Apple Mac HQ

With the iPad coming out in less then a month, I thought it would be good to summarize why I will be getting one.

The iPad is a nice step up from the iPhone. The iPhone is always with me, so I can pull it out whenever I need to play Plants vs. Zombies, check a sports score, or do a Google search. Doing these things feels cramped on my iPhone’s 3.5” display though. The keys are very small and it is hard to get any “real” work done, like using QuickOffice to work on a document or a spreadsheet. The  point of the iPhone is doing quick tasks because of this screen limitation. The iPad screen is a perfect size for portability yet will not hamper productivity. I can see myself using the iPad anytime I am at home lounging on the couch or sitting at a desk at the library.

My MacBook is my all time favorite purchase, but it has a few drawbacks. It is too bulky and it feels like it has to be lugged around. It also is overkill. While there will be many iPad applications that will have power user features, many will focus on ease of use and simplicity. I do not want applications getting in my way. When I have a goal and mind, I want an app to help me finish my task quickly and efficiently without having to learn tons of features. I also have many gadgets attached to my MacBook ports, so if I want to use it portability I have to disconnect tons of cables. The iPad will usually be in a charging dock when I am not using it, which it can be easily be pulled out of.

While on the subject of “ease of use and simplicity,” I am absolutely thrilled to see the iPad’s emphasis of focusing on one app at a time and not having a screen filled with windows. When I on my MacBook, I have multiple apps open at once but only one window open at a time to minimize distractions.

The iPad is an appliance and is the first computing device I feel comfortable giving to my mother to use. She does not use computers now because of how complicated they are to her. The iPad is not made to be configured with a million settings, nor does it show the app’s supporting folders. The easiest devices to use in any house are appliances because they do not have to be tinkered with and are straightforward. This same principle applies to the iPad.

Trying to explain the numerous ways to install and uninstall apps on a Mac is too confusing for the computer illiterate. Installing apps for the iPad is as easy as searching for one in the App Store, putting in a password, and having it download. There are no licenses to deal with or having to give out credit card information to multiple developers. Having her try to hunt down apps online for a Mac just would not happen and is far easier from one store.

Current eBook readers on the market just do not do it for me. Though they are not eBook readers, I am used to seeing beautiful color displays on my MacBook and iPhone. Stepping down to the Kindle’s black and white e-ink feels archaic. Books from the iBookstore will definitely not suffer from this problem.

Some of the tangibles I enjoy about the iPad overlap what is great about the iPhone. Whenever possible though, I will use my iPad over the iPhone.

The folks behind MacHeist, the spy themed software bundle, are getting ready to kick off another event. Details are sparse right now, except the fact that the software bundle sale begins on March 2nd, 2010. The updated website does provides a few clues about what applications might be included with the bundle. The boxes moving across the screen contain application icons for RipIt, Flow, and several other icons for applications I’m not familiar with.

If you visit the MacHeist website right now, you’ll be able to grab a free copy of the Snow Leopard only application Squeeze. From the Squeeze website: “Squeeze is a background file compressor, which uses the new HFS-compression technology in Snow Leopard to transparently compress the folders you configure it to process. Mac OS will read those files normally, they will just take less disk space.”

If you aren’t familiar with MacHeist, you can see our previous coverage of it HERE.

I am too forgetful, so I am constantly taking notes to remember anything. There are many options to take notes on my iPhone. The bundled Notes app does not sync to a web site, which is a deal-breaker. Simplenote is very minimal, which is a blessing and a hindrance at the same time. Evernote is too cluttered. Synotes, by Syncode, finds a nice balance between features and getting out of the way.  Syncode also makes Syncopy, which was reviewed previously on Apple Mac HQ.

Notes are easy to make. After hitting the plus sign in the corner of the screen, I am brought to the “New Note” screen. Then I put in a title and write my note. When done with the note, an icon can be assigned to label the note. Hopefully a future version of Synotes has a wider selection of icons to better match the note I have wrote.

Notes can be shared easily via e-mail. The web site provides an rss feed as well.

Searching in the app not only searches by title, but also by content of the notes. Being able to search within notes is great and quite helpful.

I can access my notes when on my computer too. The app quickly syncs with the Synotes web site. Notes can be made at the web site, which syncs back to the app. The web site has a few downsides. There is no way to search through notes. Also, there are minimal ways to organize notes.

Each note has important information including creation and last modified dates, where the note was created (in the app or on the web site), as well as version history. Any note can be reverted back to its previous version.

I am pleasantly surprised by how easy it is to make notes in Synotes, and I highly recommend it for users seeking a way to make notes.  Syncode is coming out with an iPad version of Synotes too, and it will be interesting to see how well it turns out. Synotes 1.1.1 is compatible with iPhone OS 3.0 or later for $1.99 (iTunes link).

When I am looking for interesting pictures, I usually go to Flickr. It has a wide selection of great pictures and wallpapers to view. Flickit Pro is a great way to see what Flickr has to offer.

Browsing for content is easy. My pictures as well as my contact’s pictures are broken down by sets, galleries, tags, and favorites. Searches can be done by my pictures, friends, contacts, or everyone in Flickr. Nearby pictures are shown on a map based on my geolocation. Groups I am subscribed to is also included. There is even a section for Flickr Interestingness which features many engrossing pictures.

After finding some pictures to look at, there are a couple ways to view them. Each picture can be viewed taking up the whole screen in portrait or landscape. Photoflow is like Cover Flow, which is seen in many Apple products. Photoflow has tilt scrolling like in the Instapaper Pro app. When photoflow is on, I can tilt my iPhone forward and back to scroll through pictures.

Uploading pictures is a snap. I can take pictures on the spot with the camera in-app or choose them from my Photo app. Details of pictures can be changed, including title, description, sets, tags, groups, who can see it, geolocation, and if you want to post it to a blog or Twitter. Any pictures posted to Twitter tweets the name of the photo and provides a compressed URL to the picture on Flickr.

Flickit Pro is very beautiful. The theme colors are gray and black with a tile wallpaper.

The only gripes I have about this app are that it would not update my recent activity and it does now allow deleting pictures. I am not sure if this is disallowed in the Flickr API for 3rd-party apps, though the official Flickr app can delete pictures.

Flickit Pro is a great app to find pictures. It is currently on my first iPhone page, which is where my favorite and most used apps are. Version 2.0 is available for iPhone OS 3.1 or later for $3.99 (iTunes link).

Many of the topics we write about at Apple Mac HQ are things that interest us, and hopefully you as well. While we certainly don’t mind writing for ourselves, we want to know what you want to read as well. To help us gather your writing suggestions, we’re going to test out Skribit.

Skribit is an online web service made for bloggers, by bloggers. Once you put a little javascript code on your blog, you’ll notice a “Suggestions?” tab on your page. Readers just click the tab and enter their writing suggestions. You can create an account on Skribit and follow your suggestion or post suggestions and vote anonymously. You can read much more about Skribit on their website.

If you have any topics you would like us to write about, just click the blue suggestion tab on the right side of our page and post your suggestion or vote on other suggestions. From time to time we’ll look over the suggestions and write about them. So what are you waiting for? Suggest away!

The speculation is over. After endless predictions, Steve Jobs finally unveiled Apple’s new tablet today at the Yerba Buena Center, dubbed the “iPad”.

Apple wisely is utilizing the success of the App Store. iPhone and iPod touch users will feel right at home as the iPad will be compatible with all iPhone OS apps. These apps can run in the same size as on the iPhone or scaled up to fill the screen of the iPad. Apple will be more successful with a tablet that is more iPod touch-like then Mac-like. Even with improving Mac sales, there is only so much penetration Mac will have on market share.

There will also be apps made specifically for the iPad. To show that the iPad is more then a multimedia device, Apple showed off a specially-designed tablet version of iWork. Keynote, Numbers, and Pages will be available for $10 each.

There will also be many great apps that are designed with the iPad in mind and will be bundled on the device, including Safari, Mail, Notes, Photos, iPod, iTunes, App Store, Maps, Calendar, Contacts, and iBooks.

iBooks is an app to read downloadable books in the open ePub format. iBooks will also have a built-in store to buy new books.

Pricing is far cheaper then I, as well as many analysts and bloggers, expected. The iPad will have a few different price points. The 16 GB, 32 GB, and 64 GB models will cost $499, $599, and $699, respectively. These will only have Wi-Fi. Add $130 to any of these models to have 3G in addition to Wi-Fi. These prices are great considering that when the iPhone initially launched it went for $499 for the 4 GB model and $599 for the 8 GB version. The Wi-Fi only models will be out in 60 days, while the models with 3G will be out in 90 days.

The iPad has some nice specs. Weighing in at 1.5 pounds and 0.5 inches thick, the iPad has a 9.7 inch screen with 1024-by-768 resoution and fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating. The processor is a 1 Ghz Apple A4. Like the iPhone, there is an accelerometer, ambient light sensor, and Bluetooth.

There will be man accessories from Apple. The iPad case protects the front of the screen and can be adjusted in numerous ways depending on the situation the iPad is being used in. There is also a regular dock and another version with a keyboard and dock combined, which will be awesome for those long typing situations and people looking for a big, physical keyboard to pound away at. There are 2 different adaptors to import photos. One adaptor will allow importing of pictures by hooking the camera up to the iPad via USB. The other adaptor is compatible with SD cards.

There are 2 data plans, both are through AT&T and neither involve signing a contract and can be cancelled at anytime. The first plan includes a measly 250 MB per month for $14.99, while the second plan is unlimited data for $29.99 per month. The unlimited plan will probably have a soft data cap and will not be truly unlimited. All data plans will allow for free usage of AT&T Wi-Fi hotspots.

Some may wonder why the iPad is needed. When using my iPhone, I am sacrificing screen size for portability. iPad flips the script, providing a great screen to view movies and books while not being as portable as an iPhone.

There are a few downsides with the iPad. There is no support for Adobe Flash, which stinks because many video sites support it. There is also no ability to run applications in the background, which is surprising given the CPU speed. Also, AT&T is the sole provider for cellular data service and they already have had a tough enough time handling the iPhone and other smartphones. “With the iPhone and other smart devices, we saw a 7,000 percent increase in data usage over the last 13 quarters” said AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel. Verizon is not a carrier for the iPad, though there were many analysts who thought they would be. With Apple going towards multiple carrier models in other markets with the iPhone, it would be surprising if Apple did not go that route in the United States eventually

Apple has clearly positioned the iPad as a middle ground between the iPod touch/iPhone and MacBook. It looks to be great for people who want to surf the web and view media, or for kids as a laptop instead of a cheap netbook.

Unless you have been on another planet, you probably heard about the special Apple event tomorrow (Wednesday) morning. The Apple event begins at 10AM Pacific in San Francisco, CA. Everyone article in the mainstream press pegs it as a given that Apple will announce a tablet of some kind. We know the tablet is coming, but what exactly will it bring? If it’s just a large iPod touch, I think a lot of people are going to be very disappointed.

I’ll be checking the action as it goes down live via Engadget. They have already setup a place holder for their live coverage here. We’ll have our own recap and reaction of the event after it’s finished.

David Weiss created a cool “Prediction Score Card” for the event tomorrow. You can download a copy here. If you participate in the score card, come back and post your score in the comments after the event. I’ve already filled mine out so I’ll post my score tomorrow afternoon.

Do you have any predictions you’d like to share? Use the comments below to post your ideas.