TeknologikL

Apple's first major press conference of 2010 has come and gone without the surprises of their previous press events. Apple's new tablet, dubbed the "iPad," had been so heavily rumored and hyped for months that when it was actually unveiled, the only thing it could do was disappoint.

People's idea of what this mysterious tablet should do has been based off futuristic hardware seen in movies such as Avatar. Although someday tablets might do everything you can dream of and more, when it comes down to it, the iPad is really just an oversized iPod Touch .

Before I start tearing apart the (lack of) features on Apple's new tablet, there is one main thing Apple got right and I'll give them credit where it's due. The major win for consumers is the option for a WiFi-only device, or a device with 3G service and a monthly fee. Not requiring a service plan or a contract is a step in the right direction, and should be available for all smart-phones. It would have been nice to have the WiFi and 3G options built into one unit, but that would raise the cost of the WiFi-only version.

Now let's get into my major gripes about the Apple iPad.

No Multitasking - Wait… you mean you want to check your email and listen to music at the same time? What about run an instant messenger program while you browse the web? Well move along, because the first version of the iPad can only run one application at a time. This alone is a complete deal-breaker.

iTunes App System - Apple can get away with this on iPhones, but as the line between their devices and laptops closes, it becomes more of an issue. Imagine if Microsoft had to approve every piece of software that was released for Windows before it could become available. A pretty picture this does not paint.

No USB Ports - This is another shocker. How can Apple try to market this product as a laptop/netbook replacement when there is not a single USB port to be found on the device? Sure, you can buy an adapter to give you one lonely USB port, but it seems ridiculous that it is not built into the device.

No SD Card Slot - Chalk this one up to Apple trying to force you into paying for the larger capacity iPad instead of being able to add your own storage. They do offer an adapter, like the USB adapter mentioned above, but be prepared to pay extra for it.

No HDMI Port - HDMI is already the de facto standard for television connectors and is on the verge of replacing all computer monitor connections as well. So if you want to watch your iTunes downloads on the big screen, get ready to pony up some more money for an AppleTV.

4:3 Aspect Ratio - Virtually all televisions sold these days have a 16:9 aspect ratio, otherwise known as widescreen. Computer monitors are moving the same way, but many use a 16:10 widescreen. By including a 4:3 screen size, Apple has sentenced early adopters to huge black bars along the top and bottom of the screen whenever watching a movie; book content, however, should display correctly.

No Camera - Digital cameras and webcams have become so cheap that virtually all laptops, netbooks and cellphones contain some sort of camera function. I don't care if Apple markets the tablet as a laptop or smart-phone replacement, it should include a camera either way.

No Flash Support - Apple already receives grief for their iPhones being the only smart-phone on the planet that can't support Adobe Flash. With no Flash support on the iPad, it looks like they haven't learned their lesson yet.

Proprietary microSIM Card - Apple will sell you an unlocked version of the iPad, which usually means you can connect the device to any carrier that uses a GSM network. Too bad instead of using a regular SIM card, the iPad uses a proprietary microSIM card, which means you're stuck with AT&T as a provider.

iPad - I'm not even going to touch on the name that Apple choose, or the myriad of menstrual jokes that comes with it.

If you think I'm being pretty harsh on Apple's latest offering before they are even shipping to the public then you are right, but that's not to say there is no future in this type of product. Although Apple might have stolen the headlines with their tablet, they are not the only ones coming to dinner. HTC and Google are working together on a tablet device and devices are also on their way from HP, Dell, and Asus, among others.

I see these devices catching on, but I'm confident that consumers want their tablet to act more as a laptop than a smart-phone, easily connecting their PC devices and running the same applications.

What are your thoughts on the iPad and the forthcoming flood of tablet devices that will shortly hit the market?

More Info:
Apple iPad: Everything You Need to Know
War of Words Between Apple and Adobe Heats Up
Windows 7 Running on the Apple iPad via Citrix

Google has a way of hyping up their new products by limiting who can access them. When Gmail launched, you had to be invited by someone who already had a Gmail account. Google has been continuing this practice with their newest software, Google Wave. The service first launched on September 30th, 2009 with Google sending out 100,000 invites to people who had registered for the service many months in advance.

Google is hyping Wave as the next generation of communicating on the web, intermingling email, instant messaging, forums, and tweeting into one easy-to-use interface.

When logging into Google Wave for the first time, most people's first impressions are a bit underwhelming. The initial display shows a few empty boxes in a layout reminiscent of Gmail. Any Gmail contacts that also have Wave will automatically show up in your Wave contacts.

Other than sending private messages to friends on your contact list, or having a conversation with yourself, there doesn't seem too much to do at first. I did start a private wave to use as a "to do" list, which although there are probably better applications for that, has served my purposes pretty well.

Adding a few personal friends to Wave almost seems reminiscent of old AOL chat rooms with more versatility. If another user is looking at a Wave while you are replying, they will see each letter pop up in the Wave in real-time as you type it. Any messages in the wave are also stored in a similar fashion to email, so someone not online has the ability to come in and reply at a later date. This can be good for group discussions, sharing links, or posting photos between friends.

with:public
Once you're ready to start diving deeper into the water, you'll need to remember the most important search in Google wave. By replacing the in:inbox text in the main search window with with:public you will be able to see all the public waves in real-time. You can add a term after the with:public text to search public waves for your entered text. It seems kind of odd that Google doesn't make gazing out into the sea of public waves a little more intuitive.

Corporate Use
Google is hoping that some companies will make use of Wave's collaborative functionality by using a Wave for a meeting or project where team members can contribute their ideas and share notes with each other. For Wave to take off in this way, obviously Google would need to remove the invitation-only restrictions currently in place and make a few other improvements that I'm sure they are working on.

Another possible corporate use for Wave is for companies to stay connected to their customers, as many are trying to do now with Twitter. One example use of Wave would be sending out a poll to get user feedback on new products or marketing campaigns.

Overall Impressions
I'm on the fence about Google Wave. It does a good job of integrating all types of online communication into one interface, but most people probably don't check their Wave inbox nearly as much as their email, which means your message won't reach its recipient as quick. That could change if Wave really takes off though.

The other noticeable downside to Wave is the slow reaction times. This can be especially noticed when scrolling through a longer wave that has pictures or other widgets embedded in it. Hopefully with future server upgrades Google will speed up their Wave service.

Also, don't forget Wave is still in the preview phase and more features are coming. Currently, by clicking on the Settings Wave, you get an under construction page that says, "This wave is where you will be able to customize your personal options and extensions, but we are still working on it".

Now that Wave has been out for a few months, most people who were looking for invitations already have one. If you're interested in checking it out but haven't had the opportunity, post in the comments and I'll pass an invite your way.

Anyone have a chance to try Wave out already? What are your thoughts?

More Info:
About Google Wave
Google Wave: A Complete Guide
Google Wave's Best Use Cases
Google Wave Gets Business-Friendly With New Features

The team at Google sure seems to be keeping busy. They've been coming out with demos and labs right and left lately, ranging from Image Swirl to Transliteration. Some products seem like they would be helpful, but others seem silly. One that appealed to me was Google SMS, so I figured I'd check it out and see how it performed. An acronym for "short message service", SMS is a standard part of the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), the most popular standard for mobile phones in the entire world.

Ask Google

Google SMS was designed to bring information to the fingertips of anyone with a cell phone. You can simply text "GOOGLE" with an inquiry, and a response is sent back to your phone almost instantly. iPhone owners and those with Internet enabled phones (IEP) probably wouldn't find this lab too exciting since they can access this information directly. For those (like my pink Razr and me) who are stuck back in the Dark Ages, however, this is very convenient.

For example, send Google "weather 12180" and it will return both today's and tomorrow's forecast for U.S. zip code 12180 (Troy, NY). Looking for a restaurant? Send Google the name and zip code, and you'll receive addresses and phone numbers for eateries that that match your request. The amount of information you can have texted to your phone is fairly broad, too. You can get weather forecasts, driving directions, movie times, language translations, flight arrivals and delays, as well as stocks. The list goes on and on.

I've personally found Google SMS to be very useful, and have used it to look up phone numbers for businesses. I can text and get an answer back from Google before a friend can whip out a phone book out and look things up "the old fashioned way." The only shortcoming I've found is that it doesn't give you college sports scores – although it will accurately give you any professional team's statistics.

What do you think about this and other Google labs? Do you use them often?

For more information:

http://www.google.com/mobile/products/sms.html#p=default

By now you've probably heard about Google Android due to the recent Android phones that have been released; but, the truth is, Android is a lot more than just a "Google phone". Android is software designed to be a complete platform for mobile devices, which includes an open-sourced, mobile operating system based on a modified Linux kernel.

Because Android is open-source, it is easy for developers to create their own applications for the Android platform. Part of the open-source rules dictates that Google must release the complete source code for every version of the Android software. By releasing the entire source code, programmers can not only develop applications to work with the software easier, but also adapt Google's code in their own way by adding features or making whatever modifications to the operating system they'd like.

Android OS vs iPhone
As far as phones go, the open sourced nature of the OS give Google devices a big advantage over the iPhone. As you probably know, Apple is very strict about which apps are allowed on their devices and are currently in a legal battle with Google over the rejection of the Google Voice application.

iPhone owners might argue that a jailbroken device has much less restrictions, and although that is true, it is an annoyance -- especially when Apple releases their own update and the homebrew community doesn't foster the same big name developer support.

Google has built itself a good library of 1^st party internet applications, virtually all of which are available on their mobile devices. Included with every Android phone are the following applications: Gmail, Google Maps, Google Voice, Gchat, YouTube, Google Places, and Andoird Market (Google's version of the iTunes store).

Android's First Attack
The first Android-backed device to hit the market was the HTC Dream, also known as the T-Mobile G1, which was released over a year ago. The handset itself received mixed impressions, but overall reviews for the device, and especially Google's new operating system, were extremely high. People were very excited about what the future could hold for Android devices once Google had time to mature their software and develop an app library.

Since Android 2.0 has been released, homebrewers have been able to successfully install the new operating system on their older Android phones, such as the G1.

Android 2.0 - Eclair
Android 2.0, also known as Eclair (following previous releases codenamed Cupcake and Donut), is already available -- most notably on the Motorola Droid and Google's own Nexus One, have peeked consumer's interest in Android.

One of the biggest features announced with Android 2.0 was that all mobile devices with the upgraded software include free GPS navigation. As you can imagine, stocks of both TomTom and Garmin plunged when Google made this announcement.

Other must have features that were added with version 2.0 include built-in Exchange email support for multiple accounts, integration of many social media services, an upgraded web browser, a multi-touch interface, and upgraded camera software including digital zoom.

Now that the first devices with the improved Android 2.0 software are out and users have even been able to install Android 2.0 on their older Android handsets, this software is finally ready to move on from the early adopter phase to mainstream consumer use.

Android - Not Just for Phones
Although Android is often solely considered a mobile phone platform, that's really just the tip of the iceberg. Google Android is a complete software package that can power laptops, GPS navigators, photo frames, televisions, remote controls, DVR set-top boxes, and much more. Barnes and Noble's new e-reader also runs on Android.

Remember, there is a reason that Google has become one of the largest, most successful companies in the world. The products they make work... very well. Add that to the fact that virtually all of Google's consumer products are free, and they have a winning combo.

Do you think Android will live up to the hype?
Anyone get their hands on an Android device yet?

More Info:
Android, and How It Will Take Over the World
Google: 18 Android Phones Coming This Year, Possibly More
Google Android Sees Second Coming at CES 2010

Disclaimer: I have never owned an Apple product of any kind, as I found them to be overly expensive compared to the Sansa product I'd been using to listen to music. However, this year I splurged for Christmas and bought myself an 8GB iPod touch.

The Apps

I will not lie; my main objective when getting the 8GB version was to put as many applications (kindly referred to as apps) on it as possible; this included the useful and the incredibly useless (but fun to have anyway – you never know when you are going to need a dog whistle!). By the time I actually received the iPod touch in the mail, I already had 51 apps queued and ready to download.

There are so many fantastic games and utility apps out there that reaffirm the reason I wanted an iPod touch. Using TextPlus, you can send text messages for free, something that I didn't have with a tracfone. You can also use the Skype app to turn your iPod touch into a phone (almost), by using headphones with a built-in microphone. Skype allows you to converse with other Skype users for free.

Included Features

There are a couple features preinstalled on this gadget before it reaches your hands. E-mail, calendar, contacts, calculator, and weather are just a few applications. Some apps, like the mail feature, require internet in order to work.

WiFi or Bust

The iPod touch, when combined with WiFi or wireless internet, is a wonderful, miraculous thing. Without internet, quite a few applications don't work. Luckily, there are some great games that you can use without internet. These games can be quite fun to use while on car trips. I suggest, however, that unless you plan on spending a majority of your time in an area with a wireless internet source, that you may be best not getting an iPod touch.

Learn From My Mistake

Because I was unfamiliar with iTunes, I decided that after I loaded the apps onto my iPod touch, that it would be okay to delete them from iTunes. It was one of the worse experiences I have ever had. If you sync your iPod touch with iTunes after that, and don't choose to transfer your apps, they will be removed from the device. Luckily enough, I had not yet emptied my recycle bin on my computer, so they were easily recovered. Losing 50+ apps in a matter of seconds is very stressful, so I suggest you learn from my mistake.

I would recommend an iPod touch to anyone. I would suggest buying one with more memory for those who plan on using it primarily for music. The number of applications for this device is vast; a great number are also free, so you don't have to spend another penny after buying the iPod touch.