Too many apps in the app store?

As we all know, Apple has been boasting about their 200,000 apps in the app store.

This is cool, but a little too many.

Actually, no. Ironically, I feel that too many apps are being accepted into the app store.

My theory: An app should only be accepted if it either:

  • No other app has the same functionality
  • It is better than another app with the same functionality

So we don’t get copycats cluttering the store.

With all of these copycats, the store is harder to search. When you want something, you usually have to turn to a third party to figure out which one is best.

Also, what’s up with these lite applications? They are like trials but they are completely different applications. I think that there should be a trial link in the full application description page. Because after all, the lite version is just a disabled version of the full one, and it doesn’t deserve to have a completely separate entry into the app store.

Do you agree?

Comments welcome.


Change your Google background

If you’ve been sing bing instead of google (I sure hope not, google overpowers all), you may have noticed that there is a beautiful background picture that changes daily on the hmepage. Google is finally allowing some more customization, and you can add your own picture to the google background! Here’s how:

1. Sign in to google

Go to google.com and click sign in on the top right. Enter your google username and password and you will be signed in and redirected to the main Google page.

2. Select a photo

If you want to upload a photo from your computer, it needs to be more than 800X600. In the bottom left, click change background image. You will be given the options to get the photo from your computer, picasa albums, or public feed stuff.

You can click browse to select a file on your computer’s hard drive. Then click Upload and your photo will be added to a picasa album and applied behind your Google logo. But if you don’t find a background you think is fitting, you can select a picture from the picasa public gallery and picasa editor’s choice.  Now beware that the Google Logo will be white, so if you want it to stand out make sure you select a picture that is not white or yellow. Now beware that the picture will only appear if you are logged into your account.

Safari 5

While Steve Jobs took the stage to announce the new iPhone, something else was happening on the apple website. It wasn’t on the front page, nobody had any idea whatsoever. Except for my friend Spencer Schoeben (CEO of Teens In Tech Networks, he ROCKS!) who tweeted that he was stickin to Safari 5 for now. I looked at is and said to myself “Wait a second… safari 5?” And here’s what’s new:

Speed

In many tests, it beat Chrome or was equivalent for speed. This is one of the main reasons to switch!

HTML5 Compatability

The new safari has a lot more support for HTML5, still expanding Apple’s belief in no flash. Of course Safari still has flash, because if it didn’t we would have… well… a small issue. And a mob in front of Apple headquarters…

Safari Reader

Safari Reader makes it easier to read posts and stories on the web. It isolates the content of a page and displays it in a clean, maginifiable interface. Just go to an article and click Reader in the URL bar.

A little more eyecandy

The Top Sites page got a facelift, and now features an easy link to get to your history in cover flow view. Also, there’s that blue loading bar in the top again, just like good ‘ol safari 3.

Improved URL bar

You can now enter the name of a webpage you’ve visited in the past and it will automatically find the URL from your history. Cool, but I still like the omnibar approach of Google Chrome.

Extensions

Exact same as Google Extensions. Developers can create toolbars and other goodies to work with Safari, just like chrome extensions. Cool, but a little behind, don’t you think?

Other than that, safari is the same browser you used to know.

Safari 5 Homepage

Safari 5 Download Page

Rent an iBook?

Apple has been boasting about their iBooks app featuring the iBookstore. I’m soon going to be taking a trip to Japan, so i’d like some books to read on the way there. So instead of csarrying around books I’d love to just take my beautiful thin iPad.

But all of the books in the store are about $15 (varying on the book). I could just go down to my local library and get it for free and just give it back when I’m done.

So woultn’t it be great if there was an iLibrary instead? How about you can download the book for free, but just like rented movies it could only be on one device. How about you could send it to someone else if they want to read it? And how about there’s a due date, and you can renew it 2 times before it needs to be sent back to the library. And if you don’t want to send it back or you are saving it, you could just buy it?

Now as good as this sounds, I doubt that the publishers would be in much favor. After all, the iLibrary wouldn’t be paid for by taxes.

But how about the libraries offer books in ePub format, and you can rent them and sync them to your iPad? Apple would have to add support for rentals, but they wouldn’t have to deal with the publishers.

Sounds good eh?

Hopes and dreams…

AT&T is the data devil

AT&T has been having network problems for a long time.

But their solution to solving it is to make people stop using it…

Hence, AT&T is the data devil.

They will be removing the unlimited data option and replacing it with a 250mb a month for $15 and 2GB/mo. for $30. The new plans will take effect on Jun 7…

Wait isn’t that the same day as something else? Hmm… Let me think… Hmm… OH yah, the iPhone. So basically what this is saying is that SOMETHING on the iPhone will take a lot of data… like.. I dunno, TETHERING? Now I find this funny. For tethering you have to pay an extra $20/mo. on top of the data plan, and you are still restricted bandwidth-wise. Another thing is I don’t know, VIDEO CALLING? This takes up an average of about 84mb per minute, so after about 4 minutes of video calling your data plan will be up. *Edit: the video chatting requires WiFi, and if I have WiF i’d rather be chatting on my computer… just sayin… I dunno, but this seems kinda devilish…

Now currently on verizon I have an unlimited plan, and I’m guessing I use more than 2GB becasue of my tethering (which im not paying extra for). Also, I get coverage at my house, which might come in handy. So even if I switched over to AT&T and got the new iPhone, I don’t know if I would be able to cap my data at 2GB. I’d rather be free with verizon.

So basically, here we have a data hungry phone that AT&T has put on a diet (nice metaphor, eh?). I don’t know how this will go over, but I can’t wait to read all of the complaints becasue people go over their bandwidth limit.

Oh, AT&T…

iPhone 4: Not as exciting as iPad

Today, the iPhone 4 was released. Of course it’s exciting, but it’s much less exciting then the iPad.

Why?

Because compare this picture from Gizmodo from 2 months ago:

Gizmodo's iPhone, April 19th

To this one on the apple website.

Apple's iPhone, Jun 7th

I think they’re pretty similar.

And that’s why the news of it during WWDC was.. well… almost outdated. Everybody had already seen the fourth iPhone, just unofficially. So nobody was in for much of a surprise today.

But for the iPad, nobody had a clue. People were sure it would run Leopard, have a CD drive, USB ports, and they gave us this whole different idea. Not a tablet per se, but this thing that just made sense. And who knew!

But everybody knew about the iPhone. I didn’t walk home that day grinning because of excitement like I did during the iPad announcement. Because I had already seen the thing. And I’m pretty sure you all have as well.

TeenTechie

You may have read my post asking for technology passionate teens (thanks all of you teens who emailed me!). And we have finally mostly completed project teengather.

  1. It is now named TeenTechie!
  2. It is all about teen opinion of technology news
  3. You can find it at teentechie.net
  4. We have 6 authors, all younger than 17! (not for long… :P)
  5. It also has a podcast!
  6. Beware, the site is still under construction! Don’t email me your complaints JUST yet…
  7. Our writers haven’t been very writiculous… (COUGH COUGH)
  8. You can find the site at teentechie.net

There you go, a numbered outline about TeenTechie. Enjoy!

Bluetooth not available? Here’s a 10-step fix!

I’ve had this happen a few times where suddenly for no reason it appears, my bluetoth magic mouse stops working. I go to my bluetooth icon to see if it is connected and it is greyed out with a squiggly on it. Clicking it shows this text:

Bluetooth: Not Available

Usually when this happens I end up wiping out my computer and reinstalling snow leopard. but instead, I tried a little harder this time.

By instinct, I just restart. I go up into the menu and hit restart. The sad truth about this is that it never shuts down the computer, it never stops running. (If it did, how would it know to boot back up again?)

However this didn’t work. So I thought that maybe something on startup was consuming the bluetooth card, making it unavailable for the little menubar to see. To fix this, I just went into System Preferences under Accounts, Login Items, and deleted every single item there. I then shut down, unplugged the power cord, took out the battery, put back in the battery, plugged in the power cord again, turned off bluetooth in every other device I had laying around, and turned it on again. Tada! I had bluetooth again. So here’s an easier guide:

  1. Open System Preferences.
  2. Click on Accounts
  3. Click on Login Items under your username
  4. Select the top item and click the – until there are none left in the box
  5. Go to  in the menubar and click Shut Down…
  6. After it shuts down, remove the power cord
  7. Remove the battery (If possible)
  8. Reinsert the battery
  9. Reinsert the power cord
  10. Turn off bluetooth on all surrounding devices

Start back up and your bluetooth should be available again!