iOS vs Android Home Screens and the Nexus 7

Well with all the buzz around the Google Nexus 7 I decided to get one. So one thing that I though was really interesting is how the home screens are laid out. I found this a bit odd coming from the iPhone world.













When you compare the two, they sorta look like this.

The Apple devices always home to the left most page. So when you press the home button twice you end up on the left.



How Android is Different

With the Android device, the home page is always in the center. You can navigate two pages to the left or right. But pressing the home button twice always takes you to the center page. Once I figured this out, it made sense.



However, the thing that really threw me off at first was the Android widgets. With iOS, the only thing that shows up on a page are icons or folders. No deviations from that. With Android, you can put Widgets on a page. Widgets are little mini apps that can take anywhere from a row of space to the entire page. The home page on the Nexus 7 is filled with a Google Play widget. It took me quite a bit of playing around to figure this out.



I think Google would be better off to make the widget maybe half a page or smaller. That way, the new apps are installed on the home page and users can see as they are added. Without that sort of behavior it is less than obvious where new app icons get added.



First Impressions

The size and weight of the Nexus 7 are pretty cool. It is a great device for reading books. Although, I do think Google would be better off with their own ePub reader. Finding and installing one took much more work than it should have.



Anyway, I'll add more as I spend more time with it.

Ruby iOS Development Tool

Smashing Magazine has this story on the RubyMotion development tool. This is an iOS development tool which allows you to develops apps using the Ruby language instead of Objective C. The tool is Mac OS X only and costs $199.



There are more and more of these Objective C alternative tools coming out. I will try to mention the reasonably price options. Some that I have seen are ridiculously expensive.

Power Saver Button for iPad

Since getting an iPad 3 with LTE earlier this year, I have noticed that the battery runs down much faster than my old Wifi only iPad. It seems likely this is caused by the iPad's constantly checking with the cell tower, GPS, and other services. With the iPad in ready mode, the battery runs down about 10% or more per day.



So I was thinking, there must be an app I can use to save battery life. Then it struck me, what about Airplane Mode. The Airplane Mode setting turns off all communication systems on the device (Wifi, 4G, GPS). So last night, I turned on Airplane Mode and left my iPad in standby. This morning, the device only had lost 2% of its charge.



So it seems like to me, the power saver mode is built in already. :)

Tablet Wars just Heating up with Google Nexus 7

With the Microsoft Surface announcement and now the Google Nexus 7, it would seem we have all the major players entered in the big tablet competition. But wait, there's more! As CNET reports via Boy Genius Report, Amazon is readying two new Kindle tablets for an end of July release. So you may want to wait on that Nexus 7 purchase for a month just to see what the options are.



Nexus 7 Review

CNET has a complete hands on review of the Nexus 7. Basically, a beautiful looking tablet with great performance for only $199. The Nexus has no expansion capabilities (no SD card slot or memory options beyond 16GB). But unless you have a large movie or music collection, this is gonna be just fine for most people. The fact that it is Wifi only should not be a surprise given the price.



There are a couple of key points for me.

• Media - Can Google compete with Apple and Amazon on movies and books and such. To me, there is no clear advantage to going with Google in this area. While there are for Apple and Amazon Prime. My idea. Buy Netflix and offer it for free or at a big discount on your devices. That would get some attention.


• Voice - Can they do better at voice than Siri. I'm waiting for more info on this. Some of the reviews seem to imply you can do voice dictation without an Net connection. That would be cool if it turns out to be true.

Anyway, things are getting very interesting in the summer of 2012!

Why Siri Matters

Read Write Web has this great post on "Why Siri Matters". I'm a big believer that voice will be the killer interface for all things mobile. We are just in the very beginning of voice interfaces and I don't think we can even conceive the amount of change this will bring to our lives.



The most obvious implications are less reliance of desktop computing. What does that mean for companies like Google, Facebook, and Microsoft? With agents like Siri will most web searches go through Google? Will you do all your work processing with voice?

Microsoft announces Surface Tablet

Well the big Microsoft announcement is here, and what do we find behind the curtain... a tablet! (see details on the Verge) The Microsoft Surface is a 10.6 widescreen tablet with an optional keyboard cover (very slick). Unlike most tablets, it is running Windows 8 on Intel chips. So what was missing from the be launch event?



Price

Microsoft stated the new tablet would be priced competitively with other ultrabook offerings. That is very interesting given that you can get an iPad starting at $399 and most ultrabooks cost around $999. If the device is overpriced I just don't see it selling.



Voice

No mention of a Siri type agent or anything like that. That would seem to be a big oversight.



Battery Life

Running Intel chips, one wonders what the battery life will be. But given that the new Macbook Air runs for about 7 hrs on battery, I would think this is probably not gonna be an issue.



Summary

An interesting device. Will it dethrone the iPad, probably not. Will we get some slick keyboard covers for our iPads? Hopefully!

Firefox coming to the iPad

Well not Firefox exactly, but the Verge has a story that the Mozilla foundation is working on a browser for the Ipdad. Based on the article, this sounds very interesting.



Tablet browsers could use a rethink. It seems like gestures usage could be a whole lot better. Their idea of combining tabs with browser history also seems to have some merit. I'm looking forward to at seeing what they come up with.

Microsoft's Pricey Tablet Gamble

Business Insider has this story on Microsoft's plan to charge vendors desktop prices for Windows 8 on tablets. The end result of this would be all Windows tablets would cost $100 more than their iPad counterparts.



I got agree with the story, if Microsoft doesn't change their stance, their tablet efforts are doomed before they even start.

iPad 3/new iPad One Week Review

Well it has been about a week with the new iPad, here are my impressions.



Retina Display

It does indeed look great. But not "that" great. I still think my old iPad looks pretty good. Also, some web sites are freaking microscopic on this thing. There does not seem to be a simple way to make the default view for all web pages a 110% or 120% zoom level. This is a great feature on Safari, Chrome, and Firefox on the desktop. You can use the built in Accessibility Zoom feature to help with this. But I feel like this make web browsing so much clunkier.



Voice Dictation

Yes, you have have voice dictation available any place you can use a keyboard. It seems to work very well. This seems like a big deal and I don't remember it getting much coverage in the media. This is much bigger than full Siri support if you ask me.



Wifi Hotspot

In the US, you can make your iPad into a Wifi hotspot if you get the Verizon 4G version. Sure my iPhone can do this too. But not nearly as long as it has a lot less batteries in it. AT&T is not supporting this feature and has no ETA for its availability. (Complete madness! They must have known for months about the feature. Not to offer it and then no ETA. Unbelievable!) Originally, I purchased an AT&T 4G iPad, only to find out on launch day this feature would not work. But fear not, you can take your crappy AT&T 4G iPad to an Apple store and exchange it for a Verizon version. That is exactly what I did.



So far so good. More updates to come.

iPad 3 on Sale Now

The iPad3 was indeed announced yesterday by Apple. For a bunch of posts on features and stuff check out:

The Verge

CNET Hands on with iPad 3



Here are the highlights as I see them.

• New Retina display. Twice the resolution of before.


• 2 core cpu, 4 core GPU. Should improve the performance, which was already good on the 2.


• Support for 4G LTE networks from Verizon and AT&T. No contract required. Pay as you go.


• The base Wifi model is the same price, $499.


• Built in support  for your iPad as a Wifi HotSpot. No need for separate device like a MiFi. Checked with Apple sales and the hotspot feature is available on both Verizon and AT&T.

I find that last feature really exciting. My iPhone works as a hotspot, but it has a much smaller battery. With an iPad as a hotspot, you are talking some serious amount of wireless time. Plus, it supports the much faster 4G networks. And if 4G isn't available, it automatically will use 3G if that is available and so on.



Another important note, the iPad 2 is still available at a reduced price of $399. That is a great deal for that device.



Last I checked if you order from the Apple Store, your iPad should arrive on March 16 when the device is available in the Apple Stores. So if you want one, order quick.

WebOS Lives

It looks like WebOS lives! It is going to be opened sourced by HP. However, tablets only, no more phones.



The Verge: WebOS Open Sourced



It will be nice to have another open source option. But since it is tablet only, you have to wonder if it will have the same kind of traction of iOS and Android.

MacLife: Apple MD - Troubleshooting your Mac and iOS Apps

This months issue of MacLife has a great series of stories on troubleshooting problems with your Mac, iPhone, and iPad.



Here are the best ones I could find:

• How to Diagnose Mac Problems | Mac|Life


• How to Reset iOS Apps | Mac|Life


• Why's My Mac Slow? | Mac|Life


• How to Boot Your Mac in Safe Mode | Mac|Life


• How to Fix Your Fonts | Mac|Life


• How to Recover Your Passwords | Mac|Life


• How to Sweep Your Drive Clean with Software | Mac|Life

I highly recommend a subscription.

Dolphin Browser for iPad and iPhone

Thanks to this story by Ina Fried, I gave the Dolphin browser a try this week. It was a pleasant surprise to see how well this free browser works. It is especially useful on the iPhone with its gestures and tabbed interface. This features are golden on a device with such limited real estate.



Definitely worth a look. Check it out here.

How do I update my iPhone/iPad to iOS 5 without Syncing?

The 5.0.1 iOS update to fix some issues with battery life is out. Did you know you no longer have to sync with iTunes to do the update? Neither did I. In fact, it looks like the updates are just patches now (only 44meg). This is a huge improvement over having to download the entire OS image every time.





To update your device do the following:

1. Click Settings


2. Click General


3. Click Software Update

That's it. Your download should begin right away. It is probably a good idea to have your device plugged in while the update takes place.

Ding dong Flash is Dead?

Well maybe not dead. But mortally wounded. Today Adobe announced the are no longer going to develop a Flash Player for mobile devices. Steve Shankland at CNET has the story.



Flash: Crippled but alive...for now



Although Steve Jobs is no longer with us, his will is done. He stated early on that Flash wasn't a good fit for mobile devices and Apple would focus on HTML5. As of today, Adobe agrees with him. But don't make too big a deal out of this, Adobe will still support mobile apps using their Air platform. In addition, the story points out that most of us are still using PCs rather than iPhones or iPads.



Finally, in the end, Adobe is a tools vendor. Whether their tools target Flash or HTML5, they make money either way.

iOS 5 is out, but my iPhone, iPad, iPod is not updating, what gives?

Problem: iOS 5 is available now, but my iPhone, iPad, or iPod is not installing the update when I try to sync. What is the problem?



Solution: Although your iOS device syncs every time it connects to your computer, your iTunes software does not check for an iOS update on every sync. iTunes only checks for software updates every few weeks. This way, user updates are spread out over time. The good news is you can manually force an update check from iTunes. Perform these steps.

1. Sync your iOS device.


2. Click on your iOS device on the left column of iTunes. This will display the sync overview page.


3. The second section on this page is named Versions. In this section you will see a Check for Updates button. Click this button and your download and update should start.

Troubleshooting Problems with the Update

Apparently a number of users had problems with their update yesterday, including me. Before you start the process make sure you have installed all the lastest operating system updates. My mac would not perform the update until I installed the new security patch from Apple.



Also, I recommend you reboot your machine. It is amazing how this magically fixes many issues.



The other problem I ran into was time out errors connecting to the update server. Whenever you update your device, it "phones" Apple over the Internet to check some stuff out. (What it is checking, I'm not sure). Anyway, when the server gets overloaded your request to connect fails and you get an error message. If this happens, just wait 30 minutes or so and try your update again.



MacWorld has the details here. The story has a picture of the error message and a little more detail.

Zombie Shooter for iPhone/iPad

Zombie Gunship

Macworld had a small blurb in the November issue. Not only do you get to shoot zombies, but you get to save people at the same time! It doesn't get much better than that. Details on the iTunes store.

Android Tablet: First Reaction

Just got an Asus EEE Pad Transformer last weekend. So after a little bit of use here is my reaction.



I don't think Apple has much to worry about at this point in time. From a hardware standpoint, the EEE pad is really nice. A beautiful screen, fast processor, and good battery life. However, I can't say the same for the Android operating system. With Android, every task seems to take 2 or 3 more clicks to do compared to the iPhone. In addition, the application interfaces lack consistency. Each new application is like a new puzzle. lol. This is not a good thing. No performance problems so far. The screen rotation is a little clunky, but mostly works.



Anyway, more to come on this subject.

Opening Safari with a Blank Page

Ran across a great tip from MacWorld this weekend. Whenever you open Safari in an iPhone, iPod or iPad, the last page you used in the browser tries to reload. This can be a big of a pain if there is a lot of data on that page. Dan Frakes at MacWorld has the answer. Add a blank page icon your app home page. The article provides a step by step guide for setting up the icon.



Open iOS Safari to a blank page | Browsers & Add-Ons | iOS Central | Macworld

Keyboard Case Turns iPad 2 into Netbook

Want to turn your iPad 2 into a NetBook? Check out the Logitech keyboard case by Zagg. Looks like this cool case will get the job done. Works in portrait or landscape mode.



Mashable: Keyboard Case Enhances iPad 2 With Its Sleek Matching Design



Buy it from the Zagg Site