How to design a product like Apple [Video]

Apple products are know for a lot of features like design, simplicity, quality and innovation. Apple also became the biggest company in history and for sometime had more cash in hand than the US government. People pride themselves to hold an iPhone or iPad in their hands but all of this comes with a price. Steve Jobs was know to be a perfectionist and a task master -- someone who always wanted the best and at any cost. He might not have been the most innovative as many of their products are not original ideas. The difference however lies in the fact that they did it better that anybody else. There are a few key principles that are not to be missed if you want to be innovative and bring out the next best product. These are also lessons for life. Apple was also responsible for making cloud computing and cloud services popular with iCloud. A cloud based storage system that allows you to store all your music and videos in the cloud rather than on your local device.

Some of the rules followed by Steve Jobs and Co, was that they would not compromise on design just because a part of the product was not in the customer's line of sight. Every employee must have a deep understanding of the product being built and how it'll benefit the end users and society in general. Apple also has the principle of 'being wrong' -- you need to be light on your feet, innovative and interested in being wrong. That's what design and innovation is all about. Good design is motivated by failures and optimistic about change. In the end people don't want products that are filled with bells and whistles but products that are clean, simple and something they can identify with. Check out the fun video below and let's continue this discussion in the comments section below.

Video: How to design like Apple 
http://vimeo.com/54477408

Be careful what you store on Microsoft Skydrive since your private files are monitored

Cloud storage is something that has taken off in a very big way. There is DropBox, iCloud, Google Drive and Skydrive to name a few of the more popular ones. What Cloud Storage does it allows you free storage to store all your files in the cloud and make them available on all your devices. Microsoft is moving out SkyDrive with Windows 8, Office 13 and Windows Phone. This would mean that many uses would store all of their files on SkyDrive and some of what is being store might be inappropriate. This is something that needs to be noted - these might be your private files. Even if they are your private files and your using Microsoft Cloud to store them it might get your banned. A dutch user on the forum Tweakers.net who goes by the handle WingsOfFury reports that he lost access to hos Live account, Hotmail account and XBox account. There are many users who are reporting the same online.


In fact Microsoft monitors its cloud servers and takes action when inappropriate content is found even if it your own personal file - meaning pictures of yourself. Microsoft also has a Code Of Conduct if you want to use its service. What's disturbing to users is that files are monitored even when uploaded into a private folder and not a public folder. So before you think it is safe to store whatever yo want on SkyDrive, think again. Uses suggest encrypting your files before storing them on SkyDrive. Please leave a comment below with what you think about this whole thing. Does this raise privacy concerns?
Source: Private files monitored, Xbox and mail access revoked and Microsoft monitoring and censoring uploads to SkyDrive

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Sociolatte

Google to launch free cloud-storage service called 'Drive'

Image Credit: Briankeithmay.com

One of Silicon valley's hottest startups is set to get some serious competition. There has been a lot of speculation about Google's GDrive, a free storage which will live in the cloud. Like Dropbox which offers 2 GB of Free storage and can be used as an extra drive on your PC. Google's new service is going to be called simply 'Drive'. It will function like an extra hard-drive on your PC and sync all the files you store on that drive in the cloud. This means no matter where you are and what system you are using, all your files will be accessible to you wherever you are. People using multiple devices to access the internet and all their date has given rise to 'Cloud Computing'. Google's famed GDrive will rival other cloud-storage services like iCloud from Apple, which lets users store all their data in the cloud and Dropbox which now has more than 45 million users. Dropbox also saves over 1 billion files every few days. 


The rise of cloud-storage services is driven by the need that people need to be on the go and not burdened with large cumbersome gadgets. Once you store all your files in the cloud they are available wherever you are, all you need is a simple internet connection. Google Drive is set to launch in the next few months and will offer free storage to uses. For those users who need larger amounts of free storage there will be a pay per store option. This service will especially come in handy for those users who would like to store and share their photos, videos and large files all in one location. 
Source: WSJ

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Sociolatte

How to use a different Apple IDs for iCloud and store purchases

Yes you can use different Apple IDs for iCloud and store purchases. This is totally Apple approved and so you don't have to worry. You cannot merge two apple accounts into one. You can however use multiple Apple IDs 1 for iCloud and 1 for store purchases which would include iTunes in the Cloud and iTunes Match. The next question that would arise would be - now that I have purchased music, apps and books using multiple IDs how to get all of it onto my iOS device.  To do that you would need to firstly First copy all of your purchased content so it is on the same Mac or PC with iTunes. This computer should be the one you sync your device with.

If you are wondering how to get all this done, apple has advanced support for it's users and you can avail detailed instructions from the Apple Support site. Using multiple IDs comes with its advantages. Now all members of the family can access  the same account using multiple IDs and purchasing and using all of this is totally legal. 

Source: Apple Support

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Sociolatte

Photo Stream for iOS 5: How does it work

Image Credit: Apple

Unlike other versions of iOS the new iOS 5 comes with the ability to completely disconnect your phone from your computer. Once you are on iOS 5 Photo Stream is a very simple feature. You take photo on any one device and it is available on all your devices. You can also import a photo from your camera to your computer. 

This is how it works

Once you take a photo iCloud will automatically push it to all your devices and apps. 

iCloud will use any available Wi-Fi or Ethernet connection

Will be pushed to all photo Apps on your devices

iPhoto or Aperture on your Mac

Pictures Library on your PC. 

Photo Stream album on your Apple TV

All the photos you take are stored in a s special Photo Stream Album which holds your last 1000 photos and is stored for a period of 30 days

You cannot edit a photo in Photo Strea so you will need to save it to your Camera Roll to touch it up. 

How to setup Photo Stream on your iOS device. (The Below guide is from a NYPost article and you can read more here) 

On a Mac: Go to the iCloud System Preferences pane and make sure Photo Stream is checked.

iPhoto: To enable Photo Stream in iPhoto, just go into the Preferences and make sure Photo Stream is checked.

Once you’ve done that, click on Photo Stream in the sidebar and you’ll see your photos.

Aperture: To enable Photo Stream in Aperture, just go into Preferences and make sure Photo Stream is checked. In this case, I’ve intentionally left Upload unchecked since I don’t want photos imported from my DSLR to go into the Photo Stream; just those I sync.

Once that’s done, click on Photo Stream in the sidebar to see your synced photos.

On a PC: First, download and install the iCloud Control Panel. Once you launch it — you guessed it — make sure Photo Stream is checked. You will also need to click on Options next to it to specify the Upload and Downloads directory.

According to the article deleting a photo is still difficult and Apple should be able to fix this in the near future. 

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Sociolatte

Siri: How does it work

 

With the announcement of the iPhone 4S comes the news that Siri is coming with it. She will be your virtual personal assistant and help with a whole lot of tasks on your new phone, Siri is a part of iOS 5 and is capable of making you life a lot easier. For instance you get a message or text on your phone it will be read out to you be Siri and you can reply to that message or text with your normal voice. You do not need to touch your phone at all. It is all done automatically and you keep on doing your work and Siri will keep working in the background.

You can ask Siri to set your timer, tell you about the weather, remind you of all your appointments, and ask questions like which route to take and what the traffic situation is like. Siri will also speak to you in an intelligent way and has the ability to ask for clarifications. 

How does Siri work

Works just like a personal assistant, albeit a very wise one. Speak the the assistant in your normal voice and give it all your commands and everything gets done. Will also bring down accidents that happens while texting and driving. Just speak to Siri and ask for nice places for dinner around here. You will get a reply and choose a nice place. You do not need to hold it close and keep using your fingers as it is a voice based assistant that will go on the net and do your research for you. will reply to you in a female voice and keep you updated. Please see video below for more information. 

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Sociolatte

iPhone 4S

iPhone 4s - Features and Highlights. 

After the expected announcement of the iPhone 5, Apple came out with something else the iPhone 4S. Some of the major highlights of the new phone are actually quiet amazing and Apple has held on to its market share. There is an all new 8 mp camera and iOS5 and iCloud. With the launch of the iPhone 4S there has been the new addition Siri.

What is Siri

Siri is you intelligent assistant residing inside your phone to help you. Some of the features of Siri include allowing you to send messages using your voice. You can also ask Siri to do things like schedule meetings and place a phone call. Siri is intelligent enough to talk back to you and works like your own personal assistant on the iPhone 4s

Duel-core A5 Chip

Perfect for gamers and people who require a lot of graphics. The two cores of the chip deliver twice the power and up to seven times faster graphics. Apple also says that the chip is very power-efficient. We will know how powerful it really is after it is tested in real-life.

8MP Camera

The camera is said to make the best use of light and not rely on Megapixels only. So when you are shooting the camera makes use of whatever light is available to give you great looking picturs to show-off with on your phone or HDTV. Apple says that while shooting with the new camera the way it uses light ensure that darks are not too dark and lights are not too light. You can also edit photos on the phone, crop,  rotate, remove red-eye etc. Tap HDR and the camera takes three shots each with a different exposure level and then layers it together. With photo stream in iCloud, you photos are sent to all your devices.

iOS 5

The new operating system for the iPhone 4s, some of the highlights of iOS 5 will be its notification center to see all your notifications in one place. iMessage the place to send texts to all your iPhone buddies and does not cost you anything. Newsstand a shelf in your phone to store all your magazine and newspaper subscriptions. Reminders to let you know what you were supposed to do. Twitter is also integrated right into iOS 5. Web browser Safari - with the promise to deliver only content sans ads and clutter. It is also PC-free so you do not need a PC to activate it. AirPlay mirroring - play whatever is on your phone wirelessly on HDTV via Apple TV.  

Pics and Videos below

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Sociolatte