I’m sure I wasn’t the only person who was disappointed a month ago when Apple failed to announce the iPhone 5 after many months of rumors and speculation. Instead, we were offered the iPhone 4S – an evolutionary instead of revolutionary update to the one year old iPhone 4. Even though I wasn’t eligible for an upgrade, I went ahead and purchased one because I’m crazy like that. Am I glad that I spent way too much money for it, or do I have buyer’s remorse? Keep reading to find out.

Note: Click the images in this review to see a larger view.

Hardware Specifications

Operating System: iOS 5
Processor: Dual-core A5
Memory: 16GB, 32GB and 64GB versions available
Display: 3.5-inch (diagonal) widescreen Multi-Touch retina display, 960-by-640-pixel resolution at 326 ppi, 800:1 contrast ratio (typical)
Wireless: World phone
UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz);
GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
CDMA EV-DO Rev. A (800, 1900 MHz)4
802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi (802.11n 2.4GHz only)
Bluetooth 4.0
Digital Camera: 8.0MP, Video recording, HD (1080p) up to 30 frames per second with audio
Battery: Rechargeable lithium-ion, Talk time: up to 8 hours on 3G, up to 14 hours on 2G, standby time: up to 200 hours
Internet use: up to 6 hours on 3G, up to 9 hours on Wi-Fi
Video playback: Up to 10 hours
Audio playback: Up to 40 hours
Size: 4.5 x 2.31 x 0.37 in (115.2 x 58.6 x 9.3 mm)
Weight: 4.9 ounces (140 grams)

Package Contents

iPhone 4S
Apple Earphones with Remote and Mic
Dock Connector to USB Cable
USB Power Adapter
Documentation

By all outward appearances, the iPhone 4S looks and feels almost identical to the iPhone 4. The only notable exception is that the 4S has a SIM slot on the right side for world phone capability. But other than that, they are dead ringers for each other.

For that fact, I’m not going to go over the buttons, switches, display and body details. You can go read my iPhone 4 review if you’d like more info on those features. This review will focus on the main updates to the 4S, which are mostly under the hood and include:

• Updated processor
• Updated antenna design
• Updated camera
• Siri voice assistant

Processor

Let’s start with the brains behind the iPhone. The CPU has been upgraded to an A5 dual-core chip, which is said to deliver up to two times more power and up to seven times faster graphics than the iPhone 4′s single core A5 chip. I’ve been using the 4S for the past month and so far I really can’t tell THAT much of a difference in speed between it and my 4 for every day tasks.  I did some side by side testing of both phones and found that booting from power off and launching all my normal apps was only about 1-2 seconds faster on the 4S. This wasn’t something I even noticed until I did the side by side comparisons. I’ve actually never had a complaint with how fast apps launch on iOS devices, so if they are now 1 second faster, it really doesn’t make me want to jump up and down with glee.

On the graphics side of things, I purchased a couple games to do some more side by sides between the 4 and 4S. I decided on Modern Combat 3 and Infinity Blade just because they are both high end games that are very rich in graphics. It’s crazy how large mobile games have become. Modern Combat 3 requires a little over 1GB and Infinity Blade takes up almost 600MBs!

Since both phones have the same resolution displays, the games look the same at first glance. But upon closer inspection, the biggest difference that I noticed were that objects on the 4S are brighter and have more reflections. Here are a couple examples.

Modern Combat 3 on the iPhone 4. Notice how dark the soldier is.

Modern Combat 3 on the iPhone 4S. The soldier is quite a bit brighter. And yes, I had both phones set to the same brightness level when I did these comparisons.

Another example shows a screen shot of Infinity Blade on the iPhone 4.

Here’s Infinity Blade on the iPhone 4S. Notice the highlights, brighter armor and reflections?

Game play also felt a little smoother when panning around a detailed screen. I think it will really depend on the games themselves to be optimized for the 4S. You’re only going to notice improvements on high end type games though. Titles like Cut the Rope and Angry Birds, which have simple graphics will not feel or look any different on the 4S.

When it’s all said and done, the speed and graphics updates on the 4S are nice, but the improvements aren’t so great that the performance gap between the two phones really makes that much of a difference in my opinion. After playing games on the 4S and then playing the same games on the 4, I didn’t feel like the 4 was too slow.

Antenna

The iPhone 4S has a new antenna design which is supposed to improve call quality and download speeds even though the 4S isn’t a 4G phone.

“iPhone 4S is the first phone to intelligently switch between two antennas to transmit and receive, so call quality is better. It also doubles the maximum HSDPA data speeds to 14.4 Mbps.8 Which means faster connections, faster loading and reloading, and faster downloads.”

It’s nice to know that this new design has solved the whole death grip issue. But I’m not so sure it improves call quality and / or download speeds all that much - at least not for me. I’ve not had any issues with call quality on the previous iPhone once I switched from AT&T to Verizon and am not noticing any significant changes with the 4S.

The same is true for download speeds. I really haven’t noticed any significant difference on the 4S. Even when I have full bars and a 3G connection, updating the weather, reading news via the USA today app, checking for app store updates, downloading mail, etc all seem to be just as fast or slow as before. 3G speeds via Verizon have never been all that consistent for me in the first place. I can do speed tests using the free Speedtest.net app every hour and see wildly varying results each time.

Camera

Honestly, the reason why I decided to go ahead and splurge on the iPhone 4S purchase, was the upgraded camera from 5MP up to 8MP. Resolution isn’t the only upgrade though. The whole camera has been redesigned with a  custom lens that has a larger f/2.4 aperture to allow for better low light photos.

Here are some sample images comparing the iPhone 4 and 4S.

iPhone 4 picture

iPhone 4S picture

iPhone 4 picture

iPhone 4S picture.

Video recording has been improved from 720p up to 1080p. That’s 1280 X 720 lines of resolution vs. 1920 X 1080 progressive lines of resolution. More lines means a sharper picture. Here are some sample videos.

iPhone 4s video sample. Max the gadgeteer mascot makes a few cameo appearances.

iPhone 4 video sample.

If all you ever do is view your pictures and videos on the iPhone’s display or your computer’s display, the upgrade from 5 to 8 megapixels and 720p to 1080p probably won’t seem like a big deal. The increase in pixels is helpful if you ever decide to print the images or watch the videos on a larger screen though.

Siri

Besides the upgraded camera, the other feature that I was most anxious to try on the 4S was Siri. In case you’ve been living under a rock, Siri is a built in personal assistant that listens to your voice commands spoken in regular words. Here are just 2 quick examples of things you can ask:

The quoted text in each screen shot is a question that I have asked Siri. You can get Siri’s attention in several ways. If you hold the phone up to your ear when you’re not in a call, she’ll ask you what she can help you with. You can also hold down the Home button to talk to her. If you use earbuds with built in microphone, you can hold down the mic button to talk to her. Bluetooth headsets can also be used by holding down the call button for several seconds.

In addition to asking questions and getting answers like the ones shown above, you can also say things like “set the timer for 5 minutes”, “wake me up in an hour”, send a text message to Jeanne saying I’ll be late getting home”, “remind me when I get home to call Dad” and lots more.

In actual usage, I’ve found that my voice commands are recognized pretty well as long as I speak slightly slower than normal and remember to enunciate instead of mumble. Siri is fun to play around with… and that’s the problem, I seem to only use it for entertainment, just to see what she’ll say to kooky questions. I’ve spent way too much time asking things like “Do you love me?”, “what’s the meaning of life?”, “open the pod bay doors”, “are you real?”, etc. I wonder just how many “real” commands Siri responds to every day vs. silly questions. I ask this because on numerous occasions, I’ve asked a question only to be told that the network couldn’t be accessed.

After some initial testing / goofing around with Siri, I find that I almost never use this feature. I definitely do not use it at work or in public because it just seems way too dorky to talk to your phone like it’s a person. In the privacy of my car or home, it’s another matter though. But even so, I just don’t seem to use the feature much at all. I’d like to start using it to dictate news and/or reviews while I’m driving to and from work. So we’ll see…

Battery Life

So far battery life on the iPhone 4S has been somewhat disappointing. I seem to be charging my phone more often than I did with the iPhone 4. Even after updating to iOS 5.01, which was supposed to fix battery issues, I’m not seeing much of an improvement. I’m still usually able to get through a day without charging, but my old iPhone 4 was able to last at least 2 days or longer. I am almost always close to a power source, so it’s not a big deal for me, but of course I wish it was better.

Bottom line

If you’ve read this far, you’ve probably already figured out the answer to the question in the first paragraph of this review: Am I glad that I spent way too much money for the iPhone 4S, or do I have buyer’s remorse? The answer is that I’m suffering from a moderate case of buyer’s remorse. It would have been different if I didn’t already have an iPhone 4 and/or I had been eligible for an upgrade through Verizon. But neither of these cases were true and I spent $649 on a 16GB iPhone 4S that has only a slightly better user experience than my perfectly fine iPhone 4. Oh well, that’s one of the down sides of being a gadget freak. It’s just too hard to resist the lure of a new device.

Those of you that don’t already have an iPhone 4 and are considering the 4S, go for it. It’s a great phone (and will be even better once they get the battery life issues sorted out). But if you already have the 4, my advice is to wait for the mythical iPhone 5. You’ll be glad you did. In the mean time, anyone want to buy a month old iPhone 4S that is in mint condition with no contract? Seriously…

Filed in categories: Featured Items, iPhone, iPad, iPod related, Reviews

Tagged: Apple, iOS, iPhone

Apple iPhone 4S Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 18, 2011 at 11:00 am.

The PlugBug Charger from TwelveSouth is a different kind of powered USB charger.  Pop the cover off the PlugBug, pop the power prongs off the Mac charger, and then plug them together.  US power prongs fold out of the PlugBug.  The other end of the PlugBug has a USB port that delivers 5V at 2.1A, so it can charge an iPad, iPhone, or iPod.  If you are traveling in the US from another country, you’ll find that the PlugBug also acts as an adapter for US outlets.  It’s a convenient way to maximize use of a single power outlet, and it can lighten the load in your gear bag because you won’t need to carry separate power adapters for all your iOS devices.  The PlugBug is $34.99 at TwelveSouth.

Filed in categories: Gear, News, Travel Gear

Tagged: Apple, USB charger

Add a USB Charging Port to Your MacBook Charger originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 2, 2011 at 8:51 am.

The world will mourn the loss of a truly creative and visionary individual who has done so much to shape the world of gadgets as we know it.

RIP Steve Jobs

www.apple.com

Filed in categories: iPhone, iPad, iPod related, News

Tagged: Apple

RIP Steve Jobs – 1955-2011 originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 5, 2011 at 8:11 pm.

Along with thousands (millions?) of other geeks, I have been pressing refresh on my browser for the past hour and a half trying to get the latest Apple news via the various live blogging sites which have been crashing with all the traffic. I’m not sure if I remember ever having this much trouble with prior Apple events. Regardless, Apple had quite a bit to talk about today. From the announcement that iOS 5 is due out next Wednesday (10/12), to updated and lowered priced iPod nanos, lower priced iPod touches with a white version coming soon and finally what we’ve all been waiting to hear about, the new iPhone!

Unfortunately, Apple did not announce an iPhone 5 <sob!>… Instead we get the iPhone 4S which looks just like the current iPhone 4 on the outside, but packs a lot of extra sauce under the hood. First of all it’s a world phone that is both GSM and CDMA.  It has an A5 dual-core processor inside which makes it about 2x faster than the current iPhone and dual-core graphics that are 7x faster. The camera has been completely updated with a 8 megapixel sensor which is 30% sharper, has 73% more light, 26% better white balance and 1080p video recording with image stabilization. Another new feature is a new antenna switching system that allows for 2x faster download speeds that claim to be faster than phones on 4G networks.

But that’s not all… one of the really interesting new features is Siri. Where they came up with that name is beyond me… Siri is a voice activated assistant that responds to your spoken commands when you hold down the Home button. From what I saw from the demos on the live event, this feature is seriously impressive. You can say things like “remind me to pick up milk after work”, “do I need to take an umbrella today?”, “wake me up at 6am” and Siri will respond with the answers and / or will create reminders, alarms, text messages etc. I can’t wait to try it out in the privacy of my own home or car… but I’m not sure I would use it in public for fear of looking like a dork though. Would you?

The iPhone 4S will be available in Black and White versions for 16GB: $199, 32GB for $299, 64GB for $399 all with a 2yr contract. Pre-orders for the 4S start this Friday October 7th via Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint and will be available on October 14th.

Who else is more than a bit disappointed that we didn’t get the iPhone 5 today? I was all set to whip out my credit card, but I think I’ll hold off for now… I’ll just live with my current iPhone 4 and iOS5 until the iPhone 5 is available.  <sniff>

Update 10/5/11

I’ve been thinking about the 4S since yesterday. I was really disappointed that Apple didn’t announce the iPhone 5 instead… But then I asked myself, what was I really disappointed about? When I looked at all the updates in the 4S (CPU, GPU, Camera, Antenna system, Siri, etc), what else would/could I have added? Bigger display? Yeah maybe… but I’ve come to love the size of the iPhone 4 MUCH more than my Droid X with the larger display. After a little thought, I realized that I was most disappointed in the case… that the iPhone 4S looks exactly like the iPhone 4 and that makes it feel like there’s been no update at all when in reality there have been a lot of changes that would have been perceived as much more exciting if the phone would have looked a little different and had the name iPhone 5. I think Apple may have bad a mistake in this regard. Even if they would have introduced another couple of colors, I think it would make a big difference.

I said I wasn’t going to upgrade from my iPhone 4, but I’m waffling on that decision now. That’s saying a lot because I’ll have to buy mine without the upgrade discount because I’m not due till April of 2012. Why they heck am I thinking about upgrading? In truth… it’s the camera. I  know that sounds insane, but for me, it’s one of my top favorite features of the phone.

Filed in categories: iPhone, iPad, iPod related, News

Tagged: Apple, iPhone, iPhone 5

Apple’s “Let’s Talk iPhone” event wasn’t just about the iPhone originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 4, 2011 at 2:44 pm.

So, the Amazon “Kindle Fire” tablet is now reality and I believe it will be a big seller. At $199 it is within shouting distance of that “no brainer” gadget purchase price. Best of all, for us consumers, Amazon is forcing the rest of the tablet market to prove their value and “reason for being”.

That doesn’t mean that Motorola, Asus, Acer, Toshiba, Vizio, Samsung and whoever else is making an Android tablet this week is going to be out of business. Oh, and unless Apple hires Leo Apotheker (former CEO of Hewlett-Packard), I very much doubt the iPad is going to be killed off anytime soon.

There is an “if” though, because I’m writing about a device I’ve only seen in demo videos. Problems have been known to become apparent when a million users fire up a new device or service. But, for the sake of this article I’m going to assume that the demos are real, the people that used the demo units are being honest and that Amazon is sticking with their practice of not releasing products until they are ready. Besides, if Amazon doesn’t deliver it will make for an even better article come mid-November.

First let’s talk about the timing of Amazon’s release. It’s about as good as it could get. The product is available for presale now, on the cusp of the fourth quarter, it will be released over a month before Christmas and most importantly, may be available several months before Apple is expected to announce its new iPad model(s).

In designing the Kindle Fire Amazon looked at their target market and only included hardware necessary to support that offering. The device features:

1. 1 Ghz Dual Core Processor
2. 7″ multi-touch display with IPS (in-plane switching) technology and anti-reflective treatment, 1024 x 600 pixel resolution at 169 ppi, 16 million colors
3. Battery Life – 7.5 hours of video or 8 hours of book reading (WiFi Off)
4. Weight 14.6 ounces (413 grams)
5. Charges from wall adapter OR computer USB port
6. Free cloud storage for all Amazon content.
7. One-month Prime Subscription
8. 8GB RAM
9. Amazon Silk web browser (http://amazonsilk.wordpress.com/2011/09/28/introducing-amazon-silk/)

So, Amazon has developed a device that when coupled with their extensive online content library is clearly aimed at the consumer/home market both in price and capabilities. I doubt we’ll be reading stories about the Kindle Fire being used as a Point-of-Sale system or for navigating commercial aircraft.

However, the Kindle Fire has more than enough processing power to provide for smooth video playback, fast app launches and a responsive user interface. The display is bright, has a higher pixel density than the iPad 2, and (hallelujah!) an anti-reflective screen.

If the battery life lives up to the claims it’s more than acceptable for consumer use and being able to charge the device from either the wall or a standard USB port makes it less likely you’ll have to carry, or hunt for a high-amperage charger when needed. Basically, you’ll be able to charge it with the same charger or cable you’re using for a number of other devices in your home or car.

The Kindle Fire comes with 8GB of storage space and no slot for extra memory. I believe that is going to be sufficient when you consider Amazon is also including free storage on their cloud system. To give you an idea I looked at memory usage on my iPad where I have over 350 apps installed and they only take up about 3GB of space. For further comparison I checked my T-Mobile G2 phone and found that 150 apps there resided in less than 700MB of memory.

This should leave sufficient room for the device to hold several hours of video, books and a lot of music, and provided there’s a WiFi signal available content can be removed from the device and new downloaded from your online library. Once you have purchased content from Amazon it is always available. I suspect that Amazon will charge for non-Amazon content that is uploaded to their service much as they do with their existing MP3 library service (the first 5GB of non-Amazon content is free and 20GB of storage costs $20/year with higher limits available.).

What may also aid in the Kindle Fire being a game-changer is their new “Silk” browser. Amazon is attempting to split the workload of the browser between their “EC2” cloud service and the device. They’ll be caching pages in their cloud service as well as making intelligent guesses (based on data gathered from all of their users) at what links you’re likely to follow and pre-downloading them to the device. They’ll also be optimizing (shrinking) graphics and other content so that it is only the quality and size necessary to look good on the Kindle Fire’s display. Companies like AOL, Opera, Skyfire and a few others have tried similar, albeit less complex, schemes in the past. If Amazon can succeed in speeding up the browsing experience it would become another significant differentiator between them and the competition.

Amazon’s choices of what features they didn’t include in the Kindle Fire are almost as important as the features they did. Amazon’s new tablet reportedly does not include:

1. GPS or Accelerometer (G-Sensor)
2. Bluetooth Radio
3. 3G/4G Radio
4. No Microphone
5. No Cameras
6. No Memory Expansion Slot
7. No HDMI/mini HDMI port

All of these missing features were shaved to reduce cost, size/weight and battery usage. The only item on the list that surprises me is the Bluetooth radio as it would allow people to connect their wireless headphones and external speakers. Perhaps one can be added via the device’s mini-USB port, but that smacks of the same connectivity unfriendliness as the iPad Camera Connection kit for the iPad. Dante’ should have included “dongle usage and storage” as one of the “Circles of Hell” .

Some will complain about the lack of a 3G/4G option, but I don’t believe Amazon wanted to include a feature that would require their customers to contract with a third-party company. The cost of providing an all-inclusive 3G package like they offer on the existing 3G Kindle readers would have been too pricey. Customers don’t like metered service, contracts and, in general, mobile carriers. Even the best of the carriers is ranked pretty low on the American Consumer Satisfaction Index.

I’m sure AT&T’s backpedaling on the iPad 3G’s $30/month unlimited package (it’s now $25/month for 2GB) shortly after the iPad 3G was launched also had struck a nerve. It wouldn’t take many movie downloads to more than equal the price of the device in data charges. That may lead to unhappy customers.

On a side note, I’d suggest that anyone absolutely needing 3G/4G service for their Kindle Fire consider purchasing one of the standalone mobile hotspots. For roughly the same cost you could have 4G service (if available) and use it with a variety of devices. There are also some phones offered by the carriers that allow tethering as part of their data plan (My T-Mobile G2 phone is one of them).

The rest of the items are superfluous to the Kindle Fire’s intended use. The Amazon’s development team was not intent on replacing your computer, car navigation system, smartphone or point and shoot camera. The Kindle Fire is a relatively inexpensive device that is meant to fulfill the desire to watch TV shows, movies, play games, read books, newspapers and magazines, listen to music, browse the web and check things like email and personal calendars. My guess is that list covers about 85% of the use most tablets see today and a far higher-percentage of the use predicted for the hundreds of millions of people that haven’t yet purchased a tablet.

Certainly there are going to be people that want a device that has one or more of the features that Amazon did not include. Amazon is gambling that a lot of consumers are going to decide against paying $200 more for some of the fuller featured Android tablets or $300 – $450 extra for a WiFi iPad/3G iPad with GPS capability.

Presently, there’s only one successful tablet maker, Apple and the iPad. I’m looking forward to seeing how Apple reacts to the Kindle Fire. Their response is going to tell us a lot about Apple’s market strategy moving forward. Do they want to be a sales leader in the tablet marketplace or are they content to be the manufacturer of a highly regarded, high-margin luxury model? Steve Jobs once stated that the Macintosh’s market share was greater than that of Porsche, BMW or Mercedes and being the BMW or Mercedes of the computer market wasn’t a bad thing. We’ll soon get to see if that’s still the Apple strategy or if they’re willing to compete based on price in the tablet marketplace. With their locked-in content libraries (iTunes and the Apple App Store) proving to be a significant profit center for Apple the pressure to drop price or produce lower-end iPads might be very tempting.

While Apple is planning its next move the other Tablet makers need to decide in which segment of the market they want to compete. Google (and its licensees like Asus, Acer, Toshiba, Samsung and even Sony) trails both Amazon and Apple badly in availability of streaming video and other saleable content.

Even if Google can improve its content offerings it would be hard for their partner tablet manufacturers to reduce their margins of the units when they will be sharing their profits from the sale of content with Google or even Amazon’s own Android market offerings.

I expect we’ll see some of these guys pull the plug on their current offerings and others re-work their devices to go after the other potentially large tablet segment, productivity machines. Samsung, Asus, and Acer have always been adept at producing lower-cost versions of products. None has ever shown itself to be a market pioneer or provider of entertainment content. This may lead to some of them jumping ship from Android to Windows 8 and its desktop integration, but that’s over a year away and in a marketplace where the lifecycle of a device can be less than two months (HP TouchPad), a year is a long, long time.

Sony’s choices will also be interesting to watch. While their e-readers have been technically competent they haven’t really challenged Amazon or Barnes & Noble in that marketplace. They have two tablets and, of course, their own library of video and music content. In the past they have licensed that to vendors like Apple and Amazon. I doubt they’re going to pull that content from Apple or Amazon, two significant revenue sources; however tablets like the Kindle Fire do pose a threat to their portable gaming devices, and even to their PlayStation 3 consoles.

My guess, Sony will also focus their tablet offerings to compete in the productivity segment and perhaps work a revenue sharing deal with Amazon for content distribution through their PlayStation devices.

For those old-timers out there like me, I expect that the Kindle Fire could have the same impact on the tablet market as the Commodore 64 had on the personal computer industry back in 1982. Commodore’s CEO Jack Tramiel used to proudly claim that he made, “Computers for the masses, not the (upper) classes.

So, we may end up with the two of the highest rated companies for customer satisfaction in their respective markets going toe to toe (Apple is the highest rated Personal Computer Manufacturer and Amazon holds the top spot among online retailers according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index).

For those that enjoy watching the machinations, sparring and outright wars in the high technology industry this should be a great show.

Filed in categories: Android related, Articles, Tablet Computers and Gear

Tagged: Acer, Amazon, Apple, asus, Commodore, iPad, Jack Tramiel, Kindle, Samsung, Sony, Tablet

Kindle Fire – A Tablet for the Masses? originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 2, 2011 at 11:00 am.

Well, it appears that someone in the tablet industry watched what happened last month with the HP TouchPad and may have taken notes. Engadget is reporting, and Fusion Garage has confirmed, that the Grid10′s previously announced prices of $499 for their 16-gigabyte WiFi model, and $599 for the 16-gigabyte 3G/WiFi models were reduced to $299 and $399 respectively. Reportedly, pre-orders placed before the price decrease have been adjusted accordingly. On the bad news side the shipping date was pushed back to October 1 from September 15.

Some of you will remember the unique ad campaign that Fusion Garage ran prior to their product announcement on August 16.

I’m hoping this is a sign that some of these tablet manufacturers are beginning to understand the current tablet marketplace. Apple has the brand, marketing and reputations for quality to allow it to charge top-tier pricing for devices like its iPad. Newcomers to the market need to either launch with a product that is demonstratively superior to the iPad or at a significant discount. I believe the TouchPad would have sold considerably better if HP had priced it at $299 and would be on its way to building a user base and developer interest in webOS.

All that being said, a spokesperson for Fusion Garage told Engadget that they had intended to launch at the reduced price all along and had announced the higher pricing because of business negotiations. Let’s hope they’re better at building a tablet than they are at spinning a news story.

Filed in categories: News, Tablet Computers and Gear

Tagged: Apple, Fusion Garage, Grid10, HP, iPad, TabCo, tablets

Fusion Garage Drops Price of Grid10 by $200 originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 12, 2011 at 4:30 pm.

The forthcoming Amazon tablet is now officially leaked thanks to MG Siegler’s (TechCrunch) hand’s-on look at the device. It’s going to be a 7-inch color touch-screen with no physical buttons running Android…well, sort of. Amazon has elected to use a version of Android prior to 2.2 (Most new Android-based tablets are running 3.2 or the soon to be release 4.x) as the base and then created an entirely new interface completely integrated with Amazon’s own apps like Kindle Reader, MP3 Cloud Player, Amazon Instant Videos, Amazon’s Store, Amazon Appstore, etc.  From what I’ve read none of the Google-supplied Apps will be on the device. Whether the browser supplied on the device will run Adobe’s Flash content remains to be seen. If you want more technical details take a hop over to Mr. Siegler’s article.

It appears that Amazon is creating a device much like Apple’s iPad, with three key differences; size, price and, most importantly, content provider.

The new Amazon Kindle will be substantially smaller than the iPad and while we don’t have the actual weight yet it will most likely be considerably lighter. That’s wonderful for portability and for reading books and listening to music, but may not be that great when it comes to watching videos.

Amazon is reportedly going to sell the tablet for around $250 and include a no-additional-charge subscription to Amazon Prime service (It’s unclear if there will be a renewal fee or not). Prime normally costs $79 a year and grants subscribers no-charge 2-day shipping on many items and a “Netflix-like” library of instant-watch content.  While the Prime instant watch library isn’t huge it has been growing and with the Netflix/Starz breakup could end up being close in the number of titles available.

The third key difference between the new Amazon tablet and actually the whole family of iOS devices (iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad) is also their closest similarity. When the iPad was launched it was labeled as a “content consumption device”, more specifically an Apple provided content consumption device. While possible, Apple makes it difficult to load outside content on its devices much preferring you buy your music, videos, games, apps and books all through Apple-branded stores provided on the device.  All of these Apple stores produce revenue for Apple. Apple went so far as to forbid Amazon and others from having links to their own stores in apps running on iOS devices.

Amazon is going down the same path, but at a lower price and throw-in a fair amount of video content at no additional charge to boot. It will be interesting to see if the Amazon Appstore will allow for the distribution of the Barnes & Noble Nook reader with its store built-in (Presently it’s only available through the Google Market which will not be included in the Android Kindle tablet.)

This is why I wouldn’t call what Amazon is releasing just another Android tablet. It has little to do with Android, screen size, CPU speeds and all the other techno stuff that the other tablet manufacturers seem to be playing up. It’s also decidedly not directed at the devices like the slightly smaller Samsung Note that are directed more at productivity. In many ways the new Kindle tablet more closely resembles a large iPad Touch, or a game console for adults. It will be sold at a low price, perhaps at or below cost and then create multiple locked-in revenue streams for Amazon.  Amazon is not competing with the iPad they’re competing with what many call the Apple eco-system.

But wait…there’s more! (And you thought Billy Mays was gone), Amazon has not only created a real competitor for Apple, but has taken a nice shot at going after Amazon’s other large rival, Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart? Yes, Wal-Mart. Amazon still makes the vast majority of its revenue by selling and shipping products to customers. Their chief competition has always been the “Walton family’s businesses”. People still prefer to buy from retail stores because they don’t have to deal with the time or cost of delivery.

Remember the first benefit to an Amazon Prime subscription?  Yep, Amazon may end up with millions of people with access to a prominently featured Amazon Store App as well as no-additional charge 2-day shipping. Couple that with Amazon’s ability to avoid charging sales tax in a great many states and they may take  sales away from their very large, brick and mortar competitor.  A percentage point or two increase in sales in a market that size is big, big money.

So, while the technology fans are going to talk about a fork in Android development and the ramifications of fragmentation I believe this is far bigger than a technical issue. Amazon is  going to be the first tablet to truly go after what Apple created and at the same time potentially reap some rewards in their core business as well.

Is this an iPad killer? No, I don’t believe so. I do think that over time we’ll see Apple’s market share shrink, but as Steve Jobs once said about the Macintosh, “Apple’s market share is bigger than BMW’s or Mercedes’s or Porsche’s in the automotive market. What’s wrong with being BMW or Mercedes?” Absolutely nothing, Steve, and it now appears we’re going to have Amazon attempting to play the role of  Toyota.

I am excited about the new Kindle, but I’m hoping they don’t stop developing the pure reader devices. I like tablets, but when it comes to reading books (a small percentage of the content marketplace) I really appreciate the much-easier-on-the-eyes e-ink displays.

Filed in categories: Android related, Articles, eBook Readers and Gear, iPhone, iPad, iPod related, News

Tagged: Amazon, Android, Apple, iPad, Kindle

Amazon’s New Kindle Tablet – An iPad for the Rest of Us? originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 4, 2011 at 10:00 am.

I just popped open my Macbook Air to check email and RSS feeds and the first item that caught my eye was a shocker (at least to finally see it in text)… It’s been announced that Steve Jobs has resigned as CEO of Apple. After stock market trading ended this afternoon, Steve sent out a message to his board of directors:

To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.

I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.

As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.

I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.

I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.

Steve

I’m sure that Tim Cook will make a fine CEO, but I can’t help but be really sad that there’s going to be an Apple without Steve at the helm. Apparently Steve will continue on as Chairman of the Board though… but will Apple ever be the same? What are your thoughts?

Filed in categories: News

Tagged: Apple

Steve Jobs Resigns as CEO of Apple originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 24, 2011 at 8:52 pm.

You might have heard almost 2 years ago Nokia  sued Apple for Patent Infringement. Well, 20 months later they settle and Nokia agrees to license its patents to Apple. How much you ask? We may never know but we can be sure it was for a lot of money. According to some sources, the settlement is enough to cushion Nokia while it transitions from Symbian to Windows Phone7.

While this may seem like a defeat for Apple, some are saying that this is what they call “Sweet Defeat”, and Spells Trouble for Android. How?

A guy name Florian Mueller from FOSS Patents actually predicted this outcome.

“Apple is embroiled in litigation with the three leading Android device makers (Motorola, HTC and Samsung). Nokia doesn’t have any litigation worries at the moment, but part of its new strategy is to ratchet up the monetization of its patent portfolio. The fact that Nokia has demonstrated its ability to defeat Apple — after the most bitterly contested patent dispute that this industry has seen to date — is a clear proof of concept. Other companies whom Nokia will ask to pay royalties will have to think very hard whether to pay or pick a fight.”

If you have been keeping up with this kind of stuff, you know that Apple has suits against some of the top Manufactures of Android Devices as well.

“Given that Android is in many ways a rip-off of Apple’s operating software, Android-based devices are highly likely to infringe on largely the same Nokia patents that Apple now felt forced to pay for,” Mueller says.

So basically, Nokia most likely will go after those same manufactures looking for license agreements. Chances are they won’t want a fight and would have to settle. If not, well if Apple lost, what makes you think you can win?

“We are very pleased to have Apple join the growing number of Nokia licensees,” said Nokia CEO Stephen Elop in his victory speech. “This settlement demonstrates Nokia’s industry leading patent portfolio and enables us to focus on further licensing opportunities in the mobile communications market.”

After the news broke, Florian Mueller says, “I don’t hold shares in any tech company, but if I were an Apple shareholder, I would probably view this outcome favorably. Nokia emerges victorious, but this is a sweet defeat for Apple because its competitors — especially those building Android-based devices — will also have to pay Nokia, and most if not all of them will likely have to pay more on a per-unit basis because they don’t bring as much intellectual property to the table as Apple definitely did. So from a competitive point of view, I don’t think Apple loses much. On the bottom line its profitability may even benefit from this because Apple’s margins face no greater threat than Android-style commoditization of smartphone technologies.”

We can’t say for sure he is right but if he is… Things might look a little different soon.

Filed in categories: Android related, iPhone, iPad, iPod related, News

Tagged: Apple, Nokia

Apple Settles Patent Lawsuit with Nokia originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on June 16, 2011 at 1:00 pm.

Apple held its 2011 WWDC today and debuted quite a few new products, including: OS X Lion, an update to the operating system aboard their iMac desktops and Macbook notebooks: iOS 5, the mobile operating system aboard their iPhones, iPads and iPod touch devices; and the long-await iCloud online storage and sync system, which Steve Jobs himself introduced.  Loads of new stuff!  Below are just the highlights and I’m sure there will be more detailed info and discussion all over the web in the coming weeks.  Special thanks to Engadget for the fantastic live event feed coverage!

Mac OS X Lion

Loads of new features, only a portion of which are listed below.  Download an update for $29.99.  Available in July.

• Multi-touch gestures – for Macbooks with touchpads
• Full-screen apps
• Mission Control for desktop app management
• Built-in
• – In-app App Store purchases
• – Push Notification
• – Delta Updates (only what is updated, not the entire system)
• Launchpad
• Resume
• Auto Save
• Versions
• AirDrop
• updated Mail

iOS 5

200+ new features, including the following.  To ship this fall.  Supports devices starting with iPhone 3GS, iPad and 3rd/4th gen iPod touch.

• Notification Center – way improved notification management
• Newsstand – electronic subscription manager
• Twitter – integrated right into the OS and into many apps
• Safari
• – new ‘Safari Reader’ button for streamlined page viewing in the browser
• – Reading List – simply way to read pages later
• – Tabbed Browsing
• Reminders – a built-in app that syncs across devices
• Camera updates
• – new camera button on the lock screen
• – use the ‘volume up’ button to take pictures
• – in-app pinch zoom
• – one-tap exposure optimization
• – in-app editing – crop, rotate, red-eye, etc
• Mail
• – rich-text formatting
• – indent control
• – address drag
• – flagging
• – search entire message
• – S/MIME for security
• – built-in dictionary
• – splittable keyboard
• PC Free
• – setup and activate your device right on the device
• – software updates Over The Air (delta updates – only what’s changed)
• – Sync iTunes library over WiFi (more on this below under iCloud)
• Calendar – set up and delete right from iOS
• Game Center
• – Achievement points
• – Friend discovery
• – Friends of friends
• – Game discovery
• iMessage
• – works between all iOS devices
• – send texts, photos, video, contacts, group messages
• – get delivery receipts, read receipts, and real-time typing notification
• – works over WiFi or 3G

iCloud

MobileMe is gone, with its functionality incorporated into the new FREE iCloud with 9 apps.  Will ship concurrent with iOS 5 this fall.

• Stores your content in the cloud and wirelessly pushes it to all your devices
• Integrated with your apps, so everything happens automatically
• MobileMe re-written from group up to work in iCloud
• No ads
• MobileMe is gone; Contacts, Calendar, Mail will be free to use via iCloud
• updated AppStore
• back up devices to the cloud – WiFi only, including purchased music, books, photos and videos, device settings, and App data
• Documents in the Cloud
• – store documents in the cloud and share across all your devices
• – works on all iOS devices, as well as Mac and PCs
• Photo Stream – photos taken on any device are pushed to the cloud, then sent automatically to the other devices via WiFi
• iTunes -
• – no charge to multiple downloads to different devices
• – new ‘Purchased’ tab shows everything you have in the cloud
• – download a song on one device, it downloads to all without having to sync
• – runs on iOS 4.3 beta
• 5GB of storage for Mail, Documents and Backup plus “other storage too” but Photo Stream and iTunes don’t count again it
• For music you’ve ripped from CDs, three options:
• – sync devices over WiFi or cable
• – re-buy the songs, but from iTunes
• – use iTunes Music Match – $24.99 per year for as many songs as you want
• – software will scan your tunes and match it up with those songs in the store – takes minutes to scan, not weeks to upload
• – any songs that don’t match will be uploaded for you and anything that’s matched is upgraded to 256Kbps AAC, without DRM

No mention of iPhone 4S or iPhone 5 or whatever it will be called, but even still, perhaps one of the biggest WWDC unveiling events yet.  Anyone besides me stoked for this?

Filed in categories: iPhone, iPad, iPod related, News

Tagged: Apple, iCloud, iOS 5, iPhone/iPad/iPod touch, OS X

Apple announces OS X Lion, iOS 5 and iCloud originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on June 6, 2011 at 4:00 pm.

Apple is known for its Apple stores, both for the location and the architecture of the stores. In 2008, Apple opened the first store in Israel. Apple is considering a second store and the leading location is Jerusalem. The location is in the new entrance to the city (see picture), next to a first of its kind digital library. Eran Tur, from Apple Israel is driving this project. If Apple will go forward with the plan, then we can expect to see the opening in 2016.

Filed in categories: iPhone, iPad, iPod related, News

Tagged: Apple

Exclusive: Apple in talks to open an Apple store in Jerusalem (Israel) originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 27, 2011 at 10:00 am.

Mere minutes ago, Apple unveiled its iPad 2 and quite a bit more at a media event, throwing the daylight of reality on speculation about the rumored new device’s features.  Steve Jobs, Apple CEO who has taken a leave of absence from the day-to-day operations, even emcee’d the event.  More detailed info is available via Apple, but a quick rundown: New dual-core A5 processor (touted to be faster than the previous A4), front- and read-facing cameras, gyroscope, 33% thinner (13.4mm to 8.8mm—thinner than the iPhone 4 at 9.3mm),  lighter (1.3lb vs. 1.5lb), black or white bezel colors, models for both AT&T and Verizon, same battery life and same price tag (starting at $499), up to 1080p HDMI video out (with a $39 cable), and to begin shipping March 11!  Who’s gettin’ one?

Also debuted was something called a SmartCover.  It’s a flap that attaches magnetically to the iPad 2 and when pulled back from its face, it “wakes” the device; it also folds into a stand.  Has a microfiber underside and available in 5 polyurethane ($39) or 5 leather ($69) colors.

Additionally, iOS 4.3 (also out March 11) with improved Safari, iTunes home sharing over WiFi, AirPlay improvements, personal hotspot (for iPhone 4 only), and both FaceTime and Photo Booth (to take advantage of the iPad 2′s new cameras).

Finally, new apps: iMovie and Garage Band for iPad (each $4.99).

I myself am a bit bummed that the Retina Display rumors didn’t pan out, but I held out and didn’t buy an iPad, and now I’m definitely going to pick up one of these.  Anybody else out there going to buy one, or am I the only one? 

Special thanks to Engadget for the awesome live event feed coverage!

Filed in categories: iPhone, iPad, iPod related, News

Tagged: Apple, Apple iPad, iPad, iPad 2

Apple iPad 2 (and more) unveiled today originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 2, 2011 at 2:26 pm.

thunderbolt

Today Apple updated the MacBook Pro family with next generation processors and graphics, a new FaceTime HD camera and high-speed Thunderbolt I/O technology. The Thunderbolt I/O technology (previously known as LightPeak) is a revolutionary I/O technology that supports high-resolution displays and high-performance data devices through a single, compact port. Featuring two bi-directional channels with transfer speeds up to an amazing 10Gbps each, Thunderbolt delivers PCI Express directly to external high performance peripherals such as RAID arrays, and can support FireWire and USB consumer devices and Gigabit Ethernet networks via adapters. Thunderbolt also supports DisplayPort for high resolution displays and works with existing adapters for HDMI, DVI and VGA displays.

We first learned of this technology from an Engadget article. According to this article and the Apple press release, we can learn that Apple is going to use this technology in all of its product line, including the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. It will be interesting to see if Apple will introduce this technology in the iPad 2 that is rumored to be announced next week.

More details on the new MacBook Pro and the Thunderbolt I/O technology can be found in the Apple press release.

Filed in categories: Laptops and Gear, News

Tagged: Apple

Apple Updates MacBook Pro with Thunderbolt I/O Technology originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on February 24, 2011 at 5:11 pm.

Fans of the Apple wireless keyboard and Magic Trackpad now have a way to bring the two together while also offering a solution for hiding some of the miscellaneous items on your desk. It’s the Tree Designs iDesk, a cabinetry grade wooden tray that holds both peripherals side by side. Lift up either device and you’ll find a storage area that can hold pens, paper clips, post-it notes, you name it. Tree Design also offers trays just for the keyboard or trackpad, as well as a dual tray for Left handed folks. Prices range from $45.00 – $89.00.

Filed in categories: Desktop Computer Gear, News

Tagged: Apple, Spotlight Gadgets

Tree Designs iDesk – Minimalism meets wood originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 24, 2011 at 1:00 pm.

Quite awhile ago Steve Jobs said that Apple wouldn’t offer a netbook, but today he announced 2 new MacBook Air laptops that sure do resemble one (especially the 11 inch version). Available today in 11 and 13 inch models with prices starting at $999, these updated MBAs are both thinner and lighter than their predecessor. A physical hard drive is no longer an option, it’s flash storage all the way. After my experience last week trying to make the iPad do the work of a laptop and failing, the 11 inch MBA looks really good to me right now. While watching the stream Back to Mac event this afternoon, I was close to whipping out the old Visa card to do the deed. Then I remembered that I have no trips planned for the rest of the year and that I already have a MacBook Pro. Besides that, I’m not finished trying to make the iPad bend to my will to become a laptop replacement for traveling. After being chastised a little in my article for mainly complaining about application glitches, I’m going to see if I can redeem myself and solve my problems. But what about the rest of you? How many of you have or are thinking of buying one of the new MacBook Airs? If so, which size?

Filed in categories: iPhone, iPad, iPod related, Laptops and Gear, News

Tagged: Apple, iPad, Macbook Air, Spotlight Gadgets

Apple mates an iPad with a MacBook Air originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 20, 2010 at 4:54 pm.

Engadget’s been invited to an Apple Event on Oct 20th, at 10am PT. As you can see from the invite, there’s a Lion hiding behind that logo making folks think Apple will preview ‘Lion’: The next version of the Mac OS. Hopefully new Mac hardware will make the rounds too, like a redesigned Mac Pro which still looks pretty much like a G5 from the outside. I’m also hopeful Apple’s redesigned Air will show up, which was rumored to have an 11″ screen. Engadget’ll be blogging the event live, so check them out next Wednesday for the minute-by-minute starting at 10am PT.

Filed in categories: News

Tagged: Apple, News

Back to the Mac Event Oct 20th originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 15, 2010 at 5:00 pm.

Wondering what makes that new AppleTV 2 tick? iFixit has the goods, taking apart Apple’s new unit and finding out some of the specs that have remained unsaid until now. Some of the new details: The AppleTV ( ATV2 ) does have the A4 chip, with 256MB of RAM, 8GB of flash memory, and an iPhone/iPad/Touch connector inside on the board thats unused. And I’m digging the fact the AC adapter is built into the unit too.

Check out their website for the details and pictures: iFixit ATV2 Teardown.

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear, iPhone, iPad, iPod related

Tagged: Apple, ATV2

New AppleTV Cracked Open by iFixit originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 30, 2010 at 8:30 am.

Apple’s released a new version of its Remote app for the iPad/iPhone/Touch family, and it’s bringing some long asked-for updates. The biggest one is support for the large iPad screen, making this a true iPad app finally. The other big feature is the Retina Display upgrade, making everything look great on the iPhone 4. Besides that, there’s speculation that it adds the new features needed for the upgraded ATV that’s just started shipping. It’s free to grab at the Apple iTunes App Store

Filed in categories: iPhone, iPad, iPod related, News

Tagged: Apple, iOS, Remote

Apple Remote 2.0 originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 28, 2010 at 8:40 pm.

Apple had the iPhone 4 ‘AntennaGate’ conference today, talking about the iPhone 4′s problems. According to reports, Steve Jobs talked about how all cellular phones have the same antenna problem and he even demonstrated multiple cell phone models showing the ‘death-grip’ problem on stage. After discussing how this isn’t limited to the iPhone, Apple did admit some people might not be happy and here’s how they’re going to try to satisfy everyone…

In order to help stop the signal degradation, Apple will now give everyone a free case for the iPhone 4. They’re not going to be shipping bumpers to everyone, Apple says they cannot manufacture them fast enough, so Apple will offer multiple case designs. If someone already bought a new Bumper™, Apple will refund the money. They’re setting this up on the web next week, where you’ll be able to apply on Apple.com. In addition, they will allow anyone to return their iPhone 4 for a full refund for 30 days without re-strocking fee or Wireless contract cancelation fees. Between the firmware upgrade ( 4.0.1 ) and the free case, I hope this spells the end to ‘AntennaGate’. What’s everyone think about this latest development with the iPhone 4?

Note: The picture is from Apple’s antenna performance lab, and is not a special torture chamber they setup for iPhone detractors.

Check out more info on Apple’s SmartPhone Antenna page:

Smartphone Antenna Performance

If you’d like to see a live blog of the conference, this is the one I watched, check out Engadget:

Live from Apple’s iPhone 4 Press Conference.

Filed in categories: iPhone, iPad, iPod related

Tagged: Apple, iPhone

iPhone 4: AntennaGate – The Conference originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on July 16, 2010 at 9:55 pm.

Apple recently announced an update to the Mac mini, their diminutive desktop computing device.  It now boasts an iMac-style aluminum body and several other new features, including an HDMI port and SD card reader.

• 2.4GHz or 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, with a 1066MHz frontside bus and 3MB of L2 cache
• Up to 8GB of memory (accessed through a removable bottom panel)
• 320GB or 500GB hard drive
• NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics with 48 processing cores and 256MB of shared video memory
• Mac OS X Snow Leopard
• All-new, 1.4-inch-thin recyclable aluminum unibody enclosure
• Built-in power “brick”, now just a power cord only
• HDMI port
• Mini DisplayPort
• SD card reader
• 4x USB 2.0 ports
• FireWire port
• Ethernet port
• Audio in/out ports
• Front slot-loading SuperDrive DVDs and CDs
• Starts at $699

Filed in categories: Desktop Computer Gear, News

Tagged: Apple, Mac mini

Mac mini gets a new body and more originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on June 15, 2010 at 9:47 am.

Just this afternoon, Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the much-rumored newest generation Apple smartphone, now officially-named iPhone 4, during his keynote speech at WWDC 2010.  He began by stating, “There are over 100 new features, but I’m going to cover 8. The first one? An all new design.”  I’m sure there will be more detail revealed about all of this over the next several weeks, but here’s a rundown.

• 9.3 mm thick – 22% thinner than iPhone 3GS
• Glass front and back
• Stainless steel case perimeter which acts as part of the antenna system
• Micro SIM card tray
• Front-facing camera
• LED flash on rear camera
• “Retina Display” – same 3.5 inch size, but 960 x 640, 4x the pixel density of iPhone 3GS and 78% of the pixels on the iPad
• Apple-designed A4 processor chip
• Larger battery than iPhone 3GS for increased usage time
• Quad band HSDPA, 7.2Mbps
• Dual microphones
• 802.11n WiFi
• New gyroscope linked to compass and accelerometer for “six-axis” input control
• 5 megapixel camera with backside illuminated sensor
• Records 720p HD video at 30fps
• iMovie for iPhone (in App Store for $4.99) to edit video right on the phone
• iPhone OS 4 operating system–now re-named iOS 4–including previously unveiled features like app multi-tasking, folders for apps, unified email inbox with message threading
• Micrsoft’s Bing added alongside Yahoo! and Google search engines
• iBooks for iPhone – wireless download, syncs to iPad or iPod Touch
• iAd – “emotion + interactive” ads
• FaceTime video calling – no setup, WiFi only, iPhone 4 to iPhone 4
• Available in black and white
• $199 for 16Gb, $299 for 32Gb
• AT&T upgrade offer – if your contract expires anytime in 2010, you can upgrade to iPhone 4
• On sale June 24 (pre-orders start June 15)
• Accessories – a dock; a “bunker” case in various colors for $29.99

Also announced, iOS 4 free upgrade for iPhone 3GS and latest-gen iPod Touch available “soon” (possibly June 21).

And, only a few minutes ago, Apple updated its website to feature iPhone 4.

[Info above from engadget LiveBlog.]

Filed in categories: iPhone, iPad, iPod related, Miscellaneous, News

Tagged: Apple, iPhone, iPhone 4

iPhone 4 and more unveiled at WWDC 2010 originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on June 7, 2010 at 4:02 pm.

Remember when you were a little kid and there was a special toy that you really wanted for Christmas. You would constantly look at pictures and read about the toy causing your anticipation grow and grow in the months before the holidays. Then when the time arrived, you would be too excited to sleep as you hoped the toy would be under the tree when you woke up the next morning. Yesterday’s Apple iPad coming out party was kind of like that for me. It seems like we’ve been waiting to get our hands on this mythical gadget for years and now it’s finally here. Does it live up to the hype? Dave Rees and I are here to let you know our thoughts on Apple’s most anticipated gadget so far.

My comments are in Black and Dave’s are in Blue italics.

I have to admit it, I lost an hour or so of sleep Friday night. Just as Julie described it, a kid’s anticipation of a long awaited Christmas gift. But the more silly thing was that after using it the first day, I lost more sleep Saturday night because I actually knew what I got to play with come Sunday morning.

Hardware Specifications

Processor: 1GHz Apple A4 custom-designed, high-performance, low-power system-on-a-chip
Wireless and cellular features:
Wi-Fi model: 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR technology
Wi-Fi + 3G model: UMTS/HSDPA (850, 1900, 2100 MHz), GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz), Data only3, Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n), Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR technology
Capacity: 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB flash drive
Display: 9.7-inch (diagonal) 1024×768, 132 ppi LED
Battery: Built-in 25-watt-hour rechargeable lithium-polymer battery, Up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching video, or listening to music, Up to 9 hours of surfing the web using 3G data network (3G model), Charging via power adapter or USB to computer system
Size: 9.56 x 7.47 x0.5 inches (242.8 x 189.7 x 13.4 mm)
Weight: 1.5 pounds (0.68 kg) Wi-Fi model, 1.6 pounds (0.73 kg) Wi-Fi + 3G model

Package Contents

iPad
AC adapter
USB charge / sync cable
Getting started card, warranty info and 2 Apple stickers

Before we get started on the iPad hardware tour, I thought I’d show a couple of images to give everyone a quick size perspective. Most of the images in this review can be clicked to see a full size version.

When I first learned the dimensions of the iPad a few months ago, I was disappointed because I felt it was going to be too large for me. I wanted something more Kindle sized. But now that I have the iPad in hand, the size is actually close to perfect for ebook reading, surfing, etc. Having such a large display is great.

I was a bit disappointed as well when Apple announced the iPad’s form-factor. I also thought it was going to be too large. I was hoping for something 2-3 times the size of the iPhone/Touch. But in retrospect, all that would have been is a jumbo Touch. I have to agree, the iPad’s size and form is very nice and really could be the ideal device to fill the gap between laptop and iPhone/Touch.

Hardware

The iPad is very solid, it feels like a giant iPhone or iPod Touch. It does not flex, creak or crack at all if you try to perform a gadgeteer squeeze test on it. The display is glass with a fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating. Don’t let that geeky feature fool you though, it still attracts smudges and prints.

I love the solid feel of the iPad (although, I am glad Julie did the gadgeteer squeeze test on her iPad and not mine). After only one day, my screen is very smudged. Extra smudges or not, I will definitely be using a screen protector as soon as they hit the streets.

Like the iPhone and iPod Touch, the front surface is completely flat and just has the Home button. It’s unfortunate that there is such a wide bezel though. I do wish that the display was edge to edge instead of having a 3/4in Black border around it.

I kind of like the black bezel, it is the ideal location to rest my thumbs when I am not touching the active screen.

That’s a good point!

The back and sides are made of a brushed aluminum that is almost identical to the unibody Macbooks. I mentioned in my first impression article that I’m really happy that Apple decided not to use any chrome accents on the iPad. Even the large Apple logo isn’t in chrome. It’s actually what I think is Black glass.

The brushed aluminum back of the iPad is MUCH nicer than the scratch-prone back of the iPhone or Touch. Hopefully Apple uses the same type of back on the next generation of iPhone and Touch.

The top has a small On/Off Sleep/Wake button that is slightly raised so it’s easy to find with your finger and has great tactile feedback. On the other corner is a 3.5mm stereo headphone jack and next to it is the microphone.

On the bottom edge you’ll find the standard dock / charge connector along with the speaker.

I found the dock / charger connector very tight to insert and remove the sync cable. But I am sure it will become easier as it breaks in. The speaker is surprising nice. Not loud enough to watch a movie or worthy enough to listen to music. But does produce good enough sound for playing a game or two.

My connector doesn’t seem overly tight, but I did have an issue this morning when I tried to charge via USB with an iPhone cable. For some reason it would not charge via a Dell laptop no matter which USB connector I used. The same cable works fine with my iPhone 3GS on the same machine though.

A volume up/down rocker switch is located on the Right side along with an screen rotation lock so that you can keep the iPad in landscape mode if you like. This is great feature for those of you that enjoy reading on your side in bed.

Apple including a physical screen rotation lock was brilliant. I read, play games and dance the Net on my Touch while laying on my side in bed almost nightly. I was able to lock my eBooks from rotating through Stanza’s user’s preferences. But almost all the other applications flipped back and forth depending on the angle I had my Touch. So, this new feature is a definite iPad plus for me.

As soon as you turn on the iPad, the gorgeous display will capture your attention. It’s big, it’s bright, it’s crisp and it’s vibrant. Interacting with it feels the same as with your iPhone or iPod Touch, only faster. Flicking, scrolling and tapping operations are crazy fast. My iPhone now feels a tiny bit slower in comparison.

The iPad’s IPS screen is impressive. Julie is right on the money, it’s mammoth, it’s bright, it’s crisp it’s vibrant, and it’s highly responsive.

The iPad is just blazing overall. It loads apps lickity split and surfing via WiFi is very very nice. It’s just too bad that it doesn’t support multi-tasking

The iPad is extremely zippy and responsive. The smaller applications open nearly immediately and the larger more complex ones (games), while taking a moment to open, play without a hiccup. As we all cross our fingers, hopefully Apple enables multi-tasking in iPhone/Touch/iPad OS 4.0.

Like many things about the iPad, the battery life is impressive as well. I (and many others ) have been putting my iPad through its paces; playing games, reading ebooks, using Safari, watching videos for many hours. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 5-6 hours on its first charge, draining the battery to just below 50%.

I am also finding that the iPad has very good battery life. I have been reading ebooks, surfing with safari, checking the app store, doing email, reading news through various news apps and my battery is at 61% after a day.

Software

Out of the box, the iPad has the basic core apps: Safari, Mail, Photos, iPod, Video, YouTube, Contacts, Calendar, Notes, Maps, Settings and App Store. They have all been updated to allow for the larger display with better layouts and features. We’re not going to go over all the changes to all the core apps, but here’s an overview of what we think about the updates on several of our most used apps.

Safari

First of all, Safari is fast! Pages load and render really quickly. The heck with special mobile site versions now, I will use the regular versions from now on. Like with the iPhone and Touch, if the font size is too small for you, you can use the pinch and spread finger gestures to zoom and shrink. You can also double tap on text to zoom.

Turning the display quickly rotates it. I am really loving using the iPad to browse my favorite sites. I haven’t run into any Flash issues with sites I visit, so I don’t have any complaints yet.

I completely agree how great the Net experience is on the iPad. The large screen, quick load time, and touch interface is definitely a pleasure to surf the Net.

Mail

I do not use my iPod Touch very often to check email because I have a Blackberry. But my hope with the iPad, is that it will replace my laptop on 50-75% of my travels, forcing me to use its Mail function regularly.

I am almost sure that I’ll stop carrying my Macbook Pro with me when I go on trips from now on. Especially after I get the SD card reader adapter so that I can use it to offload pictures that I might snap on vacation.

Notes

For those of you who find the iPhone/Touch’s keyboard frustratingly small, the iPad’s keyboard is nicely sized. The more I become accustom to it the easier and faster it is to input text.

After playing with it, I believe most people will discover their ideal text input method, whether it is using Apple’s dock/keyboard accessory, touch-typing, two thumbs, one finger or separate Bluetooth keyboard. I find the touch-typing is better suited for small hands/fingers and the two thumbs seems easier with larger hands.

I didn’t think I’d care about or like the onscreen keyboard since I’m a true touch typist, but I have been surprisingly happy with it. I have had little trouble touch typing with two hands (and my hands are not small). I had considered buying the wireless keyboard for the iPad, but now I think I might just keep with the minimalist attitude and use the screen.

Contacts

The contacts app is still very basic, but the new 2-page layout makes it a lot prettier to look at.

In my attempt to fully embrace the iPad, I am going to be importing all of my contacts from Lotus Notes to my MacBook’s Contacts.

I sync my contacts, calendar and email with Google

Calendar

The same goes with the Calendar app. It still has the same basic features, but the ability to see more info on a larger display makes it feel like a much nicer PIM tool.

iBooks

I’ve been dreaming of using the iPad as a full color, backlit eBook reader for a long time now. The Kindle and Nook are both very nice, but for my eyes, I need a backlit display.  Although my favorite reader app (Stanza) has yet to be updated for the iPad, my dream has come true. The free iBooks app with the built in book store is quite nice and of course is one of the big talking points about this new device. It has a really nifty page turning feature that makes you feel like you’re reading a real book. If it had a way to change the background and text color, I’d be happier though. I prefer a black background with grey letters.

Stanza is my most used app on my Touch. Up until Saturday, I used it daily to read my ebooks. It was definitely my ebook reader of choice, after trying most of the others I used Stanza almost exclusively. That said, Apple’s free iBook app is very polished and book-like. I will give Stanza HD a try when it finally hits the App Store but doubt I’ll go back after using iBooks.

Third Party Apps

There’s no way that Dave and I can cover all the updated full screen 3rd party apps that are now available at the app store, but here are a few screen shots to make you drool…

ABC, Pandora

TweetDeck, Marvel Comics Reader

USA Today, The Weather Channel

I have to tell you that I’m in love with the new apps. The prices might feel a bit high right now, but I have a feeling they will start to come down soon. Even so, all the ones I showed you above are FREE!

The new HD apps for the iPad are impressive, eye-popping and it has only been two months since the software developers received the iPad application tool. With the hardware now in their hands, I am sure the HD apps will only continue to become even more breathtaking.

Bottom Line

When it comes down to it, the iPad is really just an enormous iPod Touch and for that reason, many people might think it’s no big deal. But to me, it’s going to easily become an alternative to using my Macbook Pro on the couch at night or on the weekends. I always bring my Macbook upstairs to surf and read emails while I eat breakfast on the weekends or while I’m watching TV at night. I’ll now be using the iPad for those tasks because it’s just handier and the battery life will be a lot longer. It’s also going to replace my Macbook for trips. It’s prefect for email and surfing – the main tasks that I need while on a short trip or vacation.

I foresee myself using the iPad in place of my MacBook for those times/tasks Julie mentions but at my son’s karate class, baseball practice, kids jungle-gym time as well. Times and places where a laptop might be a bit politically incorrect but I believe the iPad, like the iPhone or a Blackberry is acceptable to occupy your time. I will also be taking my iPad in place of my MacBook on a majority of my personal and business trips; lightening my load by at least 3 pounds, easier access, and zero start up time.

My wife believes I have wasted my time and money on Apple’s latest tech-toy. But I completely disagree, the iPad will definitely fill the gap between iPhone/Touch and my MacBook, being used a majority of the time in place of both.

I’ve tried several tablet computers over the years and I have to say that I’ve never liked them because the interface wasn’t completely stylus, finger friendly. The iPad changes all that for me. This is the way tablet / large format mobile computing is meant to be.

I wholeheartedly agree with you. Typical tablet computers have been marketed as being more convenient, but they have never felt comfortable for me to use. The iPad on the other hand feels almost perfect. Before some of you roll your eyes, I know it’s not a full blown computer work horse, but for all the things that I will use it for, it’s an elegant solution.

The big deal for me is that it is almost unheard of for me to gush over a gadget. I didn’t do so with iPhone… Heck, I’ve gone back and forth several times liking it and not liking it. But that said, I have kept coming back to it because of the apps and ease of use. Now we have the iPad and I seriously can not contain my enthusiasm for it. I’m not lying when I say that this is the best gadget I’ve purchased so far. I really do love it.

Filed in categories: iPhone, iPad, iPod related, Reviews

Tagged: Apple, iPad

Apple iPad Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 5, 2010 at 8:44 pm.

Let’s suppose you have Mac and PC at home, a Windows Mobile or Nokia device in your pocket, a Google account with important Contacts and Calendar notes, a PSP device with your favorite games and you want all these devices and accounts to be synchronized. Of course you can copy each item and entry, from your Mac to your PC, duplicate Contacts or Calendar entries from your WinMobile device to your Google account, but… this an old fashioned approach and will take a long time. Or, you can install several sync tools in order to have all information up-to-date… In fact, synchronizing all these devices and accounts can be a real headache and you can barely imagine how much will it cost. But not any longer! With SyncMate you can easily sync various data in Mac with Windows Mobile or Nokia phones, other Mac or PC computers, PSP, USB flash drives, Google accounts and even back up data online! Keep reading for contest info.

SyncMate is offered in two editions, Free and Expert

SyncMate Free Edition enables you to sync Address Book and iCal entries in your Mac with their analogues in supported devices and back up these data to Online Backup account. Synchronization with Google Contacts and Google Calendar is also available. With SyncMate you can even sync your Mac Address Book and iCal with Android device! Once you’ve synced these data between Mac and Google account, it will be automatically synchronized between your Google account and Android phone (if auto sync settings are enabled in your Google account).
SyncMate Expert Edition provides all users with full access to all synchronization features. Sync iTunes&Video, iPhoto, Safari and Firefox Bookmarks, Entourage and Mail notes, ToDo’s, Mail and even separate folders between your Mac and supported devices or accounts; create, send or delete SMS messages right on your Mac computer. With Expert Edition all users can even install any .cab files to Windows Mobile devices right from Mac computer. Moreover, with SyncMate you can sync data in your Mac and supported devices automatically (AutoSync option).  SyncMate Expert also supports real-time synchronization – once you have made any changes to files or folders on your Mac or connected device, they will be immediately synchronized (option is offered for Folders plugin and available for synchronization with USB flash drives, other Macs, Sony PSP, Windows PCs only). You can sync your Mac with supported devices via Wi-Fi, USB, Bluetooth, Ethernet or Internet. OS compatibility: Windows Mobile 5, 6, 6.1, 6.5 devices, Nokia S40 phones; Maс OS X version must be 10.4, 10.5 or 10.6. SyncMate is your all-in-one sync tool! No need to purchase several sync solutions – just download SyncMate and be sure, all your devices will be perfectly synchronized! More than that, with SyncMate you can sync all the devices mentioned above with each other (via your Mac)! You can find detailed information about SyncMate here http://mac.eltima.com/sync-mac.html.

How to win a copy of SyncMate

Prizes – 5 copies of SyncMate Expert Edition

How to win -  Between now and 3/26/10 Midnight EST, leave a comment to this post telling us what devices you’d like to sync together. On 3/27/10 five people will be chosen at random to win a copy of the software.

Rules – 1 entry per person, open to anyone in the world.

Filed in categories: News

Tagged: Apple, Mac OS X

Win a copy of SyncMate for the Mac! originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 23, 2010 at 11:31 am.

Amazon has released the long-anticipated “Kindle for Mac” app today.  The application, which is free, allows users with or without a Kindle to access the 450,000 e-books from Amazon’s Kindle Store.

If you are a Kindle user, you will experience a seamless integration between your Kindle device and the application on your Mac (Intel-based machines only).  You will be able to access your Kindle library when you don’t have your Kindle with you, and your most previously read page (whether read on your Kindle device or your Mac) will always be synchronized using Amazon’s Whispernet service. System requirements after the jump.

• A Mac with a 500MHz Intel processor or faster
• At least 512MB of RAM
• Screen resolution of 800×600 or greater
• Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) and 10.6 (Snow Leopard)
• 100MB of available disk space

[Courtesy of Engadget]

Filed in categories: eBook Readers and Gear, News

Tagged: Apple, ebook, Kindle

“Kindle for Mac” App Now Available originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 18, 2010 at 9:07 am.

Love the Apple Magic Mouse but hate the super-flat design?  This simple fix just might be the trick.

For $10, the Magic Mouse, Fixed is a simple white palm rest that attaches to your Magic Mouse with a suction cup.  That’s it.

Does it work?  I’ve got one on order and hope to find out soon!

Filed in categories: Desktop Computer Gear, Laptops and Gear, News

Tagged: Apple, Mouse, Spotlight Gadgets

Get a grip on the Magic Mouse originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 17, 2010 at 12:36 pm.