This piece was originally posted on gdgt. Check it out, here.

A number of third party browsers have been developed and released for Apple’s iOS. Despite the requirement that they must use WebKit, most of the browsers have executed some pretty interesting ideas and provided a lot of enhancements over the basic Safari browser found in the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

Some of the browsers off the top of my head:

• Atomic Browser
• Dolphin Browser
• iCab
• Mercury Browser

What I would love to see is them offer some extra enhancements that would seriously make me switch. What are some of these enhancements?

• TextExpander support: A number of applications (mostly text editors) have been released for iOS that take advantage of TextExpander. I would love to see this added to browsers! I do most of my work in a browser window each day anyway, and on the desktop, TextExpander has been a completely critical feature.
• 1Password: If 1Password could find a way to allow other applications to user their database / keychain for passwords (similar to how other apps can use TextExpander macros), this would be huge! I use it all the time to ensure that I have completely random passwords, and if any one site is compromised, I don’t lose access to everything. The 1Password app on iOS is well done, but I don’t want to use their built-in browser. If there was a way I could access the passwords from another browser, this would be huge!
• Xmarks: Xmarks has been an important tool for me when keeping all my browser bookmarks in sync between Chrome, Firefox, and Safari on the laptop. Why not bring that over a third party browser in iOS? If this was available in any third party browser, it would instantly become my go-to browser.
• Ability to set a default browser in iOS: (Sadly, it will take Apple to build in this feature — there’s no way developers or users can do this short of jailbreaking) I’ll admit, having the option of running third-party browsers in iOS is pretty damn nice. But it still feels like a kludgy hack when you open a URL in any other application in iOS. It always goes to Safari, without fail. If there were a way to set a custom default browser in the system preferences, this would be awesome!

What sorts of other features do you want to see in third party browsers that they don’t currently offer (and aren’t offered in Safari)?

  This piece was originally posted on gdgt. Check it out, here.

Been using various iOS 5 betas (and now the GM) for awhile now. One of my favorite features (besides proper notifications, of course) is Safari Reader. Basically, it strips away all the cruft from a webpage and simply displays the content you want to read. It works similar to things like Readability.

It’s especially nice, since it presents the content in an eBook like format and you can dynamically resize the text.

Something I find interesting though — I haven’t really been using the “Reading List” feature. Basically, it’s a way to temporarily bookmark articles and websites you want to read late. As far as I can tell, it doesn’t do offline access though (so, I’ll still be sticking to Instapaper for my offline needs).

More info on Apple’s website.

  This piece was originally posted on gdgt. Check it out, here.

A friend of mine (see Marcie Lynn Photography) rented a Nikon D3x this weekend for a photo shoot. She took it along on a wine tasting trip a number of us went on, and I had a chance to play around with it.

The photos that came out of this thing were absolutely incredible. That said, it’s a beast of a camera and you probably need a Sherpa or two to help you carry around the camera and lenses.

It’s a 24.4MP full-frame camera. Coupled with a 50mm f/1.4 lens, this thing practically had night vision. It also absolutely nailed the focus on photos and the images were tack sharp.

The really interesting thing about 24.4MP is your ability to crop the image and still maintain high enough resolution for multiple uses. That was the most impressive thing, in my opinion. You could take a group photo of 10 people, then zoom into any one of them, and there was enough resolution and fidelity for a flawless 8 x 10 portrait. Incredible!

The other impressive thing was the image quality at ISO 6400. Properly exposed, you could barely see any grain! Seriously, that’s insane.

This is totally going on my “WANT-but-probably-not-ever-own” list. Anyone have $9,000 laying around?

My friend Scott and I took the afternoon off this past Friday to check out the Blue Angels practicing over San Francisco. We somehow found ourselves on a boat and ended up having front row seats to the practice. It was incredible!

If you need some proper theme music, may I suggest the Top Gun soundtrack? You’re welcome!

http://www.rdio.com/#/artist/Various_Artists/album/Top_Gun_-_Motion_Picture_Soundtrack_(Special_Expanded_Edition)/

Steve Jobs, September 9th, 2009 by Dave Schumaker

There’s little that I can add or say about Steve Jobs that hasn’t already been covered by more eloquent writers elsewhere.

I feel fortunate that I was able to see him in person on a number of occasions, showing off some of his most beloved inventions.

His enthusiasm was intoxicating and his drive was inspiring.

Here’s to the crazy ones. The rebels. The troublemakers. The ones who see things differently. While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

We’ll miss you so much, Steve. Thanks for showing us what the future will be like.

Around the web:
– So long, Steve. [gdgt]
– Steve Jobs, 1955 – 2011 [Wired]
– Steve Jobs Was Always Kind To Me (Or, Regrets of An Asshole) [The Wirecutter]
– The Steve Jobs I Knew [All Things D]