Category: ipad

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Entering a parallel universe….

I was recently at a conference in London and I am sure that a few people thought they had entered a parallel universe, as before at conferences I was often seen with a MacBook, an iPad and an iPhone. At this conference I was carrying a Windows Surface Pro, a Nexus 7 and an Google Nexus One phone. No Apple hardware in sight!

I have recently changed jobs, so my MacBook was given back, as was my work iPhone. I did have a home iPhone 3G, but recently ended the contract on that one, so I cancelled the contract and gave the phone to my wife, as her phone had recently died. In a similar vein, I had gone out and bought the iPad (third generation) when it came out, but after a few months I also gave it to my wife, as I was using one at work and for most home purposes my old original iPad was doing a fine job.

Going to London the main problems I had was missing the Tube Exits app, which tells you where to get on the tube so that when you arrive at your destination station you are both a) on the correct side for getting off, but also b) right next to the way out.

The other problem I had was with maps, of all the map apps I have used, my personal favourite is the original Apple Maps App, which used the data from Google. I had it on my iPhone 3G and was disappointed with the upgrade last year. I was using maps to get from Euston Square Tube Station to Senate House, and though I knew the approximate direction, I wasn’t exactly sure where it was. In the end it was more luck than judgement I found it.

At the event itself my main device was the Windows Surface Pro. The battery lasted for most of the day and I was certainly using it quite hard. I have to admit I wasn’t too impressed with the images it took, I have had much better results with the iPad.

However it was easy to tweet from the device (and when I needed to catch up with e-mail or find URLs). Even with the “touch” keyboard it isn’t really a blogging device, and elsewhere I have found it easier to use a real keyboard (as it happens an Apple one….).

As for the Nexus, well that was a backup device, but I did use it to listen to some podcasts on the train home.

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Disappointed

Osfoora for Twitter

Over the last few years I have been using the Osfoora client on my iPhone and iPad to use the Twitter.

On June 11th, Twitter turned off their API 1 and developers were only allowed to use API 1.1

As a result (well I think as a result) Osfoora stopped working as a Twitter client.

What is disappointing is that there was no news from Osfoora and no updates to the apps available.

What is disappointing is that this wasn’t a free app, these were apps I paid for.

I am not sure who I am more disappointed with Osfoora or Twitter.

There was an update for the Osfoora client for the iPhone, that allegedly used the API 1.1. It though, required 6.1 (something I had been putting off), I did that, updated Osfoora, rebooted the phone and now the app doesn’t work at all…

The end result is that I am looking for a new iOS Twitter client, in the meantime I am using the official iOS Twitter client, which is okay, but not really my cup of tea.

Update: Deleting and then reinstalling the app has fixed the app. Of course this won’t work on the iPad I believe as Osfoora HD hasn’t been updated and is not available.

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Ultravioleting

In recent years I have been buying, what the trade call, triple play movies, these sets contain a copy of the film on Blu-Ray, a copy on DVD and a digital copy for your mobile device. Though more expensive than just buying the Blu-Ray (or just the DVD) what I did like about it was I could watch the film on my TV and then if I wanted to watch it again I could watch it on my laptop or on my iPad.

With most of the films I bought the digital copy was in an iTunes format. This was fine with me as I already used the iTunes ecosystem for music and video.

More recently, well since December 2011, I have noticed is that the trend now is to use Ultraviolet.

UltraViolet (UV) is a digital rights authentication and cloud-based licensing system that allows users of digital home entertainment content to stream and download purchased content to multiple platforms and devices. UltraViolet adheres to a “buy once, play anywhere” approach that allows users to store digital proof-of-purchases under one account to enable playback of content that is platform- and point-of-sale-agnostic.

In theory what you do (in the UK) is sign up to Flixster and then you can redeem your Ultraviolet code and watch or download your movie.

I say “in theory” as I haven’t actually managed to do this process. The first time I signed up, I think I some how managed to sign myself up as an American. This would have been pointless as I wouldn’t have been able to access my “UK only” films. There was also no way to change your country. this is obviously to stop regional piracy. I do think that these “piracy” measures are short-sighted, as what they are actually doing is stopping me, an actual customer who has paid for the film, from watching the film; whilst the actual pirates wouldn’t even worry about such things, probably using a copy from the film studio or similar…

I have to say that is one thing that does annoy me after spending my hard earned cash on a DVD or Blu-Ray the first thing I see (and usually you can’t fast forward or skip it) is a clip telling me not to pirate films… Hello? I bought the film, I didn’t pirate it, I bought it, why tell me something I already know and do. If I pirated a film, I wouldn’t see that clip would I, so why show customers who are honest, want to watch the film, a stupid clip telling them to buy films… they did. I wouldn’t mind so much, but half the time you are “forced” to watch the clip, as they have restricted the capability to skip or fast forward the clip. Why don’t they put that clip on pirated films?

So back to Ultraviolet, so of course I tried to sign up again, and it wouldn’t let me, as I had already signed up… When I tried a different e-mail address, that didn’t work it timed out. In the end I gave up.

I think part of the problem was that I was trying to do all this on my iPad. Why the iPad, well I wanted to watch the film on the iPad.

I think the best option will be to do it all on a PC and then hopefully, if Ultraviolet will allow it, then it will let me access the films on the iPad.

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iPad mini, take two…

iPad mini, take two...

So it was only a week or so ago that I said:

I don’t think I will be getting an iPad mini

Well… I might now…

You see I popped into the Apple Store at Cabot Circus in Bristol and had a quick look at the iPad mini.

I was really impressed (and remember I do have a Google Nexus 7) the size and weight felt just right and it was very responsive. Well it should be as it is basically an iPad 2 and that was a good piece of kit.

I really did like the feel of the device and the screen wasn’t too small (which was one of my worries). I didn’t have a lot of time with it, but trying out the e-mail and web browsing felt okay. This was a device I could work with.

There was the issue of size and I don’t think it will fit in my coat pocket as the Google Nexus 7 can. Also the price… at £239 it is a lot more money than the £159 Google Nexus 7 and £70 would buy a lot of apps and content. Of course I have already made an investment in the apps and content for my current iPad, so that isn’t really too much of an issue.

Overall if price is a real issue then I would recommend the Google Nexus 7. If this is your first tablet then I would again go for the Google Nexus 7, as if it doesn’t work out, you’ve not lost too much money. However if you have already invested in iOS apps, have a lot of content on iTunes, and you are not that price sensitive, then I think the iPad mini is probably a better deal.

I am seriously thinking about selling the Google Nexus 7 and getting the iPad mini.

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I don’t have an iPad mini

iPad mini

I don’t think I will be getting an iPad mini, not that I don’t like the idea behind the product, but I already have the iPad (third generation) and a Google Nexus 7, I am not quite sure where the iPad mini would fit into my life. Then again I thought the same about the iPad when it first came out (got a laptop and a desktop, why do I need a tablet?).

If I didn’t have the Nexus 7, then I might seriously consider the iPad mini. The form factor of the Nexus 7 is really nice and portable, much more than the big iPad. Unlike a phone though, the larger screen size makes stuff like web browsing work.

Early reviews of the iPad mini say that, though it is smaller than the iPad, due to the 1024×768 screen resolution it is too wide! Making it difficult to put in your pocket. I also wonder if the small screen would make it challenging to type on. I do a fair bit of typing on the screen of the larger iPad, but have found it not so easy on the Nexus 7 screen.

I am less bothered about the “lack” of a retina display. Don’t get me wrong I really love the retina screens on the iPad (third generation) and my MacBook Retina, but it isn’t always a deal breaker; I can always get my glasses out.

One of the reasons I might get an iPad mini is that I have a large investment in iOS apps and as a result it would be quite quick and easy to get it into my workflow. Another reason would be 4G, but as the current status of 4G in the UK isn’t exactly attractive, what with limited coverage and high tariffs, I am not sure that is a valid reason (at this time).

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4G

Mobile Phone Mast

Today sees the launch of the UK’s first 4G network. It’s quite a small network with availability only in the following cities: London, Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield, Glasgow and Southampton.

I don’t have a 4G device, well I do, I have the third generation iPad, but I don’t think that will work with EE’s 4G. I can’t actually find out if this isn’t the case, but I am pretty sure that is correct.

I am thinking about getting an iPhone 5 that supports 4G to replace my ageing 3GS. Though as the 3GS is still running iOS 5 I might keep it for the Maps app! However I am expecting Apple to turn off that existing Maps app in a year’s time when their licence for Google maps runs out.

To be honest what I really need is a 4G MiFi or similar so I can take advantage of 4G with all my devices. EE will start selling SIM only deals next month.

The tariffs from EE are quite expensive, £36 per month gets you just 500MB of data which is not much… a typical BBC iPlayer programme is half that! It goes up to £51 for 8GB.

So though I would like to have 4G I don’t think I can afford it!

Another factor that has taken me by surprise is by how slow the reported speeds of 4G are. I have always thought of 4G as speeds in and around 100Mbps. However from the news reports I have seen today have spoken about 15Mbps.

EE’s own press release says that their 4G is only five times faster than 3G.

The UK’s first 4G mobile service will launch on Tuesday October 30th, offering consumers and businesses a new way to access the people, places and things they want on the move, with speeds typically five times faster than 3G.

So as well as wondering about the costs of 4G, I am not even sure with the limited geographical availability and lower than expected speeds, I don’t think 4G is for me at this time.

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Making movies on the iPad

In a recent post on e-Learning Stuff I mentioned that Avid Studio was one of my favourite apps for the iPad.

Avid Studio – Many people think of the iPad as a consumption device, however with apps like Avid, the iPad becomes a creation tool. This is an excellent and very powerful video editing app. You can either import video or shoot video (using the iPad camera) and then do all the things you would expect in a video editing app. I like Avid’s traditional look and approach to video editing which is different to Apple’s iMovie app.

Corel have recently purchased Avid’s consumer video editing tools and as a result have rebranded Avid Studio as Pinnacle Studio. If you open up Avid Studio you get a pop up saying that it won’t get anymore support and you should download Pinnacle Studio. You might be a little upset as Avid Studio did cost £4.99. Well for the moment at least Pinnacle Studio is free (and is free to everyone).

Pinnacle Studio

Big-screen moviemaking comes to the touchscreen with Pinnacle® Studio for iPad. Our leading film-editing technology brings you an easy-to-use app that enables you to quickly edit video, audio, and photos at the speed of your creativity.

Swiftly arrange your clips in the Storyboard, make precision edits using the Timeline, and add high-quality transitions, effects, and a soundtrack. Enjoy 1080p output support and share your movie directly to YouTube, Facebook, Box and more—or export your project to Pinnacle® Studio for the PC and continue editing with even more advanced tools.

So if you are thinking about editing movies on your iPad and want something a little more traditional than iMovie (and is free) then you might want to look at Pinnacle Studio.

Get Pinnacle Studio in the iTunes App Store.

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Snapseeding

Out of all the many photo editing apps on my iPad, the one I like the most at the moment (and the one I use the most too) is Snapseed. I do use Apple’s iPhoto a fair bit, but when it comes to creating a particular kind of image, I prefer Snapseed.

I was particularly pleased with the way this image of the Matthew at the Bristol Harbour Festival turned our, almost like an oil painting with the shadows and textures.

What I do like about Snapseed is how it well it makes use of the touch interface on the iPad. It’s even usable on the iPhone, but to be honest I much prefer the screen estate of the iPad for image editing.

If you like editing images and haven’t already then I would seriously have a look at Snapseed.

Get Snapseed in the iTunes App Store.

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Amazon Basics Black Stylus

Amazon Basics Black Stylus

I’ve wanted to get a stylus for my iPad for a while now, but never really got round to buying one. I was recently buying some consumables for my printer at Amazon so doing a quick search, found this Amazon Basics Black Stylus for just £7.49 and thought, hmmm, okay, let’s add that to the basket.

I was really pleased with it and it works really well. It’s great for doing brushwork on an application like Brushes and also allows you to interact with the screen as though you were using your finger. Obviously if you rely and use multi-touch gestures then you’re not going to be able to do those with this.

One advantage of using a stylus is from an accessibility perspective, I can see this making it much easier for visually impaired people to use VoiceOver for example.

It also works really well if you have really dry hands or eczema. The capacitive screens you find on the iPad (or the Nexus 7) often don’t work well. The stylus helps with that problem.

Personally I think it might be really useful when it’s cold and I am wearing gloves! Should also work with the iPhone too.

Get the Amazon Basics Black Stylus at Amazon.