This awful diagram doesn’t show it well, but the keys have been resized to fit the user’s fingers
Touch screens look like they’re going to be the default method for most people to input text into their computers. As cellphones and tablets relegate laptops and desktop to the role of “trucks,” we’ll have to un-learn touch typing in favor of primitive hunt-and-peck. Or will we?
IBM has filed a patent that could provide on possible answer. The patent concerns touch-screen calibration. When you first fire up your device, you go through a training stage, only it’s the computer and not you that is being taught. Through a series of tests, it determines how you type, how big your fingers are, and how accurately you hit the keys.
Armed with this information, it then presents you with a custom keyboard, tailored to your own fat (or thin)-fingered paws. In my case, it might stop me typing “M”, “N” or a comma every time I try to hit “space” on my iPad.
Sadly, this is just a patent application, which in the United States means that it is will be used only to add firepower to lawsuits. A real shame, as touch-screen keyboards need all the help they can get.
Now you can experience the full confucion of Facebook in a native iPad app. Screen capture MG Siegler
Facebook’s iPad app could be a lot closer to launch than we thought. A full-sized, fully-functional version of the iPad app is hidden inside the current iPhone app. That means that, if you are running the iPhone app you already have the iPad executable on your phone.
Discovered by M.G Siegler, Apple writer for AOL’s Tech Crunch, the iPad app is a lot more modern-looking than the tired old iPhone version, and looks a lot like Twitter’s official iPad app. On the left is a source list to navigate between your Wall, info, photos and friends sections.
Up top, below the status bar, you’ll find more icons to take you to different sections (places and chat, amongst others), and if you flip to horizontal orientation you get a combination of both these navigation “aids,” and the top-bar nav icons remain.
In short, Facebook has managed to fully port the signature confusion of its Web site to a tablet app, a not insignificant achievement.
Siegler, who found the app after reading about it on Twitter, calls the app “spectacular.” The discovery was made by a an engineering student named Marvin Bernal, who also gives instructions on how to get it running on your own iPad:
If you are smart enough to know what that means, and yet you still use Facebook, then go ahead and hack away. The rest of us can either wait for the official launch, or wait for Google to release Google Plus for the iPad.
A leaked version of RIM's Android app player running on a BlackBerry PlayBook. Photo: N4BB.com
RIM can’t seem to get its act together. First, it rushed the release of the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, a product that many agreed felt unfinished. And this morning, the company accidentally released an incomplete version of its app player for running Android software.
PlayBook makers Research in Motion posted the Android application player to its website, allowing eager BlackBerry fans to download the app before its official release. The player was quickly taken down shortly thereafter, but not before a number of users downloaded the application. The N4BB website first reported the app player’s appearance.
A RIM spokesperson confirmed to Wired.com that the app player was posted in error, and that the version available isn’t what we’re going to see after its official release.
“We recommend that users refrain from downloading and installing this software since it is outdated and non-functional in many respects,” a RIM spokesperson said in a statement provided to Wired.com.
The BlackBerry PlayBook needs a Hail Mary to survive in today’s crowded tablet market. Dozens of newAndroid-poweredtablets have debuted this year, all of which are competing for customers who want an alternative to Apple’s tablet device. HP’s recent release of the TouchPad touts webOS, an underdog operating system still espoused by Palm evangelists. The iPad 2, of course, continues to dominate the industry, representing approximately 83 percent of all tablets shipped in 2010, according to research firm IDC.
The PlayBook also faces challenges on the application front. The PlayBook launched with over 3,000 apps, far more than Google’s current number of tablet-optimized apps (around 250), as well as HP’s (about 300). Apple’s tablet app selection remains far ahead of the pack at around 100,000.
So instead of putting all its eggs in bolstering BlackBerry App World — RIM’s app download store — RIM expects to boost its user base by attracting Android lovers with the Android app player.
Today’s accidental leak is the first we’ve seen of the Android app player since the company demoed a version at its BlackBerry App World in May. RIM recommended against downloading the Android app player.
Despite RIM’s pleas, many have already uploaded copies of the leaked application to file sharing web sites, allowing those who missed out to test the early version.
“I think they realize that their app store hasn’t really taken off,” said BlackBerry app developer Gurbir Sidhu in an interview with Wired.com. ”More developers are interested in Android apps, and there is more effort being put into Android development.”
Some say, however, that the Android application player may not be enough to save the PlayBook.
“Even with the Android app player, it does not support every app out there, and most apps still need to be ported over to work well,” Gartner mobile analyst Phillip Redman told Wired.com. “So though the intent is to open up [the PlayBook] to a wider variety of mobile apps, it will still be limited.”
Redman speaks to a larger issue in application development: Native versus ported apps. When an application is written in a native language — or a coding language created specifically for a particular operating system — the programs generally run smoother, faster and with less system hiccups. When an application is ported over to a non-native environment, reliability and performance isn’t always up to par.
“In the end, native apps work best on each device and I think this will have limited impact overall,” said Redman. “There are very nice Android tablets out there if a user wants to go that direction and get the best performance and choice.
Of course, the PlayBook has other issues to deal with in its uphill battle. The device still doesn’t have native e-mail, calendar and contacts applications — three items we’ve been promised would be coming since the PlayBook’s debut three months ago.
Whether or not the Android player attracts more users for RIM is a lingering question for after the program’s official release.
Hope, however, remains. Some who have downloaded the program early seem to enjoy the Android app player experience on the PlayBook, even using the early version.
“It’s a little early to make a judgement based on an early beta but it’s not bad,” wrote one early user on a BlackBerry enthusiast forum. “I’m actually surprised that any apps worked, pleasantly surprised too as it bodes well for sideloading apps in the future,” the user wrote.
The official beta release of the Android App Player for the BlackBerry PlayBook is scheduled for release later this summer, according to RIM.
Check out the video below for a demo of the Android app player running on the PlayBook.
Until you turn it on, the BeBook eReader is pretty good looking
Quick. Name me five e-readers without asking Google. Tricky, right? After the big names — Kindle, Nook and Sony — you might remember Kobo, but then you’ll be left scouring your memory. That’s not to say there aren’t any other e-readers. It’s just that in the U.S the market is already dominated by these big brands.
Over in Europe it’s a different story. On a recent trip to London, I saw a lot of Kindles, but the U.K has its own Kindle store on Amazon. Back in Spain, I see no-name readers and Sony readers, and not much else. According to Gadget Lab reader Virginia, the BeBook Neo eReader is another very popular e-reader.
Up until you switch it on, the BeBook looks just fine. When you hit the power, though, the full force of its ugly UI assaults you. Its Wacom touch-panel is controlled by a stylus, and the interface is designed to match. Drop-down menus remind you more of a Palm Pilot than a modern tablet, and the tiny, over-detailed icons only add to this.
If you can get past the fugliness, though, you have a capable device. It can read pretty much any non-DRM text format you throw at it (EPUB, PDF, TXT, HTML, RTF, MOBI, CHM and PDB) plus EPUB and PDF files locked up with Adobe’s Digital Editions DRM.
It’ll also play MP3s, but in this case you might want to stick in an SD card as the reader only has 512MB of on-board storage.
Finally, and a testament to its international credentials, the BeBook lets you view a world map, click on a country and see what e-book stores it offers.
I’ll be sticking with my Kindle for now, as pretty much everything else I have tried is clunky in comparison. If you’re not happy getting your hands dirty and converting foreign-language texts to MOBI format, though, you might take a look at the BeBook, despite its rather steep $250 price tag.
Fotoboard is flawed, but a great way to sort and view photo albums on the iPad
Even with the new features coming in iOS5, the iPad (and iPhone) Photos app is pretty poor for actually viewing photos — the very reason for its existence. If you use iPhoto to organize your photos on your computer (Mac-only), then you can have it generate albums of faces and places, but most of the time you’re left scrolling through the “Photos” section, which contains everything, just to find one photo.
Fotoboard is an iPad app which creates albums. You can make these manually, or you can browse a calendar which lets you go see all the photos you took on, say, your birthday two years ago. This alone would be worth the price of the app (currently free) if it weren’t for a couple of annoyances (more on those in a minute).
You can’t drag to re-order, but the app sure looks great
Creating your own albums is easy. You click the “plus” sign, add a title and then choose the photos in a batch from the familiar iOS photo-picker. You can add more photos later, too, as well as removing them.
You can view the images individually and swipe through them. In this case you see the pictures on a neat wood-style background, along with a piece of paper with limited metadata displayed (a map will also show up if there is geo-data in the image file). You can also add captions, and send photos via email, Facebook or Twitter.
You can also start a slideshow, choosing either the same wooden-table view, or a fullscreen mode. Finally, you can share photos with other Fotoboard users on your local network via Wi-Fi.
Fotoboard is still very young, and there are some big omissions. You can’t re-order photos in an album, for example. But the biggest pain is the behavior of the calendar view.
It defaults to the oldest picture in your library, and to page through dates you need to tap the tiny arrows which flip you one month at a time. Exit the calendar and re-enter and you have to start over. Fotoboard desperately needs a better way to navigate dates.
That said, its easily the prettiest and easiest to use Album app I have yet found (and I have tried a lot). And right now it is also free, which means that iPad-toting photographers have no excuse not to try it out.
Lenovo’s ThinkPad comes complete with stylus. (Photo courtesy Lenovo)
Better late to the tablet game than never, Lenovo announced three new tablet offerings Wednesday, officially unveiling designs and specs on the products for the first time.
The IdeaPad K1 and ThinkPad tablets are set to debut in August, with the IdeaPad P1 to arrive at an unspecified date later in the year. The K1 and the ThinkPad will run Android Honeycomb 3.1, while the P1 will run Windows 7.
What may be even more exciting is that all three tablets will run Netflix, the first of any Android Honeycomb-powered tablets to do so. Although a handful of Android phones are able to run Netflix’s Android app, Apple’s iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch are all able to run the streaming movie service. It’s a big deal that Lenovo’s tablets will finally offer another solution to Netflix users who don’t necessarily want to go with Apple.
The real star hardware is found in the ThinkPad, Lenovo’s business-oriented Android tablet (pictured above). It comes with an optional stylus pen, but unlike the exorbitantly priced HTC Flyer’s stylus — which cost a whopping 80 bucks to purchase with the Flyer — the ThinkPad’s stylus will cost less than half that when bought with the tablet, a modest $30.
It’s got some of the usual accoutrements found in Android tablets — dual-core processor, front and back-facing cameras — but also includes a number of uncommon connectivity options. HDMI output, USB 2.0 port, micro USB port, SIM card slot, 3-in-1 memory card reader — with this kind of connectivity, it’s like we’re looking at the back of a PC tower rather than a tablet. There’s also a dock connector to hook the tablet up to both a charging station or the optional $100 folio, which acts as both a carrying case and a keyboard.
The ThinkPad will first launch in Wi-Fi only versions, but at an unspecified date shortly after a 3G version will go on sale. The carrier for the 3G version is yet to be named.
The IdeaPad K1 is more run of the mill, touting a list of specs similar to other tablets already on the market. (Photo courtesy Lenovo)
The K1 doesn’t look much different from most Android tablets currently available for purchase. It sports a dual-core 1-GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 processor backed by a full gig of RAM, and it comes with a 10.1-inch display — all of which is identical to Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1, which was released far before the K1 will come out. And like Toshiba’s recently launched Thrive tablet, the tablet’s back casing comes in multiple colors.
The one big draw — you’ll be able to buy a 32 GB version for $500, the same as a 16 GB iPad 2.
Lenovo’s IdeaPad P1 rounds out the threesome as a Windows 7-powered tablet. (Photo courtesy Lenovo)
Last but not entirely forgotten, the P1 touts a 1.5-GHz Intel processor, can support up to 2 GB of DDR2 memory, and will come in both Wi-Fi and 3G versions upon its eventual release. Like the ThinkPad, you can also purchase the P1 with an optional stylus.
The 32 GB IdeaPad K1 will be available for preorder online for $500 beginning today, with a release set for August. The 16 GB ThinkPad will also be available for pre-order online today for $530 with the optional stylus, and $500 without. It’s also set to drop come August. Finally, the P1 hasn’t got any availability or pricing information outside of a “fourth quarter” release time frame.
While the device worked during Wired.com’s testing period without issue, numerous customers have experienced problems with Toshiba’s new Thrive tablet. Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com
Toshiba confirmed on Tuesday malfunctions with its newly released Android tablet, promising a fix to come soon.
In a series of message board complaints on Monday, customers reported problems waking the tablet from its sleep mode. Instead of normally pressing the power button on the side of the device to turn on the screen, a number of users needed to do hard reboot — or a complete restart of the system software — in order to use the tablet. The complaints from forum members were first reported by Engadget.
“Toshiba is aware a limited number of Thrive Tablet users are experiencing Resume issues when in Sleep mode,” the company declared in a statement issued to Wired.com. ” We are aggressively working to implement a fix that resolves this issue and will push an update as soon as possible.”
It’s rough news for Toshiba, as its new tablet product launches in a market packed with Android slate offerings. Beginning in February with the Motorola Xoom, close to a dozen new Android-powered tablets have been released in 2011. Most attacks on Android’s tablet-optimized version, Honeycomb, focus on a “not quite finished” quality of the software. Toshiba’s issues right out of the gate only exacerbate the beta-like feel of Honeycomb, which may bar customers from picking up a Thrive.
A number of Thrive owners posted their efforts in figuring out a workaround solution to the problem, with varied success. Some fixes included removing the battery and plugging the device into an A/C charger, tweaking the screen power setting so that it won’t turn off (a horrible battery drain), and other more complicated workarounds.
But as one forum user states, “for the average consumer, that is a lot of hoop jumping for something that should just work.”
During Wired.com’s period of testing of the Thrive tablet, we did not observe any issues with sleep mode.
Toshiba also plans to issue a software update to the tablet with system enhancements, most likely in an effort to distract from the negative attention.
“Toshiba will push an update to enhance the multi-tasking capabilities of the device within the next 48 hours,” the company said in a statement. “As a general practice, Toshiba recommends users download the latest system updates.”
Toshiba has yet to give an ETA on a fix for the Thrive’s sleep issues, but customers should expect an over-the-air update soon.
After being available on the iPad for over a year, SketchBook Pro finally makes its way to Android Honeycomb tablets. Photo courtesy of Autodesk
Autodesk, most well known as creator of the popular 3-D design software AutoCAD, on Tuesday will announce the debut of its SketchBook Pro drawing application for Android tablets, the company has told Wired.com.
SketchBook Pro, essentially a digital canvas and brush set, allows you to use both your fingers and aftermarket styluses to create illustrations and designs. Included are over 60 different brush tools, the ability to create up to six different layers for one file, as well as the ability to export files to Photoshop.
The app was previously available on iPhone, iPad and Android phone devices, as well as in an expanded desktop version. This is the first version of the app that will run on Android’s tablet-optimized software, a.k.a. Honeycomb.
“In this world, size matters,” said Chris Cheung, senior product manager of SketchBook products, in an interview. “There’s this kind of different engagement — while phones are convenient and fit in your pocket, they aren’t the same experience as using the app while holding something the size of an actual sketchbook.”
The app’s tablet release is a timely one. Tablet manufacturers are trying hard to differentiate their hardware from others on the market, occasionally offering a stylus pen to complement a device. HTC’s Flyer tablet, which debuted earlier this year, was the first major Android tablet launch to include a stylus. And if This Is My Next blogger Joanna Stern’s sources are to be believed, we may soon see a tablet from Lenovo that includes a stylus as well. If so, Autodesk could potentially ride a wave of stylus-bundled Android devices to further popularity.
Though the software isn’t exactly a sleeper. Autodesk says SketchBook Pro has already been downloaded over 5 million times across all available platforms.
The company has more than just armchair artists in its sights. Cheung says the software caters to both amateur illustrators as well as established professionals in the design industry. Take Helmut Jahn, a 76-year-old architect and self-avowed technophobe, for instance. Jahn says after discovering the app on the iPad, he uses it for “90 percent of the drawings he makes while on the road,” according to a recent Chicago Business profile.
“It doesn’t remove the need for professionals and high end tools,” Cheung stresses. “But it basically almost level-sets the access to the technology. Effectively, we have these treasures that bring creativity to the masses.”
Of course, the artistic tablet software field isn’t solely populated by Autodesk. Famed Creative Suite makers Adobe recently debuted three apps for the iPad, all of which work in conjunction with Photoshop on the PC. Using the Eazel, Lab and Lava apps, you can finger paint, select Photoshop tools and mix colors, transferring results from iPad to PC instantaneously.
The biggest sea change rests in the app’s utility, rather than the new platform on which it will appear. Since the iPad’s debut, consumer tablet devices have typically been seen as content consumption devices, readymade for movie viewing and game playing. With applications like SketchBook Pro and Adobe’s new tools showing up on tablets, there’s more of an emphasis on content production occurring on novel forms, outside of the traditional desktop environment.
The app will be available through the Android Market for $5 to users running Android version 3.0 and up on their tablets. If you want to try before you buy, there’s also a free (though less feature-rich) version available for Android phones.
Check out the clip below to see SketchBook Pro for Android tablets in action.
The Arnova 8 is guaranteed to disappoint anyone who wants an iPad this Christmas
And so it begins. Possibly the only way for tablet makers to compete with Apple (until they actually make a viable alternative to the iPad) is to sell gullible consumers a tablet so cheap that they’ll buy it on impulse. Hey — it worked for MP3 players, right?
So, what will poor Johnny be getting for Christmas this year, instead of the iPad he asked Santa for? He’ll be getting the £99 ($159) Arnova 8-inch Android tablet from UK catalog-shopping store Asda.
This piece of landfill-ready consumer crap comes with just 4GB storage (plus a microSD card slot), runs Android 2.1 Éclair (remember that? Éclair first launched in 2009, with the 2010 version following in early 2010) on a mystery-meat 666MHz processor.
It gets worse. The screen features yet more tech from yesteryear — it’s resistive, not capacitive, so good luck with the multi-touch. Battery life is a poor 5.5 hours for video (likely to be much less in practice) and… and… And that’s it.
The sad thing is that Asda will probably sell out of these things, as uninformed people like Johnny’s parents snap them up. Even the PR pitch sent to me today shows that this is all about duping the high-street shopper: “just a quarter of the price of the more expensive versions on the High Street” it says [emphasis added].
Calling the iPad a “more expensive version” of this is like calling the Wacom Cintiq a “more expensive version” of the Etch-a-Sketch. A horribly designed, technologically out-of-date Etch-a-Sketch at that. An Etch-a-Sketch so ugly that even the product page for this real-life shipping product features no pictures other than a single CG mockup.
Should you actually want to spend your hard-earned cash on something that will likely disappoint anyone who uses it, and is cast almost immediately into the junk drawer, the Arnova 8 (from Archos, no less) is available now.
PDF Converter takes almost any document or web-page on your iPad and turns it into a PDF
Readdle’s PDF Converter will do just that. It takes pretty much any file on your iPad and turns it into a PDF. There are a few hard-to-use web services that will do this for you, but PDF Converter takes care of everything on the iPad itself. This is both more secure, and way more convenient.
There are lots of ways to get documents into the converter. The main one is to use the “Open with” command in other applications (like Dropbox, Mail or MobileMe). Supported document types can then be sent to the app, where you can do the actual conversion. The app will open Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Pages, Numbers, Keynote, TXT, HTML, JPG and PNG files. Once converted to PDF, you can store them in the app itself or open them in your favorite PDF reader.
You can also convert any image saved in your Photos app, or even put together a PDF containing the contact details of single or multiple entries in your contacts list.
But the biggest feature is the conversion of web pages. When you find a page you want to convert — an online form, say, or a flight boarding pass — just tap the URL bar and add “PDF” (without quotes) in front of the “HTTP” prefix. Hit return and the page opens up in PDF Converter, ready for action.
This is great. I use it like this: In my Spanish classes, I take a snap of the whiteboard with the iPad camera (or my actual camera, if I want to actually read anything). I then convert to PDF and open in the PDF Highlighter app. From there, I can add highlights and notes on top.
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