Category Archives: IPAD

Video’s Streaming Future

November 10, 2011Apple, application, Commerce, content, internet, iOS, IPAD, iPhone, ipod, IPTV, ROKU, smartphone, videoGBTV, glenn beck, HD, Mercury, streaming, videotomwiles

Many people are likely familiar with the radio/television on-air personality Glenn Beck. His television career included both CNN and the Fox News Channel. On Fox News, Glenn Beck had the most-watched nightly show of any of the cable TV news networks.

Recently, Glenn Beck left Fox News to form his own online streaming television network, GBTV, available at .

About a month ago, after viewing a few of the free Glenn Beck highlight clips from his two-hour nightly streaming television show, I took the plunge and subscribed.

I am very impressed with the production quality. GBTV, LLC currently has 120 employees. This is a genuine, highly-professional high definition television network that has a spectacular set and world-class production facilities that is just as good if not better than anything that Fox, CNN, etc. are capable of doing. Like any genuine television network, live streaming shows start and end right on time and incorporate a number of regular breaks. GBTV is creating genuine television programming that is broadcast directly to the Internet as opposed to satellite or cable distribution. As such, it removes the filter between the content creators and the end viewers, yet high broadcast standard production values are maintained throughout which lends what GBTV is doing an aura of genuine excitement. Real multi-camera live HD broadcasts can be sent directly to subscribers, thus eliminating the cable/satellite middleman.

There are a variety of subscription plans, including monthly and yearly plans. One can subscribe for $4.95 per month, or $49.95 per year. I subscribed to “GBTV Plus” for $99.95 per year, which includes the 6 camera HD shoot of the daily Glenn Beck Radio Show along with other streaming television programs that are coming onto the streaming service. GBTV is in the process of becoming a full-fledged streaming television network that has ultra high production values along with impressive content. Subscription plans include a 14-day free trial.

GBTV currently can of course be viewed on a computer. Other devices include the Roku, as well as iPad and iPod/iPhone apps. All programs remain available for streaming any time for a period of 30 days before dropping off.

I cut the satellite cord more than a year ago, because I felt I wasn’t getting $100 dollars per month worth of value out of my satellite programming. I am more than willing to pay for good content, but I want it on my terms, on a variety of devices, and on my schedule. GBTV offers a tantalizing glimpse at the future of high production value TV content.

Yahoo’s Lifestand

November 4, 2011application, Information, IPADIPAD, magazine, newsreader, YahooKL Tech Muse

This week Yahoo put out a magazine style newsreader called Lifestand for the iPad. I am constantly looking at these types of applications having tried both Zite and FlipBoard, so when Lifestand became available I decided to give it a try. First like both Zite and FlipBoard it is beautifully made and well design. Setting it up is easy and using it is intuitive. When you first open it there are two sections. The bottom section contains all the content available thru Lifestand. As you go through it you can bookmark topics and sources that interest you and those go into the top section. Click on a source to choose it. Swipe left to view articles within a source. Click on the article and then swipe down to read the article. To go back in the menu, click on the arrow on the left bar.

After using it for a couple of days and despite it’s strengths I have decided Lifeststand is not for me. There are several things I either don’t like about it or are missing. The first weakness in my eyes is it is too Yahoo centric, which is not surprising, I just wish they had made it less obvious. The second problem is the sources within Lifestand are limited and there is no way to add new sources. Plus unlike Zite it doesn’t let you check off your likes and dislike and learn what you want and don’t want. The third and biggest problem for me is the fact that the sharing options are limited to Facebook and email. I need to be able to easily share with Twitter and Google Plus and I can’t do that thru Lifestand. If you are a fan of Yahoo you may like Lifestand, but I still prefer Zite or FlipBoard.

Android Leads UK Smartphone Race

November 1, 2011Android, Apple, blackberry, HTC, iOS, IPAD, iPhone, Operating Systems, RIM, smartphone, SonyAndroid, Apple, Blackberry, google, HTC, IOS, iPhone, RIM, Samsung, smartphone, sony-ericssonAndrew

In the UK, Android is beginning to dominate the smartphone space, with 50% of handsets sold in the last quarter running Android. RIM (Blackberry) and Apple are almost level pegging on 22% and 18% and with half of UK adults now owning a smartphone, Android has an impressive lead.

Breaking the Android figures down, HTC is the top dog, with nearly 45% of Android handsets sold. Samsung is picking up the pace at 38% but Sony Ericsson is the big loser, falling to 8.5% of the Android market.

Surprisingly, this means that HTC, Samsung, RIM and Apple are each taking about a quarter of the market. Compared with mindshare that Apple generally has and the dominance in the tablet market, it’s clear that the iPhone is under performing.

Personally, I would agree with the figures. Looking round the office, Android phones are definitely in the majority followed by iPhones and Blackberries. I think Blackberries are popular with younger people as both my nephews have that brand of phone. The breakdown of the Android shares also rings true. This time last year, it would have been exclusively HTC smartphones but now there are quite a few people sporting Samsung devices.

The research was carried out by Kantar Worldpanel ComTech over the past 12 weeks. To be fair, this probably means that iPhone sales were down as people waited for new model but there’s no doubt that Android is the no.1 smartphone OS in the UK.

Magazines are iPads That Don’t Work

October 17, 2011Apple, IPAD, tablet, ToysApple, children, IPAD, learning, Tablet, toysAndrew

Watch the video below and let me know how you feel after watching it, but for the purposes of discussion, remember two things first. One, to avoid any pro- or anti-Apple bias, ignore the fact that it’s an Apple iPad and assume that it’s just a generic tablet. Two, take what the video shows at face value as one could easily make a case that some of the actions with the magazines are normal behaviour and don’t show anything special.

Add your comments below. I’ll chip in later.

Transit Case/Keypad for iPad

October 17, 2011Accessory, Apple, Bluetooth, Information, IPAD, netbookApple, bargain, bluetooth, case, hardware, IPAD, keyboard, Transittomwiles

A couple of weeks ago I finally bought an iPad. At the time of purchase, I also bought a inexpensive Griffin iPad case. For about $90, I could have bought a case that came with an integrated Bluetooth keyboard, but I thought that was a bit much for something I really didn’t need considering I’ve got laptop computers coming out my ears.

I was eating in a Flying J truck stop a couple of evenings ago and when I came out of the Denny’s restaurant and into the truck stop’s convenience store area I happened to notice they had a table set up with marked-down items. They had a small quantity of Bluetooth Case/Keypads that also came bundled with a 12-volt USB charging port and AC USB adapter port with the Micro USB charging cable (“Transit” brand model #11017), marked down to $15.

For $15, I figured I couldn’t go wrong!

It turns out that I ended up with a tremendous bargain. The keyboard painlessly paired up with the iPad Bluetooth, and to my surprise the case is for an iPad 2 so I can use the iPad’s built-in cameras. I was even more surprised to discover that when folded up, it is engineered to automatically put the iPad to sleep and also automatically wakes it back up when it is unfolded just like the Apple smart covers. When folded, it isn’t much thicker than the typical third party cushioned iPad case, and when unfolded props the iPad screen up in a vertical laptop-style position. The iPad fits securely in position in the sleeve, yet is easily removable.

As I expected, the 45-hour charge silicone rubber keyboard does not offer the greatest typing experience in the world, but it’s a million times better than trying to touch-type on glass. The typing experience is very similar to typing on the typical netbook keyboard.

For $15 dollars, I am in geek heaven.

It’s The Content, Stupid

October 6, 2011amazon, Apple, application, cloud, content, internet, iOS, IPAD, iPhone, ipod, Kindle, Market share, marketing2, amazon, Apple, cloud, content, ebook, ereader, FiRe, IPAD, Kindletomwiles

Admittedly I’m coming in late to the party. I had all sorts of excuses – I already have a MacBook Pro, as well as the latest generation of iPod Touch. Why would I need an iPod with a giant screen to run mostly the same apps I can already run on my iPod?

After buying an iPad 2, I understand what all the fuss is about. It has also become immediately clear to me why there is a booming iPad market but currently not much of a tablet market. The reason is staring everyone in the face, yet few seem to see it, particularly large tech companies that are struggling to compete in the wrong arena.

The iPad is admittedly an incredibly nice piece of hardware – however, that’s not why it is so successful. The reason for the iPad’s overwhelming appeal and success is very simple – it revolves in large part around being able to run well-written targeted iOS iPad-specific apps that take advantage of the iPad’s screen size and svelte form factor. At about the size of a traditional magazine, it takes the best elements of the multimedia computer and puts them into a highly-readable, touch-interactive color screen that will easily fit into places and situations where even laptop computers don’t work so well.

In short, it’s all about the content and being able to easily consume it anywhere. The content isn’t just about browsing, listening to music or watching videos. The content in large part is the iPad-specific apps themselves, some of which are incredible, such as the 100% free Flipbook RSS reader app.

Amazon has a chance at success with the 7” Kindle Fire, not so much because of the $200 price point, but because Amazon has a lot of ready-made content hanging out in its cloud. Many people pooh-poohed the original Amazon Kindle, only to witness it quickly morph into a success. The Kindle was not and has never been a success because of the Kindle hardware – the plethora of Amazon ebook content is what caused the original Kindle rise to stardom. The availability of the content finally got the ebook ball rolling in a huge way, and the mass market finally realized the incredible convenience and advantage of having a cloud-connected ereader.

Would-be iPad competitors will never effectively compete with hardware alone, no matter how sexy or inexpensive they are able to make it. To borrow part of a phrase from an early 1990’s presidential campaign, we would all do well to paste this sign on our wall:

“It’s the content, stupid.”