Facebook always had the option on your desktop to filter your news feed to just read the updates of people you had put into a custom list. However in a couple of the last updates on Facebook, Facebook has been automatically creating some lists for you as well. My main complaint on the Mobile Facebook apps was that you couldn’t filter your news feed to these list on the Mobile device applications. It is possible but it is not that obvious and requires a little trick.  In this article I explain you how you can do this on your Windows Phone, Apple iPhone, iPad and on all Android devices.

Facebook app for Apple iPad, iPhone and all Android devices.

Facebook app for Windows Phone

The Windows Phone allows you to create your own filtered groups by creating a group tile which is really the best way. I have described this in an earlier article. This will filter the facebook, linkedin and twitter posts from these people in this group.

The Windows Phone Facebook app takes a couple steps to see the specific news feed of on of your lists.

1. Open the Facebook app on your Windows Phone
2. Tap on “Friends” in the selections
3. Tap on “Lists” on the top of your screen
4. Select the List of your choice in the selections.
5. Select “News Feed” on the Top of your screen.

The Apple press conference just finished and all of  us were hoping on a new designed iPhone with some great new innovations. However the only number 5 mentioned was for the iOS, while the new iPhone announced is the iPhone 4S which has some new internal components but looks exactly like the iPhone 4.

While following some live blogs during the announcement I had many thoughts pop which I shared on twitter as well. Let me sum up these thoughts for you.

• I Hope that innovation in the new Apple phones is going to be a week long battery (Keep on dreaming)
• Slides with graphs and numbers can be created to have a positive look on each company
• Twitter integration! Sure one app less, but old news since Windows Phone already has it
• iCloud….hmmm old news.
• iOs 5 some great improvements to catch up with the competition.
• Camera Button from Lock screen is one of them.
• We are 51 minutes into the press conference and….nothing really announced yet.
• A press conference for a $30 discount on existing apple products, Wooow!
• Phone 4S same design with new guts
• That new iPhone 4S looks TOTALLY like a Samsung. They should sue.
• Siri, is pretty cool but are you really gonna use it.
• 8 megapixel camera with Full 1080i HD video. Competition has it as well, but Apple’s was always better.
• A5 Chip will help in the user experience.
• Siri integration, a money maker for Apple. Can sell Prime direct search results.
• iOS 5 is the first time the numbering is ahead of the numbering of the iPhone
• This iPhone 4 S launch was just for Sprint….Apple stock will drop #prediction
• With he sign of the times Apple customers will wait….No iPhone 4S needed. Pictures are already awesome.
• Where is the 4G, LTE or HSDPA+ ???

We all know ProClip USA from their custom in-vehicle mounts and holders. Their high grade ABS plastic (not injection molding),  dashboard vehicle mounts,  charging and non-charging holders for most mobile devices, makes the ProClip solution a quality, self install and professional custom option for your mobile device in your vehicle. But now they have rear seat custom solutions as well.

ProClip already had the tablet holders for the most popular brands. (Apple iPad 1 & 2, Motorola Xoom, BlackBerry PlayBook,  Samsung Galaxy Tab, etc). However these holders are not always a good fit on your dashboard mounts. Many consumers use them in the back seat for entertainment. ProClip just launched their new line of Crash Tested Headrest Mounts for Tablets.

Again this is a two part solution that you can install yourself.

1. One custom locking (Key or Spring stud) Tablet Holder
2. One custom headrest mount to go along for your vehicle

Click Image for larger version

 

A few days ago Vonage released a free app for all the iOS devices. The app is called Time To Call and can be downloaded for free from the iTunes store. The great thing about this new service is that you do not need to have a Vonage home account. MobilityMinded is proud to announce that Vonage (Facebook | Twitter) has given us the chance to give an Apple iPad 2 away as a contest prize. MobilityMinded will hold this contest from August 27th till August 31st. I guess I will be giving away an iPad 2 during my own Birthday !!

Apple iPad 2 Give away.

MobilityMinded is not the only blog that is part of the iPad 2 give away. Check out the dates of all the other 74 blogs on Callsfromsmartphone.com and come back to MobilityMinded.com from August 27th till August 31st for your chance to win the iPad 2 32 GB ($700 iTunes gift card, can get you the 64 Wifi model as well ) or a iTunes gift card for $15. This contest is open to all readers. Yes!! also you our international readers. If you are the winner and you have no Apple store in your country then Paypal will be your friend.

 What is the Time to Call ™ App?

• Pay per call and talk up to 15 minutes to 100 countries for $1.99 or less¹
• For an additional 90+ countries, talk up to 15 minutes for $2.99 to $9.99¹
• FREE download
• No need to be a Vonage home customer

LIMITED TIME OFFER: Download now and call up to 15 minutes for FREE.
 Activate your FREE call to take advantage of this offer.* No purchase required!

Download the Time to Call™ app and make low-cost international calls of up to 15 minutes to landlines and mobile phones in over 190 countries. Save money over dialing directly through major mobile carriers, and pay for your calls through your iTunes account. It’s FREE to download with no monthly charges and no commitments.
Make a FREE International Call! For a limited time, each download includes a FREE call up to15 minutes to landlines and mobile phones in any one of 100 countries. Activate your FREE call to take advantage of this offer. No purchase necessary.**

Description:

· Pay per call and talk for up to 15 minutes to 100 countries for $1.99 or less (excluding applicable taxes)
· For an additional 90+ countries, talk up to 15-minutes for $2.99 to $9.99 (excluding applicable taxes)
· Bill directly to your iTunes account
· Works on Wi-Fi® worldwide
· Also for use on high quality 3G networks in the U.S. and Canada
· Special bonus! For a limited time, unused minutes can be used for additional calls
· No need to be a Vonage home customer

Now it’s even easier to make international calls when you’re on the go. Conveniently bill calls directly to your iTunes account and save money over major mobile carrier rates. Whether you want to make an international call while traveling or catch up with friends and family abroad, just find the country you want to call, tap the Buy button and start talking. All you need is Wi-Fi. In the U.S. and Canada, may be used over a high-quality 3G network (carrier charges may apply if you have a limited data plan).

Start calling now!

What you’ll need:
· The Time to Call™ app for iPhone
· An iPhone with Wi-Fi or a high quality 3G connection in the U.S. or Canada

Get started now:
· Download the Time to Call™ app for iPhone
· Select the country you want to call
· Tap the Buy button on your screen and dial the number you want to call – no service plan is required and your call is billed directly to your iTunes account
· Call mobile or landline numbers and talk for up to 15 minutes
· For a limited time, each download includes a FREE call of up to 15 minutes to landlines and mobile phones in any one of 100 countries. Activate your FREE call to take advantage of this offer. No purchase necessary.**

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnnITF35Y2A

** Limited time offer for first calls placed to landlines and mobile phones in any one of 100 countries using the Time to Call iPhone app. You must activate your free call before this offer ends by clicking the “Try it for Free” button on the country plan page within the app. Free call expires one year from activation. Eligible countries include: American Samoa, Angola, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bermuda, Bhutan, Brazil, Brunei, Burundi, Cambodia, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Finland, France, French Guiana, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guadeloupe, Guam, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Malawi, Malaysia, Malta, Martinique, Mexico, Mongolia, Montserrat, Mozambique, Nepal, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, Nigeria, Northern Mariana Islands, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Reunion, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Martin, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Trinidad And Tobago, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States, US Virgin Islands, Uzbekistan, Vatican City (Holy See), Venezuela, Vietnam, Zambia.

[Disclosure: The giveaway prize will be provided by Vonage, but they are not the administrators of the giveaway on our site. We are not liable for the prize. We received an iTunes gift card for testing the Vonage Time to Call app. As always, the opinions expressed are ours.]

Looks like applications for smartphones can cover each moment of our life: from Oprah show to Cardio Calc. It can be rather laborious to think an application which has not been created for iPhone or Android devices. There are lots of specific female applications that have been already developed.  That is not to say that all women need a Period Calendar and Cooking book but using these 7 applications for iPhone and Android can ease women’s routine sufficiently bringing orderliness and saving time.

Today Apple announced the iPad. Just like last year I’m going to share my thoughts on the iPad 2 today. As usual, there were a lot of rumors before the actual announcement. A camera, a better processor and a better display were all among those rumors. Here’s the actual list what has been updated / improved on the new iPad 2. First I’ll go through the facts, and a bit later in the article you can read about my personal thoughts on the iPad 2

Updated / improved features

1. First of all the iPad 2 has got a new Processor.
The A5-chip is up to 2 times faster and is up to 9 times faster in graphics and it runs on 1GHz.

2. It’s got 2 video camera’s. A rear and a front-facing camera.

3. There’s a built-in gyroscope.

4. A new design. It’s 33% thinner than the original iPad; It’s even thinner than the iPhone 4, and weighs 0.2 pounds less than the original iPad.  Also the iPad 2 comes in 2 colors: Black and White

5. Although it’s thinner and lighter it has got the same battery power (which is great on the original iPad). Up to 10 Hours.

The likes of the iPad 2

First when I take a look at the new dual-core processor I like the new speed indication. Although I don’t think the original iPad is slow at all (Looks very fast to me) extra speed is always good. As a side note, I need to say that the extra speed should absolutely not affect the 10 hours of battery life. That’s something I really like on my iPad now and I’m not willing to give up battery-lifetime for some extra speed.

The new design looks very sleek. the iPad 2 is 33% thinner than the original iPad and that’s amazingly thin! I feel like having a Fat iPad now.

The camera was something that I’d actually expected on the original iPad, but now the iPad 2 gets 2 camera’s. 1 front and 1 rear-facing camera. The front-facing camera was something everyone could expect. Apple is placing their bets on Facetime and need to get their product-portfolio on one line to accieve this. The rear-facing camera is a bit of a surprise to me. I didn’t expect to have 2 camera’s on an iPad. The usage of the rear-camera will be very dependent on the usability of iMovie (which also has been announced as iPad application today).

The dislikes of the iPad 2

Yes, I have to admit, I was a bit negative after last year’s announcement of the iPad. Now I’ve been using the iPad since the day it released in the Netherlands and I’m very positive about it. Looking back at the dislikes from last year we see that 2 items have been resolved by Apple. Multitasking and the camera.

The features I missed after last years announcement but don’t actually miss on my iPad after using it for several months now are OSX and the USB-port.

I don’t miss OSX on the iPad, because I frankly use my iPad more than my Macbook Pro. iOS really works great on the iPad and the Apps are the building blocks of the OS. For anyone still asking for an USB-port on the iPad: Apple won’t add an USB-port to the iPad as long as there are different prices for different versions (16GB, 32GB and 64GB). That’s the basic of their business-model on making money from the iPad.

There are however a few things I still miss on the iPad (or the iOS): Flash-support and Wireless Syncing.
Now for both options I know there are solution which aren’t supported by Apple. Flash-video’s can be seen with the Skyfire App and in the Cydia store (for jail-broken iPads) there are solutions for wireless iTunes synchronization.
Sadly I give up on the Flash-support for iOS devices. Wireless synchronization on the other hand would be a feature I (hopefully) see Apple bringing in a next major version of iOS.

Although I don’t think that the display of the original iPad is bad it would be a nice addition to the feature list of the iPad 2 if it featured a retina display.

Concluding thoughts and wrap-up.

The iPad 2 looks better than the original iPad in my opinion. The thinner design and less weight makes my original iPad look like a fat device.
I’m sure the iPad 2 will be as successful as the original iPad and probably more successful. I think users who own an iPad already, wont massively buy the iPad 2 because of the updated features directly. The rumors of the iPad 2 started late 2010 and I think since then there are a lot of people not buying the original version of the iPad, but waiting for the iPad 2 to be released.  Therefore the iPad 2 will sell very quickly just like the original iPad.

Since the arrival of Windows Phone 7 there’s a lot to do about the customization possibilities of the platform. With the hubs it is possible to enter a world full of open possibilities.

The way of distributing applications and possibilities to change the OS in a way some users would like to are very similar to the iOS platform. Last week, Johan wrote about what our wishes are for the next Windows Phone update which. This lists a good overview about what we’d like to see in a first update.

One of these customizations is add your own Ringtones. I remember that back in 2003 I had an Orange SPV, on which I was able to select any ringtone I wanted! Now – 8 years later – The Windows Phone platform is not able to let you use your own ringtones.
There are a bunch of pre-loaded ringtones no-one would like to hear installed and that’s it! That’s all the choice you’re getting!

Obviously this unleashes a reaction from Windows Phone users who would like to customize their Windows Phone the way they want it, not the way Microsoft allows them to customize it. When something is locked, there are always people trying to open it, no matter how strong the safe is. The first to open-up parts of the Windows Phone 7 Platform was the ChevronWP7 team. This happened on November 25th 2010.

At first -obviously- Microsoft wasn’t very happy about this, Apple wasn’t really excited as the iOS-platform got jailbroken for the first time as well. But what’s most important is the reaction.

On December 1st ChevronWP7 posted a blogpost that they had been invited by Microsoft to discuss about the ChevronWP7 tool. At the same time they discontinued the Unlocking tool they’d released a week earlier.

“To fast-track discussions, we are discontinuing the unlocking tool effective immediately.”

Quote: ChevronWP7

Image Source:IstartedSomething.com

Now – from my point of view this is really really smart of Microsoft. There aren’t a lot of people running around on this planet who are able to create a mechanism to Jailbreak Windows Phone 7. Hence even for iOS there are only a hand-full of developers who find vulnerabilities in the platform and are able to turn these vulnerabilities into a mechanism to create a Jailbreak-tool. When Microsoft collaborates with the people who ARE able to create a jailbreak mechanism, Microsoft keeps control over their platform.

Of course the ChevronWP7-team isn’t the only one who work on Jailbreaking Windows Phone 7. But at the moment they are definitely the well-known ones.

Another fact is that Microsoft’s Director of Developer Experience for Windows Phone 7, Brandon Watson, tweeted George Hotz (the well-known iOS hacker) to flourish his dev creativity on the Windows Phone 7 platform.

Microsoft is pro-actively mobilizing people to  make Windows Phone 7

a) More secure by Fixing vulnerabilities found by ‘hackers’ (ChevronWP7, George Hotz)
b) More ‘Open’ by allowing Homebrew Appliactions.

I think there is no way for Microsoft -and Apple- to keep control over their platform other than collaborating with these people. Yes I am sure there are a lot of talented and gifted persons working for Microsoft and Apple, specialized in security and closing the platform, but face it. There will always be people trying -and succeed- to ‘hack’ the system. What happens if you don’t collaborate?

The exact same situation Apple is in since the release of the first iPhone: A cat-and-mouse game

Microsoft seems to understand this. Apple on the other hand seems to live in the illusion of being the cat and truly being the mouse.

We just received after much anticipation the new OtterBox Commuter Case for the Apple iPad. The other case Otterbox will be having for the Apple iPad is the Defender Series. Hopefully we will be seeing this one soon for a review as well.

The hardest thing for 3rd party accessory companies is quickly release quality products. In many cases you don’t get devices in advance from manufacturers. If you get a device early on it could be a Beta model. From release of the production model to the release of a quality accessory you need to be patient. This waiting was worth for the quality that OtterBox has given us in the Apple iPad Commuter Case.

The OtterBox Apple iPad Commuter case comes nicely packaged with the signature yellow color from OtterBox

Located in the box we have:

• Commuter Series Case in two parts. Silicone shell and a Hard Plastic outer Shell
• Screen Protector
• Cleaning Cloth
• Squeegee
• Instructions – printed on the inner package

The case is a monster to get on. The extra silicone flap on the top  of the inner case, that allows you to cover up your 3.5 mm headset input, really works against you when you place the hard plastic outer shell over the soft silicone shell. The soft button cover for the power button is a little less of hassle. However,  once you have everything in place it is a perfect fit and protection for your Apple iPad.

Below are some images with the steps to get your full body OtterBox protection.

1. Apply the screen protector first using the instructions that are located under the squeegee.

Personally I don’t like the screen protectors on my devices anymore. So I haven’t applied mine.

2. Take out the inner silicone case from the outer hard plastic case

3. Place your Apple iPad into the inner silicone case, be careful not to lift up your just applied screen protector

4. Now, the hard part. Clamp over the outer hard plastic case on top of the inner silicone case. Start from sliding in the bottom part in the the Hard shell case. You might need to use a stylus/pen to keep the silicone headphone jack cover flap in place while snapping the top part over it.

5. On the back side of the cover you can remove part of the case which allows you to make a connection with your Apple USB cable or original Apple iPad Dock.

A view from the bottom of the case which shows you that the speakers aren’t blocked.

The view from the side of the device is showing you that the volume buttons are covered and work perfectly. The quick lock button in is not covered. The opening is big enough for my big fingers to allow a full functionality of this feature.

The following is the view from the top of the device showing you the covered power button and a flap covering the head phone jack. A small opening in this flap allows functionality of the microphone. That same opening has been created to you to use you headset plug to open the flap that covers the head phone jack.

Conclusion

As with all the Otterbox products. This commuter case gives you real good protection. Sanpping on the outer hard shell on top of the silicone shell takes some effort. But once it is on, you will have a top quality protection case on your Apple iPad. This case has not been designed to easily switch between cases, but was designed for the traveler among us that want their Apple iPad protected well.

We are looking forward to the Apple iPad Defender case from OtterBox in the near future.

The Apple iPad Commuter Series Case is available in Black at Otterbox for $64.95

After the launch of the Apple iPhone 4 there are many reports about the “death grip” which gives a loss of reception in the antenna of the Apple iPhone 4.  Some how a good grip on your phone with your hand gives a conduction with the metal rim of the iPhone 4 with a loss of signal strength. Most solutions are as easy as by getting a case around your phone.  But I really do like the design of the iPhone 4 and don’t want to loose it by covering it up with a case.

In the steps below I show you how I used left over Apple iPad Invisible Shield by Zagg. Of course you can use any clear tape as well.

Step 1.

Create a strip from the left over edge of the Invisible Shield for the iPad. Measurements are 0.5 cm by a minimum of 20 cm.

Step 2.

Cut this long strips in to five pieces of:

1. 0.5 cm x 6 cm  for right under the volume buttons of the Apple iPhone 4
2. 0.5 cm x 1.5 cm for the side of the volume bottons  after the black strip break of the Apple iPhone 4
3. 0.5 cm x 5 cm for the upper part  of side of the sim card tray on the Apple iPhone 4
4. 0.5 cm x 2.8 cm for the lower part  of side of the sim card tray on the Apple iPhone 4
5. 0.5 cm x 1.5 cm for the side of the sim card tray after the black strip break of the Apple iPhone 4

Step 3.

Apply these strip on the correct parts on the side of the Apple iPhone 4. The volume buttons, sim tray and black strips on the sides should stay free of the shield.

For now this fix will give you a better reception. Hopefully Apple will come soon with a iOS 4.0.x update for this as well.

We have covered WaterField products before and we were always very satisfied with their products. The new WaterField iPad Ultimate SleeveCase is no exception here either. Please read and view along about this great ultimate travel sleeve/case/bag for the just released Apple iPad.

The iPad Ultimate SleeveCase is made out of ballistic strong nylon on the outside and cushioned on the inside with high grade neoprene on one side and the other side is lined with ultrasuede to protect your screen against stratching.

The SleeveCase comes in either a horizontal or vertical orientation. The version we received has a horizontal orientation with a leather trim on the bottom.  The SleeveCase is TSA Checkpoint friendly which means you don’t have to take out your iPad out of the sleeve while going through security at the airport.

The SleeveCase has a nice big flap that is secured with velcro. Stitched on the flap is the recognizable clean logo of WaterField. On the back you have an extra sleeve to add some paper work or some skinny charging cables. However this pocket can not be closed securly, it is an open sleeve.

On each side of the flap are two metal rings which will allow you to do two things. In the first place you can add a shoulder strap to make this SleeveCase into a shoulder carrying SleeveCase/ bag. Secondly you can add a Piggyback pouch which is an extra pouch that will allow you easily to bring extra charging cables and your MIFI if you want to bring the internet on the road. The Piggyback pouch comes with your choice of the leather trim like the SleeveCase or with the Indium trim which is the other trim option for the SleeveCase as well.  Combining the strap and the piggyback will give you a real ultimate carrying travel case/bag for you Apple iPad needs.

I have a made a short video below showing you the options of the iPad Ultimate SleeveCase with leather trim, Shoulder strap and the Piggyback with leather trim.

The WaterField iPad Ultimate SleeveCase is available at  sfbags.com with the following options:

iPad Ultimate SleeveCase with lead indium trim: $55 (Horizontal or Vertical orientation)
iPad Ultimate SleeveCase with leather trim: $59 (Horizontal or Vertical orientation)

Simple Shoulder strap: $7  (more info)
Suspension Shoulder strap mini: $15 (more info)

Piggyback pouch with lead indium trim: $25
Piggyback pouch with leather trim: $27

Conclusion

I really do like the fact the the WaterField Ultimate SleeveCase is compact to fit just the Apple iPad and a little extra like a cable and a MIFI. With the great battery life on the Apple iPad you don’t need much more. The added shoulder strap makes it easy to carry with you and the added easy to attach Piggyback pouch gives you that little extra to bring along if you need to.

I have made up my mind if in the future I need some kind of bag or case for our MobilityMinded products. I have to make sure to check out the San Fransico made WaterField products first !

The launch of the Apple iPad almost two weeks ago has created an explosion of iPad accessories.  In this article we will be taking a closer look at two executive look cases for the iPad from Griffin. The Griffin Elan Sleeve and the Griffin Elan Passport !

Both sample we have received are in a nice black leather with a leather grain structure on it. The packaging is great. No hassle to get it out of the package. Just slide your case side ways out of the packing.

Click on image for larger view

The Griffin Elan Sleeve

The Griffin Elan Sleeveis the simplest of it all but has a great feature that allows you to pull on the closing strap, which elevates the Apple iPad out of it sleeve to allow easy access to the iPad to remove it completely from the sleeve.

The Leather is nice and doesn’t leave any prints behind or picks up any dust. The stiching in in grey which gives this sleeve the nice executive look.

The Griffin Elan Sleeve cost $49.99

The  Griffin Elan Passport

The Griffin Elan Passporthas the same materials as described above for the Elan Sleeve. The Elan Passport model is a notebook model. The cover opens up like a notebook and has storage for business cards, bank cards and a sleeve for larger notes. The Apple iPad is inserted first into two secure straps on the right of the case and locked with two elastic straps on the left side. The case is not designed to have it function as a display for the digital picture frame, but in my video I show you that it is still possible.

The case doesn’t protect the outside edges of the iPad like other cases do, menaing it is more exposed.

The Griffin Elan Passport cost  $49.99 as well.

The video below will show you the both cases in action, enjoy.

Today Apple Announced the new iteration of it’s iPhone OS.  iPhone OS 4.0 gets over 100 new features. 7 of them were demoed by Steve Jobs, Scott Forstall and Phil Schiller on stage in Cupertino. Besides that the new iPhone OS 4.0 delivers over 1500 new APIs for developers. Developers now have the possibility to enhance their application with functions like access calendar, In-app SMS, Photo Library Access, Quick Look, Spell Check and many more new features.

I’ll go through the 7 features which were demoed today.

Multitasking

The first feature demoed was multitasking. To be quite direct: Multitasking is only going to be available for iPhone 3GS and iPad users, Multitasking isn’t going to be a functionality for current iPhone 3G users or users with an original iPhone. Of course it’s sad for current iPhone 3G users that their device doesn’t get multitasking, but in my opinion Apple just couldn’t keep the speed they wanted with this multitasking in the iPhone 3G. Since speed is 90% of a satisfying user experience, I think it’s legit for Apple to disable the multitasking feature in the iPhone 3G.

Multitasking can be enabled for a numerous of functionalities. These include:

• Background Audio (For applications like Pandora and Spotify)
• VOIP (For applications like Skype)
• Background location (For applications like TomTom or other Navigation Apps)
• Task Completion (Upload A Photo to Flickr in the background)

Picture used with permission of Ryan Block and Peter Rojas, gdgt

I think there’s only 1 functionality missing here and that’s an open connection to, for example, a twitter application. But all these background functionalities are very powerfull to enhance the way you use the iPhone. I think this can be a real big-deal and I like it!

Apple has had great succes with Push Notifications and therefore it introduces “Local Notifications”. Local Notifications are like Push Notifications but without the need of a server. The local notifications are directly from your iPhone.

An extra feature wich comes with multitasking is Fast App Switching. Fast App Switching is the feature which is the easiest to implement by developers. It saves the state of the application and it let’s you return to the application where you left it. So if you’re in a game and Fast Switch to an other application, the game continues when you return back to the game. The state is implemented in a way that it doesn’t take any system resources.

Folders

With OS 3.x it is possible to see 180 apps on your Homescreen. iPhone OS 4.0 offers folders, so that you can expand the number of available applications on your Homescreen to 2160! Now I think I’ve got a lot of apps on my iPhone (around 200) but I don’t think that I’ll ever reach the limit of 2160 applications on my Homescreen.

Picture used with permission of Ryan Block and Peter Rojas, gdgt

Apple has managed this to “stack” applications into folders. Drag an application onto another application to create a folder. The name of the folder is automatically set, but you can change it easily. This way you are able to create folders like “Games”, “Tasks”, “Social Networking” Etc. Because I always have too less space on my Homescreen I like this feature a Lot!

An other feature is that with iPhone OS 4.0 you can set a different wallpaper for your lock-screen and a wallpaper for your homescreen.

Unified Inbox

The Unified Inbox feature (again) is a feature I’m personally very happy with. At the moment I have 4 e-mail accounts set on my iPhone and they all have a different inbox. It would be great if I had just 1 inbox and that all my mail would arrive in just 1 inbox. This is exactly what happens with the new Unified Inbox feature. It is possible to select “All Inboxes” and see all the mails in all the inboxes from all the e-mail accounts. It’s like an aggregation of all inboxes in one view.

Picture used with permission of Ryan Block and Peter Rojas, gdgt

Other additions in the email application are for organize by thread and Open attachments in Apps.

iBooks

Of course we saw iBooks on the iPad first and Apple made a version for the iPhone as well. It’s just like the iBooks app for the iPad, but smaller. I don’t  know if I’ll ever read an entire book on the iPhone, but the iBooks application could definitively help me to read more books!

Enterprise Features

Additional Enterprise Features are not really the most spectacular features for the average user, but Apple thought well about what Enterprises would like to see as feature enhancements.

The real killer-feature is that it now is possible to sync with multiple exchange accounts. Personally I think this it the best feature of iPhone OS 4.0. Having multiple exchange accounts available is a real big feature for me and I like it very much that they’ve made this feature available.

Other enterprise features (which you’ll probably never ever hear from again) are Mobile Device Management, Wireless App Distribution and SSL VPN support.

Game Center

Apple adds a social gaming network. With this social gaming network it is possible to Invite Friends, Matchmaking, view Leaderboards and Achievements.
I guess game developers can hook their application into this Game Center and give users the possibilities to use the Game Center functionalities in their Games.

Actually the Game Center can be very much compared to the Plus+ network.

iAd – Mobile Advertising

Apple would like to help developers with making money by using the iAd mobile advertising features in their free Apps. The Ads would show up around every 3 minutes while using the App. I think this is a lot – and I think I’d rather pay for an application than see an ad every 3 minutes.

iAd isn’t really a feature enhancement for users, but more for developers of free Apps. One good thing is that Apple challenges to make creative ads. This can be a game, a video (with HTML 5) or anything else.

Concluding thoughts & Wrap-up

Overall I think that iPhone OS 4.0 is a really nice upgrade of the iPhone OS. A lot of features are added and some of them are more than welcome!

I think the iPhone OS comes to a stage where there are less and less like-to-haves for the iPhone OS, because we got (almost) everything we wished for. When we have multitasking, multiple exchange, better inbox integration; what keeps left to wish for; Please tell me your wishes for the iPhone OS which STILL isn’t included in the iPhone OS 4.0 in the comments of this thread.

Finally I would like to thank some people. First of all Ryan Block from gdgt (http://www.gdgt.com) for letting me use his pictures and the excellent liveblog. Vincent Nguyen from Slashgear (http://www.slashgear.com) and Joshua Topolsky from Engadget (http://www.engadget.com) for their great Live blogs; You guys Rock and many many thanks for keeping us up to date so damn quickly. An other thank goes out to all the guys from OneMoreThing.nl and a very special thanks to Gonny & Jean-Paul from iPhoneclub.nl for their live stream directly from Amsterdam.

In this article I will try to give you an insight of two great document applications for the Apple iPad. Namely the DocumentToGo from DataViz and the iWork applications (Pages, Numbers and Keynote) from Apple.

looking at both programs I have to tell you in advance that at the time of writing this article the DocumentToGo premium version only is available for the iPhone and iPod Touch version but will run on the iPad. The resolution will be lower but is workable and still powerful.(see video below).

Update: DataViz just notified me that they are working on an update to take advantage of the high resolution screen on the iPad

DocumentsToGo

The DocumentsToGo premium application is $14.99 in the App Store and has the following features;

• View, Edit & Create Microsoft Word, Excel & Powerpoint files.(support for Office 2007 &2008)
• View Adobe PDF, Apple iWork & other files like images, etc
• View, Edit and Sync files stored in your Google Docs
• Send & Receive multiple Microsoft Exchange and Gmail account attachments.
• Free Desktop application with over the air, personal network 2-way synchronization.
• Synchronization is with individual files or folders.
• Synchronization with many different platforms (see list)

Please see the video below for a demo on the Apple iPad.

iWorks

The 3  iWork applications from Apple are:

1. Pages a word processing application ($9.99)
2. Numbers a spreadsheet application ($9.99)
3. Keynote a slide show application ($9.99)

These three application have a big difference in performance since these are self standing application with almost full desktop functionality.

Some features are the following:

• Desktop experience with multi touch
• import images, text, graphs from library, other iWork Apps and Safari.
• Import and Export from desktop to iPad using iTunes.(Apps tab in iTunes). No Synchronization.
• Import Word,Excel, Powerpoint into iWorks apps.
• Export iWork apps in iWork files and PDF and share them by e-mail
• Upload to iWorks.com to share with others.

See the video below of a great demo of the iWorks appd on the iPad.  I personally don’t have these on my iPad, but this video shows you the experience.

Conclusion

If the Apple iPad is going to be your on the road browsing or quick access device I would recommend the DataViz DocumentsToGo premiumapplication for $14.99. DocumentsToGo has great easy syncing options with your Desktop, exchange, Gmail and Google Docs. Unfortunate it is in the iPhone format. I am hoping upon a quick update to make it fully compatible with the Apple iPad. So don’t rush in getting iWorks apps if you think DocumentsToGo will be best for you.

Update: DataViz just notified me that they are working on an update to take advantage of the high resolution screen on the iPad

But if you want to use your iPad as a full function day to day work device I would recommend investing the $30 to have the Apple iPad version of Pages, Keynote and Numbers. I just wish it had some cloud and desktop syncing with it. Right now it only works with import and export using iTunes.

In this review of the Apple iPad I will show you the real user experience of two possible eBook / eReader applications that are available on the Apple iPad. The new iBooks application from Apple and the already existing but updated for iPad Kindle application.

Both applications are free for download in the iTunes App Store and both have the options to get your favorite book on your iPad.

Below is a bullet point summary of the options and the differences between the iBooks and the Kindle applications on the Apple iPad:

• iBooks let you download larger samples
• iBooks has life like page turning options
• Kindle’s home page looks nicer compared to the book shelf on the iBooks home page
• Both can bookmark pages, iBooks let je bookmarl lines.
• Kindle Bookmarks are being synchronized to all your different Kindle readers. Not in iBooks, I tried with two iPads on the same account.
• Sharing of books is possible. You just have to use the same iTunes account and purchase. Message will say that you already purchased/ downloaded this book before and if you want to download it again.
• Dictionary available in iBooks only.
• The Kindle application allows you to add personal notes to lines.
• Both applications allows you to change font size
• iBooks allows you to change font type.
• Kindle allows you to change the color of the text and background (3 options)
• Both applications allows you to change the brightnees from within the application.

Conclusion

So, which one should you use? It is a personal preference. Since I am sharing my purchased books within my family on the same account in iTunes and Amazon I prefer the iBooks application because it wouldn’t affect my personal bookmarks while another family member is reading the same book. Synchronizing across all the different readers associated with our family accounts would make things a little bit more complicated.

Take a look at the video below and see both the iBook and Kindle eBook reader applications in action on the Apple iPad.

It has happened to many iPhone users. Suddenly your iPhone is draining very quickly, even without using the iPhone at all.

This has happened to my iPhone now for two times. On many blogs and forums people are complaining about it and many tips are given but not a real good answer to the sudden quick drain of your battery.  Below are these tips to save on battery power but won’t fix the sudden extreme drainage of your battery.

We have changed the title to include Android and Windows Phone devices now as well. We experienced the same battery drain on other mobile platforms. It seems that the exchange sync funtion (possibly calendar) hangs on the devices. In which it means it constantly is asking for data transfer in which your battery drains very fast. The device will feel hot as well. The solution is simple but takes some time.

• You need to delete to exchange account on your device
• After is is finished deleting your synced information you turn off your device and restart it.
• Set up your exchange account as before, the device will sync all your information back to your device.

The tips below will preserve more battery power:

• Turn off 3G (saves battery and is almost a must in area’s where you have Edge coverage)
• Turn off Notifications
• Turn off Push for e-mail
• Turn off  WiFi
• Turn off Bluetooth
• Set your Fetch schedule on all your other emails to manually
• Turn your Brightness down

Again these tips above will not fix your sudden battery drain on your iPhone. And really turning off all these options, kinda makes your iPhone a phone like any other. You really don’t have to do this.

I have discovered that the sudden extreme battery drain has to do with your Exchange Account that has been set up on your iPhone.  For some odd reason it keeps check and checking for new info and it won’t stop. Before trying to do a restore on your iPhone I would first recommend deleting your Exchange Push Account on your iPhone and set it up again as a new account. This will save some time in the fix for the extreme fast battery drainage.

Follow the steps below to fix the extreme battery drainage on your iPhone.

1. Go to your “Settings” on your iPhone.
2. Select “Mail,Contact,Calendars“.
3. Select your account that has been set up with an exchange server.
4. Select “Account Info“.
5. Copy down the information which you will need to set up this account again later on.
6. Select the “Arrow back ” on the top of your screen with the name of your account.
7. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and select “Delete Account“
8. Let the iPhone do its work. It will remove all e-mails, contacts and calendar items from your iPhone associated with your account.
9. When done Turn off your iPhone and Turn it back on.
10. Once your iPhone is turned back on you can go back to Step 1,2
11. Back in the “Mail,Contacts,Calendar” Settings you have to select  “Add Account“
12. Select the “Microsoft Exchange” and enter the credentials you copied down before.
13. The server information is not visible in this field yet, it will appear after you set up your E-mail, Domain, Username and Password are entered and “Next” has been selected.
14. Now your account has been set up again. It will take some time for the iPhone to synchronize everything back. Give it some 5-10 minutes.

Now your Exchange Push account has been set up again and your extreme battery drainage has been stopped. If you think that after these steps you still have this issue, I would recommend using the “Restore” function in iTunes while your iPhone is connected.

The Apple iPad has a great calendar user interface. With the added screen estate it shows the calendar in a notebook style. In both landscape and portrait mode is shows the identical lay-out. (see video).

I much prefer the landscape orientation which gives me an easier look and read of what is going on in my life.

It is possible to sync multiple calendars over the exchange account and through an Apple computer as long as you sync them from a desktop calendar application that has those multiple calendars already using Google sync. A great article by Kevin Tofel of jkOnTheRun explains this a little bit more.

Posted below are some screenshots of my Calendar on the Apple iPad. The video will show you the calendar in action.

Day view

Click image for larger view

Week view

Click image for larger view

Month view

Click image for larger view

List view

Click image for larger view

During the launch of the Apple iPad the only attractive case in the Apple store was the Original iPad Case. They were selling  iPad sleeves as well, but this original Apple iPad case was designed to add some great functionality besides just a case.

The added functionality of the case is that it becomes your digital picture frame stand and elevated lap stand by locking in the front flap on the back. Do you want to see how, check out the video below.

The couple of negative things I have to say about it is that the rubbery feeling of the case leaves many finger prints left behind on the case, just like the screen is very sensitive to left-over fingerprints as well. The tight fit could be a problem if you will slide in the iPad with a screen protector applied to it. While sliding in it might peel off. But will find out later once I have a screen protector. The last part that you have to think of is that the iPad with this case won’t  with the original charging docks available at the Apple store.

On the Positive side. A case for other similar tablets with this  fuctionality should be available because it is simply said great and it is worth the $39.

On Saturday morning April 3rd, 2010 I got up early enough to stand inline as a walk-in at the Apple store in our area. I wasn’t sure about the Apple iPad at launch announcement and didn’t pre-order the iPad. However the closer the date came to April 3rd I had the urge to have it in hand. Below are my first impressions in a video.

The Apple iPad is now avaialble at the Apple Store and retailers. Maybe they are out of stock in some stores, but in the Apple online storeyou can get the 16GB ($499), 32GB ($599) and the 64Gb ($699) Wifi and Bluetooth enabled iPad’s.

The added 3G module versions will be available for pre-order with shipping at the end of April. The 3G models will be a  $130 more expensive.

So far I am very much impressed with the iPad. As a media information device the iPadit is now replacing my iPhone in the evening while lounging on the couch while watching some TV. Bringing the iPad along on my travels with my family in combination with Verizon Mifi makes the iPad a great entertaining device for the back seat drivers.

Enjoy the video below in which I show you some great functionality of the iPad. Come back often to check out my other video reviews of applications and accessories for the iPad.

So the iPad presentation has just finished and all the news is out. We’ve been waiting days, week, months some even have been waiting years to get an announcement from Apple like the iPad today. In a way the iPad fills the gap between the iPhone and the MacBooks. In this article I’ll give my opinion based on what we’ve heard today from Steve Jobs. My own conclusion is that Apple had to announce a device that really drop all the jaws in the press-room. In this article I will point out my likes and dislikes based on what I know now about the iPad.

The “likes” of the iPad:

• It looks sexy. Although it’s more square than I’d though it would be. I had expected a device the size of an A4 paper, but the iPad is smaller. Nevertheless: the looks of the device are just amazing.

• It’s light – 1.5 Pounds (680 gram). This is of course very nice for when you would like to travel a lot with the iPad. The lighter the better and I think that 1.5 pound is really acceptable for a device with these capabilities.

• It’s got apps. All the popular iPhone / iPod Touch apps are also available on the iPad – This means that you can install from 140.000 applications directly when you unbox the device. I assume it’s possible to install all the applications you’ve purchased both on the iPhone and on the iPad at the same.

• It’s well-priced. Compared to the iPod Touch the iPad is very well priced. Where the iPod Touch really is a music-device, the iPad gives better browsing/email/e-book experience than the iPod Touch and the price difference isn’t really that much.

The “dislikes” of the iPad

• No Multitasking. The biggest problem I think is that the iPad – Just like the iPod Touch and iPhone – doesn’t seem to have multitasking – It’s not possible to keep an application open on the background of the iPad. This is really annoying when you’re using applications like Twittelator (a twitter app), Facebook, or Beejive (messaging).

• No OSX. I really like my iPhone and have not much to complain about it’s OS (apart form multitasking ), but it’s certain that OSX has just much more to offer than the iPhone OS. I belive the software inside the iPad is exactly the same as the software in the iPhone – and that’s what bothers me a bit. Imagine having the iPad with the ease of having apps available and the power of OSX Snow Leopard, this would make the iPad a REAL killer device.

• No Flash. Do I need to say more? Flash support isn’t available yet for the iPhone platform and therefore as far as I know the iPad won’t have flash-support.

• No Camera. How great would it be to have a front-camera in the iPad – For video conferencing. My Macbook Pro has a webcam and because so small you almost don’t even see it.

• No Wireless Sync. Syncing with iTunes goes via USB (via the power connector) and it’s sadly not possible to sync via Wifi or via Bluetooth. Who wants cables these days?

• No USB port. The only interfaces you’re getting is the internet and bluetooth. The iPad is perfectly for creating documents and has no option to have your files stored on a USB-stick.

Concluding Thoughts & Wrap-up

I am 100% sure the iPad will be a major success. Not because it’s an iPad but, because it’s got Apple written on it.
If Apple made a toaster (iToast) everyone would buy one, probably including me.

The iPad isn’t really a revolutionary device. It’s got the same applications an iPhone has; the same touchscreen only larger and basically that’s it.
The only added value I really see that the iPad has over my iPhone is the convenience of e-book reading (Because of the larger screen). I can imagine Apple want to use the AppStore to it’s max and therefore make the iPad run all the great application we find in the AppStore, but that doesn’t need to be a reason that we can’t have OSX on the iPad right? If the iPad had the advantages of running apps and running OSX – it would be THE jaw-dropping device we’ve all been waiting for.

Since I own my iPhone 3GS, I’ve only come up with one downside: Its battery life. When the day is long I really need to be careful not to use the iPhone a lot, because the battery might not make it through the whole day. The Morphie Juice Pack Air is a solution to this problem.

Extra Battery & Protective Case

The Morphie Juice Pack Air is not only an extra battery for your iPhone. It is also a protective case.
When you think about protective cases; you think of extra size and weight. And Yes, the Morphie Juice Pack Air adds weight and size to your iPhone. To put it in numbers here are the specifications of the dimensions:

Look & Feel

The Morphie Juice Pack Air consist out of 2 parts. The bottom part, in which you slide the iPhone, and the top part which keeps the case and the iPhone together

On top there is a free space for the headphones and the power-button. The right part has an opening for the mute and volume buttons.

On the bottom of the Juice pack there is a power-switch for the Morphie’s battery. If this is switched to “green” the iPhone gets charged via the Morphie. If this is switched to “red” the iPhone uses it’s own battery.
On the bottom left there is a USB-connector. This connector sadly is not the standard iPhone connector, but a specific connector from Morphie. The Morphie USB cable is included, but nevertheless I hoped they used a more standard cable and connector.

On the back there is an opening for the camera. On the bottom from the backside  there is an indicator button and 4 LED’s to show how full the Juice Pack Air is charged.

Added Battery capacity

The Juice Pack has an on- and off button. When the Juice Pack is turned “on” and the iPhone is in the Juice Pack the battery of the iPhone is charged untill 100%. When the iPhone’s battery reached 100% the power of the Juice Pack is used untill that battery is drained. After the battery of the Juice Pack is drained, the iPhones battery is used.

The battery capacity of the Morphie Juice Pack Air is 1200mAh. My experiences are that when I use the iPhone A LOT I can’t make it through the day with the built-in battery.
Now when I use the Morphie Juice Pack Air I let the battery of the iPhone drain to around 30%  when. This usually is around 4-5 PM. Then I turn on the Juice Pack Air. Now the iPhone will charge back to 100%. When the iPhone is back at 100% (usually around 70-90 minutes later) I have used a lot of the capacity of the Juice Pack Air (normally 1 or 0 LED’s light up when checking after a charge from 30-100 %).

This comes down to when it’s around 10 PM the iPhone is still charged for around 80%.

The Morphie Juice Pack Air really brings me more than enought battery capacity to make it though the day. Even when I use a lot of power, like a 3 hour wifi-skype conference call, the iPhone isn’t completly empty at the end of the day.

Thoughts & Wrap-up

To find out if the extra weight and size is acceptable to you, I would suggest to go to an Apple store that sells the Morphie Juice Pack Air and try out. I did too and realized that for me the extra weight and size is not as much as I expected. With the Morphie Juice Pack Air I really don’t have to worry anymore if the battery of the iPhone makes it through the day. I know that I have more than enough Juice with me.