Gene Cowan

Member since: Aug 1st, 2005

Gene Cowan's Latest Comments

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Blog	# of Comments
TUAW.com	196 Comments
Engadget	18 Comments
AOL TV	162 Comments
Download Squad	1 Comment
Engadget HD	28 Comments
PVR Wire	2 Comments
Autoblog Green	1 Comment

Recent Comments:

iPhone 4 Personal Hotspot put to the test (TUAW.com)

Mar 29th 2011 6:49PM Well, Chris, perhaps I was the victim of a misinformed AT&T customer service rep. I'm sure it wasn't the first time.

iPhone 4 Personal Hotspot put to the test (TUAW.com)

Mar 29th 2011 5:07PM "You get 2GB extra for the money"...
Actually, you don't really - well, you get 2GB to use for tethering, on top of your 2gb used regularly through the phone. But you don't get 4GB to use as you wish.
Here's the deal: when you turn on tethering, it starts a new, different usage meter. You have a usage meter for regular data, and a meter for tethering data. The two allotments of data can't be combined.

Nine Unanswered 'Glee' Questions (AOL TV)

Dec 19th 2010 1:24PM I guess the major thing that has always bugged me from the start is the money issue, since it has always played a pivotal role in the conflict needed for the story.
This school is a showplace - I've never seen such a gorgeous high school, in terms of architecture or infrastructure. How many high schools have you ever seen, especially in a small, economically depressed midwest town, that look like that? That have shiny new iMacs on every teacher's desk?
And yet, we're to believe that money is so tight that they can't afford to hire a bus to take a glee club to a regional competition?
Yeah, right.

Landscape or portrait? It's all about software ergonomics (TUAW.com)

Oct 2nd 2010 11:58AM We did that with our Disneyland map app, "MouseAddict." In portrait mode the controls are on top in the usual toolbar; but in landscape it reconfigures to look like a paper map, with buttons on the left and right just where users' thumbs usually are. Ironically, users haven't seemed to "get it," expecting the controls to be at the top all the time.

Does the iPhone 4 hate the AT&T MicroCell? (TUAW.com)

Aug 8th 2010 3:31PM Same stuttering problem here. Plus, I found that I had a much higher call failure rate using the M-Cell than I had on the marginal regular cell signal! In fact, 75% of calls I tried to make didn't go thru and resulted in "Call Failed."
It went back to the store.
But, in a bizarre quirk of fate, I suddenly find that I can make calls on the bad AT&T signal in my house consistently and with better clarity than I could before. Perhaps I jumped the gun in getting the M-Cell in the first place, which was soon after I got the iPhone 4 and was confronted with the signal loss bug. With the new "bar display fix" I am able to make calls where I couldn't before — which makes me wonder if there is more to the update than just changing the display of the bars...

Digit-Eyes identfies everything for the blind without breaking the bank (TUAW.com)

Aug 1st 2010 12:02PM Ah, this makes much more sense. Thanks for the clarification.
Taking a video then processing it is a brilliant move that didn't even occur to me!

I've tried out the iPhone's accessibility options and they do take quite a bit more time to get the simplest things done -- but it does work, and I can only assume that with time and practice one could probably zip through the interface pretty quickly.

Digit-Eyes identfies everything for the blind without breaking the bank (TUAW.com)

Jul 31st 2010 6:35PM Wait, I don't understand -- it is difficult enough for a sighted person to aim and focus the iPhone camera at a barcode, are you saying that the makers of this app expect a blind person to find a barcode on a package, aim their camera, and take a picture of it?

Then the blind user is supposed to pick from a page "full of empty boxes" and type in a label?

Want a last second 3G iPad? Try Best Buy (TUAW.com)

Apr 30th 2010 10:05PM "Last second?" They're not being discontinued, Apple isn't going out of business, and they will be for sale for years to come.

Seriously.

Relax.

AdLib: Apple's secret web app weapon (TUAW.com)

Apr 9th 2010 7:46PM Good lord, TUAW - where have you been all these years? This is ANCIENT news. Apple's been using this custom framework for years with the iPhone user guide and other web apps. It's known as "Pastrykit." Do a Google search, mmkay?