Pastebot

Of all the awesome iPhone apps out there, the ones that interest me the most are able to sync with a desktop counterpart. For example, Things on the iPhone lets me take my GTD list from my Mac on-the-go. The concept of being able to simultaneously use my iPhone both as a powerful standalone device and as an extender to what my desktop can do really just does it for me and Pastebot is a perfect example of exactly what I mean. Here, have a look:

For even more information or to download to your iPhone, click this link: http://tapbots.com/pastebot/

Opinion: iPhone Video Rant

I have to say that with each iPhone OS upgrade, the iPhone gets better and more fun to use. Even now, despite the fact that Apple has released the new iPhone 3GS, I am still in love with my regular, old 3G.

But there are a few very simple video-viewing related issues on the iPhone that I would have thought would have been addressed already. Unfortunately they have not, and now I will share them with you.

If you have a video loaded on your iPhone through iTunes, you can watch it in landscape in either orientation. The top of the phone with the power button and headphone jack can point either towards the right or left depending on what feels more comfortable in your hands. The video will flip right-side-up accordingly.

Now I understand that you get the biggest picture when you view the screen in landscape, but what if you want to watch the video in portrait? What if you want a quick preview of the video? What if you want to watch while the iPhone is docked in its cradle? It’s my iPhone and if I want to watch in portrait, even if it means a smaller video size, then it should be my choice, right?

Additionally, while the iPod app will at least let you watch in landscape on either side of the iPhone, the YouTube app will not. If you load a YouTube video on the iPhone, you must watch with the power button/headphone jack pointing to the left and home button/dock connector pointing to the right. Now I have big hands and holding the iPhone in that specific orientation with the headphones plugged in is uncomfortable. The headphone plug digs into my palm and doesn’t make for a pleasant viewing experience, especially while riding on the bus or other forms of public transportation.

Apple should, in future upgrades, allow the user to control the video playback orientation. As a matter of fact, this should also extend to games as well. Not all the games have consistent landscape orientation on the same side and only very few games let you chose the orientation yourself within the settings.

This certainly won’t stop me from watching videos while on the go, but it would certainly be nice to see Apple make these changes.

Any thoughts?