Outlets three plus USB

Here’s a useful device: the Monster Outlets to Go 300 turns one AC plug into three and provides two USB outlets. It would be cool if you could go USB-USB and charge a laptop without the proprietary power block and cord. That would save weight, but I assume that’s impossible (I checked - it is impossible). At least this adapter would let you charge your laptop and USB devices at the same time, without plugging those devices into the charging laptop. (HT: Scott Carmichael at Gadling)

Have beans, will travel

DRIP, DRIP, DRIPIf you REALLY like good coffee GSI Outdoors offers a number of backpacker-intended items that will allow you to travel with the coffee of your choice without adding too much weight. In my younger days I once plugged in my 4-cup maker and a grinder on a four-hour ferry ride. I’ve moderated since then. It was the best coffee I’ve ever had on a boat though. (HT: CoolTools)

Geek list

Are you a geek? If not, you are surely related to one or know one. Gizmodo has compiled the Geek’s Vacation Checklist with some good tips, especially in the technology realm. As you can see from the video below, not all the tips are techish though.

Update on July 7, 2010 by Frank@OBOW

Fold A Shirt In 2 Seconds - The best video clips are right here

Sub-2# Toshiba with Android

Update on June 21, 2010 by Frank@OBOW

Engadget on the diminutive device. 870 grams = under 2 pounds.

Update on June 21, 2010 by Frank@OBOW

More coolness - DUAL touch screens.

Netbooks so yesterday

Story here. I’m passé already. Maybe I’ll glue my Touch to my netbook. Then I’ll have a full-time touch screen.

Update on May 27, 2010 by Frank@OBOW

Netbook fence sitters with good eyes take note - $99 for a 1.6-pound, no-name 7” wonder.

An app for that - jet lag

Teaming up with the Edinburgh Sleep Centre, Virgin Atlantic has released the Jet Lag Fighter; an app that is compatible with both iPhones and iPads.

To fight jet lag using the…well… Fighter, you’ll first need to type in your flight details as well as a few personal details like age, sex, and any history of insomnia (or sleep patterns). The app then does some crunching and spits out a jet lag fighting itinerary with exact times of day to do some basic activities like sleeping and exercising.

It also tells you when to seek out some light or when to avoid it altogether along with a predictor that tells you exactly which day and time your jet lag will be eliminated. - Matadorgoods.com

(itunes address)

Touching an iPad

At a party Friday night with my wife’s professorial colleagues I had my first hands-on in with the vaunted iPad. I was disappointed. The “big Touch” moniker seems more fitting than I expected. The screen is nice but not as good as I expected - closer to my netbook’s quality than the incredible depth and sharpness of my wife’s MacBook Pro display. The lack of anything like a full keyboard is also unfortunate. Typing, I found, was little easier than with my Tiny touch. I’m sure the Apple tablet would grow on me, but how much?

I believe this Gear Diary post has it right: iPad- Like A Rorschach Ink Blot You’ll See In It What You Want To See…

TSA love for the iPad, readers, netbooks

This should add to the iPad user smugness quotient: The TSA says it’s so special that it can stay in carry-on bags for screening at security checkpoints. This a nice plus, I must say.

This just in - it’s not just iPads. I quote the TSA blog:

E-readers, Net Books and other small gadgets are becoming more and more popular for travelers to bring along in their carry-ons. (iPads, Kindles™, Neos, Nooks™, Sony® Readers™ etc.)

Not only are they essential to those who need to stay connected and work or study on the go, but they are also fantastic time killers, which makes these gadgets extremely popular carry-on items. I’ve read many a post from people wondering if these items should be treated like a laptop and removed from their carry-on bags for checkpoint screening.

Great question! Electronic items smaller than the standard sized laptop should not need to be removed from your bag or their cases. It’s that simple.

Probably not that simple, based on our experience. Expect this to be an evolving policy, meaning many TSA employees will NOT have heard about it the first time you try to go through.

Update on April 7, 2010 by Frank@OBOW

This policy does not yet appear on the main TSA website - only the blog. Don’t be surprised if the blueshirts howl when you try to slide your netbook through…

Brit geeks' Pad gab

Some good back-and-forth on the iPad from/compiled by the Telegraph of London, including these interesting remarks:

“The iPad isn’t just for couch computing when you want to look something up on Wikipedia or send a quick email. It’s a perfectly usable business device. And the form factor just happens to work far better for cramped places like airplanes than a normal laptop. I doubt I’ll ever open a laptop on a plane again after tomorrow.

“I am easily able to type 50 words per minute on the large virtual keyboard. A physical keyboard is a nice add on when I’m in my office or hotel room, but it works just fine without it, too.” - more

(LINK FOR MOBILE DEVICES)

iPad release sked

Word is that the much-vaunted, much-ridiculed iPad (wifi version) will hit Apple stores and many Best Buys this Saturday. The 3G version is to follow later in April. Whether to be excited about this or not is entirely up to you. It will be nice to be able to see one, I guess. I believe they’re actually smaller than the one pictured below:

Netbook envy

I love my year-old Samsung, but Asus — the company who pretty much invented the netbook — has some very tempting new models. The 1005PE is under three pounds, has a 250GB drive, and boasts up to 14 hours of battery life. I’m a little skeptical of Windows 7 OS for a netbook though. There’s a cheaper version, the 1001p, with 11 hours of battery for under $300. Any netbook user should consider down(up)grading to XP. The current version of my Samsung comes with XP, which saves you the trouble of re-installing when you dump 7. It’s a little pricier than the ASUS models but the N110 should be a solid machine.

Update on March 25, 2010 by Frank@OBOW

Men, some hard-won advice: If you buy a netbook, get a black one. I’m absolutely sick of hearing how cute my white Samsung is! I thought things looked larger when clothed in white. It’s enough to make me consider covering it in skull-and-crossbones stickers or something. To be honest, I got a white one just to aggravate my Mac-using son. I should have known.

SAMSUNG N110

Touched

I’ve been touched recently — not by a Parisian pickpocket, or all the Forum activity (though it has been entertaining). No, I’ve been iPod Touched. This is my mobile device mea culpa. I love the thing, though I wrote disparagingly of it just a couple of months ago. All it took was one long, bad-weather, indoor weekend with it and I was hooked. The Touch has also reduced my blogging. Many mornings and evenings I don’t even fire up the netbook; the Touch is just quicker for e-mail and headline browsing. To be honest, I’ve had other things that kept me away from the site, but the Touch played a part. I’ll try to do better.

This has become a truly interactive site, which his how I always wanted it. Thanks to everyone that contributes! OBOW readers are kind and helpful to one another. Of how many sites can you say that?

Here’s a great armchair travel use for the Touch: set all your favorite travel destinations in the built-in weather app. Browsing the current conditions in these places takes you there. Want to know what it’s doing in Holmfirth, Melchtal, or Nice? Just ask me, I can always tell you.

NETBOOK WEBCAM PHOTOGRAPHS ITS RIVAL

Update on March 23, 2010 by Frank@OBOW

One of the better Touch tips posts I’ve read.

Update on March 23, 2010 by Frank@OBOW

The choice for me: fruit-free

On the day of the iPad’s introduction my wife received a new iPod Touch from her employer. That meant her old Touch came to me. I spent my first serious time with it last night and that time confirmed what I already knew: I’m just not a Mac person. I’ll stick with the netbook until it burns up or breaks down. Maybe by then there’ll be something in the Apple section that tempts me.

From RegHardware:

Apple CEO Steve Jobs was rather dismissive of the netbook at the iPad’s launch last night. He needed to be: he was trying to win over journalists and analysts who’ve spent the last 18 months or so asking when his company will release just such a product - and telling readers why it really should.

Jobs’ criticisms were certainly unfounded. He slammed them as “slow” and sporting “low-quality displays”. The problem with them, he said, is that ” netbooks aren’t better than anything”.

Wrong on most counts, Steve. (more)

Update on January 28, 2010 by Frank@OBOW

Update on January 28, 2010 by Frank@OBOW

OK, after watching the above video I am tempted… as a reader if nothing else.

Update on January 29, 2010 by Frank@OBOW

“No netbook killer” and would you believe “Touch now outselling iPhone”?

iPad - Let the bags begin

(Press Release)

TOM BIHN Introduces Two Bags for Apple iPad

January 27th, 2010

SEATTLE, WA — 

TOM BIHN (http://www.tombihn.com), a designer, manufacturer, and retailer of laptop and travel bags has introduced the Cache sleeve and Ristretto vertical messenger bag for the Apple iPad.

The Size iPad Cache

The Cache: http://www.tombihn.com/page/001/PROD/300/TB0350

The Cache is available in Size iPad - designed specifically for the Apple iPad. The Cache is designed to protect the Apple iPad against scrapes and scratches from all sides. Its 1/4” (6mm) thick foam padding laminated with an exterior of four-ply Taslan and an interior of brushed tricot cradles your iPad. The Cache for Apple iPad fits the iPad on
its own or encased in its Apple iPad Case. Made in Seattle. Lifetime Guarantee.

Available for pre-order; ships within 10 days of release of the Apple iPad. $30.

The Ristretto for iPad

The Ristretto for iPad: http://www.tombihn.com/page/001/PROD/300/TB0222

The Ristretto for Apple iPad is a vertical messenger bag with a interior padded compartment of .25” (6mm) open-cell foam that protects from all sides. The Ristretto for Apple iPad fits the iPad on its own or encased in its Apple iPad Case. Made in Seattle. Lifetime Guarantee.

Available for order; ships within one business day. $110.

The Cache and the Ristretto are available exclusively through the TOM BIHN website or Seattle Factory Showroom.

TOM BIHN has been designing and creating bags for over 30 years. The TOM BIHN Inc. headquarters and factory are located in Seattle, Washington, where the company is dedicated to creating quality products and quality jobs. The public is welcome to visit the TOM BIHN Seattle Factory
showroom and Retail Store and see where the bags are made. TOM BIHN products are available for order and worldwide shipping at the company’s website.

1.5 pounds, 9.7 inches - $499 iPad

Watch for a string of followups.

This story suggests some questions to ask when the hype fog lifts:

An Apple tablet will be hampered at the start by “unsatisfying” 3G broadband networks, short battery life, and people’s yen for a flexible device that can be rolled up and stuffed in a pocket, according to Gaines.

“I just don’t think this will be the killer device just yet,” Gaines said of what Apple has in store. “It will certainly point the way. It’s all coming.” - AFP/Breitbart

Update on January 27, 2010 by Frank@OBOW

Jobs has grown a beard.

Update on January 27, 2010 by Frank@OBOW

Engadget says it the iPad. Groovy.

Update on January 27, 2010 by Frank@OBOW

Whoops, already shaved it.

Update on January 27, 2010 by Frank@OBOW

Update on January 27, 2010 by Frank@OBOW

“The iPad is optimized for Web browsing, email and multimedia applications, Jobs said, unlike a netbook, which is not optimized for anything in particular.” - Doug Olenick, TWICE

ENGADGET: “It’s a half-inch thick and weighs just 1.5 pounds, with a 9.7-inch capacitive touchscreen IPS LCD display, and it’s running a custom 1GHz Apple “A4” chip developed by the P.A. Semi team, with a 10-hour battery life and a month of standby. It’ll come in 16, 32, and 64GB sizes, and it’s got the expected connectivity: very little. There’s a 30-pin Dock connector, a speaker, a microphone, Bluetooth, and 802.11n WiFi, as well as an accelerometer and a compass. As expected, it can run iPhone apps — either pixel-for-pixel in a window, or pixel-doubled fullscreen — but developers can also target the new screen size using the updated iPhone OS SDK, which is available today.”

Update on January 27, 2010 by Frank@OBOW

Can’t argue with the battery life. It’s the netbook/reader for Apple geeks. Don’t pass judgement til the book/reader info is out. That may be it’s most important app.

Starting at $499…

The newly unveiled Apple tablet computing device, the iPad, is being released in two versions; one will have WiFi while the other comes with both WiFi and 3G connectivity. - gadgetrepublic.com

Update on January 27, 2010 by Frank@OBOW

Engadget hands-on reveals: no camera, no multi-tasking, fast processor. “The ebook implementation is about as close as you can get to reading without a stack of bound paper in your hand. The visual stuff really helps flesh out the experience. It may be just for show, but it counts here.”

Tablet or wonder pill?

“Apple’s Tablet: a gizmo to save the world”

Yet if the gossip is to be believed, Apple has found a way to end, or at least mitigate, the onslaught by replacing our heaps of disorderly electronic debris with a single, all-purpose device, to use not only in the home, but at work, school and on the move. It may possess a further, significant virtue. According to a strategic leak in The Wall Street Journal, it offers a particularly hospitable platform for books and newspapers, and, although details remain uncertain, publishers are reported to “be punching the air” - telegraph.co.uk

This is zero week for the AppTab. Get ready for the hype.

Update on January 25, 2010 by Frank@OBOW

‘MICROSOFT PLANS COUNTER STRIKE” - through HP and Acer? Whoopee.

Guardian bag light - snow test

THE MORNING AFTERLike most of the northern hemisphere my little Appalachian village is cold (teens Fahrenheit) and treacherous for wheeled travel. On a foolhardy trek to check on a relative last night I met a hill that neither I or anyone else could scale. So I parked the car in a safe place and headed home on foot. This little hike was made much safer by the Tom Bihn Guardian dual-function bag light. This lanyard/clip LED light usually lives in my car or bag. Last night it was on the kitchen table and it was the light I grabbed when I headed out. Good thing. The roads were so slick that even walking was dangerous unless you could find the powdery parts not already polished by vehicles. The little light was bright enough for this. I used it in flashing mode when I had to stay on the road and in continuous when I took to the shoulder, yards, or ditches. I used it clipped on my jacket pocket and in my hand.

The Guardian is meant as a convenience for illuminating bag interiors and as a compact emergency light that can always be with you. Its second function, I found, is as valuable as its first.

CLIPPED ON POCKET, HANDS-FREEFrom the TB website: Made in Canada to military/law enforcement specifications (not to be confused with the made-in-China consumer version). The replaceable battery is said to be good for 250 hours. Also available with red lens.

New Kindle DX - "Global wireless"

‘Amazon.com has introduced Kindle DX with Global Wireless – a new version of the 9.7-inch wireless reading device now with the convenience of wireless content delivery in over 100 countries. In addition to the features that have made the 6-inch Kindle the bestselling product across all of Amazon, the new Kindle DX with Global Wireless has a large 9.7-inch electronic paper display, auto-rotate capability and storage for up to 3,500 books. Kindle DX with Global Wireless is available for pre-order starting today for $489 at www.amazon.com and ships January 19.”

Size (in inches): 10.4” x 7.2” x 0.38”.

Weight: 18.9 ounces (half of most netbooks).

Claims to have one week of battery life with wireless; two weeks w/o.

AppTab?

WSJ says the Apple Tablet - presumably netbook-sized - is for real.

from GIZMODO

Gizmodo - “I’m Afraid an Apple Tablet Would Be Stupid”

Or it could be the subcompact all-in-one many light travelers have been waiting on…

Update on January 6, 2010 by Frank@OBOW

NYT - A Savior in the Form of a Tablet:

“There hasn’t been this much hype about a tablet since Moses came down from the mountain … 

The tablet, properly executed, will be an iPhone on steroids, and anybody who has spent any time with that device knows that much of its magic lies in replicating that intimate offline navigation. It is a very human, almost innate, urge — readers want to touch what they are seeking to learn.

There are many practical problems to be solved, including making the device lightweight enough to hold while still packing enough battery to feed a power-sucking screen. And the cost is a significant issue. Although a well-executed tablet will play videos and do other magic an e-reader can’t, will it be worth three times as much? It will to me, and perhaps a mass-niche of readers.”

Net "Booklet" from Nokia

Another netbook from the nobility of mobility:

To enhance mobility, the device offers up to 12 hours of use on a single battery charge with Wi-Fi on, compared with most netbooks’ low- to mid-single-digit battery lives, said John Hwang, who headed up the Booklet’s design and development team. Nokia also pointed to the netbook’s silent-running fan-less operation, combined headphone/microphone jack, embedded 7.2Mbps high speed packet access (HSPA) cellular modem, seamless hand-off from Wi-Fi to 3G, aluminum chassis, light weight of 2.76 pounds and 0.78-inch thickness when closed. - from TWICE

It will be available exclusively at Best Buy (initially) and the $299 price is tied to an AT&T contract. It will come loaded with Windows 7.

Speaking of 7, I’m going to have to decide whether to upgrade from XP or not. This decidedly geeky, multi-page article suggests that 7 may not be a good idea for early netbooks and that 7 consumes battery life more voraciously than the venerable XP.

Update on October 14, 2009 by Frank@OBOW