New Media M.A. Research Blog | Media Studies, University of Amsterdam

C´mon Apple, you as well!? – The iOS 12 Update will calculate your trust score

September has been an important month for Apple so far. The new iPhones have launched and the new iOS update has managed to overshadow the excitement of many Apple fans. One month ago, Facebook demonstrated a new way of...

By Luisa Zap on 09/24/18 Comments Off

The iPhone nudge and the choice to budge

Every time you reach into your pocket for your iPhone (sorry to exclude non-iPhone users) you’re prompted with a security code, unless this feature has been disabled. Your options are entering a 4 to 6 numerical code or...

By Phil Creamer on 09/25/17 Comments Off

3D Touch is not a Game Changer – Because this is no longer playing games

In the words of one of the worlds most famous men, unbeaten in his self-confidence on stage and ability to use rhetorical strategy to convince others of his visions: “Every once in a while a revolutionary product comes along...

By Julia Wissel on 09/17/15 Comments Off

Live Photo: the new “modern magic” of Apple’s iPhone 6

During a special media event organized on September 9th, in San Francisco, Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, officially introduced to the public the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 plus. Alongside with user friendly updates...

By Daniela Demarchi on 09/14/15 Comments Off

Hacking the Digital: Fingerprint Secured Touch ID from Apple

The iPhone 5S is a revised version of its predecessor, the iPhone 5, and was unveiled to the general public last month on September 20th. Aside from various improvements and new available features, Apple’s new fingerprint-based identity sensor, Touch...

By Nicholas Vieira on 10/10/13 1

The Building Blocks of Mobile Innovation

“Mobile innovation is over” – Marcus Wohlsen (Wired Magazine) A lot has happened since the first call from a mobile phone has been made by Martin Cooper 1973 from a Motorola phone. Since then the market has been ruled...

By Inte Gloerich on 10/09/13 Comments Off

Death of A Museum

‘No flash please.’ A handsomely uniformed Van Gogh Museum attendant gently reminds a befuddled middle-aged iPhone-toting museum patron. The woman appears confused — confused at the prospect of making that pesky flash go away and equally confused at the...

By Lani Shadduck on 09/11/13 Comments Off

iPhone 5: The Ultimate User Review

Device reviews are not really the subject of choice on this blog. However, measuring the general sentiment on social networks towards a certain gadget can be quite insightful. In this post I will be examining the iPhone 5 through...

By Bozhan Chipev on 10/18/12 Comments Off

Review: Location-based app Placeling makes everyone a tour guide

By: Larissa Hildebrandt and Vincentiu Dinga Placeling is a free iPhone app and WordPress plugin. It is a location-based social network where you can share your favourite places. Users are encouraged to “be the guide” in their city by bookmarking locations...

By Larissa Hildebrandt on 10/04/12 Comments Off

Postagram – Reality is Awesome!

When was the last time you’ve sent someone a postcard? And not just over the e-mail e-cards that go directly to people’s spam folders, but the good old days genuine postcards brought home by the postman. In the age...

By Alex Manole on 10/03/12 2

A corporate view on mobile app development – interview with BM&FBOVESPA’s Web Projects Coordinator, João Magalhães Lima.

BM&FBOVESPA is the Brazilian stock exchange, and one of the largest in the world. Headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil, it has offices in Rio de Janeiro, New York, Shanghai and London. João Magalhães Lima is the Web Projects Coordinator...

By Daniel Luiz dos Santos on 10/31/11 Comments Off

iPhone Art : This Century’s Modern Art Movement

Smartphone technology established its omnipresence at the arrival of the 21st century. For better or for worse, digital handheld technology has become a defining element of this millennium. The gadget’s pervasiveness combined with its seemingly limitless assortment of program...

By Autumn Hand on 10/31/11 Comments Off

Do you remember the first time? Music and the rise of the ‘scented candle’

I grew up listening to Pulp. I vividly remember lying outside my older sisters’ bedroom as she played Different Class from her multi-CD changer Hi-Fi, while I pushed myself up against her door, devouring Jarvis’ every word. Outside, unbeknown...

By Jamie Franklin on 10/18/11 Comments Off

We’ll protect you from patent trolls and gay men in underwear!

In the most recent edition of the raging patent war between tech giant Apple, Google and Mirosoft, Apple has filed for a patent that would, if permitted, give them an edge over the app distribution systems of the competitors. A...

By Eelke Hermens on 10/10/11 Comments Off

App review: TomTom Places (iPhone)

What makes a good app? Does it have to be groundbreaking and revolutionary, extremely useful, addictive or just nice and decent? For the last few days I’ve been testing an app that might not be very revolutionary but is...

By Floris Spronk on 10/10/11 Comments Off

Crowdflow: pretty pictures with our iPhone localisation data

Smartphones have changed the way we think about pretty much all aspects of communication. We’re used to having internet access in our pockets, GPS, barcode readers – you name it. There are thousands of applications to make our lives...

By Ave Tampere on 10/10/11 1

App review: Roamler

On June the 10th of this year the Amsterdam startup Roamler launched their free iPhone-app bearing the same name. Roamler challenges its ‘Roamlers’, the name for the users of the app, to complete certain tasks on assigned locations using...

By Leander Roet on 10/09/11 4

App Review: AroundMe

Where is the next cinema? Are there any pubs and restaurants near by? Where can I find the nearest points of interest? With the help of an iPhone you can answer such questions yourself within seconds. GPS and permanent...

By Jesse Oyegbesan on 10/09/11 Comments Off

App review: Hoccer

I’ve got an iPhone 3G (yes that’s a really old one, and it is really slow as well!). Maybe that’s the main reason that I don’t use apps very often nowadays, except for some built-in apps and a Dutch...

By Maarten Jansen on 10/09/11 Comments Off

Adding emotional value to apps: Buurtwinkels

We all use apps for practical reasons; checking e-mail, messaging, checking train departure times and much more. These apps are down-to-earth practical; they don’t bring tears to my eyes or amaze me with flashy images or unbelievable content. But...

By Leonie Nijenmanting on 10/06/11 Comments Off

Let’s talk iPhone? App-so-lutely!

The iPhone 4S In the advent of the “Let’s Talk iPhone” event, people were already looking for tutorials in order to sync and back up all of the various apps they have gathered from the moment they “went apple,”...

By Jeroen Rijskamp on 10/05/11 Comments Off

Thoughts about the unveiling of Iphone 4S

Today was the official release of Iphone 5. Oops, IPhone 4S I mean. I followed through the NY Times and The Guardian‘s live blogs and Twitter. While I was overwhelmed with an incredible amount of data, #letstalkiphone quickly become...

By Juliana Paiva on 10/04/11 1

The HK iPhone 4 hunt

Arriving in Hong Kong felt a little weird for me, as frequent mainland visitor with Chinese origin. It was a like coming home, but this time home was a bit off. Now after a couple of days I realize...

By Jidi Guo on 04/24/11 5

Augmented reality: the first steps to a society of control?

Layla van Daalen, Chris Hoogeveen, Hanneke Mertens Every aspect of the world has an extra layer of information. It may not always be obvious, but these extra layers are most certainly present. Marc Tuters and Kazys Varnelis describe these...

By Chris Hoogeveen on 03/13/11 2