Author: jamesclay

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Skitch is Free

I have been using Skitch for a while now and more so more recently for making screengrabs, annotating screengrabs and for sharing them.

I have had the free version since it came out and due to my increased usage was considering buying the $20 plus version that has a few more features.

Well as of today, Skitch has been bought by Evernote and as a result the plus version is now free.

So if you have been sharing screengrabs and want more than just the built in version in OS X then get Skitch.

Get Skitch now in the Mac App Store.

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Annoying Sonix SN9C201 Webcam iTunes Error

I’ve been having the following iTunes error for a while now.

Generally I ignore it and reopen iTunes. It’s not as though I even have a Sonix SN9C201 Webcam anyway….

After a little bit of internet research it would appear that the problem is when installing Skype that app throws a Sonix SN9C201 Webcam file into ~/Library/Quicktime and if you delete that file, that fixes the problem.

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Camera+ with Captions

I have mentioned Camera+ before as one of my favourite camera apps for the iPhone.

It is a very powerful photography app and it allows you to use the iPhone camera in ways which the standard camera app doesn’t even come close.

Plenty of ways to share the images too.

They’ve just upgraded the app to version 2.3 which allows you to add captions when you add a border to your image.

Quite a nice subtle feature, though the caption “fits” with the border you choose, you can’t change the font or colour of the caption.

At the offer price of 69p it’s currently very affordable and good value for money.

Check out Camera+ in the iOS App Store.

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Podcast Choice #05 – iPad Today

I have been asked a fair few times about the different podcasts I listen to. I not only have a lengthy commute to work, but also travel a fair bit for work, so it’s vital to me to have something to listen to. This series will discuss and review the different podcasts I listen to or have listened to. In a previous blog post I spoke about the why and how I listen to podcasts, now we look at the actual podcasts I listen to.

This week’s podcast is iPad Today.

Tech geeks Leo Laporte and Sarah Lane love their iPads so much they’ve created “iPad Today,” the TWiT network’s first show highlighting the best apps, most helpful tools, coolest tricks, and essential news surrounding the iPad revolution. “iPad Today” is smart, informative, and lots of fun.

If you have an iPad and are interested in news on the iPad and app recommendations than this is the podcast for you. This is very for the iPad user and isn’t really for anyone else…

I find there are lots of ideas to take away from the podcast on how to make better use of your iPad and what fun, useful and interesting apps that are out there.

This is one of the few podcasts I listen to where I actually prefer to watch it! The video version of iPad today is available in both a high res and low res format. As the podcast is looking at apps, the video version makes a lot more sense when the hosts are describing what they like about apps they are viewing. The audio version is still though eminently listenable to.

One of the “features” of iPad Today (and the other podcasts from the TWiT network) is that notes from the show are available within a few days on the show wiki. So if you are listening in the car or on your iPod and want to know the name of the app that was mentioned, it will usually end up in the wiki with a link.

So if you have an iPad and want to know what new apps are available and what the latest news is, then this is a great podcast to watch (and listen to).

Subscribe to iPad Today in the iTunes Store.

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Staples, really no idea!

It has been sometime since I went to a mobile phone store, but I do remember that all the phones on display were fakes, plastic copies to give you an idea of how it looked and size, but had no functionality whatsoever and were very lightweight so bore no resemblance to how heavy the actual phones were.

How different it is at an Apple store. If you have been to an Apple store you will know that all the kit that is laid out is the real kit. It also all works too. If you want to make a phone call on the display iPhone, you can! Well you could the last time I tried… All the iPads have real apps on them that work, okay some are “lite” versions, but they do function as well as the real apps. I also like the fact that they have photographs in the photo albums, music, films and TV shows. You can really get a feel for how the iPad will work and how it would fit into your lifestyle and your needs. The same can be said for the Macs, which again are populated with Apps and content in a similar vein.

Another key feature of the Apple store is that all the devices can connect to the internet, so if you want to check how the web works on the device you can.

So what has that go to do with Staples as it says in the title of the blog post?

Well Staples could learn a lot from Apple about how best to present the kit they sell they have on display.

I was in there the other day and they had a really nice range of tablets on display, most were Android, but there was also the HP TouchPad.

Most had power, but not all.

None had anything on them except the default install, so no apps to try, no content to view or look at.

Though all had wifi, none could be used to access the internet as none of them were connected to the internet!

Really what was the point of having them on display, when the average consumer is going to have no idea about how they work and how they could fit into their lifestyle.

In a recent blog post of mine I said:

1.21 million Android tablets have been sold, and in the same time period 28.73 million iPads have been sold by Apple.

In that post I put the focus on the price and went on to say:

…with the iPad, though its price is more than the price of similar Android tablets, people buy the iPad because of factors other than price.

Well if the buying experience is anything to go by and I had to make a choice based purely on that, it’s a no brainer you would go for the iPad.

Apple have made a reputation in the retail business by providing a good retail experience. I am sure if Staples created a buying experience that matched the one you find in the Apple store I am pretty sure that the sales of Tablets in there would increase. By how much, probably double or even treble. It’s not that difficult, get the tablets to sell themselves.

I am sure it’s not entirely the fault of Staples, the suppliers of the tablets probably don’t provide anything either except perhaps a “demo reel”.

So have you bought a tablet from Staples or other retailer? What was your experience like?


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Connectivity Issues

For the first time in ages my internet fell over. I can’t actually recall the last time it did something like this.

The first I knew about it was a web page failing to load on my MacBook. I assumed at first it was the website… then I checked the MacBook and noticed an Airport issue. I then opened the Airport Utility to find that my Airport Extreme was having a few problems and showing an orange light in the utility. I found though I could restart it from the Utility, which told me that it was very likely not going to be the problem. Generally if I have an issue with the Airport Extreme, the only real solution is a hard reboot, i.e. turning it off and back on again.

In the end the problem I decided must lie with the Modem, so I unplugged it, counted to ten and then plugged it back in again. Within about 30 seconds all was back to normal and I could surf the web without any problems. Not sure of the reason for the failure, probably either an issue with my ISP, or an issue with BT. However as I said it happens very rarely and I think this is only the second time since I had FTTC installed that the connection has gone down. No real concerns, as rebooting the modem has fixed the issue. Will make a note though just in case (this is it, this blog post).

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Snapseeded

Over the last few days I have been playing around with the Snapseed app for the iPad. 

This is a wonderful photograph editing app that I was told about by Mark Power.

Unlike other similar apps in the iTunes store, this has a unique interface that at first takes a little getting use to, but once you’ve mastered it you realise how powerful and easy it is to use. It certainly makes the most of the touch interface that the iPad has.

It can even handle RAW images from your DSLR if you use the optional iPad camera connection kit.

As well as the usual brightness, contrast, saturation and other ways to tune your image, there is a useful selective adjustment tool that allows you to adjust part of the photograph.

I also like the included filters that can be used to add drama, grunge or make your photograph look vintage.

This is one of the most powerful apps I have used on the iPad for image manipulation and certainly I have been pleased with the results.

Get Snapseed in the iTunes Store.

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QR Code Vino




So are QR Codes going mainstream?

A few weeks back I mentioned how I had seen one for the first time on mainstream television. Now as I was opening a bottle of red wine (present from a friend) I noticed the QR Code on the back of the bottle.

I have found in the past that the iPhone is not the best phone for reading QR Codes and in the end I found that the best QR Code application was Optiscan.

Optiscan lets you create, scan and share QR codes straight from your device.

Having tried a few free apps, I found that if you have an iPhone 3GS then this app works the best. As the camera in the iPhone 4 is better, you can have more success with some of the free apps, however (as I have it already) I use Optiscan on my iPhone 4. I like how fast it is, how it can capture virtually all QR Codes I aim it at and the subsquent actions I can then take. For example it is very easy to e-mail my history of scans so I can use them on a desktop computer.

So though I have had very few issues with Optiscan with other QR Codes, I did find scanning the QR Code on the bottle quite a challenge. It took a fair few attempts to get it captured, but once I did it bought up a URL which then opened in the mobile browser.

Impressed it was a mobile version of the website and in French!

However one click and I was in the English version.

Now there wasn’t much on the site, no more than was on the bottle really.

However at least if I wanted to buy the wine myself I now had a record of it on my phone. Much easier with a QR Code than typing in an URL on the phone (which to be honest is the point of QR Codes really).

So that’s a TV programme on cooking, a bottle of red wine, wondering where my next encounter with a QR Code will be!

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Halftone

I recently reviewed this app on my e-Learning blog, it was good value then at 69p, however for this weekend Halftone is free, so well worth checking out.

What it does is take a photograph and convert it into a comic style image that can then be used on a blog, in a presentation, or on a print document.

Tthis is a nice simple cheap free app that allows you to create a vintage comic panel from one of your photographs in a particular style.

Get Halftone in the iTunes Store.

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Overpriced?

Is the iPad overpriced?

One criticsim I hear a lot about the iPad is that it overpriced. Someone recently said that you shouldn’t buy the iPad as it as too expensive.

Well £399 for the 16GB WiFi model is a lot more money that the £69.99 that you can buy an Android Tablet for from Amazon.

That isn’t really a fair comparison in my opinion, as it isn’t a proper Android tablet, as it’s not running Honeycomb and only has 2GB of RAM.

The Acer Iconia TAB A500 is a much fairer comparison, it costs
£349.96 from Amazon (though the list price is £417.80 which is more than the iPad!!!).

So you can not only buy a similar specified Android tablet for cheaper than the iPad you can also buy really cheap Android Tablets for less than £100 even from Asda.

So is the iPad overpriced?

Well yes the price is more than the price of Android tablets, so from that basic definition yes it is overpriced.

However though some people are price sensitive, price is rarely the only factor that we take into account when we buy something.

For example, very few people buy the value cola from the supermarket, most people will buy Coca-Cola or Pepsi even though it is more expensive.

Price is one factor to consider when buying something, but generally other factors come into play.

It’s the same with the iPad, though its price is more than the price of similar Android tablets, people buy the iPad because of factors other than price. Saying it is overpriced is irrelevant as the price is generally not the deciding factor when buying a tablet. This is echoed in the sales.

1.21 million Android tablets have been sold, and in the same time period 28.73 million iPads have been sold by Apple. These figures were derived from a recent article by John Gruber.

Breakdown by Google of Android devices in use by screen size. “Xlarge” is defined as any screen 7 inches or larger. By Google’s count, only 0.9% of activated in-use devices are tablets. Multiply that by the 135 million total Android “devices” that Larry Page announced last week during Google’s quarterly analyst call, and you get 1.21 million tablets. Compare that to the 28.73 million iPads Apple sold through the end of June.

This is not a small difference in sales, this is a huge significant difference in sales.

The reasons are probably varied, but price isn’t going to be a big reason. People buy the iPad for many different reasons and to say that the iPad is too expensive or overpriced says more about you than it does the iPad.