Is the iPhone Apple’s netbook?

Posted: December 19, 2008 in internet, Mac, Technology
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The iPhone is Apple’s Netbook: Almost Half of All Traffic from WiFi Networks – ReadWriteWeb

If there’s one product that seems to be missing from Apple’s product range, it’s a netbook – something in the handy 9-10-inch screen range. Steve Jobs has said in the past that Apple doesn’t go in for making budget hardware and maybe these figures about the wi-fi usage of iPhones back him up. Certainly the growing functionality of the iPhone means I may buy one instead of a MacBook. But to me these figures also indicate that Apple could make a killing by just beefing up the iPod Touch (call it the iTouch or MacTouch) and giving it a slightly larger screen. Do that and it surely opens up the whole netbook/tablet market to them.

Pricey iPhone

Posted: December 18, 2008 in Bermuda, Mac, Technology
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Just happened to be in Cellular One’s Reid Street store today and saw they had an iPhone in the window. I got all excited until I saw the price tag: $999 !!!! – and that’s WITH a one-year contract. When I bought one in Toronto for my daughter it was $299 with a two-year commitment. I’m guessing that the high price is because Cellular One doesn’t have an official deal with Apple and it is having to buy them unlocked (A quick look online confirms that unlocked iPhones are going for anywhere from US$550 to US$750). It remains to be seen, of course, how they’ll perform on CellOne’s 3G network due early next year. In the meantime, at that price it’s going to have to be a toss up betwen a phone and a new MacBook.

My Pulse is racing

Posted: December 17, 2008 in Mac, Technology
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Not sure if I’m the first person in Bermuda to take delivery of the amazing new Pulse Smartpen from Livescribe but I’m sure there aren’t many.

Ever since this pen was first talked about late last year, I’ve been dying to get my hands on one and once they released a Mac verson of the desktop software last month, I plonked my $149 down. Well it finally arrived on my doorstep yesterday and I have to say it’s an impressive piece of kit. Basically the Smartpen works a bit like the Leap Frog kids books you may have seen (not surprising as the guy behind those invented the Pulse too) – it writes like a pen but, unlike other digital pens, records synchronised audio too so that, to quote the company ads, “you never miss a word”. You write on special “Dot Paper” notepaper and books that are printed with Leap Frog-style commands and navigation and you can upload your notes and drawings to your computer via a USB cradle.  Tap on any part of your notes and the Smartpen will play back the audio from that point. It’s an amazing tool for anyone who takes notes in meetings, lectures or – like me – you’re a working journalist.

I haven’t tried it out “in the field” yet but having just scribbled down a page or so of trial notes from a TV newscast, I’m very impressed. It’s easy to use and will become indispensable once apps to convert notes and audio to text are available. The former is already available for  Windows users (Mac users can use MyScript Notes via Boot Camp or Parallels) and audio-to-text is in the works.

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