sinéad's lifestream

I’ve had the new Amazon Kindle in my possession for over a month now and have still managed not to spend a cent on ebooks or any other content, yet I use it every day. Initially I had signed up to the Irish Times subscription free trial, but quickly realised that paying €16 per month for content that was free online was a little silly.

Thanks to the online application Instapaper (works in your browser via a bookmarklet – even works with Safari for iPhone and the Twitter for iPhone app) instead I am able to queue up articles I wish to read later in a Kindle friendly format. This applies to all the online content I come across and many of the industry specific blogs I am subscribed to publish very long articles that I usually don’t have time to read during the work day (or go cross eyed trying to read them on my computer screen).

The Kindle friendly file you end up with is split into sections (one for each article) and can even handle images, and hyperlinks – so if you’re reading an article that mentions a secondary associated article you can click that link and the Kindle browser will open, you can even switch to “Article Mode” in this browser, and the Kindle will autofocus on the text content for you. Though I’m certainly not blown away by the “experimental” browser, it’s obvious that surfing the web is not something the Kindle was designed for.

With Instapaper I queue up blog posts, newspaper articles and more and then at the end of the day (or sometimes at lunchtime) I download the Kindle friendly file, transfer it to the Kindle using the USB cable and then have a great read, with no distractions, almost like having a highly personalised magazine in front of me. Admittedly it’s very relaxing, and I have no desire to tweet or check my email, so I’m not skimming anymore, instead I absorb the information I’m reading and feel like I’m really getting worth out of the content and not wasting my time.

Kindle vs iPad?

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As promised the HTC Legend (thank you Meteor) is now up for auction on ebay. Proceeds from this eBay auction will be donated to the Irish Autism Action charity. The reason I choose this charity is because I wanted to highlight the need for the donation and recycling of used iPhones and iPod Touch, for children with Autism, so they can avail of the incredible Grace App – Picture Exchange for Non-Verbal People

A simple picture exchange system developed by and for non-verbal people allowing the user to communicate their needs by building sentences from relevant images. It can be customised by the individual using their picture and photo vocabulary with the user taking photos and saving pictures to the app.

The application works in real time and allows the user to select their preferences, then rotate the device to present a full sized sentence to the listener – who will read it with them and respond to their request.

The beauty of Grace is that it ensures the interaction of the user with the listener, and mutual understanding of the user’s real needs help to increase communication opportunities and build trust.

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I had set myself a challenge to swap my iPhone for a HTC Legend for a whole week and I completely failed. After day 4 struggling with what had evolved into over-complexity I just gave up and happily retreated back to the “evil” non-open source iPhone and heavily policed iTunes.

During this experiment I also had to discontinue using the Meteor network due the 2G to 3G handover problem (there’s a neat little video demonstrating this here) which left with me with no signal far too many times, but the phone worked perfect on O2. Hoping Meteor can fix that issue promptly, as many other HTC users are reporting this issue in the customer forums.

Day 4 With my Android

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I went along to a Meteor blogger event yesterday where we chatted about their new pay as you go data charges (250mb free if you top up by €20 per month, as well as free  Meteor texts – not bad at all) and us bloggers got to try out all the iPhone alternatives you could shake a stick at. They also sent me home with a HTC Legend.

Only last week I had tweeted about how I really wanted to try out an Android handset to do a compare and contrast against the iPhone. I usually change my phone on a yearly basis, and my iPhone 3G is nearing its first birthday, so trying out an alternative is a great way for me to discover if I should stick with Apple or not.

Before I got my iPhone a year ago I had always been a huge Nokia fan, what changed my mind was trying out Jen’s iPhone (she’s an avid Apple fan, so of course she had one months before me) as I was simply blown away by the web browsing experience, something that previous Nokia smartphones (running the Symbian operating system) I had owned simply didn’t compare to.

First Impressions of Android

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Psychology is all about understanding, explaining, and predicting human behavior. We are fascinated by our own behaviour and those of us around us. By understanding behaviour we hope to gain insights into how our minds work and perhaps how to change our undesirable behaviour. An understanding of human behaviour can also lead to the design of good software, hardware and even guide policy writing relating to technology.

These days technology like the iPhone helps us to track our own personal habits, Twitter gives us an insight into popular topics and analytics give us fascinating web usage statistics. Whilst technology has greatly enhanced our ability to collect interesting data about human behaviour, it’s important to realise that using such data to make conclusions about why we behave in such a way is unwise without investigating the differences between causality and correlation. Take for example the problematic question of whether the Internet is addictive or if addicts use the Internet.

The Relationship Between Psychology and Technology

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While everyone else online has been overreacting about how “annoying” or “pointless” Google Buzz is I’ve been busy trying it out, having some fun and discovering something I like.

I was replying to a Google Latitude friend request at lunchtime and realised something pretty interesting. I can update my Buzz status from within the mobile versions of many of the Google webapps, including Gmail, Gtalk, Docs, Calendar, Tasks, and of course Latitude. It’s just a real pity that it’s currently missing from the Google service I use most regularly on my iPhone – Google Reader. Except that I can of course share items I read on Google Reader to Buzz, along with or without a comment.

If Google roll out this little feature across all of the mobile versions of their products they’ll be bringing a tiny bit of multi-tasking to the iPhone. Being able to update your status from within the webpage you’re on (and not having to go through the process of either switching between Safari pages, or closing Safari and going into Tweetie and then back to Safari again – both relatively  slow processes on the iPhone) is something very interesting. This will bring a little bit more of the desktop browsing experience to your iPhone and will work great on the iPad. Also, the little colourful icon always on the top of your webpage is a great reminder of the service you’re forgetting to play with.

It will take time to see if Google Buzz pays off, but for now I hope someone takes this little iPhone webapp multitasking work-around and implements it for Twitter, or someone in Facebook realises how nice it would be to be able to update your status from any page within the site.

Possibly the coolest free iPhone app since, well, forever. Logitech seem to have taken a leaf out of Joby’s book (I discussed this a while back in the post called “Novelty vs. Practicality: iPhone Apps for Effective Brand Awareness“) and released a free app that will have some longevity in your app collection.

The Logitech Touch Mouse app links your iPhone or iPod Touch and your Mac or PC using your wireless network, allowing you to use the touchscreen as a mouse pointer and keyboard. All you need to do is download the app itself as well Logitech Touch Mouse Server (it sounds more complicated then it actually is) the associated piece of software for your computer. Then you simply link the two by inputting your computer’s IP address into the app on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You don’t even have to worry about figuring out your IP address as the Logitech Touch Mouse Server software will find it for you.

I’ll definitely get some use out of this. I always have my iPhone in my pocket, and being able to control my PC using it is a nice feature that I was never bothered to try out because I would have had to pay for it. Granted I already have a remote and wireless mouse/keyboard, but the iPhone, like I said, is already always in my pocket, giving it another function certainly appeals to me.

It works perfectly for me running 64bit Windows 7 Pro and an iPhone 3G.

Sleep seems to be a reoccurring topic here (see my previous post on good sleeping habits), which isn’t surprising seeing as it’s such an interesting subject, even more so when it’s related to technology. Tommy Collison wrote a great post this week about an iPhone app called Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock that helps you wake up more naturally and since trying it out I’ve been acutely aware of the scepticism online surrounding its validity and usefulness.

Sleep Cycle is an app that turns you iPhone into a bio-alarm clock. Using the accelerometer built into the iPhone it reads specific movements common during sleep and wakes you up when you are sleeping lightly, aiming to give you a more refreshing awakening. Haven’t we all felt the frustration of being woken up during an especially interesting dream, and then felt dreadful for the day because of it?

This type of movement based bio-alarm clock has been around for awhile. You often find them as glorified watches with internal accelerometers, or overcomplicated devices that require placing motion detecting electrodes under your pillow case. The reason bio-alarm clocks work is due to the extensive sleep research that tells us how our body moves or doesn’t move during sleep.

How Does It Work?

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Amazon Mobile UK for iPhone was launched recently, similar to Google Goggles on Android phones, there’s a visual search option within this application called Amazon Remembers. Esentially it allows you to take a snapshot of any item and then attempts to match it with a product listed on the Amazon website. Pretty cool, right? I tried it out extensively and it seem to work perfectly with book and DVD covers and is okay with common household items too.

Wanting to push the application to it’s limits (a.k.a break it) I started experimenting with taking photos of people, to see how much everyone was “worth” – thus turning the search into a game of Top Trumps for Faces using Amazon Remembers. Some of the search results were pretty interesting. For example, my lovely girlfriend in her dressing gown was listed as a “Dark Grey Wool Womens Winter Coat” retailing at £49.99, whereas I was listed as a “Wooden Nose shaped Spectacles holder” retailing at £9.99 which meant she was worth far more than me, so I totally lost the game! However, it was a win all round because that made us both LOL ourselves silly.

Hopefully one of these days I’ll find someone with a lower Amazon Remembers face value than myself, I tried it on my Dad and it found a “Russell Collection Long Sleeve Easycare Fitted Shirt” retailing at £17.99, doh!

Non-digital brands offering free iPhone apps isn’t something new. Back in November I posted a short “homage” to the Denny iFry (2.5 stars), and I’ve tried out quite a few of these, like the Magic Coke Bottle (2.5 stars) or Lightsaber Unleashed (2.5 stars). All of these free apps are novelty at best, as you can see by their user ratings. Personally I don’t like to clutter my iPhone with apps I don’t regularly use, so these novelty apps are usually downloaded and played with for a week, maybe less.

I would argue that the key to using free iPhone apps as an effective brand awareness exercise, or as a way to drive physical sales, is not novelty usage.

Take for example the new app from the photography accessories company Joby, who primarily sell Gorillapods – flexible tripods for cameras. They now offer these tripods for mobile devices and with the launch of their new range they’ve made a free app to accompany these accessories. The Gorillacam app has an array of features you’d expect to pay for. It’s certainly not a one trick pony. It has a shot timer, time lapse, rapid-shot mode and a bubble level. There’s this great “press anywhere” mode too, that lets you press the touchscreen anywhere in order to take a photo. This app makes self portraits and photos with your friends really easy, something that’s virtually impossible with the standard iPhone camera app.

I can see myself using the Gorillacam app over and over again. I’ve already placed it beside my other camera apps – apps which I willingly paid for. I would have paid for the GorillaCam app too. I didn’t have to pay for it and in exchange I’ll be seeing the brandname Joby over and over again. I’ll also be constantly reminded of how if I bought a Gorillapod for my iPhone, I could fully utilize the brilliant features of this free app.

I may have initially been triggered with a desire for a sausage sandwich or a can of Coke, but with no motivation to use either app over and over again, the trigger was never reinforced again. With Gorillacam, I’ll be reminded of my interest in their products every time I happily use that free app.

Now that is an effective free, branded, iPhone app.