Only took 2 days, but I did it.
So how can you control Knuckles, and what happens when you collect all the Chaos Emeralds?
The post is full of spoilers that involves when you unlock the characters and the Chaos Emeralds, so if you don’t want to know, then just admire the picture above.
But if you’re in a dangerous mood, read on and be enlightened.
Sonic 1 Remastered was released to the App Store an hour ago, which was a nice surprise to me as I was looking on the App Store and this update appeared.
I couldn’t help playing a bit through it and showing my impressions on here.
2005 5 Inch iPhone/iPad Prototype with Ethernet, Serial & USB Ports
So while the iPod with video was being unveiled for the first time, the very early prototypes were coming out, with serial ports!
Jony Ive on Blue Peter
Worth 7 minutes of your time tonight.
Brilliant watch.
Here’s to the Crazy Ones.
A really great mockup of how iOS can go beyond it’s current state. 3 Features that could do with these improvements.
The first new feature of the lockscreen is something I call “Lockscreen Cards.” Basically, they’re little informative slates that are connected to an app. You can slide between the cards in the same way that you slide between homescreen pages.
The grabber which was introduced a year ago, with the camera icon appearing next to the ‘slide to unlock’ bar, shows a method of improving this:
Quick access to the camera was a great addition to the lockscreen in mid 2011, but I think that the idea could be taken further. The grabber should be able to open any app action that you want. So, first, what exactly is an “app action?” It’s basically anything that you do with an app. Update your status on Twitter, check-in on Foursquare, take a picture with Instagram, whatever. So you can customize your grabber to be one of those things.
More on below.
A year ago when i found out the news, I was in London and went to the Apple Store at Regent Street and Covent Garden, the following is what i wrote in a previous blog of mine. RIP Steve.
“Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water, or do you want a chance to change the world?
Breaking away from the usual of this blog, the past 24 hours up until now has been, emotional.
I was about to get to sleep last night when I checked twitter and the reports were coming in, and I had seen this before, but was usually disregarded right away.
But i went on the Apple site, and there he was, not among us anymore.
First, a little history:
I had first come across a Mac back in Secondary school. In this computer room, one half was old, Mac OS 9 computers, while the other half had the brand new iMac with Mac OS X on it.
You can probably guess what i tried out first.
I was trying to get used to the OS nearly every lunch break, i’d spend about a half hour on the internet, and i even remember now I couldn’t believe how this blue box was so fast and just worked. I tried to see if i could use this instead of the networked Windows PC’s, but i was told no, gutting.
Around 2003 had this Nomad Jukebox that the Dad gave me, and it was terrible. Looked like a CD player, awful UI, and battery life of 2 hours, and it took ages for it to play once you selected it.
I then bought my first iPod, a 3rd gen, and my memory then of a ‘Nomad’ was erased. I remember thinking how crazy it was that it was the size of a drink carton, yet better in every way.
From then on it went to the iPod Photo, to the 5th Gen iPod, and the subsequent iPhones, iMac, and now it’s a iPhone 4 and Macbook Pro. The elegance and ‘it just works’ mantra couldn’t be more true, they feel like they’ve been thought over and over again. It feels like a first class Concorde ticket every time you switch it on until the moment you switch it off, it’s always there to help you or service you in watching a film, listening to music, or just a simple browse. I couldn’t go back at all when it’s this good.
Since i had gotten my act together about 18 months ago, one of the end goals was to meet Steve Jobs, just to say thanks really, and to say that I actually work for Apple and Steve Jobs essentially, but that chance has been taken away from me, from anyone who knows him and also wanted to meet him, any chance of talking to him again are now no more in this life.
So instead, surprised at how down i was feeling about it this morning, I thought i’d go to an Apple Store. I thought if i’m feeling not 100%, maybe theres a few outside the store who feels the same.
I arrived to see this:
I thought i’d take a few on my iPhone, and there were some photographers, and they then all of a sudden asked me to go right up, kneel down a bit, and they kept taking photos of me for which felt like a minute. I haven’t seen any of them anywhere yet, they said they worked for a London paper, so maybe tomorrow? there’s nothing on the web yet.
It just felt really moving, then when I walked into the Store, there was this sense that hadn’t been there before. The staff weren’t the same, not the public looking at the Macs or iPads etc, just something that wasn’t there before, a sense of loss.
His DNA is and always will be a part of Apple, from the products you buy, to the shops and online store you’ll visit for years to come.
I thought i’d get some flowers to put down to show my respects, so I got some orange lilies to the left:
I thought i’d then go to Regent Street. I hadn’t been before, and wanted to see what kind of tributes were there, and it was only about half 1, so after about half hour, i arrived.
By which time i wish i had a jacket, crazy blasts of cold wind, then I came across this:
And still there were people putting more post it notes, flowers, cards, just essentially saying
‘Thank You, you changed the world for the better, for all of us.’
I was nice to see everyone round, just looking and taking pictures. No one spoke at all, just stared at the tributes.
Cameras started to appear, and a Chinese and Australian news crew appeared to do their report on this. The australians interviewed the guy above, and then, me!
I was just staring at the flowers and they wanted me to be interviewed.
They asked me questions about what i thought of his impact he had on the world, how he made ‘geek’ sound cool, and how Apple will be now.. So i replied with the below from what i can remember:
I had said that he taught us to ‘Think Different’, and in these times, we all have an iPod, iPhone, or iPad, and even though he’s gone, there will still always be a part of him in Apple, always, and i’m sure for whatever products are coming out , be it an iPad 3, iPhone 6, he would have been heavily involved still.
Everyone will want to make him proud, and i’m sure that everyone will, they will change the world just as he did.
I haven’t seen the report yet, but i’m sure because of the impact of this, i’ll be seeing it soon.
Not the best of photos, but thats the Aussie crew, they’re interviewing a guy who was after me, was taking a photo of the flowers with his iPad.
I thought after being in the store, i’d just walk back to Covent Garden. Took about a half hour, but i was feeling better. I thought, anyone who has seen this today, heard Steve Jobs, or at the least had an Apple product, can take the fact that they’ve bought something they he spent every night and day with his team to make it simple, elegant, and just work.
Today the latest version of Mac OS X is released. 10.8, the first version i’ve missed out on in 6 years, and also the one that is driving further down the path of the coming iOS/Mac OS X Fusion.
Reading the reviews, from The Verge to Daring Fireball, to All Things D, the general concensus is that:
As the updates are now on a yearly cycle as iOS has been since its original release, one has to wonder just what 10.9 will unveil, a further fusion, possibly a Maps app on Mac OS X?
Its hard to believe that when 10.5 Leopard was in the making, it had to be delayed by 6 months just so engineers could be transferred to concentrate on having the iPhone launch on time. 5 years on, and a yearly release for both OS’ they can do with ease.
Looking ahead to see what may be on 10.9 apart from a possible dedicated Maps app, it’s too hard to say. But right now, Apple definitely has the understanding that on a PC, the function of a keyboard and mouse is always primary. If its changed too much for a one size fits all scenario (Windows 8) then there’ll be more alienation than attraction to the platform.
It may be a 0.1 release, but in 10 years since 10.0, Windows 8 seems to be the turning point of where the consumer will be able to realise what is the better, elegant, faster, more cared for OS in the PC age.
And you don’t need me to type out what the answer is.
iOS 6
The obvious one, looks stunning. When the 3D mode was being manipulated on the iPad, i was blown away.
Looks great. I can definitely see use for this on Safari and Photos.
One feature that i hoped to see, but its still the same. Except ‘Google’ is now ‘Search’..
As with Mountain Lion, the assault into China is being built upon in iOS 6. Better language support and yes, Baidu search.
It wasn’t meant to be. But then i think, this is in a way, built into Siri. So why have this in the Notification Center? Although a shortcut for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth would have been nice.
No API, but Siri is improved. Looking for Football results, i can definitely see this being used in the UK. Except for me.
This hope of mine turned out to be true. Tests have proved that asking for the nearest restaurant, hotel, bar, comes up with UK places. I wonder if the new ‘Maps’ had a hand in this being enabled?
A minor change i was hoping to see.
Nothing. Slightly disappointing.
Not completely, but there are some re-arrangements and a dynamic status bar colour change which took a while for me to get used to.
From what I’ve seen previously, the features are mostly common sense, i.e, what is the next update that people actually want? When Mountain Lion was announced, iOS 6 features are probably being shown on the 10.8 section on the Apple site. The ‘Do Not Disturb’ notification option perhaps, and more powerful Mail options?
Do Not Disturb was to be true, and looks to be really useful. The amount of times i’ve been woken up by a text message, even when it’s set to silent.. A useful feature to be carried over.
Mail has VIP and, pull to refresh, a feature i’ve been wanting since i first used Tweetie.
Mountain Lion
This turned out to be true, which works across all applications.
July for £13.99 . Cheaper than how Lion was, although this is more of a tune up release as to how Snow Leopard was.
Apple TV
This is one that i knew i should have trusted my instincts on, and instead i was half convinced by the news sites and a couple of friends. Although airplay is there, and is successfully being copied by Wii U and Xbox Smart Glass, everything will be unveiled on this soon.
One More Thing…
The Retina Macbook Pro.
I’ve yet to see one as i’m now back in Lincoln and there isn’t an official Apple Store which would have one in as there would be in London, but i’ll be keeping an eye in the local electronic shops.
It looks stunning. It’s the next level of the Macbook Air, carrying on from what was started 3 years ago. Once i actually have a go on one, a post will be written of it.
All in all, with iOS, at first i was admittedly a bit disappointed, with a ‘is that it?’ attitude.
But i realised, when iOS 5 was released, I was unsure of how it could be improved upon drastically when everything could be used with ease.
iOS 6 is a tune up, a ‘Mountain Lion’ of iOS if you wish. The little things such as the status bar blending into the app being displayed is welcome, while Maps looks to be incredible, especially with the 3D and turn by turn features.
Under a day to go before the main event, and everything thats been seen on the web, i thought i’d do a list of what i’m expecting/hoping to see:
iOS 6
From what I’ve seen previously, the features are mostly common sense, i.e, what is the next update that people actually want? When Mountain Lion was announced, iOS 6 features are probably being shown on the 10.8 section on the Apple site. The ‘Do Not Disturb’ notification option perhaps, and more powerful Mail options?
Mountain Lion
Apple TV
The next post will be how right or wrong i was based on this :)
Looking forward to 6PM tomorrow!
I implore you to watch and listen to each of these interviews.
I hadn’t seen these full videos, only bits of what had been released, but its immersive from start to finish. It really gives you some insight into how he just wants to create great products, nothing more, nothing less.
Click the picture to watch the master at work.
As i’m having trouble sleeping in this mad heatwave, I stayed up for the 2AM Interview between Tim Cook at D10.
This is a conference that is now in its 10th year, it’s a great 3 days of interviews from all walks of technological life. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs had a joint interview a few years ago which was a brilliant highlight which should be seen on YouTube as soon as.
The above are only highlights of an hour show, but it gives you a great idea of it.
A website analysed what the interview gave, especially the bits of Facebook and ‘other’ Apple TV.
All in all it was enthralling and really shows that he knows that after nearly 14 years of being at Apple there won’t be any ‘massive’ changes undertaken unlike how the Forbes article from last week gave that impression.
And i’m getting the feeling this year’s WWDC is going to have a fair few surprises that will be much more than iOS 6 and Lion.
We’re keenly aware that when we develop and make something and bring it to market that it really does speak to a set of values. And what preoccupies us is that sense of care, and what our products will not speak to is a schedule, what our products will not speak to is trying to respond to some corporate or competitive agenda. We’re very genuinely designing the best products that we can for people.
- Jonathan Ive.
Well deserved is an understatement.
From 0 to 88MPH for iOS 6 today.
The new maps is one i’ve been hearing about for about 18 months now, and after reading what it could be capable of, it seems to be the standout feature for iOS 6 this year.
Sources tell 9to5Mac that Apple will abandon Google’s mapping back-end in the next major iteration of iOS, replacing it with a brand-new mapping application powered by Apple technology. We’ve independently confirmed that this is indeed the case. Sources describe the new Maps app as a forthcoming tentpole feature of iOS that will, in the words of one, “blow your head off.” I’m not quite sure what that means, and the source in question declined to elaborate, but it’s likely a reference to the photorealistic 3-D mapping tech Apple acquired when it purchased C3 Technologies.
When AllThingsD have their source confirm it, all you can do is take that as fact.
If you think back to each iOS version, there’s always been one standout feature:
iOS 1.0 - iOS
iOS 2.0 - Apps
iOS 3.0 - Copy/Paste
iOS 4.0 - Multitasking
iOS 5.0 - Notifications Center
When you read about the detail that these maps are capable of, and to show them on the retina displays, it’s sure to be a hell of a show come June.
Maybe we’ll be seeing turn-by-turn directions, and, Siri working with this in the UK and other countries at last.
June can’t come fast enough.
About Daryl Baxter.
