Check Out Cali Lewis’ GeekBeat.TV
By Dave Peterson | June 25, 2010
It’s the end of one era and the beginning of another. After over 800 episodes, my friend Cali Lewis has released the final episode of Geek Brief, the tech news podcast she and Neal Campbell launched in late 2005. Geek Brief was a huge success, and Cali, who had never done anything in front of a camera before, has become a force to be reckoned with in web-based tech media. Now she’s rolling out a new project, GeekBeat.TV on the Revision3 network. The first episode is due to hit Monday, June 28. If you’ve been enjoying her unique style on Geek Brief, you’ll want to check out her new show and subscribe to keep her snappy coverage of the world of tech and gadgets flowing your way.
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Hands On With the iPad Keyboard Dock
By Dave Peterson | April 8, 2010
One of the big selling points of the iPad is that it doesn’t have a keyboard. All input can be entered through the touchscreen, and when the device is turned to portrait orientation it can provide a nearly full-size keyboard across the lower half of the screen. But that’s still typing on glass, lacking the tactile feedback touch typists rely upon.
Fortunately, there are a couple of options. Wireless keyboards, both those made by Apple and from other manufacturers, can connect to the iPad through Bluetooth. Another choice is the iPad Keyboard Dock.
On first glance, it looks identical to the key layout found on the Apple Wireless Keyboard, but there are actually some differences with the inclusion of iPad-specific keys in the top row (the F-keys, although they don’t carry F designations on this keyboard).
- The key that should be esc duplicates the action of the “Home” button on the iPad.
- F1 key goes to the Search screen.
- F2 and F3 are brightness. They’re both moved over one from positions on the regular keyboard.
- F4 puts the iPad in photo frame mode.
- F5 brings up the on-screen keyboard. When it’s up, the iPad will accept input from either source.
- F6 is a blank, apparently dead key. It makes me wonder if there’s a possibility for future expansion there dictated by software.
There are two ports on the back, one for connecting the standard iPad/iPod/iPhone data cable, and the other an audio line out jack for connecting external speakers.
Typing works very well, and is virtually identical to the feel of typing into any computer. Typing is faster, not only for the physical keys, but for details like not having to shift keyboards to access numbers and symbols (required on the onscreen keyboard). It should be noted that this really is for use on a desk or table, not for balancing on a lap. The iPad sits on the connector well enough if it’s standing still, but give it much of a tilt one way or another and it will fall off. If you’re looking for a keyboard to use in more relaxed positions, you’ll do better with a Bluetooth option.
When the Keyboard Dock was announced, a common question was whether it would work with an iPhone. Sad to say, an iPhone doesn’t even fit on it. the connector is too close to the back support. What about an iPod Touch? That does fit on the connector, but doesn’t respond to the keyboard input. This accessory is for iPad only it seems, but for that device, can give faster keyboard entry for larger projects that might involve the Pages or Numbers apps.
Topics: Gadgets | 10 Comments »
TIME on the iPad is a Great Experience Spoiled
By Dave Peterson | April 5, 2010
One of the things I’m really looking forward to experiencing on the iPad (and other tablet devices) is magazine reading. That was something that motivated me two and a half years ago, when I bought my first Kindle. I liked the idea of instant delivery to my hand-held device and an end to paper clutter around the house. Unfortunately, the magazine experience was pretty pale and unrewarding on the Kindle, with its text-only monochromatic presentation. The iPad is a different animal though, with the promise for an eMagazine that could exceed what’s possible in print.
One of the first to try its hand on this platform is the venerable newsmagazine, TIME. Available through the app store, they’ve really done an excellent job with execution of the iPad edition. It has the most print-like feel of any eMagazine I’ve seen. There are ads, but somehow they contribute to the magazine feel and I didn’t find them overly obtrusive. It’s a pleasure to thumb through. Unfortunately, the pleasure is killed by the pricing and distribution model. The app is $4.99. And look closely, that app is not a general TIME reader, it’s a single issue. Each week, you will have to come back to the app store to get the next issue, each time at a price of $4.99. As nice a job as they’ve done, very few potential readers are going to feel like paying that.
On their web site, TIME offers a half-year (28 issues) print subscription for $19.95, which comes to just a bit over 71 cents an issue. By contrast, if I wanted to get those same issues on my iPad it would cost $139.72. I would be delighted to subscribe to an iPad version of TIME for the same price they’d sell me the print edition. I’d even take the ads, no problem there. But I’d also like to see a single TIME app that could pull new downloads automatically as they were published. I want a single icon on my screen, not a digital recreation of the paper clutter I’m trying to escape.
As conventional publishers work to move into the eWorld offered by devices like the iPad, they need to give the readers at least as good a deal as they’d get with the paper edition. TIME seems to be trying to duplicate the bad parts of the paper experience (high per-issue price and clutter) without giving the break of a subscription. It gives the impression that their hearts just aren’t in it, despite the potential of winning a new audience.
Topics: ereaders | No Comments »
iPad vs. Kindle? Get the Best of Both Worlds
By Dave Peterson | April 4, 2010
A lot of the attention directed to the iPad has been about eReading and how it would fare in that market against the Kindle, nook, and Sony readers that already have advantages of market share and name-brand stores.
A major tent-pole in Apple’s plans for the iPad is the iBooks software and store. It’s available as a free download from iTunes (it doesn’t ship with the device). iBooks comes with one free book, “Winnie-the-Pooh”. This freebie includes the original’s classic illustrations in color, which shows off the advantages of a color screen for an eReader. Up until now Kindles, nooks and Sonys have been a pretty monochromatic experience. iBooks gives a large single-page view in portrait orientation, or a two-page view that looks like an open book if it’s turned to landscape. The animated page turns are nice, but not really necessary. iBooks also incorporates page numbers, which are calculated depending on type size and screen orientation, and gives a more book-like experience.
Left to right, Amazon Kindle, iPhone, iPad, Kindle DX.
I’ve heard people express concerns about having large investments in Kindle libraries and whether they would lose all that if they moved to the iPad, and its native reader and store. The good news is the iPad is a great convergence device and that extends to eBooks. You won’t be reading your Kindle books through iBooks (incompatible file formats), but you can definitely read them in style on the iPad’s Kindle app. Amazon did a very nice large-screen redesign to the iPhone app, and you won’t have to buy anything again. If you’ve already got the Kindle for iPhone app, the iPad version will download as a free update.
The one place Kindle has a big advantage over iBooks (and any other eReader out there) is Whispersync. The ability to move seamlessly between devices while reading the same book is a great convenience. In fact, I called it my favorite technology of 2009 in a previous post, so the absence of a syncing system could definitely effect future decisions on whose eBooks I buy.
As of this writing, the Barnes and Noble eReader app had not been updated for the larger screen of the iPad. On some apps, that’s not so bad, and the 2x upscaling can be done without a usability problem. Unfortunately, for an eReader, the upscaling is deadly, producing text that’s nearly unreadable for any length of time. It can be run at its native size, but then you might as well be viewing it on an iPhone or Touch.
Given all this, my eReading strategy will be to continue to buy books from Amazon (with a much wider selection and generally lower prices), and reserve iBooks purchases for graphically intensive books that have been given a good treatment in the Apple-published versions. I’ll do most of my reading on the iPad, with the iPhone Kindle app available for when I’m somewhere without the larger device. It means splitting my library between two apps, but they’ll be on the same device, so that seems pretty manageable.
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