Mel Martin

Now doing consulting and recently wrote a book on film producer Samuel Bronston who made El Cid and Fall of the Roman Empire. I also did the commentary on Fall of the Roman Empire with Bill Bronston, the son of the late producer. I'm an amateur astronomer, and take lots of high resolution photos of galaxies and nebula from my backyard observatory in Arizona.

Mel Martin's Latest Posts

Apple requests Android source code in Samsung lawsuit

by Mel Martin (May 8th 2013 2:00PM)

That's the word from Bloomberg News today. Apple has asked a US magistrate judge to force Google to turn over the Android source code. It's part of Apple's case against Samsung, and Apple continues to believe its intellectual property has been stolen. Not surprisingly, Google, who owns the ...

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Daily iPhone App: View Seeker Location Scout: a handy tool for iPhone photographers

by Mel Martin (May 7th 2013 9:00PM)

View Seeker Location Scout is a handy US$0.99 photo app that can help you find the best locations for landscape photography. You can get all the best locations around you with a click, which the app does by sourcing images from Panoramio and Flickr. Once you find a spot you like it appears on a ...

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Air Microphone turns your iPhone into a wireless PA system

by Mel Martin (May 6th 2013 5:00PM)

Air Microphone is a US$0.99 app that uses AirPlay to connect your iPhone to an Apple TV or AirPlay-equipped amplifier to give you a wireless microphone. The app is not hard to use. After launch, go to the multitasking bar on the iPhone and select any AirPlay device and start talking. In my tests, ...

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Daily iPad App: Gradients is a free iOS photo editor that is worth a look

by Mel Martin (May 2nd 2013 4:00PM)

I'm always on the lookout for free photo apps that do a good job, and Gradients for the iPad or iPhone (free, universal) fits the bill. The app lets you add gradients to existing photos with almost infinite variations and control. I often create gradients in Photoshop, especially to tone down the ...

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Magellan linking GPS hardware to smartphones with SmartGPS

by Mel Martin (May 2nd 2013 8:00AM)

Magellan has announced the nationwide availability of its new SmartGPS device. The hardware GPS for cars mates with an iPhone or Android app to provide the in-car solution with several advantages, including content from Yelp and Foursquare that's based on the user location and planned route. Live ...

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Daily iPad App: Tipping Point Adventure for iPad is clever and engaging

by Mel Martin (May 1st 2013 8:00PM)

My experience as an adventure game player goes way back to the text-only Colossal Cave game, which then morphed into the classic Zork text games from Infocom (which, by the way, you can play even now on iOS with the Lost Treasures of Infocom app). Now, with speed and graphic power, games are a ...

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Nest updates iOS app and adds notifications

by Mel Martin (Apr 30th 2013 4:30PM)

The popular Nest Thermostat has updated its internal software to version 3.5, and pushed out a new iOS app to control it. Most people should have had their thermostats updated automatically at some point yesterday. The software is being billed as summer enhancements to the thermostat aimed at better ...

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Osito wants to be Google Now for iOS, a bit too late

by Mel Martin (Apr 29th 2013 5:00PM)

Osito is a free iPhone app that tries to do what Google Now has done for Android phones (and now the iPhone), which is provide a time- and location-aware app that supports your daily schedule with weather, traffic, travel news and more. [The previously launched Tempo calendar is another ...

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GateGuru for iPhone has been updated and greatly improved

by Mel Martin (Apr 26th 2013 4:00PM)

I've been a fan of GateGuru since I first tried it in 2010. It's a travel app for the iPhone that provides a plethora of information of flights, airlines and airports. It's great having all of that in your pocket. Version 4.0 fixes some problems and makes GateGuru even better. Version 3 was ...

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Horizon Calendar for iOS keeps improving with unique features

by Mel Martin (Apr 25th 2013 8:00PM)

The iOS Calendar app is pretty basic, but for a lot of people, it gets the job done. If you're left wanting more, take a look at Horizon Calendar, which is US$1.99 in the App Store. We've taken a look at an earlier version of the app before, and this next generation, released today, adds more ...

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