Want to get current location to work?

Here's how.

I've recently been plugging away at the contact section of the "soon to be launched" app for Our Daily Bread. By the way, they have some stellar cookies and baked goods! You should definitely check them out. At any rate, I wanted to share with some of you how to use Current Location in the Maps app for iOS. There is a very tedious way to go about it using the CoreLocation framework and CLLocationManager. However, if you just want the app to open up the maps app, and give directions to the user using their current location, it is very simple.

Take a look at my example below. 

Once you link your objects in Interface Builder to the button and it's event, you should receive the following screen (depending on your destination, of course). 

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Apple iOS is the way to go for developers...

Simply because more Android phones are being shipped, doesn't make them the king of mobile. The Android experience, from what I've seen and heard, is not all that great. I'm not downing anyone who uses an Android device, but the overall experience is typically less appealing when compared to the king of mobile, iOS by Apple.

This post is in response to this Apple related article at Forbes.com and I wanted to give you 5 reasons why developers won't leave the iOS platform over the Android platform. The first will roll into the second, the second will roll into the 3rd and so on... 

1. User Interface
2. Consistency
3. User Experience
4. User Market
5. Profitability

1. User Interface - By default, and this may just be my preference, but the entire user interface for iOS devices is quite a bit more intuitive than Android. One feature is the simplistic nature of only having one button on the phone that can serve many different functions and really helps separate all Android devices that have several buttons on the device. Another would be multitasking and the new feature, Notification Center, for iOS. They work very well.

2. Consistency - The beauty behind iOS for developers is that you only have potentially two devices max to develop applications for. The iPhone/iPod Touch and the iPad. Whereas on the Android platform, you have an array of different devices from different brands such as HTC, Samsung, & Motorola with different screen resolutions that causes cross-device compatibility issues. This really becomes a headache for most people developing mobile applications. So, for developers, consistency is huge!

3. User Experience - One thing that I feel sets Apple's iOS apart from Google's Android is the user experience. I've heard too often people stating they will be using an Android phone and all of a sudden, it shuts down (and I'm not talking about 0% battery life). Now don't get my wrong, there are occasions where I know the iPhone to have a hiccup and have to reboot, but overall, the experience for people who switched from an Android to an iPhone have not looked back and love their iPhone. Conclusion: User experience is what sells, and ultimately gets you to the next point.

4. User Market - The user market for iOS devices is growing, and growing fast. Even though Android has a larger market presence in Q1 2012, "Apple’s iPhone devices held onto the top three spots in NPD’s overall handset ranking in the first quarter of this year." And this ranking, sadly to say for Android, will probably remain for a while.

5. Profitability - The App Store is a huge part of making it a success for developers. Developers submit their app, people (for whatever reason?) continue to buy apps. Not many apps are being sold on the Android platform. Why? Maybe because of the first three points I listed above, UI, consistency, and user experience.

And in response to memory management from the article on Forbes by Todd Warren, there is a solution for that: ARC - Automatic Reference Counting

More people have a
mobile phone than a toothbrush?

If this is true, some of us will be looking a little weird talking with no teeth one day.

But seriously, everyone has one! They are definitely the future PC if they aren't already.

I'm not sure of the statistic for businesses without a website but if you don't have one by now, GET ONE ALREADY! You are missing out on potential customers and profit potential. I'm not saying this so you just get a website to be up to date. It is essential in this day and age to connect and interact with people you wouldn't reach elsewhere. It allows people to connect with you and your brand whenever they wish, and not only that, where ever they wish! It should be part of your marketing strategy.

So why should you have a mobile app, too?

"Because every business should be thinking about building mobile applications today. It’s not a fad or a passing trend. It’s customer service." Everywhere you look these days, practically everyone has a smart phone and correct me if I'm wrong, their head is down and probably playing Angry Birds or Instagramming, or you name it! And pretty soon, don't be surprised if we're opening cars with our phones. A mobile app can play a large role in achieving that dream of yours. 

Get an app or website today!

I highly doubt it...

Here is the article: http://fxn.ws/vPhewX

Here are a few reasons why: 

1. Better app selection and quality. 
2. The touch controls are perfected.
3. Easy access to music & movies.
4. Robust update schedule for all phones & tablets.
5. iCloud automatic backup
6. The mail inbox is unified among all e-mail accounts.
7. The overall design is cleaner and consistent. (very intuitive)
8. See more here.

Whenever we upgraded to OS X Lion,

we noticed our MacBook Pro (w/Core 2 Duo, 4gb ram) was getting the dreaded rainbow wheel. And, as I assume, this may have been the case for many people. 

NOTE: This is for Intel based Macs only.

This little trick is worth trying, and I'd recommend doing so maybe every quarter just to make sure your Mac is running at optimal speed.

Before I show you what to do, I'd like to explain it for those who really want to know what is going on.

In a nutshell, we are going to be resetting the RAM of your Mac. On the Mac, you have what is called NVRAM or PRAM. This stores information such as speaker volume, startup disk options, and more. I currently have AppleCare and called in regarding the slowness I've experienced since upgrading to OS X Lion. Re-setting this is what Apple recommended and obviously uses for cases as such. Once I ran this fix, I immediately saw a difference in  my speed and has been working wonderfully since that time.

Here is the fix: 

1. Turn off your Mac! (Shut it down, baby…that's right!)
2. The next step is to hold 4 keys down, but you will first turn the Mac back on (Don't do it yet!).
3. The Four Keys: Command + Option + 'P' + 'R'
4. You should hear the start up noise twice before releasing the keys...
5. Turn your Mac on.
6. Hold the keys down! Hold until you hear the start up sound twice (2x after the initial start up sound.)
7. You are done.

Where is iMessage? I can't find it anywhere...

I just updated my iPhone 4 with iOS 5 and am trying to take advantage of the wonderful iMessage app. I have several friends and family who have iOS devices and I want to be able to communicate "freely" with them. Ha.

Come to find out, it is easily integrated into one app, “Messages”. See below.

Well, what is iMessage?

"Thanks to iOS 5, anyone with an iOS device can now easily keep in touch—for free!—by using Apple’s new iMessage service, found within the Messages app. iMessage works without any per-message charges from cellular providers or monthly texting plans; instead, you’ll send messages over your device’s 3G or Wi-Fi connection.

iMessage works with any iOS 5-capable device, sending anything an SMS or MMS can—text, photos, video, contact cards, or map locations. The feature allows iPhone users to talk to iPad users, iPad users to send video to iPod touch users, and so on. You won’t be able to use iMessage to contact people with Android devices or BlackBerry phones—that’s still the province of text messaging.

iMessage is easy to set up and use: All you need is an Apple ID, and you can start messaging your fellow iOS device users."

To set up iMessage, do the following:

“To start using iMessage, open the Settings app and tap the Messages menu. You’re prompted to enter your Apple ID—that’s the email address you use for buying apps in iTunes and logging in to iCloud. If you don’t have one, you’ll be prompted to create an account.

If you’re setting up iMessage on your iPhone, people who know your mobile number will always be able to use it to message you; you can also supply iMessage with an email address where other iOS device users can reach you. If you’re using an iPod touch or iPad, you can message people only by email address, so you’ll have to supply one during the setup. You can use any email address you own—such as your iCloud or Gmail account.

Once iMessage has verified your email address, you’re brought to the Messages settings screen. Here, you can enable or disable iMessage altogether; turn on Read Receipts, which lets others see when you’ve read their message; or allow the Messages app to send your text as an SMS if iMessage can’t get through. This applies to the iPhone only. Disabling this setting prevents your phone from automatically reverting to SMS—and racking up texting charges—should iMessage fail. It doesn’t, however, disable SMS entirely.)

Other settings let you choose the email address or addresses you’d like people to be able to reach you at. (You can associate multiple addresses.) There’s also an SMS/MMS section, which allows you to enable or disable MMS Messaging (iPhone only), Group MMS Messaging (iPhone only), Show Subject Field, and Character Count (iPhone only).”

Credits: Brief overview of iMessage from Serenity Caldwell

Having issues installing Windows 7 in the Boot Camp Utility? I sure did!

Let's look a bit closer on those issues.

I bought the Mac Mini in hope of getting rid of my PC desktop, which was a great PC, but it was time to combine and make room for more stuff! Hehe. Anywho, not to spoil the story, but I did finally have success in installing Windows 7 on the 2011 Apple Mac Mini.

When opening the Boot Camp Utility on the Mac Mini, it basically asks you three things:

1. Install Windows 7 on install USB flash drive
2. Download Windows Support files
3. Create Windows Partition or Remove Windows partition.

When you choose to unload a Windows 7 ISO to the USB flash, it seems to work fine. It unloads the files to the USB, then creates the partition. Once it completes, the Mac mini reboots and tries to boot to the new Windows partition. When it does this, I received two errors.

The first time, I received a "NLTDR is missing. Press CTRL-ALT-Del to restart" message. I believe this just means it couldn't find the proper files to install windows, but for more information on this, check out this link: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/318728.

Secondly, I receive  "No bootable device -- insert boot disk and press any key." Sadly, , after speaking with Apple support, even though the Mac mini acted as if it would work with the USB Flash drive, it will not. Unfortunately for some users, you will have to get a USB optical drive (dvd or cd) and boot the Mac mini, hold "option" key, and select the optical drive as your startup, and use the Windows 7 installation disk.

Not so fast...

Once I was finally able to boot into Windows setup, I am told, "Windows must be installed to a partition formatted as NTFS." Even though I used Bootcamp to create the Windows partition, he wasn't compatible with Windows 7.

The quick and easy fix.

On the Windows setup screen, there a couple of buttons below the Partition list, one being Format. Select the appropriate partition, probably says, "BOOTCAMP." Make sure the partition size matches up with the size that you set for the Bootcamp partition. Once you have clicked that, you can click the Format button. It will format it pretty quickly, and then you can continue in the install of Windows 7 on that partition.

With all that said, installing Windows 7 on the 2011 Mac Mini is definitely possible. Was it easy, definitely not!

If you have any questions, please feel free to comment or e-mail me at dj@z5concepts.com.

If I were to start over, I believe my first iPhone app would be Instagram,

followed by Air Force+ of course. :)

    One thing I love about Instagram is the Twitter integration that then integrates to my Facebook account. The ability to set the focus on each image is a big hit to me. And then you can apply some pretty neat effects to the pics to brighten them up, give them some 1977 look, or Gothamize them. :)

Another iPhone app recommendation.

    Air Force+.

    It provides a quick and easy way to stay on top of everything happening in the U.S. Air Force. Another great feature, especially for the Aircraft buffs, is the Aircraft feature. It gives great details for the most current list of aircraft that support the entire U.S. Armed Forces. Pretty neat!

    And thirdly, Songify. Songify is something fun for the whole family. We recently went on vacation, and everyone was begging to use my iPhone to create a fun song with the Songify iPhone app. It was a hit! I've really enjoyed the synthesizer making me sound great! LOL.

    I know there are a ton of apps on the Apple App Store, and it really comes down to preference. You will download many apps that you may just not like, and some that are your, "I can't live without" ones. Have fun and enjoy your new iPhone. 

Hope this helps! 

If you are a new-comer to the iPhone and want more suggestions on apps to download, check out this link.