Todd Clarke's Technology Corner v2.0

Optoma’s Pico projector series (PK100-PK301) offers the iPhone, iPad and other smart phone users the ability to make an impromptu presentation.

Envision a projector that is about the same size and form factor as your iPhone and you have envision the Optoma Pico projector 100.

Although its low lumen count won’t make it an ideal competitor for classrooms or conference rooms, it’s battery powered projector is perfect for small board meetings or client
conferences. Its 4 oz weight and small form factor and long running rechargeable battery allows you to carry it around with you during the day and use it for an impromptu meeting.

Optoma includes all the cables, charger, and extra battery for hookup to your smart phone.

If you need something that hooks into your computer or with a higher lumen count, Optoma offers the PK 102, 201 and 301 models as well.

http://www.optomausa.com/productcategory.asp?productsubcat=26&productcategory=Pico Pocket Projector

If you have every seen a blocky looking graphic like this one:

CK QR Code

You migh have wondered – what is that?
In this case, it takes you to a website that looks like this:

It is a QR code or a two dimensional bar code.  By the time you’ve finished writing this article, I hope to have persuaded you to use QR codes in your day to day work.

My prefered App for the iPhone for reading QR codes it  Optiscan – http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/optiscan-qr-code-scanner-generator/id304099767?mt=8

So a QR code is a standard graphic format that transcends particular hardware, software or even analog vs. digital. You could put a QR code on your business card, your letter head, your advertisements, or your website, and it would be “recognized” by most “smart phones” or computers today and translated into a message, url, or contact info on that device.

It works something like this – you hold your phone’s camera up to the graphic like this:

QR Code sample

and in seconds it turns into to a text file that you can add to your contacts like this:

Scanning and reading of QR codes is only 1/2 of the equation.  The other half is to generate and use your own QR codes.  Your QR code could be your complete contact information (like your business card), your website, a telephone number, or a “secret message”.

You can create your own QR Codes using these websites:
For urls: http://invx.com/code/

A multifunction QR code creater: http://qrcode.kaywa.com/ or http://zxing.appspot.com/generator/

or
http://delivr.com/qr-code-generator
or
http://www.mskynet.com/static/maestro

or

http://delivr.com/qr-code-generator

Are businesses really using this?

Yes – the featured QR Code aboce came from this Calvin Klein billboard – http://gizmodo.com/5587753/nycs-sexiest-billboard-doesnt-care-for-dumphones

or this company that specializes in heping companies get into the QR code age – http://us.scanlife.com

or this book that has QR codes as footnotes – http://gizmodo.com/5553398/jules-verne-book-comes-with-qr-codes-for-21st-century-footnotes

There truly are more examples of how these are being used than I could begin to list here.

So why do we need QR codes?  Anyone who has ever had to read their email address or url to a customer over the phone or in person will understand immediately that the QR code transcends any particular platform (as opposed to say, iPhones “Bump“)

And here is my complete contact information in QR Code format

Todds QR Code

And here is how it looks on my business card:
Front:

Back:

(I have Expresscopy.com print my business cards laminated)

Have you ever noticed the hidden arrow in the Fedex logo? (The FedEx wordmark is notable for containing a hidden right-pointing arrow in the negative space between the “E” and the “X”, which was achieved by designing a proprietary font, based on Univers and Futura, to emphasize the arrow shape). Last summer, my family started noticing the arrow and now we can’t help but say “I see the arrow” everytime we pass a Fedex Logo or truck, which seems to be a dozen times a day. QR codes are as ubiquitous and not that you know what they are, my guess is you will start to recognize them everywhere.

In my last review of the iPad I covered how I was unable to use the iPad to replace a notebook, my book reader, to teach from, and many other tasks. After 30 days of trying to use the iPad in my daily life, my feeling was that eventually Apple would get the iPad Operating System to the point that it was an effective replacement for a notebook, but until then it was just an interesting device.

As I have continued using the iPad , I’ve had a change of heart and found three arenas that it truly excels in, including:

For these three uses, the iPad has become an invaluable tool.
1. Family Trips – our family took a whirlwind, 6,400 mile, 28 day vacation across the western United States hitting most of the National and State parks in 14 states. The iPads always on 3G, mapping and ability to extract information on the internet as well as WikiHood and Wikipanion made for an amazing tool to use on the road. The 10.5 hour battery life was ideal as we were often in the car driving anywhere from 2 to 8 hours a day. Being able to view our photos from that days outing was also very cool – particularly using the “places” feature.

Our kids were also responsible for providing reports on the people, places, and events that we would see, and they used Keynote to make their presentations on (we also hooked the iPad up to the headrest monitors for presentations in our Toyota LandCruiser).

2. Using the iPad as a PDF reader. Before I head out for a days meetings – I will load the iPad with PDF documents and files that I might need into the GoodReader App which allows me to pull up any document on short notice and then I can hand it to a client and walk them through it. Just in case I forgot to load a document, I’ve been using the PogpPlug and its related iPad/iPhone App to gain access to all of my date. I know good friends who use Dropboxes App the same way.

3. One of my biggest frustrations on the road is the lack of a large monitor to manipulate all of my data (our office is entirely paperless). If I am out of town for more than a week, I often end up carrying a 21″ screen (stored in the original box with a handle on it), which also isn’t ideal is this era of only taking carry on bags.

The iPad now has a $9.95 app called MaxiVista that allows me to use the iPad as a second screen for my Windows machine. Although the app requires an open Wi-Fi router (open in the ports it has open), I travel with one and thats not an issue. After you install the driver on the Windows machine and run the App on the iPad, viola! a second screen that looks like this:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/maxivista/id380146095?mt=8

All in all, the iPad is moving up in its usefulness to our business and our family.

As an additional note, I can’t be the only one feeling this way, as a revised estimate indicates that over 12 million iPads will be sold htis year.

My largest dissappointment upon the acquisition of my iPad was the realization that my laptop didn’t have enough oomph (technical word = amperage) to charge the iPad.

Well no longer!

Major motherboard manufactures have started to release drivers that increase the amperage of your USB port to charge an iPad.

Links and more info here -at macrumors (that one worked on my Sony laptop) and Lifehacker.

I’ve held off on publishing this review because I’ve wanted to use the iPad in as many different situations and try to solve as many issues that have turned up as possible.

Now that we are 30 something days into the iPads existence, it has already hit 1,000,000 units sold. While Apple has advertised the iPad as a magical and revolutionary product at an unbelievable price, most of the new iPad owners are still grappling with what to use it for.

Apple, the purveyor of well designed products released its new iPad.

While my iPad traveled many thousands of miles to arrive at my office in time, many others (including my dad) purchased theirs on the same day from Apple stores across the country. By last count and before a full 30 days on the market, Apple has sold over 500,000 iPads, possibly more than they had anticipated as they’ve had to push back the release of the device in Europe and other countries to allow manufacturers to catch up.

On April 3rd, 2010 mine finally arrived having traveled over 16,000 miles to reach my front door.

The following is my attempt to give you the good, bad and ugly of the iPad:
The iPad is certainly a head turner – I’ve been stopped on airplanes, in airports, in meetings and I’ve often seen my iPad headed in a different direction as well meaning friends have taken it to show off to others.

The question I am asked the most though is still the most pressing one. What do you do with your iPad? Choices offered include:

– replacing a netbook or laptop in day to day usage

– using it as a replacement for Microsoft Office

– using it to surf the web

– using it as a presentation device

– using it as a learning tool

– using it to read books

– using it for music and movies

– using it to as a video game device

– as a multi purpose tool to use for travel

Replacing a net book or laptop in day to day usage

The iPad is about 1/2 the physical weight of a net book and seems to offer a novel format for many of the tasks that a netbook or laptop can perform. That said, some of the basics that we’ve come to expect from a net book or laptop are missing in the iPad, including:

– a file storage system that is compatible across all of the programs

– the ability to output the screen via the VGA connector (the iPad requires each program to have this option, and doesn’t offer a operating system level ability to turn on this feature (which makes demoing the iPad problematic)

– the ability to print to PDF or to a printer across all programs

The iPads inability to implement these three features on an operating system level is reminiscent of the old MSDOS days when word perfect came with its own printer drivers.

The largest of these issues by far is the lack of a common file storage system. While iTunes allows documents to be added to each program, its implementation is spotty at best as it would often “forget” to copy files, or show PDF files in the Keynotes file requester. There are easily a dozen tools in the iTunes App store that offer the ability to copy and move files to and from the iPad and your computer, but few of them offer the flexibility to choose which program the files open in and only one of them offers a folder ability. One work around for this for me was to use PogoPlug (a hardware/software/cloud hybrid) to store my files and access them using the PogoPlug app or an internet browser like Safari.

One place the iPad excels in is surfing the internet. Using Safari and the virtual onscreen keyboard are very intuitive and the zoom and scrolling is much more enjoyable than “mousing” around in Windows.

Verdict: the iPad is unlikely to replace anyone’s net book or laptop in the near future.

Using it as a replacement for Microsoft Office

If you are an avid office user, Apple’s iPad offers three inexpensive tools that are compatible and competition for Microsoft Offices version of word, excel, and powerpoint. Apple’s version of these programs are pages, numbers and keynote, which appear to be lite versions of what Apple offers for Macbook users. While they appear to be a bargain at $9.99 each versus the Microsoft office suite at $299+, the Apple versions are much weaker and simplified versions of the Microsoft tools.

Each of the programs is mostly compatible with the Microsoft versions, particularly with smaller simpler files, but larger files caused the Apple programs to choke, bomb, or return an error message.

The best of the three tools is pages, which is a delight to use, particularly when comparing its user interface to Microsoft Offices confusion array of choices on its “ribbon”. Numbers is most likely one of the modes tedious excel like programs I’ve used. While opening Excel compatible spreadsheets was easy, creating them from scratch with the keyboard dock was tedious and counterintuitive. For example, you can’t use the arrow keys to move around in the spreadsheet, and you have to push on a cell twice to enter data into it, and then you have to tell it what kind of data it is.

While Keynote offers some interesting enhancements to Powerpoint, at times its user interface begs for a mouse. Moving from the keyboard dock to the screen to select things becomes arduous, particularly given the relatively weak physical connection that secures the iPad to the dock connector, something that I found I could disconnect with little pressure on the screen.

Verdict: while its nice to have office compatible tools to use, the inability to open many of my files will keep the iPad in the “office-lite” category.

Surfing the Web
The iPad is an ideal web surfing device – easy to hold when you are sitting on the couch, or an airport chair, blazingly fast, and a very intuitive virtual keyboard make internet browsing adelight.

It’s unfortunate that the iPads browser, Safari, doesn’t activate the video/VGA out port, as it would be a wonderful tool to share with students.

Verdict: the iPad delivers here, but don’t be surprised when some of your favorite website’s can’t show you Adobe Flash based video.

Presentation Device
I could often entertain students of my technology courses by making a PowerPoint-like presentation using the iPhone. The iPhone’s video out can be activated in only two programs – the video player and the photo slideshow. Powerpoint offers a export function and if you export to .JPG format into a folder and then ask iTunes to include that folder in your sync. When in Photos-SlideShow -select play, and viola the video out option is activated and you can swipe from slide to slide. Yes, animations and sounds are missing, but you can still run a presentation from a tiny phone and a 1 lb projector.

I was excited when I found Keynote in the iPad app lineup as I realized I would no longer have to go through all of the above steps to make a presentation. Keynote does a nice job of presentations and is very intuitive to use.

Verdict: the iPad delivers here, but only in programs that activate the VGA out cable.

Learning Tool
Apple has long been associated with education and the iPad offers numerous educations tools from the simple but elegant read-along version of Disney’s Toy Story, to the advanced exploration of the periodic tables in the elements app.

Verdict: The iPad user interface certainly has the ability to deliver and the apps that are starting to trickle out are likely to inspire our children to research the periodic table or read Shakespeare.

Digital Book Reader
Today is the one year anniversary of owning the Kindle DX, my preferred reading device. In the year I’ve owned the large screen Kindle, I’ve read hundreds of books, 52 issues of the Economist and 312 issues of the Wall Street Journal. I’ve installed the Kindle app on my iPhone, so I can keep reading for those few minutes between meetings. I mention this so you know what an avid ebook reader I’ve become.

Knowing this, I was looking forward to a color, multimedia version of the iPad to read books and magazines. Unfortunately, the iPad’s size and weight does not make it a good long term reading device. Unlike my iPhone’s kindle app, I can’t seem to keep the iPad from swiveling to/from portrait and landscape – an issue when you lie down on your side to read and the text is turned 90 degrees. Thanks to fellow tech Guru, Todd Kuhlmann for pointing out that the iPad has a switch for this… DUH!

One of the biggest advantages of the Kindle is the ability for it to sync bookmarks across devices – so I can pick up my iPhone, iPad (using Kindle app), Kindle 2, Kindle DX and Kindle on the PC and start reading exactly where I left reading on another device.

iTunes has added the iBooks section and app to download books which very similar to the Amazon’s bookstore for the Kindle. Unfortunatley, copy protection keeps you from using your Apple books on your Kindle, but you can read your copy protected Amazon Kindle books on your iPad, because they have an app for that!

Even if you decide not to make the investment in Apple format books, there are a couple that are worth looking at as they represent what the possible future of digital books could look like.

They include: Alice, which features an interactive version of Alice in Wonderland, Winnie the Pooh, and Toy Story which has a follow along reading tool.

If you are a comic fan, I believe you will love what Marvel Comics has done with the iPad.

And I think one of the best future applications for the iPad will come from magazines like Popular Science.

Verdict: its a work in progress

Entertainment device for music and videos
Without a doubt, the iPad is a phenomenal entertainment device. I have found myself carrying it around on top of my laptop (it snuggies right in under the batter bay of my Sony TZ) and turning it on to listen to podcasts, music and catch some tv shows on the ABC app. NPR

NPR –  has done the best job of implementation of their products on the iPad, and of course, you can use it to control Apple’s AppleTV or even as a remote for a Sonos system

Use it as a remote control for your  – Sonos or the Apple TV.

And if I’m on the road and I want to watch the same TV as the family I can login and watch our home’s TV/DVR using Sling player.

Verdict: Nothing better.

Playing Video Games
I don’t often get caught up in video games, after all, isn’t using technology in real estate one big puzzle like a video game? But, I have found one game I have really enjoyed – a tower defense game called Field Runners – and I am looking forward to trying out Scrabble with the family. In this version of Scrabble, you can use your iTouch or iPhone as a letter tray, and then flick your letters out on the board.

The downside of playing video games is finding the a holding/playing position that is comfortable. I have noticed that I play a better game on the iPhone than the iPad, mostly because of the weight and having to hold the iPad with two hands.

Verdict: very fun and portable, big screen and sound is great, slightly awkward to hold and play.

As a digital picture frame

Without a doubt, the iPad is the slickest photoframe I’ve ever seen. I love the photos app and its truly a treat to sit and share photos with friends and family.

NOTE: the desire to get my photos manageable for use in the iPad has led to several hours of photo organization.

Verdict: very slick!

Multipurpose tool for travel
My biggest disappointment with the iPad is the lack of a dedicated GPS receiver. While the 3G model triangulates against cell phone antennae’s for its location, and the wifi model uses wifi to find its location, I was really looking forward to using a large screen device that had dedicated GPS signal. That said, since the iPad and iPhone are so dependent upon an internet connection for access to all of the material, websites and information in the Internet cloud, its not surprising that the iPad lacks this tool.

That said, the lack of GPS, doesn’t negate the power this tool offers on the road. I’ve entertained young children with the books, movies and music, I’ve passed long flights in coach with my iPad and a set of Bluetooth headphones (check out the Jabra Halo headset), and it’s the third device I pickup when I’m headed out for a day of meetings (#1 is iPhone, #2 is laptop), in part because I’ve wanted to explore where it works best.

Having the iPad has been a good distraction from all of the frustrations we associate with travel.

Verdict: don’t buy one unless you plan to carry it around with you, a lot.

In conclusion
For my own uses, the iPad has sparked a full range of emotions between frustration to pure delight. Frustration often sets in with I attempt to use the device stand alone or in replace of other devices, like a laptop or net book. Delight comes from using the device in casual or cramped environments. From a business standpoint, the iPad has worked best for me when I am preparing for teaching a class or a presentation to a small group of clients.

Tasks that I have had good success with include:

– Light word processing, number crunching, powerpoint reviews, and research are all easy, if not fun to try in the iPad.

– Surfing the web

– Studying for courses – I would use the Kindle DX to read the textbook (it keyword searchs PDF files!) and the iPad to review powerpoints – side by side – even on an airline tray!

For me, the largest shortcomings of the device are:
– inability to run flash in web browsing – this precludes use of CCIMs site to do business, REDEX, many of the real estate multiple listing systems and some of my kids favorite websites like ClubPenguin (the irony is not lost on me since ClubPenguin’s parent company is Disney, also owner of Pixar, of which Steve Jobs is a major shareholder).

– Advanced spreadsheet development, large document creation, and file storage are tasks that are beyond the iPads abilities.

– inconsistent application of the video out

– lack of a file storage system that lets you move documents from one app to another, or from one device to another.

Recommendations/Suggestions
– Setup your iPad with its own email account. Amazon was smart enough to do this for my Kindle DX, and I find its a very convenient way to send documents to either device.

– Only those users looking for a simple solution should purchase the 3G model. If you need the internet while on the go, I would highly recommend Verizon’s mifi or Sprint’s Over Drive –  both of which allow you to connect up to 5 devices (iPhone, iPad, laptop, and your spouses laptop) for the same low fee.

Additional related information:

The specifications of the new iPad can be found here – http://www.apple.com/ipad/specs/

Engadget – launch, review, apps, editorial –

iPad teardown

Apple sells 300,000 (more than the iPhone) – http://gizmodo.com/5509659/apple-sold-300000-ipads-on-the-first-day

The decision tree – should I buy an iPad

What Charlie Rose and Walt Mossberg think of the new iPad

Folders for Apps is coming in 4.0 upgrade this summer

If you would like your Ipad (jailbroken) to work with a mouse

A list of which program let you use your VGA out on your iPad

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4108

– Videos

– Photos—Slideshow playback only

– YouTube

– Keynote

– Safari—Video content on webpages

Update and recommendations on power charging.

Cases

Case Reviews from JKontheRun.com

Vaja Cases- http://www.vajacases.com/

I just ordered this one: http://www.dodocase.com/#mce_temp_url#

And Extra Power chargers – http://www.scosche.com/news/462/

If you have purchased an an iPad – please share your thoughts, suggestions and ideas here.

Then check out the PogoPlug.

PogoPlug is a device that sits bewteen your home or office based Internet connection and a USB harddrive, allowing you to have remote access to your files from anywhere you can find an internet connection.

iPhone and iPad users will be glad to know there is an app that allows them access as well.

One of the biggest advantages of the PogoPlug is how easy it is to setup – pretty much plug, login, and play.

According to GoogleMaps my Apple iPad traveled 16,716 miles between 3/30 and 4/3. Originating in Shenzen, China (I once taught a CCIM class in Shenzen, China’s industrial corridor that is inland from Hong Kong), to Hong Kong, to Anchorage, Alaska, to Louisville, KY to Albuqerque, NM, the box carrying my iPad averaged 174 miles an hour…

A special thanks to UPS for making sure my iPad arrived safe and sound.

Many people are not aware of the fact that Albuquerque gave birth to both the Personal Computer, and Microsoft.

Today, we get word that Dr. Edwards, who developed the hardware for the first personal computer has passed away.

With the passing of Dr. Henry Edward Roberts, I am reminded of one of Albuquerque’s first failings – the loss of Microsoft, which was incorporated in our fair city, to Bill Gate’s home town of Redmond (Seattle area), WA.

This was Albuquerque’s first wake up call that they needed to focus on one of the four factors of production, that it wasn’t enough to just have more PhD’s per capita than the rest of the country, they needed to have access to capital, because without it, companies had to move to other locales that could provide money for their expansion.

The Los Angeles Times has a great obituary for Dr. Edwards that includes his time as a Sandia Labs scientist and the founding of his company, MITS.

All the way from ShenZen, China – do you suppose it will really arrive by this Saturday?