When our company started, two years ago, we were 5 employees strong, with a vision of bringing augmented reality (AR) in to everyday life. Now, with a bit of experience, and a much bigger staff, that vision has only been strengthened and further defined. It’s no longer just a vision, either; in those two years, that vision has become a true reality.

We’d like to think that it was all done, thanks to our badass CEO, our classy and organized COO, our genius director of development, our visionary creative director, our charismatic sales staff, our lifeline of an executive assistant, and our elite backbone of the best developers in the world…and for a significant portion, it is. The truth is, however, that if we’re honest with ourselves, we would not have the opportunities we’ve experienced this year, without a lot of other people. People like Steve Jobs, leading technology to a place where this kind of vision is possible. People like our families who, in their dedication, support us in our dedication. People like you; the fans of both augmented reality and a company who seeks to push the envelope of what’s expected. Ultimately, we can’t forget the big guy upstairs who has continuously handed us epic win, after epic win.

It’s a team effort, and the team is far bigger than just the list in payroll. So, we here at Gravity Jack would like to take a second to thank you for all the support, and express our excitement for what, this time next year, we’ll be able to add to the list. If you find yourself here in the states this weekend, enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday, and know that while we might be the most powerful, good-looking, humble, and all-around awesome company the world has ever seen…we’re thankful for the support.

We leave you with this photo, expressing our thanks:

- Jack

HTML5 is just a catch phrase for Dynamic HTML (DHTML), which is just a combination of HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. The DHTML coding modal has been around for years, and all HTML5 brings to the table is more DOM tags to manipulate, and a few new JavaScript methods. One of the major issues with the modal is that the user has no control over the client side computer. In other words, there is no communication possible between the app and the viewing computer, beyond the scope of web browsing. So, why code in such a limited language set?

“Because…Steve Jobs said so.”  Buwahaha, No.

It’s because of the portability of the app. The great thing with DHTML is that it will run on any browser that supports the DOM that you are using. This makes interpolation an almost painless process.

So, you want a super badass HTML5 site, and you want to build it in a way that runs on all the devices known to man. This is quite easy—as long as you don’t care about audio effects, loading times, code security, or any of the sensors/hardware on the given device. I have found that most of the mobile browsers on the market today are extremely limited. On Android (API Level 8 and below), and also on iPhone (all versions), the webkit browsers have only one audio channel, user dialog (that can take up valuable screen space), and an incessant need to run everything its own way.  How do we overcome these problems? There are many options out there to make a so-called “webapp” (like PhoneGap, and XNA). These frameworks are a beautiful start to making a library, which is a plug and play solution, to gain access to system resources, from a web page. I have often found that what our clients need, exceed the scope of what they can do— and these systems are far to bloated for what we need.

So, we are left with one option; we make our own native app, which can create a web browser in a symbiotic relationship. We have a native device app that can spin up an instance of webkit, and only use the pieces we need for our given project to work. In the coding world, this is known as a “webUIView”, which can be utilized on all of the popular, full web enabled devices. With this web view, we have a system that can expose the hardware layer to our webapp. So, how are we going to communicate, back and forth, between the device and the webapp? In a nut shell, we have JavaScript injection, in order to inject some code in the DOM and run it, access to the DOM headers and control of the URL to run GET and POST procedures, access to the JavaScript console for debugging, and finally, the power to override the JavaScript dialog system for an events model, to be used from the DOM.

JavaScript injection is a process to create a string of DHTML, and push it to the DOM before the “onLoad” events are fired. This works like any other server side system, (i.e. PHP, ASP.NET, etc.) in that they have the ability to execute code before we hand it off to the browser. Having this, gives us the ability to pass information (and code) to the webapp for its own use (i.e., geo-location). This can also offer some security to your site by making the webapp worthless, unless executed from your native app.

Having access to the URL allows us to focus the user’s browser where we want them to go, and nowhere else. We can also place URL parameters in a load.url statement, forcing a POST action to happen. Lastly, this means that we can execute callback function, to run anything within our web app.

This is great. We have everything we need to push information to the webapp to enrich the user’s experience, but what about when we need the webapp to fire an event, inside the native code? Well, we can use the JavaScript console to pass serialized data to the native app, or we can use a JavaScript alert. In practice, I use the JavaScript Console for debugging, and the JavaScript alert system for events, mostly because I never use the JavaScript alert system at all (not cool enough). This benefits me, by keeping the debug system and events (JavaScript alert) system apart.

So, now I’ve come full circle, and have the ability create robust applications that will run on any platform (the way I want them to), without eating up resources, better utilized elsewhere. As time passes, technology will become better and these new standards will be finalized. When this happens, it will (without a doubt) be the way to develop on mobile platforms.

- Jack

Unless your name is Jenny (from the football cheer squad), I’m not sure what you were doing after school in junior high. My guess is, whatever it was, it wasn’t at Hewlett-Packard’s corporate offices. If it was, you were probably waiting for your over-worked father to get out of a lecture he was giving to a gaggle of young technology bucks. So, while you were sitting outside on your skateboard, chewing Big League and rewinding your Walkman to the latest single from Vanilla Ice, in the back of your dad’s lecture sat Steve.

Steve Jobs has become more of a household name than Betty Crocker. His innovation rivals that of that other “apple” guy (Newton) and his ideas have been in more pockets than the Swiss Army. It is not just a clever idea, that was implemented near-perfectly, that led to the success of the largest publicly traded company in the world. It was passion, vision, and a reckless abandonment for the expected that created what can only be explained as “The Jobs market.”

Anyone who is anyone has Apple’s iPod, let alone has heard of it. If you haven’t, please put down your Discman and walk outside. It’s a product that not only created, but also capitalized on technology that filled a gap consumers had yet to realize. They say that with some people, you give them an inch and they take a mile. With Steve, he found a niche and created a market.

As much as we’d like to think that technology of this nature would have eventually come along, I shiver at the thought of how long it would have actually taken. I mean, they gave Kanye a week and all he was able to muster up was “808s & Heartbreak.” I digress. Steve Jobs saw it first, acted out and gave us the mindset to think (and create) outside of the expected.

Ahem…Cue Apple’s eerie, Matrix-esque 1980’s Macintosh commercial:

Steve created a Jobs market. With his passing, we respectfully look back on all that he did. Be cautious, however. In order to honor a man whose one relentless vision was forward thinking, it’s our responsibility to take the baton and use what he taught us to create ideas that the junior high versions of ourselves could have only imagined.

Through his vision, Steve gave the world so much more than just new technology. Steve handed us a setting. A frame of mind. A utensil for creativity. A paintbrush. It’s because of his innovation, his vision, and his seeming obsession with forward movement that we, here at Gravity Jack, are able to spend each day pursuing a passion undeniably influenced by Steve Jobs.

So here’s to you, Steve. Wait…

(http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mobiletoast-champagne-nicolas/id399407051?mt=8)

Ok, now we’re set.
Here’s to you, Steve.

Thank you for your vision, your drive, and your undeniable sense of style that seemed to say, “Yeah, you thought turtlenecks were out. You also thought the Motorola RAZR was the future.” Touché, good friend. We’re, truly, forever indebted to you.

-Jack

A lot of people I know have a couple of side projects going on in addition to their regular jobs. These projects don’t always receive a lot of attention but they’re there, if only to make us sound cool when talking side projects with our peers.

I am no exception. There are a couple small iPhone apps I’ve been wanting to write and need to finish before moving on to bigger and better side projects.

But between family, work, and a long commute, they have been pretty stagnant.

So in an effort to streamline my development time I wanted to get my design solid before writing any code. AND I wanted to try and do my design while commuting on the bus AND while using the iPad (using a computer on the bus makes me motion sick but for some reason the iPad’s not as bad).

A few Googles later and I’m looking at the app Blueprint. There are other apps that do layout design but Blueprint caught my eye since it’s design controls look EXACTLY like the controls on the iPhone/iPad. Since my side projects are currently targeted at the iPhone this was perfect. In fact, in Blueprint, iPhone and iPad templates are the only options.

So I downloaded the free version to try it out and started my design.

First of all, using this app is VERY intuitive. If you’ve spent any time in Interface Builder you’ll feel right at home. You start with an empty view (iPhone in my case) and all of the current icontrols are available to place on your view (I say all but while I didn’t count them I also didn’t notice any missing).

Once you place the controls on your view you can resize, move, and edit their properties to your hearts content.

Once I had a few screens designed I stumbled upon what I feel is one of the more powerful features of Blueprint.

You can link views together via ‘actions’ which in my case consisted of simple taps. You can set these on any controls though some controls like the image view also have actions for double-tap and swipe up, down, left and right.

Once you’ve linked all of your views together, select the view you want to start on andpress the ‘Play’ button. You can the ‘play’ your app. It’s so interactive you’ll forget that it’s not the real thing.

I would like to say that everything went perfect the first time, but this app exposed design flaws, layout flaws, flow issues, and other items that I hadn’t even thought about. I was then able to alter my design, add additional features, and adjust the flow in minutes.

All in all I have about two hours into my design and I can tell you it’s saved me WAY more than that in dev time.

I could go on for a while about this but I’ll wrap it up.

The full version at the time of this post is $14.99 and now resides on my iPad. Worth every penny and then some.

The limitations of the Lite version aren’t spelled out anywhere but here are a few that I found:

1. You are limited to two projects.
2. You can only have eight views per project.
3. Your can only assign images to controls (image views, custom buttons, etc) from the photo library.

Some other items that took me a few minutes to figure out:

1. To delete/copy/paste an item, tap the item to select it then tap again to bring up the menu.
2. If you want to link the action of a control to a view you haven’t created yet there is a ‘New Screen’ option in the upper left-hand corner of the target pop-up.
3. To delete an action, open the target pop-up and click the ‘Delete’ button in the upper left-hand corner.
4. To get your project from the Lite version to the Full version, email the project from the Lite version, open the email on your iPad, click the project attachment and it will open in the Full version.

And that pretty much wraps up my review of Blueprint.

Thanks to the devs who put that together for making such an awesome product!

-Jack

First some highlights from the latest Distimo Report

• The number of applications in the Apple App Store has grown from just under 200,000 in April 2010 to over 300,000 in October 2010.
• The proportion of iPad only applications outgrew the proportion of universal applications during the second quarter of 2010.This trend reversed in July 2010 with the proportion of iPad and universal applications in November being equal (7%).
• The average price for an application in the Apple App Store for iPad increased from $4.34 in April 2010 to $4.97 in October 2010 (+14.5%). During the same period, the average price of an application in the Apple App Store for iPhone increased only slightly from $3.94 to $4.03 (+2.3%).
• The average price of the top 100 paid applications in October 2010 is 171% higher in the Apple App Store for iPad than in the Apple App Store for iPhone; $5.80 compared with $2.14, respectively.
• The lower average price of applications in the Apple App Store for iPhone is due to the fact that a large portion of paid applications are priced at $0.99 (45%), while only 24% of applications are priced at this price-point on the iPad.

Then Via VentureBeat

Apple’s iPhone has ousted Research in Motion’s from the top spot in the U.S. smartphone market, with 26 percent of devices shipped in the third quarter, according to a report by the research firm Canalys. And Google’s Android gained the lead in the U.S. mobile operating system share at 44 percent.

The numbers confirm Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ claim that the iPhone surpassed RIM’s BlackBerry devices over the last quarter. They’re also a sign that things are really going to heat up between the iPhone and Android over the next quarter.

The worldwide smartphone market grew by 95 percent to 80.9 million devices shipped, according to Canalys. Nokia kept its lead with a 33 percent share (down from 38 percent last quarter), while Apple also surpassed RIM globally with a 17 percent share, compared to RIM’s 15 percent. Android was “the greatest driver of growth in the worldwide market” with a 1,309 percent increase in devices shipped — from 1.4 million to 20 million devices — since last year. Android ended up taking over 25 percent of global OS market share, beating out both Apple and RIM.

In the emerging markets dubbed “BRIIC” countries, which include Brazil, Russia, India, Indonesia and mainland China, smartphone shipments increased 112 percent since last year. Nokia unsurprisingly kept the lead in those emerging markets thanks to its cheap devices. Nokia remained the top OS vendor in 37 of the 56 countries Canalys tracks, but I suspect that its global market share will continue to drop precipitously. Android’s growth is somewhat unstoppable at this point, and by next year there may be cheaper Android devices that can target emerging markets.

Microsoft was the biggest loser for the last quarter, with 3 percent of worldwide smartphone shipments. Still, the firm predicts that Microsoft’s outlook for the fourth quarter is “vastly improved” thanks to the launch of its Windows Phone 7 devices.

A report released today by research firm NPD Group also supports Canalys’s numbers. When it comes to best-selling phones in the last quarter, NPD confirms the iPhone 4 is the lead device, the BlackBerry Curve 8500 is in second place, and the LG Cosmos is in third. Two Android devices, the Motorola Droid X and HTC Evo 4G, rounded out the top five spots.

The next area we will look at is a feature that Apple are labelling Retina Display that is the brand new display screen technology used by the iPhone 4. A new 3.5-inch “Retina” IPS LCD display is going to be the norm for all future iPhone versions (including the iPhone 4) and can offer 326 pixels per inch with an overall resolution of 960 by 640. Exactly what does this implies? Well it has a higher resolution than any other mobile phone currently available on the market and is going to provide much sharper photographs and zoom feature.

Third, the iPhone 4 ıs going to be powered by A4 chip which is the same one used on the iPad is what will take your breath away. Among all the things it will do which are awesome, the thing you will really notice is that the power management feature it has is going to extend the battery life which has already been beefed up independently. Having 7 hours of call time is going to be nice without any doubt. The gyroscope is going to take gaming to a whole new level, but if you aren’t a gamer that won’t matter.

Next in the list is something Apple are very pleased with; the iPhone 4 has a built in gyroscope. This 3 axis gyro works in conjunction with the accelerometer and compass resulting in six axis which is ideal for gaming. Think the Wii and you’re going to get close. Jobs showed off this new feature by playing a game, which looked a bit like Jenga.

Apple’s latest features are coming thick and fast and number five is a big one. The primary digital camera is the subject of a “whole new camera system” – and it will be upgraded from three to five mps, the camera also features a backside illuminated sensor which increases the quality of images shot in low-light. It’s also a lot better for video footage, given that it’s carrying an HD-camera that will be able to shoot 720p at 30fps – what Apple is labelling real High definition

Feature six is one we are already acquainted with, the new iPhone OS 4. We are not going to go into too much depth right here, as this is a review of the mobile phone and not the software, nevertheless the high light of the newest version of iPhone OS will be a chance to run multiple programs simultaneously (multi-task). Plus whilst Apple themselves will happily tell you they weren’t the first to offer a multi-tasking smartphone, they are comfortable they managed to construct something that will not obliterate your battery. We’ll reserve judgement until we’ve had a go on the new iPhone Operating System.

Seven is another function we are already familiar with but one that’s exciting in any case; iBooks will be featured on the all new iPhone 4.

Ultimately, number eight is iAds. A tool designed to help developers earn money so that in turn they can drive down the cost of apps and offer a wider selection of free and low cost apps. iAds is kind of self explanatory; it automatically inserts advertising space into an app (providing the creator selects this option) and earns the developer added revenue from clicks and downloads. An odd feature to finish on from a customer point of view but one that is sure to have app developers drooling.

That’s it, are look at the new iPhone 4 and just a tiny review of some of the 100 extra features we’ll be enjoying in the coming months.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/cell-phones-articles/iphone-4-review-7-key-new-improvements-made-2599909.html

Author: Barry Perkins

Apple announced today that the iPhone would finally multitask on the iPhone:

“While this multitasking implementation is a big step for Apple, it’s still technically not true multitasking since apps still can’t remain fully functional in the background. As Steve Jobs mentioned, Apple’s main concern was implementing multitasking without sacrificing battery life or system performance.

I would instead call it “smart” multitasking, since it’s just allowing specific functions in applications to run in the background. The fast app switching feature will make it appear as if the apps always remained running in the background, so some users may not ever notice the lack of full multitasking.

Jobs also announced that multitasking would only be available for the iPhone 3GS, third-generation iPod Touch (released last fall), and the iPad. The iPad will receive the OS 4.0 update in the fall, while the iPhone will get it sometime in the summer.  The iPhone 3G and earlier iPod Touch models simply don’t have the hardware to support the feature, but that’s no great surprise.

• Background audio streaming: Allows you to run music apps like Pandora in the background. The Pandora app will also be integrated into the playback controls on the iPhone’s lock screen.
• Voice over IP (VoIP): Lets apps like Skype be able to receive calls even while your iPhone is locked.
• Background location:  Gives turn-by-turn navigation apps like TomTom the ability to know your location when not in the app, as well as location-based services like Loopt the ability to track your location using cell tower-based positioning.
  Since standard GPS uses a lot of power, Apple suggests that it’s something best used in the car. Cell tower-based positioning doesn’t require as much power. An arrow indicator in the status bar will tell you if an app is tracking your location, and you can also enabled and disable the feature on a per application basis.
• Push notifications: The standard notifications we’ve grown to love and hate on hate iPhone. The iPhone has had push notifications for about 9 months, and in that time over 10 billion push notifications were sent.
• Local notifications: Similar to push notifications, except they don’t require a server and are driven by the phone. I suspect this will be a particularly useful addition.
• Task completion: Allows apps to continue working when you navigate away. For example, you’ll be able to continue loading a photo through the Flickr app while doing something else.
• Fast app switching: Allows apps to instantly store state data and use no resources when you navigate away. It’s basically the appearance of multitasking without using any system resources (other than the space required to store the state data).

-Jack