Time for our Wednesday feature that highlights some of the latest iPhone news. Earlier this week, I heard a name from my past: Zinio. When I started using a Microsoft Windows Tablet PC in 2004, I subscribed to digital magazines through Zinio and the experience was excellent. When apps came to the iPhone platform in 2008, I checked out the Zinio app hoping for the same experience, but I found it lacking. The small screen surely added a challenge, but I read all other sorts of content on that same display, so it’s not impossible to make it work. From what Dan says at Gear Diary, Zinio is much closer to making it work with their latest software update. Zinio for iPhone itself is free, but you do have to pay for content. My subscriptions have long since lapsed, so I tried the new version using the free sample issues. I’m in agreement with Dan — the software is much better than it was nearly two years ago.
Aside from the intuitive table of contents, there are two reading modes in Zinio. The “read” button shows a magazine in its normal, visual layout. In this mode, it’s easy to use pinch-to-zoom or navigate around the page. But the new “browse” mode helps for when you want to focus on the text. Essentially, the entire textual contents of a single article becomes one scrollable page, much like a web page or an e-book. This mode supports font resizing for easier reading as well. While this version of Zinio should work natively on the iPad, it wouldn’t surprise me to see Zinio rework the app for the bigger screen. For now though, this version works nicely on a small display.
Speaking of the large display, Flurry is witnessing a surge in app development for the iPhone platform, possibly due to the forthcoming iPad. The numbers only capture new iPhone apps that are integrating Flurry statistical tracking features, but as The Apple Blog points out, a near-tripling of activity in January over the prior month can’t just be coincidence. It’s far too early to make predictions yet, but the early signs are pointing to developers trying to get in on a possible iPad application gold rush. And after viewing the Wired for iPad application, I’m becoming more impressed with the potential of the iPad by the day.
Navigating around on that iPad — or the iPhone or iPod Touch, for that matter — uses the all-too-familiar multitouch, capacitive display. I’ve recently had some good private conversation with Sascha Seegan and Nilay Patel on if Apple truly has a patent on this, but the evidence was murky at best. The waters are clearing today, though — Apple is granted patent #7,663,607 for a specific implementation of capacitive, multitouch displays. Note that this is different than patenting pinch-to-zoom, which as a gesture is likely difficult to lay claim to. As I’ve said to Sascha and Nilay that I’m not a lawyer — Nilay is — but to this layman, it looks pretty clear to me. Now the question is: what can or will Apple do with such a patent? Can they require licensing fees from any vendors using the same type of capacitive displays on their devices or is this a non-issue? That part is still very murky.
Related research from GigaOM Pro (sub req’d):
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