Category: iPad

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My Custom iPad 2 Gelaskin is Here

Like I said in my iPad 2 Review, I really like the new Smart Covers for the ease of taking them off and putting them on and leaving the dock connecter exposed and dockable in keyboard dock as well as the charging dock. What I didn't like was having the back of the iPad completely exposed to scratches. So as soon as Gelaskins.com offered iPad 2 Gelaskins I placed my order. My custom designed Gelaskin arrived yesterday and fits beautifully on the iPad 2. Most importantly it works great with the Smart Covers. These skins don't use glue, they are vinyl decals that use 3M adhesive, which is repositionable. For example, I moved the one from my older MacBook Pro to my newer MacBook Pro in about 30 seconds. Since these skins are vinyl they are really designed for "looks" and scratch resistance. If you drop your device on a hard surface, it will likely get damaged. If that's your worry then get a case (not a cover or a skin).

I've been very happy with my Gelaskins over the years and this new one makes the outside of my iPad 2 complete.

You can get your own Gelaskin for a variety of different devices here at Gelaskins.com

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Watch Adobe TV on your iPad

Adobe TV has recently been updated to now stream videos to the iPad. You can now watch hundreds of videos about your favorite Adobe products and technologies directly on your iPad for free. These videos will stream right on the Adobe TV page or you can watch them full screen. Many of the newer episodes are now showing in HD.

You can check out Adobe TV here on your computer or your iPad.

As always you can subscribe to my videos and download them to your computer or iOS devices for FREE here on iTunes.

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Review: iPad 2

It appears that by all measures the iPad 2 launch was a success! iPad 2 officially went on sale in stores at 5PM local time on Friday, March 11, 2011. Online ordering opened up at 4AM ET the same day. When I woke up around 7AM and placed an order, my delivery time was set at 5-7 days. Apparently I missed the window of 3-5 days earlier in the morning. About an hour later the wait time went to 1-2 weeks for new orders and currently sits at 3-4 weeks for any new orders. This translates to Apple is selling iPad 2s as fast as they can build them and new orders will see a 3-4 week wait time. Placing an online order first thing in the morning for many served as a backup plan in case they didn't get one that evening locally.

Luckily, I was able to snag two at my local Apple Store. I got the 64GB black Wi-Fi+3G and the 32GB white Wi-Fi+3G (both on AT&T). I think the thing that surprised me the most was that even though there was a long line at most Apple stores throughout the US, Apple employees were still taking the time to offer a "personal" setup and walkthrough of the device. For many waiting in line, this meant that it was going to be a long night.

 

First Impressions

When I picked up the original iPad out of the box, my first reaction was "it's heavy". It was heavier than I expected it to be and I knew from that moment that it would not be comfortable for one handed reading for long periods of time. When I picked up the iPad 2 out of the box my initial reaction was "wow, it is lighter." On paper the iPad 2 is not that much lighter at all (1.34 lbs vs. 1.6 lbs). However, it is noticably lighter in reality. I still think it's probably too heavy for long periods of one-handed reading and the Kindle wins in that scenario big time, but for those of you who wished the iPad were lighter to hold and use, I'm happy to report that it is. Also with the new flatter back and rounded edges it's just more comfortable to hold in general. 

While I know that it now has a dual processor A5 chip and significantly faster graphics, I haven't actually felt the effects yet. This is largely due to the fact that I never felt that the original iPad was slow. The iPad 2 is fast and Apps open quickly and graphics display beautifully and fast. Again, I haven't been wowed by the speed increase though. I also have always said that we quickly assimilate speed. You don't really realize how much faster something is until you go back to something that was slow. So perhaps if I spent a day back on my "old" iPad I would notice it more.

 

Smart Covers

I opted for the red and black leather Smart Covers as well as an Orange polyurethane Smart Cover. I know that it's the little things in life that really matter sometimes and this is one of those times. During the keynote and introduction of the iPad 2, the thing that I was most excited about was actually the NEW cover. Don't get me wrong, I've wanted the cameras since day one, but we all knew that the cameras were coming. What we didn't see coming was the new Smart Cover design. Although I have a few different cases for the iPad 1, I was never really in love with any of them. I liked the Apple case the least, which is what lead me to buy the other two in the first place. I liked the Macally Bookstand Case (the one I used the most) and Incase Convertible Book Jacket, but while the Macally case was nice and thin, it never felt stiff enough and while the Incase offered the most support for standing it was too thick. So I alternated between them constantly.

The Smart Case is perfect for me! It keeps the iPad 2 nice and thin for travel. It attaches and detaches in a second. Also it's integrated in that opening the cover turns the iPad 2 on and closing it turns the iPad 2 off. By not covering the back it also makes it very easy to use with accessories such as docks and keyboards. 

Continue reading “Review: iPad 2”

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What Do You Want To Publish To Tablet Devices (iPad)?

Adobe's Digital Publishing Suite (currently in beta) is being well received by the Magazine Publishing industry. However, I've heard time and time again from customers as I present it, "what about us?" Usually this means that they have a project in mind that goes beyond a magazine and they don't have to budget to pay a relatively high monthly hosting cost. Also at the same time these customers don't have the resources to build their own custom Apps and distribution model.

Maybe it's an interactive brochure, a portfolio, a newsletter, a company dossier, etc.? We're entering a world that is moving beyond "static" content and desktop computers. Adobe PDF revolutionized the way companies distributed documents in the 1990s. While it's still a great solution, let's look forward for a moment. What's next?

 

This is your chance to tell me (us) how you would use a tablet based document creation/delivery solution

First of all there has to be a universal way of getting the document onto tablets. With PDF you can be pretty sure that over 90% of the world has the Free Adobe Reader or ways of viewing a PDF. With Tablets/iPad, not everyone is going to want to or need to build a custom App. The current Adobe Preview Tool in the App Store is great because anyone can download it and view your Adobe .ISSUE files. However, loading documents into it currently requires iTunes and syncing if you're not using our hosted solution. Clearly there is a need to make this better and easier. Once we get past the "App" need, what do you want?

Give me some examples of how you would use a solution like this. What kind of documents would you publish? 

Sound off in the comment section and make your case as to "what" you want to publish to the iPad?

Continue reading “What Do You Want To Publish To Tablet Devices (iPad)?”

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Charge Up To 4 Devices At Once

photo compliments of iStockphoto.com

Last week I told you about a great new home improvement gadget, the U-Socket that allows you to charge multiple USB devices via newly designed wall outlet. However, what if you want to charge multiple USB devices while you're on the road? After all I'm finding more and more of my devices (phone, bluetooth headset, iPod, iPad, camera GPS, etc.) now charge via USB power. 

I do like the Belkin Mini Surge Protector Dual USB Charger, but it doesn't play well on the higher voltage abroad. For this reason it's no longer in my travel bag.

 

Charge Up to 4 Devices via USB On The Go

 

I found this wall charger that charges up to 4 devices (including the iPad) at once. It also can handle 100-240v input, which means I can use it abroad with the appropriate adapter. I like that it has a blue LED to let you know whether or not it's getting power. In my limited testing it works great and has charged everything I've thrown at it. However, make no mistake about it, this thing was cheaply made 🙂 While it make resemble an AirPort Express, they used a lighter weight plastic. However, it looks like as long as you don't beat it up to badly it should last for a while.

The other advantage that this charger gives me is not having to carry multiple USB adapters with me. I can carry one instead of 3 or 4.

You can get it here for $17

 

Got one for the car too

Why stop there? I also found this one by the same company (XTG) for your cigarette lighter socket in your car. 

You can get it here for $12.

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Review: blueSLR Wireless Camera Control & GPS Geotagging

A couple of my favorite gadgets just got married 🙂 I’m a Nikon shooter and an iPhone user. It’s rare that I’m ever anywhere shooting without my iPhone on my belt. So when XEquals Corp sent me a message about their new blueSLR Wireless Camera Control and GPS Encoding solution I was all ears.

 

Wireless Control for my Nikon DSLRs

Once you plug in the blueSLR into your Nikon D3100, D5000, D90, D3(s), D200, D300(s) or D700, you can then fire up their free iPhone App. With the blueSLR App you can then remote control your shutter release, auto focus and even time lapse or bracketed exposure from up to 300 feet away via bluetooth. This is the feature that most of the initial announcements were touting and reviewers were so excited about. While I definitely think this is cool, it’s not what excites me most about this solution…

 

GPS Geotagging is where it’s at – Literally

Click the above shot to see where it was taken – Nikon D700, Nikon 28-300mm lens, blueSLR and iPhone 4

 

I’ve reviewed many Nikon compatible GPS attachements here over the years and while they have all worked well, they all have one thing in common. They attach to your camera via a cable and have to either sit in the hot shoe or on your strap. They also have to acquire a signal from the global positioning satellites in the sky. Yep that means you’ve got to be outside to grab a signal before you can go inside with the newer units and continue shooting. However, the iPhone’s “Location” feature works off not only GPS satellites but also cell towers and WiFi hotspot locations.

Click the above shot to see where it was taken – Nikon D700, Nikon 28-300mm lens, blueSLR and iPhone 4

This means that your iPhone (iPad or iPod touch) knows where you are even if you’re inside a building. The blueSLR solution can use this Location information and input the info right into (the EXIF data) your shots as you take them with your Nikon compatible camera! Woohoo! Finally! Also unlike all the other solutions out there XEquals prides themselves on their “flush with the camera” design. They’ve gone out their way to make the attachement as unobtrusive as possible. I applaud this effort!

 

How well does it work?

images displayed in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 with clickable GPS button that takes you to Google Maps

 

I’m very happy with the way this gadget works. The first thing you’ll want to do is (it’s in the instruction card that comes with the device) change the default metering timeout on your camera from 6 seconds to something like 30 minutes. Otherwise you’ll be quickly frustrated by the device constantly timing out before you get to pair it with your iDevice or use it with the App. Once you make that adjustment in your camera, it looks and acts like any other GPS/Remote Shutter Release on your camera.

My Nikon D700 has GPS support built-in with a menu to display the status of the attached module. This is one of the reasons I use Nikon over Canon and others. With that said, it’s 2011 and I still can’t believe that ALL camera manufacturers don’t offer a built-in option! More power to XEquals!

Since I don’t have to wait for a satellite signal to be acquired I can start shooting right away! Both the remote features and the GPS features work as advertised. The iPhone app also takes avantage of the iPhone’s built-in compass for heading info. Sweet!

What about battery life? To be honest I haven’t had it/used it long enough to judge the impact on battery life over other GPS units. I know that Nikon has done a lot of work in their latest firmware to reduce the battery drain from GPS devices so I’m not really worried about it.

How’s the GPS accuracy? Keep in mind that it’s only as accurate as your iOS device. iPhones and iPad WiFi+3G devices are going to be the most accurate because they actually have GPS chips built-in. iPod touch and WiFi only iPads will have to rely on Wi-Fi triangulation which could be an issue in the boonies. In my limited testing the shots were geotagged very accurately using my iPhone 4.

 

How would I redesign it?

my Kirk L-Bracket has to come off to use the blueSLR

There really isn’t anything that is majorly wrong with this device. I do like it A LOT! However, with the “flush” (a blessing and a curse) design, this means that the port door on my D700 is covered while I’m using it. It also meant that I had to remove my L-bracket for my tripod head since it covers that part of the camera. Since it is a remote trigger, most likely I’d want to use it while it’s on my tripod. This would mean having to go back to the standard tripod mount instead of my L-bracket . Not the end of the world, but  I would like to see the next version offer a “swivel” feature with a lock. If I could swivel it up or out then it would be out of the way of everything that I wanted to attach. For a moment I was going to complain that it didn’t offer a 10 pin passthrough on my D700. Then I realized that the only time I’ve needed a passthrough on my other GPS units was to attach a shutter release. Duh! This is already a “wireless” remote shutter release too. However, if you have some other accessory that uses the 10 pin terminal, then you’re going to have to decide which one you want to use.

 

The Bottom Line

Kudos to XEquals for making a killer device/App combo! I know that there were some manufacturing issues with the Nikon D7000 model and as soon as that one is available It will undoubtedly become my default travel camera GPS unit. If you’re not waiting on the D7000 model, then I wouldn’t hesitate in getting one of these TODAY!

You can learn more about blueSLR and order directly from their site here.

Get the App for your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch for free here from the iTunes

See my blueSLR App review here.

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Sync Your Photos From Lightroom 3 to Your iDevice

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sRD-siAzE8

 

In this episode of the Adobe Creative Suite Podcast I'll show you how to sync your photos from Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 to a folder and then sync that folder via iTunes to your iDevices. Taking advantage of Lightroom 3's Publish Services we can now publish images to a folder and then automatically update those images with any changes we make in Lightroom. 

 

See more of my Adobe Creative Suite Videos on my Adobe Creative Suite Podcast

and get the App here. It features EXCLUSIVE CONTENT that no one else gets to see:

Learn Adobe Creative Suite with Terry White - Wizzard Media

 

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24 Hours Without Using My Laptop

When I got my iPad back in April I questioned whether I could get by sometimes with just using my iPad instead of my MacBook Pro. Since that time a lot more Apps have come out and a lot more functionality is there. I don't see the iPad replacing my laptop any time in the near future, but I could certainly see using it solo on short (non business) trips where running my full range of Creative Suite desktop apps is not needed. Last week I took a pleasure trip to New York for a day. Before I left I thought about what I would be doing on this trip and figured that there was technically nothing that I would "need" my laptop for. I knew I would be checking email, social networking, responding to blog comments, browsing the web, reading my RSS feeds, etc. I couldn't think of a single thing that I would "need" to do that I couldn't do on the iPad. So I decided to force myself to use just the iPad the entire, albeit short trip. Just in case: I did bring my MacBook Pro too. However, my goal was to never take it out of the bag. 

 

I did it

I got through the entire trip without touching the MacBook Pro. I have the WiFi-3G version and I was able to be connected anywhere I went. However, AT&T service in the Times Square hotel I stayed in was horrible. For this reason I pulled out my AirPort Express and connected it to the room's ethernet cable. This gave me much better wireless internet in the room. The only time I was tempted to pull out my MacBook Pro was when I need to type large amounts of text in responding to an email. While I can use the onscreen iPad keyboard just fine, I don't enjoy using it for more than a few words at a time. I was thinking that I should have brought along my keyboard dock.

 

The next thing I bought

Although this little experiment was a complete success, I saw the immediate need for a keyboard. While I already own the Apple Keyboard Dock, it's not really designed for travel. Then I remembered a Bluetooth Keyboard/Case that a buddy (Mike) showed me and I thought, this is the one I would want to use on my next trip.

I bought it in the airport Brookstone (yes I paid too much) on the way home! They even offered to sell me one that was charged up. I declined as I wasn't going to use it right then and there, but that is a great thing that you do for your customers. Kudos!

I didn't test it until I got home and charged it up. It connected/paired as advertised. However, I hit an immediate snag on the very first thing I typed. I went to repsond to a Twitter comment with "Thank You" and I noticed right then and there that there is no Shift Key on the right side of the keyboard. I thought, "you've got to be kidding me?" Sure enough there are arrow keys, a return key and all the other keys you would expect, but no right side Shift Key. I happened to be on the phone with Scott Kelby (a popular writer/author) and I thought for sure he would share in my shock and frustration and he said "I never use the right Shift key." That floored me! I wondered was I the only one using both Shift Keys on a standard keyboard? Anyway, I can certainly train myself to use just the one on the left, but I thought it was an odd sacrifice for space. Otherwise the keyboard is comfortable and easy to type on. It rocks an impressive 90 hour battery life on a single charge! 

While this case/keyboard is GREAT, it does add a little extra weight onto the already slightly heavy iPad. This will not be my day-to-day case. It will definitely become my travel case!

Brookstone charges $99 for their version of this keyboard/case, but you can get it here for only $69.

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AirPlay for Apple TV is here!

 

Apple released iOS 4.2(1) this week for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad and one of the most touted features is here. It's called AirPlay. AirPlay is the evolution of AirTunes. You might remember that with AirTunes you could stream audio to a stereo or speakers connected to an AirPort Express or Apple TV. Now with the NEW 2010 Apple TV you can not only stream audio/video from your Mac/PC, but you can also stream audio or video from your iOS device. 

 

 

What can you do?

With an iOS device running 4.2.x and an updated 2010 Apple TV you can now stream music from the iPod app, Videos from the Video/iPod App or Pictures from the Photos App. You can also stream YouTube videos from the YouTube App. I imagine as developers update their Apps you'll see more Apps take advantage of AirPlay (content licensing permitting). 

 

What can't you do?)

You can't stream movies taken with your iPhone 4 directly from your iPhone 4. There seems to be a hardware limit in the iPhone 4 in terms of bitrate/compression that makes it impossible to stream HD videos captured with the iPhone 4 directly to your Apple TV. Also if you own the original Apple TV you're not invited to the AirPlay iOS video streaming party. There is no software update for the older models to allow this feature.

 

How well does it work?

I streamed a movie from my iPad without skipping a beat (over my 802.11n network)! No pauses, no glitches. It worked fine. I also streamed photos from the Photos app with no problem. Lastly I streamed a YouTube clip and surprisingly (because YouTube pauses all the time) it played without any problems/pauses as well. 

 

The Bottom Line

If you have an iPhone 3G or higher or an iPad/iPod touch as well as the NEW Apple TV, this is what you've been waiting for! While I think the technology is cool, I still wonder how often I'll actually use it? As I said from the start, it's rare that I would have something on my iOS Device that wouldn't already be on my computer/Apple TV. Granted I could have just taken some photos with the iPhone 4 camera and want to see them right away and there would be a good use case. It would have been nice to view a video shot with the iPhone 4 wirelessly on the big screen, but that's not possible without taking it to the computer first anyway. Time will tell! Nonetheless in my initial testing it all works as advertised.

You can get the NEW Apple TV here for $97.99.

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Adobe Launches Its Digital Publishing Suite: InDesign CS5 to iPad

It's been talked about since the release of the Wired iPad App, and now it's here for you to see and explore. Adobe is taking the wraps off the Adobe Digital Publishing Solution today that will allow Magazine publishers to publish electronic versions of their publications as iPad Apps/Issues. Rather than talk about it, I recorded this video to walk you through the process:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlxqsN7HZyU

 

You find out more as well as download the necessary components for InDesign CS5 to get started here.

Download the Adobe Preview Tool for iPad for Free here from the Adobe