There are links between the software leading up to the release of the new devices howvere that has made the guessing game just a little more predictable (remembering of course the notorious secrecy around Apple’s products, this I have experienced first hand).  By watching the new features coming in the pre-released software, the beta packages, it is possible to get a stronger view of what features are coming in the next devices.

It seems like yesterday that we only saw the new iPhones, the 6 and 6 Plus’s and the histeria that surrounded the launch of these devices which were Apple’s most successful iPhones to date.  They are the most superior iPhones in terms of performance, battery life, screens, cameras and the most important pieces from the ‘users’ perspectives with the huge boost in battery life to boot by comparison with the previous devices.  It almost begs the questions – why would anyone want a new iPhone, and what more can come from the operating system iOS.

 iOS 8.4

Probably the biggest change in iOS 8.4 so far in the version that has been released to developers is the Music application.  The new version comes with a new design which makes exploring your music collection easier and more like the iTunes experience of the desktop.  The playlists get more personal and the functionality improved along with the useability.Finding new albums will be easier and the ‘recently added’ function has become more prominent, again, in line with the desktop experience.

iTunes radio gets a tweak to make finding your music more simple and creating a favourite station.  There is not too much emphasis on the streaming part here yet, as it is expected that their new Beats streaming service which will compete with Spotify and will play a significant role in the very near future.  There is some suggestion that there could be a merger between the Beats music service and the Music application.  Competitors for the music space such as Spotify are slowly taking over the music functionality of the iPhone device as people stop wasting their device storage on a fixed amount of songs, while streaming opportunities offer endless amounts of music options, including playlists.

The Now Playing will also include album artwork which is another visual and usability tweak, although it is easy to forget the iPhone’s roots as an iPod music player and this certainly is a great reminder.  So far, the audio books have also been moved to the iBooks application, but the functionality of audio books has alos now been extended to CarPlay.

iOS 9

Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference has been scheduled for early June 2015, which is on par with the timing for the new operating system and its expected there will be a beta version to play with around this time for the developers to start tuning their apps and developing new ones.

While iOS 5 brought a stronger integration with iCloud as Apple jumped in to the Cloud Computing bandwagon, and the more recent versions of iOS seem to be aimed at bringing closer integration with OS X, it is expected that his trend will continue into the latest version.  A newer trend and one I’ve been closer to with a number of sources is that Apple will start to focus on enterprise integration.  While devices like Blackberry and Nokia have enjoyed the focus of massive enterprise, the Apple iPhone has certainly been pushed into the business world for their devices.  This is natural considering the user base out there that is already using iPhones as a personal device.  I’ve personally watched IBM employees move on masse to Apple devices with the growth of their bring your own device program and throw their Lenovo’s and Thinkpads at a wall. Administrators and the people running the enterprise networks and infrastructure will be able to employ a range of rules and functions to better control security, deployment and device management with the new iOS 9 features that will be available.

For the public, this will mean a lot of work in the guts of the iOS platform that they may not see much of until the developers of enterprise software start to focus on building apps for the platform and big software development platforms like IBM’s BlueMix is positioned well to take advantage of this new scenario.

Given the launch of the new Apple iWatch, there is an even money bet that iOS 9 will increase the integration between these devices.  There will be more functionality between the watch and iOS 9, likely to increase the ability to port applications (or at least increase the communications) between the two devices.  The iWatch is already shaping up to be a tremendous hit despite the large number of people (including techies that are ususally on the bleading edge of the curve) wondering why, what it is about and what is the point.

CarPlay is becoming a major attraction to the iPhone.  The race for in-car communications that include applications, telematics and infotainment is converging with the ‘internet of things’ whereby everyone wants a piece.  From the car manufacturers racing to own the digital dashboard after missing the boat on the car radio (they are still smarting because they are not taking a cut on advertisement revenue or making radio stations pay to have their car stations in the vehicle) right through to the smartphone manufacturers wanting to extend the phone.  With the smartphone becoming the centrepiece of an individuals digital communications, its shaping up that the phone is the most likely piece to extend to the car, giving it the inside edge to be the device of choice.  Apple has always made great steps at integrating their devices into their ecosystem, so its quite likely that the CarPlay application, already adopted by a few key manufacturers, will be the device/application combination to win the next steps into the car.

iPhone 6s

Bearing in mind, Apple’s notorius secrecy, the new iPhone 6s is expected around September 2015 (as always), and the exterior design is expected to be the same as the current models.  While there are already rumours that there is a new 4 inch returning with the 7 model, (also called the 7c), however, this reads as an unlikely story given the recent killing off of the 5c.  Apple is continually focusing on the usuals, better battery life which is becoming like Moore’s law of computer speed and continually evolving.  Sony has set the standard being able to last a few days without a recharge and the rest are trying to catchup.

There is ongoing focus on improved camera capabilities and ensuring that camera use does not reduce battery performance.  Apple will want to reap some benefits of their recent purchase of Linx Imaging, who are specialists in camera phone technology, creating lenses that combine multiple aperture configurations to produce DSLR quality photo’s.  The battery sizes continue with a 16, 64 and 128 GB capacity and there is a strong belief that the new A9 processors will be used bringing in a faster perfomance again.

Force touch was introduced in to the new Macbook that Apple has released and this is thought to be coming in the new iPhones.  This is where the device distinguishes between a light tap, and a hard press to offer different functions.

That’s about all on the items with any dependability.  There are others out there such as working on a competitor to Samsung’s edge design, but that design is not being as well recieved as Samsung would like, so that is not likely.  If you’ve heard any other rumours, inbox me or leave a comment.

The post Apple iOS 8.4, iOS 9 and iPhone 6s this year appeared first on The Digital Journal.

–    What should a mobile application be for an organisation
–    Should it include everything the company can do on a single application or many small applications
–    Should a company choose Android, Apple and/or Microsoft as their development platforms?

Some considerations for developing applications include:

1.    Strategic goals for the Application strategy

A set of goals for the organisation must be established.  Is it intended that the organisation be the innovator by leading the competition with mobile applications development and delighting users with the latest offering of features.  Is the organisation seeking digital loyalty among users or seeking to develop a range of essential services to customers?  It is possible to consider both strategies, however it is essential that they must be prioritised.

2.    Understand your user audience

There should always be an understanding of the targeted user base.  Few organisations seek to understand what the user wants in the mobile space, what they are doing and what services they are seeking to perform while in the mobile area.  These activities include trying to understand what their users are typically doing when they access services via their mobile device.  What is often further misconstrued is what the user does on a mobile device versus their desktop.  Further considerations can include their tablets, which again offer a potentially different experience.

The simplest examples could include a user paying an insurance renewal with no changes to the policy via a mobile device, making some changes on a tablet or completely reconfiguring their policy via a desktop.  A user might need breakdown assistance via a mobile more than via a desktop given the likely geographic location when breaking down.  There is much research today that indicates most people are claiming auto accident compensation with the help of attorneys by contacting them through mobile and most car purchasing now starts on a mobile device, extends to car sales applications (such as Carsales.com.au) on a mobile and can then include detailed research via a desktop. .

Again, users tend to remove applications that they do not user frequently.  At best, a less frequently used application will now be relegated to a ‘junk’ folder placed out of sight on a users device.

The process for selecting the application strategy involves configuring an expected user journey between devices, offering the range of services that would likely appeal to a user.

3.    Build a user focus group

A key failing of many organisations often includes not spending time with users to really understand their behaviours and what they are looking for in a mobile application.  While developing the features of the mobile experience that is being developed, users provide valuable feedback on what is going to be used in the application and what is going to be irritable.  Including these groups should go well beyond the initial discovery phases.

4.    Identify a minimalist viable solution

Many organisations have a large range of services and opportunities to provide contact points to their user base.  It is important not to try to include everything at once.  Not only does a large range of services take time to develop and implement, it increases the initial cost and possibly at the expense of the user experience.

Consider that most smartphones release new devices annually, with new software versions coming out every 6 months.  These cycles continuously change the expectations of users, as they demand that their applications make use of new features.  A most recent example is the Apple Pay system included on the latest iPhone devices, which has seen more than 3 million users load their credit cards on to their phones in the first month of availability.  Demand like this is not driven by a need to pay at a shop (users already had that); it was a need to make use of the latest features.

5.    Plan for multiple releases

There are many statistics to support the view that with each release, users will reengage with a mobile application with new features.  By offering key functionality over a range of releases, users will grow with the application and become familiar with its operations and remain engaged.  Releasing too often however reduces confidence in the application, indicating to users that you are constantly releasing a beta program with bugs and shortcomings.

There is also a significant opportunity to grow an application and its features in new directions as the user behaviours change, and more feedback on the application is provided.  There is considerable value derived by including that feedback into the next development iteration.  Resolving common user issues and feedback also generates goodwill between the organisation and the user base when they feel that their concerns are being addressed through the latest releases.

6.    Balance your users and your business

Two vastly different approaches to applications development are user centric design, which considers every nuance of the application from the perspective of the user, which many users will love.  Conversely, a business value approach considers the needs of the business first above the users.  Activities such as this seek to drive transaction outcomes and position functionality to extract maximum returns on the applications investment.  User studies, expert opinions, technical and feasibility studies should all be considered in the application development strategy to derive the best outcome.

7.    Know what is already out there

The best way to grow the knowledge pool is spending time on applications.  This includes downloading apps, using the latest stuff and building a collection of applications and functions that enables a strategic roadmap. Some will provide the knowledge of essential functions that users are expecting while other applications will make it clear which are the cutting edge ones that you can consider later on.  Most mobile technologists will have a pool of applications on their devices that they monitor – just to see what is coming in the next hottest application.

8.    Bring your Technology teams to the discussions early

The biggest challenge of any mobile application, for any business period above all things is to integrate the application and its services with the organisations technical infrastructure.  This will vary from every organisation, and it is the one major challenge that almost every mobile developer misses.  The fact is that the front-end development is easy to build.  User experience and functions can be hard to get right, but even school children are now cutting their teeth on coding for a mobile application.  The real difficult part is getting the integration right with the back end technology.  Without bringing the services available in the organisation to the mobile device, the application is nothing more than a brochure.

9.    Decide on a technology you can live and grow with

Mobile technology is forever evolving and has done so (from an average consumer perspective) for the last 20 years with even the first Motorola phones.  New functions, features and operating systems have emerged and within each of them, they have grown in new directions.

Choosing a platform to develop on is needed and regardless of the offerings of some organisations that make the claim that they can easily ‘port your app’ between two operating systems – it never happens that easily.  The platforms for Apple, Android and Microsoft are very different and while the basic features, functions and style can remain consistent, the code behind them has different requirements.  For example, while each will include fingerprint security, there is a separate piece of code required to implement that function for each platform.  (The best developers will also have their favourite platforms too, and while they are excited to build on one platform, they are almost definitely just doing the others to accommodate a request and this often is demonstrated in the coding behind the application).

So why should an organisation care about choosing a platform?  Certainly not just to placate a developer, but the functions that are made available via the platform will be reflected in the development path.  Platform stability, reliability and consistency is important to the business as much to the developer as an unstable, unreliable and inconsistent platform will impact the cost of development, frequency of bugs and ultimately the end user experience.

The four pillars of choice include:

–    Apple
–    Android
–    Microsoft
–    HTML (mobile web)

10.    Plan to Analyse

Analytics provide two important functions on the application and the development lifecycle.  While the measure of success is often indicated by the number of downloads, some other valuable metrics should include:

–    How long people are in the app for
–    Most visited areas
–    Most used functions
–    Typical paths
–    User deletions of the application
–    Versions of operating system and device type

These can influence the roadmap and the next steps of the application development journey.

The post 10 things to consider when preparing an App Strategy appeared first on The Digital Journal.

It goes like this, you go into buy your next pair of jeans, and when you approach the counter, your phone becomes your payment mechanism.  Much the same as a website is a digital wallet – your iPhone-Android-Windows device will be the mechanism for processing your payment.  Simple, quick, painless and certainly high tech.  So the question is – why are people not using it then?  I can’t say I have observed a single mobile payment yet.  I can’t imagine picking up something somewhere, whipping out the mobile and telling someone I am going to pay them via an app.  At least not at the moment.

So what is the hold up?  Infrastructure?  There are no cashiers with the facility available yet in many places.  Devices?  Apple have not got the technology in the 4S yet (but we think it is coming in the 5 in about a week’s time.

I can admit that I have certainly been standing at the checkout and have moved money between accounts to pay for something.  So maybe we are a step closer.  Lets revisit this one in about a week and see what is around the corner.  In the meantime, here is a great infographic that really does have a lot of great insight in what is around today.

The post Mobile Payments – Pending or Arrived? appeared first on The Digital Journal.

Which is why videos like this are simply hilarious.  From what can be seen by the reactions, even the Apple fans love this one.

Read watch and enjoy.  The video has been produced by Adam Sacks who also runs his own blog.

The post Leaked Official Apple iPhone Promotional Video appeared first on The Digital Journal.

Skitch Application for iPad

The beauty of the Skitch application is that it then allows you to draw freehand on to the screen thus overlaying your sketches over the top of your images. All sounds pretty simple, however, this is truly a great application for web devlopers who are often reviewing pages and sites. The number of times I have to give feedback on new screens, new designs or I need to make notes for later reference is phenomenal – and this little freebie is a god send.

They have added a few extra great features to make your note taking easier, such as lines, arrows and boxes. You can of course vary your colors and you can add your own text.

Some easy to follow instructions can also be provided for people with some great visuals. The files you create can be easily shared via email or whatever other method you choose to share your photo’s. This is because Skitch just adds the end result to your standard photo library. Its a really valueable integration feature and such a likeable application.

Its a pity that its not working on my iPad 3, so I had to review it on an iPad 1. Which in itself was a bit of a pain, and there are clearly a couple of bugs. As I understand it this is their second public version, but it certainly has some great promise.

Any other similar applications that you use for this sort of activity?

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