The world as frankps sees it!
iOS
News and views around iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches…
Airtight – A Killer App for Google TV
1 month ago
You might have heard the phrase If you can’t beat them, join them! That was exatly my first thought when I heard of Airtight. Airtight is an AirPlay receiver for Google TV, that lets you stream video from your Apple devices. I have tested the client with my Logitech Revue, iPhone, iPad and MacBook Air, and it is a fantastic app! To run Airtight you need a Google TV boxes running at least Android 3.0.
This first version of Airtight can only stream photos and videos, and do full mirroring of an iOS device. Streaming music is currently being “looked into” by the developers. And of course, anything protected by DRM is in this stage of development unsupported. Apple might look the other way, but AirPlay’s still a proprietary technology and this isn’t something Apple’s given its blessing to. If you feel like giving the app a try — work in progress, bugs and all — it’s available to download now for $0.99.
AirMusic and XBOX360
02 months ago
The best way to stream media from an iOS device, is of course with Apple’s AirPlay technology. But what if you have a XBOX360 in the house? I have already written about how you can connect your Mac to the XBOX with Connect360.
It is also possible to stream music from an iOS unit to the XBOX. The technology used is then DLNA. This is my first play with DLNA, so before I bought a DLNA app for my iPhone, I read a little bit about the technology.
You should know this about DLNA: Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) is a collaboration of the world’s leading consumer electronics, PC and mobile companies, and together they have created an industry standard connecting consumer electronics together. All you need to get started is a network – wired or wireless. The DLNA Certified devices will then connect, discover and communicate with each other over your network. The alliance aim to make it easier for consumers to use, share and enjoy their digital photos, music and videos. Chances are big that you already have one or two DLNA devices in your livingroom. Do you have a XBOX360 or a Playstation 3? What about your modern flat panel TV? Some smartphones also have DLNA support. If you have Windows 7 with Windows Media Player and Media Center (through the Windows Media Connect technology) is supporting DLNA.
The iOS devices do not come with built in DLNA support, but there are third party solutions available. I’ve tested AirMusic. It’s a great application for streaming music over Wi-Fi to your PS3, Xbox 360, or PC, and allows you to wirelessly listen to your tunes through your TV without using an AppleTV. As all DLNA devices, it is incredibly easy to set up – just ensure all of your devices are on the same Wi-Fi network, start AirMusic, and turn its functionality on. This will turn your iOS device in to a Mobile Digital Media Server (M-DMS) and let your game console, TV or PC act like a Digital Media Player (DMP):
After DLNA is turned on, on your iOS device, you can navigate to your music library on your console, TV or PC and your tunes will be there – it couldn’t be easier.
Although I use an AppleTV in our living room, I downloaded this application to try it with my XBOX360. The only downside I can find is that AirMusic won’t play older iTunes purchases protected with DRM. If you’re looking for a way to share your iOS library with your Xbox, PS3, or PC, I recommend you to purchase AirMusic!
Getting Started with Profile Manager
06 months ago
I recommend reading the ebook on Kindle and other supported computers and devices.
The last couple of days I have been reading “Managing iOS Devices with OS X Lion Server”. It is a fantastic ebook. Yes, and it is only available as ebook. No paper version.
Arek Dreyer has written all there is to know about managing iOS devices (iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch) with Profile Manager, a feature included in OS X Lion Server. Learn how to configure Profile Manager, access as a user and as administrator its web front end.
With this ebook you get a perfect introduction on how to use Profile Manager’stools to configure user settings for services such as Mail, Calendar, VPN, LDAP, Wi-Fi, and also important security settings to prevent unauthorized access to data stored on your users’devices. If a device is lost or stolen, it tells you how the user and you, as an administrator, can remotely wipe the devices gone missing. The Profile Manager uses the Apple Push Notification Service (APNS), so you can immediately push configuration changes to your devices, as long as they have some kind of network connectivity. The ebook continues with more advanced setup of Profile Manager, showing you how you can organize both users and devices in to various groups with different kind of settings.
To sum it up in one sentence: This ebook will teach you how to configure your Lion Server to be an Open Directory master, use an appropriate SSL certificate, provide Profile Manager services, and perform basic troubleshooting.
The price is almost better than book, only $4.99 in iBooks and even lower on Kindle ($3.99). The ebook will soon also be available on peachpit.com.
iBooks store: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/managing-ios-devices-os-x/id455014665
Kindle store: http://www.amazon.com/Managing-Devices-Lion-Server-ebook/dp/B005G2FSNG
Who is Arek Dreyer? So you are new to managing OS X? Arek has written several Apple-certified books, including “Mac OS X Server Essentials v10.6: A Guide to Using and Supporting Mac OS X Server v10.6″ and “Mac OS X Directory Services v10.6″. I recommend both books as mandatory read when they get updated for OS X Lion.
Lese e-bøker på iOS med Bluefire Reader
0Bluefire Reader er den første e-bokleseren som kan lese e-bøker utstyrt med Adobe DRM-løsning ADEPT. Dette gjør det mulig å lese norske e-bøker på iPhone og iPad, og bøkene kan være i filformatene ePUB og PDF. Jeg anbefaler kun kjøp av bøker i ePUB-formatet. Bruken av Adobes DRM-løsning gjør at du kan kjøpe e-bøker på forskjellige nettsteder og lese dem på din iOS-enhet. Jeg har testet denne ebokleseren med en bok kjøpt på Akademika. Adobes DRM-løsning er knyttet opp mot en brukerkonto. Du må derfor opprette en brukerkonto (Adobe ID) hos dem. Har du ikke allerede en Adobe ID, opprettes en slik brukerkonto hos dem.
Overføre e-bøker til enheten
Via iTunes
E-bøker kan overføres til din iPhone eller iPad via iTunes Devices, fanen Apps under File Sharing. Her finner du Bluefire Reader i en liste over applikasjoner som kan overføre filer til din iOS-enhet. Ved å velge applikasjonen, får du opp en liste over dokumenter og du kan legge til filer fra ditt Adobe Digital Editions bibliotek eller fra et hvilket som helst sted hvor du har ePUB-bøker lagret.
Trådløst
I stedet for å overføre e-bøkene over USB gjennom iTunes, kan du overføre e-bøkene trådløst. iOS-enheter kan settes i noe som kalles Transfer-modus (server). Dette gjøres i enhetens Safari, ved i dette tilfellet skrive: “bluefirereader://nav/transfer” og følge instruksjonene:
På din datamaskin åpner du i din foretrukne nettleser den adressen som du får oppgitt på din iOS-enhet. I dette tilfellet er det http://10.0.1.3:8080. Du vil deretter bli bedt om å autentifisere deg med oppgitt brukernavn og passord. Merk også at din iOS-enhet kun er i Transfer-modus (server) så lenge du er i Transfer-vinduet.
I nettleseren på din datamaskin navigerer du fram til den mappen du har dine DRM-beskyttede e-bøker. På Mac er det under ditt brukerområde → Documents → Digital Editions.
E-post
Du kan også sende e-bøkene til deg selv som e-post, og da velge at disse vedleggene skal åpnes direkte i Bluefire Reader.
Tilpasninger for en bedre leseopplevelse
Denne applikasjonen kan tilpasses for en bedre leseopplevelse. Du velge tegnsettstørrelse, at sideskift skal animeres, justere kontrast, om teksten skal vises svart-på-hvitt eller hvitt-på-svart. Applikasjonen støtter også skjermrotering, slik at du kan lese både i portrett- og landskapsmodus.
Nyttig funksjonalitet
Som med de fleste av disse applikasjonene, kan du både gjøre bokmerker i tekstene du leser, samt gjøre notater.