Posts in Linked

iPhone 5s Camera For Photographers→

I often get phone calls asking me what camera I use, and I first have to clarify “Do you mean for work or pleasure?”. The answers are very different. My workhorse cameras are no-compromise performance tools, with no concessions at all to being easy to carry or enjoyable to use. They are all business, and they’re the last thing that I would want to take with me on holiday. I see the iPhone 5S as an attempt to make the opposite, a no-compromise fun phone-camera that adds to life. Each does its job better for not trying to do what the other does so well.

An in-depth and enjoyable review by Dean Holland. Make sure to check out the 5/5s comparison shots and examples.

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Apple Updates iMac→

This morning, Apple refreshed its iMac line with new CPUs, GPUs, faster WiFi, and faster PCIe flash storage options. From Apple’s press release:

Apple today updated iMac with fourth generation Intel quad-core processors, new graphics, next generation Wi-Fi and faster PCIe flash storage options. The updated iMac brings the latest technology to the stunningly thin design and gorgeous display of the world’s leading all-in-one desktop.

“iMac continues to be the example that proves how beautiful, fast and fun a desktop computer can be,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “Inside its ultra-thin aluminum enclosure, the new iMac has the latest Intel processors, faster graphics, next generation 802.11ac Wi-Fi and faster PCIe flash storage.

Aside from Intel’s new processor and graphics, the new iMacs come with 802.11ac support, which was also added to the company’s AirPort Extreme station earlier this year. According to Apple, this will deliver up to three times faster performance than the previous generation.

The new iMacs are available today from the Apple online store.

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GIF Finder for iOS 7→

GIF Finder already was one of the most powerful tools in my arsenal of GIF discovery tools:

The app is free and it can search for GIFs on Tumblr; you can search for GIFs matching queries like “excited” or “sports fail” and tap on a thumbnail to view a GIF in full-screen. Tap the share button, and the app brings up a menu with options to Copy URL (which doesn’t work for me), share on iMessage and Twitter, but also open in Google Chrome and Tweetbot. The app is universal for iPhone and iPad.

With iOS 7, the app has been relaunched to have a tweaked UI, a new icon, and the same price tag of Free. You can still search for GIFs matching a specific keyword, but the great addition of this version is that imgur’s reactiongifsarchive is now supported within the app, allowing you to browse GIFs by standalone categories. So if you’ve been looking for a way to quickly find Not Bad or Didn’t read lol GIFs, you can now do that with the Categories tab in GIF Finder.

I like the app’s new interface and possibility to save favorite GIFs in a dedicated area, but I’d like to see improved performance, especially on the iPad mini. The app always takes several seconds to load GIF screens, and it’s been crashing frequently on my iPad. That’s a nope.

I’m looking forward to future updates, but, overall, GIF Finder gets my thumbs up as a great free tool for finding GIFs. I approve.

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Velocity→

I never got into the idea of catching up on my read later queue through speed reading, but, for those who did, Velocity is a great choice.

I have been testing Velocity for the past month, and it comes with a clean, elegant UI made for iOS 7, Pocket and Instapaper integration, and even a built-in browser to add articles without leaving the app. In the speed reading view, you can tweak words per minute, switch themes (black is my favorite), and see how many minutes you have left in the title bar. It’s an extremely well-considered and functional app, which isn’t a surprise considering that the Quotebook guys made it.

If you like speed reading, Velocity is $2.99 on the App Store.

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Layer Cake→

Justin Williams:

What we see today isn’t what we’ll see six months from now. Everyone is still learning to speak the modern iOS design language: Apple included. The folks in Cupertino built a completely new foundation for their mobile operating system in just a few months and are still working out how to best adapt their applications to speak the new language that foundation affords. It should be no surprise that many of Apple’s apps that are distributed through the App Store aren’t updated to take advantage of iOS 7 to its fullest. They’re trying to find the answers to the same questions designers outside of Cupertino are.

A great response to a shortsighted observation by Topolsky. iOS 7 – as also confirmed by Matthew Panzarino’s interviews with developers such as the NYT team and Evernote – will make conversions to Android extremely difficult and unlikely (unless you want to end up with poor interface decisions on both platforms, which is another problem).

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