Happy Easter! Well the iPad came and over the past day and 1/2 I have spent alot of time getting my arms around this device and playing with the different APPS from my short list blog post. So initial impressions?
I have to say that I just love this thing! In fact on Saturday I ended up doing a USTREAM.TV video for around 800 viewers for just over 3 hours on how iPad performs and demonstrating APP’s and answering direct questions. The iPad feels nice in ones hands, albeit that at 1.5lbs over extended usage I did feel it get a little heavy in my hands. The earlier reviews concerning battery life are correct, in my experience using this all day that the battery kept going with WIFI on and being used non-stop for well over 11 hours! The screen is just drop dead gorgeous and movies that I looked at from Digital Copies such as The Dark Knight looked like they were in 1080P!
So what about the APPS? Well from my short list posting this past Friday, I have started to create video demonstrations to show how they look on iPad. Here are my first two and over the course of the next several days this list will continue to grow.
If you have questions about the iPad, please feel free to leave comments and I will do my best to answer your questions.
Well.. here we are the day before the official launch of the magical and revolutionary Apple iPad, and the technology, consumer electronics, and financial industry segments are all abuzz over Steve Job’s latest creation. Will it live up to the hype? The major news sources like Time, USA Today, WSJ, PCWorld have all sung praises to “the next era of computing”.
But what about the applications, great hardware is meaningless without great software to empower the user. Yesterday Apple launched the iPad portion of the APP store and from browsing the store; here is my must have short list to at least start off with tomorrow when my iPad gets delivered.
Skeeter’s Short List
Apple Keynote – The ability to show my presentations quickly along with editing on the fly will be just awesome!
Apple Pages – While I would not envision writing long documents, the ability to update proposals, tweak contracts, etc will be invaluable.
iBooks – While I love my nook & Kindle, I believe the added capabilities that iPad will bring to books will make reading fun again.
Marvel Comics – Ironman and Spiderman coming to life in full delicious color… oh my
USA Today - Can’t wait to see the full of color USA today come to life
LogMein Ignition – One of the best APPS on the iPhone period. You can fully control both Windows and Macs with it. Need I say more?
WSJ for iPad - Have you seen the screen shots – looks like the paper?
ABC Player - Lost and Modern Family on demand? Coolness!
Mirrors Edge – A really fun and gorgeous game on the consoles, well see how it performs on the iPad.
Check back tomorrow (morning I hope) for an unboxing video and then over the weekend I will report back with my initial impressions on the iPad along with initial impressions on my short list!
While pondering about the Apple iPad and having numerous conversations about this “magical and revolutionary product” the big questions that people always ask me is “How much memory should I get? ” and “Should I order it with 3G”. Well the first question to me was pretty simple – Memory. From my perspective while 16GB is just not enough – the cost of the 64GB unit just pushes this device in my humble opinion to a price point that is just too high! In addition to my price concern, I carry a 32GB iPhone have 339 songs, 33 videos, 190 photos, 82 Apps and still have over 8GB of free space! So what I have learned from my first iPod days is that I really don’t need to carry my entire library with me all the time! Thus 32GB just “feels Right” and practical to me for storage.
WI-FI + 3G or Not?
Well I have to say my initial reaction was YES you need 3G, however the more I thought about it the less I thought of having to add $130 to the cost of an iPad and then spend either $14.99 or $29.99 a month, contract or not for 3G data access! So then it dawned on me that there was another option albeit more expensive, it would provide me 3G access on my iPad plus a whole lot more!
Enter Verizon’s MIFI 2200 or Sprints Overdrive app Wireless Hotspot! In case you are not familiar with these devices they are pocket sized, battery powered, portable WIFI hotspots that allow up to 5 devices access to the internet over the 3G/4G wireless networks! Currently you can buy the Verizon MIFI 2200 from Verizon for $59.95, and the Sprint Overdrive for $99 with $50 mail in rebate. Of course both devices assumed a 2yr contract for service with both carriers offering “unlimited” 5GB per month data plans at $59.95 per month.
I was able to do some extensive testing with both of these devices to determine how well they really did perform with normal usage, at least with my laptop and desktop computers. These tests were conducted around Rochester, NY so Sprints 4G network was non-existant, meaning all tests were done within Verizon & Sprints 3G EDVO Rev a. Network. I found that both units from a download speed persecutive were very close to each other in multiple tests and web page surfing user experience. Utilizing an internet speed test site – SpeedTest.net I found that wireless download speeds ranged from 1.0 – 1.3 mbs down and .150 – .350 mbs upload speeds. The Verizion MIFI 2200 usually bested the Sprint Overdrive almost every time by 10%, not really anything you noticed when surfing web pages or watching YouTube videos. What was surprising to me however was the speed comparison when the hotspots were directly connected to my laptop via the included USB cables. With the Sprint Overdrive the speeds did not change, however the Verizon MIFI just took off with speed testing improvements such as 1.7 – 1.9mbs down and .350 – .550 mbs upload speeds! Beyond the speed testing you could easily see that web pages easily loaded faster under this configuration as well. Bottom line: Verizon out performed Sprint, at least in Rochester, NY with no 4G coverage at the time of this blog posting.
Alternative Approach
So think of this approach from this perspective; add $130 to the cost of my iPad, then plan on spending $29.99 per month for unlimited data access OR get one of these instant hotspot devices which will give you hotspot access for not just your iPad, but your smart phone, Laptop and 2 other internet hungry devices! The long term monthly cost (assuming 2 year contract) is certainly more then the iPad data plan however again in my humble opinon you get more capability then buying a WI-FI + 3G iPad!
If you ordered an iPad I would like to hear your comments about this device. I will be sharing my unboxing and thoughts on this device over the coming weekend in both blog posts and video. Hope to see you soon!
So here we are March 12th and the Pre-orders started today at 8:30am EDT with various Mac News, Rumor sites and technology analysts reporting that based on their estimates that these puppies were being ordered at an astounding rate of 25,000 units per hour! Is that number really accurate? I doubt it, but it certainly fuels the fever pitch which is something that no tech-company other then Apple, Inc. can garner in the computer industry.
So I have to admit my first reaction to this device was somewhat underwhelming and comparing it to an overgrown iPod Touch was easy to do. So you can look & listen to your photos, music and even movies on iPad and YES they will look nicer then on the iPhone 3Gs but that is not very compelling to me. Now Apple reports of 150,000 existing apps that are all just ready to be loaded on your iPad. Ok, but I already have them on my iPhone. Maybe I could put them on my iPad… but again not very compelling. Next up comes a 9.7 inch web browsing experience in your hands. I can see it being a great experience, but not enough to make me put my laptop away. The productivity apps like email, calendar, google maps are OK but, I have them on other devices. So what remains are really two functions/features which are iPad specific. It is in these two areas that get me excited. If you have not seen the Apple Keynote, it was these same two areas that got the most reaction from the audience in what otherwise was a very subdued keynote.
eBooks and iWork Apps, and Games
Where I see the biggest potential is with Books and Periodicals. With a device such as the iPad a users experience can now combine text, audio, and video into a very engaging and intimate experience. Of additional interest to support this, Barnes & Noble announced formal support of an B&N iPad App to read and access their bookstore! So I have to believe Amazon will not be far behind! Penguin a publisher in the UK showcased upcoming books that provide the kind of intimacy that will revolutionize peoples reading experience. While the video below starts with children’s books, it gets really interesting when they get to the fiction, travel guides and star charts!
Custom iPad Apps like Keynote, Pages, and Numbers will allow me to have enough power in standard business applications that I could easily leave the MacBookPro at home. With iPad I could teach my Social Media classes via Keynote and respond to email, and work on proposals with Pages and Numbers. I believe that these applications are just scratching the surface on what can be done with iPad specific applications! The last area that I believe has huge potential is the gaming marketing, but I will save my comments on that topic for a future post.
What is going to happen in 3 weeks?
New Version of iTunes – We can expect that right before April 3rd we will see the launch of a new version of iTunes. It will at a minimum it will incorporate the sync services for iPad, and add sections to the APP Store for iPad specific Apps. I would also suspect that a Book Store menu will appear in iTunes so you can not only purchase but backup purchased books to your computer. I for one hope Apple produces booking reading apps for your iPhone, Mac & PC like both Amazon and Barnes & Noble have done with their e-reader devices.
Guided Tour Video – I also suspect that before the end of this month we can expect to see an Apple Guided Tour of iPad that you can watch to learn more about this new device along with several How-To documents on the use of particular apps or settings.
Another Commercial – We have already seen the first commercial for iPad, thanks to the Oscars but I suspect that another one will surface before the launch showing off more usage of the device.
Revamped Apple Store – Finally on the evening of April 2rd if you happen to live near an Apple Store, expect the windows to be covered so that the window displays can be all “iPadded Up” and a section of the store carved up for both demo units and a plethora of accessories for iPad.
No iPads! – What you won’t see are any iPads in the store before April 3rd. Apple unlike other tech companies (thinking Gateway & Dell) knows that you don’t tease your consumers with “Oh Look” check out my new sexy gadget/computer but sorry you can’t buy it now or get it here approach!
Well you might be wondering well am I getting one? – You Bet!
Between the potential with iBooks, iWork Apps, and Web Surfing I see great potential and opportunity from this device. In fact I pre-ordered the iPad 32GB WIFI model at 8:34am this morning, with an order Acknowledgement back from Apple at 9:04:06!
What you can expect to see and read here over the next three weeks:
Updates and comentary on the iPad and aforementioned predictions
Unboxing Video on April 3rd
Comparison of iPad to other e-Readers such as Nook and Kindle
iPad as a replacement to my MacBook Pro
iPad for gaming
Will Apple’s iPad live up to being both Magical and Revolutionary or just another gadget looking to solve a problem that doesn’t exist? At this point I believe it is too early to say, but I for one see awesome potential here!
The Virtualization industry for the Apple Macintosh has existed for almost as long as the Macintosh, with one of the first virtualization products (at least that I used) being hardware based on the Macintosh IIc back in 1987. Warping forward to 2010 how times have changed for both software and hardware manufactures and “with Hell Freezing Over…” Apple made the move to the Intel Chipset. In my humble opinion one of the best decisions Apple ever made! In the Virtualization space today the players are Parallels Desktop 5, VMWare fusion 3, and Oracles’ Virtual Box, with the predominate lead going to Parallels. What sets Parallels Desktop 5 apart from other Virtualization software really boils down to it’s mature and thorough feature set and just raw performance emulating Windows. If your interested in a short comparison of Parallels and VMware I created a screencast here, late last year.
Parallels Desktop 5 is all about raw speed, performance and reliability. Leveraging the release of Mac OSX 10.6 Snow Leopard, Parallels Desktop 5 now takes advantage of the 64bit OS, Intels VT-x2 Technologies, and can utilize up to 8 CPU’s on the most powerful Mac the MacPro. What does this mean? In simple terms it means booting up in Windows XP in under one minute or even less with Windows 7.
Here is where you select a virtual machine to open.
I can now suspend a windows instance in less then 10 seconds, and when I need to go back into windows with just one click Windows is back and operational on my Mac in less then 10 seconds! Truly amazing.
Performance is clearly carried through in both application performance as well as graphics including OpenGL 2.1 and DirectX 9 support. What this has meant to me is that I can easily run applications like MS Word and Internet Explorer with performance that is better then most windows machines, and quickly test my website designs and video production for Windows compliance. What has also much improved in Parallels Desktop 5 is the ability to play 3D games now in a virtualized environment, and get performance that makes casual gaming very acceptable. For a more detailed look on gameplay within Parallels, I created a screencast late last year that you can find here.
What sets Parallels Desktop 5 apart is a well executed user interface and mature feature set for each Virtual Machine. Parallels has created a very unobtrusive interface to launching a Virtual Machine instance, and accessing the hardware & settings of the environment.
Hardware and VM Settings Seamless Integrate with running Virtual Machine
The interface has been well thought out with the ability to configure every feature/function of the virtualization experience with a very comprehensive set of options. While there are over 70 new features that are included in this release and certainly too many to cover here, the most important features to me are the performance improvements and the new Crystal Mode of operation. To see Windows 7 literally melt away so that only you only see the Windows program running next to your mac programs is simply brilliant!
Notice that MS Word 2007 is running to the left of Apple Pages!
In summary Parallels Desktop 5 sets a very high bar and a new standard in Virtualization software. The product offers an incredibly robust feature set, performance that is just amazing, and rock solid stability. I personally use Parallels Desktop 5 on both a MacPro and MacBookPro daily, and my experience has just been stellar! I for one will be interested to see how Parallels improves on this incredible release!
Having ordered two nooks (one already received) and another due right before Christmas, I am now second guessing my decision to buy this product. The feature list should have been a Kindle 2 killer – PDF Support, Lending Books, Color LCD, at the bottom of the display….. However speaking from owning a Kindle 2 and selling it the day the nook was announced might have been a mistake. Especially after several reviews that mostly trashed the nook. I decided to head over to a Barnes and Noble store to see one in person to see if what I was reading was true. By far the worst review I read/watched was from NY Times’ David Progue, but I also read some fairly decent reviews from WSJ, Money, and several technology blogs including CNET.
So with all of these comments (mostly negative) in mind, I tried to approach the very helpful lady and nook staring at me behind the nook display with an open mind. What I found to my surprise is that the nook actually faired better in my hands and opinion (a lot better) then what I had seen and read online.
Nook Display
I found the display to be easier on the eyes with the darker ink then my Kindle 2 was, and the form factor and the color LCD looks brilliant together and its extra weight actually felt like quality high-end product then “made in China” junk. The color LCD provided a beautiful way to navigate the OS and to me gave the nook more of a premium “iPhone” device feel to it instead of a plastic toy feel with pre-school buttons like the Kindle 2 keyboard. The menu options made sense to me and I was able to browse books, look at the store, buy a book, and open up sample PDF’s.
The so called “formatting issue” is definitely there but it was not as bad as I had read it to be and when I asked the nook lady about it, she explained that since each book has it’s own set of font’s embedded in the file the nook has to truly format the book for the device. So when I think about it that way, it actually is a step forward and brilliant because each book can choose it’s own font and control it’s appearance. That (to the best of my knowledge) is not something the Kindle 2 did so there was never any formatting that needed to be done. Additionally this only happened the first time you loaded the book, and then on subsquently going to the book it just jumped right in like Kindle does. I suspect that with this capability of rending when the document is opened actually provides for a better reading experience and more accurate representation of a book or diagram (thinking PDF). While a little slow it was not something that would make me walk away from this device.
With regard to horrible “page turning experiences” it was slightly slower from what I remembered with the Kindle 2 but again nothing as bad as I had read. The ability to browse the store worked well and buying a book or magazine (in my base PC Mag) worked well, putting them into a queue and automatically notified me when they were done downloading. Overall right on par with the Kindle 2.
Concerning battery life – “David Progue – Please stand up so I can slap you” – His statement 7 days Kindle 2 verse 2 days nook, is a complete mis-representation. The nook will last 10 days with just the book and 3G Wireless turned on, if you leave WIFI on it drops to 2 days. There really is no reason to leave WIFI on unless your hanging out at a Barnes and Noble store and if so it is very easy to go into the color LCD and turn the WIFI on as needed. Additionally the fact that the nook does not have a browser – well get over it. The Kindle 2 had one – it was a joke and besides. I have an iPhone a MacBookPro if I really want to surf the web, i’m certainly not going to do it on an e-reader!
After spending almost an hour playing with the nook at the Barnes and Noble store I feel I could easily lose the nook in my hands, the page turning experience and the buttons to turn pages felt natural and unobtrusive to me. The color LCD quickly disappears out of site and the backlight goes out quickly so it just melts away from being distracting to your eyes. Being a Kindle user since the original Kindle came out what 2 years ago – well the user interface experience is completely different on the nook and I kept trying to approach this device like a kindle. Once I got around that I found the UI to be very easy to use and self explanatory. Barnes and Noble – if your reading this – Do yourself a favor – Create a “Getting to know your nook video” that walks the user through the most common functions or using the nook coming form the Kindle. Just a thought.
The device does show it’s 1.0 heritage in the software and I do agree that you can “build up a series of commands” so that you watch while your nook is off doing anything but what you intended. While I can see this could become very annoying, being aware of this is half the battle. I would like to think that between Android 2.0 and nook software updates this issue will pass.
I did ask about the “Book Lending Issue” and the helpful B&N lady was right there to explain that the company plans had really fallen victim of the publishers and they were still working on this. So let’s just hope that with time these restrictions get relaxed because it’s really is a great idea and was a selling point to me.
So now with this information and some time to play with a nook in my hands – did I make the wrong decision? – Absolutely not! I have to say that this device is getting a lot of unfair press and poor reviews, which is really too bad and unfair. I would encourage anyone who like me was second guessing themselves to find a Barnes and Noble store and check it out. I also have to give wonderful kudos to my new friend the “nook lady” at the store. She was super friendly, knew her product in and out, and was completely up to speed on what was being said about this new device, and was able to talk openly about the reviews and provide me solid explanations. With this new information in hand, Christmas is now feeling just that much further away and I once again feel like that 10 year old boy, I once was.
I am a member of a networking group called BNI – International which is a networking and referral group that I attend weekly to give referrals to my fellow group members and if I am lucky get a referral or two as well. Every meeting two of the members get to present a topic of choice to help educate and let their fellow members better understand what the presenters business does.
Last week it was my turn so I thought I would discuss something I am spending a lot of time on with my customers which is Social Media, and in particular facebook and twitter. So with that plan in mind and only 8 minutes to present something, I narrowed the discussion down to just facebook fan pages. So in preparation of this presentation I decided I would do some research on facebook by industry segment to understand just how many fan pages existed and collect a rough “idea” of just how many fans these pages industry segments had.
With searching facebook by segment and just looking at fan page counts and approximating numbers of fans it was easy “at a very broad stroke” to see what other companies were doing on facebook. I did not spend really anytime trying to find local Rochester companies but just get a sense of what was out there.
Here is a brief example of what I observed:
Investing – 2 pages, 2500 fans
Lawn Care – 500 pages, 100’s fans
Electrician – 77 pages, 100’s fans
Mortgages – 350 pages, 100’s fans
Heating and Cooling – 486 pages, 100’s fans
Banking – 247 pages, 1000’s fans
Insurance – 500 pages, 100’s fans
Attorneys – 1300 pages, 1000’s
Home Renovation – 916 pages, 100’s fans
With this information in hand I asked the group of 22 professionals if they had a facebook fan pages (I already knew that answer) and only two members had a fan page! When I reviewed this information and handed out examples of fan pages in these industry segments, you could see the rooms reaction change as I discussed what other businesses were doing on their fan pages and pointing out just how out of touch most people were in the room with their customers. It also didn’t hurt my presentation when the heating and cooling guy chimed in (who had a fan page) and said “Yeah – Skeeter’s right I put a fan page up not too long ago and have already gotten several new customers because of this!”
So my question to you the reader is this? Do you have a fan page to represent your business? If the answer is no, then why not? We are at a very unique and wonderful time with regard to Social Media. As a business you can take advantage of the fact that the conversation with your customer can now be one to one, instead of the old days of a monologue discussion (You shouting out your message). From my perspective, I would rather my company/brand be included in the conversation (good or bad) verse not being talked about at all…
Introduction
First off, let me congratulate you by saying Welcome, Bravo, and Thank You for wanting to actively engage your customers! There are over 300 million subscribers in facebook, with approximately 3 million members becoming fans of pages like yours daily! There isn’t a better time to start two way conversations with your customers, and let them talk to you and about your business.
So what can I expect?
Well depending on how you use your new fan page will ultimately determine how many and how frequently your customers or potential customers think of you and your business. A fan page is all about giving, it’s about opening up and sharing information about your business, providing insights into the people behind the name, and providing compelling content that makes people want to come back and see what’s happening in your business. By providing some or all of the above to your fans through social networking sites such as facebook or twitter you open the doors for a more intimate customer experience, and an enriched relationship which will generate increased business exposure and ultimately revenue.
How do I get started?
Here content is king – Think about your business and all the aspects of it, now with that in mind, content is: photographs, video, press releases, new products, events, and discussions. With continual and fresh content you elicit conversation, interest, and will engage your customer.
Where do I Update facebook? There are several areas that you can update your fan page, however the most common are:
Wall – What’s on your mind?
Photos – Either new albums or new photos
Events – Activities you want for fans to know about or participate in
Discussions – Questions and Subject Matter Expert Content
Video – Product reviews, How-to, Commercials
Challenges
Often when I complete a facebook deployment for my clients a common challenge that I run into is Now What? While companies excel at both sales and marketing strategies bridging the gap between these common practices and how to use the facebook Fan Page seems daunting. Because of this uncertainty I guide clients by developing both tactical and strategic plans to update facebook, and will create new content and manage the fan pages for them. Listed below are only 5 of over 20 guidelines and thought provokers that I use with my clients.
Update Guidelines and Thought Provokers
Update your Fan Page at least once a week, preferably 2 – 3 times a week
Showcase new products by posting pictures on your wall with descriptions
Create Events to add excitement about your business and send out updates to fan
Create “facebook only” promotions to drive fan membership
Add company announcements, press releases, articles to your wall.
The Start of a Series So it is with this facebook Fan page article in mind, I will be releasing a series of screen casts that will talk through these guidelines and show you how to apply these techniques to your own facebook fan pages. Each screen cast will be approximately 3 – 7 minutes in length, and be designed as something you the reader can review and apply these technique to your own fan page. I welcome your feedback, suggestions, and ideas and look forward to getting to know you and learn from you my reader.
With the release of both VMWare Fusion 3 and Parallels Desktop 5 over the past 2 weeks I was interested and motivated to create several blog posts and screencasts showing off the differences and features I liked the best. With performance being such a huge improvement both touting Directx 9.0x and OpenGL 2.1 support the only logical thing left to look at was how well the virtual environments played games that would push the VM’s and attempt to use the video cards GPU’s.
So below you will find my screencast noting my experience with several games both good and bad. What this test did do for me was remind me of some of the frustrations I have always had with game playing on PC’s. While I understand the need for copy protection it takes a lot of the fun out of playing PC games, and the configuration issue of games can just be daunting to the novice.
For example after an hour of troubleshooting and research I determined among others on support forums that BioShock will just not run on Windows 7. After 30 minutes into Fall 3 troubleshooting a stumbled upon a forum post that gave me three Fallout.ini settings I had to make to allow the game to play!
The games I looked at were: Sims 3, BioShock, Crysis, Lego Indiana Jones, Fall Out 3, Halo 2
Well I hope you enjoy this last screencast on Virtualization focused on game play.
In honor of Rochester’s 175th Anniversary, the City of Rochester and the Veterans Outreach Center will present a special Veterans Day Concert featuring the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and special guests under the direction of Principal Pops Conductor Jeff Tyzik.
I was fortunate enough to be asked to shoot the GigaPans for this historic event in Rochester, and want to offer a special thank you to Gary Walker from the City to take the time to explain what a GigaPan is and introduce me to the audience. The picture below represent the GigaPans I was able to capture for during the event and if you want to create your own snapshots you can click on them.
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While pondering about the
Enter 
pocket sized, battery powered, portable WIFI hotspots that allow up to 5 devices access to the internet over the 3G/4G wireless networks! Currently you can buy the Verizon MIFI 2200 from Verizon for $59.95, and the Sprint Overdrive for $99 with $50 mail in rebate. Of course both devices assumed a 2yr contract for service with both carriers offering “unlimited” 5GB per month data plans at $59.95 per month.
Concerning battery life – “David Progue – Please stand up so I can slap you” – His statement 7 days Kindle 2 verse 2 days nook, is a complete mis-representation. The nook will last 10 days with just the book and 3G Wireless turned on, if you leave WIFI on it drops to 2 days. There really is no reason to leave WIFI on unless your hanging out at a Barnes and Noble store and if so it is very easy to go into the color LCD and turn the WIFI on as needed. Additionally the fact that the nook does not have a browser – well get over it. The Kindle 2 had one – it was a joke and besides. I have an iPhone a MacBookPro if I really want to surf the web, i’m certainly not going to do it on an e-reader!
