CS5 is thisclose to release and the iPhone compiler is the flagship feature in this version of Flash. They’re pretty much royally fucked.

Plus Apple has already made its position clear on Flash. Personally, since I’ve never been a slave to brands, I don’t have much of a stake in either company unless one of my mutual funds happens to invest in one. Yet, the way I see it, Adobe can really give Apple the big “Fuck You” if it wanted to, simply by no longer producing any of its Adobe software for OS X. Now seeing how designers and design houses invest heavily in Macs simply to run Adobe software, should that platform no longer become available, what do you think is going to happen? Is the entire graphic design, web, print, and publishing industries going to abandon all its invested know-how and simply pick a new defacto industry standard, or are they going to switch to Windows?

Obtained a dynamic DNS hostname from DynDNS. Even though my IP address doesn’t change all that often, it is dynamic. Therefore, there’s no guarantee that the IP would work. This was an extra precaution I wanted to take. Plus it gave me something easier to remember.

Installed LogMeIn. I did not require any of the features you get in the pay version. This allowed me to start/stop software as needed and manage the pictures captured by the webcam. Other remote admin services would work as well. VNC is a great alternative.

Flashed my router with the Tomato firmware. The WRT54G stock firmware doesn’t let you forward the magic packet to use wake-on-LAN to turn on a computer. Tomato lets you log into the admin interface and send the packet to any MAC address on the LAN side of the network. I did this just in case the power went out and I needed to turn-on the computer again.

I tried out two different webcam servers for Windows, Broadcam and TinCam. Broadcam is much easier to setup and will automatically setup port forwarding if your router supports UPnP, but it is limited to live video. TinCam has a lot more features, but it isn’t as user-friendly and you have to manually open up a port on the router. Both have trial periods, but are fully functional during the trial period. I tried setting up a Linux webcam server, but a lack of GUI or an easy to use config file meant it was faster to use Windows. I did not test any Mac webcam servers since my MacBook was coming with me. I ultimately settled on using TinCam day-to-day because I could schedule it to record a pic every 5 minutes of every hour (e.g., 1:00, 1:05, 1:10, and so on). Furthermore, the date and time of day is used for the filename. TinCam won’t let you capture pictures and run the video server simultaneously. You can run the image server though which updates every 5 seconds. So if you need an image log and live video, neither will work for you.

With the image server, I was able to watch what was on the webcam currently. In order to see the log, I installed Dropbox. Then I configured TinCam to save the captured images in a Dropbox folder. Now I can see a picture log not just on my laptop but also on my iPhone using the Dropbox app. This was VERY convenient. Furthermore, the app overlays the filename so I can see when the pic was taken.

Finally, I installed Skype on the computer with the webcam so I could occasionally talk to the cat. I created an account specifically for this. I configured Skype to auto-answer and maximize when video is initiated. Though I think as comforting as a familiar sound is to a pet, the cat appeared both excited and confused hearing a disembodied voice.

That’s how I mashed up available hardware and software to keep an eye on my cat while I was gone.

First step is to setup your project according to Monocle Studio’s whitepaper through “Cleaning up the project” right before “Creating a main menu”. That’ll create the base project. You’ll probably want to change the name to something else (e.g. CocosHelloWorld) instead of SimpleGame. Make sure to change the name where appropriate, for example SimpleGameAppDelegate should be YourAppNameAppDelegate.

Create the HelloWorld class

1. Click the Classes group in Groups & Files pane.
2. Click the Action button
3. Select Add->New File…
4. Choose NSObject subclass
5. Name the class “HelloWorld”

Open HelloWorld.h and change the code to look like the following. This says that the HelloWorld class is derived from the Layer class (which is derived from the CocosNode class).

#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
#import "cocos2d.h"

@interface HelloWorld : Layer {

}
@end

Open HelloWorld.m and change the code to the following. This says that the HelloWorld class uses its parent class for initialization. If the initialization is successful, then create a new label, place it in the center, and add it to the layer. Finally, it returns itself.

#import "HelloWorld.h"

@implementation HelloWorld

- (id) init {
    self = [super init];
    if (self != nil) {
		Label *label = [Label labelWithString:@"Hello, World!" 
									 fontName:@"Times New Roman" 
									 fontSize:32];
		label.position = cpv(240,160);
		[self add:label];
    }
    return self;	
}

@end

Setup the Director

Open up YourAppNameAppDelegate.h and change the include declarations to:

#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
#import "cocos2d.h"
#import "HelloWorld.h"

Next open YourAppNameAppDelegate.m and change it to the following. The difference between this and the corresponding method in SimpleGame are the last two lines. The first creates a Scene node and adds a HelloWorld node to the scene. The next line starts the Director using the just created Scene as the initial scene. The previous set of lines prepare the iPhone display by initializing a window, enabling the UI for the window, setting the Director to display in landscape mode, then attach the Director to the window, and finally making the window the main window and turning it on.

#import "CocosHelloWorldAppDelegate.h"

@implementation CocosHelloWorldAppDelegate

- (void)applicationDidFinishLaunching:(UIApplication *)application {    
    UIWindow *window = [[UIWindow alloc] initWithFrame:[[UIScreen mainScreen] bounds]];
    [window setUserInteractionEnabled:YES];
    [window setMultipleTouchEnabled:YES];
    [[Director sharedDirector] setLandscape: YES];
    [[Director sharedDirector] attachInWindow:window];
	
    [window makeKeyAndVisible];
	
    Scene *s = [[Scene node] add:[HelloWorld node]];
	
    [[Director sharedDirector] runWithScene:s];	
}

@end

If all is well, if you click Build & Go the iPhone simulator should display “Hello, World!”.

First, click on your device. Then go to the Podcasts tab. Sync all unplayed episodes of selected podcasts and check only those podcasts you don’t want to sync permanently.

Now for those podcasts you want to sync permanently things get a little complicated because you also want to automatically include any new podcasts when iTunes downloads them. To accomplish this you need to setup a Smart Playlist. So create a new Smart Playlist. For the first rule, set “Podcast is true”. For the second rule, set “Album contains” and then type in the name of the podcast that is in the album field. This field isn’t on by default so you may want to adjust the View Options so that field is visible. Make sure Live updating is checked (default). Once you have your Smart Playlist set up, I recommend you rename it to the podcast name. Also view the playlist to confirm the Smart List matches the correct podcasts and sort the playlist the way you want. The iPod/iPhone will keep this sort order.

Once you have all your Smart Playlists setup, click your device again and go to the Music tab. Check Sync music and Selected playlists. Then check off the playlists you want to sync including the Smart Playlists you created for your podcasts. That should do it. Hopefully, this will improve the way you manage your podcasts.

I did manage to buy an iPhone 3G. However, it was far from a smooth process. I called AT&T and the Cherry Creek Apple store to check availability and also if they can handle porting my number from a prepaid to a postpaid account. Apple said they had the phones in stock, and both said they could handle the number transfer. 4 hours later, after driving and waiting in line, I’m lead into the store by an associate named Kevin Cullins. Everything about the purchase was going smoothly up until the point Kevin tried to activate the phone and was informed by the device that the number was a prepaid account and that I either had to open a new account or go see an AT&T representative. Not wanting to disappoint, Kevin suggested I go to the local AT&T store just a block away and talk to his contact, Joel, and see about a way to correct the situation. Once I explained my situation to Joel, he relayed it to his boss, Greg, who personally came out and told me to go back to the Apple store, purchase the iPhone but start a new account, and then return to the AT&T store where they’d switch my old number for the new one and then cancel the new one. After following his instructions, I was finally able to go home with my new phone. The lesson here: if you’re an AT&T prepaid customer, upgrade to an iPhone at an AT&T store. Thanks go out to the Apple and AT&T staff for making what could have been a bad experience into a good one.

To help pay for my iPhone, I finally dropped my land line which I used to give out to businesses. It was a $45 per month luxury that when compared to a 3G data plan at $30 per month, provided little benefit. I was hoping I would stay with a prepaid plan, but after calculating the costs over 2-years, the prepaid play would have been $160 more. So unless the contract-less price of the iPhone drops by at least $200 it’s not worth it in my opinion unless your credit doesn’t allow you to go with a contract. (Though if your credit is that bad, is an expensive smart-phone really for you?)

So I’ve been using it for over a week, and I have to say I’ve been thoroughly pleased with my purchase. I’ve been using many of the features daily, and in fact, it helped with documenting my accident on Saturday where I got rear-ended where I was able to take pictures and notes. My favorite apps are Pandora and VNC. Pandora gives me customized, commercial-free (for now) internet radio that follows me everywhere I have AT&T data service. Much better than XM radio feature-wise if not quality wise. Because the iPhone 2.0 software now supports VPN, VNC lets me log onto my machines at work. All that’s missing now is native shell access. Jailbreaking my phone looks awfully appealing now.

I’ve tried other people’s Blackberries, Kyoceras, and Treos, and none of them were intuitive to use. I don’t need MMS, heck I don’t even have a txting plan which is an indication of how much I use it. A tactile keyboard isn’t necessary for me. If anything, I wish the phone had a better camera hardware and software comparable to what’s found on phones by SonyEricsson and Nokia. Copy and paste would be nice, but it’s not a deal-breaker. The iPhone is not perfect, far from it, but it offered me the best value proposition. I’m looking forward to the Android phones that will compete directly with the iPhone. By then, my contract should be over or I’d be eligible for an upgrade.

The new phone costs $40 more over the life of the 2-year contract. The upfront costs are lower. The browser speed is over 3 times faster than the original iPhone. Better features. But it still practically costs the same which, with all the upgrades, makes it a better value proposition than before.

The bottom line is that it’s an $80 per month expense. It seems AT&T won’t be providing a GoPhone option either which could have saved an additional $10–15. I wonder if you can choose an Edge data plan instead of a 3G data plan; that could be one way to save some money I suppose.

So yeah, the half-price savings is an illusion. You don’t save any money at all, but you do get improved features in exchange, and you’re not shelling out a fortune with the initial purchase.

I’ve been shopping for a new phone for the past year or so. I appreciate music and all but I’m far from a collector and connoisseur. In fact, instead of an annual bonus, 2 years ago my bosses gave out iPod Nanos which I immediately regifted. In any case, a phone where music playing was an additional feature wasn’t going to swing my decision. So when the Motorola ROKR was introduced I saw it more as a curiosity and when I realized how crippled it was with regard to its primary marketing feature, iTunes, I only foresaw failure.

An early contender for my purchase was the SE w800i which was soon unseated by its successor the w810i. A camera phone sounded more appealing. A capable point-and-shoot camera that I could have with me at all times would be great. I have no qualms of using technology that was good enough 2 to 3 years ago if it meant not having to carry multiple devices. The k750i, on which both phones are based, had already proven itself the king of 2MP camera phones.

Then the SE Cybershot k800i was introduced in Europe and so began the agonizing wait for the k790a to be brought here State-side. The k790a was 3.2MP camera phone with Cybershot optics, electronics, and processing. I’d be able to create acceptable (if not great) 8x10s rather than be limited to just 4x6s. As expected, like its predecessor, the k790a became king of the 3MP camera phones. Unfortunately the expected carrier, Cingular, never picked it up instead opting to stick with the Walkman line of SE phones, despite the incredible success the k800i had in other parts of the world. k790a is only offered via a few regional carriers (none of which are near me) or via resellers as an unlocked phone (expensive).

The k790a’s major rival was the Nokia N73 which was a full-featured smartphone rather than just a camera phone. I had considered the N73 but like all other smartphones, they fall short of a true mobile computing device because UIs are slow and clumsy albeit still usable. Plus applications are often crippled. The major drawback to the N73 was the lack of wifi. Given Cingular’s prices on data plans, I wasn’t really looking forward to pay such a premium when I’d rather go to a local coffee shop and logon for free.

So come this past New Year’s I was at the point where I was about to go buy a w810i. The price at Cingular dropped to $50–75 with a 2-year contract. I’d be able to get a phone with 80% of the k790a’s capabilities at 1/4 the cost. I held out on the purchase just to see what Apple was going to introduce at Macworld 2007. What debuted was not what I expected. It exceeded my expectations. It was a revolutionary step, not the typical evolutionary step more commonly seen in this industry.

This was not just an iPod with a phone slapped on to it (i.e. the opposite of the ROKR). Each feature was well-thought out from hardware to software and like most Apple products, very well integrated. As jaw-dropping as some of the individual feature demos were, it was the final “real-world” usage demo that floored me. Here was a smartphone with features that not only I can use but would want to use. Plus Apple being Apple prevented Cingular from being Cingular and that was to cripple the phone and bend it to Cingular’s will and brand. The lack of orange was very apparent to me and am very much happy to see it that way.

I haven’t seen anything this cool in a mobile computing device since the Palm was introduced. Things I hope to see come to fruition with regards to the iPhone is a terminal shell app. The ability to dock the device and use full-size peripherals not unlike a laptop. GPS capability whether its through cell tower triangulation or an actual GPS addon. An eBook reader app. VoIP. Purchase and then sync apps and widgets via iTunes. (Apple should rename the program iSync, Dock Central, or something since it’s evolving past just the iPod.) A full functioning browser (though I did not see Javascript or Flash during the demo) means web applications will work right out the door (i.e. all those lovely AJAXy Google apps) which sorta gets around the closed doors Apple currently has around the platform.

This is not to say the phone doesn’t have its shortcomings. No one has yet to see the camera in action. The platform is currently closed and may require the purchase of a dev license not unlike those for consoles. Dev kits are rumored to be two years away, anyway. So the chance we may see homebrew software on this platform is very unlikely if these rumors hold true. Video iChat was noticeably missing as were internet IM clients. I expect video conferencing will most likely be introduced with the 3G version of the phone in 2008.

Still, I am admittedly very likely to be an early adopter of this phone. I had thought my Apple switch would have begun with a Mac Mini or MacBook Pro. Regardless of this phone’s lineage, it’s going to leave its mark on the world much like the StarTAC and the RAZR V3 (which, if I may remind those price balkers with short memories, debuted at $500 w/contract).