Expert Blogs
While I have been preparing for T-Mobile LTE here in Maine I thought that it might be useful to provide a tip if you would like to connect your iPad Mini to your car's Blue Tooth system to make Skype calls. In my case I'm connecting my iPad Mini to my 2012 VW Jetta TDI using the following set up. With the Jetta turned off, have your iPad Mini's BT set to "On" so that it is discoverable, make sure that you do not have another BT device paired (the VW owners manual does not mention this) or it will not discover your iPad Mini, start your Jetta and the iPad Mini will recognize your Jetta's BT system and prompt you for a password - it is four zeros
I love my iPad Mini. In fact I love it enough to have given up my iPad 2, which I gave to my wife. However I can not say that I love Apples Smart Cover ($39) for the Mini for several reasons. The most serious reason I dislike the cover is how flimsy it feels and sits on the Mini, compared to its full size counterpart.
While AT&T currently has the fastest wireless data speeds in Maine, and possibly the country, there are some serious limitations. Most significant for me is the coverage which quickly drops from 4G to EDGE to nothing once you leave Southern Maine. T-Mobile on the other hand has great coverage, even well off the beaten path, but as we all know currently has spotty data coverage. This brought me to consider that, T-Mobile is building out its Long Term Evolution LTE services and even Maine is primed to be getting in on LTE speed, soon, possibly in the next couple of months.
After a hiatus from writing, I couldn't really contain myself anymore, and wanted to share a great little app Paper by 53 (free) available from the app store. It's hard to describe how elegant and useful this app is without giving some example of how you could use it, in my case as a journal sketching out concepts for piece of jewlery. This app is sweet!
Auburn Maine has evidently become the latest hotspot for adoption of the iPad into education, when it was announced after Wednesday April 6ths school committee meeting that the committee had debated and voted unamously to purchase an iPad 2 for next Falls kindergarten class. That's right every child in kindergarten in Auburn will have the use of an iPad. There has also been discussion within City Hall of the possibility of adopting the iPad for City Counselors to carry out their duties and allow the City Manager to more efficiently carry out the work of the city.
For the past couple of weeks I have been testing an app for teaching children basic language, and word recognition; Early Childhood Development Phase 1 by Alex Melnick which is (.99) at the app store. While the app is geared towards children, I suspect it would also be well suited suited for teaching English as a second language to adults too.
I don’t usually do product reviews, and when I do they are generally for photography using the iPhone. Today I wanted to step way off line, and do a quick review of what I think is a pretty neat product, and it’s not even for iPhone or iPad, and only just barely for iPod.
Ever since I got the music bug with my Magic Fiddle (.99) I've been wondering; so now that I can play some music on a virtual fiddle is that it? Where can I go with that? While my fiddling skills are still in development, the larger question for me was what can I do with music that I create; on my iMac, iPad or iPhone?
You knew someone had to do it. So here it is, iLobster ($1.99) by Ben Greeley from up in the Waterville area here in Maine. There is also a free version, so what is the difference? Probably a 1/4 cup of melted butter and lobster juice down the front of your shirt.
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