zOMG 4 and 5 finger gestures are the bomb

Posted on March 10, 2011 by

I used the Xcode trick to turn on the 4 and 5 finger gestures setting in iOS 4.3 (google is your friend here – it’s super super super simple to do, promise).

I understand why Apple didn’t ‘ship’ this in 4.3 as there are many apps which currently use 4/5 finger gestures that have to be re-written. But WOW is this going to be an amazing part of iOS 5!

It will also give Apple the ability to do away with the physical home button. Still not positive they would, as it’s a simple ‘gateway’ signal that anyone – young or old, tech savvy or not – automagically gravitates toward.

But given SJ’s penchant for sleek simple elegance I would be surprised if the physical button were gone on iPad 3…

EDIT: I am remiss for not having mentioned that Xcode is large. Something like 4GB. And it is apparently not simple to remove (though google shows a terminal command that purports to do the trick). Anyway please keep this in mind if you are space constrained on your Mac drive…

Posted in Features, Musings, Speculation, OS operating system, iOS | Tagged , , , , | 19 Comments

Whoa. 4.3 is snappy. I may not buy the iPad 2 right away…

Posted on March 9, 2011 by

I think Apple may have goofed by releasing the iOS 4.3 update before taking orders for the iPad 2. They’ve lost at least one Day 1 sale – mine. And for those who’ve followed my exploits, believe me – it’s a shocking to me as it is to you.

I mean, I never require much to justify a gadget upgrade! And while I would love the reduced weight and thickness, I am not sure – as of this moment – that the added horsepower is now enough to compel me to upgrade.

Safari is noticeably snappier in all respects, including as I type this email.

And mail, another app I use pretty much constantly, feels snappier as well. Switching between messages is quicker, the body of the emails appear more quickly, etc.

Is this enough to tide me over until… iPad 3? Or might iOS 5 bog the thing right back down? I’ll have to play with other apps as well to see if the speed improvements are pervasive. My guess is that they won’t be as noticeable as in safari and mail, but we’ll see.

As of this moment, I am standing pat, likely until iOS 5………

Who’d a thunk it??

Posted in Features, Musings, Hardware, OS operating system, iOS | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Well there is obviously going to be another event soon!

Posted on March 3, 2011 by

I may be stating the obvious here but soooo much went unaddressed at yesterday’s iPad 2 event. Too much is percolating to be left that way for long.

First and foremost is iOS 5. Nary a mention. History points to a preview coming some time in the next 4 – 5 weeks. Apple’s been busy of late so I wouldn’t be surprised if it came slightly later this year. Call it Tuesday April 12.

Second is MobileMe. Nothing. Zilch. And in a way that makes me even more optimistic that the coming overhaul is both massive and tightly integrated into iOS (and OSX…) File system (or app) FTW? Here’s hoping. I’m not going to overhaul my own personal workflow until that’s addressed, or not, by Apple.

Anyway, as I’ve stated in prior posts, I’m definitely trading up to the iPad 2. The added horsepower alone makes it a no brainer for me. The thinner, lighter form factor is just gravy as are the cameras.

Oh, and wasn’t it great to see SJ there? I knew he loved the iPad at least as much as he does President Obama :)

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March 2 – What’ll it take to get me to upgrade to the iPad2?

Posted on February 23, 2011 by

I’ve posted often on the rumored and desired features for an iPad2. With the March 2 event now official, I thought it high time to revisit.

My needs and wants may not be those of the average iPad user. In fact they’re probably not. My biggest want (in terms of hardware) is something that will be felt and enjoyed by all, though may be truly necessary to only a few: a beefier CPU and/or more RAM.

My use case taxes the current iPad hardware to the limit. I have 2500 contacts (and a busy calendar) syncing via MobileMe, several email accounts, and 20GB of files in Goodreader. Plus I have multiple tabs open in Safari (or Atomic) all day long.

Since the update to iOS 4.0, and now 4.2, I feel some serious legginess ,especially compared to my iPhone4.

So in this regard my bar to upgrade is actually quite low! Across all the rumors, the one thing pretty much everyone seems to agree on is that the iPad 2 will get at least 512MB of RAM if not a gig, and most seem to also expect a CPU update as well.

As for the rest, my next biggest want is software related, and thus likely wont be discussed on March 2 (though who knows…) and that is a robust, integrated file system or app that plays really well with the cloud. iDisk is meh for the moment. And my current Dropbox/WebDAV workaround is fine, but not for the long term.

In terms of hardware, next on my list would be an improved screen. I read a LOT on my iPad. Even if there is no resolution increase in this go round, anything that improves readability would be a welcomed change, and another thing that’d get me to upgrade. The current screen isn’t bad; in fact it’s very good. But again in comparison to the iPhone 4′s it leaves something to be desired.

A front facing camera would be nice so I can stay in happier touch with the home front while on the road, though by itself wouldn’t be reason for me to upgrade. I will happily take it though.

Same with a speedier interface. I have zero plans to trade out my iMac, which serves as a media/syncing hub for the family. So I wouldn’t really benefit by an updated, speedier on board connection on the ipad unless I also get a new iPad. No thanks!

Rear facing camera? I literally don’t think I’d ever use it. But why not right?

Better speakers? Okay fine enough, thou if I ever really care about what I am listening to (usually audio from a video) I use earbuds. So…nice but not essential to me.

I think those are all of the mainstream rumors. March 2 should be fun. I hope Steve is well enough to run the show! Either way my credit card will be ready.

OH. One more thing: I don’t think this would keep me from upgrading, but I REALLY want to be able to roll over my grandfathered unlimited data plan. If that’s not possible, it’ll be a big bummer for me. I’ve only gone above the current data plan’s limits a couple of times, but I just hate having to manage and monitor my data usage, you know?

Hopefully with competition from Verizon, ATT will offer this…

Posted in Features, Hardware, Musings, OS operating system, Rumors, Speculation | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

4.3 brings a wider spacebar!!!

Posted on January 14, 2011 by

I’ve groused about the width of the space bar (or more precisely, its narrowness) and now 4.3 has fixed it in exactly the way i’d hoped.

In iOS 4.3 the spacebar now extends a full key further to the right, going as far as the end of the ! Key, shrinking the right 123 key accordingly.

Why is this a i deal?

I type on my iPad a LOT, and always in landscape. I’ve become extremely fast and proficient. My most recurring error – and the one which causes the most time lost in correcting – is accidentally tapping the 123 key with my right thumb when I intend to tap the spacebar. I use my right thumb for the spacebar exclusively so this fix is a very big deal to me.

Thanks Apple!!

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Excited for iOS 4.3 and iPad 2

Posted on January 13, 2011 by

By now you’ve probably read about the various new features in iOS 4.3, as well as the mention of new iDevice codes including both iPhones and iPads.

I won’t recount all the upcoing features here, but as an every day iPad user I am extremely happy and most excited about the 4 and 5 finger gestures controlling app switching, return to home screen, and access to the multi tasking bar. I simply don’t like having to double click the home button. Which brings me to….

The rumor that at least some future device models will lose the home button outright. As an experienced user I’d have no problem losing the home button given the upcoming multi touch gestures. However, for new/inexperienced users i don’t think a buttonless design will improve the “anyone can use this thing” sense that one gets when walking up to an iDevice for the first time. I mean, it’s sort of intuitive to simply try to press the button to see what happens. Without that? Confusion. And that’s not something Apple is noted for creating these days, at least not in terms of useablliity.

I don’t doubt that we could see buttonless designs eventually, or perhaps overlapping with current designs for a year or two. But not now, not outright. Though obviously I could be wrong.

Beyond these issues, I am relly excited about an improved iPad. I still maintain that a beefier processor and more ram are the most important improvements Apple can provide. Camera(s), a better/higher rez screen, lighter weight, better shape, etc. would all be nice, and welcomed, but I would trade ANY of them for (much) snappier hardwre.

As Apple has continued to load up iOS with wonderful capabilities, the iPad’s hardware has been taxed to the point where it’s just nit as great an overall user experience as is that on the iPhone 4.

Aside: I am not switching to Verizon, at least not yet. I want to see what happens this June whether next iPhone is announced, as well as what is said about said future iPhone coming to Verizon. All that said I will likely stay with my current iphone4 until an LTE model is released.

Finally, as usual, my biggest desire for iOS remains an improved, centralized file system (or app) fromm apple that is deeply integrated across the platform, and has easy, seamless cloud storage and syncing across devices. Please Apple?

Posted in Features, Hardware, Musings, News, OS operating system, Speculation | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

4.2 FTW! And PC sales forecasts trimmed…

Posted on November 29, 2010 by

Well for those who’ve been following my adventure, it may seem like I’ve been fairly quiet and/or slow to respond to the wonder that is iOS 4.2 on the iPad. I wanted to wait until I had an extended period using the final, release version, and now that’s happened.

If I’d not already spent a fair bit of time loving iOS4 on my iPhone 4 I would by now be waxing more poetic about the experience on the iPad. The good news is that it’s exactly what I expected. It’s terrific as has been widely reported. That bad news is that the thing that most jumps out at me now is how obvious the remaining missing pieces are.

Namely: a unified file system (or, as was suggested elsewhere, a unified file app), and more robust email tools (primarily search, and folder creation/manipulators). Given these things, I think it’d be 100% clear that all but the most power hungry power users (read: intense photo and/or video manipulation) could happily user an iPad as their everyday computer with a minimal amount of compromise if any. A guy over at CNet already agrees, ditching his Air post-4.2.

Yes improved photo/album management within Photos would be nice, as would better search within Contacts (seriously…search only looks at name and company?!?) but I think everything I’ve outlined here comes eventually, perhaps in iOS5, which I would anticipate more or less concurrent with iPad2 (which ai anticipate in April).

Oh, I did purchase Printopia for my household iMac as my HP AIO is not one of the latest ePrint enabled models. I don’t doubt Apple will fix this, but until then it’s a relatively cheap way to solve the problem and get printing via Air Printing, rendering the Air Sharing app obsolete for me.

It’d be nice if Goodreader would add a Send type button so I could print from it (or at least extend its own wonky Ui to do the same!) but for now things are working great as is and it portends a very happy future.

I do still look forward to OSX 10.7, and related updated Mac hardware also rumored for April (no internal DVD drives in portables!)

Speaking of “computer” sales, Gartner today shaved it’s PC shipment growth estimates, specifically citing iPad sales stealing share from PCs. Ah yes!

Posted in Features, Musings, News, OS operating system, Speculation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments