Leander Kahney's Blog, page 1452

Pogoplug's New Series 4: Going for iCloud's Throat? [Launch, First Look]

Pogoplug has been busy. For a company that focuses really intently on a single concept — namely, putting your stuff in the cloud — it has released a prolific number of products since the original Pogoplug first debuted in early 2009. Today brings their latest offering: The Pogoplug Series 4 ($100).

Cloud Engines, the outfit that makes the Pogoplug, sent us an Series 4 to check out, and we got a little hands-on time with it before the launch today.

The newest 'Plug is probably most notable for what it isn't more so than what it is — it isn't a leap forward. The Series 4 seems to be a consolidation of their latest advances, as if Cloud Engines is saying "ok, let's just slow down a little bit hear and focus on what we've got."

In fact, it not only looks remarkably like their most recently released model, the Pogoplug Mobile, but it also is the same machine inside.

But there are changes, of course, all of which are intended to make the new Pogoplug better able to interface with storage devices. There are now a pair of USB 3.0 slots in the Pogoplug's rear, and an SD card slot on its flank. The largest change, though, appears when the device's lid is lifted off, which reveals a SATA slot that's compatible with Seagate's GoFlex family of drives (there's also another USB slot, this time 2.0, thrown in for good measure).

The faster inputs are a welcome addition, as they theoretically should allow smoother streaming; and a few quick tests over wifi did produce smooth results when streaming hi-def movies to my iPad, so long as they were in streaming-friendly formats; though encoding for streaming still seems to take a long time.

Of course, there are several really good reasons why owning your own cloud makes sense besides streaming movies to an iDevice — cheap storage (and lots of it), less worry about hacking and fast streaming within your local network.

But the real question is, has the Pogoplug system reached the level of sophistication where it can become an alternative to iCloud? Answer: Possibly. At first glance, music streaming is quick and smooth enough (over wifi, at least) that there isn't any discernable difference between streamed and local music — although it didn't sound quite as good. But the interface still seems disappointingly pokey and difficult to navigate with — although maybe it'll become easier as we play around with it more.

Full review up soon.

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Published on December 14, 2011 22:00

The Joby GorillaMobile Tripod for iPhone 4/S: One Useful Little Gadget [Review]

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As a photographer and podcaster, I'm a big Joby fan. Their tripods are generally high quality, incredibly flexible, and as functional as they are fun. The Joby GorillaMobile Tripod for the iPhone 4/4S ($40) is definitely worthy of much the same praise, but an issue I have with its build quality and price leave me with a raised eyebrow.

The Good:

The GorillaMobile is incredibly flexible and allows you to hold your iPhone at practically any angle, making it wonderfully versatile. It's also the perfect height for use on a tabletop, making it a natural choice for podcasting, holding your iPhone steady for recording audio, or taking images.

Better, you can use the GorillaMobile to hang your iPhone from anything its legs will fit around. Joby has also covered the tripod legs with rubber making it them super grippy. The legs do a good job holding on to whatever you wrap them around, keeping them from sliding around. You can see from the photo below I hung my iPhone — mid-rung — on the back of a chair. Those little rubber grips are keeping it in place without sliding even though the rungs are vertical and not horizontal — isn't that a neat trick…

The Bad:

Though the GorillaMobile works well, its mainly-plastic construction leaves me wondering for how long. Sure, the plastic joints work fine now, but what about in a year? What about in two years? I would expect these kind of cheap plastics in a tripod costing $10 or $20, but for its $40 asking price, I expect better materials. I would have been much happier if the GorillaMobile was either $20 less or kept its $40 price tag and boasted a mostly metal and rubber build.

Another minor gripe: I find the GorillaMobile a little sluggish to put on and take off. There's an awkward bumper-like piece that must be put on the iPhone before the tripod legs can be slid on, and putting everything together isn't as fast and easy as some other solutions out there.

Verdict:

I love the Joby GorillaMobile for my iPhone 4S and would whole-heartedly recommend it. It has made my iPhone so much more useful, and as a podcaster has made recording videos a lot more efficient. I just wish I didn't feel like I'm going to need to buy another one a year from now after this one breaks.

Rating: ★★★★☆

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Published on December 14, 2011 21:35

Rockmate Turns Your iPad Into A Music Studio

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While most music apps focus on one or two instruments, Rockmate brings a while music studio to your iPad. Up to four people can play music at once, which may initially sound a little cramped on the iPad's 9.7-inch screen.

If you're interested in Rockmate, you'll only need to part with $0.99 to get your hands on all of the musical goodness. As the app's developers say, "Let's rock together."

Rockmate is a breakthrough music creation app. It turns your iPad into a complete music studio easy and super fun to use. You can compose, record and play songs with up to 4 Rock players on one single iPad. Rockmate is easy to play with smart chords progressions, sounds great with separated guitar effects and in-house produced audio samples and is also fully customizable with multiple drums and keyboard styles.

From the same people that made the awesome DM1 drumming app for the iPad, Rockmate looks like a beautiful tool for making music. The app includes AirPlay support, export options, and other features that are sure to impress.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUa4IAQetTk

You can pick up Rockmate in the App Store now. The $0.99 sale lasts through December 21.

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Published on December 14, 2011 14:52

Steve Jobs Originally Hated The 'Think Different' Campaign

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Have you ever wondered what it was like behind the scenes of Apple's famous 'Think Different' advertising campaign? The 1997 ad was mainly attributed to Steve Jobs in Walter Isaacson's biography, but there's more to how it all went down.

An advertising executive that helped create the campaign has taken to Forbes to set the record straight, and the truth is that Steve Jobs originally hated the very ad that brought Apple back from the brink of destruction.

Rob Siltanen describes the day he and his creative partner met Steve Jobs to discuss working on a new campaign for Apple:

Jobs walked into the conference room wearing his trademark black mock turtleneck, shorts and a pair of flip-flops. But while he looked casual, he was all business.

The hellos and introductions were very short, and there was zero time spent reminiscing about the glory days when Lee and the old guard at Chiat helped Jobs create some of the most awe-inspiring advertising of all time. Jobs basically said, "Good to see you. Thanks for coming. Now let's get down to business." He then went on to say that Apple was "hemorrhaging" and the company was in worse shape than he had imagined. He said, "We have some decent product, but we need to get things figured out. I'm putting the advertising up for review, and I'm meeting with a handful of agencies to see who 'gets it.' I've already been talking with a couple of agencies that seem pretty good, and you're invited to pitch the account if you're interested." At this point I thought to myself, well, this isn't going as planned.

Surprisingly, Steve Jobs never envisioned a television campaign. He thought that whatever advertising push Apple did next should be mainly for print.

He said, "I'm thinking no TV ads, just some print ads in the computer magazines until we get things figured out." Clow remained his cool, reserved self at this point, while I found Jobs to be far more bossy and arrogant than I imagined. I got the impression he felt we were just another company lucky to be in his presence. I also didn't agree at all with his gameplan. I chimed in and told him, "Half the world thinks Apple is going to die. A few print ads in the computer magazines aren't going to do anything for you. You need to show the world that Apple is as strong as a lion. Nobody stands around the water cooler talking about print ads. You need to do something bigger and bolder. You need to do TV and other things that are going to give you true momentum." I went on to say that any agency could talk the talk. You need to see actual creative executions to truly judge the power of an idea.

After Siltanen pitched the original idea for a 'Think Different' advert, Jobs was hesitant because he thought it would exacerbate the public's perception of his huge ego. He ended up giving the go-ahead to make the campaign, and Siltanen's team got to work.

Jobs was quiet during the pitch, but he seemed intrigued throughout, and now it was time for him to talk. He looked around the room filled with the "Think Different" billboards and said, "This is great, this is really great … but I can't do this. People already think I'm an egotist, and putting the Apple logo up there with all these geniuses will get me skewered by the press." The room was totally silent. The "Think Different" campaign was the only campaign we had in our bag of tricks, and I thought for certain we were toast. Steve then paused and looked around the room and said out loud, yet almost as if to his own self, "What am I doing? Screw it. It's the right thing. It's great. Let's talk tomorrow." In a matter of seconds, right before our very eyes, he had done a complete about-face.

After the showing of the then-completed ad, Jobs hated it.

Lee and I flew to Cupertino to play the spot in person to Jobs. Only the three of us were in the room. We played the spot once, and when it finished, Jobs said, "It sucks! I hate it! It's advertising agency shit! I thought you were going to write something like 'Dead Poets Society!' This is crap!"

Siltanen ended up bringing in Ken Segall (who had previously worked with Jobs) to put some finishing touches on the TV spot and create a compelling newspaper ad. You can read our exclusive interview with Segall from 2009 for a closer look at his involvement with the campaign.

Despite Jobs' original disapproval, the ad ended up airing. It is still considered to be one of the great advertising campaigns of all time.

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Published on December 14, 2011 14:16

Elevation Lab Has Designed The Most Gorgeous iPhone Dock Ever Made In The Elevator Dock

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As far as Kickstarter projects go, this one has definitely piqued our interests. Unlike the "cheap, lightweight afterthoughts" that comprise the vast majority of most iPhone docks, the Elevation Dock looks like it has the potential to be one of the highest quality docks we've ever seen.

For starters, each dock is machined from solid aluminium (the same stuff that goes into the making of commercial airplanes) out of aircraft-grade steel, so you know it'll last. It also boasts a truly high quality finish, made possible since each dock is individually machined from solid billets of aluminium and not through molding or casting. Furthermore, the docks are "hand buffed, glass bead blasted, electro-chemically micropolished, hard anodized and sealed" to give them a lasting shine. The result? A finish an iMac or MacBook could be proud of.

But more important than longevity is design, and a lot of thought has gone into designing the Elevation Dock. The creators of the Elevator Dock know that you're likely to use your dock with a wide variety of different cases and accessories, and it sucks to have to take an iPhone or iPad out of its protective case just to dock it. After all, that's the whole point of a dock: you just slap your iPhone into one to charge and sync it. So unlike other docks, this one just works. It works whether your iPhone is protected by a case or not. You don't even need to push it in or pull it out: the low friction connection and sturdy build of the dock mean that docking and undocking is as easy as put down and pick up.

You can check out more details concerning the Elevator Dock over at the official Kickstarter page. To get one, all you need to do is pledge a $59 minimum… quite the bargain considering the fact that when they go to retail, they'll cose $90 each. We think this one's a real winner.

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Published on December 14, 2011 13:10

Why Buying Anobit Might Be One Of The Most Important Acquisitions Apple Will Ever Make

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Yesterday we reported that Apple was in the process of using its cash hoard to buy Anobit, an Israeli flash memory maker. But what's so special about Anobit anyway, and why would Apple buy another maker of flash memory when they've already got deals in place with some of the world's best flash manufacturers?

The answer: Anobit is making truly magical technology, and Apple wants that magic for itself.

In an excellent post over at ZDNet, Robin Harris explains that there are a lot of problems with flash memory that Anobit has made truly revolutionary controller chips to solve.

Anobit designs controller chips that make flash behave.
Reliability. Deep understanding of flash behavior enables Anobit controllers to make flash much more reliable than standard flash specs suggest: they can make 2 level cell flash as reliable as raw single level cell flash is today – a 10x improvement. Performance. Flash can be written much faster than normal at the cost of more errors. But if you can fix the errors you can have fast flash. Endurance. Reducing errors and managing the flash writes means you can make flash endurance – how long it retains data – much longer. Power. Writing flash takes power – 128 flash die can't be simultaneously written on a SATA power budget – and fast writing takes more power. Those trade-offs need management.

The end result? Far from being a ho-hum purchase, Anobit may be one of the most important acquisitions Apple will ever make.

If true, the Anobit acquisition is Apple's biggest hardware bet ever. And it is a good bet.

Anobit gives Apple a powerful competitive weapon that can be used to both reduce costs and/or increase performance, while increasing product quality in terms of reliability and battery life. Sure, flash manufacturers have the money to invest in competitive technology, but they'll sell it to all comers, leaving their customers with no differentiation.

And Anobit's expertise – they've applied for over 60 patents – is readily transferable to whatever next-gen technology overtakes flash. This acquisition is a long-term bet on the importance of cheap, fast and reliable solid-state storage for keeping Apple on the leading edge.

It's a fantastic read. If you're interested at all in the way flash memory works, the hurdles left to overcome and how Apple purchasing Anobit could revolutionize every aspect of future iOS and Mac devices, make sure to read Harris's post

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Published on December 14, 2011 12:55

How The iPad Transformed Millions Of Jobs In 2011 [Year In Review]

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Photo by Siemens PLM Software - http://flic.kr/p/9wsE5q

From the cockpit to the squad car and everywhere in between, 2011 was the year the iPad became a part of business. Throughout the year, we've introduced a number of jobs that have adopted the iPad and we return to see how Apple's tablet has reshaped industries big and small. In fact, the jet you take for your holiday travel may be co-piloted by the iPad 2.

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AIRLINES

For the first time, American Airlines will use the iPad in the cockpit throughout flights of its Boeing 777. Earlier this week, the FAA gave final approval to the full use of iPads, replacing around 38 pounds of operating manuals, navigation charts, reference handbooks, logbooks and more. A pilot's flight bag of some 12,000 pages will be reduced to the 1.5 pound Apple tablet.

Just what does this mean for pilots? It's the start of a whole new generation of flight. "The introduction of iPads ensures our pilots have essential and real-time information at their fingertips at all times throughout the flight," said United Airlines Captain Fred Abbott, also the airlines' senior vice president of flight operations. The company gave 11,000 iPads to its United and Continental pilots. Delta was the first to adopt the iPad as a way to reduce weight and save 326,000 gallons of costly jet fuel.

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Photo by phil41dean - http://flic.kr/p/aB86uR

HEALTH CARE

Not only pilots have become iPad fans. The critical business of health care is another area which is drowning in paperwork and view the tablet as a rescue line. At the St. Louis Urgent Care, an iPad is used from the moment a patient steps through the door until she leaves. Although a growing number of medical practices use laptops to take patient history, the iPad is becoming a popular doctor's assistant for its wide range of features.

Nurses use the drchrono EHR app to input patient information, while attending physicians appreciate the app's checkboxes and menus as an alternative to notoriously bad handwriting and often poor typing. Patients themselves like the Muscle and Bone Anatomy 3D app which uses the iPad's high-resolution screen to display broken bones or illustrate how a complicated procedure.

In an area where charting mistakes could mean the difference between life and death, the iPad means the "chance for information loss is almost zero," one doctor explained.

Even the iPad's camera comes into play for medical professionals. Earlier this year, Philips introduced a $0.99 app that uses the tablet's camera to measure heart and breathing both noticing your facial color and chest motion. The app, which the company stresses is for entertainment purposes only, even features a way to post your results on Facebook and Twitter.

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The iPad Showing the Control Room Screen

QUARRY MINE

Far from sterile medical atmosphere or the airline flightdeck, the iPad is being used to modernize even the most manual jobs. At an Ohio quarry, the iPad has become an integral part of the rock crushing business.

"The days of a plant operator sitting in front of a monitor in a control center are no more," Duff Quarry owner Ross Duff tells us. "We have been able to increase production, monitor material quality, and save time with the iPad. Most importantly the iPad allows our plant operator to travel conveyors, as well as start and stop the plant in person. This allows for the most important benefit of using the iPad, which is increased safety at the mine," Duff adds.

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Photo by jeromelebel - http://flic.kr/p/9WCZ7g

LAW ENFORCEMENT

If you've witnessed law enforcement up close or simply by watching cop dramas on television, you know how information has become as integral a part of walking the beat as a service revolver or handcuffs. From the FBI to local police departments, the iPad has become a partner in the fight on crime and an advocate for community policing.

We talked of how the FBI and local agents may soon use the iPhone and iPad to collect fingerprints and quickly identify potentially dangerous suspects. Near Los Angeles, Calif., the City of Redlands Police Department are quick to sing the praises of their latest recruit. "It's as integral as their police radio, or any of the other critical equipment on their duty belt," said Jim Bueermann, the city's Chief of Police.

Along with a communications tool, the iPad also displays local maps and displays, even replacing the once ubiquitous notepad with the on-screen keyboard. For the public, often put off by the police's commanding presence, seeing officers with an iPad can be a way to bridge that divide by talking about the Apple tablet.

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ARCHITECTURE

Away from the mean streets of policing, the iPad has found a use for architects accustom to consulting layouts, drawings and designs. Here, a number of specialized iPad apps have found a wide audience. At its simplest, architecture is about drawing — detailed and exacting drawing. The AutoCAD WS app lets you sync CAD drawings out in the field with those stored on your office desktop. Another app, GraphPad, is touch-based and lets architects quickly sketch out tentative designs and scale them. Other apps give architects scopes, develop budgets, add bubble diagrams and include project cost analyses.

Even if you are just a designer, there is Home Design 3D, allowing you to decorate rooms, add furniture and export the results to scale.

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JOURNALISM

Lastly, journalism has vastly changed with the iPad. The lightweight tablet can replace the usual notebook with apps such as Notability or Penultimate. I often use iMessage to send quick questions, even photos from a news scene. Instapaper is great for collecting interesting articles I don't have time to immediately read. The AudioMemos app is perfect for recording a quick voice interview. while Dragon dictation offers usually accurate transcription.

The iPad, first conceived as a media device has expanded to become much more. While in its infancy the iPad was the perfect game machine, the Apple tablet has become equally comfortable in the boardroom, as well as the cubicle or corner cafe. Any questions whether the iPad could meet the demands of business have been answered — many times over.

So, what should 2012 bring for the iPad in business? We are likely to see an even faster adoption of Apple's tablet as the economy hopefully begins to perk up. The iPad 3 could have more features suited to business, while talk of a lower-priced iPad could do for the tablet what the price drop of the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS did for smartphones. We can't wait to see.

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Published on December 14, 2011 12:37

Siri's A Better Rapper Than You Are [Video]

Think you're sick of Siri videos? Think again: here's Siri rapping the Notorious B.I.G.'s song "Hypnotize" with an amazing amount of flow, thanks to a clever video made by Robert Boehnke for London's Music Hack Day.

Now when can we get this feature natively, Apple? And better question yet: can Google's Majel be programmed to rap some Tupac for a genuine East Coast vs. West Coast rapper showdown?

[via Gizmodo]

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Published on December 14, 2011 12:05

How To Make Your iOS Devices Read Selected Text Out Loud [iOS Tip]

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It's not always easy to read the tiny text displayed on our iOS devices. But did you know that the iOS operating system features a handy "Speak Selection" feature that will read selected text out loud?

Once activated, the feature allows you to select a piece of text within any app, then have it read out loud. Here's how to enable and use it!

First, open up the Settings app on your device, then tap the General tab. Now choose Accessibility towards the bottom of the page.

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Tap on the Speak Selection tab, and then toggle the Speak Selection feature on. If you wish to, you can alter the speed at which the feature reads text out to you. Simply move the slider to the left to slow it down, or to the right to speed it up. As you alter the speed, the feature will talk to you so that you can determine which speed is best for you.

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Once activated, you can use the feature within any app. Simply select a piece of text and a new 'Speak' button will pop up above it. Tap this button and your device will read the selected text out to you. This is handy if you want things read to your while you're driving, jogging, or just unable to read the tiny text.

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[via iDB]

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Published on December 14, 2011 12:00

Netflix Releases A New iPad App And It Looks Great

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Remember Netflix's plan to radically redesign their iPad app's UI that we were so crazy about? Well, it's here now, and it looks fantastic.

That's not all that's new for Apple fans, though.

The Netflix Blog explains:

Starting today, Netflix members in Latin America can enjoy unlimited TV shows and movies streaming from Netflix on their Apple iPad, iPhone and iPod touch, or on their HD TV with Apple TV.

Also, Netflix "Just for Kids" is now available on Apple TV, providing a section that offers a broad selection of TV shows and movies for children 12 and under. You can read more about "Just for Kids" in Todd Yellin's original blog post when we first introduced the section in August.

I'm a big fan of the new UI, how about you?

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Published on December 14, 2011 11:18