Gizmodo Has Their Hands on the Next iPhone

Oops.  Looks like somebody lost a fourth generation iPhone at a bar in Redwood City.  Gizmodo got their hands on it and has a full-breakdown of what’s new:

• Front-facing video chat camera
• Improved regular back-camera (the lens is quite noticeably larger than the iPhone 3GS)
• Camera flash
• Micro-SIM instead of standard SIM (like the iPad)
• Improved display. It's unclear if it's the 960x460 display thrown around before—it certainly looks like it, with the "Connect to iTunes" screen displaying much higher resolution than on a 3GS.
• What looks to be a secondary mic for noise cancellation, at the top, next to the headphone jack
• Split buttons for volume
• Power, mute, and volume buttons are all metallic

Follow the link for many more details, photos, and videos about the new iPhone.

Something tells me Steve Jobs is an unhappy man right now and the guy who lost it is feeling much, much worse…

iPhone OS 4 Coming This Summer

Apple announced a new OS coming to the iPhone this summer with many significant improvements. Some of the big ones include:

• Multitasking.
• Folders for organizing apps.
• Bluetooth keyboard support. (Yay!)
• iBooks.

And much, much more. Follow the link for details.

More on this here.

ZoomIt Lets Your iPhone Read SD Cards

Gizmodo:

Remember all those clever iPhone peripherals that we were supposed to see with firmware 3.0? Well ZoomIt is among the first. It's an SD card reader for the iPhone and iPod touch.

Used in conjunction with the ZoomIt app, the dongle connects through the iPhone's dock connector to load photos, music and miscellaneous files (like PowerPoint, PDF and anything else supported by iPhone OS) from an SD card.

If nothing else, it's a handy way to extend your iPhone's storage in a pinch, or simply backup your photos on vacation without lugging around a laptop (which is my particular reason for excitement here). You can pre-order the ZoomIt for $50 now. It'll actually be available this April. [ZoomIt via iLounge]

This could be a great boon to photographers.  And potentially a good reason to consider a higher-capacity iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad. I suspect the iPad’s camera connector kit may also be compatible with the iPhone, but with ZoomIt, it doesn’t really matter.  (I still think it’s a mistake on Apple’s part not to include an SD card reader on the iPad.)

There are a number of trips I’ve been on where a combination of high-capacity storage and SD card upload would have allowed me to leave my laptop at home.  I just hope these readers do a better job than the camera card connector for the original iPod.  Using that almost made me lose a large number of photos on my trip to Alaska.  I’d wait for reviews to come out before buying one of these devices.

ZAGGsparq

I’ve commented several times on how much I love my iPhone.  The only problem is I use it so much, I often find myself draining the battery before the day is done.  I bought a 3GJuice external battery that helps in a pinch, but find it sometimes interferes with reception and it is a little awkward to use my iPhone with the battery attached.  (Particularly if the phone is still in its case.)

I recently read a few reviews of the ZAGGsparq USB battery and must say I am impressed!  It holds enough power to recharge your iPhone at least four times.  (ZAGG advertises it’s holds 6000 mAh which actually should recharge your iPhone five times.)  ZAGGsparq has two USB ports, meaning it can recharge two USB devices simultaneously.  It also has fold-down prongs (like an Apple power adapter), meaning there is no additional cables to carry, and you can simultaneously recharge the battery and two USB devices as once.

Here is a video showing how it works:

The ZAGGsparq is 3.5x3.5x1” and weighs about 8 ounces.  It sells for $99 on the company’s website but is currently out of stock at ZAGGS website.  If I still traveled as much as I used to (20-30 flights per year), I’d buy one of these in a heartbeat.  This would also be a great companion to the iPhone for day or weekend hikes.  As a man’s recent experience in Haiti shows, sometimes an iPhone can even save a life.  (Had he had a ZAGGsparq in his camera bag, he would not have had to worry about about his power running out while he was trapped.)

We are currently experiencing the start of a blizzard here in the DC area with 12-24 inches of snow expected.  Earlier today there was a brief (30-second) power outage, giving a reminder of other situations where this kind of back-up power for your cell phone could prove very handy.

If you like the idea of additional battery for your USB devices, but are looking for a cheaper price/smaller size, consider the Duracell Instant Power Charger ($20) which could recharge an iPhone once or the Satechi iCell ($60) which could recharge it 3-4 times.

See detailed reviews of the ZAGGsparq here and here.

(HT Lifehacker)

The iPad: First Impressions

My initial impressions:

I think Apple clearly has a winner here.  From some early reviews I've read, the speed on this thing really screams and is significantly faster than the iPhone 3GS.  I’m very impressed by how much Apple has been able to pack into this device and by what they have chosen to leave out.  The pricing of both the iPad and data services are below many commentator’s expectations, making me continued to be impressed with Apple’s marketing acumen.  Steve Jobs is positioning this as a device to replace both eReaders and netbooks.  While he didn’t intend it, I think it also has the potential to replace an iPhone for many people too.  Read on for more of my thoughts.

First the specs (via Gadget Lab):

• The tablet is 0.5 inches thick and weighs 1.5 pounds.
• It has a 9.7-inch display with 1024 x 768-pixel resolution. It also has capacitive multitouch that’s similar to the iPhone.
• The device runs Apple’s own processor, a 1-GHz Apple A4 chip — possibly the fruits of of Apple’s $278 million acquisition of PA semiconductor in 2008.
• The iPad will have 16-GB to 64-GB flash storage.
• It includes speaker, microphone and accelerometer so you can use the device in both landscape and portrait mode. There’s also a compass.
• It has up to 10 hours of battery life and one month of standby time.
• It offers Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity
• It will include optional 3G access from AT&T. For $30 a month, users can get unlimited data. For iPhone users already crying out in pain about their bondage to the AT&T network, here’s something to sweeten the deal: No contracts are required for the data plan. iPad users can cancel their data connectivity at any time.
• Unlimited data will cost $30 or users can pay $15 for up to 250 MB of data.
• The iPad will cost $500 for 16 GB, $600 for 32 GB and $700 for a 64-GB model. But if you want 3G connectivity, add another $130 to the price tag.

Is the iPad a Kindle Killer?

In a word, no.  Or at least not entirely.  The Kindle will still have some strong selling points among bibliophiles (its primary market).  eInk is nicer than computer screens for reading for extended periods of time.  Battery life measured in days rather than hours.  Cheaper price point.  Smaller size.  Lighter weight.  Lack of distraction.  All of these features will appeal to hard core readers.  However, among more casual readers, Apple has just given strong reason not to buy a Kindle.  Amazon has already responded by announcing an app store for the Kindle and changing the revenue split it offers to independent authors.  Expect more innovation coming soon including cheaper prices.  I would love to see Amazon offer a "Pocket Kindle" similar in size to the Sony Pocket Reader.  (With a 5-inch rather than 6-inch screen.)  This would further distinguish the Kindle in size from the iPad.  I for one also appreciate the text-to-speech capabilities of the Kindle -- something there was no indication the iPad could do with books.  Also, with the ability to sync books to an iPad or iPhone via the Kindle App, one could think of the Kindle and iPad as compliments rather than substitutes.

But with a price point starting at $499 and the ability to purchase iWorks, I do think the iPad has killed off Plastic Logic's Que.  Relative to the iPad, the Que is significantly more pricey and much more limited.  I think most business folks the Que is trying to target will have a tough time justifying the extra expense just for eInk.

I think the iPad also destroyed the Kindle DX at the DX’s current price point.  (Expect to see a $100 reduction in the DX ASAP.)  The DX has never been quite as popular as the Kindle 2, to begin with and for an extra $10, people can now get an iPad.  No comparison.

Is the iPad a Netbook Killer?

In a word, mostly.  With a price point starting at $499, the iPad represents a serious disruptive technology invading the netbook marketplace.  A couple things keep me from fully saying yes.

1) No Flash Support.  While Apple has not commented about this, a webpage Jobs loaded on the iPad during his presentation showed a “missing plug-in” box.  I suspect this may have been intentional to gauge commentator’s reactions to flash not working on the iPad.  I find this disappointing.  For the iPad to fully replace netbooks, I would like to see it be able to watch streaming videos from websites such as Hulu and Netflix.

2) No Multitasking.  Again, this is something that Apple has not officially commented on, but it appears that the iPad runs only one app at a time – just like the iPhone.  This means you can’t as easily swap between working in multiple applications (such as two Word documents at once) or run Pandora or Rhapsody in the background while working on a document.  (Of course, iTunes should still work – it’s one of the few apps Apple lets run in the background.)  As a blogger, a lack of multitouch would make it onerous to cut and past hyperlinks into blog posts.

Of course by the time the iPad goes on sale, both of these issues may be addressed.  If they are, I suspect my netbook won’t see the light of day very often.

Is the iPad an iPhone Killer?

In a word, partially.  As someone who uses his iPhone least frequently as a phone and more as a mobile computing platform, I could see the iPad and a cheap cell phone meeting most of my needs.  (Having said that, I don’t plan on ditching my iPhone anytime soon.)  I know a lot of people who wish they could purchase a data-only cellular plan for their iPod Touch.  With the introduction of this option on the iPad, I think a lot of people will begin to wonder why other devices can’t offer the same no-contract option?  I am thrilled to see the $30 per month data plan option on the iPad and expect other wireless providers to eventually be forced to compete.  That’s great news for consumers.  Of course, the great thing about the iPhone is that it’s always in my pocket (plus it has a GPS and built-in camera).  That’s something the iPad won’t be able to claim.

In A Nutshell

The iPad looks to be a significant and important new technology that has the potential to replace eReaders, netbooks, and iPhones to varying degrees.  It is a game changer not only on the technology front, but also on the business models behnind it.  The iPad beats out much of the potential competition on both price and features.  Why do I have the looming feeling that my bank account is about to go down?

Man Buried in Haiti Rubble Uses iPhone to Treat Wounds, Survive

Wow:

After being crushed by a pile of rubble, Woolley used his digital SLR to illuminate his surroundings and snap photos of the wreckage in search of a safe place to dwell. He took refuge in an elevator shaft, where he followed instructions from an iPhone first-aid app to fashion a bandage and tourniquet for his leg and to stop the bleeding from his head wound, according to an MSNBC story.

The app even warned Woolley not to fall asleep if he felt he was going into shock, so he set his cellphone’s alarm clock to go off every 20 minutes. Sixty-five hours later, a French rescue team saved him…

Woolley’s incident highlights a large social implication of the iPhone and other similar smartphones. A constant internet connection, coupled with a device supporting a wealth of apps, can potentially transform a person into an all-knowing, always-on being. In Woolley’s case, an iPhone app turned him into an amateur medic to help him survive natural disaster.

Say what you will about the iPhone. This story is incredible.

Indeed it is.

The app Woolley used is called Pocket First Aid & CPR.  [iTunes link]  I don’t know if he had it on his phone at the time or downloaded it as he needed it?  If he hadn’t had his SLR flash for illumination, there are flashlight apps too.  (They turn the iPhone’s screen white.  Turn up the brightness and it makes a half-decent flashlight.) 

This story also highlights the advantages of carrying an external battery to charge the iPhone when traveling – something Woolley did not have.  I’m always running my iPhone’s battery down and got a 3GJuice 1800 mAh battery that’s always in my pocket (it directly plugs into the iPhone, so doesn’t need a separate charging cable).  It works reasonably well, but sometimes seems to interfere with reception sometimes while charging the iPhone.  Even so, I’d rather have it than not.  Whenever I start traveling frequently again, I plan on getting a higher-capacity battery that can also be used to recharge my Kindle and other USB-powered devices.

In addition to a first-aid manual, here is a list of 33 things you don’t need if you have an iPhone.  And before buying a new piece of technology, take a few minutes first and check to see if there’s an app for that.  You just might save a few dollars and keep your life a little more clutter free.

It will be exciting to see what new technology Apple unveils on Wednesday.  Will it be as much of a game-changer as the iPhone?  One can only hope.

(HT Unplggd)

Ultimate Keyboard Smackdown: iPhone Vs. Stylus Vs. Chiclets

The results might surprise you:

With the Apple Tablet likely to change the world as we know it in less than a week, you may be wondering (still) about the merits of a soft, on-screen keyboard. Phil Gyford was wondering the same thing, only instead of just sitting around and lazily pondering (like you) he did something about it.

Phil dug out an old Newton MessagePad, a Palm Vx, a Palm Treo 650 and an iPhone 3G, and typed out a pre-memorized 221-word passage of text on each one, timing each try twice. To balance the test, Phil also typed the text once on his most familiar keyboard (a MacBook) and wrote it out by hand. With a pen. And paper.

The results are only unexpected if you have not actually used the iPhone for any length of time. The MacBook came in first. The iPhone’s soft keyboard came a very near second, with the Treo’s tiny hardware keyboard close behind. Next was pen and paper, followed by the Newton’s handwriting recognition and finally, in deserved last place, the Palm Vx with its frustrating Graffiti input.

None of this explains just how Apple plans to put a soft keyboard on a big ol’ tablet screen, but it does show us exactly why Apple will never ship a dedicated hardware keyboard for either the Tablet or the iPhone: Unless you are a professional writer, you just don’t need one.

Here is Phil Gyford’s write-up of his experience, including this graph summarizing his results:

 

That being said, I’m still hoping for a physical keyboard accessory for the iPhone/Apple Tablet.  I do a lot of writing and note taking for school and would love to be able to turn these into writing machines.  Until then, I’ll have to stick with my laptop and AlphaSmart Neo.

P.S. – I just stumbled on ZenTap, an app for the iPhone that significantly speeds up text entry and has a host of features such as advanced predictive text, a full-fledged spell-checker, character count, and the ability to automatically load text into an e-mail, text message, Twitter, and more.  It will even translate text into other languages.  I’m trying out the free version, but if it continues to impress me as much as it has so far, it may warrant a purchase of the full version ($1.99).  Highly recommended!

Here is ZenTap’s webpage and a video showing how it works:

Gorillacam: A Tripod Application for the iPhone

Another neat app to turn your iPhone into a better camera:

The functions are skewed towards tripod-mounted pictures, of course, and you get such smart additions as a bubble level at the top of the screen, grid lines, a press-anywhere shutter release and auto-save to let you keep shooting instead of waiting for a save between snaps.

As this is a tripod application, you also get an easy to adjust self-timer, a burst-mode (three shots) and best, a time-lapse function which will take pictures at intervals of anywhere between one second and two minutes.

I wish that this kind of thing could be done to real cameras. My Nikon DSLR, for example, could do with some easier to use software, especially if it was as nice-looking as Joby’s application.

Gorillacam is free, presumably as a great advertisement for Joby’s hardware, so you can go grab it even if you don’t own a GorillaPod.

I just did.  I only had a chance to compare using a couple of shots, but find the feature on the 3GS that lets you choose where you want to focus gives better lighting than Joby’s app in a dark room.  Still, I’m glad to add this to my photo arsenal on my iPhone and particularly like the level and self-timer functions.  The user interface is well done and time-lapse sounds pretty cool too.

Secrets of an iPhone Photographer

Turning weaknesses into strengths:

The real key is using the limits of the iPhone 3GS's camera as a strength, Japanese pro photographer Koichi Mitsui tells BoingBoing: Its "simplicity keeps me devoted to only composition and the perfect photo opp."

In other words, the secret is composition, composition, composition. The one real advantage the iPhone 3GS has in this regard against past iPhones is that you can change the focal point, which lets you alter the shot in subtle ways, which is one of his tips. Also, he suggests trying some different camera apps—he likes Photo fx and CameraKit, though I'm partial to CameraBag.

[Y]ou can see way more at his very excellent photo blog, which gives you a view of Japan that maybe you haven't seen.

Turning Every iPhone Into a Cash Register?

The next project of Twitter's co-founder:

Jack Dorsey, who basically built Twitter from the ground up in its initial incarnation, isn’t on board with the social media site anymore, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been keeping busy. Recent evidence suggests that he’s responsible for a new iPhone payment system that could revolutionize the way we buy stuff...

The system definitely has lots of promise. It could mean that anyone with an iPhone could accept credit card payments quickly and easily, without a lot of expensive intermediary steps. It may not be the social media wildfire that Twitter was, but it could generate the same kind of excitement in the retail community, especially among small business communities. Theoretically, even people selling services and goods via Craigslist or Kijiji could accept credit card transactions using Squirrel/Square.

No information yet on when the software/hardware combo will be available for wide release, but the alpha testing was reported as being underway in August.

To get an idea of how big this could be, it could theoretically turn anyone who has an iPhone or iPod Touch into a completely scalable point-of-sale operation. If you've purchased anything from an Apple Store recently, you know exactly what I mean. Nearly all the staff carry a portable device that they can use to sell you anything from a set of headphones to a dozen of Macintosh computer systems. As long as you're paying by credit card, virtually anyone in the store can sell you any product in the store from any location in the store.

Steve Jobs is already working to duplicate this process in Disney Stores. If this iPhone payment system takes off (which I expect it will), soon you or anyone with an iPhone will be able to do the same for your business anywhere you happen to be. What's particularly brilliant about this is that the iPhone is already just about everywhere (in the US anyway).

Cell Service Expands at 20 Metrorail Stations Today

One of the few things I miss about my Treo is that my iPhone has zero reception while I'm on the subway. As of today, it looks like that will change:

By midnight Friday, the long-awaited expansion of cellphone service at Metro stations will mean riders who use the three other nationwide carriers will join Verizon users in having service at 20 of the busiest underground platforms, officials said Thursday.

Riders who use AT&T, Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile will be able to make calls, send text messages or surf the Web from those 20 station platforms. Officials cautioned Thursday that initial service will be available only when riders are on the platforms. They will lose it once they step on a train and move into the tunnels.

Eventually, service will expand to anywhere inside the station. By the end of November, officials said they expect that the 20 stations will have continuous coverage from street to platform.

Of course, there are some benefits to no reception while in the tunnels. That guarantees you're not stuck sitting next to someone talking loudly on their cell phone. Still, the data access would be cool.

(HT Dad)

Twit or Tweet?

No, it's not Halloween yet... it's just that I'm still working on getting my Twitter vocabulary down. Inspired by Tyler Cowen's recent foray into Twitter, I decided to give it a try myself, under the moniker MarginalThinker. I am surprised by how much I am enjoying this experiment so far.

Twitter is essentially a micro-blogging service that restricts the length of each post to 140 characters. (That's 20 characters shorter than a text-message.) Where the power of Twitter comes in is the ability to search through and link to (called "retweeting:) what other people are discussing and the integration of Twitter with a variety of other platforms. For example, I have several apps on my iPhone that let me upload things directly to Twitter including NetNewsWire -- which syncs with Google Reader and lets me automatically share a post I like with the press of two buttons. It couldn't be easier. I've also installed a GreaseMonkey script that lets me post links directly to Twitter from within Google Reader itself if I'm on my PC.

The other app I use on my iPhone is called Tweetie 2 which sells on iTunes for $2.99. The app allows you to directly post things to Twitter from your iPhone/iPod Touch (including photos), keep up with the tweets of other people you are following, search Twitter, show you a map to see what people in your area are "tweeting", mark other tweets as favorites, and more. I bought Tweetie 2 as part of my Twitter experiment and, between this and NetNewsWire, find that I am using my iPhone as my primary tool for "tweeting" -- often while walking to and from school. (About a 10-minute walk from home.) You can read an in-depth review of Tweetie 2 here.

I'm still exploring the full potential of Twitter as a research tool. So far, I have stumbled on three sites that I particularly enjoy:

1. Twitscoop: Automatically updates your twitterfeed without having to refresh your browser window. It also adds links to simply retweeting, can automatically shorten any URLs you have in your tweets (a vital feature given the 140 character limit), and has a dynamically changing "word cloud" showing what the most popular topics are being posted to Twitter (updated by the minute).
2. Twitmeme: Shows the hottest links on Twitter -- overall and by category.
3. Twitter's Advanced Search: Advanced search features from Twitter's own website.
   

There is still much more for me to still discover about what Twitter can do and I am eager to learn more.

If you are interested in getting started in Twitter, here is a good post on how to use Twitter and a Twitter Fan Wiki that is also full of good tips.

You can follow me on Twitter and see my most recent updates in the sidebar of this blog.

Technological Changes In Legal Education

It may be two years too late for me, but it looks like there are some significant changes becoming available in technology that have the potential to greatly enhance legal education. Currently, I see this emerging primarily on two platforms: 1) eBooks, and 2) the iPhone.

1) e-Books:

I discovered a few days ago that Thompson-West is now selling Bankruptcy in a Nutshell for the Amazon Kindle and got excited as this implies that they will soon offer the rest of their Nutshell series on eBooks as well. Looks like this prediction was on the money as Thompson-West just announced they will immediately begin selling many more law books on the Kindle. Other publishers are bound to follow suit -- both on the Kindle platform and other eBook readers in the future.

Eugene Volokh just finished up an excellent series of posts on the future of books related to law. One of the most intriguing things Volokh mentions is his expectation that legal textbooks will increasingly veer towards self-publishing rather than books from textbook publishers. I think he's right and it makes me wonder if we won't see the same thing happen in other disciplines?

As eBook technology and business models continue to develop, the publishing industry is going to face the reality that the cost of printing and distributing books is rapidly approaching zero -- as are inventory costs. What this means is that anyone with a computer will soon be able to self-publish. Combine that with instant access through wireless eReaders and it creates a perfect storm for dramatic change in the book industry. There are already efforts to develop open-source textbooks. As this self-publishing textbooks becomes easier and more students have a platform to read them from, I expect the open-source movement will gain much more momentum. Between this, MIT's OpenCourseWare, and iTunes U, the cost of quality education is also quickly trending towards zero. While university degrees will still cost considerable money in the near future, I expect these changes combined with rising college expenses to put increasing pressure for alternative forms of education to emerge.

2) iPhone:

A few weeks ago, I mentioned Law in a Flash study aids for the iPhone. Since then, I've purchased these flash cards for my Criminal Procedure and Federal Income Tax classes and am very pleased with them so far. Having them on the iPhone makes for a great way to review topics when I'm riding the subway or find myself with some unexpected spare time. Their constant availability also means I never forget to bring them with me when I head out the door. These flash cards are on sale for 25% off during October. I plan to get the Professional Responsibility and Corporations sets as well.

In addition to the flash cards, I also recently purchased an app that contains the entire 2009 Internal Revenue Code [iTunes link] for my Federal Income Tax class. This $14 app that fits in my pocket has replaced a 4-pound, $42 book.

As an MP3 player, the iPhone can also be used to listen to legal audiobooks. Currently, iTunes U does not have any legal content, but hopefully this will eventually change. If/when it does, the iPhone will prove to be an excellent educational resource capable of playing both audio and video lectures.

Summary:

Just in the last two years since I started law school, technology has significantly changed in ways that have great potential to change legal education. Already, there are a plethora of books and apps available for eBook readers and iPhones that can aid legal learning and greatly reduce the weight of what law students have to carry. In the future, these technologies should also help drive down prices, allow for periodic updates to books already purchased, and continue to evolve into even more sophisticated learning aids. Perhaps an Apple tablet or similar technology will combine all of these capabilities into one device?

I am thrilled by the continued innovation of learning technologies and expect some form of tablet computer/eBook reader to rival the impact personal computers have had on learning. I for one long for the day when a 10.2 ounce Kindle can replace 20+ pounds of legal textbooks. What's exciting is that these days are essentially upon us.

How the iPhone Should Handle Multitasking

Combining the best ideas of Cover Flow and the Palm Pre:



Unfortunately, this is a concept only.

AT&T Enables VoIP on Wireless Network

Sounds great to me!

What a shocker: “AT&T today announced it has taken the steps necessary so that Apple can enable VoIP applications on iPhone to run on AT&T’s wireless network. Previously, VoIP applications on iPhone were enabled for Wi-Fi connectivity.”

You’ll soon be able to make unlimited phone calls on your iPhone — without using up any of your monthly airtime minutes.

You’ll use programs like Skype, which currently work only when you’re in an Internet hot spot, anywhere there’s AT&T cellular coverage — on the iPhone and, presumably, other smartphones.

Deal of the Day: WriteRoom for the iPhone Only $1.99

WriteRoom for the iPhone is currently on sale on iTunes for $1.99 (normally $4.99). This price is good through Wednesday.

WriteRoom is a full screen text editor for the iPhone that is brilliant in its simplicity. I just downloaded it yesterday. Key features to the program include:

• The ability to view/edit text files in fullscreen mode. This mode is entered by simply zooming in on the text (like you would on a picture). To exit this mode, zoom out.
• Fullscreen mode allows you to view several more lines of text relative to the iPhone's Notes program. (No clock or title bar.) This is particularly nice when the keyboard takes up a large portion of the screen in landscape orientation.
  
• Support for both portrait and landscape modes.
• You can customize the color and font you want the text and background to appear in. (I currently have it set to white text on a black background.)

And my favorite feature? If you're on a Wi-Fi network, WriteRoom will supply you with a URL that lets you use any web browser to edit the text files on your iPhone. Simply press the share button and you're good to go. I was able to copy all of my notes from all four of my classes this semester (I'm keeping them in text files) to my iPhone in less than 30 seconds using this feature. It couldn't be any easier and is another delightful example of what the iPhone can do when combined with a little ingenuity.

You can also synchronize your files to an account at SimpleText.ws. This gives you a similar interface you see when using the Wi-Fi sharing feature. This requires using a Google account but doesn't require a shared Wi-Fi connection.

If you do much writing or use frequent use of text files, this application is defintely worth checking out.

Read other reviews of WriteRoom here and here.

Pandora Box: An Alternative to the iPhone App Store

And the best part is that it's free:

PandoraBox [iTunes link] is like a free alternative iTunes App Store for iPhone apps. Probably its most remarkable feature is that it helps you find iPhone apps that are on sale, something that the iPhone's App Store oddly neglects to do.

It can tell you about apps that are temporarily free, or ones that have been discounted. It also contains tabs for Featured apps, New Apps, Favorites, and a More tab which takes you to a page that has Search and Settings tabs.

Favorites is useful if you want to keep an eye on an app and nab it if and when it goes on sale. For example, I'm not much of a football fan, but I'll watch Madden 2010 and if it drops to 1/2 price, I'll probably pick it up.

If you're an Android user, similar functionality can be found in an app called AndroidStats, which gives you "yesterday's price changes", and "biggest weekly movers" lists.

[via iPhone Atlas]

10 Reasons Why Tablets Will Succeed

One of the key reasons? The iPhone and iPod Touch:

Tablet PCs were cool, but they never captured the imagination of the public. The iPhone and iPod Touch, on the other hand, created a computing revolution. The iPhone trained millions to compute with their fingers. What should have been detriments—its size and lack of physical keyboard—turned into key attributes. People love touching the screen, and no one complains about the iPhone not shipping with a stylus. Adding an accelerometer to the mix was sheer brilliance, and I'm sure that tablet PC manufacturers were kicking themselves wondering why they hadn't thought of that. Future tablets are now seen as an extension of the Apple iPhone ideal, not a better tablet PC.

Other reasons include longer battery life, cheaper processors, and better displays. Follow the link for more.

I expect to see significant innovation in these areas over the next few years. The success of the iPhone and Apple's App Store show there is huge untapped potential for this kind of technology and business model. Toss in the effects of the netbook revolution on cheap computing and long battery life and, and the effects of the Kindle on eBooks, and you've got the perfect storm for driving innovation of high-volume, low cost technology the can greatly benefit developers and consumers alike. I think the personal computing revolution has just begun.

NetNewsWire RSS Reader for the iPhone

I just downloaded NetNewsWire on my iPhone yesterday and agree with James Kendrick -- if you use Google Reader, this app is a must have.

I used to read feeds on smaller devices, but the experience was generally sub-par for me. The new NetNewsWire app for iPhone has changed that perception in a big way. I downloaded the free version of the app a few days ago and I’m totally enjoying it. I’m not keen on the advertisements in the free version, mainly because they take up a bit too much space when in landscape mode, so I’m dropping the $1.99 to get the ad-free version. The app is slated for a price increase to $4.99 in October, so hurry up and try the free version if you’re remotely interested...

I can’t say that I’ve looked at every RSS reader for the iPhone, but NetNewsWire has me reading feeds with my handset on the go again. And that’s something I haven’t done for at least six months. The performance is solid and the experience is enjoyable. If you use Google Reader and own either an iPhone or iPod Touch, I consider this app a “must-try.”

NetNewsWire automatically marks any post you read in your feed as read. Unfortunately, there is no way to mark it as unread. Other than that, the only other criticism I'd have for the program is that you currently have to scroll to the top of a post to check to see if you successfully marked it with a star. (Helpful for remembering to go back to it later.) Seems like a minor modification and the star at the bottom of the screen could turn yellow to indicate the post has been successfully starred.

This is a handy app that makes reading Google Reader feeds much nicer than trying to read Google Reader in Safari on the iPhone. NetNewsWire stores the feeds locally on the phone which means you can catch up on your blog reading on a plane or subway -- even if there is no Internet access at the time.

I currently have the free version, but just might have to plunk down the two bucks to get the ad-free version. It would be money well spent.

Update: After using this for a few days, I feel like I can't recommend this software. The interface is nice, as is the ability to download your RSS feed onto your phone. However, it takes way too long to sync and doesn't seem to always update all of my feeds. It's a good idea that I hope they are able to improve in time.

Update: I finally figured out that I my large (1,000+) backlog of unread posts was causing serious delays in how quickly NetNewsWire was syncing to my Google account. I've since cleared out my reader and absolutely love this software. The integration with Twitter and Instapaper is particularly brilliant. With two clicks, I am able to immediately share or save items of interest. If you have an iPhone and use Google Reader, you'll like this software. If you Tweet too, you'll absolutely love it!

iPhone Tip of the Day: Photographing Pages

If you have a few pages you need to read in a book, but don't want to/can't carry it around all day, here's a tip that might help. Using the Best Camera app ($2.99), take a photo of the page you want to read. After taking the picture, apply the "Light" filter, and then save the image to your Camera Roll. Viola! You have a readable picture of the page that is easy to scroll through on your iPhone. The whole process takes about 5 seconds per page.

Handy for grabbing a copy of a reference page in the library or for leaving heavy text books at home when you're out and about.

Below is a photo from my Federal Income Tax reading yesterday. The first photo is the original, the second is after the filter was applied. (Click images for larger view.)