Gordon Christie

EdinBus 2.3 for iPhone (iTunes Link) is out!

The biggest addition is a healthy dose of extra data from the good folks at mybustracker.co.uk. Stop directions are now shown on the map, and stop names are no longer truncated.

Also included are some fancy new iPhone 4 retina display graphics. In app graphics are all enhanced, and there’s a new sharper icon for iPhone 4 and iPad. No longer will you have to keep a fuzzy icon on your home screen!

Oh, and the EdinBus bus has some new livery to match Lothian Buses’ new paintwork in “madder” and white.

Behind the scenes there’s some new database generation code thanks to Niall Scott, which will make updates in future much faster. (Niall has an Android bus tracking app you should check out if you’re that way inclined)

More is in the works for EdinBus.. Watch this space!

Today is a pretty big day for me. I have handed in my notice at my current job at the SQA, and in a month I’ll begin working as full-time on iPhone, iPad, Android and user interface consultancy.

It’s a pretty big transition, but this is the work I love. My work on EdinBus and other projects outside of my full-time job have been very fulfilling.

I’m glad to have the opportunity to do what I love for a living.

The website will be updated shortly with more information, but in the meantime if you have any queries about potential projects or availability, please email “me at this domain” and we can discuss it.

My long awaited iPad arrived today. I've been setting it up and playing with a few applications.

So far I'm genuinely impressed. A few iPhone only applications need to be updated (such as EdinBus!) but the whole thing works very seamlessly.

Air Video is great, as is LogMeIn Ignition. Instapaper is lovely, too. I'm very pleased with Twitteriffic. Hoping for a version of MarsEdit at some point.

Just a quick update to the website - looks a bit different, and is now much easier for me to make changes to.

Working on some new content which will appear here soon.

Last night, I had the opportunity to play with an iPad.



Just some random thoughts:

The iPad is fast. The only thing I saw slowing it down was very large webpages, and even that didn't slow it down much.

The screen is brilliant. It's clear, bright, and has a surprisingly large viewing angle. Glass screen is a fingerprint magnet, but cleans with a quick wipe.

It's got a fair bit of heft to it. It feels like a solid single piece. Feels good in the hands.

We spent all evening playing with it continuously and the battery dropped about 20%. Bodes well for all-day usage.

EdinBus looks silly at 2x on the large screen. Might need to investigate a universal app.

The virtual keyboard is better than I thought it'd be. I saw the owners typing pretty quickly, and I wasn't far behind in speed. Landscape keyboard was easier than portrait (my hands aren't quite big enough to use two thumbs on the portrait keyboard, but I saw others doing so with ease).

A fair bit of time last night was spent with four or five people sat around a table, with the iPad flat on the surface. It was surprisingly usable in that position. Played a couple multiplayer games that way. Screen rotation is smooth and fast, too. It's awesome showing someone something by just flipping the pad over in your hands.

The applications I saw were mostly quite well thought through UI-wise, especially those from Apple. Popovers are great. Some UI bits were a bit clunky, but I suspect that situation will improve now developers have their hands on actual hardware to test.

I was sincerely impressed. It's the right size and form factor to use for several situations where a full-size laptop might be awkward (e.g. plane/train/bus seat, or in bed).

I was planning to get one at the end of April; now I am impatient for it to arrive.