With the new iPod Touch most likely to be announced next week at Apple’s September 9 event, we thought we’d compile our own wish list of features we’d like to see.
Video Camera
A 3 megapixel built-in camera is widely expected to be part of the new iPod lineup. As more and more apps use the video camera for augmented reality apps, having a camera will become more and more of a must have feature.
GPS
Many apps use device location to provide relevant content to the user. While the iPod Touch can use wifi to help determine location, having GPS would really help make this more accurate.
Compass
The compass on the iPhone seemed almost gimmicky at first until you relaize how useful it is when combined with augmented reality and map apps.
Microphone
It’s doubtful that Apple would include this feature (it would help turn the Touch into an iPhone.) You could use voice activated apps and place VOIP calls when on wifi.
Larger memory capacity, lower price points and built-in cameras are widely expected with the new iPods. We’ll find out soon enough what else Apple has up their sleeve.
I was in the market for a new all-in-one printer for the home office and ended up choosing the HP Photosmart C6380.
So far, I’m really impressed.
I wanted an all-in-one that was wifi enabled (and not hideously big or ugly) for under $200. I checked out all of the current offerings from Canon, Lexmark, HP, Brother and Kodak.
The printer setup on this HP is super easy. You can setup the printer to work on your wifi network using the printer’s built in LCD. There was no software to manually install on any of my Macs. I just selected the printer from any Mac on my wireless network and the drivers installed themselves.
The print quality is great and the printer is very fast. The small footprint and white color, combined with no USB cables, makes the printer very sleek and minimal (matches the Apple esthetic well.)
I found this printer for $150 on Amazon with no tax and free shipping. I would definitely take a look at this model if you’re in the market for a good all-in-one inkjet.
Pros: Small and sleek design. Easy setup. Solid specs. Fast. Built in LCD looks/works great. Scanner works great.
Cons: Still an inkjet so replacement cartridges will be expensive. No built in Fax. No paper feeder for the scanner. Can be loud when doing its thing.
It’s taken awhile, but inflight wifi is finally here.
On a recent Delta flight from SFO to Atlanta, I got to try out wifi from Gogo.
The setup works very similar to a T-Mobile hotspot. You pay for use during the flight (starting at about $10), a 24-hour pass ($12.95) or you can subscribe for $50/month.
Gogo works with any wifi capable laptop and mobile devices like an iPhone (you can enable wifi while the iPhone is in Airplane mode.)
While the speed is not blazing fast (typical satellite speeds) it gets the job done and was very popular in the first class cabin (I was in the cattle class:) This service should prove to be very popular with business travelers.
The service automatically comes online at 10,000 feet and turns off at the same altitude on descent.
Gogo is currently on some Delta, American, United and other airlines with more rollouts in the pipeline.
Should wifi be free on the plane? Absolutely. But when you get charged $5 for a can of Pringles, I guess $10 for internet access isn’t that bad.
When the first Airport Express came out in 2008, it was a little before its time. It was difficult to setup and at $129 the device proved to be relatively unpopular.
I’ve been using two of these since they came out to do iTunes streaming and like the AppleTV, the software has been getting better and better with time.
The current Airpot Express is faster (802.11n), is a breeze to setup (thanks to a much improved AirPort Utility,) and at $99 is a better value.
These guys can be used for extending a wireless network’s reach, wireless printing, and as remote speakers for iTunes.
With the new Remote app for the iPhone and iPod Touch you can control each Airport Express speaker independently. This is a relatively cheap and easy way to stream music to different speakers.
While solutions like Sonos are more powerful for streaming audio, the iTunes + Airport Express + Remote App solution is quite good.
Every now and then there’s a story about someone who traveled overseas and got an outrageous cell phone bill.
If you’ve got an iPhone and plan to do some international traveling this year, here are a few tips that can help:
1. Check to see if your iPhone will even work in the areas you’ll be in. Something I should have done before traveling to Japan last year with an original iPhone (it didn’t work at all.) AT&T has a cool travel guide that shows what countries and services are available for your phone.
2. Sign up for the International Roaming plan ($5/month) for the time you’ll be traveling. You’ll get way better rates and you can cancel the feature once you get back.
3. Use Wifi if you can for data apps. A lot of McDonald’s have free Wifi. Disable any apps that connect to the internet automatically (push email.) Turn “Fetch New Data” to off in your settings.
4. You can also pre-purchase data packages starting at $25/month but depending on your usage, this may not be worth it.
As of last year, all AT&T iPhone customers have access to free Wi-Fi at any AT&T hotspot. There are a lot of these hotspots (every Starbucks) so finding reliable, free Wi-Fi in a city is pretty easy.
As part of the iPhone 3.0 update, AT&T has made accessing these Wi-Fi hotspots much easier by automatically joining these networks without having to authenticate your account.
Previously you had to type in your phone number, wait for a text from AT&T and then login each time you joined.
Now you do the above procedure once, and from then on you’ll auto join any AT&T hotspot automatically. Pretty slick.
Being on the road without wifi on your laptop can be an exercise in patience. Wifi isn’t everywhere, and when you do locate it the likelihood of it being free isn’t terribly good. I’ve been using the AT&T USBConnect Mercury 3G USB dongle for the past 3 months, and it’s been great.
You get 3G speeds wherever a 3G network is present (approx. 100kb of bandwidth in my experience) via a USB dongle. The next revision of MacBook and MacBook Pro are rumored to have this technology built in, but for right now the USB dongle is the way to go. The monthly subscription runs about $60 for 5GB of downloads (plenty for web surfing, checking email, downloading attachments). It’s free with a 2 year contract or $249 with no contract.
Road warriors will enjoy having this, and it saves a handful of cash versus paying for a hotel internet connection for a day or two. No issues with my VPN connection either. Here’s a list of cities that get 3G right now, and AT&T is always adding cities across the country.
With the new iPod Touch most likely to be announced next week at Apple’s September 9 event, we thought we’d compile our own wish list of features we’d like to see.
