Tag Archives: iPhone

iPad Day one

Posted by on May 6, 2010 No comments

My soul is now sitting in a neat little jar on Steve Jobs shelf.  For my birthday Sarah gave me permission to get an iPad.  I picked it up on Tuesday night on my way home from work.  (yeah, I know my birthday isn’t until NEXT Friday but my inner Verruca took over.  I was orginally thinking of getting the low end 3G model just to have the capability to do OTA internet when I needed it, but after a long dialogue with myself I realized that, I have a 3G phone for things like that and that extra $130 could be used for better things! (Like buying my wife flowers for being nice enough to tolerate my gadget addictions.)  So I ended up buying the 16gb WiFi only model.  They way I figure it, I do a lot of cloud computing so space on the device isn’t really important to me since most of my files are already out there.

So, when I got home I connected up to iTunes and, after the long install of the updated iTunes (I guess I should have used it more) I managed to get my first batch of apps loaded and started the casual using!  So I want to break this down into a few catagories for what I would be using the device for:  Reading/Browsing, Media (Videos/Music/Photos), Games, Apps.

Reading/Browsing:
This is probably the main reason for getting the iPad.  While I have a smallish laptop, it’s still a pain to sit on the couch with it and read, not to mention being more upwardly mobile.  So with Sarah’s Kindle account and the Kindle app now allow me to access all the books she has been buying.  So now I can finish Lost Symbol while she can still keep the kindle.  So far the reading seems ok.  It’s not as easy on the eyes as the e-ink screen but not as harsh as a computer monitor.  The web browsing is awesome on the device.  Most of the news sites I read came through just fine, even with the lack of flash.  Many of the site that use embeds have been using you-tube, and since you-tube has started using HTML5, you don’t miss much.  As a side note on the browsing, I downloaded the app Goodreader for use with PDF’s and ported the PDF’s I have for D&D.  They look amazing!  Very easy to use and search through and easy to read!

Media:
I didn’t plan on using the media all that much on the device but it looks pretty good for what it can do.  The Netflix app streams perfectly, though I haven’t had enough time to sit and watch a movie.  Not to mention,  could just watch on the Xbox.  I loaded a few episodes of DS9 on it that I had ripped in for my droid, so the resolution is still 320×240, but they still look good.  For music I copied over the mandatory albums of Journey, The Cure, and Depeche Mode, but again, I have streaming audio on my Droid (and the Pandora app on the iPad is cool).  So honestly, while I may use it every now and then, the Media side of the device is just there.

Games:
The iPhone/iPad/iPod platform has started to hold it’s own in the gaming world, and the iPad versions of the games really shine because of the size of the screen and the power of the device.  I told myself that if I got an iPad, I would get the Plants Vs. Zombies game (HD version) and I don’t regret it.  On the iPad it’s exactly the same as playing it on the PC and it’s easy!  Outside of that I am sticking with the freebies until I find something that’s really good.  Even the free games run and look great.

Apps:
Ahh the other reason for getting the iPad.  As I have stated many times, there are a lot of developers of applications that are only doing work in the apple environment.  While Android is the “up and coming”, it’s still not there yet, and I want access to the available apps that are out there.  Yes, we have an iPod in the house, but that’s Andrew’s and he rarely lets me play with it. Given that I have my Droid, I will have access to all that is Android, and now that I have the iPad, I have access to all that is Apple.  There really are apps for just about anything too.  There is only one little problem….. The iPhone/iPod apps are very small.  the iPad has a beautiful screen and when you run the iPhone/iPod apps, it’s tiny.  Yes there is a 2x button that doubles the size, but the pixels look bad and often it makes the app blury.  Case in point, the Facebook app.  There is no native iPad app for Facebook so I get to use the iPhone one for notifications and photos, but everything else is through Safari.  The iPhone Facebook app just looks silly when stretched out to iPad size.

The last two nights I have been able to sit on the couch, browse my Google reader and catch up on my news sites, sit with the family while we watched TV, and occasionally look up some info.  I am very happy with the purchase(present?) and will be doing much much more with it in the future.

Trying to resist.

Posted by on April 4, 2010 No comments

So back in January we saw the announcement of the iPad and now the time of the tablet is upon us.  I wrote up a small preview back when it was announced and mentioned a few of the issues I have with the device.  Mostly it came down to some of it’s capability and it’s price, two things that I still hold as the primary reasons for holding off on buying one.  The problem is that there are so many reasons to check one out.

Let me explain.  I have a Droid, and before that I had a Blackberry Storm.  I am on the Verizon network and have no plans to change that anytime soon.  My phone plays music and runs apps and plays videos just finr so the things I would use an iPod for are all covered…..except the litany of custom iPhone and iPod apps that are available.  It would appear that since Apple was first to really grasp the App market mentality that many of the primary developers have embraced that as the high visability area to produce their applications.  Due to this, most of the more utilitarian and high quality apps are produced for that platform.  Not to say that there are not any good apps for the Android market, there are, but they are still playing catch up.

Because of this, I have been kind of yearning for the ability to make use of some of these apps.  Until now, the only way to acomplish this has been via the iPod.  Andrew has an iPod and I have toyed around with his for a while, but it would be wrong of me to monopolize it.  So, that means my option has been go out at buy myself an iPod touch.  But again, my phone does more of that and so getting yet another small touch screen device for only a little functionality doesn’t seem like a wise use of funds.

Enter the iPad.  So over the last 4 months there has been a lot of talk about what the iPad will be able to do, as well as an ongoing war between Apple and Adobe over Flash.  (FYI, for those interesting, I am in the Flash camp.  It’s damn hard to do things on the Internet without flash.) Other things that have gone on are all about showing how many new and cool things the iPad can do.  From Specific games designed for the larger screen to the ability to stream Netflix Watch now movies.  (Which personally, I think is huge.) So now we have a device that is 1/2 way between a netbook and a iPod, that has full access to all the apps available to the iPod and iPhone crowd.

Gizmodo has a great set of articles that covers why you should, and shouldn’t get the iPad.  I am still riding the “Not gonna get one” side of the fence, but from what I have seen as of late, it’s becoming increasingly difficult.  The biggest issue, of course, is still the price.  I can’t see dropping $500 on something like that just yet.  I also have a feeling that we may see a price drop within the first few months.  I have changed my original estimate of $300, to a good solid $400 for something of this worth.  So a simple $100 price drop on it would totally entice me to buy it.  It is just still too early to jump on the bandwagon and grab one.

But the gadget guy in my is screaming in the back of my head.  It’s gonna be a long month or two.

This IS the Droid you’re looking for.

Posted by on February 20, 2010 No comments

Well, I have been very remiss about my duties and haven’t written anything lately about things.  A lot of that has been taken up by Star Trek Online.  I am happy to announce that I have made it to Commander and have picked up my latest ship.  I resisted the urge to name it the U.S.S. Tennis Ball due to the giant sphere that makes up the Saucer, but once I hit Captain I will get the Intrepid class and will feel much better about the ship.  But enough about STO.  I am hoping to get in some more Bioshock 2 and possibly the DLC for Assassin’s Creed 2 this weekend, but we’ll see.  I did want to spend some time to discuss one of my latest acquisitions, the Motorola Droid on Verizon Wireless.  I know this is a bit of a departure from the Game reviews but I wanted to keep this open for various tech stuff as well.  I am quite the Gadget guy.

So I picked up the Droid just before the new year and have used it extensively for the last 2 months.  Before that I was using the Blackberry Storm.  I didn’t have too many qualms about the Storm, and for a while I was seriously contemplating picking up the Storm2, but a number of friends talked me into the Droid and I am VERY happy with the switch.  My requirements for a smart-phone were pretty simple.  I wanted a full screen touch interface that would run many of the main stream popular apps and could be used for it’s GPS and mapping.  Oh, and it had to be on Verizon.  (Sorry iPhone) Those were the main points which both the Storm and the Droid did very well.  The main difference was simply ease of use.  Compared to each other, the Droids screen was easier to use, there was no more full screen pushing, the Camera was better, the apps were better and more plentiful, and the overall feel was just smoother than the Storm.  So I switched.

The Droid runs Google’s Android 2.0.1, though I am currently awaiting the arrival of 2.1 to be in line with the Nexus 1.  Personally, I love Google.  I am an avid Google user for nigh on everything they put out.  Honestly even my older blog was even running on Blogger, which is a Google service!  I type out these posts using Google Docs, I pull much of my info from Google Reader, etc., etc..  So the Droid and I were a natural fit.  One of the things I love about it is that the applications, as of now at least, are about 60% free and 40% paid.  I haven’t yet needed to purchase a single app for it.  At the end of the post I will give a list of my Most used apps but in the meantime, lets get to the real loves and hates.

Yahoo’s

  • How Many Fart apps are there?!?! The library of applications is seriously starting to rival the iPhone App store.  Every time I load it it’s like a good 20 min of browsing and thinking “Oh, I could use that!”  Some of them have even made it into the Most used!
  • I see everything! The screen is amazing!  It’s plenty large that I can sit and watch a show it on comfortably and see everything clearly.  I was concerned switching from the Storm’s screen because I wasn’t sure I would be able to manage the Just touch, vs. the Touch and press in of the Storm.  Long story made short, it’s 150% better
  • The Power of the Sun in the palm of my Hand! Google handles everything.  My G-mail, my voicemail, my news. it’s all at a touch and it runs amazing.
  • My Phone is Faster than my PC! Ok, maybe not, but this thing is damn fast.  I have downloaded a few tech demos on it and even running 3D apps it’s fast.  One of the big issues I had with the Storm was that if I needed to shut down for any reason and restart, it would take about 5-7 minutes!  No, Not kidding there.  The droid takes about 30 seconds.
  • I can see my house from here. Google Maps added the Navigation Suite to their app which makes it rival even the best of the Garmins and TomTom’s.  (Not my TomTom though, because it’s already Retarded).  Adding in the street view and Satilite view to a Navigation system is Genius!
  • Making it my own. One of my favorite things is the ability to pick the functions I want for the phone.  If I don’t like the app that runs the SMS function, I can change it.  Don’t like the home screens?  Replace the Home program!  It’s like someone made “Pimp My Phone”

AOL’s

  • So, Many, Keyboards! This may be a bit different for different people, but I hate the hardware keyboard!  I have only used it on occasion and the feel of it just isn’t right.  I find myself using the on screen keyboard much much more.  I think the last time I used the HW keyboard was for writing out that iPad post last month.
  • What have you done to my Face….book! The app for facebook sucks.  There I said it.  The blackberry app and the iPhone app are both amazing, but the android app is trash.  They had better fix it soon.
  • Wheres my App? The organization of the App Market is Really Really bad.  Trying to find something through browsing will take hours of scanning, the rating system is good, but you can’t really sort based on it.  The categories need to be a little more granular with a few more sub categories.  Also, having something Web based or even just PC based that we could browse through would be awesome.  The iPhone has iTunes and the App Store there, we need that!
  • Which Android do you have? This complaint is more with the Android system itself.  It seems that every company wants to make their own flavor of Android.  The nice thing about the iPhone is that it’s standard across the board.  With Android you have the HTC version, the Motorola version, and even the various version of Motorola’s android!  It would be nice to just standardize the OS and let the companies just alter with App’s.  That way when an newer version of the OS comes out, everyone gets it!

Ok so here are some of my Favorite apps and why I like them:

G-mail, Maps, Voice, Goggles, Sky Map, Etc. Basically the Android version of Google Pack.  I can’t just narrow down each one because you really just need all of them.

GDocs – Ties directly in to Google Docs for easy Document Management!

Bic Concert Lighter – Ok, while it’s not one of my most used apps I felt the need to mention….What the Hell man!  the iPhone gets a Zippo and we get a MuthaF&%^$’n BIC?!?!

Where – Where is great for local gas prices, and Yowza is integrated for great deals!  As far as a “what’s around me” app, there are a few others that are a bit less kludgey (and yes, that’s a technical term)

iHeartRadio – An easy way to listen to broadcast radio from anywhere!

Movies/Fandango – Ok so it’s two apps that do the same damn thing.  Movie listing and ticket buying.  This is because some theaters are picky when it comes to buying tickets.  Movies gets a bump up though because of Netflix integration!

Sweet Dreams – This one is a new app that I am using a lot.  it allows me to set a time for the phone to be silent and when to wake up.  I am always forgetting to put my phone on silent when I head to bed.

wpToGo/Wordpress – This ties into my WordPress site so I can post on the go.  There’s two apps and I am still waffling on which I like.

Seesmic – Twitter app.  I liked this one because it was simple!

LastFM/Pandora – Streaming radio.  I am a big fan of Pandora because it gets the stations genres right, but LastFm has a good variety of stock stations.

FourSquare – Social check in app.  Lets me announce where I am to friends.

Home++ – This is a Home screen replacement.  It allows for 3-7 home screens, and a dock at the bottom for most used utilities.  It’s a must.

Jewels – Bejeweled game.  It’s a great time waster but Sarah is kicking my ass at it right now.

KeyRing – All those shopping discount cards in one place!

SMS Popup – SMS Augmenting program.  Lets the SMS messages pop up so I can read instantly and reply instantly.

NewsRob – It’s a Google Reader app that syncs with Reader so I can back and forth from the PC and the Droid.

Qik – Streaming video program, but streaming out.  I can capture video and stream it live to the web.  Where was this all my life!

ShopSavvy – I love this app.  You can scan a bar code on something and it will tell you where you can get the best deal.  Searches online as well as local stores.  Saved me like 20$ because Best Buy matched a price based on this!

WeatherBug – Weather app, pretty simple.

Wow, so this post ended up being huge!  Hopefully this will help anyone who is looking at what phone they may want to check out.  Now, back to gaming!

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