App News
An update to FlightTrack Pro, bringing it to version 3.5 was released on Tuesday. The new version has some bigger additions, such as displaying seat numbers for TripIt, sharing flights via Facebook and iOS 4 compatibility with in-app SMS and syncing with the iPhone calendar.
More features added, are welcome updates such as improved UI responsiveness, display of short layovers in red color, time zones on detail screens and metric unit support (plus a lot more).
As with any update there is a number of bug fixes included as well.
It has been a few hours now since Steve Jobs took the stage at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, announcing the brand new iPhone 4 and iOS 4. Here is what is new.
iPhone 4
First off, we have the brand new iPhone 4. With the design as the leaks, it looks gorgeous. The design is all based around the metal frame around it (with glass on front and back) where all components are placed.
Inside
It has a vastly improved display, a retina display, with a resolution of 326 pixels per inch (compared to the 163 ppi on the 3GS) and a screen size of 960×640 pixels. That is an incredible four times more than the previous iPhone, apparently making reading easier on the eyes.
The number one most requested feature for my App has always been "Episode Search." With over 300 videos people want to search for a particular topic like "Photoshop." Well wait no longer. Version 1.6 of the Learn the Adobe Creative Suite with Terry White App for iPhone and iPod touch (works on iPad too) has been updated with an Episode Search feature. Just flick the episode page down to reveal the Search bar. Key in what you're looking for and all of the videos featuring that topic will appear. Watch what you want. Download for offline viewing and mark your favorites with a Star to view again and again. Also don't forget that almost all of the recent videos have EXCLUSIVE "Extras" Clips featuring additional tips and tricks that can't be seen anywhere else.
You can get the Learn the Adobe Creative Suite with Terry White App here on the App Store: 
By the way, here's my latest episode so that you can get a flavor for what's there:
Navigon is having a ONE DAY Sale today on their iPhone/iPod touch GPS Navigation Apps. Normally they are $24.99, however today they are only $14.99 each today!
Now you can get: MyRegion US East – covering: (AL, CT, DE, FL, GA, IN, KY, MA, ME, MD, MI, NH, NJ, NY, NC, OH, PA, Ri, SC, TN, VT, VA, WV) On Sale for $14.99
MyRegion US Central – covering: (AL, AR, CO, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NE, NM, ND, OH, OK, SD, TN, TX, WI, WY) On Sale for $14.99
MyRegion US West – covering: (AZ, CA, CO, ID, MT, NV, NM, OR, UT, WA, WY) On Sale for $14.99
Need a little more? Say two regions? No worries, just buy the main region you need and you can expand your coverage with an in-app purchase of up to two additional regions. So this way you can start with the main region you need, but add on later and only if you need to. This is the kind of pricing that I felt these GPS Navigation Apps should have had all along! So don't hesitate. Jump on these Sale prices while the getting is good. Also if you have an iPod touch or you just want a great Car Kit to go with your Navigon App, check out this one by Magellan.
After creating my first iBook (ePub) and releasing it for the iPad, I got lots of questions from people that wanted to do publications that were more graphically rich, containing interactivity and video. While ePub can support these things, it's not really geared towards a "layout rich" type document. So here's an example of the opposite end of the spectrum. Wired has just released their highly interactive Magazine with exclusive content as an App for the iPad. This App was created using Adobe InDesign CS5 and other Adobe technologies. Here's a Blog Post detailing the creation of this App and here's a video (in Flash) produced by Wired to show off the Magazine:
The App is $4.99 for the June issue and you can grab it here from the App Store.
Engadget reports that the terms on the Apple and AT&T exclusivity deal is a five year deal. Since they entered the deal in 2007, it would mean that the exclusive would end in 2012, opening up for more carriers by then.
The confirmation comes in form of court documents filed by Apple in response to a class-action lawsuit against Apple and AT&T for locking users into a five-year period, instead of the two years allegedly promised.
Unless Apple manages to renegotiate the deal beforehand, which it could certainly do, it remains to see if the iPhone will be exclusive to AT&T until the end of 2012.
There is a fierce competition going on between these top apps that allow photographers and videographers the ability to create Model and Property releases right on their iPhones, iPads and iPod touches. The client can sign right on the device itself and the app generates a PDF of the release and then allows you to email it to the client and yourself. They are both GREAT Apps and their latest updates really blur the line between them. At this point I would have no problem recommending either one as both developers have implemented a lot of my feedback to make their Apps even better. So it really boils down to what do YOU need?
Let me tell you what I'm looking for and then I'll give you a breakdown/comparison of what they both offer. First off, if the App can't allow me to put in my own CUSTOM release text then I'm not going to even look at it. Both of these Apps allow this. Next I want to be able to start the process with a contact already in my iPhone. Yep, they both do that now too. I also want to be able to put a photo on the release of the model or property that I just shot. They now both handle that. Next, it would be nice if I could customize the release a little further with my own logo/branding. One does it now and other one is promising it in an upcoming release. Lastly, I want an iPad version too since the iPad will become an integral part of my photography workflow. One of them has an iPad native version now and other one is working on it. Although both Apps either have everything I want now or will soon, there still isn't a clear winner because now it comes down to the way that these Apps have implemented these features. Like most things, the user experience matters a lot and to me it will ultimately be the deciding factor. Even if they both have the same feature set in the end, I'm still going to decide based on HOW these features work and right now each App has things I like and things I wish were better or worked differently.
How do they compare?
In the comparison below I'll highlight in green which App does it better even if they do the same thing.
| Easy Release | Photographers Contract Maker | |
| Custom Release Text | Yes | Yes |
| Multiple Page Releases | No | Yes |
| Bring in data from an existing contact including the photo | Yes | Yes |
| Easily replace the photo on the release with one you just shot | Yes | Not so easy (uses Address book photo only) |
| Add Your own Custom Logo | Yes | Not yet |
| iPad Native Version | Yes | Not yet |
| Sign the Release on Screen | Yes | Yes |
| Email a PDF of the Release | Yes | Yes |
| Number of Fields/Placeholders Allowed in the Custom Release | 2 | 29 |
| Witness Photo | No | Yes |
| Price | $9.99 | $2.99 |
Even though Easy Release has more greens at the moment than Photographers Contract Maker, it's not the clear winner because of a couple of things that I would still need tweaked. First off although you can easily add your logo/branding, it's either all or nothing. I have one release that I don't want my logo on because it's for my employer. So I either have to DELETE it from all releases or not have that one release in this App. A simple checkbox "include branding" for each release OR better yet, let me put the custom logo on each release that way I can have a work logo for the work release and my photography logo for my own releases. Also I find only having 2 fields/placeholders for your info to be inserted into the releases to be very limiting. I at least need to be able to put in the shoot date into the wording of my contract and Photographers Contract Maker offers 29 fields/placeholders making your custom releases really really custom and automated.
So at this point my buying advice is to buy either one that suits your needs. Again you can't go wrong. At the end of the day I think Photographers Contract Maker will probably please more photographers whose focus is on the actual contract. It would be nice that if in addition to bringing in the photo from the Address Book contact that I could easily swap it out with one I just took rather than replacing the one on the Contact Record, but overall Photographers Contract Maker has the better support for custom releases. With that said, the visual representation of the final contract is still better in Easy Release. It just looks better!
You can get Easy Release here from the App Store: You can get Photographers Contract Maker here from the App Store:
I like to share my photos! Most of the people following my photography are on Facebook, Twitter and Flickr. So when I want to take a photo, edit the photo and then share the photo using my iPhone, up until now, I've had to use a multi-app process. Don't get me wrong, I know that there are Apps out there that can handle these tasks all in one. However, up until now I haven't liked any of the current offerings to handle all of these tasks. The closest combination I had was Photoshop.com Mobile for editing. It's easy, it's fast and it has the cropping feature I want. Then I would hand it off to Best Camera for uploading to Facebook and/or Twitter. If I wanted to upload to Flickr.com I would then hand it off to Mobile Fotos. Yes, Best Camera can upload to Flickr. So can other apps, but I like the fact that Mobile Fotos handles the Geotag information too therefore instantly Mapping my photos on Flickr.com
First there were 3, now I'm down to two
Now that the FREE Photoshop.com Mobile can upload not only to Photoshop.com, but also Facebook and Flickr. I no longer need Best Camera. Nothing against Best Camera, it's a great App, but I prefer editing in Photoshop.com Mobile because I get more control AND irregular shaped cropping. Since Mobile Fotos handles the Geotag info so well when going to Flickr.com I will still be using that App to upload to Flickr. I'm very happy to see Photoshop.com Mobile add support for Facebook and Twitter! This makes room for one more App on my iPhone 
You can download Photoshop.com Mobile for FREE here from the App Store:
Now I just need an iPad native version and I'd be in heaven. Better yet, give me Lightroom for the iPad and I'd really have it all!.
With the old Qik Video Camera disappearing from the App Store last month, their new application, Qik Video Camera Pro has entered.
It is a brand new app with new and greatly enhanced features such as being able to overlay effects without having the video and audio become out of sync, letting you pause video recordings and a feature that they call PhotoMix, allowing you to take an image from your camera roll and insert video into it.
Also in the new app is sharing options so that you not only can upload your video to your account at Qik, but share it via SMS, Twitter and to YouTube and even Facebook.
While the new apps means that you must repurchase the app again, it is priced at $1.99 but available currently for a promotion period, for free so get it now, even if you just save it up on iTunes before actually using it.
Opera, the browser maker, announced today that their version for the iPhone and iPod touch has been approved into the app store, bringing Opera Mini on as an alternative to Safari if you want and according to Opera, you will notice an uptake in speed, especially on slower networks when using the new Opera Mini.
You can expect a review coming shortly on this to test whether this is really as good (or better) as using Safari. You can get the free app from the AppStore.
