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Part Two Traveling with the iPad: Accessories

For Part Two of Traveling with the iPad I am going to show five great first-class accessories to bring with you on an international or domestic flight. These accessories will help keep you comfortable on the plane and get you to go through security fast. In the next post I will write about five economical accessories that could replace these accessories.

The five first-class options are more expensive, but well worth it. The first product is DODOcase for iPad and it cost about $60. It is very handy and protective of the iPad which makes it great for traveling. Next the Tumi Alpha T-Pass Small Screen Expandable Laptop Brief for $275 and the Electric Adapter that comes with a case for $50. The Tumi briefcase is great because it can be used for everyday use and for travel. It also has a feature that allows you to unzip the back of the briefcase and your computer will be in a safe cushion that is allowed to go through security check point scanners with out having to take your computer all the way out. Note the size of the bag for the size of your computer. Now for the Tumi adapter. The adapter is a little bulky, but it is very convenient, instead of having to carry a big box with a whole bunch of little clip ons you just have one whole piece. The way it works is that one end is where you plug in your end of your cord and the other end has a bunch of different converters, so all that you have to do is push out the one you need from the side. More over, for headphones I would recommend the Bowser’s and Wilkins P5 for $300. They are very comfortable to wear especially on a long flight. For the iPad keyboard you can get a great one from www.zagg.com for $100. It is great and if you don’t want to buy the DODOcase this works as a case too. Obviously, these are some really great products, but like everything good it comes with a price.

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News

Walk through of Mac OS X 10.7

What is Mac OS X 10.7 Lion? It is Apple’s newest operating system in development. Our friends at lifehacker.com got a hold of the 10.7 Lion beta. Some features have been showed, but it may just be the start of the 10.7 Lion since it is only a beta version. 10.7 Lion now has full disk encryption. It is more secure than its current implementation. Once you install the OS X it asks you if oyu would like to encrypt the disk, which is one of the only ways to keep an SSD secure. Apple is starting to push the SSD usage, so it’s great that Apple is trying to make us feel more secure. AirDrop is a new feature in the finder that makes it easier to share files between computers. First, you open up Finder and see all the nearby computers with AirDrop enabled. You can send them files by dragging them onto their icon. AirDrop will create an ad-hoc Wi-Fi network between the two computers and transfer the files for you. Just like in Time Machine, there’s a new feature called the built-in version control which lets you roll back to previous versions of a file. Every time you save a document, it saves a new version of it. Closing the lid of your laptop is always an uncertainty. Will your documents be saved? 10.7 Lion has a feature called session saving. If you’re using a MacBook, this doesn’t really apply to you, but for desktop users it is. When you shut down your computer, you have the choice of having all your documents and such stay the same when your start the computer up again. It will resume the same state in which you left it in.

 

The interface has changed, and it is a bit different then what you would expect from OS X. Apple is sticking with the monochrome icons they use in iTunes 10, but it isn’t that big of shock right off the bat. When you start to use the desktop features, you will notice some pretty big changes. There is finally an iOS-style application launcher. You can still browse applications in the Finder, but if you hit the Launchpad icon in your dock, it presents it in a better way. It is full screen which you can fit more apps on the screen and do less scrolling which is a hassle. Nothing big has really changed with the Launchpad which means you don’t have to get excited about that. Misson control is Exposé, Spaces and Dashboard which is actually a nice improvement. Instead of spreading out all your windows, Exposé separates them by application, which makes it a bit less overwhelming when you have a lot of apps open at once. Your spaces are displayed at the top of the screen, you can drag windows to and from spaces easily form this view. The dashboard hasn’t changed so nothing to worry about. The new version of Mail looks much more like the iPad app than the old version of Mail which makes it a bit easier to view your messages. Threading support still isn’t great, but it’s nice! I like the full screen apps which Lion focuses on. It’s great so that you can flip through certain PDF images and focus on one certain image. I would expect this on the iPad, but on a desktop of laptop, it’s kind of unexpected and useless.

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News

iPad 2: The Breakdown

As many of you may know by now, earlier today Apple confirmed the rising swell of rumors by releasing the iPad 2. Apple boasts that it’s “Thinner. Lighter. Faster.” on its website, but what exactly makes this version of the iPad different from the original iPad model? Well, there are a few major changes that make this new iPad stand out as the best tablet computer on the market.

 

First, Apple made a new chip specifically for the iPad 2 that they call the A5. This chip has duel-core processors, which translates to double the speed of the first iPad, and 9 times the graphics speed. This allows for amazing games and faster-loading apps. The new chip plus an LED-backlit display translates to amazing graphics for all of your games and movies on the iPad 2, and absolutely no lag, even in graphic intensive games like Infinity Blade, opening the App Store up to even more graphic intensive games than ever possible before. Apple once again revolutionized the market, creating not only the first tablet with a duel-core processor, but also the most beautiful.

Apple also made the iPad 2 33% thinner than the original iPad. This makes it much more portable than the original, and .2 pounds lighter. Reading ebooks at the beach or taking an all-in-one travel companion with you has never been easier!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the most expected updates for the iPad 2 was rear and forward-facing cameras, with FaceTime support built in, and Apple didn’t disappoint. With the new 4.3 software update, not only will FaceTime be added, but PhotoBooth, the iPad equivalent of the Mac app, and iMovie for iPad, which allows you to edit the HD videos you take with your iPad camera, will also be added. PhotoBooth looks almost identical to the Mac version, with the same effects that make this app so fun to play with.

 

Another important update for the iPad 2 is the addition of a gyroscope. This allows the iPad to better track its movement, making games that rely on the accelerometer more accurate and allowing for increased screen-rotation accuracy. If you own the original iPad, you know that it can sometimes be frustrating to lift your iPad up to reorient it when you changed its orientation on a stand, but the gyroscope on the iPad 2 fixes this problem.

 

Surprisingly, Apple claims that the battery life of the iPad 2 is the same as the original iPad, at 10 hours of standard use. This, to quote Steve Jobs, “legendary” battery life is part of what made the iPad so popular

 

Apple also announced its own accessory for the iPad 2, dubbed the Smart Cover, that magnetically attaches to the iPad, acting as a cover, stand, screen cleaner, and screen protector, all in one. When the cover is rolled up, it acts as a stand, both in landscape and portrait, while rolled down it covers and protects the iPad screen. The microfiber lining on the inside of the case cleans your screen when you put it on, and the iPad 2 detects when you are rolling the case on and off and responds by waking itself up. The smart cover comes in polyurethane and leather in a variety of colors.

The iPad 2 starts at $499, with the same pricing model for the original iPad. The 3G model will offer a choice between AT&T or Verizon. Smart Covers are sold separately.

*All images are from apple.com

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Which iOS features should be on the Mac OS X?

Which iOS features would you want on your Mac? Touch screen definitely sounds like a fun feature for the Mac. Wouldn’t it be cool to change your Mac into a touch screen like an iPhone and change it back? There are rumors that Apple is planning to make an iMac with a screen that pivots into a horizontal touch mode. It sounds like it will be a combination of a Mac and an iPad. It sounds like they should call it a MacBook touch or something like that. Combining the features of both would be really cool because the touch screen is what attracts many users to iOS devices. There are also many other features that would be great for Mac OS X.

Virtual iPhone dashboard widgets could be a possible feature for Mac OS X. Your Mac would have a screen that looks similar to an iPhones, with wallpaper, apps, and etc. It would be easy to organize your programs and it would make use of all the free space on your desktop. When you look at your Mac desktop, it looks very empty and spacious, but your iOS devices have different pages of apps. Some may prefer to have this feature offered on their Mac. It should be an optional feature.

What else does your iOS device do that your Mac doesn’t? Your iOS device has the option to alert you automatically if you receive an email, even if your device is on sleep mode. Wouldn’t it be smart to give that feature to your Mac? The idea of having your Mac alert you that you have received a new email while the Mac is on sleep mode is fairly simple. Apple should definitely allow people to use that feature and for those that don’t want to, turn it off.

Have you ever noticed that when you play music off your iPod touch or your iPhone, it is simple and organized, but when you play music off iTunes, it can look pretty cluttered? Don’t you think it is time that Apple made an iPod app or Music app on your computer that may be simpler and more organized then your iTunes? I think so. Also, my iTunes can be really slow, so I think having an iPod app might help.

When you are outside, you take out your iPhone and can surf the internet from wherever if you have 3G, right? If you are lost, you can just check your GPS on your iPhone too and find directions. There are many people that also take their MacBook everywhere, so shouldn’t they have the same features as an iPhone? Should there be 3G for the MacBook? I think that 3G should be made available for MacBook users, especially when it is made available for the iPad.

Another feature that iOS devices have is that many iOS apps have notifications that are provided by third-party software. It notifies you if there is new information and other important news. Apple should definitely provide a feature that provides notifications for your apps on your Mac too.

When you go on an airplane, you can click Airplane Mode on your iOS device. But can your Mac do that? Not that I know of. If Apple adds that feature, that will be really helpful to those that travel a lot with their MacBooks. You should definitely add that feature on so people don’t have to manually turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth separately.

Your iOS device has iBooks and Game Center, but your Mac still doesn’t have either of them. It is about time that Apple provides iBooks as a feature. If I wanted to read a book on my Mac, rather then my small iPhone, I would really want that feature. Game Center should also be a feature for Mac OS X. People get pretty competitive with gaming on the iPhone and iPod touch. It’s time for the competition to get started on the Mac.

All and all, I figure that Mac OS X definitely needs an upgrade. Why does iOS have so many features that Mac OS X doesn’t have? It’s not because it isn’t useful on the Mac, so it’s probably about time for Apple to improve Mac OS X. Once Mac OS X gets more features such as an iPod app and touch screen, I can’t wait to use my Mac.

What do you think?

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Apple’s iPad, Top 1/3 Fortune 500 Company

Apple’s iconic figure and CEO maybe on medial leave, but that hasn’t hindered the success of Apple’s Fourtune 500 companies. Yes, their multiple Fortune 500 companies, from iPad to App Store that would be ranked in the top 1/3 if the product were just a company within itself. The success of Apple’s iPad has increased over the last 6 months. In the recent New York Times Article, Lohr writes about the extreme growth of Apple’s latest mobile device, the iPad. What fascinates me the most, the iPad is less than 1 years old from it’s release date from April 2010!

A little more than a decade a go, Apple was once “60 days from bankrupt”, but has turned the corner to great amazing products. The iPad was just warming up in 2010. The iPad is estimated to bring in $15 – 20 billion in revenue from it’s first year on market.

The amazing platform Apple has created not only makes you want to buy an iPad, but an iPhone, and maybe an iPod touch for someone else. Let’s look at the revenue for Apple $499 (16GB iPad) + $199 (16GB iPhone 4) + $229 (8GB iPod touch) = $927 – close to $1,000 per customer not bad! And that doesn’t include the people who may purchase a iMac to be a companion with their new iPad, so we can add at least $1,200 to the $1,000 revenue for Apple.

The $2,200 profit was just based on hardware, did you forget about the App Store? Though most popular priced apps are only $.99 to $1.99, the price can add up. It is estimated to be an approximate $50 per consumer for the iOS App Store and remember Apple gets 30% of the price. Now their is the Mac App Store and prices are increasingly higher. From $29.99 (Pixelmator – our review) to $79.99 (Aperture) – Aperture is made from Apple so that’s 100% profit in that instance. The App Store in itself is an estimate in 2011 to bring in $15 bilion dollars. That’s another Fortune 500 company within itself.

What do you think? Leave a comment.