Orientation lock becomes mute button on iPad iOS 4.2

There are lots of posts on the net right now about the first beta of Apples iOS 4.2 and you can read a Top 10 new features here.

One of the changes is to turn the orientation lock button on the iPad to be a mute button. Well hold on a minute who checked with me that was something I wanted? Where’s the friendly but terse email from Steve Jobs checking that was going to work for me? I use that button A LOT and if I need to mute I press the volume down for a second and guess … Read the rest

The Ultimate iPad Travel Kit

I have found my ultimate iPad travel kit that consists of:

– An Apple wireless keyboard
– 3 mifi
– Portable, adjustable, folding stand from eBay

It’s like having a Macbook that you can break down into its constituent parts. I just sling them into my case and off I go. I am finding that I am using my laptop less and less and now never use my desktop at home. Who said the iPad was just a big iPhone?

 

Read the rest

Blogpress perfection

Yesterday saw an update to the iPhone and iPad blogging platform Blogpress that makes it leagues ahead of the competition.

In a recent review of blogging on the go I identified the ability to easily add links as key – and now you can. Not only that you can also do things like insert bold text and change the font properties, such as the colour. ll this makes Blogpress so much more usable as typing the HTML by hand was torturous at best.

 


I was already finding that I was doing most of my blogging from Blogpress and less … Read the rest

3 mifi with OLED screen

Received my new 3 mifi dongle yesterday. This one is basically the same as the previous module with a few important differences:

1. It has an OLED screen giving much more information than before, including the amount of data this session.

2. It now has a web interface that allows you to both configure and monitor the device. This save you having to flash the device yourself with the worry that you will brick it.

3. There is now only a single button. You switch it on. It connects. You’re good to go. Much better

4. It’s now a trendy … Read the rest

Cheap and Cheerful iPad Stand

Cheap and cheerful iPad standYes, another iPad post. I’m sure that I will get it out of my system eventually…

So I saw this post about a cheap and cheerful iPad stand a while back which suggested using a desktop business card holder. What a great idea, I thought! Except that it was only available from Office Depot in the States and no amount of searching either online or in bricks and mortar could turn one up. Then a colleague of mine went on vacation to Florida and so I asked her if she wouldn’t mind spending some of her precious holiday time in … Read the rest

iPad on tour – Photo Management

Continuing the theme of ditching the laptop and using only the iPad, at least on holiday, today looking at the iPad as an amateur photographers best friend.

With its massive, bright, screen the iPad is perfect for viewing photos and coupled with the camera kit it is unbeatable. I have been able to hook up a number of cameras using both the USB and SD connectors, including getting pictures off the iPhone. The iPad has recognised them all and imported successfully. This process is painless and then using the existing photo app it is possible to view and enjoy. Unfortunately … Read the rest

iPad on Tour – Blogging

As I said in my previous post I am currently away on holiday and have only brought with me my iPad, rather than a laptop of some description. Over the next couple of posts I am going to look at the apps that I have been using for various different tasks, starting with blogging.

I have a couple of blogs and post to each on an irregular basis. When I am at home I use Windows Live Writer which, in my opinion, is the best blogging app by far and is the only reason I continue to run parallels on … Read the rest

iPad on Tour

So I am away on annual leave in beautiful Tuscany but the big question before we left was what tech to bring? In the recent past I have always taken a laptop of some description but this time I decided to go with the iPad alone. That meant also taking Apple’s camera kit in order to get my pictures off my camera in order to do anything with them.

The camera kit is interesting as the name suggests it is for connecting cameras, which it is. However, I was also able to successfully attach both a USB headset and a … Read the rest