Mini-me? No Thanks...

As we've previously established, I've become quite the Apple device guy over the past few years. It wasn't surprising therefore, that I got plenty of questions asking me if I'd be buying an iPad Mini.

It never crossed my mind. I have no issue whatsoever with the size of the full-size iPad, even though is has been obsoleted less than a year into it's all too brief life. It is an excellent travel companion for the tightest of plane seats, doesn't have to be pulled out of your bag to get through the airport scanner and has just enough space to get some actual work done if needed.

iPhone 5: Week One in Review

Almost every time I pick this phone up I instantly notice just how light it is. Perhaps they should have called this the iPhone Air. 

I've had the 5 since delivery on launch day. While I haven't traveled with it yet, I'll provide a quick and dirty synopsis of week 1 which was pretty much all local.

• Maps. Haven't touched them yet. I realize there's a big flap out there for folks who rely on it and I will be traveling this month so I'll find out soon enough.
• Data. Very good performance. I stuck with AT&T since they grandfathered in my unlimited data plan. In just cruising around the L.A. area I'm seeing some pretty decent speeds. It'll be interesting to see how they'll be on the road. I'm also seeing much faster performance on WiFi networks.

iPhone 5: Is it enough?

Apple product announcements have become the Super Bowl of tech events in recent years. Today was no exception. The anticipation, leaks and speculation leading up to the event was pretty massive. 

The event had a lot of breadth. I wasn't particularly surprised at the iPod updates - well at least, not that it happened. I'm a little disappointed that the Nano has grown again as I am a huge fan of the current size. It would have been nice to see the same form factor but simply slimmer with bluetooth. THe new unit has a nice design, but I won't be looking to purchase a new one any time soon.

 

The iPod touch changes were unsurprising following the iPhone announcements other than perhaps the wrist strap which while functional isn't something Apple typically concerns itself with. Still, a nice feature for those on the go or for kids. Odd that they are keeping the old Touch around, but I guess that helps them hit another price point or get into an up sell situation.

 

The headphones were kind of an odd drop in. Though, when I think about it, given the volume of headphones that Apple distributes, it does make some sense to put some effort in there. It seems in line with Apple's approach to continually evolve and round out their platforms into the "total package."

 

Lastly, I am very thankful that iTunes got a redesign and face lift. I have found it harder and harder to use the application effectively to manage my media so I'm looking forward to that change a great deal.

 

And then of course was the main event. The new iPhone was announced and all the features touted. I was gratified to see the new A6 processor and was pretty much amazed at that it will be 20% lighter. For them to have taken out 1/5th of the weight between generations is pretty remarkable. I think the thinner design will also be appreciated as well.

 

The camera didn't seem to change much on paper - though without side by side photo comparisons it's hard to tell how much change it will bring. The new panoramic feature is nice - better than a manual stitching process with some of the apps that are out there. I saw that they did add the ability to take photos while shooting video, but I always thought that to be a bit of an odd feature. Perhaps it was a capability of the new lens? Glad to see that costs remained the same, though I still feel like the absence of the 128GB model remains odd. I wonder if it is a power issue?

 

The new connector was well leaked in advance so no surprises there. I wonder if they'll have a thunderbolt to lightning connector as well or if it will only be USB to lightning? They have to have something up their sleeve or else they'd just go with micro USB. I know a lot of people are irritated at the instant obsolescence of their accessories, but 9 years is a pretty good run stability wise.

 

LTE support was as expected as was the size of the display. It will be interesting to see just how different the new screen will look in person as well as how much more, if any, responsive it will be. The battery life looks pretty great overall, though it'll be interesting to see how well it holds up in real world usage.

 

Overall, it seems like the iPhone has enough going for it in combination with iOS 6 to justify an upgrade. Pre-orders start on Friday so get those credit cards warmed up!

 

Posted with Blogsy

One (Many) iDevices to Rule Them All

On the eve of the next iPhone announcement (or will it be the New iPhone?), I'm taking a step back to re-review my personal electronic inventory.

And, as I do, I've come to the realization that while I might be a PC in terms of what's on my desk, the rest of my media experience is ruled by Apple. I have the iPhone as my personal phone. The New iPad is my travel companion and TV watching companion. The Apple TV has become one of my prime media consumption devices, so much so that I've now purchased two of them. To a degree, just being able to throw video up on the two different TVs from the iPhone or iPad was worth the price of entry. But add in the iTunes store and the NetFlix application and it really becomes quite a compelling device.

Goodbye Steve Jobs

The loss of a famous person rarely affects beyond making a mental note of their passing. Yesterday after I heard that Steve Jobs had died, an image came to me. I saw Steve Jobs passing into the Great Beyond. As he did, he turned around to hand the baton to his successor.

There was no one there.

Steve Jobs has profoundly affected my life. My very first computer was an Apple II that my parents somehow were able to afford even as they raised 6 children. That computer took me through a lot of school, a lot of projects and forever cemented me as a technophile. Apple and I broke up for a long while after that only to be reunited via a device rather than a computer. The iPhone rekindled my relationship with Apple and Mr. Jobs.

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life."

The iPad 2 - A Look Back

As I previously wrote, I was really on the fence of how much value the iPad 2 brings vs the iPad one. It's now been over 6 months since that launch and ship times have dropped from 5+ weeks to being able to walk into a store and pick one up. Apple has sold millions of these devices almost effortlessly, despite staying firm on pricing in a significantly weak economy.

Regardless, it feels like a good time to hold up old versus new and see how original iPad stacks up to version 2.

Getting an iPad 2? eh...

A lot of folks know that I have the original iPad - certainly all the readers of this blog do. Fewer know that I bought it the first day it was available. I think most people looked at me a little askance after that - perhaps questioning my sanity or fiscal sense. Subsequently over 15 million people joined me in this experiment and I think that they have found, as I did, that it was worth it.

But now, the iPad 2 has been announced. Cameras. 2 of em. New design, faster processor and video performance. Lighter. Thinner. All of it impressive. But, in terms of usability, I find little difference. Don't get me wrong - faster is almost always better. But, I'm not clear that there is a compelling difference between the 1 and the 2. I'd like to think there is and I certainly intend on getting my hands on one. But, I'm skeptical that it will be as compelling of an experience as the first one.

I am quite sure however, that the device will be immediately compelling to those who do not have the first one. They'll be entranced by the dead simple functionality and the form factor, etc. I welcome all those who haven't bought one yet - you'll want one. But for those of us early adopters, it's more of a coin flip. And I'm not sure where I'm going to land.

iPad Powered by iOS 4.2

It is old news that the next version of the iOS has hit the streets, but it's worthwhile to measure just how much impact it has. The biggest change is not to the iPhone - as the changes there are merely evolutionary at best. But the iPad - well, after the 4.2 iOS loaded up it was like everything was brand new again. Multi-tasking and folders were the biggest benefits that I saw and quickly embraced. Beyond that the unified inbox is nice and various minor improvements with Safari. 

iPhone vs iPad

I have had my iPad WiFi for a little over three months. And, now I've had the iPhone 4 for just over a month. It begs the question, which is a better device?

There are plenty of ways to consider the issue. Which one do I use more? Which one has changed my life more? Which one enables things I didn't have before?

I haven't been traveling much over the past month and thus have not had that much need for much of the iPhone ultra-portability. However, I have used my iPad for literally hours each day and for a wide variety of functions. I find myself using the iPad for games, to read books, browse the Internet and check email from the comfort of the sofa rather than at my desk. 

The iPad form-factor, while heavy for normal book reading is far more portable than the lightest laptops -- all with tremendous battery life. It is a delightful travel companion and doesn't even need to be removed from my carry-on bag like a laptop would. It is safe to say that the iPad significantly increased my appetite for media of all types. 

The Week in Apple

It seems like I saw an article about Apple every day this week on a different topic. On Monday, Information Week called Apple out on being the worst in security.  On Tuesday, Apple was still battling Psystar who attempted to create lower cost Mac computer. Wednesday showed some good news with Millenial Media reporting Apple at a 56% share of the smartphone marketplace based on ad views. Thursday Apple released iOS 4.01 for the iPhone 4 plus iPad OS 3.2.1.

Finally, we come to Friday and the mea culpa that wasn't. It probably wasn't the apology that everyone was hoping for, though according to the reports, Jobs did apologize a few times in there. But to those who are having an issue now, there's no immediate fix - nor any promise of a case free future. There has also been a lot of skepticism about the videos they showed with other smart phones doing the same thing. I was skeptical as well.

iPhone 4.0 Camera Goes Big

In cameras, megapixels matter. But, there is a lot more to the story than that. There focal depth, pixel size and so on make a tremendous difference. One of the iPhone 4 cameras is a 5 megapixel device. And it is pretty amazing. I'm no photographer, but I have wanted to be able to take photos on my phone that I'm not ashamed of. I now can.

The above photo was taken in a small cafe - it was the centerpiece on the table. The color range is fantastic and the detail is quite good too. This image is completely un-retouched.

Flash Equipped
Another huge improvement is the fact that there is now an LED flash built in. It can be set to On, Off or Auto. This means that you can still take photos in all sorts of lighting that you wouldn't be able to in the past. At the right is a photo taken in very low light, but yet the flash provided great fill light.

In addition, you can also run the flash a light during video recording sessions. Did I mention video?

Video Goes HD
The iPhone 4 can now record high-definition video at 720p. The quality is fantastic for such a small, portable device. I'm not actually going to link to video here, but I will say that being able to shoot video, edit it with iMovie on the iPhone and post it directly to YouTube is likely going to usher in a massive influx of video from a lot of people, at a lot of places.


Screen-tastic
What ties all of this media together is the fact that the image quality on the screen has increased dramatically. The Retina display provides an immensely gratifying experience when you are taking video, shooting still photos or just using the device. 

I tip my hat to Apply on this one.

Here at Last! The iPhone 4 is Here at Last!

With all of the problems on Apple and AT&T's sites on June 15th, I missed my chance to make the first cut of orders. By the time I was finally able to get my order in, the ship date was already pushed back to July 2nd rather than the launch date of June 24th. Much to my surprise, my phone shipped on June 24th with an arrival date of June 29th. 

It indeed appeared on June 29th, but it took quite a circuitous route to get here - it had to travel 9,914 miles to get to me. Inexplicably, once it hit the U.S. and cleared customs it was routed through Indianapolis. I'd have to think that, living in the L.A. area, there was a more efficient route. But as it arrived on schedule I can't complain.

And what are my thoughts? It seems to me that the device has gone significantly upmarket in the materials and construction. This is a very good thing! While the device is 4 grams heavier than my iPhone 3G, it is still slimmer and feels much more solid. 

The speed is tremendously improved over the 3G. It feels like a tiny little iPad in terms of speed and capability, rather than just a tiny phone. I already had iOS 4 for a few days on my 3G so I was already familiar with that. However, the coolest thing about this device is that I was able to shoot a quick video, edit it with iMovie for the iPhone and upload it to YouTube. This is a shocking amount of power, flexibility and functionality in a hand-held device. 

I'm sure there are going to be quite a few more things I'll find and want to write about, but for now, I have some serious playing to do.

Rage Against iPhone 4

This week was the official release of the Apple iPhone 4. While I await the delivery of my own device, I've been watching the media storm unfold. Having sold 1.5 million units on the first day of release, it follows that there are a lot of people who are undoubtedly quite happy. However, we are hearing a lot about the various launch problems.

Apparently, the redesigned and highly touted antenna isn't quite the magic bullet everyone was assuming it would be. And that fancy new screen has some issues of its own. The most interesting things that I've seen though are the folks who are really intent on destroying the newest gadgets. So without further ado, I give you:

Shooting the iPhone 4

Blending the iPhone 4

Dropping the iPhone 4

iPhone 4.0 Sucks

At least, that's what a variety of analysts are saying - pointing out various imagined slights against technology or themselves from the announcement last week. I'm not really on board with this sentiment for a variety of reasons.

• AT&T vs Verizon. I don't care much about this issue - though apparently Verizon users do. I am probably in a minority of cell phone users who both carry a personal and professional cell phone and carry one from Verizon and AT&T. In my area, there is little that distinguish the two. Try driving through the canyons in SoCal and see if you can hold a call. The last time I was on a conference call on a drive to the airport through Topanga Canyon/PCH/10 I lost signal 3 times with Verizon. Once was even on the 10. Long story short, you are going to have problems with any particular carrier in specific areas.
• Too small of a screen. Folks - you do realize this is supposed to be a phone right? I would really prefer that this be able to fit in my pocket and not require a backpack.
• The data caps, well, I've talked about that before. For heavy applications such as streaming video, I still think WiFi is the only practical solution until the 4G standard is approved and widely available - think a decade or so.
• Speaking of... No 4G. Ok, let's get this straight. Regardless of all the marketing by Sprint and others, there is no 4G standard. This is neither in AT&T or Apple's hands.
• Not enough storage. This is probably one area, I might agree. If I were a iPhone user who needed to walk around with a ton of music or video this one would be a problem. However, I'm not. I have my iPad for video and I don't take my whole library with me. I just take playlists. The only way this might impact me is that since the phone now records HD video, it might fill up the storage pretty fast. That's a point where you would need more storage and badly.
• Facetime is only on WiFi. I can see the point here, but once again let's think about this. How often have you had a seamless video chat session at home, over a fast Internet connection? I'll answer that. Never. Now, try to take that onto what are now straining 3G networks and it would be useless. This is actually a good call right now and since it's a software setting can always be changed in the future.

Now, here's why I think the device is going to do just fine in the marketplace.

• The price is excellent. To bring out this product at a price as low as $199 is pretty darn good.
• The speed is going to be awesome. This is the same chip from the iPad and the 'Pad is incredible snappy with applications, video, etc. Time is just about the only thing you can't make more of. This gives you something back. 
• High Def video. That's pretty sweet. This is already on top of a really sharp looking screen.
• The gyroscope. Just wait until the games come out for this version of the phone. It's going to be like a Wii in the palm of your hand. 
• And one last small thing. Glass front and back. I can't tell you how scratched the back of my iPhone 3G is. I can tell you that the front has not one - and I don't use any kind of case. This is going to make this unit a lot more durable.

I'm Not Scared of Data Caps

There's been a lot of discussion in the industry about AT&T's move to change the iPhone data plans from unlimited to capped. I thought this was rather funny, because I suspect that I lot of folks complaining about this also complained about the fact that the only plan available on launch with the iPhone was unlimited.

It's almost a cinch that I'll be getting the new iPhone 4 as my 2 year old model is in near-dire need of replacement. While it's hard to say how much data I will use on the new phone, it turns out it's pretty easy to find out how much I'm using on my current phone.

I logged on to my AT&T account and saw that I haven't broken the 200MB mark so far this year. I can save myself $15/month cash and move down to the DataPlus plan when I get the new phone. 

Of course, tethering my iPhone to a computer and using that for Internet access would be nice. But that would require the DataPlus Pro plan at $25/mo plus another $20 for tethering. Additionally, I don't actually own a personal laptop and I already have tethering on my Blackberry for work purposes. 

But, here's a revenue opportynity for you AT&T. I wouldn't buy tethering for a computer, but I would buy tethering for use with my WiFi iPad. And, I'm pretty sure that if I did, I'd be using 2GB or more per month. The iPad is a device that is so good for streaming video and browsing the web that I bet that iPad users, use way more data that iPhone users. 

As of right now, Apple is saying that's not an option, unless of course you are into Jail-breaking. I suspect that's to protect the sales of the iPad 3G. Here's hoping when they roll out iPhone OS 4.0 to the iPad in fall that they'll change their mind.

Traveling with the iPad

Over the last 10 days, I've made two trips with the iPad. The flights ranged from an 23 minutes to 4 hours.

How did it do? In a word? Brilliant. Here are my observations in no particular order:

1. The battery was MORE than sufficient for a day of travel. On my first day, I had a 4 hour flight, then a layover, then a 23 minute flight. Afterward, I met up with my family who proceeded to monopolize the device for about 4 hours. I was still left with about 39% battery life at the end of all that.
2. The younger faction of my family was intensely interested in using the iPad, but then again so was my father and he is 30 years older than I. 
3. On the various flights, I used the iPad for reading, playing games and watching a TV shows. It was very easy to view in a variety of lighting conditions, including bright sunlight.
4. One one flight, there were at least 2 other iPads. The users of each were women and were aged about mid 40's and upper 50's.
5. It was great that I never needed to take the iPad out of my bag for airport security. It's enough work to take the work laptop out.
6. The Apple case continues to hold up well and makes it easy to prop the device up in a variety of angles. This was helpful for watching video. 

Overall, I think I've found my newest best friend for traveling. It still is a little heavy for pure book reading, but I suspect I'll get used to it. It is much for flexible as a device, especially since I was so used to traveling with either the laptop or the iPhone. This slots neatly in between.

What I Want in iPad 2.0

No, this isn't about software, this is about the hardware. I know full well that iPhone 4.0 software is coming to the iPad this fall, so I'll defer any discussion about software features.

What I am writing about here is ways in which the hardware itself could be better. In other words, this is a hardware wish list.

1. A silent switch. If you hold down the volume, the iPad will quite quickly go to mute. But the downside to this approach is that you can't move between a set volume and mute easily. This is an annoyance already.
2. Vibrate. Just like the iPhone, it would be nice to receive vibration based alerts - especially when you mute the device. After all, we still do receive push notifications.
3. Faster charging. The battery life is great, but when you run the device all the way down, it takes a really long time to recharge - regardless of whether or not you plug it into the wall.
4. A "less-glossy" screen. Don't get me wrong, the glossy screen works in places with a lot of indirect or low lighting. But power this thing up in a room with overhead florescents and you are looking at a mirror.

Other folks have opined that they want a camera and a forward facing camera. Not this guy. The device is too large to use as a traditional camera and I don't do much video conferencing so I certainly don't need that either. 


I'm quite certain that late next summer, we'll be looking at iPad 2.0 and it will be interesting to see what it looks like.

iPad - One Month In

My iPad's cousin, the iPad with 3G was released yesterday to a significant amount of demand. No sales figures are available yet, but it's clear that a lot of people either wanted connection insurance or the ability to enjoy all the joys of the 'Pad anywhere.

So I thought I should update my ownership report since it's now been a month since I got my grubby little hands on mine. 

• I'm still surprised at how much interested there is when folks see the iPad or find out I have one. There's a lot of curiosity about the device, how it works, if I like it, etc. I'm very cautious when it comes to recommending technology to people, and the iPad is no exception. It's a great device for what it does, but it isn't, in most cases, a replacement for another device. It really does live in its own category.
• People are entranced at how smoothly the device rotates. I guess that's not something that most people focus on, but when they pick up the device and rotate it from portrait to landscape, they're impressed. I guess it's the little things. 
• It has been very stable. The one exception is that I do see issues every so often where it drops off my WiFi network at home or work. Turning WiFi on and then off usually does the trick, but it's a bit annoying.  Nonetheless, I have shut it down/powered it back up a few times and it does it MUCH faster than my iPhone 3G.
• I have not yet traveled with my iPad, but will do so later this month and it will be interesting to see how friendly of a traveling companion it is. I suspect it will be wonderful and it's great that I can take my own personal device with me even when I travel with my work laptop.
• I finally bought a few apps and I have an eye on a few more, but I'm waiting for them to become more mature. I've dropped about 20 bucks on apps and that probably is more than the total spend I've done on the iPhone over almost two years. This does not bode well for my wallet.
• Lastly, the iPad experience is better without the case. I've had the Apple iPad case on it since almost day one since I was very concerned about the safety of this $700 device. (Incidentally, this case has been on massive back orders since launch and now is selling for way more than the $40 I paid.) However, this weekend I removed the sleeve and found it a lot nicer to handle the device with the curved aluminum back rather than stuck inside the case. Try it and you'll see. However, most of the time, I still will have it inside the case, to protect the screen and be able to prop it up with the built in tilt.

So that's the summary. Would I buy it again? You bet? Am I wishing I waited for the 3G version? Maybe. The thing is that I don't really want to pay for another data plan - I already pay almost $80/month for the iPhone. So, I'll make do with a somewhat restricted device. And quite honestly, that's no different than if I would have bought a laptop.

The iPad - Two Weeks Gone By

Biggest surprise after two weeks with the iPad? I haven't read a single book on the device. That's not to say I haven't started reading on the device. I have. I've downloaded a significant number of books, mostly free, from both the iBooks store as well as the Kindle store. And, I've read a few chapters of a few books. The reading experience is just fine and I don't find a lot of eye fatigue. Of course, I work on backlit LCD screens all day so perhaps I'm not the best person to ask.

In addition, I've downloaded the Zinio app which delivers magazines electronically. It's effective for what it does, but that's fairly limited. It is literally a one-to-one representation of the printed magazine. That's nice so you don't need to haul a stack of magazines with you when you travel, but the power of the device is far greater than just a printed page. I'm sure this is just the beginning.

But, back to my original statement. I haven't read a book. In my defense, I've been distracted. The iPad is really a very, very entertaining device. The web browsing is very fast and now goes anywhere in the house. The games I've downloaded such as Harbor Master, We Rule and even some of my old standby's from the iPhone are very compelling on this screen and in this form factor.

Last comment after two weeks? I originally bought my iPad with the Apple iPad case. Apparently, this thing is in amazing demand with multi-week back-orders nationwide. What do I think about it? Well, it's a good approach to a case, as it has a built in stand as you can fold back the cover to prop up the case in two different ways. But, the material has an odd soft, fuzzy feel and I have the feeling it's going to be a nightmare to keep clean. I also would prefer the edges to be a smooth wrap around style rather than sort of pursed together.

At this point it's better than nothing, and certainly makes the device much more stealth than it otherwise might be.

The Next Generation of Insurance Tool, or a Solution in Want of a Problem?

I read an article yesterday on Insurance Networking News about how a company felt that the emergence of the iPad would be a jump start to drive electronic or e-signatures with insurance agents. Now, I'm a huge proponent of technology sometimes for technology's sake alone, but in this case I couldn't disagree more.

First of all, the iPad doesn't support a pen interface. The article references the ability to "click to sign" but why would that be ok? If I'm sitting across from someone, why wouldn't I want to get an actual signature captured?  E-signatures have their place, but to me, they are a compromise. Why not do it right? The technology out there today, mostly PC tablets, already support a pen interface and can capture signatures just as you might do at millions of point of sale terminals all over this nation.

Second of all, the article cites limited internet connectivity as an issue that has limited acceptance of the tablet solution. How does the iPad address issue exactly? Sure, there are models with AT&T 3G built in, but  coverage on AT&T's network is hardly ubiquitous. On a regular tablet PC your choice of carriers are only a USB device away.

Third, the iPad, for all that I love it, is NOT a good device for heavy data entry. At minimum, an agent will want to create a quote or fill out an application and the iPad without a regular keyboard is not a good way to do that. Of course you can argue that you can add a keyboard to an iPad, but aren't you just buying a standard tablet in two pieces? 

I'm sure that there are other reasons for purchasing the solution mentioned in the article, but it seems like a solution in want of a problem at this point.