Tablet and Mobile

I thought I’d take a diversion from talking about iPhones and iPads here as nothing that exciting is happening at the moment and talk about QR codes, a really handy way to give people information on a mobile phone from a website or printed publication.

Firstly, what are QR codes?  A kind of Barcode? Checkout the QR code on the right here, it’s a link to my website. The idea is you point your mobile phone at the image and are taken straight to the website.

To quote Wikipedia, that well-known source of all truth… “A QR code (abbreviation for Quick Response code) is a specific matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code) that is readable by dedicated QR barcode readers and camera telephones. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. The information encoded may be text, URL, or other data.”

Put simply, stick one of these on your fizzy pop can and kids who can’t type will easily access your website or whatever else you want them to look at. The limits of these codes seem to be around 4000 characters – which gives you a lot to play with. Try the link to the Wikipedia site reference on the left.

So firstly, how do we READ QR codes?

ON the iPhone, “SCAN” is in my experience the fastest, easiest, no-frills QR code reader – it’s free and it works. On the iPhone 4 it’s just about instant. If you have one of these devices there is NO reason NOT to have this app! Just go to the App store on your phone and look for “scan” without the quotes.. their icon is shown above on the left. It’s free and no catches that I can see.  Indeed even the demo image on the App store (seen on the right here) takes you to a valid site instantly with more information on QR codes. The Android phones will have their own scanners and success will vary depending on the software and the camera on the Android phone.

How do we GENERATE QR codes?

That’s just as easy. To have a play I recommend you go to this website… http://qrcode.kaywa.com/ – it really doesn’t get any easier.

The more technical among you might be thinking – well that’s fine but I want to generate these on my own website….well… here’s the thing. Google have an API for this.

http://createqrcode.appspot.com/

Put in your information, hit “Create QR code” and Bob’s your uncle..  try this for example..

 

http://chart.apis.google.com/chart?cht=qr&chs=300×300&chl=http%3A//www.fsb.org.uk&chld=H|0

What is REALLY good about this is that you can use this as the basis of generating images on your website or elsewhere in custom ways.

http://chart.apis.google.com/chart?cht=qr&chs=300×300&chl=http%3A//www.fsb.org.uk&chld=H|0

The colouring above should help you see what is fixed and what you need to change for your requirements. The %3A is necessary to use in place of colons in addresses, the rest should be obvious – size of the graphic and the address you want to link to…

A project called the ZXing project allows you to create a QR code easily with your contact information which, when scanned (for example by the excellent SCAN App) will create a new telephone contact for you. Check that out here.

The QR code on the right is an example – scan it and you should see a new contact open up with my details including phone, address and notes. The same site has other options such as calendar events but at least on my iPhone, they do not actually create calendar events as yet. As soon as they do I can see a whole host of applications arising. The best code readers can handle type 40 code readers – which can handle over 4,000 characters (and get quite large) – less powerful readers may only be able to handle earlier versions. Read all about this at the Google Chart API site.

If you want to give people-on-the-move easy access to your website or other information – there it is…QR codes. Cheap, cheerful, easy and as far as I can tell, reliable.

Is it just my imagination or has there been a complete absence of innovative new apps recently? We’re getting the odd update, the odd new same-as-before game, nothing new however? Perhaps the people over at Crytek could fill the gap with a version of their superb Crysis game?

Just a quick note on the recent 3.3.3 upgrade to IOS. I’ve put it on my iPhone not because I was concerned about being tracked but because the recent jailbreak install (see previous blog on the subject) was slightly slowing down my phone so I thought I’d check to see if the upgrade made any difference. It did.  Incidentally if you have jailbroken your phone and chose to update the operating system via iTunes, what happens is you simply get the install with all of your APPS intact EXCEPT for Cydia and any apps you installed under Cydia… they just disappear, no other harm done.  In my case they were all freebies so no harm done.

 

Peter Scargill

I’ve been thinking about this for some time as I really can’t handle Orange’s restrictive practices on using WIFI.  For many years I owned various Microsoft Smartphones, paying maybe £30 a month to Orange – and with the ability to share the 3G connection with my laptop – then along came the iPhone – and all of a sudden despite paying slightly MORE monthly, this becomes a CHARGEABLE item! That’s just not right.

Anyway, the iPhone 3GS is now 18 month old, got a few months left before considering when to upgrade and what to upgrade to.. and so I thought I’d give it a go.

Redsn0w ( http://blog.iphone-dev.org/ ) will jailbreak all but the iPad2 and so I downloaded the program to my Windows 7 PC after much reading on the subject. Well, of course it didn’t’ work – turns out you need to use it in XP SP3 compatible mode-  a simply right-click option.

Minutes later, one jailbroken iPhone – it really is that simple – note the new icon in the photo on the right – except – that Cydia, the repository for jailbroken apps – is currently having issues with Amazon who provide their storage… basically for now it’s bust.  so now I have to wait patiently, not something I do well, for them to get their act together so I can go and grab the relevant software to make my phone, once more into a handy source of signal for the iPad and laptop when on the road.

Of course, I have a MIFI unit which provides WIFI access – but that’s on THREE – and there are believe it or not times when Orange’s signal is the stronger.. so hopefully soon I’ll have the best of both worlds. More when Cydia is NOT bust.

The new iPad2 just keeps going from strength to strength!

For new readers, no I’m not an Apple Fanboy, I’ve been a Windows man since, well, DOS! But then there is the concept of “the right tool for the job” – Windows has it’s place – and so does the iPad2. Tonight I was sitting here getting on with some work on my Windows 7 PC (if anyone is still using XP or Vista, do yourself a favour if it’s not cost-prohibitive – bin them – Windows 7 is light years ahead) and my wife (who is currently in the USA while I’m here in sunny downtown Wark in Northumberland) rang me on Facetime (which for those of you not in the know is Apple’s kind-of equivalent of Skype).  I picked up the iPad2 and pressed the connect button and there she was – in a Barnes and Noble somewhere in Chicago – for all the world you’d think she was next door and we had a nice chat as I went off looking for the new kitten (she’s been away for a week and kittens grow quickly).

After waving to our pal Debby I asked her to switch cameras to the back camera – at which point I got a good look around the shop before ending the (free) call.  I recall before we got married you were talking a dollar a minute thanks to greedy BT (well, their predecessor) and their US equivalent.. thankfully – those times are gone forever and BTs claim to owning the Internet went no-where – what a joke.

Maureen and I chatted for a while as I got a good look around the store..  and then we ended the call and I noted a new update for Splashtop – which is a program that sits on your PC or PCs at home which then lets them talk to your iPad (for the techies, much like LOGMEIN but about a century ahead of the latter). I popped into the house and upgraded Maureen’s PC.  Some time and a glass of wine later I figured I’d give it a whirl. For the uninitiated, Splashtop and Logmein are programs that let you access the screen and keyboard of one PC from another – in the case of the latter – you can access your PCs from your iPad or iPad2.

Well, I don’t know if it was the upgrade or the extra speed of the iPad2 but I’m here to say that sitting in my office, I accessed Maureen’s Windows 7 PC from the iPad2 and went off to the BBC website – selected the latest news video (Flash – which the iPad doesn’t support natively for good reason) and ran the video. You would NOT believe for a SECOND that you were watching this remotely – PERFECT video, PERFECT audio, PERFECT sync – the power of a desktop PC in my hand!

The future of computing… remote access to any PC you own – and video access to those you know… on a lightweight, all-day-battery tablet – is here! It actually blows away the original Star-Trek concept which was limited to boring technical data only – but then that was a generation ago.

What we need now – is better, more universally available WIFI (FAR more important than 3G and it’s successors IMHO) studio lighting on the tablets so you look good in a pub when video conferencing – and that’s simple –strips down both sides of the tablet that light up white (high efficiency but WARM LED lighting – now readily available)… UTTERLY practical due to the low power requirements of warm white LEDs. and hey – this was MY IDEA!!!! Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Technology that works – warm sunny weather in APRIL… what MORE could you want?

 

http://www.apple.com/uk/ipad/?cid=mc-uk-ipad-g_ipad2_brd_uk-ipad2

http://www.splashtop.com/remote

http://www.apple.com/uk/iphone/features/facetime.html

It’s upgrade time again, though this time nothing major. Apple have put out a fix (ios 4.3.2) which solves an issue with Facetime (their video conferencing software which unlike Skype is designed for the larger screen – it is about time Skype got their finger out). The release also fixes some 3G issues but even at this late date does not seem to address the tablet’s utter inability to pick out the best WIFI signal from a range of available access points.

Anyway, the update takes (on my 5 meg connection) around 10-12 minutes to download and just a few minutes to do the upgrade with no user work involved – just sit back and watch. The upgrade runs smoothly just as the last one did.

To coincide with the launch of the iPad2, Apple’s latest IOS release is up and running – simply head off to iTunes to grab the software and update your i-device.

Upgrading the iPhone 3GS was simple – a matter of a few minutes download and off we go. Upgrading several devices at once, the upgrade went quite smoothly for me – all sorts of drivers being loaded and resets being done completely automatically in the background… I just went off for coffee and let it get on with it.

The software upgrade really doesn’t do much but fix bugs – the main upgrade was 4.3 – and of course this upgrade includes the previous one -  allowing you (at last) to play videos and imagery on Apple TV directly from the iPhone. The setup is amazing – once upgraded, all your videos, pics and tunes on your iTunes computer are immediately available on your iPad or iPhone etc… and typically Apple – it just WORKS…

Also at the 4.3 upgrade, the browser was speeded up thanks to the new “Nitro Javascript Engine” and it’s claimed that this alone doubles browser speeds –though that of course will all depends on whether your target website is making heavy use of Javascript – many do. The hated change to the mute button now allows users to select whether they want to use that button for muting or rotation control…  and apparently iPhone 4 can now serve up WIFI to other devices-  though no mention of  the 3GS – BUT this DOES APPEAR TO WORK over Bluetooth and USB on the iPhone 3GS which is interesting. No idea why you can’t do this over WIFI on the 3GS as that facility was built in from day one but Orange wanted to charge extra for it! I think a deal with the phone companies is the main reason.

Similarly iPad and iPad2 – the upgrade just works…  video quality from videos on your PC iTunes setup is amazing.  So – for free, faster iPhones and iPads – get updating!

 

Peter Scargill

p.s. I don’t recommend this but I didn’t go through any lengthy backup procedures and all worked well regardless. Upgrading the phone and iPad each took all of 15 minutes from start to finish with virtually no interaction required. So why are you waiting.. go get IOS 4.31 now!

 

 

Friday 25th March saw the launch of the new iPad 2 throughout the UK. If there is anyone left who’s not aware this was happening, back in April last year the iPad was launched in the USA, after several years of failed attempts to get a star-trek-style tablet on the market, Apple dared to go where others had failed.. and the gamble paid off as iPad sales went through the roof.

By Christmas 2010 everyone and their auntie were promising iPad-killers and the full might of Chinese industry went into producing various sizes and shapes of tablet armed with the promising Android operating system – but no-one could match the price/performance of the iPad.

By February the rumour-market was in full swing as  manufacturers finally woke up to the fact that the tablet is here and terms Xoom, Galaxy Tab became household names. The Tab appeared in shops all over in large numbers, sadly that’s where most of them seemed to stay because despite the quality of the tablet itself, the software simply wasn’t ready for prime-time and Google themselves were the first to admit this.

Then along came Gingerbread, the great hope for iPad alternatives – finally some real competition? Well, no. Many of us wondered if Apple would pull a rabbit out of a hat and it looks like they have. With manufacturer’s having “iPad killers” just around the corner, it really was important for Apple to get a move-on.

The iPad 2 was launched in the US a couple of weeks ago and immediately the price of the original iPad went through the floor, effectively killing off the low-budget competition, friends of ours who bought the iPad2 near the time of the launch of the new tablet were offered free upgrades by Apple who by now really HAVE gotten the knack of marketing in a way that their key competitor have never really managed – you feel you’re dealing with a company, not a bunch of nameless types somewhere in China. So now we have iPads on EBay and even being sold off as reconditioned by Apple themselves… meanwhile the suspense was building up for the UK launch – even the normally negative BBC reporters where avoiding their usual sarcasm…

I joined the queues in the MetroCentre in Newcastle at around mid-day Friday and already there were a couple of hundred people on two floors queuing for the new device. Apple wasted no time in dishing out Starbucks coffee and water to the waiting crowds and before long sent their guys along to find out what everyone would be buying and giving them reservation tickets to ensure there were no disappointments. Apparently one poor soul had been queuing since the night before and the MetroCentre security guys would not let him stop overnight so I’m guessing it was a night in the car. Rightly so he was given extra attention by the staff.

The whole production was very American, with a 5pm opening slot looming, staff in their hoards started clapping and cheering even though the rest of us were far too weary through standing all afternoon to show that much enthusiasm. Their noise certainly brought in the crowds and by now they’d succeeding in breeding a distinct “event” atmosphere.

We were herded toward the shop in small groups in a very civilised fashion and as each person or family got to the store they were asked their names and assigned to a particular staff member who would not only take their money off them but give them any on-the-spot training or help they needed and all of them were friendly and knowledgeable.  I can think of a few stores who could do with such training and the whole thing was very “slick”.

Some heavy questions had to be answered.. was it to be white, or black, 16, 32 or 64 gig, with or without 3g, leather or plastic smart-cover and what colour cover?… by the sound of it there were no real favourites, everyone had their own idea of what makes the perfect iPad2.

There was a definite buzz in the brightly lit store as staff extracted countless thousands of pounds from the public in return for a hint of real magic as punters stared in admiration at their new wonder-toy.

By 7pm we were out of there, our choices being one black and one white iPad2, I went for the girly pink plastic cover, my wife went for the manly red leather. We both bought the incredibly stylish Apple Bluetooth keyboard.

So – was it all worth it?

You bet. It’s thinner, lighter and faster than the original, the glass is many times stronger. 33% thinner and it shows, much faster and that shows too, front and back cameras and a new operating system upgrade. The (and ridiculously inexpensive) new apps (Garageband and iMovie) are excellent, PhotoBooth is great fun and Facetime works a treat though I remain  Skype fan – if only they’d upgrade their App to look good on the iPad as against iPhone.  Re-installing hundreds of apps took minutes – and for an extra treat it seems you CAN share apps within a given account so my wife gets to share all my apps – no problem. Forget the rubbish you read about just being good for games – unlike Android there are lots of business Apps for the iPad, I now have PDF and WORD readers program editors, video editing, SQL editors and I’ve just found a new bunch of business apps I didn’t know existed as well as CRM tools and many more – oh, and some pretty good games.

So you don’t get Flash – but more and more sites including those I’m responsible for are moving away from Flash – you don’t get USB but it’s so easy to use Dropbox and other tools to get stuff onto the iPad. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Apple have on their hands not only a new winner in the iPad2, but an Android-killer in the now price-competitive original iPad.  Arthur C Clarke came up with the phrase “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”. Well, we’re not quiet there yet, but with a 10+ hour battery life and Star-trek looks, the Apple iPad 2 is only a stones-throw away from magic”.

48 hours from now I plan to have my hands on a pair of iPad2s…  specifically the plan is to have a black one for me – and a white one for my good lady!  Why two? well, I have to say I didn’t have to convince Maureen – the Apple Keynote speech did that, within minutes she’d decided to sell the laptop – and my iPad went off to Ebay.

So, there is the original iPad and now a host of imitators including the XOOM and the Galaxy Tab to say the least – WHY would one want to upgrade?

Ok, first things first – compare the all important BROWSER of the iPAD to the Android “competition”. The iPad’s browser has been described as a “top rate, no compromises HTML5 browser”. HTML5 is the new standard to work to, enabling many new standard features in your web browsing experience and also enabling for the first time, a standard for handling VIDEO without having to resort to FLASH.  By contrast the Android browsers are described as “not ready for prime time, even for HTML4”.

So that leaves iPad against iPAD2… why spend the money to upgrade or why buy one at all. Well, for those just coming into the game, the iPad 2 is CHEAPER than it’s predecessor and feature by feature not only blows away the competition, it also blows away the original iPad. Graphics up to NINE times faster, 33% thinner, 11% lighter, front and read cameras… the list goes on. For the foreseeable future this is going to be the tablet to have.

As soon as I get my hands on these devices I’ll put more info up here. Wish me luck in the queues.

It’s funny how you come to rely on stuff..  Last April I took possession of an iPad and I’ve used it every day since, be it reading the papers in the morning, checking the BBC site during the day or using it to read documents in the endless meetings I seem to inhabit these days, or watching the iPlayer at night.. it’s always there. The one thing that I’ve always found marginally annoying was lack of front-facing camera – especially after Skype brought out a version of Skype to handle that on the iPhone.  So, this week the iPad went… and I have to say it was the ONLY computer I’ve ever owned that has NEVER gone wrong – or even faltered…

It’s 2 weeks now until the UK launch of iPad2 and already they’re saying it is blowing away the likes of the new Xoom in benchmarks – the problem is – I don’t have one! Maureen and I are both sold on the idea so I’ve checked with the Apple store who were “fairly” convinced that each purchaser can buy TWO units – so on the launch day I plan to be there – one black, one white (the black one is for me).. and no I don’t think the 3G is worth having but I’ll be looking at the 32gig model as that extra storage will come in handy for movies on the plane when travelling as will the reported extra hour of battery life.

In the meantime, I’m glad I have my little iPhone, minuscule as it may be, it saves me getting severe withdrawal symptoms