Posts Tagged ‘iPhone’

Digital cameras are pretty cool, making multiple trips to the photo lab unnecessary and giving you the ability to know whether you got a good picture of Zira with her birthday cake before she tears into like a crazed baboon, but what makes them even better is that they record a ton of info you may not even be aware of…yet!

Go to iPhoto and select a picture you’d like to see more info about, now from the Menu Bar, choose Photos>Show Extended Photo Info (COMMAND+OPTION+I) and you’ll get a wealth of info about this shot.

The information here is divided into 5 sections:  Image, File, Location, Camera and Exposure.  If any of those sections isn’t showing you info, click the small right-pointing triangle next to the word to roll down its details.  Likewise, if there’s a section you don’t necessarily want to look at, click its triangle (now pointing downwards) to roll its details up and out of your way.

In the Image section, you’ll find the physical dimensions of the photo as well as the original time and date of the photo.

In File, you’ll find details about the file, itself, including File name, size, the date it was imported and the date it was last modified.

Location is super-handy if you have a camera with a GPS function in it.  Higher end SLR’s may have this feature and the iPhone 3G does as well.  If you’ve imported from a GPS-enabled camera, you’ll see longitude and latitude listed here.  If you’re not using a GPS camera, this information can be added using Places in iPhoto 09 and iPhoto will translate your ‘Place’ info into the Longitude and Latitude.  Awesome.

Camera shows you the make and model of the camera which can be handy if you’ve taken shots on vacation or at an event on multiple cameras and you’re trying to determine which shots cam from which camera.

Exposure lists all the details about the settings of the camera and the lens used when taking the photo.  This information can be incredibly valuable to some people and totally useless to others. If you find it useful, have fun; if you don’t, just know that its there and its totally cool to look at.

Back in March, Apple announced iPhone 3.0 software which will, again, revolutionize the way people use mobile devices. Here are 5 of the 100 new features that have us all going bananas over the new software:

1. Cut, Copy and Paste – FINALLY, the ability to copy and paste text and images is coming to the iPhone.  This is, in this monkey’s opinion, one of the key features that’s been missing from the beginning and we’re going ape over the potential for using it.

2. Send photos, contacts, audio files, and location via MMS – OMG, its like Christmas is Monkeytown!  One of the biggest things we had to give up by joining the iPhone revolution (which we did gladly btw) was MMS.  Not being able to send pictures or voice memos via text was really frustrating, but now its coming!  Now, if texting only worked in landscape mode.  (Note:  Because of the difference in networks, 2G iPhones will apparently not be getting this feature.  Time to pony up for a new phone!)

3. Email and Text Messaging in Landscape – No amount of flung poop can possibly describe the excitement this has generated here in B4A HQ.  We love the visual keyboard, but some monkeys, and I won’t name names (Dr. Zaius) have big gorilla fingers and using the keyboard in landscape mode is a much more comfortable solution.

4. Peer to Peer Connectivity – Want to play a game with a friend over the network?  Want to transfer a file across the room to another iPhone?  Now you’ll be able to with 3.0’s Peer to Peer connectivity.

5. In-App Stores – The multitude of ebook readers are very cool as well as the ability to purchase expanded versions of free or limited games.  Going out of the App, back to the App Store, finding the game or book you want, downloading it and coming all the way back is not.  In-App stores will provide the ability for Apps to sell upgrades and/or additional content right in the App without having to back out of it.  There’s also talk of Apple allowing ‘micropayments’ (payments under $.99) which might make upgrades even more appealing.

You can watch Apple’s full presentation online to see the features in action.  All in all, it looks like a HUGE win for owners of the iPhone 3G AGAIN!

Once you’ve done all the heavy lifting by creating Keywords and Smart Albums, sharing photos to your iPhone is quick and easy.

To share your photos to your iPhone, we actually need to be in iTunes.  Plug in your iPhone and iTunes should launch automatically.  Once the Sync screen is up, look for the Photos tab, it should be the fifth tab across the top of the page.

To sync all or part of your iPhoto library to the phone, put a check mark in the box next to ‘Sync Photos from:” and make sure the next box says iPhoto.  Then, choose whether you want to sync all your photos or just some of them. 

Although its nice to have your entire photo library at your fingettips, I think its very cumbersome to flick through thousands of pictures looking for a specific I want to show to my friend, so I highly recommend using Smart Albums to organize this process so that you can find specific photos quickly.

To sync specific albums, click the button next to ‘Selected Albums’ and then put a check mark next to the albums you want to sync.  You can also click on the Album titles and drag them to put them in a specific order. 

Once you’ve gotten all the albums selected and arranged, just click the ‘Sync’ button in the bottom right corner of the iTunes window and iTunes will sync up the photos to your iPhone.

Now you never have to be caught without a photo of your new grandchild, puppy or spouse again!

If you found this info helpful, you may also want to check out these other, related articles:

Using Keywords to organize your iPhoto library

Organizing Photos Using Smart Albums

Creating a ‘Speed Dial’ on your iPhone using Favorites

Making New Things with the + Button

Although the iPhone does not have a ‘speed dial’ feature, it’s a fairly simple process to set up a few people’s numbers to accessed easily using Favorites and the Home Button.

First, find the person you call frequently in your Contacts and click on their name to open their entry.  At the bottom of the screen you’ll see the ‘Add to Favorites’ button.  Tap it and select the number you want to add, e.g., home, mobile, etc…  If you only have one number for that person, they will be added instantly.

Repeat this process until you get all the usual suspects added to the list.  For maximum ease of use, you’ll want to keep this list to about 10 people or less.

Once you’ve got that list built, double click the Home Button on your phone.  The Favorites list should come up automatically.  My experience says you need to double click firmly and quickly to get it right.  If, after repeated attempts, this doesn’t work, check your Settings to make sure you’ve got the feature turned on.  Go to Settings>General>Home Button and make sure ‘Favorites’ is selected.

If you decide you want to delete someone or rearrange the order of the Favorites list, just click the Edit button on the top left corner of the screen and delete or drag to make things the way you like it. 

Now, once you’ve unlocked your phone, you’re a double-click and a tap away from calling your Favorites.