Zagg keyboard for the iPad2

I finally got my Zagg keyboard for my iPad 2 and am very pleased with it. From a pros perspective, it connected with no trouble at all and types very well. I have another blue tooth keyboard for my droid X and while it works well, the set up was a little painful. I like the fit over my iPad, as it completely covers the device much like a turtle shell, so while in the case / keyboard, it is completely protected. From a con perspective, I wish the device could nest in the case face up when you are not using the keyboard, and the rise of the case means adjusting your hand position a bit to avoid having it rub the sides of your hands while you type. The keys are also a bit smaller than a normal keyboard, again, requiring a slight adjustment to typing style. On balance, I think it is a great device, making the iPad even more useful. I have only had it a couple of days now so the real test will be a couple of months from now when we see how much use it has gotten. At this point, the keyboard case has replaced my original iPad smart cover as the default cover and I am typing this review using the keyboard.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

iPad and Kindle revisited

I posted about the Kindle vs. iPad discussion some time ago, and am now in a position to revisit that post with experience with both devices. One of the points I made at that time, was the dual use of my iPod touch and Kindle, using the iPod touch as a reference while reading something on the Kindle. This still holds true, but the real question I had was if I had both (iPad), which would I prefer to read on.

From a library management perspective, and from a rich user interface perspective, my iPad blows away my Kindle. When I want to read stories to my little kids from an eBook – no question, it’s the iPad. We have fun with the pictures and even interactive nature of some of the kids books. For graphics rich content, or for illustrated material, again, the iPad is the clear and compelling winner.

The Kindle shines in its core competency. If I want to sit down and read a book, I pick up my Kindle. If I want a bed time read that will allow me to wind down, it is paper or it is the Kindle.

I do have the Kindle app on my iPad so I can read the same library there, but I also have the Google books, Overdrive for the library books, and the Nook app among others. Short summary – both devices excel, though for different purposes. Both can comfortably co-exist and compliment each others functionality. The Kindle is hands down the superior device for reading books, while the iPad is the clear winner for interactive content.

Links:

• Kindle Device
• iPad Device

Customize your side switch

The little side switch, just next to the volume control, can be customized by you, to act as a rotation lock or mute. Now, it seems like an illusion of choice to me since all you have to do to mute is hold the volume rocker for a second or two and you have muted your iPad.

The rotation lock is a GREAT feature. Yes, I just went Tony the tiger and yelled great. I was quite pleased to discover that enabling that little feature made a variety of tasks much more comfortable, including watching movies and reading in bed. When I would shift position and the ever helpful iPad would go and rotate on me, I had to flip it flat again and let it readjust. With the rotation lock on, no worries, it holds a stable position regardless of your hand shifting.

An additional valuable bonus I found is when you are trying to view pictures / documents that are rotated incorrectly. Typically, the scenario would be that if I don’t want to turn my head sideways, I have to open my “rotate pictures” app, edit the photo and save it. With the rotation lock, I just lock it, flip it, read it and move on.

Short tip, but very important tip. Productivity enhancements are a favorite of mine, and I trust yours.

iPad 2 Review

As I sat to write this up, I did a little additional research and found an article I quite liked that summarized the review well. I suggest you check out the PC Mag article by Tim Gideon found here http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2381687,00.asp

Following on with his article, the summary he came up with still largely stands even though the article referenced came out March 11 of 2011 and it is now May 12th, which in the world of tablet technology is almost a year of compressed time. The core point that comes up repeatedly is that there are a large number of players, a smaller number of competitors and even fewer contenders. The final tally of contenders really becomes about the Zoom and the iPad with a few contenders pushing their way in such as potentially Samsung, though at this point, they are not on the court of play.

What differentiates the iPad?

The clear advantage is a year head start for Apple on figuring out what works and what doesn’t. One might easily argue that if that be the case, wouldn’t the new comers leapfrog the first mover with all the lessons publically learned regarding UI and behavior and while it makes sense, it turned out to not yet be the case. Apple moved the ball forward as well with the next rev of the iOS and really, the biggest change was multi tasking if I had to pick one.

I have a friend who picked up the Zoom and really tried hard to get me to go that route as well. I have to say, it was my preferred direction as I already use a droid X as my primary personal phone and I like the idea of the Android OS. That said, it is clear which OS is in rev 1 and which is not when you play with both devices side by side. The iPad is overall, more intuitive and an easier UI experience. (subjective, of course) and from a hardware perspective, the iPad has a much better feel in the hand, though again, this is subjective.

Rather than repeat all the stats Tim quotes in his solid review, I will just add a a few points that jump out at me and suggest you read his review or follow the links I provide at the end.

I am disappointed that the iPad does not offer SD expansion and you have to use the proprietary components to achieve what I think should be built in. Apple does provide the ability to connect to pretty much whatever you need with their components, but it is with additional purchases rather than “just works” by plugging it in. If you want to Jailbreak your iPad, you have even more expansion options and you can in fact, connect it to a USB drive or almost anything else if you desire. I have not seen the need to do so yet with mine, though I am told it is easy and reversible and that seems to be the general consensus. Until I have a clear need, I am not playing with that bit yet and so far, all I have needed to do, I have been able to do with a stock machine.

With the disappointment in expandability aside, I am finding that the way I use the device is making not as much of a limitation as it might be, with the connectivity to pull over what I want when I need it generally working well. Sharing media is the topic of a pending post so I will talk through why you may only need a small portion of your music library and the same can be said for photos and video.

Remember, your usage will be guided by your particular situation and device collection, so don’t rely on anyone else to tell you the best way to use it without experimenting yourself.

Reference Links

• Apple iOS update Summary
• Official iPad accessories
• PC Mag review
• iPad official site
• Motorola Zoom site

Editing and selecting text on the iPad 2

When I started really using my iPad to edit text, the single biggest frustration I had was in editing text that I had typed incorrectly and could not get to easily without arrow keys I was used to. I ended up deleting a lot of double words to replace the n character I had hit instead of a space.

It sounds a little lame for a complaint I suppose, but if you are there dealing with it – I am sure your frustration level rose just like mine. Luckily I figured out pretty quick that there is a simple way to manage this – actually 2 methods that generally work well.

1. pinch and zoom – that was what I found when I searched on the topic. It works IF the app you are in supports it and the context is right. This is not the best way to do it though IMO
2. Point to the insertion point you need and hold your finger down. If you long press, you will see a magnifying glass come up with a selector where your “cursor” is. This method allows you to get very precise insertion of your cursor and edit any text very easily.

Once you have selected the text, you are presented with a blue bar that lets you expand either direction or simply start typing.

If you choose to expand the selection, you can then click on the expanded selection to copy, paste, etc…

Simple, easy and effective. No arrow key needed. I wish I knew that when I first got the thing!

Take a screen shot with the iPad 2

As I am preparing a series of posts on the iPad I figured a quick one on how to do a screen shot would be a help for some.

To make a screen shot, you need to use the sleep / wake button at the top right corner of the iPad and the home button at the bottom center as shown below.

You will press the sleep / wake button and then home button at the bottom center.

When you do this key combo, you will hear an audible click and the screen shot will be captured to your camera role. Once it is there, you can do whatever you want with it, including copy it over to your desktop as needed by plugging in the iPad and mounting it as a drive.

A first screen shot I recommend is one that uses your notepad, or similar app to create a “return if found” screen shot that you then set as your lock screen wall paper. Put your name, phone number and email on the screen and ensure that it shows up clearly in the screen shot.

That gives anyone who may pick up your device the opportunity to identify the owner and get it back to you quickly. (assuming of course, good intent!). This leads to an additional comment to consider, which is the “find my iPad” option you should enable to allow remote location and wipe if needed, but more on that later.

iPad 2 cover - functional art

So I am really loving my iPad 2, and I just found a cover, made in the Netherlands, that is a attractive (more so) than the device it protects. The cover is made by Miniot and can be seen here.

The craftsmanship stands out, certainly, as does the functionality. I have the basic smart cover for the iPad and it works great, don't get me wrong. This is not a NEED, rather a want based on aesthetics and the very slight functional improvement. How cool is a wooden cover on the high tech iPad - function meets natural beauty. Nice work guys at Miniot.

Photo editing on the iPad

For editing photos on the iPad - the tablet surprisingly comes with no real options and the built in photo browser is good for only basic reviews of collections, not even cropping and rotating. I found a large number of free, limited function apps, but none compare to the paid (cheap) app, Photogene.

This app lets me edit, adjust curves, saturation, crop and more in a non destructive manner, leaving the original image intact and only permanently applying changes to exported images. The app is well worth the small fee for the functionality and is the go to editor now for me.

iPad 2

So I did it - I broke down and bought the iPad 2. It was a bit of an impulse buy, since it happened serendipitously that I was in Target when the shipment of 2 arrived. I took it as a sign and bought one and I am very happy with it. The unboxing was simple, the device, a cord and a plug. No user manual to much around with, just plug it into iTunes and go. The biggest struggle was what content to keep where, since even though I have the 64g model, it is no where near enough storage for even just my music, let alone all the other goodness. I settled on keeping a subset of my playlists on the iPad, the rest on my iPod touch and only moving over a subset of my photos and movies to keep room for the apps I want to use.

I'll throw up a few more posts as I work out the best configuration for this little gem, from office apps to photo apps and more. My goal is to keep the apps as low cost as possible, going with free wherever there is a good alternative.

As an eReader, it is great for magazine style reading and casual browsing, but I definitely prefer my kindle for prolonged reading. The eInk vs tablet display is no real comparison for long reading sessions and ease on the eyes. Overall - totally pleased and glad I went this direction even though I was certain I was headed for a Motorola device.

iPad compliments the Kindle?

I ran across an article today about the iPad and Kindle. While you may know about the Kindle app for the iPod, iPhone and iPad (among other devices) have you thought about owning both and if you will use the Kindle with an iPad? No? Well, time to start thinking about it. :) The article in Computerworld raises that question and makes a good case for both in parallel.

I use my iPod touch with my Kindle now, to look up references and notes while reading, especially on technical or theological reading. I don't yet have the iPad, but if I did, I can imagine continuing that pattern in a deeper way. Among the other points that are raised, the readability of the Kindle vs any other device is still king. I love the Kindle's ability to vanish in your hands while using it - it becomes like a paper book, only lighter and easier, and avoids the problems typical of electronics such as heat, battery life and glare. I do like the iPod for short stints reading and to bridge the times I don't have my Kindle, but for long reading sessions, the Kindle is the best.

Read the article yourself and see what you think, and if you already have both, let me know how close the author is.

iPads and ELN's

It seems the iPad is everywhere lately, even popping up on a LinkedIn discussion on Lab Notebooks.

My opinion on this topic is essentially the same as the tablet-pc form factor. The tech is not there yet to get any real advantage in most cases, though there may be a few isolated edge cases. What I think we are waiting for is the next disruptive way of recording lab observations and tying the information flow together in a more seamless fashion. I do not see anything the iPad will make easier yet, except the type of task already relegated to the iPaq, or similar form factor which is essentially basic, situation specific, observational recordings. Now - don't get me wrong, I think it's very cool and would like to have one dropped in my lap to play with, but from a business value in the labs perspective, I think we are waiting on the killer app. (Let's just hope it's not Flash based)