I've heard from quite a few iPhone J.D. readers who were in New Orleans last weekend or are coming in town this weekend for the 45th annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival — known by everyone as simply Jazz Fest. The music is amazing, the food is perhaps even better than the music, there are lots of arts and crafts to browse and purchase, and it is almost impossible to not have a great time. New Orleans is probably more famous for Mardi Gras, which I also love, but I have more fun every year at Jazz Fest. If you were not able to make it this year, do yourself a favor and make plans to do so in the future; Jazz Fest is always the last weekend in April and the first weekend in May. And now, the recent iPhone and iPad news of note:
- This week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Riley v. California and U.S. v. Wurie, cases which address the ability of police to search an arrestee's cellphone without a warrant. It's an interesting issue. While virtually nobody sees a problem with searching the contents of the pockets of someone under arrest, iPhones and other smartphones can (and often do) contain almost unlimited personal data. Washington, D.C. attorney Amy Howe wrote a great Plain English explanation of the issues for SCOTUSblog.
- Legal consultant Brett Burney wrote a review the Rulebook app for Law Technology News. You can also use the Rulebook app to get The Bluebook on your iPad, as I noted in 2012.
- This week, Microsoft updated its Word, Excel and PowerPoint iPad apps to add the ability to print.
- Launch Center Pro is a useful iPhone app that helps you to do all sorts of things more quickly. I reviewed the app back in 2012, and the app still has a spot on my first home screen. This week, Alex Guyot of MacStories wrote a detailed and comprehensive article on how to get the most out of the app.
- Francisco Tolmasky recently debuted a fun iPad app called Bonsai Slice in which you hold your iPad and use it as a sword. It is sort of like a 3D version of Fruit Ninja. It is an interesting approach to gaming, and my eight-year-old son thinks that the game is awesome. Brian Chen of the New York Times wrote an interesting article in which Tolmasky talks about the creation of some of the original iPhone apps, including the Safari app that he worked on. I've since seen other reports suggesting that Tolmasky's role was not as important as he claims it was, but regardless, the article is a good read.
- And finally, Dan Frakes of Macworld wrote a fairly extensive review of a $240 iPhone case — not even a full case, just a bumper — called the Curvacious Bumper. It sounds like it a nice bumper, but $240? For something that almost surely won't even fit whatever new model iPhone Apple releases later this year? But maybe I'm missing something, so if you want to get it, here is an Amazon link.
