back and I’ve thrown on a spanking new copy of Leopard, replaced my old RAM with two fresh 1Gb sticks and stuck in a new HD boasting an impressive 1TB storage. It’s almost like buying a brand new machine (aside from the fact it’s still only a G5).

The best thing to come from all of this is that I now have a virgin Mac and can do all the things I planned for a rainy weekend that never arrived.

First up, I partitioned the drive: essential apps and OS X on one side, everything else on the other. Then I added only the apps I know I will use. All the odd downloads of the last year or so are no longer clogging things up. Time Machine comes next, start from scratch and never worry again. MobileMe sync, a couple of drivers and we’re good to go.

It feels different every time I sit in front of that old iMac now. It’s perfectly synced with my other Macs, the bookmarks and contacts transferred perfectly from MobileMe, the hard drive is still virtually empty and there’s a definite spring to its formerly begrudging responses. 

I’m now looking forward to kicking off some new projects in iLife as much as I was when iLife ‘08 arrived. 

It’s empowering, exciting and inspirational, and I recommend you do the same. That old Mac you’re losing faith in might just become your new best friend. 

The app store is great, the apps are great, the iPhone is great… except for one aspect.

Now I’ve wildly downloaded easily fifty-something apps in the last month and deleted countless others, I’m left with a stupid number of iPhone homescreens. So many, in fact, that it takes a good few seconds to scroll from my bookmarked sites at one end to the iPhone default homescreen at the other.

For all the incredible features, slick interface and world-beating technology, the one thing Apple has overlooked with the iPhone is the thing they’re known for in all other products - the basic user interface.

When it had but one homescreen the iPhone interface was simple enough. Tap the app you want and you’re off. Now, with countless apps being downloaded we’re filling up the 4×4 app per homescreen spaces faster than ever.

So what’s the answer? I thought it was to be organised. Most used apps up front, games on one homescreen, links on another etc etc. This worked fine until I updated apps I’d downloaded and found the Feng Shui of my homescreens completely ruined. The same goes for downloading new apps, they’re just unceremoniously dumped onto the phone without any regard for your locational preferences.

If the rumours are to be believed, Apple has quashed an iPhone version of cover flow for apps. Word is it dug too deep into the iPhone software (coming from a jailbreak background) but it wouldn’t surprise me if the Cupertino boys are holding off until they get their own apps (beyond Remote) out there. At the very least an upgrade to the iPhone software to provide a more seamless browsing experience should be on the cards.

Until then I’m left flicking across the phone so regularly I’m worried a horizontal groove will appear across that beautiful screen.

Developers? Apple? Please help.

We’re proud to announce that iCreate has now joined the hallowed ranks of Facebook.

Log on, become a fan and write on our wall today.

We’ve got some great things planned including groups, competitions and more.

See you there!

There’s a sea of web browsers for Mac OS X out there so it’s only when a more unique take on the standard navigation tool appears that we ever get interested.

Flock is one such app. Built on Mozilla’s Firefox 3 Technology, it taps into the world’s infatuation with social networking and sharing within a slick and very Mac oriented interface.

Scooping a slew of awards from a Webby to a top ten listing in PC World’s 100 Best Products of 2008, Flock is constantly evolving and is now available in 2.0 Beta form.

So what’s the big deal? Well, if you’re one of those web users who always has a Facebook page open or can’t resist a quick skim across comments on Flickr photos or YouTube videos, Flock makes the process far simpler. Integrating the most popular social websites like those mentioned above and many more, Flock negates the requirement of navigating to a page to view, connect and share – it’s all in the browser interface. Send photos to friends on Facebook by dragging and dropping, check messages on Twitter, share links and text and much more.

A “Gloss” edition of Flock now brings you the latest in fashion and entertainment gossip across the web should you require it.

Setup is as smooth as can be with a simple login to your chosen site being enough for Flock to create your own sidebar or account within the browser. Facebook is a classic example here with a list of your friends appearing in a bar at the side of the browser showing their picture, status and more. You can even drag and drop images and links on to a user’s profile to share with them instantly.

Whether you’re into social networks, photos, blogs, media or news feeds, Flock has something for you. There’s even a built-in media bar that scours sites like Picasa, Truveo and YouTube, a feed reader for RSS and a blog editor for the most popular blogging apps.

It sounds crass and clichéd but Flock, that dubs itself “The Social Web Browser”, is just downright sociable. From the feature set through to the cute interface it’s an App no Mac fan or web fiend should overlook.

www.flock.com

Well this is exciting. I’m currently blogging from Wordpress’ iPhone app. The typing is a bit tougher than when I’m at my Mac so I’ll keep this brief but, just so you all know, I can now blog from anywhere. Beware!

If only this were possible…

I’d always plug in and sync before I went to the pub.