iPad Replaces Netbook Completely

Over the last two months I can honestly say that I've used my iPad every single day. I take it with me to work, I took it with me on my vacation, I even took it out star gazing the other night. It is with me almost everywhere I go, much to the chagrin of my wife.

I've been moving, all-be-it unwittingly, toward this new iPad life-style for a few years now - starting with my 8.9" Acer Aspire One about two years ago, and progressing to an 11.6" Aspire One and then finally settling on my 13" Macbook Pro. The Macbook is a nice, fairly light-weight laptop, and I used to carry it with me every day.

When the iPad came out, I ordered one immediately, not just because I'm an Apple fanboy, but because I love new technology and the iPad is just so cool! Since the morning it was delivered, I rarely put it down. It's light, and allows me to do pretty much anything I did with my regular laptop. There was just one thing that was bothering me a little. Typing on the on-screen keyboard. It's totally fine for short periods of typing, but it gets pretty labour-some for anything much longer than one or two lines of text.

This all changed for the better the moment I typed in my secret Bluetooth code and my iPad recognized my new Apple keyboard. Since then it has opened up so much potential for my iPad! No longer does it take so much effort to just answer an email, and passwords - don't even get me started! Typing in a username and password is, honestly, kind of a pain in the butt with the on screen keyboard. Especially if your passwords are GOOD passwords. You know, the kind we are all supposed to use, with UPPER and lower case and numbers and symbols. Using the Apple keyboard, my left pinky finger can again take it's rightful place whacking that left shift key, making muscle memory passwords fast again.

The newest Apple Bluetooth keyboard fits perfectly in my bag with my iPad. I've started to carry it everywhere along with my iPad, just in case I need to do some real typing. What I can see now is that my iPad with the addition of this new keyboard IS a Netbook. There is nothing that I can't do with my iPad and keyboard that I couldn't do when I had my Netbooks. It's just in two pieces now. And I don't have to always have a keyboard to use it.

So, I now have the coolest Netbook with a detached wireless keyboard. Isn't technology wonderful?

App Review: iAnnotate PDF

iAnnotate PDF

By: Aji, LLC

$9.99

As the number of PDF reading apps continues to grow almost daily, a few stand out among the others. This app is one of them. Where-as most PDF reading apps will let you zoom in and out and, if you're lucky, bookmark, this app also lets you annotate as you go along, highlighting, underlining, and adding little notes.

This is the 'killer' feature missing from most of the other apps. If you're a student, of just like to annotate as you read, this is the app to be had.

The price is a little steep however. So you should really consider your PDF reading requirements before thinking about this one.

Free iPad Apps

I want to share a site I found that lists free iPad apps everyday. They're not all great, but there are some gems in there every so often. They just recently started listing iPad apps as well as regular iPhone/Touch apps. I check in every day just to see what's new.

You can check them out here.

More iPad owners prefer reading books on iPad

A new research study by Cooper Murphy Web, a UK copywriting firm has found that almost half of iPad users prefer reading books on the iPad, as opposed to dead trees. This research was based on a poll of just over 1000 UK iPad owners during the last two months. Where as 36% of those polled preferred reading books using the traditional medium, about 41% would rather use the iPad for reading.

Some other interesting numbers; 43% use their iPad more than 10 hours a week, and only 5% said they always left home with their iPads. Where-as 35% said that they rarely took the iPad out of the home/office. For 24% of respondents the iPad is their primary entertainment device.

Source

App Review: Take your iPad out tonight

Star Walk for iPad

By Vito Technology Inc.

$4.99

Tonight is a special night, so why not take your iPad out. Not on a date, but for some star gazing. Tonight the Perseid meteor shower will reach its peak. What a perfect time to take out your iPad with the Star Walk app. Just hold your iPad up to the sky and this app will not only find the constellations for you, but will point you in the best direction to see natures light show.

Grab it here.

Home-brew iPad

Witness this remarkable feat of engineering created to answer some of life's most important questions. The kind of questions that wars have probably been fought over. Questions that have probably kept men up late in the evening pondering. Questions like, "Is there any beer left?", "Is that beer cold enough?" and probably the most important question of all, "Who drank my beer?"

The fellows over at YELP engineering have created just such a device. A machine: half refrigerator, half iPad and all cool! This device can monitor who is drinking the beer, as well as how much they had to drink. It's very clever and something perhaps only a student would think of.

Check it out here.

iPad of the Tiger

I found this on TUAW today. It's a video remake of the Rocky anthem "Eye of the Tiger" created using only iPad apps. It's actually very impressive and sounds amazing!

Check it out here.

App Review: Bookman

Bookman

By: Takashi Kato

Free

You man argue that there are all ready too many PDF readers for the iPad. You may even be right. However Bookman is a PDF reader with a very cool difference. It can also display comic book files. (.CBR and .CBZ)

It's fast and works very well. If you have a digital comic book stash, you may want to check out this free iPad app.

Grab it here.

More great iPad wallpaper!

I don't know about you, but I love finding new wallpaper for my ipad. With that large screen, I just want to show it off with great looking wallpaper. I've found a link to a collection of over 70 designs.

Enjoy :)

Check it out here.

Rumours: iPad supposed to have a Gyroscope

According to an article from EE Times, it looks like the iPad may have been designed to posses a gyroscope, just like the iPhone 4 has. It seems that Apple may have been testing out a previous gyroscope chip in the iPad prototype. The iPad's circuit board has evidence of the position the gyro-chip may have occupied. Also the line tracings seem to follow back to the processor and line up with that earlier gyro-chips pin pattern.

So will the next revision of the iPad finally include a gyroscope? Probably, but we'll have to wait and see. One more rumour to add to the list.

Source

Apple releases patch - kills Jail-break

Apple officially released it's patch for the iPad and iPhone today. The new firmware iOS 3.2.2, effectively kills the new Jailbreak that was well publicized last week. Apple was able to identify the cause of the security hole, as reported earlier - a flaw in the PDF code - and back fill it in.

This is bad news for anyone enjoying the world of Jail-breaking and all that can be found in the Cydia repository. But this is great news for anyone looking to avoid a possible security breach and exploitation of their iPad.

It's a mixed blessing, if you will. My advice: if you value a safe, secure iPad, run the update through iTunes as soon as you can. If you want to walk on the wild side and keep your iPad at risk, all the while enjoying being off Apple's leash, good luck. You may just need it.

Link to Apples official support site here.

Over 20,000 iPad apps available!

Well, it's official. Your friendly neighbourhood App Store now has over 20,000 apps available for your iPad. Not to shabby when you remember that the iPad has only been available for just over four months now.

This is great news. Not only are there more and more apps available to us, but this is exactly how you keep a platform alive. In the past there have been many computing platforms that were amazing for their time, but no matter how good a platform is, without an active application environment, it just get's stale and dies.

App Review: The Globe and Mail for iPad

The Globe and Mail for iPad

By Spreed Inc.

FREE

It's been out for about two weeks, but if you haven't heard yet, the Canadian news paper, The Globe and Mail has an iPad app available for free. Now you can get all your canuck happenings right on your iPad.

It's not a bad app, but you really have to look past all the car ads and the long pauses while the stories load. They released an update today that is supposed to speed things up. Here's hoping.

Tap here to get try it yourself.

What lessons can laptops learn from the iPad

I've found a pretty interesting article on ZDNet that lays out 6 key features that the iPad has, that laptops don't. These features really demonstrate what laptop makers should be thinking about when designing computers in the future.

I'll list them here, but if you get a chance you should check it out. It a pretty interesting read. You can find it here.

1. Battery life

2. Instant On

3. Centralized software

4. Simple Interface

5. Most users consume, not create

6. Size

App Review: USA TODAY adds Crossword

USA TODAY Crossword
By USA TODAY
FREE

Do you feel like you're missing out on the full newspaper experience on your iPad because you can't find a four letter word for fun? Well cheer up! USA Today just updated their app to include their crossword puzzle.

You can get it here.

App Review: CineXPlayer

CineXPlayer

By: NXP Software B.V.

FREE

This is a great app that will let you watch Xvid movies on your iPad. There is no need to bother converting your video and then going through the trouble of adding it to iTunes, just so you can sync it. Just add your video under File Sharing in iTunes and you're all set.

Grab it here

Installing Flash on your iPad

If you haven't heard yet, it seems that you can easily install flash on your iPad now. The first time 'round with this install you needed FTP access to you iPad, which was a little intimidating for some. Now it's as easy as installing any other Cydia app.

Follow these instructions and you too can has flash!

First you'll need to Jailbreak your iPad. (Head over to www.jailbreakme.com, swipe your finger, and wait.)

Step 2: Launch Cydia

Step 3: Go to the Manage tab and tap Sources

Step 4: Tap Edit then Add

Step 5: Add the following source, http://repo.benm.at

Step 6: Tap on Search, and look for "frash" (yep, it's called frash)

Step 7: Install frash

You just need to reboot you iPad and you're done.

Apple has a patch ready for iOS vulnerabilities

Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris claims that Apple has completed a patch for a known exploit that allows the iOS operating system to become vulnerable to attack and complete take-over.

It is not known yet when Apple will officially release this patch but it may take some time. Apple must coordinate patching with about 15 different phone companies worldwide. According to Kerris, "We'll do everything we can to make sure this is not an issue for our customers."

In the meantime we'll just have to wait for the fix.

Source

Rumours: Upgraded CPU in next iPad

This one is a given, but if the rumours coming out of DigiTimes are to be believed, the next revision of the iPad may use or be based on the Cortex-A9 based processor, and have 512MB of RAM.

The Cortex-A9 processor is a 2GHz chip designed by ARM, a world leading semiconductor intellectual property supplier. You can find out more here, if you like.

The next generation iPad is expected to ship in early 2011.

Is the knockoff better than the real deal

The Chinese black-market is vast and sometimes amazingly brazen. Here is an example of a knockoff product that may actually be better than the original article.

Apple has been slow in producing and delivering the iPad camera connection kit. The wait is typically several weeks. You can find them on Ebay selling for double and triple the retail price. With it you get two adaptors - one for a USB plug and one for an SD card. It's definitely a handy adaptor to have. Some might argue that Apple should have included this functionality into the iPad to begin with, instead of adding it as an additional purchase.

As you can see from the picture, the Chinese company that has decided to produce their own connector, has also decided to integrate both the USB and SD connections into a single adaptor. The advantage is that you don't need to carry around two adaptors, or risk losing one or the other. It's just one less thing to lug around.

You can own one yourself for about $26. Follow this link for more info.

How do you tote around your iPad?

So how does the modern tech-nomad carry around his new iPad? That is the question now isn't it? Personally, I use a laptop fitted messenger bag, but it is too big to fully cradle my iPad. This is the bag I used to carry my Macbook pro to and from work in. But now that I have my iPad, I don't really need such a large laptop-designed bag.

So I'm looking for the perfect bag. One that will carry and protect my iPad, along with

my phone, chargers, pens, business cards, cables, and various other sundry items.

But there is a line that I'm trying not to cross. A line so engrained into the male psyche that it can make a grown man blush in humiliation. I'm of course referring to the satchel, aka the european shoulder bag, aka the dreaded 'don't get caught dead caring man-purse' or murse if you will. This is to be avoided at all cost if you are to remain a card-carrying member of the male gender.

I've done a little research to try and find a few options the don't blur the lines too much. Check them out and see if you would be caught dead using one. If you're interested in browsing more, head on over to http://ipadbags.com/.

Case Logic ULA-110 10.2-Inch Netbook/iPad Attache Cost: $25
Kensington Sling Bag 9"-10" Cost: $19.99
Taipan Shadow XS Cost: $79.95
WaterField Designs 10" Portable Muzetto Cost: $189
Saddleback Leather Co. Medium iPad Satchel Cost: $310

Ozzy rocks an iPad

According to Kelly Osbourne, the 25 year old daughter of old-school rocker Ozzy Osbourne, her rock legend dad is an iPad expert. In her column in Britain's Closer magazine, she expresses her surprise in how well Ozzy is getting on with his new iPad.

The simplicity in using an iPad should really be evident in hearing this news as Ozzy has demonstrated difficulty in turning on a TV.

Playboy comes to ipad

Playboy magazine - there's an app for that now too. It seems that in an effort to keep up with the times, Playboy, perhaps realizing that the entire porn industry is going digital, has released an app for it's monthly magazine. Officially bridging the gap between your father's porn and your own. If you're wondering how Playboy managed to sneak past Apple's App Store centurion guards, they didn't. There apparently is no full nudity in this app.

If you're interested, click here.

Rumours: More iPads on the way

Smaller iPad?

The rumours have been floating around the Internet for a few weeks now. It seems that just maybe Apple is working on a smaller iPad. There has been some suggestion that a 7 inch version is imminent. (Months away)

Camera?

This is a no brainer. The very first thing literally everyone said the moment they saw the iPad was "wait… no camera?!". For whatever reason Apple, in its infinite wisdom, decided that the iPad didn't need a camera. I believe the general consensus is WTF? This kind of thing is really to be expected from brand new Apple products. They don't seem to be interested in public opinion when it comes to their newest "secret" products. It's only after the first release that they start to care about what you and I think.

At any point, rumours abound. I've attached a few sources for your appraisal here, and here.

Your iPad is vulnerable to hacker attack

Hot on the heels of what some are calling the easiest jailbreak ever, comes a warning that your iPad is vulnerable to hackers and exploits. The latest jailbreak takes advantage of a security hole in the iPad's PDF viewing code. By corrupting a font, the jailbreak can essentially force software onto your iPad. What makes this truly scary is that all you need to do is visit a website on your iPad and it is immediately exploited. Now that this is common knowledge, the Internet just got a whole lot scarier!

Apple is aware of this exploit but has yet to offer any kind of patch or fix. So until they do, let's be careful out there, and you might want to stay away from some of the dark corners and back roads of the net.

Reuters has recently run a story on this vulnerability.

Click here for more info.

App Review: Tunnel Shoot

Tunnel Shoot

By: Backflip Studios

$0.99 - FREE for a limited time

If you're like me and enjoy the odd shoot-em-up-while-flying-experimental-spacecraft-in-a-tunnel-at-high-speed type of game, then you may enjoy Tunnel Shoot. It free right now, but that could change at any moment. In any case, it's only $0.99 regularly, and I don't know about you, but I've wasted $0.99 many times on an app that turned out to be a piece of junk. This game is not one of them. It's great for a quick rush of adrenalin and a surprising sense of accomplishment.

Check it out while it's free!

Here