Daniel Ho's Musings » Apple

Why the iPad Hasn’t Killed Kindle – Newsweek

Daniel Ho — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:57:43 +0000

Why the iPad Hasn’t Killed Kindle – Newsweek.

This article has a lot of reasons why the iPad hasn’t killed the Kindle…yet. I read a LOT on eBook devices, and originally I thought the same thing.

In an attempt to travel with less devices, I started reading on the iPad. Yes, it may be a bit heavier, you’ll need to recharge the iPad more often, and there is a bit more eyestrain if you don’t adjust the brightness of the iPad if you are reading in the dark…

Even so, I find the ONLY real benefit to the Kindle and the other eInk eReaders is that they are much easier to read in bright sunlight. This is because eInk depends on light reflecting off the screen like normal paper–the more light, the better! In contrast, the iPad screen generates the light that you are seeing, and bright sunlight reflecting off the screen actually overwhelms the light being put out by the device and makes the screen harder to read.

This isn’t a big problem normally as I read mostly indoors, but it can be an issue if you do a lot of reading outdoors at the beach or lounging by the pool.

This article also misses a point. Actually I think the writer was a bit confused when writing that section of the story. With Apple iPad you are NOT locked to just Apple’s bookstore. The fact that the iPad can run Apps means that it can run Amazon Kindle reader, the app for Kobo, etc.

The variety of sources for reading makes it the best eReader available. I just finished reading a couple of Kindle books on the iPad and it worked well–actually better as the iPad has a touch screen that I could swipe to change pages.

Amazon likely doesn’t care either. They’re making their money selling eBooks. The Kindles are only a delivery and consumption mechanism. If they can increase their eBook revenue stream without producing, selling, or supporting hardware, in my view that’s a big bonus!

iPhone 3GS Loses Ability to Connect to 3G Network After Upgrade to iOS 4

Daniel Ho — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:13:15 +0000

This is just a note for others that may be having the same issue. I’m not sure why, and there doesn’t seem to be a fix that consistently works, but here’s my experience with this.

Issue: My iPhone 3GS was working fine prior to upgrading to iOS 4. Once I did that, I couldn’t connect to the 3G network anymore even though all the apps worked while connecting via wifi. I tried turning the Airplane Mode on and off, rebooting, etc. etc. Nothing worked. It was completely frustrating!

Fix: YMMV, as I’m on the Fido network in Canada, but this what I did. I have to do this every time there is an update as well. I went to Settings/General/Reset/Reset Network Settings Once I did this, the iPhone restarted, searched for a network, and everything worked again.

If you try this, you’re on your own, but it worked for me. Good luck!

Restoring Fido and Rogers iPhone Tethering on iPhoneOS 3.1 or 3.12

Daniel Ho — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 03:31:38 +0000

If you are like me, you HAD to have iPhone tethering even though it wasn’t supported yet. So, you poked around on the web and found/hacked a profile config file for Fido/Rogers and installed it.

Well, as of iPhoneOS 3.1, the iPhone will not accept unsigned config files (unless you have jailbroken); as such, this file will no longer work. This means that if you have the unsigned config file, your tethering option will disappear.

However, seeing as Rogers/Fido has officially embraced tethering (for now). If you have the hacked and unsigned config file installed it (or any similar file for other carriers, like AT&T, T-Mobile, etc.) and upgraded to iPhoneOS 3.1 or 3.1.2, you will need to remove it.

Open Settings > General > Profiles (at the bottom). Remove the profile you see there. Tethering should now show up for you.

Enjoy! The credit for this goes to http://cdslash.net/about/ who helped me work out the whole config file thing in the first place…

Mac OS X Snow Leopard Drivers Update for Novatel MC950D Wireless Modem USB Stick

Daniel Ho — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 03:01:56 +0000

It took me a while to find this, but in case you were looking for it…here’s the updated drivers for the Novatel MC950D Mobile Broadband USB Modem on Mac OS X Snow Leopard.

Without it, when you install Snow Leopard, the computer doesn’t recognize the modem anymore.

Enjoy!

Rant: What’s with not being able to play podcasts while using Nano with Nike+

Daniel Ho — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 06:22:50 +0000

Nike + Sports Kit

OK, I’m not sure what’s going on. It is either a bug, or a feature that only I want, but it makes not sense to me.

I’m happily logging my running kilometers on my Apple iPod Nano using the Nike+ iPod Sports Kit. You can use it to play your Playlists, or all your songs in shuffle mode while working out. You can even store a “power song” (which I’m guessing is Eye of the Tiger on most iPods) to perk you up when your energy is waning during the workout BUT, for some reason, podcasts isn’t on the list of sources when you go to start a Nike+ workout.

What gives with that? Yes, I like my tunes, but what’s wrong with listening to a podcast while running?

Here’s the workaround:
You can start playing your podcast BEFORE clicking on Nike+iPod.
From the Nike+iPod menu, choose the workout you wish to do as usual.
Then, choose “Now Playing” as your music source.

Irritating, but at least it works. Hopefully, Apple will work on this in a future release of the iPod firmware.