Archive | June, 2010

What the iPhone 4 Announcement May Mean for the iPad

By on June 8, 2010 in Opinion

Lots of great stuff about the iPhone out of Steve Jobs’ keynote at the Worldwide Developers Conference this morning. Almost all of the keynote was dedicated to the new iPhone, though a few data points were shared about the iPad:

  • over two million sold in the first 59 days (that is one every 3 seconds since launch day)
  • 8,500 native iPad apps currently in the App Store (unfortunately, 8,400 of them kinda suck, IMO)
  • Those native iPad apps have been downloaded 35 million times (17 apps per iPad)
  • 5 million iBooks downloaded in first 65 days (22% share of total eBook sales)

So, a successful product by pretty much anyone’s measure. I was hoping to see some data about use in the enterprise – but I think it is still a bit early.

The balance of the keynote was mostly about the new iPhone 4 and its operating system, iOS 4. I thought I’d buzz through the key announced features and consider whether and to what extent we will see these things on the iPad.

  • FaceTime (Hardware/OS). This was Steve’s “one more thing,” and it is an new open standard protocol for video chat/phone calls. While we don’t have a front facing camera in the iPad yet, I wouldn’t be surprised to see one in the next version of the iPad (indeed, the frame seems ready for one). I think video conferencing would be a natural use for the iPad.
  • Cameras (hardware). This is subsumed into the prior point somewhat, but I think a front facing camera on the iPad makes sense. Note that the cameras going into iPhone 4 have a backside illuminated sensor. Without getting into a bunch of camera geekiness, suffice to say that this is more important than megapixels. I would happily take a sensor with greater light sensitivity over more megapixels anyday (you should too). Also, they didn’t shrink the size of the megapixels – which is a good thing. A bigger pixel can absorb more light. So, your 5 MP picture of your friend at the dimly lit bar will look way better than the 8 or 10 MP picture taken with a camera without these features. Yeah, the camera companies really focus on megapixels because they are easy to advertise…but just trust me on this one. I’ve never thought a rear facing camera makes sense for the iPad, but it seems easy enough to include (EDIT: after thinking about iMovie for iPad, this makes more sense now). I’ll go out on a limb and say we’ll see better versions of both cameras in the next version of the iPad. LED flash too.
  • Thinner (hardware). iPhone 4 is 24% thinner than iPhone 3. While impressive, I don’t think the iPad will get much thinner. I think the iPad’s thickness is important for its structural integrity. A thinner device might be less rigid which could lead to a somewhat flimsy feeling device. If the iPad gets thinner, it won’t be materially so.
  • iMovie (app). So, they are cramming a version of iMovie onto the iPhone. I’ve shot and edited a couple movies with my iPhone using ReelDirector. While fun, I wouldn’t make a habit of it. Just too small of an interface to work with video. By contrast, the iPad would be an ideal tableau for compiling a quick movie. Enough space to manage clips, build transitions, manage projects, etc. I think iMovie for iPad is an almost certainty. In fact, it might even arrive in advance of the next version of the iPad.
  • Retina Display (hardware). They’ve crammed a ton of pixels into the screen of the new iPhone: 326 per inch (the human eye can detect 300 ppi from 10-12 inches away). That is four times the number of pixels on the same size screen. The iPhone 4 will have 78% of the pixels as the iPad. By way of comparison, the current iPad has 132 pixels per inch. I fully expect this new display technology in the next version of the iPad. Note that a better screen means apps can display more intricate images. Those pdf files with even the smallest text will look great on screen. May also mean more precise input.
  • Better Glass (hardware). This is related to Retina Display. Lots of adjectives for this new aluminosilicate glass: 20 times stiffer than plastic, 30 times harder than plastic, more scratch resistant, more oil resistant…John Gruber says the new manufacturing process effectively fuses the screen and the glass making the display look like it is painted on the glass rather than resting under it. You’ll see this in the next iPad I suspect.
  • Gyroscope (hardware). Will make games cooler. Yeah, they’ll stick this in the iPad as well.
  • Ambient Light Sensor (hardware). I don’t think this got much mention at the keynote, but I saw it mentioned on one of Steve’s slides. An ambient light sensor would automatically scale down brightness when you are in a dark room, scale up when outside, etc. Good for power management and matching what the user expects. No reason this won’t make it to the next version of the iPad as well.

Many of the new iOS features will work just fine on the iPad. The iPhone 4 gets them this month while the iPad has to wait until this fall. Nothing lawyer specific here, but at least the first 3 promise to be key improvements that all users will enjoy. The features getting most the ink include:

Two features will be hitting the iPad later this month in the form of improvements to the iBooks app. While small, these are actually very usable improvements for lawyers who use pdf files a lot. Those are:

  • pdf support
  • highlighting, notes and better bookmark support

While this won’t replace GoodReader for me, I may move some of my “permanent collection” (e.g., key statute chapters) into the shelves of iBooks and use GoodReader and the like for the files moving in-and-out.

Looks like a great revision of the product. Sadly, I’m not eligible for a regular price upgrade until May of 2011. For full consideration of the iPhone announcement from the iPhone perspective, be sure to check out Jeff’s post over at iPhone J.D. For those with two hours to kill, enjoy the full keynote below.

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Upcoming App: Paddock by ManyTricks

By on June 3, 2010 in Apps

Take a look at this video demo of an upcoming app by ManyTricks called Paddock.

Though the speed of the iPad minimizes lost efficiency in switching between apps,  (say from Safari to Mail), a windowed work environment could prove to be very useful in certain circumstances. I often draft a document or compose an email while referring to a pdf. The ability to have both on one screen would be more like how I work at my desktop. It would seem that use of an external keyboard would be ideal in these situations to avoid chunks of the screen being taken up by the virtual keyboard.

Looking forward to this in the App Store!

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Word Alternatives on iPad: Documents To Go Premium (with a caution)

By on June 2, 2010 in Apps

Documents To Go for iPad

Just a quick note to point out that DataViz has updated its popular Documents To Go app (and its Premium counterpart) to be universal apps now formatted for the iPhone and the iPad. Documents To Go allows users to create, edit and view Microsoft Word and Excel compatible documents right on the iPad. The Premium version of the app adds PowerPoint functionality as well.

I’ll give the app some time for a full review and post my experiences later. I see from the App Store comments that some users are experiencing problems accessing some of the remote disk options. In the few minutes I have used the app, I’ve not experienced this problem. I am experiencing a problem viewing files in other apps that were created or modified in Documents To Go. While I was able to open a basic MS Word document easily in Documents To Go, once I saved it back to my Dropbox, I was unable to view that file in Dropbox or any other iPad apps (trying GoodReader, Office 2, Pages) getting an error about an unrecognized file format. I was able to open the file on my desktop just fine.

For now, I would recommend not using Documents To Go with any critical or time sensitive files. I’ll test the app more fully and report as well as continue to monitor the comments of other users.

Some users are reporting being charged for this app even though they are already owners of Documents To Go for the iPad. This is an upgrade of an existing app and should not result in a charge. To avoid a charge, I’d recommend the following: If you have the iPhone version of the app installed on your iPad, an update over the air through the App Store on your iPad should get you the new version without additional charges. If your copy of Documents To Go  is not currently installed on your iPad, I’d recommend updating the app through iTunes on your desktop, connecting your iPad to your computer, add the app back to your iPad using iTunes and then syncing (this is what I did). Do not click on “Buy App” in the App Store to upgrade. This may be the reason some people are reporting being charged again (typically when you try to buy an app you already own, you are not charged twice – the app simply downloads again – perhaps something in the upgrade to a universal app is preventing existing owners from being recognized when tapping Buy App in the App Store).

Let me know in the comments any early experiences you are having with Documents to Go.

Documents To Go is available in the App Store for $7.99 for the regular version (Word and Excel) and $11.99 for the Premium version (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and some other features). These prices are 20% off the regular price until June 4, 2010.

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iPad Use Case for Lawyers: Lunch Meeting

By on June 1, 2010 in Tips

The other day I had a lunch meeting scheduled with a potential client. Part of the meeting was going to involve my take on a number of documents provided by the client. In preparing for the lunch, I knew that I wanted to be able to refer to a number of provisions throughout the documents as well as my notes. While flagging the relevant provisions and bringing the stack to lunch would have been doable, I decided to use the iPad.

To do this, I scanned the relevant documents and saved them into my Dropbox from my desktop computer. While I walked from my office to the elevator, I used GoodReader to pull the documents onto my iPad (no wifi at this restaurant). As we began our discussion, I opened my notes in GoodReader in portrait mode and locked the iPad’s screen orientation. The iPad sat on my right, no bigger than a pad of paper. I folded the Apple case back on itself and locked it in the angled position which put the screen at a perfect viewing angle.

As the client and I discussed the issues, I was able to quickly pull up the relevant documents. With the screen rotation locked, we were able to pass the iPad back and forth like a pad of paper without the iPad trying to reorient itself every second. I was able to jot a few notes by quickly flipping to Penultimate. Using my finger to scratch a quick note worked as well as a notepad in this case.

All in all, it worked well. I hadn’t marked my PDFs with bookmarks so it was a little cumbersome to refer to particular provisions in longer documents. I will do that next time. The presentation was well received by the client and the iPad kept things clean and organized. Next time I try this I may use iAnnotate to organize and present the documents. With the ability to open multiple files at once, view highlighting, create new notes on the fly and bookmark support, iAnnotate could be an excellent tool for the job.

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