Ever since I bought my iPad and signed up for Verzion Fios internet my iPad’s wifi connection has been dropping on every use. If you have the ActionTec WiFi router which Verizon typically provides you with, you may find my instructions below helpful:

1. Go to http://192.168.1.1
2. Username should be ‘admin’ and password should be ‘password1″ (don’t worry about the extra characters the text box automatically adds. It’s an encryption feature.)

3. Click on ‘Wireless Settings’ on the top navigation menu

4. Click ‘Basic Security Settings’ from the left navigation menu

5. Switch the Channel to 6 (or one of the standard Channels 1 or 11)

6. Click Apply at the bottom of the page

7. Click ‘Advanced Security Settings’ from the left navigation menu

8. Select WPA2 security (the default is WEP , which is weaker)

9. Set up your pre-shared key on the screen presented (this is your network password)

10. Click apply

No more dropped connections after following these steps!

The focus on Apple’s faulty iPhone 4 antenna seems to have robbed the spotlight from the iPhone 4 release and knowing Apple quite well, this is killing them.

With the latest blow being Consumer Report’s announcement that they can not recommend the iPhone 4 , Apple will really need to step up to the plate and show their customers some respect. The countless youtube videos reproducing the issues are not the kind of word of mouth Apple wants to spread.

Hoping to possibly avoid an iPhone 4 recall, Apple has decided to mask and cover-up the story with a simple software fix.While reprogramming the algorithm that is used to display bars on the iPhone 4 status bar will definitely fix the cosmetic issue , that’s like buying a ferrari and realizing it only goes 40 mph and then having a Ferrari mechanic tell you they’ll recalibrate the speedometer so it automatically adds 100mph to your speed. Bogus!

Apple can totally delete complaints from their forums all they want, but people will continue to voice their opinions. Sticks and stones rarely have an impact on Apple, but apparently these customer words do.

Don’t get me wrong, the iPhone 4 is an amazing device. It’s fast, it’s sleek, and the screen is gorgeous. Apps that have been update to take advantage of the Retinal Display look super crisp. Unfortunately, all of these technical achievements will remain in the shadows if Apple doesn’t fix the issue quickly and appropriately.

I won’t waste too much time on this blog post since Gizmodo has gotten more than enough attention for their recent stunt.

Here are my thoughts on the issue in no particular order:

If you are a AAPL stock holder, you should really be upset that Gizmodo didn’t do ‘the right thing’ and return the phone. Instead they chose to attempt to thwart an Apple release by releasing leaked information. It’s fun to read about rumors and see pictures of possible leaks, but when you knowingly have evidence that can really do damage, you’re crossing the line a bit. Can’t we just have fun and leave it at that?

Gizmodo will never be invited to a press event ever again.

I hope Jason Chen and the entire Gizmodo staff realizes that their actions have consequences outside of the bubble of their blog and Apple.

Gizmodo sure got lots of hits on their site but at what cost? I hope they save all that revenue to pay off the legal fees.

We’ll see how this all shakes out.

Written on my iPad

This weekend I had the opportunity to participate in iPadDevCampNYC. The event took place both in San Jose and NYC simultaneously and brought together  iPhone developers, designers, testers, and development enthusiast. I’m pretty sure I spotted a few incognito parents with their teens as well. Here’s a quick recap of the events:

Day 1
The first day was pretty much a mixer. We met at Gigapixel Creative and there was music, booze, and few finger foods. I mingled a bit with a few people, however, it was a little too loud to carry any sort of real conversation, so I left early. Before I left, I was approached by a Barnes and Noble recruiter who traded my email address for a $20 Barnes and Noble Gift Card. Nice!

Day 2
The second day included a pretty insightful industry panel which include:

• Moderator:Michael Prenez-Isbell, Director of Mobile Development at Blueswitch
• Peter Costanzo, Dir. of Online Marketing for Perseus Books Group
• Nina DeFrance, VP of Consumer Marketing for Forbes Digital
• Tarik Sedkey, Chief Digital Officer, Young & Rubicam
• Douglas Gottlieb, VP of Digital, Barnes & Noble

The general take-away from this panel is that print and advertising wants in on the iPad. These companies need iPad/iPhone developers BAD. They have no idea what they are doing since this is uncharted territory. All panel members are highly optimistic about the iPad platform and the impact it will have on their products. They are ready to embrace the platform and just need some help from developers like us.

The hackathon also started on day 2. Essentially we were tasked with coming up with some sort of iPad project. I was sitting next to @luciuskwok who I’ve known for quite some time (through twitter) and I gave him an idea for an extension to an existing project (HelTweetica) he was already working on. @thomasalvarez also joined our team and we quickly got to work.

Day 3
On the third day we listened to two presentations. One by Flurry and one by Barnes and Noble.
The Flurry talk was particularly interesting because Greg had some really insightful information into how users were behaving with the iPad. I wish I had the slides for the presentation (maybe they’ll post them) but hopefully you get the gist from the audio.

Listen to Greg Yardley, VP of Product, Flurry presentation below.

Listen to the Barnes and Noble iPad app dev team speak about the B&N app.

Day three concluded with project presentations by all teams and we even won “Best Social App”. Once the app is live somewhere, I’ll be sure to share a link. There were some really great projects by other teams including a sound activated cookbook for turning pages, a really slick boom box, a quija board, a developer text-editor for the iPad, as well as a few others.

Below are a few pics from the presentations:

Overall, the price of admission ($50) was a steal. They provided free food on both days (bagels, coffee, and OJ in the morning and Two-Boots pizza at lunch). Plus all the friends and contacts you make is well worth surrendering your weekend. Most importantly I’d like to thank the folks who put this event together. It was definitely a blast!

Today is the first day I’ve been without a “real” job in about 7 years. It’s totally weird to be home on a friday morning and knowing that I don’t have to “go to work” persay. I chose to quit my job at Apple to have a bigger impact on the world and surprisingly enough I believe these opportunities are literally around the corner.

More to come …

We’ve all heard the success stories. Indie developers quitting their day job and striking it rich with an iPhone app they developed. Learning how table views work, working with tab controllers and pinging web service APIs into the wee hours of the night. Then making a killing in the app store. With the introduction of the iPad, these stories may come even less often …

What indie iPhone Developers need to learn now:
As soon as I began looking at the iPad SDK, I realized … I’m gonna need a UI/UX Designer now.With the introduction of the iPad, existing indie iPhone developers will be forced to either:

A) learn photoshop and illustrator
B) join forces with a good graphic designer.

Creating a compelling and engaging user experience on the iPad is significantly more difficult than on the iPhone. The iPad screen real estate is greater and you (the developer) need to fill that space up with visually striking goodness.

iPad Launch Day
Today the iPad launched and many developers will head to Apple Stores (or hopefully receive their shipments on time) and instantly load up their iPad app they’ve been previously working on using the simulator. The screen real estate is larger which makes for your potentially mediocre app to look even more medicore. Especially next to some of the apps that have already been showcased. Not to mention a few of the ridiclously awesome apps include: Netflix and Marvel.

What about you Jeff ?
At first sight, I could not place the iPad in my day to day. I already have a kindle and really enjoy reading books on it because of the e-ink. However, Indian Code clients have already gained interest and will undoubtedly be requesting services for this platform. So I will eventually need to own one pretty soon and will need to work closely with graphic designers to produce awesome releases. You can get away with using lots of the built in visual elements, but at some point , if you’ll really want to push the envelope and you’re gonna have to use visual elements outside of the SDK.

All in all, it is a great time to be an iPhone, iPad , and Mac developer. There is a lot of work out there if you seek it. Find yourself a good graphic designer who can be your partner and focus on making beautiful things! So go now and get started!

You can say I’m late to the game but for my recent consulting gig I’ve had to use Skype quite a bit.  I’ve had an account for several years now but I can’t say I’ve ever had an actual audio conference till recently. Instead of using my precious AT&T minutes to call into 2 hour conferences (ick!), I dial in using Skype- which is free! Actually, only calls to toll free numbers can be made using skype so as long as your virtual conference number is toll-free, you’re golden. Calls to land lines and cell phones can be made but you have to buy calling credits first.

Skype totally owns iChat when it comes to AV sessions. The whole experience is very smooth and not to mention, the quality is excellent. If you have a Skype to Skype chat using a Mac’s internal microphone your mind will be blown- I guarantee it. If you’ve ever done an iChat AV session you will notice how much better Skype is. I’m referring to both audio AND video. Also, connection problems hardly seem to happen with Skype. Initiating audio-only and video conference sessions is super smooth and jumping in and out of sessions is very responsive.

Anyways, you should check out Skype now.

The time has come to bid Apple farewell. It has been an amazing 4 years and so many things have happened while working at Apple. I met my future wife while working at Apple. I got the opportunity to work on the Mothership and live in California for two years. I was able to work alongside some of the greatest engineers, developers, and testers in the world. I worked on some super top secret high profile Apple products! Most importantly, however, I met some really great friends.

Apple will always have a special place in my heart.