The iPad is upon us in the UK and so over the Bank Holiday weekend, I went into the local Apple store to have a look at what it was all about.

The first thing that struck me was the crowd…there were around 50 iPads available to play with and people were queuing up for almost every one, 2 or 3 people deep! I eventually burst through the crowd of people, deftly side stepping a small child and a nifty Jordan-esque manoeuvre around another shopper until BOOM…an iPad was in my hand. This, the most magical of devices, cause of hysteria worldwide and apparent confirmation of “The Greatness of Jobs” was in my hand…and…

“Meh”

That was my first thought and even now, a couple of days later, it’s still my overall opinion.

It was smaller and heavier than I thought, so something of a double loss there really! Upon first sight I was completely under-whelmed…there wasn’t even a twinge of “OMG – I MUST buy it”…and I really was expecting I’d have to fight that urge. I got an iPod years ago, when I saw the first iPhone, despite knowing all it’s shortcomings, I nearly got one…and the same for the MacBook Air.

This time however, I truly wasn’t tempted to buy it at all. I think part of the reason for this may be that it isn’t really anything new…I’ve seen tablet PCs before and I’ve seen an iPhone so I’ve seen an iPad. If someone had a huge potato I’d go and look at it…but I wouldn’t want to buy it

Part of my lack of interest in the iPad also applies to all tablets and it’s this one question:

“When would I use it?”

If I’m at home, I’ll use the laptop to surf the web, the Xbox to watch movies & the stereo to listen to music. If I’m out and about, depending where I’m going I’ll use my phone or my laptop…I don’t see what a tablet can do better AND easier than any of that setup.

My other complaint is transporting it. It’s too big to fit in a pocket so +1 to a smart phone so it will need to be carried in a bag/case of some sort…it which case you might as well take a laptop; or if weight is an issue…take a netbook.

If I’m going somewhere which means a Netbook is too big/heavy then it isn’t going to be much different with an iPad. Plus, and I know this is a tired argument but it’s worth repeating, netbooks and laptops can all play Flash!

There is one thing I’ll say (kind of) in it’s defense:

The “Multitasking” issue seems to be a little less clear cut that it’s made out. I was playing music and surfing the web which I had been led to believe was, in the words of Ralph Wiggum, “un-possible”. I guess perhaps it’s just 3rd party apps that can’t be multi-tasked?

Summation

All in all, it doesn’t seem to be anything special and I can’t see any compelling reasons to get one. I know Mac fans will be able to reel off any number of rebuttals to this but honestly it doesn’t matter…I can’t see the iPad attracting any new customers to the Apple fold; I’m going to say that nearly all iPad owners will already have an iPhone and/or iPod.

Apple and it’s objections to Adobe’s Flash product are well known, as Steve Jobs (Apple CEO) has been more than vocal about it!

Apple’s stance has been than they will use HTML5 for all web based content that Flash is currently used for but now it seems that Apple could have their own rival to both Flash AND HTML 5!

There have been a few reports that Apple’s Gianduia Framework (a name carrying on the theme of Cocoa) has been used to create a number of web apps such as:

• Apple’s One-to-One program
• iPhone Reservation System
• Genius Bar Concierge Service

This shows that HTML5 isn’t a component of it and that Gianduia can exist in it’s own right.

The question is whether Apple started this project just in case HTML5 didn’t quite pan out in order to give them a backup up plan once they publically blasted Flash; or are they really looking to create their own entry into the market?

I’m tempted to say it’s the first option, that it was a “just in case” fallback but, knowing Apple’s reputation for wanting complete control over every aspect of their products this would be a wholly surprising move. However, as it’s a framework I guess it won’t be a complete competitor to Flash or indeed Microsoft’s Silverlight; rather something a little less feature rich so not a direct rival after all.

Has anyone got any more information or views on this subject? As always, the comments are open and you can get me on Twitter @richfrombechtle.

Head over to pcmag.com and Apple Insider for a further look.

Apple has banned a Chinese app developer from the App Store after discovering it had faked glowing reviews for many of its iPhone apps. Apple has banned Molinker from its online store after complaints that the Chinese app developer had posted fake glowing reviews of its 1000-odd iPhone apps. Apple’s action meant it removed nearly 1% of the App Store’s collected offerings in one go. iPhoneography, an iPhone photography and videography blog, alerted Apple, and a friend of the site, known as SCW, discovered that Molinker’s apps seemed to have an unusually large number of glowing five-star reviews from just a few reviewers, who commented on nothing else. They sent Apple senior vice-president for worldwide product marketing Phil Schiller an email that included the following text: ‘Please investigate, for I have just looked at 44 of the reviewers who posted reviews for this Molinker Inc app “NightCam Pro” and every review except two of the 44-plus are all fake five-star reviews… ‘If you investigate, all have only reviewed only Molinker apps. [It’s a] little odd that 42 of the 44 US reviews are poorly written and that all users have only written reviews for either all Molinker photography apps (giving five-star reviews to Molinker apps only, [and] no other apps by any other developer) or the same two apps. ‘Ten reviewers only reviewed NightCam Pro and ColorMagic, 24-plus reviewers have only written reviews for six to seven other Molinker photography apps ([giving them] five stars) and one or two are real reviews giving a one-star review.’ Schiller replied: ‘Yes, this developer’s apps have been removed from the App Store and their ratings no longer appear either.’ Not only have apps of dubious quality been removed from the App Store, but Apple, whose strict control of the App Store has created much bad publicity for it, emerged with credit for acting quickly. Molinker confirmed that it had received an email from Apple, ‘which told us our contract is changed to pending status’.

Source of Information : MacUser January 15 2010

When I first made my switch to Mac, I spent a lot of time noodling around with settings, reading about different customizations, and basically just feeling my way around this new environment.

After all of this, I’ve discovered that Apple really did a very nice job out of the box. The first customizations I did centered around the Dock – I moved it just about everywhere it could be moved, different sizes, magnification on, off, hidden with and without magnification…I even used Onyx to get some configurations not offered by the standard Apple GUI. After all of this, what did I discover?

The dock looks and works best right where Apple had it at the very beginning – unhidden at the bottom of the screen (sized down a LOT mind you from Apple’s default).

Why does this work? Well, when you minimize windows to the dock, it is just natural for them to go “down” – and not swooosh to one side or another. Also, whenever you “hide” the dock, you simply lose one of the dock’s most important features – the ability to notify you when an application needs your attention. Also, I noticed that a lot of the time when hidden the dock would pop it’s head up when not needed or wanted- I even accidentally “poofed” a few applications out of my dock and had to go add them back.

So…yeah…after configuring the snot out of my dock, and back, it’s right back where nature, and Steve Jobs intended…

Honestly – same goes for most of the other “tweaks” I wrote about after making the switch. Mac OS X is honestly just about the most perfect OS I’ve ever used – I just can’t imagine going back to Linux or Windows ever again…

With the ailing global economy, I am looking at ways I get better value for my money. One way I can do this if I need to replace a computer is by avoiding the “Apple Tax.”

Microsoft sponsored a new whitepaper (PDF) from Roger Kay of Endpoint Technologies Associates which takes a look at the tax from a tech analyst’s viewpoint. His paper shows the “Apple Tax” is the combination of what people pay up front when purchasing a Mac and what people pay over the life of their computer – the hidden tax.

Roger looked into both aspects in his whitepaper, and has discovered some interesting findings around the “hidden tax” of owning a Mac – using the scenario of a hypothetical family of 4 and their costs over a five year period. Knowing that Tax Day is just around the corner here in the US (April 15), I decided to have a little fun with his findings by building a mock up tax form using Roger’s numbers that show the whopping difference this family would get purchasing Windows PCs over Macs: $3,367.

I know taxes are calculated annually but I thought it would be more interesting to look in terms of total savings Roger outlined in choosing 2 Windows PCs over 2 Macs in that 5 year period.

So what could you do with that $3,367 savings by avoiding the Apple Tax?

If you want to get some exercise you could get bikes for the whole family, and still have money left over (All via Performance Bicycles)!

• Schwinn Sid Coasting Bike ($499.99)
• Schwinn Nancy Ladies Coasting Bike ($499.99)
• Performance Girls 24” Kids Mountain Bike ($299.99)
• 2008 Mongoose Amasa Comp Mountain Bike ($679.99)
• 4 helmets: 2 Bell Ukon Sport Helmets @ $34.99, 1 Giro Women’s Kaya Helmet @ $39.99, and 1 Ascent Cruise Youth Helmet @ $29.99)

Take the family out for a night at the movies - 117 times (4 tickets @ $7.18 = $28.72)!

Make your home green, and save even more money!

• Generate your own free power with an all-included 260 Watt Solar home kit ($2,319)
• New energy efficient Andersen Windows (6 @ $140) that will help you save up to 35 percent on energy bills.

It is human nature to focus on the up-front price. The coverage around our Laptop Hunters ads jumps right to that (“PCs are cheaper”). The harder thing to capture is the overall cost and the VALUE. Roger’s paper does a great job illustrating this. Cost is getting something cheaper. Value is a function of getting more of what you want, regardless of what you spend. And you’re a lot more likely to find that with a Windows PC.

Shoppers rarely do a lifetime cost of ownership calculation for a new computer (even though that’s the real cost and makes the PC advantage even greater) but they intrinsically calculate the value for a new computer. That’s what we see in the market every day and what we see in the choices made by Lauren and Giampaolo as they each selected a PC that met their own unique criteria (features and budget). They wanted the right value for them. And that’s the beauty of Windows PCs – the diversity of choice and options that exist so that people can find what’s right for their own needs, not someone else’s. You’re never forced to buy more than you need or give up features you want like Blu-ray, Mobile Broadband, Firewire, and more. And, Windows PCs offer this across a broadest range of price points and performance from low-end netbook PCs to high-end gaming rigs.

But let’s limit ourselves to the narrow scenario where Apple does have offerings. We get questions about this all the time so we asked Roger to take a look at the comparison chart that we’ve used before to outline features, specs and price points across Macs and PCs. Part of his conclusion is, “Holding the price constant and examining specifications only serves to exaggerate the better deals on the Windows side.”

Note: The chart splits the Mac and PC laptops in to 3 categories: Value for basic models, Mainstream for average models, and Performance for high end models to illustrate options where Apple has machines. Of course the full spectrum of PC laptops is much broader.

What do you think about the concept of value? And what would you do with a $3,367 “Apple Tax Return”? Sound off in comments. In a few weeks I’ll showcase what people say they would do with their “Apple Tax Return” in a follow-up blog post.

UPDATED 4/13

Apple announced the launch of its latest beta version Safari 4 browser, claiming it to be faster with improved navigation and searching.

According to the company, Safari 4 loads JavaScript “up to 30 times faster than IE7 and more than three times faster than Firefox 3.” As for HTML pages, Safari, “loads [them] three times faster than IE 7 and almost three times faster than Firefox 3.” Safari 4 is also the first browser to pass Web Standards Project’s Acid3 test.

Other new features in Safari 4 include Top Sites, giving users a visual preview of frequently visited pages; Full History Search, to search through titles, web addresses and the complete text of recently viewed pages; Cover Flow, to easily flip through web history or bookmarks; and Tabs on Top, to make tabbed browsing easier.

The new version of Safari also includes a Smart Address field and Smart Search. Smart Address will automatically show a drop down menu when a user begin typing a URL into the address field. It shows the top hit, suggestions from the user’s Bookmarks and suggestions from his history. Smart search gives the user suggestions from Google and previous searches that he has made using Safari.

The new beta version is available for download at Apple’s Safari Web page with both Windows and Mac OS versions ready for testing.

Source