If you're looking to order the Apple iPad (WiFi or WiFi+3G models), Apple will begin taking pre-orders today at 8:30 AM ET. You can place your order here.
iPad Pre-orders to begin this Friday
In case you hadn't heard, Apple will begin taking pre-orders for both WiFi and WiFi+3G versions of the iPad this Friday, March 12th presumably via the Apple Store Online. The WiFi model is supposed to ship on April 3rd (or you can reserve one for pickup). No word yet on the actual date that the WiFi+3G model will ship, Apple says in "late April."
Speaking of the WiFi+3G Model
I know that many of you hate AT&T with a passion. I have no passion one way or the other for them. However, in all fairness it looks like their claims of having the fastest (no one said most reliable or best coverage in your area) 3G network has some truth to it. PC World's results are in and in fact AT&T comes out ahead in their results.
Review: V-moda Remix Remote headphones
Although I've been a huge fan of the V-Moda Vibe Duo headphones, I actually kinda went back to using the headphones that came with my iPhone 3GS. It certainly wasn't because of sound quality or comfort, it was solely because of the integrated remote. The iPhone 3GS and the latest iPod touch models allow for volume controls on the remote and the Vibe Duo was lacking this function. That all changed last week when I got my hands on the NEW V-moda Remix Remote Headphones. This redesigned headset has an integrated Mic for handsfree phone calls, play, pause and skip controls for your iPod and YES volume up and down controls.
Wow!
I put them on just for a quick test to make sure the controls worked, and I had forgotten how comfortable these were in my ears. I ended up listening to music for the next hour. I just didn't want to take them off because they felt and sounded so good. Speaking of comfort and fit, I don't think I've ever purchased a set of headphones with this many options for different sized ears. Although I will say that I liked the original carrying case better than this new cloth one:
They even include "sport clips" for joggers and working out so that they don't fall out easily. I'm very happy with the New V-moda Remix Remote Headphones and as much as I love the Bose Quiet Comfort 2 Noise Canceling Headphones, this V-modas fit in my pocket and are with me on my current trip instead of the Bose.
The V-moda Remix Remote Headphones retail for $99.
My iPhone 3GS has become my Travel GPS
When I travel I sometimes have to rent a car. Although in the past I had been simply adding on the Hertz Neverlost option (or as my buddy Scott refers to it as Everlost), I stopped doing that once the portable GPS units became good enough. My first one was the Garmin Nuvi 350, then the 360, then the 400 series and finally a Nuvi 765t that I love. I also briefly used the Navigon 2100. They are all great units and I really didn't have any complaints with them. The 765t has performed perfectly for me and never misses a beat/turn. Nonetheless, I was still very intrigued when Apple announced the iPhone 3.0 OS update and that it would allow 3rd party apps to have turn-by-turn navigation abilities. The first one that I tried was Navigon. It certainly had promise, but the 1.0 version was missing key features such as text-to-speech. TomTom also came out with their app and it was also missing many of the same key features in its 1.0 version. This kept me from wanting to go solo with just an iPhone GPS app. Well a lot has changed since then!
The iPhone 3G/3GS and even iPod touch GPS Navigation Apps are ready for prime time
Three iPad Questions
I'm excited about getting my hands on the iPad. I think it will be a cool device. However, I have three questions:
Does the iPad have MS Exchange support?
if the rumors are true, I will be a lot less excited than I was on day one. Which rumors? The rumors that the iPad doesn't have MS Exchange support. Now I know that you can't put a lot of faith into rumors. I would also find it hard to believe that Apple would build in Exchange support into the iPhone OS (which the iPad runs on) and even include it in the Mac OS Snow Leopard, but not include in their shinny new tablet. Even the iPod touch has it. Sure there could be licensing issues or issues with allowing users to do corporate email over AT&T's data connection without buying a business plan but it would seem that Apple would work all that out and give users options for checking work email. You can hate Microsoft all you want. You can say how much they suck and that you wish they would die, but the truth is that more corporations rely on MS Exchange for corporate email/calendar/contacts than the ones that don't. So does the iPad have Exchange support?
Apple makes no mention of Exchange support on the iPad features page:
Apocket proves that technology doesn’t always have to cost a lot
Every now and then I come across a deal that is simply too good to pass up. I subscribe to the DealMac RSS feed in Mac Mail and 99% of the time I hit delete on each deal. However, there are those times where I click to buy within a heartbeat.
I was already quite happy with my TruePower IV external battery for my iPhone 3GS. It easily doubles the battery life and provides charging to other USB devices. It also gives me an LED light to take photos in low light situations. Great! The only downside to this case s that it's big.
The alternatives like the popular Mophie Juice Pack are smaller, but cost almost as much as my more capable TruePower IV.
Apocket iPhone 3G/3GS Multifunction Case/Charger for only $25???
So when I saw the deal on the Apocket case for only $24.99 I jumped on it. Not only did I jump on it for me, I bought 5 of them for friends and family. I didn't know what to expect. I surely didn't expect it to be great for almost 1/4 the cost of similar products, but when it arrived, I was actually quite pleased. First off it has a 30 pin doc connector on the bottom. So you just charge it using your existing cables and chargers. That's a plus right off the bat and of course reduces costs. No need to include a separate charger. Although 30 pin connector is backwards on the bottom (plug you cable in the opposite way that you would into your iPhone), it works great.
The top of the case is spring loaded for easy insertion and removal of your iPhone.
Continue reading “Apocket proves that technology doesn’t always have to cost a lot”
All of my sites in one App and it’s FREE
I've just released my second App for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. It's called….wait for it…."Terry White".
What's in the App?
Well you get one tap access to all of my current and future content (with the exception the exclusive bonus material in my Learn the Adobe Creative Suite with Terry White App) in one spot. The App includes feeds from:
- My Tech Blog
- My BestAppSite – daily App reviews
- My Adobe Creative Suite Podcast – weekly creative suite tutorials
- My Flickr.com feed – see my latest photos
- My Twitter Feed – yes I tweet
- My YouTube Channel – video reviews and interviews
- My MacNews Blog – News, Tips and Tutorials for Mac Users
So if you like what you see here and you're an iPhone, iPad (soon), or iPod touch (2nd or 3rd generation) user, then you'll probably like the App.
Head over to the App Store and grab it here.
If you'd like the back story on how the App was developed, check it out here.
International Power!
Frequent international travelers have got the power thing figured out. When you travel from the US to another country the question becomes what do you need to charge/use your electronic devices. My friend Michele who was headed to the UK asked me this very question. So I thought I spend a few minutes here giving you some tips along with my favorite power adapter.
Converter vs an Adapter
Many of the electronics designed to be traveled with (like notebook computers, iPods, iPhones) are already geared to be used in different countries. An easy way to know is to look at the description on the power adapter for your gear. If it says that it can handle 100-240 volts then you're all set. All you need is a plug "adapter" so that you can plug it in the wall of the country you're going to.
However, if your power adapter has a max input of 120 volts. That means that it was designed to work in the US only and in order to use it in another country that has 240 volt wall outlets you're going to need a power "converter" something that can regulate the 240 volts down to 120 volts. Or you might just go with a compatible 3rd party adapter like the ones from iGo.
For your Mac, iPod or iPhone
If you have a portable electronic device from Apple, your supplied adapter already works in other countries. All you need is an adapter and Apple sells a nice kit called the Apple International Travel Kit. This kit has everything you need to adapter your MacBook/PowerBook adapter as well as a USB power adapter (actually it's there older version with the removable prongs) and sync cable With this kit you'll be all set in the US, UK, Australia, Korea, etc. You can get the Apple kit here.
Apple Introduces the iPad
As expected Apple introduced the iPad. Here's what it is in a nutshell. First think of it as a big iPod touch. It can run all of the existing over 140,000 Apps (except the ones that are iPhone specific). Apps can and will be updated to really take advantage of the larger screen size. However, even existing apps will fill the screen using built-in pixel doubling technology.
What it has:
- 10 hour battery life/1 month standby
- iWork suite available for it offering Pages, Keynote and Numbers ($9.99 each)
- Can do:
- Photos
- Movies
- Music
- TV shows
- Contacts
- Calendars
- Bookmarks
- and of course Applications
- Height:
9.56 inches (242.8 mm)
Width:
7.47 inches (189.7 mm)
Depth:
0.5 inch (13.4 mm)
Weight:
1.5 pounds (.68 kg) Wi-Fi model;
1.6 pounds (.73 kg) Wi-Fi + 3G model - 9.7" LED Dsiplay
- Wi-FI 802.11n
- 3G Versions do up to 7.2Mbps HSPA
- Speaker and Microphone
- New iBook Store for eBooks! Cool look. You can choose the font you want to read the books in. Buy and download iBooks right on the device.
- 2 models in 3 configurations: WiFi and WiFi + 3G
- WiFi Models: 16GB $499, 32GB $599, 64GB $699 (All Available in 60 days)
- WiFi + 3G Models: 16GB $629, 32GB $729, 64GB $829 (All Available in 90 days)
- The 3G models will be UNLOCKED! Wow! and AT&T will be the US carrier offering two data plans $14.99/month for 250mb of data and $29.99/month for unlimited. NO CONTRACT! Wow!
What it doesn't have:
- No built-in camera so no video chats
- No Flash support, so web browsing will still be challenging for many sites (still).
- No multitasking improvements (running multiple 3rd party apps simultaneously)
Accessories (the real one more thing)!
The Keyboard dock is cool! However, what wasn't talked about is Apple is doing a "iPad Camera Connection Kit" for being able to bring in your images from your digital camera! Very exciting (not so much for Epson)! This I can't wait for!
What we didn't see
Rumor score card: As usual the rumor sites get a lot of things right and a lot of things wrong. We didn't see anything regarding Verizon. We didn't see iLife 2010. We didn't see iWork 2010 for Mac, no iPhone 4.0 OS announcements, no multitasking improvements and of course we didn't see the Beatles catalog come to iTunes (that one cracks me up every time. Someday it will happen 😉 )
The Bottom Line
It's cool! I was expecting a little more (not sure what, but more). With that said, I'm impressed with what you will get for the price range and the data plans are attractive. It certainly is more exciting than a kindle and fills the need for MANY consumers that need something larger than a touch, but don't need a laptop. I could also see this device being the travel/vacation device of choice. When I travel for leisure I need my emai, web, music, movies, and photos. This does all of that in a nice form factor. I also thought it was brilliant to do iWork for the iPad because with the ability to do word processing, spreadsheet and presentations it means one (or three) less reason(s) to have to carry a notebook.
I'm also anxiously awaiting to see what app developers do with the ability to have a larger display and more power processor wise.
Will I buy one?
Nope, I'm buying two! What? Why two. I'm a tech guy and kind of expected to review these kinds of things as quickly as possible. So I'll start with the 16GB WiFi model (because it will be the one that's available first) to kick around with at home and then hand it over to my family. Then I'll probably go with the 64GB WiFi-3G version when it's available for my own use.
See the complete specs here. See the iPad Video Here.
UPDATE: Watch the Steve Jobs/Apple iPad Keynote Video here.
Is it Apple Tablet Day?
Well today is the day! Apple is holding a special media event at 10 AM PST for the press and industry experts to see their "latest creation." Of course there is heavy speculation that this will be introduction of the long awaited Apple Tablet Device.
Other items on the rumor table
Speculation that Apple will roll out iPhone OS 4.0 and iLife 2010.
The big one is that AT&T's iPhone Exclusivity will end with this event. Not sure if this is true or again wishful thinking, but we will certainly see today. If the tablet has 3G connectivity and that connectivity is via Verizon, whether Apple announces anything about the iPhone or not, I think we'll have our answer. I have lot of Verizon using buddies waiting in the wings for this. So if this happens today, there will be champagne corks popping around the country. 🙂
As usual I will have my take on what Apple actually introduces, so check back here later in the day and I will post my thoughts.
As cool as the "latest creation" will probably be, imagine if it were something like this:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7H0K1k54t6A&feature=player_embedded