Apple's iOS 4

Last night I upgraded my iPhone 3G to iOS 4 (formerly know as iPhone OS 4). Though the OS will be best on the new iPhone 4, it is a great improvement from the 3.0 OS I had before.

The best feature in the new OS would to me be hands down the folders. I am now able to better organize my apps, and know where all of my favorite apps are. An added bonus to the folders is that I am able to fit many more apps on my phone, as I have had my phone full from a few weeks after I got it until last night. I now actually have empty spaces on my home screen.

Another great feature is the new inbox setup. I am now able to check all inboxes at once, as well as independently, saving a lot of time.

There are many other minor tweaks, such as the option of choosing different search providers in Safari, and minor graphical redesign among them.

iBooks does not come preloaded with iOS 4, but it is available for download from the App Store for those who have upgraded to iOS 4. The app is a great eBook reader, with plenty of free books available among the paid books.

The biggest surprise I encountered from iOS 4, is that it does not slow down my device. I expected my device to perform slower, as it is a few generations back, but it performs nicely on the new iOS.

I would recommend that all iPhone users (3G and up), at least try the new iOS, I don't believe you will be disappointed.

Summer Nears

The last few weeks have went by very quickly. I have helped move my brother into his new house, had my very last jazz concert (sadly), written two papers and have organized (with the help of my teacher) a group to assist me in performing the Artie Shaw Clarinet Concerto, which I will perform for my jury, and to close the Clarinet Studio Recital. So, as you see, the end of the semester has been hectic, and I still have a listening exam this week, and Concert Band Concert followed by Finals Week.

Luckily however, I will have an adequate amount of time to study, and no back-to-back exams like I had last Spring semester (those are definitely not fun).

I hope to update my blog more regularly in the future. Unfortunately it always seems to be one of the first things I cut, when other things arise.

Oh, by the way, I would recommend Opera Mini (just recently released) to anyone who owns an iPhone/iPod Touch, as it is very fast and effecient. I would not however recommend it as a complete replacement, but only as a compliment to the Safari browser.

Spring Semester Begins

Since my last post pertaining to the jazz concert at Rock City Gardens many things have occurred among them: Christmas, New Years, and the beginning of Spring semester in college. During Christmas break I obtained a Wii and an iPhone 3G, so future posts will most likely include these two great devices which by now I have explored thoroughly.
Though the Wii does not have the same graphical power of the XBox 360 or Playstation 3, it makes up for this in its intuitive control of games via its motion sensing controller: the wii remote. The ease of using the controller also has an added benifit, people who would usually avoid video games, such as older people or those who lament the many buttons on most system controllers, find the wii great fun. I have seen this first-hand as my grandmother loves to bowl, and even play Mario Kart, though she would never play most XBox 360 games.
The iPhone 3G has been a great phone so far. I have never had a phone that provided such eas of navigation. The app store has hundreds of thousands of apps, many free, that enhance the phone ten fold in my opinion.
With both the iPhone and Wii I have been tempted to use homebrew and jailbreak each respectively, but have not. Though the added functionality would greatly expand the value of both devices to me, the risk is something I am unwilling to take.
In the field of music, I have now begun working on Artie Shaw's Clarinet Concerto. This piece is a great work, and I have wanteed to perform it since I was in High School. I have now reached a point where I am confident, that with enough practice I will be able to give this piece justice.
This semester I have continued my study of Japan, by taking a class dealing with Premodern Japan. I will be finishing up the duo of History of Music classes this semester, thankfully, but not before delving into many, many scores. To attempt to partially fill my gap in knowledge of the Latin American world, I am taking a class pertaining to the post-colonial era of these states. Another interesting class I am taking this semester is Musics of the World. In this class we learn of many different music cultures, and even get to play their instruments at times, in workshops.
The semester is getting off to a decent start.