The need: Share with family members some events that I need in my business calendar at work and at home. Without having all events copied over (synced with google calendar sync), as not to confuse them.
So the first idea was to assign it to multiple calendars ->>> failed
Next came the idea to just make a copy of the event ->>> failed
Researched the internet, read the manual ->>> failed
Workaround: Using Outlook (office) copy event and on the iPad assign a different calendar, i.e. the one to share with family members. Clumsy but doable. Better than the workaround described on some pages, which did not work for me.
Showing posts with label iPad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label iPad. Show all posts
2013-02-03
2012-04-27
iPad Pens: AluPen and/or Bamboo Stylus
Finally this week has my bamboo stylus arrived from Hong Kong, as it was cheaper to buy than local.
Cost $31 including shipping.
I have been using AluPen for almost a year and was carefully avoiding buying any other pens since I was extremely disappointed by almost all except AluPen.
Now I read a lot of rave reviews about bamboo stylus and decided to buy and after a few hours I can clearly say it is a good pen.
BUY.
(Make sure you had the chance to test the Pen because choosing between AluPen and Bamboo is not always easy. I like to use Faber Castell 0.7 thick thick wooden pencils and then I switch back to my wooden 0.5 Lamy pencil and then there is also the new 0.5 Faber Castell triangle rubber pencil which comes in handy.)
Will this mean I will be happy, no! The problem lies between the keyboard (or Pen) and the iPad; which means me. I just can not cope to really work efficiently with the iPad no matter how hard I try. Using about 10 note taking applications and going through iterations of versions but still fail. Most of them are used differently and don't give full flexibility, are slow, buggy etc.
The biggest issues are:
I cannot use the iPad for note taking. I should stop trying.
I failed to use Windows XP Tablet PC on Motion Computing around 2004, because XP Tablet and Windows 7 tablet is not really made for use with a Pen. They never made the applications behave the same and your arm had to cover distances that were by far more than inconvenient and inefficient. Compare what you can achieve with a perfect mouse like Logitech MX 1000 or the newer models.
Nothing beats a letter/a4 notepad with a Lamy or Faber Castell pencil.
Maybe the KNO Tablet or something else, an letter/A4 iPad anyone?
Cost $31 including shipping.
Now I read a lot of rave reviews about bamboo stylus and decided to buy and after a few hours I can clearly say it is a good pen.
(Make sure you had the chance to test the Pen because choosing between AluPen and Bamboo is not always easy. I like to use Faber Castell 0.7 thick thick wooden pencils and then I switch back to my wooden 0.5 Lamy pencil and then there is also the new 0.5 Faber Castell triangle rubber pencil which comes in handy.)
Will this mean I will be happy, no! The problem lies between the keyboard (or Pen) and the iPad; which means me. I just can not cope to really work efficiently with the iPad no matter how hard I try. Using about 10 note taking applications and going through iterations of versions but still fail. Most of them are used differently and don't give full flexibility, are slow, buggy etc.
The biggest issues are:
- With the pens you cannot write as small as on paper and if you try like I do then you'll probably end up missing always the initial stroke. All applications that automatically zoom or have a real manual gesture zoom are good but hard to work with.
- Some strokes get lost, especially the first ones of a Character etc.
I cannot use the iPad for note taking. I should stop trying.
I failed to use Windows XP Tablet PC on Motion Computing around 2004, because XP Tablet and Windows 7 tablet is not really made for use with a Pen. They never made the applications behave the same and your arm had to cover distances that were by far more than inconvenient and inefficient. Compare what you can achieve with a perfect mouse like Logitech MX 1000 or the newer models.
Nothing beats a letter/a4 notepad with a Lamy or Faber Castell pencil.
Maybe the KNO Tablet or something else, an letter/A4 iPad anyone?
2012-04-20
2012-04-19
The quest for the ultimate keyboard for iPad is over: Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover
I would have loved something like the apple wireless keyboard to appear on the market attached to the iPad like a smart cover.
My wishes have almost come True.
Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover to the rescue:
http://www.logitech.com/de-ch/tablet-accessories/keyboards/devices/ultrathin-keyboard-cover?WT.ac=ps|9859|hp
If the keyboard is a bit better than the old zagg/logitech product it's a 100% BUY!
It's probably not as comfortable as the wireless keyboard from Apple but it might fit.
http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/18/2958455/logitech-ultrathin-keyboard-cover-ipad-impressions
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/mobile-news/logitech-ultrathin-keyboard-cover-for-the-ipad-smart-cover-meets-keyboard/7511
My wishes have almost come True.
Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover to the rescue:
http://www.logitech.com/de-ch/tablet-accessories/keyboards/devices/ultrathin-keyboard-cover?WT.ac=ps|9859|hp
If the keyboard is a bit better than the old zagg/logitech product it's a 100% BUY!
It's probably not as comfortable as the wireless keyboard from Apple but it might fit.
http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/18/2958455/logitech-ultrathin-keyboard-cover-ipad-impressions
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/mobile-news/logitech-ultrathin-keyboard-cover-for-the-ipad-smart-cover-meets-keyboard/7511
2012-03-16
Will I buy the new iPad? continued...
After playing around in our local shop I have to say that I forget to put my old iPad2 next to it to have something to compare.
I use my iPad 2 about 2-4 hours a day, i.e. stretched over a 16 hours day. And for me the new iPad did not seem different than what I have:
the weight
If you don't own an iPad already, it will be a sure thing. If you have an iPad 2 you have to have really good arguments and enough cash to hand out. My iPad 2 is not yet a year old.
The new iPad should have come with water protection like the one from liquipel or hzo. And more importantly it should have complete glass and chassis protection. Today this is possible but only with an additional case (another post).
Original Post
http://engineeringmadness.blogspot.com/2012/03/will-i-buy-new-ipad.html
I use my iPad 2 about 2-4 hours a day, i.e. stretched over a 16 hours day. And for me the new iPad did not seem different than what I have:
the weight
- a non issue, had only 15 minutes to play around but it felt good
- same as today, did not notice that it is thicker
- looks a little bit sharper, but I was not blown away. Which is sad because I expected from this single feature a miracle. It looks really great, but I did not feel the urge to buy immediately solely on this.
- feels great and fast but somehow the pictures are a bit wobbly and the video looked a bit grainy. Compared to the old iPad this is incredibly better, just look at the photo in the previous post. This for me is an argument to buy the new iPad but it is not strong enough.
- cannot comment, but the reports say that it will take much longer to load. Just this morning: yesterday I used the iPad at lenght and when I woke up the battery was at 3%. I plugged it in and 40 minutes later I had 42% battery load. I hope that the new one will not take double or more time to load.
If you don't own an iPad already, it will be a sure thing. If you have an iPad 2 you have to have really good arguments and enough cash to hand out. My iPad 2 is not yet a year old.
The new iPad should have come with water protection like the one from liquipel or hzo. And more importantly it should have complete glass and chassis protection. Today this is possible but only with an additional case (another post).
Original Post
http://engineeringmadness.blogspot.com/2012/03/will-i-buy-new-ipad.html
2012-03-15
iPad: What do Walt and David have to say?
As always I like to read the review of Walt and David, so here you go if you want to read it yourself:
http://allthingsd.com/20120314/new-ipad-a-million-more-pixels-than-hdtv/
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/15/technology/personaltech/the-new-ipad-is-much-the-same-only-better.html
Photo found by searching google images: walt mossberg david pogue
As it has been the last couple of years the hardware improvements have been very gradual and smooth. It looks like they are now capable of handling a large number of different devices.
I have had to download about 5 different IOS updates for the last iFamily update! But contrary to other years it was only a delta update and not the full IOS download!
I miss the times when we were introduced to brand new devices or big improvements, i.e. I'm still in love with the first unibody aluminum MacBook and have not seen a reason to upgrade to any other model. As well as the AppleTV, where I'm going to stay to the old black box and not invest into the new. iMac/iPhone is the same.
The only problem I have is the iPad. It does not yet fit my desired purpose, none of the others do by far, but I would like to get a decent camera and have a better reading experience. I will have to work with it and then decided but currently my buying decision is HOLD.
http://allthingsd.com/20120314/new-ipad-a-million-more-pixels-than-hdtv/
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/15/technology/personaltech/the-new-ipad-is-much-the-same-only-better.html
Photo found by searching google images: walt mossberg david pogue
As it has been the last couple of years the hardware improvements have been very gradual and smooth. It looks like they are now capable of handling a large number of different devices.
I have had to download about 5 different IOS updates for the last iFamily update! But contrary to other years it was only a delta update and not the full IOS download!
I miss the times when we were introduced to brand new devices or big improvements, i.e. I'm still in love with the first unibody aluminum MacBook and have not seen a reason to upgrade to any other model. As well as the AppleTV, where I'm going to stay to the old black box and not invest into the new. iMac/iPhone is the same.
The only problem I have is the iPad. It does not yet fit my desired purpose, none of the others do by far, but I would like to get a decent camera and have a better reading experience. I will have to work with it and then decided but currently my buying decision is HOLD.
2012-03-12
Education: Khan Academy on iPad; just marvelous!!
What a wonderful addition to the iPad, the khan academy iPad app.
My kids love to earn meteorites, moons and the like. Usually they don't wanna watch a video in full length but just go and try and excel. I think khan academy should start investigating some behavior analysis and just float in some info and provide some subtle links to parts of a video.
The other big hope is that there will be soon more languages available as their mother tongue is not english. But they still like to work with it and they have me to support them when necessary.
Hopefully they make a version where you'll be able to practice from the iPad using finger input! And maybe at one point they will make available the tree of knowledge to be used from the iPad app!
Happy education.
My kids love to earn meteorites, moons and the like. Usually they don't wanna watch a video in full length but just go and try and excel. I think khan academy should start investigating some behavior analysis and just float in some info and provide some subtle links to parts of a video.The other big hope is that there will be soon more languages available as their mother tongue is not english. But they still like to work with it and they have me to support them when necessary.
Hopefully they make a version where you'll be able to practice from the iPad using finger input! And maybe at one point they will make available the tree of knowledge to be used from the iPad app!
Happy education.
2012-03-11
2012-03-10
Will I buy the new iPad?
Draft version 0.1:
In my original post about a possible iPad 3 I listed several things that I would need to be more happy with the iPad in office and private use:
What has been solved in the mean time:
In my original post about a possible iPad 3 I listed several things that I would need to be more happy with the iPad in office and private use:
Touch and pen.
No more notebooks to write into at meetings etc. Must also be as good as Windows 7 Tablet PC recognition of the handwriting, i.e. display the scribble but in the background store as text (makes search much easier). Did I say multilingual? English, German, French, Italian and whatever else it must just be prepared for sentences that are completely mixed.
Currently I tried Pogo stylus and an notebook app but not practical during daily usage. Nowadays I use my finger to scribble something down.
Other features.
Better screen (resolution, brightness, dailight/glare protection, magic OLED), smart cover with keyboard, wireless sync, pdf and epub central storage with all apps access and pdf annotations, Visio for iPad, new Os that does not rely on the apps selection; today I have 7 pages full of apps and groups with apps, it just takes to long to find the right app and switching between apps is also not good. Get rid of the button for accessing the running apps. Gestures a must.
What has been solved in the mean time:
- Wireless sync:
- Yes it is here and it works, I don't have to connect my kids iPod touch to the main computer to get a new song or album on their iPod, Hooray!!
- Now it's that easy that iMom can assign it. (some troubleshooting is still necessary, as some of the devices seem to disappear from the connected list: restart wireless on iPod, restart iTunes on Mac; that usually does the it.)
- Gestures for switching between apps:
- Solution is working great; I even appreciate it more since my iPad home button does not want to work all the time (have been to an apple store and wanted to show them how bad it is and during that time it worked flawlessly, also the slight appearance of yellow (about 1 - 1.5 mm of the screen from the bottom) did not really show up.
What the new iPad solves:
- Better resolution and color gamut, most probably not the glare, daylight resilience
What the newer iOS/apps versions solved:
- iBooks:
- just with the announcement of the new iPad there came an updated version of iBooks which introduced a nice highlighting feature for epub. Just swipe over some text and it automatically gets highlighted. I do that very often in PDFs but not in epubs. And no, they still haven't introduced anything to annotate PDFs. (I use Goodreader, but the UI is not comfortable and efficient to use and I want all my books in iBooks and not spread over many applications, where I sometimes end up with multiple copies.
- Please make it possible for 3rd party applications to access and edit the files in the iBooks part of storage!!
Why Samsung was right to publish the stylus and multitasking comparison:
- The pen:
- yes definitely needed, since I want to get rid of paper notebooks and paper drawings as soon as possible. I was happy with what motion computing provided me with many years ago; I mean what my previous company was able to afford me to test. The device cost around $3500 at that time.
- Today I make do with an Alupen, which is a great product, compared to many styluses that I tested, but it does not really fit my hand and no matter what pen I used I was never able to actually do what I could do on a piece of paper, especially not letter/a4 size. Most of the time I'm able to in landscape mode about 40 characters most, otherwise it is unreadable.
- outstanding task is to test the bamboo stylus for iPad, but I don't expect it to overcome most of the issues that I have today, which I did not have with Windows and Motion Computing
- Also don't forget, that all pen input is useless unless it is run through an OCR. The whole reason of going digital is to be able to search your notes and not only store more notebooks to skim through. Windows did here many years ago a good job, because some application allowed to keep the handwriting but do an OCR in the background.
- Applications side by side:
- another must. I have found out that I'm doing many tasks a day that require me to write some note or do some drawing while I need the PC as input. I.e. only working on the iPad I have to switch many times between the apps, which is possible and quite easy due to the introduced gestures, but a side by side view or even some kind of transparent overlay mode would make me more productive.
Pricewatch: Logitech Keyboard Case for iPad2 only $69/CHF69
There should be a smart cover with built in keyboard, but there isn't so I'm still looking to buy the right solution.
- original iPad keyboard: too big, clumsy and no landscape
- Apple wireless keyboard: too big, no real stand for portrait, as smart cover only is landscape and at a low angle.
- Logitech/Zagg: very promising, have not been able to really test anywhere, but I see it now more often and now it's only $69/CHF69 which is a good price. Still I would need a keyboard to go with iPad, iPad 2 and new iPad in portrait and landscape.
Most promising: Zagg Folio, hope I can check it out at one point. I don't like the packages just the raw keyboard.
Update: Was able to test Logitech/Zagg it for 30 minutes at a local store and came to the conclusion that the keys are not big enough and that mistype quite a lot. It has some advantages compared to all the folios out there that make everything bigger and heavier. Also I saw people working on their laps with it, but I would be worried about a possible drop. For protection today I use Belkin snap case, which is ok, but they break to easily if you attach detach them (had already 2 broken because of this).
Most beloved iPad stand (stump stand 25$)
Using the smart cover on iPad 2 is a potential risk to your iPad health; not only does it get scratched but also in tough circumstances you'll might accidentially destroy you iPad because catching the smart cover on an iPad on it's way to the floor is not advantageous, at least not for your iPad.
And using it daily you'll notice another shortcomming. You might want to put your iPad in portrait elevated mode but that's not possible and in my case I need the landscape elevated mode but the dock connector is always in the way. As a workaround I sometimes would just put the iPad on top of the folded smart cover in portrait or 180 landscape mode but the angle is not flexible enough.
If you have ever been to an apple shop you know how nice their iPad presentation stands are, still they are missing the high view position but at least they are very flexible.
But ever since I saw this Stump Stand in the apple online store, I fell in love with it and it has proven itself very well. I wish I could afford about 5 or 6 of them and just leave them on each cupboard, table etc.
If you are like me and need a very flexible small stand for business or private make sure you check out this product. There are 2 thing they need to solve to make me more happy than I am already:
And available in some Apple online store, but not US!
Available colors in CH:
And using it daily you'll notice another shortcomming. You might want to put your iPad in portrait elevated mode but that's not possible and in my case I need the landscape elevated mode but the dock connector is always in the way. As a workaround I sometimes would just put the iPad on top of the folded smart cover in portrait or 180 landscape mode but the angle is not flexible enough.
If you have ever been to an apple shop you know how nice their iPad presentation stands are, still they are missing the high view position but at least they are very flexible.
But ever since I saw this Stump Stand in the apple online store, I fell in love with it and it has proven itself very well. I wish I could afford about 5 or 6 of them and just leave them on each cupboard, table etc.
If you are like me and need a very flexible small stand for business or private make sure you check out this product. There are 2 thing they need to solve to make me more happy than I am already:
- fix the colors, I need white. Somehow they change colors (it has at one point existed in white) and do not really make others available again. I would go for blue or white, but chose red. The black did not look great with my white iPad.
- improve the lean mode, as it is somewhat dangerous. They point this out on the webpage and in the card that comes with the product, but maybe they find a way to improve this (challenge).
http://www.stumpstore.com/
Screenshot from their webpage:
In my opinion the best!
And available in some Apple online store, but not US!
Available colors in CH:
Did I already mention that I need the white? Please make it available again.
2011-03-25
iPad 3 must have features
Touch and pen.
No more notebooks to write into at meetings etc. Must also be as good as Windows 7 Tablet PC recognition of the handwriting, i.e. display the scribble but in the background store as text (makes search much easier). Did I say multilingual? English, German, French, Italian and whatever else it must just be prepared for sentences that are completely mixed.
Currently I tried Pogo stylus and an notebook app but not practical during daily usage. Nowadays I use my finger to scribble something down.
Other features.
Better screen (resolution, brightness, dailight/glare protection, magic OLED), smart cover with keyboard, wireless sync, pdf and epub central storage with all apps access and pdf annotations, Visio for iPad, new Os that does not rely on the apps selection; today I have 7 pages full of apps and groups with apps, it just takes to long to find the right app and switching between apps is also not good. Get rid of the button for accessing the running apps. Gestures a must.
No more notebooks to write into at meetings etc. Must also be as good as Windows 7 Tablet PC recognition of the handwriting, i.e. display the scribble but in the background store as text (makes search much easier). Did I say multilingual? English, German, French, Italian and whatever else it must just be prepared for sentences that are completely mixed.
Currently I tried Pogo stylus and an notebook app but not practical during daily usage. Nowadays I use my finger to scribble something down.
Other features.
Better screen (resolution, brightness, dailight/glare protection, magic OLED), smart cover with keyboard, wireless sync, pdf and epub central storage with all apps access and pdf annotations, Visio for iPad, new Os that does not rely on the apps selection; today I have 7 pages full of apps and groups with apps, it just takes to long to find the right app and switching between apps is also not good. Get rid of the button for accessing the running apps. Gestures a must.
iPad 2 enthusiast warning: Do not buy! Keep iPad 1
I just had the chance to buy an iPad 2 but before I actually said yes I wanted to test my number 1 features that I use.
1) iBooks -> application is slow on iPad 2, almost the same as on iPad 1
I really hoped for a big surprise there (I have 600 epubs and 1300 pdfs on it) mostly Cisco, Infoblox, Infovista et. al. manuals release notes etc.
It's still a drag and pdf annotations that I miss are also not present, i.e. it was clear since the iBooks is independent of iPad versions.
2) camera sucks, the quality is just awful (it's definitely good enough for facetime)
But I want some crisp snappy pictures and videos, but it is just not good.
3) no display improvement. I read a lot of books on the iPad and many times I believe that I have to clean the screen but then I realize it is the iBooks application that renders sometimes the characters less than optimal. Maybe it's on the application.
Still, buy the iPad 2 if you don't have an iPad and you want to use Apple TV 2 with AirPlay, which is now just awesome, since AirVideo can stream while in the background!
It is disappointing from Apple not to be able to really improve and use their muscle to advance the technology, this time the only play catch up. From what I can see the new Galaxy 10.1 is most probably the best, but the software is lacking.
1) iBooks -> application is slow on iPad 2, almost the same as on iPad 1
I really hoped for a big surprise there (I have 600 epubs and 1300 pdfs on it) mostly Cisco, Infoblox, Infovista et. al. manuals release notes etc.
It's still a drag and pdf annotations that I miss are also not present, i.e. it was clear since the iBooks is independent of iPad versions.
2) camera sucks, the quality is just awful (it's definitely good enough for facetime)
But I want some crisp snappy pictures and videos, but it is just not good.
3) no display improvement. I read a lot of books on the iPad and many times I believe that I have to clean the screen but then I realize it is the iBooks application that renders sometimes the characters less than optimal. Maybe it's on the application.
Still, buy the iPad 2 if you don't have an iPad and you want to use Apple TV 2 with AirPlay, which is now just awesome, since AirVideo can stream while in the background!
It is disappointing from Apple not to be able to really improve and use their muscle to advance the technology, this time the only play catch up. From what I can see the new Galaxy 10.1 is most probably the best, but the software is lacking.
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