Every once in awhile, one runs across an app that is perfectly designed and in tune with every possible need of the user. Then it becomes a joy to use and customers rave about it. Car Calc Pro, for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, designed to assist with car loan and lease calculations, does all…
John Martellaro
John Martellaro was born at an early age and began writing about computers soon after that. With degrees in astrophysics (B.S.) and physics (M.S.), he has worked for NASA, White Sands Missile Range, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Apple. At Apple he worked as a Senior Marketing Manager, a Federal Account Executive and a High Performance Computing manager. His interests include chess, science fiction and astronomy. John is the host of the TMO podcast Background Mode.
Articles by John Martellaro
Report: Apple, HTC Take a Bite out of Moto, RIM
ChangeWave reported that “At the individual manufacturers’ level, going forward the survey findings show a major leap for Apple and HTC at the expense of RIM and Motorola. “The new Apple iPhone 4 is driving much of the industry’s growth, with more than one-in-two (52%) respondents who plan to buy a smart phone in the…
Tawkon Explains its iPhone Radiation App
The Mac Observer was contacted by Josh Winter, a Tawkon media relations representative, who pointed us to this detailed explanation of the app. As we have all learned from Apple’s iPhone 4 antenna issues, the cellular network is complex. So are the methods for determining radiation risk. One may wish to have a thorough understanding…
App Store Cache Bug Trips up Father & Son
On Friday, Mike Rohde described in his blog how, after he entered a password on his iPhone, he gave it to his son who subsequently played the game Fishies. His son, not knowing better, accumulated $149.99 in charges using in-app purchases. That was possible because the password was still in cache and hadn’t yet timed…
Research Report Details How Customers are Using iPad
The research, released through mashable.com asked customers which of the following devices they would not buy after owning an iPad. The top two items are an E-reader and a portable gaming device. E-reader – 49% Portable Gaming Device – 38% Netbook/Laptop – 32% MP3 Player – 29% Gaming Console – 27% MID – 24 %…
Consumer Reports Declines to Recommend iPhone 4
The testing, conducted in CU’s independent radio frequency isolation chamber confirmed that there is a problem with the iPhone 4’s reception. “When your finger or hand touches a spot on the phone’s lower left side—an easy thing, especially for lefties—the signal can significantly degrade enough to cause you to lose your connection altogether if you’re…
Solar Walk: a Beginner’s Guide to the Solar System Disappoints [UPDATED]
Solar Walk, from Vito Technology, is a beginner’s introduction to the Sun and the planets. Basic information about the distance from the Sun, the length of the day, and the internal structure of each planet is provided. It’s a simple app, really geared towards U.S. Grade School level. Launch At launch, the solar system is…
Should Apple Offer Every iPhone 4 Owner a Free Bumper?
An attorney who is familiar with Apple and the events so far has provided TMO with some background that helps clarify how legal events will proceed. It’s not just a question of Apple offering a free bumper at this point.First, Apple needs to have its own technical understanding of the problem. Field evidence, tests conducted…
How Apple Teaches us to Choose Products
There is no doubt that companies who want us to buy their products formulate plans on how to influence our decision making process. But when it comes right down to making a decision, we tend to deny that we’ve been influenced and instead fall into a false sense of security about our objectiveness. Apple understands…
Why Apple has Put Mac OS X on the Back Burner
— N.J. Rubenking With all the focus on iOS at WWDC and the rollouts of the iPad and iPhone 4, Apple has conspicuously put Mac OS X development on hold. That has caused some to wonder why Apple, with all its financial resources, couldn’t fund both efforts. Here’s why it could have but chose not…
Life Browser for iPad Swipes Through Websites Like a Book
Life Browser Info Page (Default, Page #1)If you have sliders on a page that are sensitive to left and right motion, you can click the “Full Screen” button at the bottom to lock the screen. It also provides for a larger display. The default page, shown above, has an introductory video plus callouts for all…
TMO Interviews We-Envision: The Art of Software, Part II
Mr. Teece: The second choke up point that I saw was when Mr. Jobs showed the commercial for the new iPhone, and at the moment in time when they showed video conferencing, they had a deaf couple, sharing a moment on the iPhone 4. The audience spontaneously erupted in applause and goosebump appreciation of that…
TMO Interviews We-Envision: The Art of Software, Part I
TMO: Let’s start off with what your company does. Mr. Teece: Well, we’ve got a couple of companies. We-Envision.com is a partnership between my Project A and Open Door Networks. We develop software for the iPhone, the iPod touch and the iPad now. We-envision.com has over a hundred apps in the App Store, mostly for…
TMO Interviews Rogue Amoeba: It’s All About the Audio
TMO: I’m here with Paul Kafasis from Rogue Amoeba Software, LLC. So… you’ve been a Mac developer for how long? Mr. Kafasis: Rogue Amoeba is almost eight years old now. TMO: I want to talk a little bit about the apps that you do. You guys are … audio maniacs. [Pause.] In a good way!…
TMO Interviews SmileOnMyMac: A Developer Perspective
For those not familiar with TextExpander, it allows one to assign shortcut keystrokes, snippets, to a longer string. After typing the snippet, text, a logo or even a photo will be inserted automagically into the text, saving a lot of typing and potential errors. Many apps on the Mac and iPhone (using TextExpander touch) support…
Surprise: Some Innovation from Microsoft
The new version of Hotmail cashes in on Microsoft’s decades of experience with e-mail. In almost Jobsian fashion, Microsoft lists the three biggest customer frustrations with e-mail and then offers technical solutions. Too much spam Can’t send large attachments Junk mail cluttering up my inbox In order to solve the problem of spam, Microsoft makes…
TMO Interviews Disney-ABC TV Group About the ABC Player
TMO: I thought that was a solid keynote. Have you been to a WWDC keynote before? Mr. Cheng: No, we’ve aways watched it afterwards, streamed. This is the first time we’ve been to one in person. It’s a lot of fun.Albert Cheng TMO: Tell us about the ABC app for the iPad. Mr. Cheng: First,…
The CEO Agenda: Convert Half-truths to Gospel
Steve Ballmer This week, at the All Things Digital D8 Conference, Steve Ballmer took the opportunity to dispel the idea that the Apple iPad is fundamentally different than a PC. Q: Is the iPad a PC? Ballmer: Of course it is. What do you do on it? Answer email. A guy tried to take notes…
Do You Really Feel Controlled? Let’s Talk About Control
2. In an era of instant communication and blog-mania, they complain about it bitterly. Businessmen and women never want restrictions of any kind. It’s in their blood. 3. News sites, always on the lookout for something to write about that has the potential for both agitation and getting under Apple’s skin, pick it up and…
WWDC Tips for Newbies [UPDATED]
Update – June 3rd, 2013: I wrote this article, originally, in 2010, so it's just a tad out of date. The keynote this year is on June 10, so ignore the date below. Steve Jobs is gone. Some of the minor details may have changed. But for anyone who's attending WWDC for the first time,…
Barnes & Noble Reader is Not What You May Expect [UPDATED]
At first, it appeared that the books you buy are maintained in the B&N cloud, but after you purchase the book in Safari, it is actually downloaded to your iPad in the app. No 3G or Wi-Fi connection is required once the book is downloaded.App home pageWith the Barnes & Noble eReader for iPad, just…
Moneydance Will Have You Dancing in the Street
The strength of Moneydance is its power and features combined with a simple user interface. Add to that a complete cross-platform capability and features that Quick Essentials lacks, and the result is a plain and simple, but complete money manager. The reason programs like this exist is because developers have felt that Quicken Essentials (QE)…
The Number of iPhone Apps is No Longer Meaningful
Also, as my distinguished colleague Bryan Chaffin pointed out last week, Android could very well become the Windows of the mobile community, surpassing the iPhone in every metric, even app count.So even though Steve Jobs has pointed out that Apple must be doing something right if it has 200,000 apps available, I don’t think that’s…
Apple Has Dropped the Ball with WWDC Preparations
Copyright 2010 John Martellaro 2. Keynote. We still don’t know if Steve Jobs will conduct the keynote — nothing has been announced. That means press passes are in limbo until keynote plans are official. An e-mail from Developer Programs shows Sunday, June 6, registration from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm, but Monday registration starting at 7:00…