I was asked on Twitter to post my thoughts on the iPad 2 smart cover. I've been using it for a few days so think I'm in a position to give my opinion on it now.
It's quite neat that's for sure, but it doesn't really offer much protection. Yes, it does cover the screen when it's not in use, but the back of the device is totally naked. I've already managed to pick up a few scratches on the back of my iPad. The touted screen cleaning abilities of the cover are a joke, just having a soft fabric laying on the screen can't clean it! What I have noticed though are marks on the screen where the hinges are. This means you end up with three distinct vertical lines down the screen, they can be easily wiped away, but it's still annoying when it happens.
The different configurations of the cover are handy in certain circumstances. I've used it in both forms at various times. The upright stand is great for propping it up on the desk while watching a video or other times when you don't need to be "hands-on" with the device. The raised keyboard position is ideal for web browsing and typing blog posts like this one. I can type almost as quickly on this keyboard as I can on a real one. Having the slight angle means you can easily see the screen over your hands, and you aren't typing on a totally flat surface.
The magnets that the cover uses to connect are quite clever, I think it must use a system of opposing magnets that force it to hook up in the correct location. It just seems to know where to go! Simply swing the cover towards the edge and it will snap on. When it's attached the magnets are strong enough that it can support the weight on the iPad dangling beneath, but not if you start jiggling it about too vigorously. It will soon lose its grip then!
When the cover is used in one of its two setups, it's great. The problems only arise when you aren't. Holding it with the cover open can be annoying, it doesn't magnetise itself to the back as it does to the front, so it wants to constantly flap open. If you fold it into a triangle and hold on to that, it gives you something to grip, but it makes typing on the keyboard harder with your thumbs and it still wants to flap about too much.
It's an expensive cover that doesn't really offer any real protection, but the stand system is useful. Is it worth the money? Probably not, it's expensive and I'm sure there will be other 3rd party solutions that will do a better job than this.
EDIT: Updated with a video below to show the marks.
I just downloaded and installed a blogging app for my iPad called BlogPress. Seems quite good so far, this will be my first post using it so this is really just a test. Thought I'd write down a few of my thoughts on the iPad 2 while I am here. They probably won't be much different to any others you've already heard or read elsewhere though.
First of all, the actual device is gorgeous, from the moment you first power it up the display pops out at you. The IPS panel gives stunning quality, even if it doesn't have the much touted "retina display" resolution. Text is clear and easy to read, viewing angles are brilliant. Although the screen goes a bit darker at extreme angles you can still see everything without trouble.
The battery is good, even when the device was new and I played with it for almost a full day, the battery still had life in it by the end. I can imagine under more normal demands I could be going a full week without going near a power socket. Of course, I can only imagine that, because after almost a week, I'm still using it constantly, for almost everything. From email to twitter, web browsing, gaming, iPlayer viewing and now blogging. The iPad can do it all! In fact, maybe my current iPad usage is going to be normal from now on?
Many of the apps designed for the iPad are a joy to use. The slick fluid interface of apps such as Twitter are quick to navigate and intuitive to use. The ones that aren't are fairly easy to avoid thanks to the app store reviews.
The implementation of multi-tasking is very good, I was never sold on the fake pseudo version Apple devised. But having used it, in practise you'd never know any difference. You can switch between apps in an instant and pick up exactly where you left off. Certain processes can even continue running in the background when you switch, such as music and the ability for apps to send notifications when they aren't running helps with things like alarms, email and twitter.
Of course it's not all good! There are a few niggles (some bigger than others) that are frustrating and others that are inexplicable. For example, the iPhone and iPod Touch both run the same iOS, yet the iPad lacks some of the core apps. The Clock, Calculator, Weather and Stocks apps are all missing in action. This seems utterly mad considering they must be there in the source code of iOS, but simply locked out on the iPad. Finding replacements for them on the app store is fairly simple, but the good ones have to be paid for which is annoying when the Apple versions were already excellent.
The keyboard, whilst easy to type on, particularly in landscape mode also gives some minor annoyances. I'm now fairly accustomed to the Android keyboard used on my mobile phone. On that I can long press a key to get alternative characters, such as numbers and other commonly used symbols. On the iPad I have to switch to the numeric keyboard to access those keys. Worse still is that when you do so, the few symbols that are included on the main keyboard actually move to a different location!! Who the hell thought that was a good idea?
Sticking with the keyboard for a moment many of the common symbols have been relegated to a third keyboard layout. The +,=,#,$,% are all three keyboards deep. But why can't they adopt the Android method and have all the numeric and common symbols on long presses, with other symbols just one keyboard change away. Or if not that, then make one of the two buttons that currently change it to the number keyboard change it to the symbol keyboard instead. That way it's not so much effort.
The only other real annoyance I have with the iPad are the notifications. Now notifications are a great idea, they notify you of stuff which is great :-) The problem with notifications on the iPad and iOS in general is they are far too intrusive. When a notification appears on the iPad it opens a dialog box in the middle of the screen to inform you about whatever it may be. A new tweet directed at you, your turn in an on-line game, a calendar appointment and numerous other app specific things. This can be very inconvenient, especially if you are watching a video, or playing a different game. It will simply interrupt whatever you are doing until you dismiss the pop-up dialog. It gets very frustrating when you are as popular as me :-) I was watching something on the iPlayer last night and my video was being interrupted every 4 or 5 minutes with a notification of some sort.
Why can't the OS just put a little icon in the status bar so I know something wants my attention but doesn't demand I deal with it at that very moment? Yes, I could turn off notifications, but that would be just as inconvenient as then I wouldn't be informed of anything.
Hopefully iOS 5 will help address some of these issues, I don't know. But I'll be disappointed if they don't! Especially when far better solutions are already in use by Android.
Well that was a much longer post than I'd intended it to be. Creating it on the iPad has been fairly easy. I haven't even mentioned the Smart Cover which I promised someone I'd write about. That will have to be another post because it's lunchtime now!
I'm looking at options to get my internet fix on the move. I've got an iPad 32Gb wi-fi on its way to me right now, I also have a laptop which I cart around and have to find wifi hotspots to piggyback on. I want something that will put an end to the hunt and I've found some things I quite like the look of but I need to know if it will work.
I could find a forum somewhere and post my questions there, but I know quite a lot of my tech-savvy friends read these posts, and I trust your advise more!
So, I'm looking at the Three MiFi device and I'm currently confused by the two options. They are the:
The first one appears to me to be £71.99 for the MiFi device. As far as I can see, there is no data included, so I'd have to PAYG and "top up" with a 30-day data bundle before I can use it.
On the other hand the MiFi (5GB) package is a "monthly" contract according to the site. It costs £39.99 for the MiFi device and a monthly fee of £15.99 for the 15GB of data.
Now that second option sounds very expensive over time. However, looking at the site I can't see any minimum contract length detailed. So, my question is:
Is there anything to stop me buying the MiFi (5GB) for £39.99 + £15.99 for the first month and then cancelling the monthly contract?
This would cost me a total of £55.98 and give me 15GB of data to start me off! That's a saving of £16.01 over the PAYG option, plus the cost of whatever data plan I added. Then would I be able to just get top-ups instead once I have the MiFi device rather than paying the monthly contract?
Or, even better, could I purchase a "Tablet SIM Pay As You Go + 12" for £51.49 which would give me 12Gb to use over 12 months for a single fee?
I don't see anything obvious that would prevent this, the MiFi device and SIM cards are both on the Three network. Am I missing something obvious in all this?
So a little over a year ago I posted my thoughts on the iPad, you can check the post by scrolling down two entries. It may have been over a year ago that I wrote it, but not much happens here :-)
Anyway, basically I said I wasn't interested for several reasons. Some of those issues have been addressed with the iPad 2. They've added cameras for a start (see I told you they'd held them back on purpose) and multi-tasking is available now. Well okay, that was available with an iOS update on the original iPad too, but the new dual core A5 CPU should make it much better. Of course we have to be careful here, because it's not true multi-tasking, but it will do for now.
They still haven't added the SIM card slot to every device and I still don't understand why they need to produce different models for that. They still haven't really adapted the iOS for a tablet either, though it's better than it was when the original iPad came out.
I still feel it's overpriced, but then when you compare it to other tablets like the Xoom and Galaxy tab it doesn't look that bad after all so maybe for once I'm being a little harsh on Apple for that one?
All this waffling is just a long winded way of me saying I'm going to buy an iPad 2. Now I know it's still not perfect, however I have several reasons for wanting one. I currently use an iPhone 3G for all my app store requirements, but I haven't used it as a phone for a long time. I've had my HTC Desire for a year or so now, there's a whole other post about that phone but for another time maybe...
The iPhone 3G is showing its age now, new iOS releases aren't supporting it so slowly apps will no longer be available. It doesn't have multi-tasking which is getting really frustrating when I'm playing several games at the same time.
I think the time is right to get myself an iPad now. The things missing are things that don't bother me so much. The poor cameras aren't an issue, they'll be fine for Facetime/Skype and that's all I'll need them for. I have a DSLR for real photos and my camera phone for when I want to take a quick snap. The new iPad 2 should fill my requirements quite nicely for now.
It was with much excitement that I awaited the return of the F1 season for 2010. It had so much promise with the most competitive field for years. Several teams all very close in term of performance including Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes.
Not only do we have so many top teams, there was also the prospect of seeing four world champions all on the track together (Button, Hamilton, Schumacher and Alonso). Never has an F1 season had so much to offer but as if that wasn't enough there was also the introduction of three new teams to the grid. The addition of Lotus, Virgin and Hispania meant we would have the largest field since 1995!
Things were still looking good during qualifying with the new teams faring better than would be expected. There was also lots of competition at the top with Ferrari looking strong until the Red Bull of Vettel smashed their times. So with a great starting grid there was still everything to race for.
It was when the actual race started that things went downhill. The first few corners had some incidents including the oil burning episode of Mark Webber that saw some turmoil left in his wake. There was also a move by Hamilton on Massa which he didn't manage to stick. But after that there was absolutely nothing to talk of.
Sure after around 15-20 laps they came in to change tyres, but that barely affected the grid. Though the McLaren's of Hamilton and Button did both benefit by gaining a place. But after the pit stop nothing happened except for a couple of retirements from the new teams.
Sadly for Vettel he suffered a mechanical failure with his exhaust which just meant he had to surrender his pole position and cling on to whatever points he could. This was the only small piece of drama in what was otherwise just a procession of cars pretty much from start to finish.
The new rules have basically killed off any tactical manoeuvrability with fuel loads and pit stops. The tyres are too good and last too well negating the need to change them, other than the dictated requirement to use both types. I would think that a set of hard tyres could last the full race distance!
Post race interviews were worrying too with drivers saying they weren't really pushed because they had to manage tyres. This is borne out by the lap times which didn't really drop below 2 minutes despite qualifying times being several seconds faster.
We really don't want this situation at all, the drivers should be out there to race, not nurse their cars around the track!
We need a change to the rules and fast. A minimum of two pit stops would be one way forward but is unlikely to get team approval now the season has started. They couldn't get agreement beforehand!
Another option that wouldn't involve a rule change would be to stop the tyres lasting as long, it would have the same effect as mandating two stops but wouldn't require team approval. This would at least enable the drivers to race the cars to the limit without having to worry so much about tyre wear.
If things stay as they are now you can expect every race this year to follow exactly the same pattern. The top teams will go into Q3 using the super soft for a fast lap time, then be forced to start the race on them. They will then pit at roughly quarter distance for the harder compound which will will then last them to the end of the race.... YAWN....
Fans deserve better than this, it seems that every attempt to make the racing more exciting over the last 3-4 years has had the exact opposite effect!
What is my ultimate solution? Well I have an idea and that's to stop meddling! Remove all the ridiculous rules and regulations (other than those for safety) becuase they just don't work. Set a sensible budget cap and just let the teams produce the best car/driver combination they can for the cash!
Let them develop double/triple diffusers and extra down-force if they can, why not? Let them test mid season if their budget allows, it's up to them how they spend it up to the cap. Stop trying to micro-manage F1 and let the car designers and engineers do the best job they can!
So tonight the internet went a bit crazy with the culmination of weeks, no months of hype! Apple finally unveiled its highly anticipated Tablet device they've name the iPad. I thought I'd share my initial thoughts and reaction to the device as undoubtedly the rest of the internet will.
I've never been a huge Apple fan, I have an iPhone 3G but it's the only device I own. If I wasn't able to jailbreak it then I wouldn't own that either. However, with all the hacks and modifications applied it becomes an unbeatable device. It shows what Apple could do if they really tried!
With the announcement of the iPad it seems nothing has changed, it's a disappointing over priced half arsed attempt at a tablet. It seems obvious to me that Apple have deliberately crippled this device so they can easily improve it in future annual product update cycles.
At the end of the day, the iPad is basically a big iPhone without the calling, SMS and camera functionality. The biggest surprise here has to be the lack of a camera, I mean seriously... cameras have been standard in devices for years. How can Apple think it acceptable to leave one out of this device and how much are you willing to wager that they'll add one to the next iPad? The iPad would have been ideal for making video Skype calls with its internet capabilities after all, to say nothing of the popularity with video blogs.
It seems Apple have produced an awesome piece of hardware but just not bothered with the OS too. Why create a device with this much power and a screen this large and then slap the iPhone's OS on to it? This means no multi-tasking, but perhaps the biggest crime is NO FLASH support! In a machine this size web browsing is a big part of the experience. If you can't use Flash then it effectively renders the iPad useless. It's such a massive let down! Just look at the top of this post, don't you think it looks ridiculous with the small icons separated out across that massive screen? Apple haven't even tried to customise the firmware for this device!
Then we come to the price, why do Apple think it is appropriate to charge an extra $130 to have a SIM slot added to your device? You can't even use it unless you pay a monthly subscription to a mobile data provider! The slot should be part of the standard hardware, I simply cannot believe that it isn't.
The iPad has far too many things missing and adds nothing new to the current offering to make me even remotely interested. I'm not going to rule out ever owning one, in a year or so when they release an update that should have been what this is and the OS is improved and I can jailbreak it. Then I might be tempted. This reminds me very much of the original iPhone, a great idea but fatally flawed in its execution.
I'll pass for now, come back when you've got it right Apple!
Back in February I wrote a post about the iPhone jailbreak and the apps available from Cydia which is the equivalent of the app store for jailbreak programs. You can read it here if you've not seen it before Jailbroken iPhone 3G - essential apps.
Since then quite a lot has changed, the iPhone 3GS has been launched and with it an update of the iPhone OS to version 3.0. This introduced numerous new features that addressed some of the most compelling reasons to jailbreak. The new OS gave us copy and paste, MMS, Spotlight search, 3G tethering, better Bluetooth support, a voice memo app, push notifications and other smaller improvements.
However, it didn't address all the issues and customisation still has to be the most compelling reason to jailbreak an iPhone. Fortunately it didn't take too long for people far more clever than I to figure out a new jailbreak for OS 3.0. The even better news is it's now even easier than before!
If you haven't jailbroken your iPhone yet, there has never been a better time to do so! Head over to Blackra1n where you can download a small application that will run either on a Windows or Mac PC. When you run it you will need to connect your iPhone via its USB cord, then simply click the button. A few seconds later and you're all done! It really is that simple.
The first thing you'll want to do is load the new iPhone App "blackra1n" which you'll see has appeared on your dashboard and install Cydia. This is your gateway to all sorts of cool new things you can do with your iPhone!
Of course since February there have been a lot of new developments in Cydia too! The Cydia store is the main thing to know about. Previously 99% of apps in Cydia were free, only a small number required you to purchase a license from a website before it could be used properly. Now the developer of Cydia, Saurik, has integrated store functionality allowing other developers to charge for their apps.
This is a great thing, it encourages some superb apps because there is a revenue stream available to them, it also opens up the door to people disillusioned with Apples App Store. For the end user you get an easy way to purchase and pay for these apps as well as an easy way to download them again in the future because it remembers your purchases!
Right, so onto the main part of this post and the new "essential iPhone apps"! First on your list has to be AptBackup. This app will backup your jailbroken iPhone apps saving you a huge amount of time and hassle when you upgrade the iPhone firmware. You see when you apply a new firmware you lose your jailbreak and all the associated apps, you have to start again from scratch. With AptBackup you simply run the app before you upgrade your iPhone, this stores a list of all the apps you have installed. When you've finished upgrading the firmware and performed a new jailbreak simply go to Cydia and install AptBackup first. Then run this app and hit the restore button. The app will then download and install all your old jailbreak apps automatically. It will save you literally hours if you have a lot of apps installed!
It's important to note that AptBackup doesn't actually backup any files or programs. It just creates a list of apps that you have installed and will download and re-install them automatically. This is perfectly adequate for most situations though. Any customisation to settings you've made are normally remembered. There may be the odd exception, but considering the time it saves, you won't be complaining. You might also find that an old app will no longer function on the new firmware so it's a good idea to do your research first. It may be an idea to wait for apps to be updated so they are compatible, especially if like me you come to rely on them!
My next recommendation is for qTweeter, this allows you to send Twitter and Facebook messages from any application and at any time. You just have to use a gesture and swipe your finger down from the top of the screen. There's a video below so you can see how it works:
If you use BossPrefs, don't worry qTweeter will still work happily. It will change the BossPrefs gesture to a horizontal swipe on the status bar!
Moving on I've got a great little utility that will be a money saver for those on pay & go or with a limited SMS allowance. The iPhones SMS implementation has always annoyed me because I never now how many characters I've used! Step up SMS Helper, this awesome little utility integrates itself into the iPhones SMS app and will tell you how many characters you have remaining and when you run out tell you how many messages you're using. It does this in a cool way by animating the "Send" button. When you are typing it flips around to show the characters remaining, then when you stop it will flip back to a send button again. When you reach the end of the first message the button will turn Red giving you a clear visual indication that you're using more than one text. It's fantastic and even better totally free!
I haven't listed these apps in any order but if I had this next one would probably have to go at the top! It's called SatusNotifier, it integrates itself into the shell of your iPhone and uses the Statusbar at the top to place small icons next to the battery indicator. It will put up a little speech bubble when you have new SMS messages to read, an envelope if you've got unread email and a mute icon when you have your iPhone set to silent. There are more notifications available including missed calls, MMS, IM, Calendar and RSS. They can all be set individually if you have no use for a particular notification.
Another app for you here, this time it's just a cosmetic thing really. If you've taken the time to add photos to your contacts then you might be interested in installing Cyntact. This is another app that integrates seamlessly with the iPhone OS and will place small thumbnail images of your contacts next to their names in the contacts list:
Hot on the heals of Cyntact comes CyDelete, this gives you an easy way to delete apps installed via Cydia. When you delete an app installed via the App Store you can do it by clicking on the 'x' when you hold your finger on an icon. Cydia apps don't do this by default, you have to remove them using the Cydia package manager. It's easy enough and in some cases where Cydia apps integrate into the iPhone OS there is no icon so you have to do it this way. However, for those that do place an icon on the dashboard CyDelete will allow you to remove them using the same method as those purchased in the App store!
Here is another example of how jailbreaking your device can give you more freedom. Have you ever been annoyed that when you receive a text message you have to stop what you're doing and go to the SMS app? Even if you just wanted to send a quick reply? Well now you can forget all that frustration with QuickReply for SMS! I've included a video to show you how cool it is:
Just like qTweeter above it will overlay the SMS functionality on your current app. You can compose a text and send a reply and return to what you were doing before. No need to shut down your browser or other app first! It makes so much sense to be able to do this and will save a lot of frustration.
I have just one final recommendation for my essential jailbreak apps, it's only just been released but it is quite cool. The app in question is called SnapTap and it will give you a physical button to press when you take photos using the iPhone camera. Of course it can't actually add a button to the iPhone, but what it will do is change the function of the volume button when you are in the camera app. You'll never need to adjust the volume when using the camera so it makes perfect sense. With the SnapTap extension installed when you open the Camera you can use the volume up/down button to take the photo. It makes taking photos of yourself so much easier because you don't have to guess where the button is on the screen. It's also a lot more natural and allows you to hold the iPhone in a more traditional camera style to take pictures! It also works when using it for video to start/stop recording on the iPhone 3GS and is compatible with almost all the other apps that use the camera too. There's another short video below:
So that's sums up my updated list, I'll probably have even more in a few months and will end up writing a Part III. Until then enjoy these apps, tell me what you think and if you've found any gems that I'm missing let me know!
I was asked on Twitter to post my thoughts on the iPad 2 smart cover. I've been using it for a few days so think I'm in a position to give my opinion on it now.
I haven't listed these apps in any order but if I had this next one would probably have to go at the top! It's called 
Another app for you here, this time it's just a cosmetic thing really. If you've taken the time to add photos to your contacts then you might be interested in installing 
