Expert Blogs
Why I may not use an iPhone much longer
By Conrad Blickenstorfer, August 9, 2010
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Yes I know, provocative title. But I didn't choose it to add to the anti-iPhone chorus and litany championed by legacy publications like PC World. And I also didn't choose it to tell you about the latest HTC Awesome or Droid Maxximus that outdoes the iPhone in this spec or that. I didn't even choose it because I have become a convert to Android, though as a professional reviewer I am certainly interested in that latest and apparently finally successful mobile Linux implementation.
iPad on the Road -- Part IV
By Conrad Blickenstorfer, July 21, 2010
And yet another trip with the iPad. This time a 10-day product review trip to the Honduran island of Roatan. I took along all my dive gear, as well as a boatload of underwater cameras, both of the still and video variety, so luggage space was at a premium.
iPad on the Road - Part III
By Conrad Blickenstorfer, June 17, 2010
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Right on the heels of my last European trip, the iPad accompanied me on a very different kind of journey, a five-day dive trip to the California Channel Islands. That meant eight hours on the road each way to and from Santa Barbara, and the three days on the good ship Conception, an 80-foot dive vessel.
iPad on the Road - Part II
By Conrad Blickenstorfer, June 7, 2010
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Back from a 3-1/2-day intercontinental trip that included a 17-hour trip to and a 22-hour trip back from Stockholm, Sweden. I checked what I'd usually consider a carry-on (the airlines don't charge for a checked bag on international routes, yet) and simply took along a shoulder bag just large enough for my MacBook Pro, camera, the usual assortment of cables and chargers, and my iPad.
I usually take the MacBook as my main machine, but this time it came along as backup to the iPad. And how did that work out for me?
iPad on the Road - Part I
By Conrad Blickenstorfer, June 1, 2010
Well, I am at Chicago O'Hare, waiting for my flight to Stockholm, Sweden, where I'll be giving a presentation on trends and concepts in mobile computing. The plan is that I'll woo the audience by whipping out my iPad and do a long Keynote presentation on it. It should work, in theory. Best Buy had the requisite iPad dock-to-VGA converter in stock, and the iPad version of my Keynote presentation looks almost identical to the original. The only issues I noticed are that my 3D graphics where converted into 2D, and the iPad version cannot pick a small part of a larger QuickTime file, so I had to crop that file.
Windows XP on an iPad? I declare!
By Conrad Blickenstorfer, May 7, 2010
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What you're seeing in the picture to the right is lots of folks' worst nightmare: Windows XP on an iPad. The real thing and fully functional. How is this possible? With a VNC client (I use VNC Viewer). The iPad is not really running Windows XP, of course; it's just running a piece of software that lets you view, control and use Macs, Linux boxes and, yes, PCs.
Magazine publishing on the iPad
By Conrad Blickenstorfer, May 4, 2010
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I spent some time comparing different approaches to magazine publishing on the iPad. Given the amount of hype about the iPad being the savior of publishing, I am surprised there is not an iMagazine app or some such. I mean, Apple could take the lead here yet again, creating the iTunes of the magazine world.
Waiting for the iPad 3G
By Conrad Blickenstorfer, April 5, 2010
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So here it is, April 5th, and I have no iPad. That's because I want one with 3G. So my 32GB iPad 3G is on order, but I won't have it for a few more weeks. That really bites.
iPad: Pixel-doubling? How about app-quadrupling?
By Conrad Blickenstorfer, March 22, 2010
Among the greatest criticisms of the upcoming iPad, forgetting for a moment the 800-pound gorilla issue of Flash, are a) no multitasking and b) the lameness of pixel-doubled iPhone apps. Pixel-doubling, of course, refers to Apple's plan on allowing iPad users to run iPad apps, which are designed for the iPad's 320 x 480 pixel screen, on the iPad's much larger 768 x 1024 pixel display by doubling every iPhone app pixel in both directions so that the resulting app now measures 640 x 960. That's a clever idea, but an app that looks crisp and sharp on the iPhone may look lost and clumsy in pixel-doubled mode on the iPad.
Will the iPad replace my iPhone?
By Conrad Blickenstorfer, March 7, 2010
This week I will order my iPad. Though I know it'll take a bit longer, I am aiming for the 3G model with 32GB of storage. When I get it, I will sign up for the unlimited data plan, forking over an even larger part of my disposable income to AT&T every month. What I do wonder is whether the iPad will replace my iPhone.
