iPad Archive

It’s amazing how much awesome technology is available for little kids today. When I was a little kid, I had a Fisher-Price cash register and thought that was awesome. That was until Transformers came around – even today any kid would take Optimus or Starscream over an iPad. Startup advisor Louis Gray and others have posted videos of their young kids interacting with his iPhone and even at their young age, the kids seem to know which buttons to press for the desired action!

Russia-based semantic search engine Quintura has released a version of their Kids search engine for the iPad and iPhone. I’ve included a sample screenshot from the app below. The search app uses Quintura’s cloud technology to refine the results for a search query. From the overview, “The cloud features most popular concepts that we pick up from the texts from most relevant web pages. This helps you define the best direction for further searching and refine your query.”

Quintura uses a manual selection process for the search results to make sure the available sites are kid-friendly.

The Quintura Kids for iPhone/iPad app is available for an intro price of $1.99.

This weekend is an exciting one here in NYC – the Subway Series comes to Citi Field. The matchup is between the Mets and the Yankees. Naturally the Yankees will prevail and Mets fans will, once again, wonder if their team will hit .500 for the season. If you are an iPad owner, you should be able to bring your device to the game.

However if you are planning to attend a Yankees home game at Yankee Stadium, leave that iPad at home! The security policies page notes that laptops are not allowed inside Yankee Stadium along with any video equipment. Apparently Yankees Stadium officials have decided that the iPad poses a safety risk. Additional banned devices are those that, “…may interfere with and/or distract any sports participant, other patron, audio or audio/visual telecast or recording of the game or any technology-related service provided in Yankee Stadium.”

Check out this story of a woman who attempted to bring her iPad into Yankee Stadium.

Apparently iPads are welcome at Fenway Park, home of the Boston RedSox. I guess with the quality of baseball the RedSox are playing these days, you probably need something to keep yourself occupied.

With today’s announcement of Google TV and all the discussion about the convergence of media platforms, one might think the MLB would want devices like the iPad to be used while at the game. How awesome would it be to have a live stats and chat app to discuss the game with others at the stadium. If NASCAR can do it, why not baseball?

We’ve covered the Apple iPad several times on CenterNetworks. The device appears to be launching next month and I believe it will be a game changer. Andreas discussed how he sees the device being used in the home and I agree with him that a whole new set of consumers will join the Apple camp when the iPad tablet hits the market. Whether you buy an iPad or one of the other 50 tablets that will launch this year, one thing is clear: all of them will have some level of Internet access built in. Some may have WiFi only, some may have wireless connections only and some will have both.

I use Sprint for wireless service and have been very satisfied with the call quality and reception I’ve received no matter where I travel to. I’ve started to wonder if I purchase an iPad (or another tablet) if there is even a need for a smartphone anymore. For normal Internet users, the tablet will give them access to the Internet when needed and they could potentially move to a basic phone and save money on their mobile costs. It’s something that I am seriously considering once my contract is over.

Naturally if I moved to a simple phone and a tablet, it would require that I carry the tablet with me wherever I go. What makes this more interesting are some of the billboards I’ve seen around NYC that show mobile carriers offering unlimited talk, text and web for $40/month. I don’t know who the actual service provider is for some of these plans but with a phone that can do all of those things, it makes not having a full smartphone even better.

Apple should offer current iPhone customers a discount on the AT&T service on the iPad. Without a discount, I wonder if the new customers that will be attracted to the iPad will shy away from purchasing a smartphone, and potentially an iPhone.

I only write a few texts a month and mainly use my mobile device for checking and replying to emails. Something I could easily do on the iPad or a basic phone when I don’t have the iPad with me (e.g. out for the evening, parties, etc.)

Another interesting note – the more people I talk to about their mobile usage, the more I hear one thing…that they barely use the voice feature on the phone. I fall into the same camp — I receive 500 minutes a month and barely use 30-50 a month. Perhaps a pre-paid plan could work very well to keep my expenses down even further.

If you are purchasing an iPad, do you plan to keep your smartphone as well? Could you see mainstream consumers that purchase a tablet computer moving to a more simplified and less expensive mobile service and device?

Only a few days left before the iPad hits shelves and if Apple is able to deliver even with some speculated delivery problems we will be able to dive into a new product that will probably change the way how we use the web and consume other media forever.

When I wake up in the morning, I go into the kitchen and press the start button on my coffee maker. I want a fresh and delicious coffee delivered to me within a couple of seconds. My coffee maker can compete this task and it does it really well – we are used to coffee makers and we are happy how they work. What if we could press a button to access the web and start to use it even faster like my coffee maker brews a cup of coffee? For now starting the internet requires pressing a button on a desktop or laptop computer and then waiting until the machine boots up. We typically have to sit in a certain room to access the internet. We probably have to turn on some other components first to get access to the web. I know some people don’t have these issues as they keep their computers powered on all the time – not a wise decision in many ways.

So, for most of us – accessing the internet is not as easy as brewing a coffee in the morning. This is exactly where the iPad kicks in. The iPad is the coffee maker of the internet. It will brew instant access to the web, to your social networks or to any other media including photos, movies, music and of course email within seconds. The internet has finally made it to our homes and to our lives in full wherever you are and whenever you want it.

Continue reading “Are You Ready for the iPad?” »

Could this be the next generation library?

Twitter replies:

• oo00_Mr_K_00oo no .. because you can’t “borrow” books through the apple iBook store ;(
• immunetologic - No, the iBooks store will be. ;) I still believe that the act of going to another space to work & study will remain relevant

Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com

Sesame Street has launched a new iPhone application aimed at kids called Elmo’s Monster Maker. I’ve embedded a video demo of the iPhone app below. The app costs $4 and can be downloaded from the iPhone app store. It’s pretty amazing that little kids are using the iPhone for games but after watching my sister’s 5-year old niece playing a variety of games on the iPhone, I see how well it works as a game console.

The Elmo Monster Maker app is pretty simple. You can customize the monster’s face including the nose, hat, eyes and mouth. After you are satisfied with your monster, Elmo will dance with it. It’d be neat if you could somehow post your monster to a gallery on Sesame Street’s website.

What I think this app (and other similar apps) shows is how popular the iPad will be with children and young kids. If they like playing on a tiny screen, their excitement will only ride with a screen that’s 3x bigger. I’ve previously shared my thoughts about why I want an iPad. I think the iPad device will be a hit for families once it drops to $349 for the WiFi version. I think the price drop will come just before the holiday season. Will the iPad be a bigger gaming hit than the Nintendo DS or Playstation PSP? Only time will tell  but if the price drops, look for at least strong competition.
Continue reading “Elmo Shows Us Why The iPad Will Be a Hit With Kids” »

Over the past week we’ve looked at why the iPad will be good for contractors and why you might not be the target audience for the device. After considerable thought, I’d like to share why I want an iPad.

I’m not an Apple fanboy – the only Apple device I currently own is a 4 year-old refurbished iPod Nano. I don’t carry an iPhone – I use a Samsung Ace Windows Mobile smartphone. I still like the device because it’s tiny and has great battery life for my trips. I was recently scolded for not using Keynote for my presentations. My main computer is a refurbished Dell XPS M1330 laptop which I’ve enjoyed over the past year although lately the fan has made so much noise that I can’t bring it to SXSW with me. I have been considering purchasing the new Asus ULvt30 laptop as it has a super battery and looks like it would meet my needs well.

So why do I want the Apple iPad? It’s been bashed from blog to blog and fanboys are torching their shrines to Steve Jobs. (side note, I wonder if the fanboys would have loved the device if Jobs gave one to everyone in the audience. You know, just like Google did with the Nexus One. Didn’t see much hate over that way, did ya?)

Continue reading “Why I Want an iPad (and you will too)” »