The new Office for iPhone is everything it should have been on day one
I remember when Microsoft first came out with Office for iPhone. It was actually kind of exciting. Here was this thing that for years had only existed in the form of rumors and leaked documents. And there it was, at last: the killer iPhone app, ready to download. Or so I thought. Maybe I was expecting too much, but I came away feeling underwhelmed. That first version of Office Mobile was a watered-down gimp of a program, with pitifully few editing tools and an occasionally confusing layout (imagine having no way of knowing what size font you were using). Compared to some apps, like Google Drive, it wasn’t that bad, but it still wasn’t as feature-rich as Apple’s own iWork suite. Worst of all, the software has received few feature updates in the 17 months since it debuted. Is this what we waited so long for?
At last, however, Microsoft seems to have come to its senses. The company is getting rid of Office Mobile and replacing it with three standalone iPhone apps for Word, Excel and PowerPoint, just like on the iPad. In fact, because these apps share code with the iPad version, they arrive with the same robust feature set, along with a couple tricks designed specifically for the iPhone. In short, then, the new apps are everything the original Office for iPhone should have been.
If you’ve spent any time with Office for iPad (or if you read my review), you’ll notice right away that these new iPhone apps have generally the same UI as the tablet version. The icons are the same, as is the layout of the home screen, where you can create new documents, view recently opened files or poke around any storage accounts you may have linked. Speaking of the sort, whereas you once needed a Microsoft OneDrive or SharePoint account to open something stored in the cloud, you now have the option of connecting your Dropbox account as well. It’s a brilliant solution when you think about it: Dropbox doesn’t have built-in office tools like OneDrive or Google Drive, and meanwhile Microsoft has caught flak for not supporting enough storage services. Everybody wins, especially users.
Though the UI is similar in style to the iPad version, Microsoft did have to make a few tweaks to ensure Office ran well on the iPhone’s smaller screen. For instance, while the iPhone apps have the familiar “Ribbon” interface, it now shows up at the bottom of the screen, not the top. Just hit the fourth button from the right in the top pane, and you’ll see a menu pop up at the bottom of the screen, exactly where you’d normally expect to see the onscreen keyboard. Because of that, the Ribbon never feels like it’s in the way: If you’re used to constantly having a soft keyboard taking up the lower half of your phone screen, then Office’s “vertical Ribbon” setup should feel quite natural.
From there, you can tap through all of the usual Ribbon options (“Insert,” “Review,” et cetera). As you’d expect, the menu of options will change depending on the context, but regardless of what you’re doing, the controls are large and easy to hit with your finger. Wanna change the font or color of your text? No problem. Want to program a cell to calculate a formula? Easy peasy. Need to add a transition to your PowerPoint slides? You get where I’m going here. The point is, for an app that offers such a large number of options, it’s impressively well-organized. Best of all, because the main Ribbon menu sits at the bottom of the screen, it should be easy to reach with your thumb, even on the larger iPhone 6 Plus.
Additionally, Microsoft added viewing modes to Excel and Word that make it easier to read documents on the iPhone’s smaller screen. In Excel, there’s a full-screen mode, which is exactly what it sounds like: a view-only mode where you won’t have to worry about hitting any random cells with your finger. In Word, this works a bit differently. There, it’s called “Reflow,” and it’s kind of like the difference between a mobile website and the full desktop version — the high-fidelity original looks better, but Reflow view makes it easier to read on that small screen. With PowerPoint, there’s no special mode, per se, but you will find that it runs mostly in landscape mode.
This would also be a good time to talk about performance. In particular, I like how quickly my iPhone 6 toggles between the standard and Reflow views — in that sense, it’s really not like switching between mobile and desktop websites! In general, too, the three apps feel responsive. Which isn’t surprising, really — Office for iPad runs briskly, as does Office 2013 on the desktop, for that matter. All the Office apps I’ve used recently have been fast.
All told, I’m pretty smitten with the new Office for iPhone apps. Now that they have feature parity with the iPad version, there’s very little I would change. (It is annoying that you still can’t add images to documents unless they come from the Camera Roll — what about OneDrive?) For some people, particularly those who depend heavily on Google Drive, the new Office for iPhone won’t be enough — at least as long as Microsoft continues to not support Google accounts. For everyone else, though, the new Office may have just made every other productivity app obsolete.
New Apple malware can infect your iPhone or Macbook via USB
China and Apple devices still aren’t getting along super well, it turns out. WireLurker’s a malware that’s been attacking Cupertino’s ecosystems in the region for the past six months, and according to cyber-security firm Palo Alto Networks (which discovered it), it’s the biggest that’s delivered via trojan-horse OS X apps. What’s more, it’s the first that can infect iOS applications like a traditional virus, and even auto-generates infected software. Some 467 apps have been infected and downloaded over 350,000 times, and could have affected “hundreds of thousands” of users. And here’s where the regional issue comes into play: the malware is hosted on Maiyadi, a Chinese, third-party app store.
That isn’t the only way for WIreLurker to attack, though — it can gain access to iOS devices via USB as well, and even through a charger it seems. Oh, and you can infect an OS X device by connecting your iPhone or iPad via USB, too. Sounds fun, right? That isn’t the half of it as once your device is compromised, WireLurker will snag your phonebook and read through any iMessages. The malware’s ultimate goal, however, isn’t clear just yet. Palo Alto Networks says to avoid it, don’t connect to any unfamiliar devices (desktop or otherwise) to one another and avoid any strange chargers too. We can’t imagine that Justin Long is super happy about any of this.
Filed under: Cellphones, Desktops, Laptops, Mobile, Apple
Via: New York Times
Source: Palo Alto Network
Swype for iOS 8 understands 16 new languages and suggests emoji
Still sticking to the default keyboard on your iPhone or iPad? Nuance is hoping you’ll give Swype a try, that’s why the company has updated its virtual keyboard with support for 16 new languages. These include Hungarian, Romanian, Russian and even Hinglish (that’s a hybrid of Hindi and English, if you didn’t know), bringing the total number of supported languages to 21. Plus, Swype now automatically suggests emojis to use, depending on the words in your message. For instance, if you use happy, excited words, expect the keyboard to suggest some grinning, party-loving smileys — and vice versa.
You can now also access all available themes on the iPad, as well as switch to QWERTZ or AZERTY keyboard layouts (or another one designed specifically for the iPad) , if you’re tired of QWERTY. You can get all these, along with the new auto-space feature, when you update or download Swype from iTunes for $1. But if you’ve never liked Swype on Android and would rather try something else, check out our list of third-party keyboards for iOS8.
Via: 9to5mac
Source: Nuance
iDrive promises unlimited cloud-based phone backups for $5 per year
You probably know to keep backups of your smartphone’s data in the cloud, but backing up everything can be an expensive proposition in an era when 128GB phones are a practical reality. That won’t be quite as much of a sore point now that iDrive’s new Unlimited Mobile Backup option is here. As the name implies, the subscription service lets you back up your Android, iOS and Windows Phone devices without fretting about storage limits. Everyone can at least safeguard calendars, contacts and media (including Facebook and Instagram photos); if you’re on Android, you can also preserve call logs, text messages and whole apps.
The backups are encrypted to prevent snooping, with multiple versions of files in case you need to revert to earlier copies. You can even restore backups across platforms, so you don’t have to worry about losing valuable info when you switch ecosystems. The real allure, however, is the price. iDrive’s unlimited mobile plan lets you back up as many as five devices for $5 per year — not too shabby when it frequently costs much more to get general-purpose online storage.
Filed under: Cellphones, Storage, Internet, Mobile
Source: iDrive
Steve Jobs memorial dismantled in Russia because of Tim Cook’s sexuality
After Steve Jobs died in 2011, a Russian holding company called the West European Financial Union (or ZEFS, in Russian) erected a big, iPhone-shaped memorial statue that told visitors about Jobs’ life outside a St. Petersburg college. An innocuous tribute, no? Nothing about the memorial itself was intrinsically troubling, but it’s been recently dismantled all the same because of two reasons. First, ZEFS is looking at the act as a way of condemning the company for allegedly spying on users across the globe and “informing US security services about them.” The second reason, however, sits on the fence between “mind-boggling” and “patently offensive.” In accordance with a controversial law meant to curb gay “propaganda,” ZEFS took down the statue “to abide to the Russian federal law protecting children from information promoting denial of traditional family values.”
Seriously.
These people are concerned that the statue — which specifically paid tribute to a past, dead Apple CEO and not the one who publicly and bravely acknowledged his sexuality in a Bloomberg Businessweek piece last week — could erode the hearty Russian familial structure. Won’t someone please think of the children? Oh wait, the Russian government has, and that’s why its been trying to limit the “propaganda of homosexuality and other sexual perversions” minors should have access to. The location of the statue didn’t help matters much, either — its proximity to a school sparked concerns that it could lead bright youngsters passing by down a path of sin, because apparently laying your eyes on a statue is all it takes to completely rewrite your sexual preferences. Some future we live in, huh?
Source: Reuters
Reserve’s restaurant concierge app lets you forget about the bill
You can already organize fine dining excursions through a single app like OpenTable, but you still have to pull out your phone or wallet to pay when the night’s over. You won’t have to worry about the bill with Reserve’s new concierge service, though. The currently iOS-only platform lets you not only find and book tables based on your preferences, but automatically bills you after each meal (tip and all); you’ll be charged a $5 fee for the convenience, but that’s tiny in the world of haute cuisine. If your favorite eatery is busy, you can even offer to pay more than usual in hopes of securing a spot. Want to give it a whirl? You’ll have to eat in Boston, New York City or Los Angeles during the current beta testing phase, although San Franciscans will get to try it relatively soon.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile
Via: VentureBeat
Source: Reserve
IRL: Keeping a journal with Day One
Trying to keep a journal has always been difficult for me. Before the age of smartphones, I tried to rely on text files or a physical notepad. If I wasn’t forgetting to write down my thoughts, I was losing the file or my handwriting was so bad it would make a doctor jealous. I did the LiveJournal thing, too, except it fostered too many passive-aggressive entries. Finally, while browsing the App Store I come across an interesting-looking piece of software called Day One. The features, design and presentation prompted me to give journaling another go. And I’m glad I did.
If you’ve never heard of Day One, here’s a quick rundown: It’s a journaling app with an emphasis on ease of use. MultiMarkdown text allows for cleaner, faster writing, and you can import location, activity, music and weather data from the apps. More recently, the app added a Publish feature that allows you to share entries with Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare. Think of it as having a personal blog without every entry being public.
With the latest version, Day One made some tweaks to take advantage of some of the new features introduced in iOS 8. Previously, I would have had to go into the app to attach a link or photo. I can now share directly from any application where developers have taken advantage of Apple’s new “extensibility” feature. I can now use Touch ID to unlock my journal. Entering a PIN isn’t hard, of course, but using a fingerprint feels more secure over the standard four digits. Apple also added a widget option, allowing you to view two random picture entries as well as journaling stats for the last 50 days, all from the iOS Notification Center. For the most part, these aren’t the kind of changes that make or break the product. Instead, they’re the type of updates that help round out an already good experience.
When I first tried Day One, I had trouble making everything work. At the time I was using an Android phone, but unfortunately, the app is iOS-only. This proved to be an issue because I had no way of capturing thoughts or photos on the go. Sure, I could have taken a picture of that awesome graffiti I saw on the street and write about it when I got home, but without fail I would end up forgetting. The desktop client offers a notification option, but it’s too easy to dismiss by telling myself “I’ll do it later.” Getting an iPhone is what really made using Day One a more regular part of my routine.
Creating new entries is an easy experience. Whether I’m writing an entry or snapping a picture, the app makes it effortless. One feature I didn’t think I’d fully appreciate is MultiMarkdown. This style of text input allows me to write new entries with detailed formatting — without HTML messing up the flow. Simply wrapping a word in an asterisk can italicize it, or if I want to create a link, I can use brackets and parentheses instead of writing a full HREF statement. The app even has a swipeable bar to quickly input different Markdown tags so I’ll never forget how to bullet a list or insert a link. It seems silly to spend time discussing writing syntax, but it makes for more efficient writing.
Tagging — a pretty standard feature in any archiving service — is also present in Day One. This has always been beneficial with bookmarks, but I’m getting a lot of utility out of it with journaling, too. I use it for tracking potential medical issues as well as my hobbies. For example, I have one called “Invisalign” where I’ve been writing once a week about my experience with this alternative to traditional braces. Before my next visit, I can pull up the tag to quickly remind myself of any issues I ran into. I’m also a huge coffee fan. I enjoy trying out different roasters, but tracking the various bags can be time consuming. Using a modified Launch Center Pro action, I can quickly create an entry with pre-filled fields. Triggering the actions brings me to a series of boxes asking for roaster, origin, method, rating and tasting notes. All of this gets formatted into a clean-looking table, then auto-tagged for easy reference later.
With the help of If This Then That (IFTTT) and Launch Center Pro I can also automate some of my entries to make life a little easier. Using the two services, I can notify my phone of any photo I post to Instagram with the tag #dayone. Interacting with the alert will pre-populate a new post with the image and the text from the tagged ‘gram. I also combine them with Strava to auto-create entries for any new activities I complete. This allows me to stay on top of my training log, something I’ve tried to do numerous times over the years to little or no effect.
The downsides to Day One? As I mentioned, there’s no Android app — it’s currently only available for iOS and OS X. Unfortunately, Windows and Linux users are out of luck, too, though the team does link to a few tools for generating entries. As for Android, I’ve seen a few apps offering import/export abilities, but I personally haven’t used them so I can’t report on how well they work. Additionally, you may be turned off by the prices: $4.99 for the iOS app and $9.99 for the desktop client, or $15 total. That’s something I questioned at first since there are cheaper journal solutions, but after using Day One for a while, I’m convinced the cost is more than justified.
Filed under: Software
Vine for iOS now lets you follow channels to get their best videos
Vine is full of video creators talented enough to score TV deals, but keeping up with them has usually meant either following them one-by-one or browsing channels for ages. You have a much easier way to catch up on those clips as of today, though: Vine’s iOS app now lets you follow channels, which puts featured videos in your feed alongside everything from people you follow. If you’re a space buff, for instance, you can add the Science & Tech channel in hopes of seeing some orbital footage.
The upgrade also brings Vine into the iOS 8 era. There’s now a sharing extension that lets you send clips from your camera roll straight to Vine, and both iPhone 6 and 6 Plus owners should see better use of their larger screens. The Vine crew hasn’t said when channel following will come to Android or Windows Phone, but it’s likely that there’s at least an Android update in the pipeline.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile
Via: TechCrunch
Source: App Store
Verizon thinks that the prepaid phone market is dead, and that’s okay
If your response to the question “How much money did Verizon make in the last quarter” was “$3.79 billion in net profit,” then congratulations. Big Red can afford to feel quite smug about its performance in the last three months, finding 1.53 million new wireless customers, of which 1.52 million took up monthly contracts. The tiny sliver of prepaid users has led the company to believe that the pay-as-you-go market is beginning to shrink as people move to monthly deals. Verizon is also happy to announce that it flogged 1.1 million LTE-equipped tablets this quarter, only a slight dip on the 1.15 million sold last time ’round. It’s something that the company is happy to encourage, since people are likely to keep hold of their tablets for longer and are much cheaper to subsidize than comparable smartphones.
During the company’s third-quarter announcement and subsequent earnings call, Verizon pledged to continue throwing money around to remain king of the network hill. According to the release, Big Red is pledging to spend around $17 billion on building out and optimizing its 4G network in 2014. At the same time, the company casually mentioned that XLTE, faster data rates that rely upon the company’s 2012 purchase of AWS spectrum, is now available in 400 markets across the US.
Normally, Verizon likes to talk about how many iPhones it has sold in a quarter, but CEO Fran Shammo was unusually terse when Apple was mentioned. When asked about new device sales, he merely said that there’s a “high backlog of demand,” and changed the subject to the 3.1 million users who signed a deal for a free iPhone back in 2012. Now that those users contracts are beginning to expire, they’ll be looking for a fresh deal, and Shammo is hoping that they’ll choose to upgrade to a new Verizon device. The company was notoriously absent from Apple’s soft-SIM that we saw in the iPad last week, but Shammo was brusque when asked why Verizon wasn’t a participant, simply answering “We have our own SIM card that we place in our devices. That’s really all there is to be said on that issue.”
Verizon’s broadband team can also feel self-congratulatory about its work in the last three months. After all, the company gained 162,000 new FiOS data users and 114,000 FiOS video customers. Perhaps it’s not too unreasonable to wonder if the 48,000 homes that didn’t subscribe to the latter are preferring to source their entertainment from other, online, sources instead. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons that the company is working on more streaming deals with the NFL and companies like Viacom to ensure that people don’t think too hard about straying — unlike the folks over at AT&T and Comcast.
During the earnings call, Fran Shammo was asked both about LTE Multicast and the company’s purchase of Intel’s doomed video service OnCue. On the subject of LTE Multicast, the company’s 4G-based video streaming platform, the message was that Verizon is hoping that broadcasters will adopt the technology next year, but is entirely dependent on how rapidly the tech is taken up. He was vaguer about OnCue, and the potential of internet-based TV more generally, just saying that such technology makes him “optimistic for the future of the video business.”
Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, Tablets, Wireless, Mobile, Apple, Verizon
Source: Verizon (PRNewsWire)
Apple wants all iOS apps to use 64-bit code starting in February
Apple may have only introduced 64-bit computing to iPhones and iPads a little over a year ago, but it’s already preparing for the day when legacy 32-bit code is gone for good. The Cupertino crew is now telling developers that their iOS apps must include 64-bit support from February 1st onward. While the company won’t kick out existing titles, both new apps and updated releases will have to make the switch. Theoretically, this is easy — developers just have to build apps using the most recent tools and standard settings.
The switch could have a meaningful impact on the apps you use. At the least, it should reduce the need for iOS to juggle both 32- and 64-bit code. That’s good for performance, whether or not there are meaningful upgrades to the apps themselves. The move may also spur more developers to fine-tune their apps for the A7 and A8 chips in recent iOS gear — even if they don’t need to use higher-precision 64-bit math, that could still lead to faster games, media players and other demanding titles. It’ll likely take much longer for Apple to drop 32-bit support altogether, but the ball is clearly rolling on that transition.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile, Apple
Via: 9to5Mac
Source: Apple Developer
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