IBendXL, A Paper-Thin iPad Stand

Yes, the iBend is yet another iPad stand, but this one is truly remarkable. Weighing in at around the same a sheet of card, and just about as thin, the iBend gains rigidity when it is bent into a curve.

The plastic iBendXL (the smaller iBend is for the iPhone) sips flat. You pull it out and bend it, producing two hooks at the front which grab the bottom edge of the iPad and a gentle curve at the back which creates a flat rest for the iPad to lean on. It reminds me of the fascinating models and diagrams in my old math classroom which showed variously truncated cones, cut by flat planes at different angles.

The iBendXL costs $10, and the smaller iBend is $5. Both are slim enough to be slipped betwixt the iDevice and whatever case contains it, and should be tough enough to last a good long time. What this stand really suggest, though, is a DIY project. I doubt the iBend folks are going to put up a printable PDF template anytime soon, but a rainy afternoon spent with some scissors, card and a French curve should get you pretty close. Available now, in plain colors or in fancy arted-up designs.

iBend product page [iBend. Thanks, Rishi!]

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Hands-On With The Chunky, Unbreakable 3Feet Tablet Stand

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The 3Feet is an almost-indestructible, over-engineered plastic stand for pretty much any tablet or smartphone that needs a one. I tried one out, and found that maybe the best thing about it isn’t the capable range of tablet-cosseting features, but the fact that you can tinker and play with it for minutes on end.

The stand consists of five separate parts, all of which slot together with various deviously-conceived hingeing mechanisms. Thankfully, it comes pre-assembled, otherwise you’d likely mistake it for an impossible-to-solve puzzle and spend hours trying to put it together. In use, though, the 3Feet is very simple. You pull a tab on the back (marked “pull”) and it opens up into an A-frame, much like a tiny easel. Slots and rods molded into the plastic fit together to allow two angles, and a little lugged shelf folds down from the front to grab the bottom edge of the tablet.

This fold-open lip is oversized for the iPad, which means you can easily use it even whilst in a case (there is also a hole through which the charging cable can pass). It also means you’re not limited to the iPad: you can drop in pretty much anything, from a cellphone to a Kindle. The stand is sturdy enough to keep even the relatively heavy iPad safe in both portrait and landscape orientations.

The stability is helped by rubber bands made from silicone, which stop it sliding across the desk and also keep the happy tablet scratch-free (although the plastic stand probably wouldn’t damage much anyway).

The final trick is in a little kick-stand which flips out from the back when the main “leg” is folded flat. It is small, but somehow manages to both hold the stand at the right angle for on-screen typing, and also be sturdy enough to keep the iPad steady.

There’s not much to criticize about the 3Feet stand. It is light enough and compact enough that you can toss it in a bag and forget about it, and it’s even dishwasher-safe. And the complex folding design means you probably won’t be able to stop playing and fiddling with the thing. Hell, it’s even cheap, at just $15, and comes in a wide range of (interchangeable) colors.

The only thing that might put you off is the looks. This is a product for which the term “utilitarian” was invented. That’s not to say it is ugly, or even that the appearance hasn’t been considered. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but somehow it reminds me of medical devices, or perhaps even the toys of my childhood, which tended to be chunky and long-lasting rather than stylish and short-lived.

Or maybe I’m just seduced by the fact that this makes the ultimate executive stress-toy, something to keep your hands and brain busy when you should be working. Available now, from Amazon.

3Feet product page [3Feet. Thanks, Steve!]

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Color E Ink Readers Coming to China in 2011

We’ve seen color e-readers before, even colored e-paper displays. But in 2011, Chinese e-reader maker Hanvon will ship the first color reader with a screen made by Cambridge’s E Ink themselves.

According to the New York Times, Hanvon will announce their new e-reader at Tuesday’s FPD International 2010 trade show in Tokyo. Sporting a 9.68-inch color touch screen, Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity, it will retail in China in March 2011 for about $440.

The reader uses a standard E Ink screen with a color filter, so it has the same low-power, lightweight, high-readability characteristics of its black-and-white cousins. But this also means the screen is more-or-less static: it can show color photographs, illustrations and possibly some animation, but not full-motion video. Without a power-hungry backlight, the colors won’t be as bright as an LCD screen either.

Other features of the device remain unclear. Hanvon is known for its handwriting technology, which it packages with some but not all of its e-readers; the NYT is silent on whether the new device includes it. Business users, who are the device’s target market, are often more receptive to a stylus interface than the general consumer market; introducing color could make a stylus appealing to illustrators as well.

The long-term trajectory of color e-paper displays is even less clear, even as more-capable products from E Ink, Mirasol and Pixel QI come to the market. Color plays a different role in reading than it does in video or gaming. Will color illustrations be enough to satisfy readers, or will they drift towards LCD screens and tablets?

The short version is that consumers want everything: vibrant color and full video with low power consumption and zero glare at an unbeatable price. Until that arrives, we’ll continue to see both makers and readers in this space accepting tradeoffs and experimenting to find a balance that works.

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‘Beautiful Modeler’: Multi-Touch Virtual 3D Clay for iPad

“Beautiful Modeler” is a pair of applications that lets you sculpt virtual modeling-clay with your fingers, thanks to the iPad’s multi-touch capabilities.

The iPad itself is the controller, and displays nothing but five dots that represent your fingertips. A companion app, running on a nearby Mac on the same Wi-Fi network, shows the actual model on-screen. By moving your fingers around, you can squish and shape the malleable chunk of virtual Play Doh in real time, pushing and pulling it until you have the shape you want. You can also turn and flip the on-screen object by turning and flipping the iPad, thanks to its accelerometers. This is the reason the lump is shown elsewhere, and not on the iPad’s own display – it’s hard to see the screen when it is facing away from you.

The apps, from Karl D.D. Willis, will output the results in Standard Template Library (STL) format and can be passed direct to a 3D printer to turn your virtual object into a real one. You can even choose to output a negative version of your shape. In the video, Willis uses this to make a lamp. In reality, you could print a negative mold and then cast your object in any material you like.

If you fancy taking a crack at this cyber-pottery, you can grab the source code from Willis project page and compile it yourself. You’ll need an iOS developer account to actually load it onto your iPad, but if you’re nerdy enough to have a 3D printer around, that shouldn’t be a problem, right?

Beautiful Modeler [Interactive Fabrication via I.Materialise. Thanks, Joris!]

Photo: Karl D.D. Willis

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Video: Flip-Top Inspiron Duo Tablet Looks Hot

Can the new interest in tablet computers revive the tired old keyboard-flipping tablets of old? Dell seems to think so, and once you check out the promo video for the soon-to-be-launched Inspiron Duo, you might think so too.

It might not seem like it amongst all the iPad fever, but tablet PCs have been around for years. A niche market, mostly serving the medical profession and dorky middle-managers who preferred to scrawl notes into Microsoft OneNote instead of learning to type, tablets languished due to running a desktop OS which was hopeless on a touch screen.

The Inspiron Duo is almost as far from these dinosaurs as is the iPad itself. The sleek-looking body looks like a fat tablet, and comes with a proper UI customized for fingers, although it’s running on top of Windows 7. Open it up, and flip the touch-screen around in its frame, and you have a proper notebook. It even has a JBL speaker-dock to slip it into for charging.

Success will rest on whether it can do both tasks properly, or whether it sports a too-small keyboard and un-intuitive touch-interface. If Dell gets it right, then the Duo could be a huge hit. Slip up and people will stick with an iPad and a proper notebook, instead of paying for a novelty Atom-powered netbook that doesn’t do anything properly. Available by year-end.

Dell Inspiron duo coming soon [Dell/YouTube via Mashable]

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Archos Tablets Now Shipping With Android Froyo

Archos announced it was working on Android-based multimedia tablets in lots of form factors long before the iPad got everyone tablet-crazy. This week, the company began shipping its 4.3-inch and 7-inch models to customers in the US and Europe, while some Europeans may have gotten their 10.1-inch units early.

The Archos 43 is straightforward: 4.3″ FWVGA screen (480×854 pixels), Android 2.2 OS with an Archos skin, 1GHz ARM processor and 16 GB of flash memory for $250. (The tech specs say it also comes in an 8GB version, but that’s not an option now at the Archos store.)

The Archos 70 is a little more interesting, if only because it’s actually slightly more retro. It’s got the same guts as the 43, but a slightly lower-resolution screen (800 by 480) and a 250 GB hard drive (the kind that spins) option that’s forthcoming for $350. (Right now, only the 8GB flash model for $280 is available — which doesn’t seem like so much of an upgrade over the 43, with fewer pixels and less memory.)

Archos also has a 2.8-inch Froyo PMP for $100 — a nice little iPod Touch/Nano replacement — but most of its Android units are still officially unavailable. The 10.1-inch version was briefly reported to be shipping in Europe, but has since either been pulled or sold out. There’s also a 3.2-inch PMP with a video camera that’s still on the way.

That 250 GB hard drive reminds me that most of the companies releasing Android tablets now have been developing them for years — long enough that they were never really designed to compete with the iPad, but the iPod Classic and iPod Touch. It’s as if the iPhone’s touchscreen created an evolutionary fork in media players, with the slim, oversized iPad going one way and the square, high-capacity Archos 70 going another.

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iOS 4.2 Goes Gold Master, iPad Gains New Multitask Bar

Apple has released the “Gold Master” of iOS 4.2, and it is available for developers to download today. IOS 4.2 is the unifying version of iOS that will bring the same multitasking and UI features to all iDevices. This is most significant for the iPad, which has been waiting patiently for features that it is clearly desperate for. Apple has also asked developers to submit iOS 4.2 apps to the App Store.

“Gold Master” is software talk for “finished”. Barring any horrible last-minute discoveries, the GM is the same version that would, in the days of software on CD and DVD, be duplicated and then sent to stores. Apple promised iOS 4 for the iPad in November, which we took, as always with Apple, to mean the very last days of November. Could it be that it will be here sooner?

Aside from the multitasking and the folders which the iPad needs so much, the latest OS version brings a new multitask-bar, the little panel that is revealed with a double-tap on the home button:

Here you see that you have quick-access to volume and brightness (at last!) controls, as well as the standard music controls and a screen-orientation lock toggle. To the right of the media controls is the new AirPlay button. Press this and your media, be it audio or video, will then stream to compatible gear like the AirPort Express or the new AppleTV. AirPlay, as well as AirPrint, will also come to the iPhone and iPod Touch with this update.

Update 9:20 a.m. PT: Wired.com’s Brian Chen here, just chiming in with a few comments. While people lit streets on fire and threw beers at the cops last night in San Francisco, I had a chance to test iOS 4.2 GM on both the iPad and the iPhone. I just wanted to note that AirPlay video streaming doesn’t seem to work yet with the Apple TV, which kind of stinks, but I’m assuming Apple has to ship an iOS update for the Apple TV before AirPlay is fully functional.  Other than that, not much to say beyond our first look at iOS 4.2 beta posted weeks ago. We’ll have a more in-depth report once AirPlay is up and running.

Apple Releases iOS 4.2 Golden Master to Developers [MacRumors Forums]

iOS 4.2 iPad sneak peek [Apple]

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VLC Media Player’s GNU License and Apple’s DRM Don’t Mix

The free VLC Media Player app for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad will likely soon disappear from the app store. Rémi Denis-Courmont, one of VLC’s core project developers, confirmed that he’s filed copyright infringement against Apple for distribution of the app through its store.

“VLC media player is free software licensed solely under the terms of the open source GNU General Public License (a.k.a. GPL),” Denis-Courmont explains, noting that even though VLC for iOS is free, Apple’s application DRM violates the terms of the license. “At the time of writing, the infringing application is still available. However, it is to be expected that Apple will cease distribution soon, just like it did with GNU Go earlier this year in strikingly similar circumstances.

“VLC and open-source software in general would not have reached their current quality and success if it had not been for their license. Therefore, blatant license violation cannot be tolerated at any rate. Concerned users are advised to look for application on more open mobile platforms for the time being.”

VLC is an extremely popular cross-platform, open-source media player known for its ability to play virtually any video or audio file type. A separate group of developers called Applidium ported VLC to Apple’s iOS and submitted it to the app store, where it was (perhaps surprisingly) accepted. Apple distributed it through their store with the DRM they use on every application — which is where the trouble really begins.

Now it’s the core group of developers of the VLC project, not the developers of the iOS app, who’ve filed suit against Apple for violation of the license. Apple has two choices: distribute the app without DRM — which would be absolutely unprecedented and cause all manner of problems for Apple, which manages applications through individual user accounts, handling updates through the App Store, etc. — or pull the app, which is what’s likely to happen.

“The fact of the GPL incompatibility was already well known,” Denis-Courmont observes. “JB [Jean-Baptiste Kempf, one of the Applidium/VLC developers who ported VLC to iOS] himself described it as a “grey area”. They decided to take the risk anyway, and they bear full responsibility for any consequences. Personally, I don’t blame them because I know very well how a geek feels when writing cool code for a cool new gadget.”

So:

  1. If you want to grab VLC for iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch, get it now. The easiest thing Apple can do to resolve this is pull the app, and I doubt they’ll dither.
  2. Even if you get VLC now, it could break after iOS 4.2 is released (some folks are already documenting problems with the beta) and the developers would have no way to update it. This sucks.
  3. There are serious problems with trying to port open-source projects to iOS, even as free applications. Without allowing sideloading or some alternate manner of distribution through the app store that respects the terms of the various open-source licenses under which these projects were developed and released, there’s a whole class of really interesting, powerful, well-known projects that may never see mobile versions on Apple’s platforms. And it would probably have to offer Android or another platform a serious competitive advantage to get Apple to change that.
  4. Apple’s forthcoming App Store for OS X 10.7 may wind up posing exactly the same problems, as it promises to use exactly the same account-based model to sync applications across devices. And that could be when we really start seeing some backlash.

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Sony May Be Developing Phones and Tablets For Casual Gaming

It’s nearly impossible for Sony to create a Playstation or PSP phone offering the same controls and same games as either device. Instead, Sony seems to be pushing for a different kind of mobile gaming altogether, using tablets and phones as the hardware for a new casual gaming platform.

“Mobile gaming is a very important business area for us,” said Sony’s chief financial officer Masaru Kato, according to a transcription of an earnings call provided by Seeking Alpha. “We started out with the PSP that was our first mobile gaming console, but since then the market as you know has expanded into bigger arenas; gaming on mobile phones, gaming on tablets and on certain mobile devices.

“The PSP being a proprietary platform was more concentrated I’d say on the core gaming segment than the light game, but now we are addressing that market as well,” Kato added. “I can not be specific as to how we will introduce new product to address these markets, but one thing I can say is that we have those markets addressed and we will come out with products and services to capture the broader gaming market.”

A transcription by Engadget adds the following: “As for the tablet … obviously as a mobile strategy, this occupies a very important position. On one hand there is PC, and on the other hand there is joint venture with Ericsson on smartphone and for the games devices. And tablets fall somewhere in between.

“It is true Apple has led the market, but when we are to enter the market we would like to put a Sony character onto a new product – and that is the effort we are making right now. Therefore I think you can hope for a very good product to come out.”

Engadget read this mostly as a quasi-confirmation of the purported Playstation Phone photos they leaked last week — which was then denied, then not quite denied, then ignored — but I come away from the call with something quite different.

The PSP is, as Kato says, a dedicated mobile device for core gamers. It’s not a phone replacement. The PSP/Playstation’s analog sticks will never slide underneath a mobile phone’s screen without making the device incredibly thick; Sony can replace them with a touchpad, but then it’s really a derivative experience.

On the other hand, smartphones and tablets open devices up to all sorts of hardware possibilities that the current PSP doesn’t have: accelerometers and gyroscopes, 3G networking, etc.

This is the market Apple’s dominating in mobile, that Nintendo opened up on the console, and that Microsoft is trying to enter by bringing Xbox Live games to Windows Phone 7.

It’s a natural move for Sony: why make an Ericsson Android gaming smartphone that wedges the six-year-old PSP platform inside it when you can make Android gaming smartphones, feature phones and tablets that bring something new (for Sony) and competitive (with Apple and Microsoft) to the market?

If we’re getting wild with it, as long as we’re talking Android, why not bring a similar game platform as applications for Sony’s products on Google TV? Sony games without having to buy a Sony box — which might explain that giant controller.

There will always be a market for dedicated mobile gaming, which is why the PSP will continue to develop and add features and compete with Nintendo. But in mobile, the market for casual gaming is larger by orders of magnitude. Sony has all of the tools to reach that space and offer something both competitive and compelling.

PS Phone: Sony admits “new product” [Eurogamer]

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DSLR Camera Remote HD for iPad

It’s been a long, long time coming, but OnOne has finally gotten around to making an iPad version of its handy DSLR Camera Remote for the iPad. The app, previously available for the iPhone and iPod touch, allows you to remote-view what your SLR sees on the iPad’s screen, and also control most aspects of the camera therefrom.

Actually, you’ll have to wait a little longer for the imaginatively-named DSLR Camera Remote HD to hit – it’s due late November, but that does’t stop me getting excited. The iPad’s jumbo display is the reason: the iPhone’s screen isn’t much bigger than that of a modern-day SLR, so it made little more than a fancy, if useful, remote. Now you can preview and compose your shots on the iPad’s big screen, which opens up many more opportunities. Hell, in the studio, where portability isn’t a big deal, you might even use this right next to the camera just for that big preview.

Sadly, DSLR Remote still can’t fire the camera directly. You need to tether it to a computer running the companion server app. From there, you can peek your camera’s live-view, adjust exposure, focus and even use the iPad as an intervalometer for those time-lapse sequences you’ve always wanted to do.

There are some new features for the iPad version, too. You can now use gestures to pan and zoom the image for closer inspection, and also choose to save a low-res version of the picture to the iPad’s camera-roll. Finally, you will b able to shoot video and even monitor it with compatible cameras. The iPhone version will also get these additions in the next update.

Sounds great, right? You may want to sit down. The iPad app will cost you $50. The update to the iPhone app is free ($20 to buy new), but you’ll have to pay another $10 in-app to get the video-shooting functionality. Canon and Nikon only.

DSLR Camera Remote HD [OnOne via Rob Galbraith]

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