Category: Apple

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Keep it Sexy with a tvTray

One of the things I've always envisioned doing in my photography studio is using flat panel LCD/LEDs to display my photography in addition to prints on the walls. Now that I've moved to bigger digs I've installed a few flat panels and they are driven by Apple TVs. I contemplated whether or not if I would mount the flat panels on the walls or use stands. My interior designer said "mounting on the wall is more sexy." How could I argue with that? He was right! Of course mounting a flat panel HDTV on the wall these  days isn't really that hard. What makes this more challenging is figuring out what to do with any equipment that you plan to connect to it. Certainly one option would be to run long enough cables and store the equipment in a closet. However, in my setup this wasn't feasible. Since I only planed to connect an Apple TV to each panel at this point, I needed a solution to either mount it or hide it. Since the Apple TV 2 is so small you could actually hide it behind the flat panel. The only problem with this is potentially losing a great deal of range with the IR based Apple TV remote control.

H-Squared comes through again!

 

These guys are awesome. They have a variety of different products to mount your Apple gear on the wall/ceiling. I started using their products years ago to mount my AirPort Extreme base stations and Mac mini. I remembered seeing one of their new products, the tvTray while attending Macworld Expo this past winter. I visited their website for a second look and within about 2 seconds I knew that this was exactly what I was looking for.

Mounting an HDTV on the wall is sexy. Seeing the cables is not! I wanted a solution that would also make the cables disappear. I decided to mount the tvTray right underneath the HDTV so that the cables would run up behind the TV and out of sight. It worked beautifully!

Check out the tvTray here at H-Squared.

 

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Another Dual USB Charger that does Even More!

 

Last month I reviewed this dual USB charger that not only let's you charge two USB devices at once, but it has the higher 2.1Amp output on one of the ports for your more demanding USB devices such as the iPad. Well leave to to blog reader Mike to show me one that he insisted I would like even better. I took him up on his challenge and checked out the ReTrak dual USB charger. The one advantage that this one has over the others I've reviewed here in the past is that it works both as an in home AC charger as well as a Car charger too. That's right. Once charger that charges the iPad and one other device such as your iPhone, Android phone or other USB device and it works in either a standard home/office outlet or the cigarette lighter in your car.

That makes this the one to have for travel. I had been carrying separate chargers. One for the hotel room and another car charger for those times I get a rental car. Now I can carry just one and charge any USB powered device I carry. As an added bonus the ReTrak comes with a retractable iDevice sync cable. Cool! Thanks Mike

You can get the ReTrak Charger for $19.99 from B&H or here for $19.99 from Amazon.

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Review: Withings Smart, Connected Scale and Blood Pressure Monitor

If you're watching your weight chances are you have a scale somewhere in your home. If you are health conscious then chances are you get your blood pressure checked on a regular basis. The folks over at Withings are aiming to bring these rather mundane tasks to the 21st century with Smart and Connected devices. GEEK ALERT: The objects you're about to read about are cool gadgets. However, make no mistake that there is a very high geek factor at work here. After all, the last time I checked you could pick up a decent bathroom scale for around $25. You stand on it, look down and see your weight. That's pretty much it! When a company figures out a way to bring MORE technology into this and you're interested, then chances are you're a geek 🙂 Now on to our story…

 

The Withings WiFi Scale

I remember way back when this product first came out and saying to myself: "Cool, but I can't bring myself to pay that much for a scale." Then I saw it on sale and I snapped one up. I already knew that the product would be cool and useful, but just a tad too pricy for most. Before we get to the sticker shock let's talk about what it does. The Withings WiFi Scale looks and acts like any other modern day digital scale on the surface. However, inside it has a WiFi chip and USB port. When you first set it up you plug it into your computer via the USB cable just long enough to associate it with your free Withings account and to configure it to connect to your WiFi network. From that point on you can put the USB cable away and place the scale where you want in your home as long as it's within range of your WiFi hotspot. Now when you or a family member steps on it it will not only display the weight (in pounds or KGs – your choice), but it will also transmit the data wirelessly over the internet to your account. You can then view your information/progress at any time via a web browser or via their FREE iOS App.

iTunes

I've been working on my weight now more seriously for the past three years and I have had both successes and set backs. Any tool that can make the tracking easier is a plus for me. Prior to the WiFi scale I was using a regular scale and logging the progress into the Lose It! App. I can remember many times I'd go weigh myself, get busy doing something else and forget to log the number and of course, not remember what it was. Now I don't have to think about logging it. I don't even have to have my mobile devices turned on at the time. All I have to do is step on the WiFi scale and the numbers are automatically logged to my private account online. I look at them when I need to or feel the courage to 🙂

I was impressed by how the scale auto detects different family members and records their weight too. Yes that does mean that you can setup multiple users and whenever any one gets on it will log the weight of that person to the master account and by name.

It's more than just weight. The scale also keeps track of your Body Analysis providing info on Fat mass, Lean mass and BMI (Body Mass Index). 

Convenience doesn't come cheap. The only downside to this wonderful gadget is the price. At $159 you'll have to really really really want one to get one. I can't say "need one" because honestly no one "needs" one of these. Granted it does what no other scale I've seen does, but it does so at a steep price.

You can get the Withings WiFi Scale here for $159.

 

Still much more work to be done… Let's see how far I get by the time I see you at Photoshop World Vegas! (note: I didn't say what year 😉 )

 

Blood Pressure Monitor

The Withings Blood Pressure Monitor is battery operated device that has a cable attached with a 30 pin iOS dock connector on the end. The idea is that when you're ready to take your blood pressure you plug it in to your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch and with their native App your iOS device becomes not only the display, but also the record keeper. Again this is pretty cool and geeky stuff. Just like with your weight you can keep track of your readings day to day and even email them to your doctor.  The App works with both devices and can display both your weight progress and blood pressure stats at the same time.

You can get the Withings Blood Pressure Monitor here for $129

 

The Bottom Line

They're useful albeit expensive toys. I haven't had any issues to date with either device and they work as advertised. If your budget can handle it and you like gadgets then you'll love em.

 

 

See them in Action

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Wacom Outs A New iPad Stylus and Sketching App

 

The great folks over a Wacom have shpped their NEW Bamboo Stylus for iPad (or any other touch screen mobile device). Ever since I started using the iPhone and then the iPad for doing model releases I realized that having a stylus was a must have accessory. While I've enjoyed my Pogo Sketch (the Targus one is OK too), I couldn't pass on the opportunity to try the one from the same company that makes my graphics tablet (Intuos 4). After all Wacom has had MANY YEARS of experience in designing tablets and pens to go with them. I figured that if anyone could design a good stylus for touch screen devices like the iPad it would be Wacom. Unfortunately the iPad doesn't offer pressure sensitivity like the Wacom tablets do. However, I have found the tip of this new stylus to be very comfortable to work with and smooth for on screen writing, signing and drawing. 

 

The Little Things

You might ask yourself "what is there to innovate in a stylus for an iPad?" That's a good question. After all, once you make a tip that works with touch screens what else is there? Surprisingly a lot. One thing I couldn't figure out with other styli is why there were designed to be so small? The first thing I noticed with the Bamboo Stylus was that it had a nice thickness to it as well as some weight to it that made it feel more natural in my big hands. Speaking of weight the other nice thing is that the slight weight differential of it is pushed to the tip end. This means that when I pick it up I can tell which end is the writing end without even looking at it. While I do wish that it was about a half inch longer, I found the length to be reasonable. Now on to the tip. This is probably the most important feature as it will either make it or break it for me when it comes to using a stylus. I prefer a tip that glides more easily on the touch screen. Some of the cheaper ones have more of a "rubber" feel, which is fine for "tapping" onscreen buttons, but horrible for writing/sketching. I'm happy to report that the Bamboo Stylus has a nice blend of easy gliding, but just enough grip for precise tapping. This is also due to the design of the tip and how it comes to a nicely rounded point. Again, there was some thought put into this and I would expect nothing less from Wacom. 

 

If you're in need of a stylus for your mobile touch screen device, it doesn't get much better than this. You can get the Wacom Bamboo Stylus for iPad here for $29.95 or less.

 

One more thing…

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

There's an App too. Wacom introduced a NEW iPad App called Bamboo Paper (see my review here). This App is a virtual notebook for your iPad. If you hurry you can grab a copy of the App for FREE until the end of June here from the iTunes

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Guest Review: Arkon Window/Console Mount for iPhone 4

 

 

by Jason Lykins

About 6 months ago I switched from using the built in GPS on my Truck to using my iPhone and the Navigon App exclusively for all of my GPS needs. Since then I’ve been laying my phone on my lap, on my center console or on my dash and picking it up or just listening to the voice guidance. Terry has his favorite mount for some time. Made by Magellan, but was more than I was willing to pay.  I just wasn’t ready to shell out close to $100 for a mount for my cell phone. As of this writing I’m in a hotel room in Milwaukee where I’m visiting from Cincinnati for my brother’s wedding. I didn’t want to have to look down or worry about my phone sliding all over the place during this trip so I hopped online and purchased the Arkon IPM514 mount for the iPhone4. (Actually I bought 2 of them, one for me and one for my girlfriend. Brownie points!) I got it in the mail just in time, and for under $15 shipped I couldn’t be happier!
 

Mounting

This mount is just what I was looking for. I didn’t want to mount it to my window; rather I wanted a way to secure it to my dashboard to put it right at eye level for me. I searched the vent mount options, but in the end I chose this model for its dash-mounting feature. The base of the 514 has a suction cup on it to allow for securing to the window if you want, but it also comes with a circular two-sided tape mount to place it on your dashboard/console. On my truck it worked great, as I had a flat spot right at the top of the dash to secure it. In my girlfriend’s car the mounting was a little trickier because she didn’t have as many flat areas, but we made it work. The mount itself pivots at the base where it connects to the suction cup, as well as a “ball head” style pivot where the base meets the phone holding plate. This allows for many mounting positions giving you many different options when it comes to deciding on where to place your unit.

The plate that holds the phone is spring loaded to allow for use with many different styles of smart phones, although with my iPhone in there it feels like it’s almost at the end of its range so I don’t know if a longer phone would work in there. The prongs that physically hold the phone in place are adjustable so having a charging cord connected isn’t a problem.
 

Conclusion

The Arkon IPM514 is a great solution for anyone that wants to mount their cell iPhone to their dashboard or window for GPS use but doesn’t want to empty their wallet to do it.

You can get the Arkon IPM514 for only $11.19 here from Amazon.

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Charge your iPad and Phone at the Same Time

I'm always on the look out for ways to reduce the number of chargers I travel with and while I have found some great 4 Port USB Chargers in the past the one thing they all seem to lack is the 5V 2 AMP (10W) power requirement for the iPad. Granted the iPad will still charge on the lesser current, but it will take longer. Recently I found a dual USB charger that has one port that operates at the higher voltage. The other USB port is a standard 5V 1 Amp port for your other USB devices such as your cellphone. This is GREAT! This means that I can charge my iPad 2 at full speed and still have a port to charge my phone. The other requirement I have is that any charger I buy has to also work on the higher powered International plugs and this one does (with an appropriate wall plug adapter).

I have replaced my standard iPad white chargers with these for on the road. Yes it comes with a sync cable too. The only annoyance is the bright blue LED that lets you know it's plugged in. You know how I feel about LEDs 🙂

You can get the Dual Port USB Charger here for about $12 or here on eBay for about $12.

A standard Apple iPad charger retails for $29 (granted it does come with a long cord too).

 

Here's one for the Car too:

Order it here.

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BlackMagic Intensity Pro: Capturing an iPad 2 Demo via HDMI Out

One of the main features of the iPad 2 that I use the most over the iPad 1 is the ability to mirror my desktop out to a projector when doing demos. I've been using this feature extensively on my latest Adobe CS5 Evolution Tour. You can use either the original Apple VGA Adapter or the NEW Apple Digital AV (HDMI) Adapter. While this works GREAT for live presentations I also wanted to take advantage of it when recording tutorial videos or App reviews. The problem was finding a solution that allowed me to take either the VGA out or HDMI out of the iPad 2 back into my computer.

 

BlackMagic Intensity Pro to the rescue

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Ever hear someone say “I should have backed up my Music!”?

 

I have had both friends and family members lose data over the years due to crashed hard drives. In almost all those cases they didn't have a current backup or a backup of any kind. In the case of my sister we were able to at least get her music back using a 3rd party App that allowed me to recover it from her iPod. Although Apple has allowed us to freely re-download our iOS Apps as many times as needed, iTunes music content was always a one-time download. Of course in some cases pleading your case to Apple directly would get you a special one-time re-download of all your purchased content curtesy of a caring human being at AppleCare. If this has ever happened to you, you'll be happy to know that you can now get it all back!

 

iTunes in iCloud

Yesterday Apple turned on a few of the iCloud (beta) features that allow you to grab any of your purchased Apps, Music and iBooks on any of your iOS devices. If you grab the iTunes 10.3 beta you'll be able to do the same on your Mac or PC too. Since Apple keeps a history of all your purchased music, it should all be there and available for download.

 

What Else Is New?

Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, iOS 5, iCloud and more…

A lot of things were shown off yesterday and it will take a little time to make sense of some of it. While iOS 5 doesn't give me all the things I wanted from my wishlist, here are the things that got my attention and that I'm most excited about.

Watch the entire Apple/Steve Jobs Keynote here.

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10 Things I Want To See in iOS 5

I've been an iPhone (iOS) user since 2007. Yep, that's when the 1st iPhone hit the scene. While the iPhone back then was revolutionary I still had a running list of improvements that I wanted to see. I even went back to dig up my original "50 Ways To Make The iPhone Better" post to have a look to see what was still missing today in iOS 4?The good news is that the vast majority of my original list has either been addressed via iOS updates or 3rd party Apps. Four years later I'm asking myself what do I still want? Having looked at the current iOS 4, 3rd party Apps and the Android platform, there are still a few things I'd like to see:

  • Over the Air Updates – It's time to cut the cord and receive iOS updates over the air. The only time I should have to plug in a sync cable is when I'm doing a full restore or if I want to have things go faster. Android already has this.
  • WiFi Media Syncing  –  I would be putting it mildly when I say that it totally sucks having to plug in a cable anytime I want to sync a new playlist, movie, podcast, etc from my iTunes library to my iOS Device. Apple let's you download gigabytes of data from the iTunes store directly to your device via WiFi, why not allow syncing of your OWN media via your OWN WiFi network? Long overdue!
  • Multiple Mail Signatures – We've had multiple email accounts since day one, but only one email signature since day one. Yes there are 3rd party Apps to work around this, but this should be built-in like it is in Mail on the Mac OS X desktop.
  • Set a 3rd Party Browser as your Default – Mobile Safari is cool, but iCab blows it away! I could easily make a list of 10 or more things I'd like to see in Safari. However, I've found all the missing features I wanted, in iCab. While Apple does allow you to download and use 3rd party browsers, you can't set them as the default browser. This means that any tap of a link inside another App always launches Safari instead of your preferred browser.
  • Spam Filtering – Need I say more?
  • Widgets – One thing on Android OS that I really like and wish were in iOS is the concept of Widgets. These on screen "widgets" show you information (current weather, latest tweets, email subjects, etc.) without having to launch an App. iOS really needs this!
  • Sound Profiles – This one goes way back to my Treo days. Mute is not enough! I'd love to setup profiles that will allow vibration, emergency calls to ring through, silence (no vibrating), etc. etc. If this were a "smart phone", it would be possible.
  • Notification Schedules – Currently, Notifications are either on or off. I'd like to setup a schedule in which my device doesn't make a sound or pop up a notification during night hours or meetings. Sure I can just turn them off, but then I'd have to remember to turn them back on.
  • Email a Group of Contacts – If I email the same 3, 5 or 10 people all the time, why do I have to manually enter their names in each new email? Group support in Mail please!
  • Ability to Assign Ringtones to Groups of Contacts – one of my oldest requests! Although we got custom ringtones years ago, there is still no ability to assign the same ringtone to multiple contacts (groups) at the same time. It's still a painstaking one-by-one task.

 

Why not just switch to Android completely?

I actually have an Android based tablet (Motorola Xoom) and phone (Motorola Atrix 4G). Like comparing ANY two things, there are going to be things I like in one that aren't in the other. So it's no surprise that there are things I like in the Android OS that aren't in iOS and vice versa. I have the luxury of being able to use any device I want whenever I want. Overall though (at least for now), I find iOS to have MORE things I like about it than Android. Sure, Android OS answers the majority of my list above, but I could easily come up with a list of 10, 20 or 30 things that are missing from Android OS that are currently in iOS. Not to mention a huge existing investment that I have in iOS Apps that I'd be leaving behind. Even if I were willing to leave my Apps behind, Android Market doesn't have all the same Apps or equivalents for all the Apps I use. There is NO PERFECT! Just like there are things I like even in Windows 7 over Mac OS X. I use Mac OS X most of the time because it has more things I like over Windows, but Windows 7 is only a reboot away when needed.

 

WWDC Kicks off Today

Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference kicks off today with news around iOS 5 as well as iCloud and maybe even some hardware announcements. It will be interesting to see how much of my remaining wish list is addressed.

Continue reading “10 Things I Want To See in iOS 5”