Archive for September, 2010

The HP Slate video

by Dave Caolo on September 24, 2010 in Articles with No comments

Earlier this week, YouTube user x313xkillax 1 posted this video of what appears to be a HP Slate prototype. I questioned if it was real but the folks at Engadget seem convinced. If so, Apple can rest assured that the iPad is under no immediate threat.

To be fair, it’s a prototype and not necessarily representative of the finished product. With that in mind, let’s explore the video.

The body

This Slate looks like an iPad wearing a case. The textured back features the HP logo and a camera, while the front features a black bezel and glass display. It appears shorter and less wide than the iPad, but also thicker (using the reviewer’s hand for scale).

Five buttons appear along the device’s edge: volume, keyboard, CTRL-ALT-DEL, power and home. They’re ugly and detract from the overall appearance.2 Plus, I wonder how frequently users will accidentally press them. The iPad can be held in any position, and I assume the Slate can as well (we only see it in a single landscape orientation). If so, all of that turning would require careful hand placement. Otherwise, it’s “Oops! I just called up the keyboard.” or “Oops! I just turned the volume down.”

Among the five buttons there are two standouts. The first is the CTRL-ALT-DEL key. At first I found it hilarious. “This machine will freeze up on you,” HP seemed to be saying, “so were going to put this key right here.” I think of the original Nissan Xterra, which came with an integrated first aid kit. “You will hurt yourself and others while driving this car.”

Instead, I think Marco Arment got it right. The CTRL-ALT-DEL key is a regrettable concession:

“This is comical, but the actual likely intention is less fun than killing hung apps: it’s probably to get through the Windows NT-style “Press Ctrl + Alt + Delete to log on” screen, a relic from 1993, which is necessary on tablets presumably because Microsoft’s internal structure, politics, and fragmentation precluded the Tablet PC team from getting the Windows Account Security Or Whatever team to make an exception to this procedure for this edition of Windows 7.”

Also troubling is the keyboard button. To use the software keyboard, you must push this button to produce it. Likewise, you must press it again to put the keyboard away, or else it just sits there, hogging 2/3 of the display area. Why the keyboard can’t appear/disappear as the user taps in and out of text entry fields is a mystery. It’s the same behavior we saw from another Windows-based tablet. Having to produce and dismiss the keyboard every time you want to use it will get old very quickly.

I’ve also got to mention the stickers. PC manufactures feel compelled to slap stickers on their hardware that tout its features and its innards. I’m not the only one who dislikes this practice. At least this Slate’s stickers are silver and blend in with the body.

Finally, I timed the device’s boot time. It took 33.5 seconds for the Slate to go from off to a useable state. My iPad took 21.8 seconds.

The UI

A finger tap places a cursor on the screen. Notice the slight delay between the tap and the cursor’s appearance (you can see gear spin for half a second). Since a touch simply moves a cursor around, you might as well just use a stylus.

The Slate flat-out refuses to scroll three times. Towards the end of the video, the user has already adjusted his behavior to make it work; he uses slow, deliberate strokes to initiate a scroll. Also, note the barely-responsive Internet browser. Can’t wait to get my hands on that sweet piece of software.

Finally, it’s running Windows 7, which is a fine OS, but not suited to this application.

Hopefully things will improve before this thing hits the market. HP recently decided to push this device on the enterprise market and not home users. The latter group will, I assume, benefit from HP’s acquisition of Palm. A tablet running webOS is something I’m eager to see.

This incarnation of the Slate is not.

  1. That’s an upstate New York accent if I’ve ever heard one. I’m guessing he’s from the Rome/Utica/Vernon area. ↩
  2. Yes, the iPad has physical buttons, but you can bet Apple means to change that. ↩

iOS vs. paper

by Dave Caolo on September 22, 2010 in Links with No comments

I’ve long contended that I can capture information more successfully with pen and paper than with any iOS app. After reading this great post by Joshua Schnell, I felt justified. Of course paper is better!

I also know that perception isn’t always reality, so that might not be true. It’s time for an experiment.

I’m going to spend the next month with four apps apps (using one per week) plus a notebook and a pencil. I’ll monitor my habits, take data and report back in five weeks. Here are the specifics.

The focus will be on capturing incoming information only. I’m looking for the best mobile inbox. For example, if someone asks me to perform a task at a certain time, I must be able to enter that request into my trusted system as easily as possible, with a 100% guarantee that I’ll see it again during processing. In this experiment, I will not be setting up calendar appointments, creating or adding to project lists, etc. Instead, I’ll simply push incoming stuff to “In.”

Some definitions

Stuff – I’ll go with David Allen’s definition: Anything that isn’t where it’s supposed to be. Like an appointment confirmation on voice mail, or a task in an email message.

Trusted System – The procedures by which I put a figurative stake in the ground that says, “This must be attended to. Here’s how and why.” In order for a system to gain my trust, I must feel absolutely confident that any information forwarded to it will not be lost or forgotten.

Ubiquitous Capture Tool (UCT) – The physical object(s) that allows me to capture stuff in any situation or environment.

The apps

Due – This app touts super-speedy task input.

TaskPaper – Super simple interface.

SimpleNote – It’s got companions on the desktop and iPad, plus over-the-air sync.

OmniFocus – Ph.D.-level task management.

That’s a nice range of apps. Before you balk about pitting Due against OmniFocus, remember: the goal is to jot down ideas. Every item on the list is just as capable as the others. Also, you might wonder why I’ve omitted obvious choices like Teux Deux and Calvetica. They’re both tremendous, but are best at handling time-sensitive tasks. I’m looking to capture any and everything.

Finally, I will use the iPhone only. No iPad.

The notebook

I’ll be using one of my trusty Field Notes Brand notebooks.

The data

As I work through the month, I’ll note:

  • How long it takes to enter a task
  • Convenience
  • Reliability
  • Usefulness
  • Which one I find myself wanting to go to (towards the end of the month)

Hardly scientific, I know, but still telling. For now, I’m off. Look for part 2 in five weeks.

The Bro Show

by Dave Caolo on September 22, 2010 in Links with No comments

I was thrilled to be a guest on an episode of The Bro Show. It’s a young show but already one of my favorites. Myke and Terry have a passion for the topics they cover, and that’s really all you need.

Six Apart has been sold

by Dave Caolo on September 22, 2010 in Links with No comments

The first blogging platform I ever used was Moveable Type, and I beta tested TypePad. This week, parent company Six Apart has been sold. From the official announcement:

“Nothing in TypePad changes today, and SAY Media will continue to provide support to TypePad subscribers, and evolve the TypePad platform.”

If I were a TypePad user, that “today” would make me nervous.

Shawn Blanc on process

by Dave Caolo on September 21, 2010 in Links with No comments

Shawn Blanc shares his writing process:

“It would be better to write 5,000 words and edit them down into a 2,000-word article than to write 500 words and force more in an attempt to build it up.”

Hell yes.

LittleIpsum

by Dave Caolo on September 21, 2010 in Links with No comments

I love those little apps that expertly satisfy a niche need. LittleIpsum is a Mac OS X menu bar item that produces Latin placeholder text. It’ll provide you with single words, sentences or paragraphs and even wrap the output in HTML tags if you like. It also supports Growl notifications.

Most users won’t have a use for it but those who do will love it. LittleIpsum is free and requires Mac OS X 10.6.x.

[Via Grant Hutchinson]

The three Safari extensions I love

by Dave Caolo on September 10, 2010 in Links with No comments

Since Apple released the Safari Extensions Gallery, we’ve been compiling interesting examples at TUAW. There are many gems in the list, but these are the three that I use daily.

A Cleaner YouTube

This extension removes the visual clutter from YouTube. When you first visit YouTube with the extension enabled, you’re presented with a search box on a white field. That’s it. Enter your criteria and the box is replaced with an orderly list of results. Finally, select one and it’s presented all by itself. The experience is significantly less distracting, and I’ve pretty much had it enabled since I found it last month.

Caveats

Some of YouTube’s functionality is reduced with A Cleaner YouTube enabled. Specifically, YouTube’s recommendations, popular videos and access to the embed code. You can restore any of those features by briefly disabling the extension, but frankly I don’t miss them.

Naked Twitter

Much like A Cleaner YouTube, Naked Twitter’s purpose is to eliminate visual clutter. Once enabled, it removes the trending list, followers, suggestions and anything else that isn’t the actual stream of tweets. Four icons line the top of the page: profile, messages, replies and sign out. Personally, I never use anything beyond those functions, so they’re all I need.

Caveats

As with A Cleaner YouTube, some functionality is  lost. Those who enjoy reading the list of trending topics, for example, will miss it.

Instapaper Beyond 1

I use Instapaper daily.  Instapaper Beyond makes it even more useful by assigning a keyboard shortcut to nearly any action you’d want to perform while using Instapaper in Safari. For example, hit “S” to star or unstar an article, “s” to jump to the next starred article, “m” to move selected articles to a new folder and “u” to bring up all unread articles. It’s immensely useful and time-saving.

Caveats

You must be comfortable with abandoning the mouse. Also, hunt-and-peck typists will find it frustrating. Enjoy.

Each of these deserves your attention, especially if you prefer tidy efficiency.

  1. Full disclosure: Brett Terpstra, the extensions’s author, is a colleague and a friend. ↩

“We don’t need any more fart apps”

by Dave Caolo on September 9, 2010 in Links with No comments

Line 8 of Apple’s newly-published App Store Review Guidelines:

“We have over 250,000 apps in the App Store. We don’t need any more Fart apps. If your app doesn’t do something useful or provide some form of lasting entertainment, it may not be accepted.”

Amen.

Some Game Center screenshots [Updated]

by Dave Caolo on September 9, 2010 in Articles with No comments

Just a few hours after iOS 4.1‘s release, Firemint and Secret Exit released Game Center-enalbed versions of their games (Flight Control, Real Racing and Zen Bound 2). I own all three, and spent some time playing with them this evening. Here are some early screenshots and thoughts on Apple’s venture into social gaming.

The Game Center lists the compatible games you’ve got installed, but not until you launch/quit those games. Simply installing them won’t do it. The first time you launch an app, it registers itself with Game Center and drops a little graphic with the icon and your username.

An app’s achievements can be found in two locations: the app itself and with Game Center. Here’s a shot of Flight Control’s achievements list in both places. It’s too bad that the achievement icons are so small, as I bet they’re beautiful and I’d like to get a better look. For example, in the screenshots below, I can’t select the Safety Card achievement to bring up a detail page. It’s simply a part of the list.

Once a game is registered, it appears in Game Center’s list of available games. The “Find Game Center Games” banner launches Safari and points it to apple.com/game-center. Perhaps in the future it will list supported games, but for now it’s just a web link.

Each game gets its own great-looking page. Below are some screenshots of Flight Control in the Game Center. A full-sized icon sits atop the page (again making me wish for large achievement icons), which lists the last time you played, your place on the leaderboard, achievement history and aspect of the game (maps, levels, etc.) you recently played. The leader board is fun because it separates your friends from the global pool of players, and data can be restricted to today, this week or all time.

Just for fun, here are two screenshots from Real Racing.

Of course, the project’s success hinges on the effectiveness of the social aspects. As a gamer, I’m eager to earn achievements and brag to my friends. But will casual gamers be equally motivated? Perhaps. When looking at a friend’s page, you can see what games you have in common. If your good buddy is playing Game X, you’ll probably check it out. Additionally, Apple lets you set your status for all to see. I can already predict using it for trash talk among my friends.

Good luck to Apple and all the developers involved. Again, this was a quick post to share some screen shots and initial thoughts. So far, I’m enthused about Game Center.

_____

Update: There’s now a dedicated section of the App Store. I wondered how long that would take.

Apple’s Game Center [Updated]

by Dave Caolo on September 8, 2010 in Links with No comments

Apple released iOS 4.1 for the iPhone and iPod touch 1 today, and with it the much-anticipated Game Center. Much like OpenFeint, Game Center will let users compete with each other for big points and bragging rights across a number of games.

The oddity is that it launched with no supported games. I suspected that Apple would have worked with hand-selected developers like they did prior to the iPad’s release (Firemint comes to mind). I’m sure Apple is approving an onslaught of submissions right now (Touch Arcade has been keeping tabs on the process) but it’s odd that they launched the service with none.

It wouldn’t be so bad if Apple users weren’t already underwhelmed by Ping.

_____

Update: This is supposedly the first game with Game Center support, and I’ve played with 3 others and posted screenshots.

  1. iPod touch 2nd, 3rd and 4th generation, iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS are supported. ↩
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