Author: James Kendrick

My recent account of mobile blogging on the iPad with a portable keyboard touched a vein, and I have been flooded with requests for information about other keyboards that will work with the iPad. I have used portable keyboards with UMPCs and other devices for a long time and they can definitely turn a mobile device into a full workstation. These questions sent me on a quest for keyboard options for use with the iPad, since the older Stowaway model I am using is no longer available. I didn’t think I would find many options, but found a few that might interest those looking for one to use with the iPad.

Apple Wireless Keyboard. Apple is touting its wireless keyboard for use with the iPad, and reports are it works well. It is fairly small and fits in most gear bags, but it is not the smallest option on this list. $69.

Apple iPad Keyboard Dock. This is a dock and keyboard all in one, and is designed for the iPad. It is a bit bulky to carry while mobile, but some are doing that and loving it. $69.

iGo Ultra-Slim Bluetooth Keyboard. This keyboard is no longer made by iGo, but is still available in quantities online. The iGo keyboard folds up to a pocketable size, yet opens to a full-sized keyboard that works with PDAs, smartphones and PCs. The small size is due to the lack of a number key row, which some will not like. It works well with the iPad. Around $150.

Freedom Portable Keyboard. The Freedom is a Bluetooth keyboard that folds in half for transport in a small form. $80.

Palm Wireless Keyboard. Palm made a keyboard for use with the Treo, and it is still sold online. The Palm keyboard is a portable keyboard that works with Windows PCs, so it should work with the iPad. $66.

Fentek Portable Keyboard. Not much is known about this keyboard but there are both Windows and Mac key layouts available. It’s not the smallest keyboard but it folds in half for transport. $95.

These are by no means the only portable keyboards available, but the list is a good place to get started when looking for a wireless keyboard. These keyboards should work with any computer as well as the iPad, but there are no guarantees.

Don’t miss the other installments in the iPad Accessories Series:

• Stand Roundup
• Case Roundup
• Power Adapter Roundup

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Hot Topic: Apple’s iPad

It’s not the Nexus One on Verizon that everyone has been waiting for but if early reviews are to be believed it’s better. The Droid Incredible is now available for pre-order through Verizon, with in-store availability on April 29. The Droid Incredible is the HTC Android handset that takes the Nexus One and makes it better with an updated camera and the HTC Sense interface.

Podcast co-host Matt Miller has been playing with an Incredible for a few days and he is duly impressed.

The HTC DROID Incredible performed flawlessly for me over the three days I tested it and it was extremely fast and responsive. I loaded up almost 30 3rd party applications thanks to the ability to sign into the Android Market with my account and found them all to perform well.

The Droid Incredible looks to be the best phone currently on the Verizon network, especially if you are partial to the Android platform.

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Marketing Handsets in the Superphone Era

I’ve only had the iPad since launch day, but I have logged hundreds of hours on the little slate. I have been exploring the device and its capabilities, along with determining how to best use its strengths. There have been reports from some iPad owners concerning problems with Wi-Fi connectivity, especially with some routers and mobile modems. I have seen those problems first-hand, and I have tested the iPad extensively to isolate Wi-Fi connectivity problems. I have determined the problems can be minimized with just a few simple steps. Note that I am not addressing the problems that have been reported by some universities that have prohibited the iPad from use on their networks.

The first problem I had with Wi-Fi on the iPad was exposed while using it with the Sprint Overdrive 3G/4G modem. This modem connects to the Sprint network and dishes the connectivity out over Wi-Fi. This would be the perfect solution for using the iPad over Wi-Fi to get mobile broadband connectivity. What I was immediately confronted with was the iPad was constantly disconnecting from the Sprint connection, and often having trouble reconnecting. The session would be working as it should and the iPad would suddenly disconnect and then I would have no connectivity at all.

I researched this and tested it and came to the conclusion that the iPad has a tendency to let the Wi-Fi connection go dormant very quickly. A brief lull in data transmission results in the iPad shutting the Wi-Fi down. This is probably by design and likely is an attempt to save on battery life, something the iPad is very good at doing. Unfortunately, while the iPad should automatically reconnect to the Wi-Fi network after such a dormancy, it wasn’t able to using the Sprint Overdrive modem.

I didn’t have this reconnect problem with any other router or network, just the Sprint Overdrive connection. That led me to do some investigation, and I determined that the Sprint Overdrive was using 64-bit WEP encryption for security on the Wi-Fi network connection. The iPad can handle this fine, but it was different than the newer (and better) WPA2 encryption used on all the other networks I use that had no problem reconnecting with the iPad.

I changed the Sprint Overdrive settings to WPA2, and the reconnect issue disappeared. Apparently the iPad was failing to reconnect properly over the WEP encryption, but it has no problem with WPA2. This matches what I see on other modems and routers, so I recommend changing it if you are having a similar problem with your iPad dropping connections and failing to renegotiate a reconnection. It’s easy to do and it worked for me; I haven’t seen a single failure to reconnect since making this change, and using two different Sprint Overdrive units.

The other problem I have encountered has to do with the Wi-Fi radio in the iPad. Let me set the scene for how I discovered this problem and the solution. The big comfy easy chair in my living room is as far from the router in my office as can be. The chair is right on the fringe of the range the router can dish out Wi-Fi, and out of all the mobile devices I have tested I’ve seen several that cannot see the network at all. Some get intermittent signal from the chair, and others none at all. It comes down to how powerful the Wi-Fi radio is in the given device, as that determines if it can see the network consistently.

The iPad is one of those devices that is right on the fringe of the ability to see the router from this spot in the house. This led me to do extensive testing to determine what factors under my control could minimize the bad signal strength the iPad reported, and thus get better bandwidth. In normal circumstances the iPad shows at most one bar on the Wi-Fi signal meter, and it occasionally drops the connection entirely.

My testing indicated that when I hold the iPad in portrait orientation in my two hands, like a book, the signal drops immediately. I can set the iPad in my lap with no hands holding it on the sides, and the signal meter immediately jumps to over 50% and the bandwidth increases accordingly. I verified this by running speed tests in a number of configurations. I can consistently set the iPad in my lap with no hands holding it, fire up the speed test, and see outstanding connection speeds from this remote location. If I do the same while holding it as a book, the speeds are abysmal, if the network is available at all.

I can run the speed test with the iPad in my lap, and after it starts running with fast connection speed I can pick it up and watch the speed drop to near nothing immediately. There is no question in my mind that holding the iPad in the hands interferes with the internal Wi-Fi radio somehow, and setting the device down is a simple solution. It is important to note that it is only holding the iPad in portrait mode that interferes with Wi-Fi. I can hold it in both hands in landscape orientation and the signal strength is not impaired. I’m not sure where in the iPad the Wi-Fi is physically located, but it must be near one of the sides in portrait orientation.

The iPad is a very small, slim gadget, and it doesn’t surprise me that Apple used what looks to be a low-power Wi-Fi radio. The point is now that you know how to maximize the network performance with the radio, you will get better results as I do.

So to recap, change your router settings to WPA2 if possible. This will minimize any problems the iPad has reconnecting after going dormant. How you hold the iPad can interfere with the Wi-Fi radio in fringe areas. If your signal strength goes really low and speed suffers, try setting the iPad down. You may see the signal meter jump back up, along with the connection speed.

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Hot Topic: Apple’s iPad

I didn’t set out to work when I headed out to the local Starbucks. I wanted to sit in the big comfy chair and read for a while. I arrived at the store only to find all of the comfy chairs occupied and the Starbucks fairly hopping. I got my drink and sat down at one of those tiny round tables, the ones that fit a couple of drinks and not much else. Little did I know that I would soon be working away.

I pulled out the iPad I had thrown in the bag and started to log into the Wi-Fi, but thought I’d check to see if the Sprint 4G network I recently singed up for was active in this location. I hit the button on the Sprint Overdrive and waited a couple of minutes for it to power up. Boot speed is not one of its strengths.

Lo and behold the 4G was not only active but with nearly full signal strength. This meant my bandwidth should be pretty darn good and it was. I was getting over 4 Mbps down and 1 Mbps up in no time.

This healthy bandwidth had me surfing the web and doing all sorts of things without missing a beat on the iPad. I decided to share this information and pulled out the Stowaway Bluetooth keyboard that I have tested with the iPad but haven’t used much. I was going to town with the keyboard and the iPad, all on the 4G network shared by the Overdrive modem. True mobile tech, working together seamlessly. I haven’t had so much fun since the old Sony U days.

I used the WordPress app for the iPad to create this post. It works great and handles everything except uploading images for the post. That’s a shame and they need to add this, as it means I could only post it as a draft and then add the image at home for publishing. The iPhone version of the app has this ability, since it has a camera, but the iPad needs it too.

Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t recommend everyone go out and get all of this equipment. But if you already have it like I do, it sure works great. I realize that many would say that I could easily have done this on a netbook, but I’d say you were wrong about that. I didn’t have a netbook with me, and this was much more enjoyable. Fun times when Mobile Tech Manor hits the road.

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Hot Topic: Apple’s iPad

Today is a historic day in Mobile Tech Manor. It is the first day in a decade that I have no service on the Verizon phone network. I canceled my long-time account as I signed up for Sprint 4G service to go with my Palm Pre voice line on Sprint. It wasn’t a move I made lightly, I tested the Sprint 3G and 4G networks and decided the Sprint service was a better value for me. I entered the Verizon store to cancel my voice and data lines with mixed emotions. The lying I was blasted with by Verizon employees made the process much easier on me than I thought it would be.

I entered the Verizon store and was signed in to wait my turn for service. I told the guy I was canceling my service and didn’t need a salesperson. He immediately sent me to a second salesperson and explained that I wanted to cancel my service. They both then asked why I would do that. I explained I signed with Sprint for the 4G service, and that I was switching as Verizon had nothing comparable at this time.

They both stated, eerily at the same time, that the Sprint 4G was not really 4G, it was “only WiMAX.” I replied that I knew that, but it was much faster than the EVDO 3G service of Verizon. Then they both asserted that the Sprint WiMAX service was not available “anywhere in the U.S. outside of Houston.” I looked at them and told them that was not true. Sprint has rolled out the 4G service in at least 11 cities across the country.

Then they argued that Verizon’s LTE service was almost ready for launch, and would be launched covering the “entire U.S.” all at once. I asked for them to put that in writing, and that stopped that claim in its tracks.

They took me to the Customer Service department, which I’d asked for upon entry to the store, and handed me off to “Steve”. Steve pulled up my account on the system and asked why I wanted to cancel both lines with Verizon. I explained once again that I had already signed up with Sprint, mainly for the 4G.

He called a manager over to the station who looked at the screen and then informed me that the Sprint 4G service was not available anywhere in the U.S. outside of Houston. I was getting ticked off and told him he was blatantly lying to me about that. He then told me that Sprint’s WiMAX was only a little bit faster than Verizon’s 3G. I told him he was lying yet again. Then he told me that Sprint’s 3G network was “nowhere near as fast as Verizon’s 3G network.”

I’d had enough at this point and I informed him that the Sprint 3G was the same EVDO technology that Verizon used, and it was just as fast. I asked to speak to the division manager to complete my business. At that point they tapped a few keys on the screen and informed me I was duly canceled. The whole thing left me with a very bad taste in my mouth for the way Verizon conducts business. Which is a shame after a decade of happy patronage.

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I am working away in the local coffee shop but not partaking of the Wi-Fi, at least not the store’s. I brought my own Wi-Fi in the shape of the little Sprint Overdrive 3G/4G modem. I have been evaluating the Overdrive for a few days and this morning I did something crazy — I went to a Sprint store and bought one. I never could get the evaluation unit to connect to the Sprint 4G network near me, and reached the point I was confident the unit was defective. So I got my own to replace my Verizon MiFi and its measly 3G connectivity.

I have been on the Sprint 4G network for all of two hours and it is as good as I thought it would be. The speed with my MacBook is outstanding, I am seeing around 3 Mbps downloads and almost 1 Mbps uploads. This speed is being served to both my MacBook and my iPad over the Overdrive’s Wi-Fi routing capability, and with one exception it is working great.

I can tell that working on a laptop over 4G is almost as good as my high-speed connection at home. Once connected things pop, and it doesn’t feel like a mobile solution at all. It is game changing, frankly.

The Overdrive is configurable using any web browser over the internal Wi-Fi connection. I am going to experiment with this configuration as I am seeing a problem with the iPad maintaining a connection to the modem for very long. I have seen others reporting this problem online, and my gut feeling is it is due to the Overdrive handling multiple Wi-Fi protocols. By default it auto-switches between 802.11 b and g (no draft-n, unfortunately), and my gut tells me this switching is what is giving the iPad problems staying connected. I am going to force the Overdrive to work in 802.11g only and see how that works.

The Overdrive automatically connects to the Sprint 4G network when it is detected, and drops down to the 3G (EVDO) network when 4G is not available. This makes it a total replacement for the MiFi, with the additional benefit of 4G. Throw in the unlimited data on 4G and it is a no-brainer.

Right this moment I have my MacBook, iPad and iPhone 3G all connected to Sprint 4G using the Overdrive, and life is good. I love mobile tech.

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At long last Friday rolls around, and that can only mean it’s time to think back on the week. The home office, Mobile Tech Manor, was as busy as can be with some new gadgets arriving. I bought too many RSS readers for the iPad and am waffling between two of them. I have been on a quest to find me some 4G in the area, with no luck. Come on in and let’s visit for a while.

Enter the Gadgets

A couple of toys showed up at the Manor and I had fun playing with them. Sort of. The first to arrive was the Sprint Overdrive, the 4G capable modem that functions as a Wi-Fi router to share the 4G. I’m sure it would share it fine if I could just find some.

The Sprint 4G coverage map shows the area around Mobile Tech Manor to be blanketed with 4G, but I haven’t been able to connect successfully to it. There is a small area that is 3G only on the map, and my office is right on the fringe so I’m not surprised I can’t see 4G here. That sent me out over the surrounding area which is all blue on the map (4G) but I can’t connect anywhere. The Overdrive shows decent signal, says it is “connecting to 4G” for a good while, and then eventually falls back to the Sprint 3G network.

The 3G (EVDO) works just fine, it’s not fast but better than nothing. The Verizon 3G (EVDO) network gets faster speeds almost everywhere compared to the Sprint network, though. I get around 500 kbps on Sprint and 1.2 Mbps on Verizon, almost everywhere.

I may be dealing with a defective 4G modem here, at least that’s what I think. I’ve heard from Sprint 4G customers who are getting good 4G connections in the immediate area, so perhaps it is the modem. I’ll have to track down the Sprint folks who sent this evaluation unit to find out.

A bright red notebook that I was excited to get arrived, but unfortunately the display was DOA. It was the Acer Ferrari One notebook, a little (11.6-inch) speed demon that looks pretty sexy for a laptop. The Ferrari One was sent over by the AMD folks, who make the processor in the laptop. They were understandably embarrassed that the evaluation unit had a dead screen, and to their credit they sent another one the very next day.

I’ve been playing with the Ferrari One and am duly impressed with it. The high-res screen is sweet, and the small size makes this thing easy to toss in a little bag and hit the road. As expected, the AMD processor, while fast, runs hotter and uses more battery than an Intel processor. I’m still seeing about 4.5 hours on the 6-cell battery, and while it does run warm it is not alarmingly so. This thing is just so sexy, every time I take it out of the bag folks stare.

Paper Mister?

I live in RSS feeds all day, every day. I follow hundreds of sites through the RSS feeds, and on the desktop I have Google Reader open all day. I like working with Google Reader, and I can access my feeds on any device using any web browser. The only device that falls short with Google Reader is the iPad, sadly.

Oh Google Reader works well enough on the iPad, and there are two ways to work with it. The desktop version in the browser on the iPad is just like the regular desktop version, but the Next/Prev item buttons are too darn small. The fact the buttons are at the very bottom of the screen doesn’t help, as it is hard to tap them. The mobile version of Google Reader works well, but it only shows a short preview of each item. I can tap one and see more of it, but I need to see more when I am skimming to decide if I want to give it more time.

There are already lots of nice iPad apps in the App Store, and I have purchased and downloaded two of them so far. Both of them are pretty nice, and I am waffling over which of the two I will settle down with. The most important feature for me is for the app to sync with Google Reader, so that items marked read in the app will be marked as read in Google Reader too. I use a lot of devices both in the Manor and outside, and this is crucial. Both of these apps sync with GR just fine.

NetNewsWire is a good reader, and the first one I tried on the iPad. It makes good use of the big iPad screen, and works well in portrait orientation. Portrait is my preferred screen orientation when working with feeds, as I hold the iPad like a tablet. Reading items in the feeds is enjoyable and easy to do, but NNW fails in one area. It lacks an Unread Items filter to keep stuff I’ve already read out of my sight. It marks them clearly, so I can easily tell read items from unread, but with the number of items I skim I need the unread ones totally out of the picture. I hope they address this in a future update.

The other reader app I am trying is NewsRack. It is very similar to NetNewsWire, and has the unread filter I wish NNW had. Where NewsRack falls short compared to NetNewsWire is in the interface department, and it’s driving me batty. In portrait orientation NewsRack displays one item at a time on the whole screen. This is the same as NNW and is good as I can scan the entire item. The problem is the prev/next item buttons are on top of the screen on the left. This would work if I was left-handed, but I’m not. To tap the Next arrow to go to the next news item, I have to reach up, across the screen, and tap that button. It is not comfortable and is an interface failure in my view. These buttons need to be on the right of the screen (or configurable, even better) to put them where the user finds them comfortable.

Even worse is using NewsRack in landscape orientation. The feed window appears on the left of the screen, next to the full item window on the right. This would be good except the developers decided that if the feed pane is open, the prev/next item buttons aren’t needed. Yep, they go away, and the only way to advance from one item to the next is to tap the next item in the feed pane on the left. There’s that right-handed problem again, as I must reach across the screen, obscuring the item pane, and uncomfortably tap in the left pane. This is a design failure, a shame as NewsRack is otherwise a better app than NNW.

Want a Faster Network for Free?

This week saw the rare occurrence that still has me grinning like a fool. I got an email from Comcast, my ISP, that informed me its network in my area had been upgraded. I assume this is the DOCSIS 3.0 upgrade they are referring to. The notice told me that my 20 Mbps network was now clocking in at a blazing 40 Mbps, and at no additional charge.

After picking myself up off the floor, I jumped online to see how it would affect my connectivity. I am online all day, every day, and this could be significant. Sure enough, my real-world bandwidth is a cool 30+ Mbps download and around 4 – 5 Mbps upload. This was totally unexpected and a wonderful upgrade. Thanks, Comcast. I take back almost all the bad things I’ve ever said about you.

e-Books of the Week

I have been using the iPad as my primary e-book reader all week, and I am happy with the result. I enjoy holding it like a book and reading for hours at a time. The big screen is pleasing to the eye, and it’s working well for me.

I finished Jeffrey Deaver’s book Roadside Crosses, the book I started last week. I bought it through the iBooks app on the iPad, and I found the app to be a decent reader. I prefer Kindle for the iPad, as I find it easier to use for reasons I can’t put my finger on (pun intended), but iBooks is OK. Roadside Crosses is a good mystery novel done in typical Deaver style.

Wrap-up

That’s my week as it went down, and as always I enjoyed sharing it with you. Until next week, stay safe.

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Hot Topic: Apple’s iPad

Sony is going to allow third parties to design and produce laptops with the VAIO brand, according to a surprise announcement by the deputy president of Sony VAIO Business Group. Sony has long enjoyed the reputation of being the “Apple” of Windows laptops, innovative designs at a price premium. Ryosuke Akahane stated that to differentiate between laptops made solely by Sony and those by third parties, Sony will create internal designations of Division One and Division Two products. One will be Sony’s as you might expect and Division Two will be products produced outside.

Confusingly, the Division Two Sony laptops will still be branded VAIO and look to be Sony’s own products in every way. The move is to raise market share according to Sony, as third party manufacturers can make products more cheaply than Sony. It sounds to me like a way to dilute your brand reputation in the marketplace, with customers no longer associating the VAIO brand strictly with Sony products.

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The State of the Smartbook

The speculation and anticipation over the iPad is now over, at least in the U.S., and we fickle mobile enthusiasts now turn our thoughts to what will come next. The past two years have been exciting in the mobile space, with smartphones gaining full computing power and netbooks taking the world by storm. Apple has shaken things up with the iPad, and slates are on the minds of many enthusiasts. Will the Next Big Thing (NBT) in the mobile space come from the phone sector, or the notebook segment or will it be a tablet of some sort? That’s not clear at this point, but I believe that the driver will not be technology, it will be usage driven.

What I mean by usage driven is the NBT is going to come from creating a new way to do things that people want to do. That may come from online activities, or handling daily tasks or a combination of those. There are already mobile devices that can do everything that people want, whether in a laptop form or with a phone. The trick is going to lie in showing a new way to do these things that blows everything else out of the water. That’s not going to be easy for companies to produce.

Smartphones of today are full computers that can do many of the things formerly relegated to bigger devices. The processors are fast and platforms have evolved to take advantage of that in the phone space. While phones are often able to do the things people want, the restrictions of the screen size and input mechanisms are not going away. While I agree with Stacey at GigaOM that multiple core processors in phones will make them incredibly powerful, the input/output limitations will prevent them from being able to use that power to its fullest potential. We will see the smartphone continue to evolve, but the NBT will not be a phone due to these limitations.

Notebooks are evolving at a slower pace than phones, and we’re not seeing new usage scenarios for them. They will continue to dominate the computing space, but improvements will be incremental at best. Netbooks are still selling in good numbers, but we’ve seen just about everything that can be packed into the small budget-friendly form already done. The notebook/netbook will continue to be the primary computers for most folks, but hardly the NBT.

Slates have gotten new life in the minds of many, but they are not new technology. The iPad has pushed slates to the forefront of the mobile space, and while the form makes it possible to do many things in a more appropriate way, it doesn’t bring anything new to the user. It doesn’t create new uses for consumers like the NBT should do. The iPad is fun and useful, but at its core it is only providing uses that are already provided by other devices. Apple will sell a boatload of iPads, but it’s not the NBT.

The same is going to hold true for the many slates we are bound to see coming down the pike. They will do many things, and some of them very well, but nothing really new. They will attempt to duplicate the popularity of the iPad, and some may come close, but there won’t be anything truly innovative in this process. The slate will simply be another way to do the things that folks already do.

It may sound like I am cynical, and perhaps that is true. But I also find it a great time to be a mobile enthusiast, as the advancements in the past few years have been extraordinary. I am itching to see something new come along that will blow me away in sheer usefulness. That’s the primary requirement for the NBT for me — give me a new use that will rock my world.

The Microsoft Courier concept that has leaked out in videos is the primary candidate for the NBT. This device doesn’t fit into current categories, it is creating something totally new. It is an attempt to bring the day planner of old into the digital age, and that can be huge. It was only a few years ago when seemingly everyone carried one of those paper day planners. I attended countless meetings where the conference table was covered with planners. I used one myself, it was a way to organize my life, keep track of the things important to me and to make sure I didn’t overlook anything significant.

Smartphones began to take over some of the roles of the day planner, and they started to disappear. But the smartphone, due to the screen limitations mentioned, can’t really replace all of the benefits the day planner provided. This is where the Courier has amazing potential. The videos of the Courier show a day planner that totally integrates the web, the professional life and the social life of the user. It is the glue that binds all of that together, and has the potential to leverage that in a way that can vary as needed for the individual. It is a way to make mobile tech highly personal, and this can be big.

Where the digital planner (Courier) can make the biggest contribution for the user is through search. The day planner of old suffered from the inability to easily find things as needed, especially those things not in the immediate past. The Courier will not suffer from that disadvantage; it will enable the user to find anything, or more appropriately everything as needed. It will turn the web into a vast fountain of information that when coupled with each user’s personal information, will be the most important tool to come along in a great while.

So my requirement that the NBT present a new use for the individual is met by the Courier as demonstrated. Keeping all of the stuff that is important to the individual at hand, in an easily accessible way. It is personal by nature, and that can change the way we work. This could be the Next Big Thing.

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Hot Topic: Apple’s iPad

There are cars, and then there are Ferraris. No one questions the distinction between those two groups. The same is true for ultra-portables and the Acer Ferrari One. The former are laptops, and the latter is, well, Ferrari. The distinctive design of the Ferrari One is what first grabs the attention, but with a little more investigation it becomes apparent how much laptop is crammed into the thin, small case. Sometimes you have to settle for form over function, but in the case of the Acer Ferrari One you get both in one small package.

The Ferrari One is an ultra-portable notebook with an 11.6-inch display that clocks in at an impressive 1366×768. It is a bright display that is customized with Ferrari wallpaper that displays a calendar. The race car noise heard when the notebook fires up is impressive the first time, not so much on subsequent boots. The sleek red lid is rounded with distinct edges, and other touches include the power button that lights in red, and the touchpad that is integrated into the palm rest.

The evaluation unit supplied by AMD is configured as follows:

• CPU: AMD Athlon X2 L310, 1.2 GHz
• Memory: 3 GB
• Storage: 250 GB
• Display: 11.6-inch, 1366×768 resolution
• Camera: Acer Crystal Eye, Acer PrimaLite technology
• Graphics: ATI Radeon HD3200 integrated, 2 GB Video Memory
• Battery: 6-cell
• Communications: 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi; Ethernet
• Ports: 3-USB 2.0 (one powered), VGA out, LAN, Multi-format card reader slot, audio in, audio out, ATI XGP video
• OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• Dimensions: 11.2 x 8.0 x 1.2 inch; 3.2 lbs.

The AMD processor gives decent performance for such a small laptop. These processors usually have a dual hit — battery life and heat. I am seeing about 4.5 hours on the 6-cell battery, and while the bottom of the Ferrari One does get warm it’s not alarmingly so.

The graphics performance of the ATI Radeon is as good as I have seen on an ultra-portable. It is possible to watch high quality Hulu videos in full-screen; it is not quite fluid but easily tolerable. Video playback on YouTube is equally acceptable.

I am a keyboard snob when it comes to notebooks, and find the Ferrari One keyboard to be quite good. It provides a comfortable typing experience that lets me type as fast as I can. The key layout is standard and while the key tops are fairly flat, the feel is good and key travel is decent.

The trackpad is integrated into the palm rest, not usually one of my favorite features. This one is clearly delineated so it is easy to see where the trackpad ends and the palm rest begins. I am finding it easy to use, and suspect in a short time I will find it fine for constant use. Acer went with one button on the trackpad, a rocker switch that serves as both the left and right click. I don’t like these at all, although this one has a distinct feel to the click and not the worst one I’ve tried. Two buttons would have been much better.

I will be giving the Ferrari One a good look for a while, and I have to admit the sexiness of it has impressed me so far. The size is as small as can be, yet it has good performance.

The rumors of the HTC Incredible coming to Verizon are rumors no more, as the carrier has a preview page up that confirms it is coming on April 29. It will be the Droid Incredible on Verizon, keeping the Droid product line active for another handset. The Incredible has largely the same specs as the Google Nexus One, that has been expected to appear on Verizon’s shelves for a while. Given the similar nature of the Incredible and the Nexus One, why would Verizon want both?

Google’s Nexus One web page still claims the handset will be heading to Verizon in the spring of 2010. It’s been that way for months so Google must still plan to sell the Nexus One for the Verizon network. The Incredible is a tweaked version of the Nexus One, and will definitely be sold by Verizon so it begs the question — why would Verizon want both phones?

I suspect it is Google that wants to get the Nexus One on Big Red, it is Google’s own phone after all. Google has made no bones about wanting to get the Nexus One on all of the major U.S. carriers, so this is no surprise. I’m not sure why Verizon would want to support the Nexus One and the Droid Incredible both, however, and I can’t see Big Red offering good subsidies on both handsets. The Droid Incredible, as a network phone, yes, but the Nexus One, no. The Nexus One will be competing with Verizon’s own handset now, and that just doesn’t make sense.

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Marketing Handsets in the Superphone Era

It’s official — the iPad doesn’t suck — according to a press release by Apple. The company is pushing back the availability of the iPad outside the U.S. a month, due to higher than expected demand in this country. Apple goes on to say that over 500,000 iPads have been sold the first week, and the inability to keep up with that demand makes it difficult to make the slate available outside the U.S. at the end of this month as previously planned.

The difficulty of meeting demand in the U.S. is worsened by the large number of 3G models that have been preordered for delivery at the end of April. International customers waiting impatiently for the iPad to go on sale can preorder an iPad online beginning May 10. Those affected by this delay can take solace in the fact that apparently the iPad is even better than anticipated.

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Hot Topic: Apple’s iPad

I work in front of a computer for 10 – 12 hours per day, and having a productive environment on my Mac is vital to my mental health. I don’t always use the Mac for my work, but I use it more than others since it’s sitting on my desk with a big Cinema Display. The Mac is a productive system on its own, but gets even better with some utilities I use that helps make it more so. Here are 5 Mac utilities that rock my world.

Cinch. That 24-inch Cinema Display gives me a lot of screen real estate, and putting it to best use is helped by Cinch. Cinch enables some windows management that mimics the Aero Drag features in Windows 7. I can drag a window to the top of the screen and it instantly goes full-screen; dragging it back down returns it to the original size. Particularly helpful is the ability to drag windows to the left and right screen border, which makes the window instantly size to half the screen. It’s a great way to put two windows — equally sized — side by side for working back and forth. $7.

Xmarks. I use many different computers — both Macs and Windows — and keeping my browser bookmarks in sync across them all is crucial for my work. I also use Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari and Google Chrome to further complicate this process. The Xmarks utilities are available on every one of these browsers for both Windows and Macs, and keep all of my bookmarks and site passwords synced across them all. I never have to think about this, it just works. Free.

SnagIt. I am constantly capturing images off my screen for my work. I take snaps of program windows to share, images on a web page and full desktop images. I have to resize these images to fit the particular need, and annotate them occasionally. SnagIt is a great method to do all of the above, and it has become a big part of my work day. I shot a video of SnagIt in action if you’re curious. It’s in beta so is free for now.

SoundSource. Simple utilities are often the best, and that fits SoundSource. Anyone who often switches audio sources appreciates when that is simple. SoundSource sits in the system tray and through a drop-down menu makes it one-click easy to change input/output audio sources and set the volume level. Input/output and system audio levels can be controlled independently through SoundSource. Free.

SugarSync. The cloud service SugarSync is not a utility per se, but the Mac program functions like one in the background and keeps all my files backed up. It also keeps them synchronized to other computers I use, and it does so silently and without fail. Through the iPad app I can use SugarSync to access all of my Mac’s files on the slate. Free and paid versions, depending on storage requirements.

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We’ve been all over WeFi for Android since it first appeared, and the useful service just got even better. WeFi is a way to find a Wi-Fi hotspot that meets your requirements. There are over 56 million verified hotspots in the WeFi database, and new features make it a must-have app on your laptop or supported phone.

WeFi for PC and Android devices now allows you to enter an address and find all the Wi-Fi hotspots nearby. The hotspots have verified information that includes the type of location (cafe, library, etc.), whether the hotspot is free, if a password is required and even if a web page is used to access the connection. Crowd-sourcing is used to ensure the database is not only growing, but is verified by the 4 million users of the service.

Maps are now available on to show hotspots onscreen, so finding one is now easier than ever. The maps coupled with the “Find Wi-Fi” feature make getting online easy using the GPS found in most handsets. The maps will show any verified hotspot around the current location when the feature is used.

The free WeFi service is available on both notebooks (Windows and Macs) and phones running Android, Windows Mobile and Symbian. Sorry iPhone and iPad users, there’s no support for you.

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All focus on Apple may be aimed at the iPad and the new iAd service but Cupertino is still conducting business as usual. A refreshed line of MacBooks has been announced to keep Apple’s core business chugging along. The new MacBooks get faster processors and longer battery life to keep things interesting.

The baby MacBook Pro — the 13.3-inch model — gains faster Intel Core 2 Duo processor options and a 10-hour battery life from the 63.5 WHr battery. The little MacBook Pro is available in two configurations, a 2.4 GHz model for $1,199 and a 2.66 GHz model for $1,499. Memory and hard drive options are available for extra cost.

Larger models are now available with Core i5 and Core i7 processor options. The 15-inch MacBook Pro is now available in three models ranging from $1,799 – $2,199. The 17-inch model comes with a Core i5 processor clocking in at 2.53 GHz for $2,299, but is available with a Core i7 option (2.66 GHz).

Apple has added a usability feature to the new line, consisting of inertial scrolling on the glass trackpad. There are three solid-state disk (SSD) options available at time of order. It is not clear if the quoted 10-hour battery life on the 13-inch MacBook Pro is with an SSD inside.

Images courtesy of Apple

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Microsoft has outed Project Pink, and the result is the Kin One and Kin Two. The phones are almost smartphones but in a more limited role, and the company is aiming them squarely at social networking savvy teens and young adults. The interface is designed to be highly interactive and to focus on owner cliques — the friends that are in the inner circle. Sharing information among members of these cliques is drag and drop simple, and the phones are aimed at keeping everyone in the loop aware of what everyone else is doing. After a day in the limelight, the Kin phones are a big question mark for me.

The hardware side of the Kin One and Two is gorgeous. Microsoft and Sharp obviously spent a lot of time getting this right, and it shows. The little turtle Kin fits in the hand perfectly, and the bigger Kin is a sexy QWERTY phone which draws all attention to the screen. The Kin One has a keyboard too, it’s just smaller. Both phones seem to be built to stand up to the usage of the demographic at which they are aimed, and that’s a good thing as the young adult segment is hard on phones. I know that for a fact, as handset insurance for our teen’s phones was considered a necessity right behind groceries. They are very hard on phones.

The OS on the Kins is a bit of a question for me. It’s kind of like Windows Phone 7 light. Grids move around on the screen, each tile representing a friend, and communicating with them is as simple as dragging stuff onto the “spot”. The creation of tiers of friends, or favorites, is a clever way to deal with the hundreds of friends that many have on the major social networks. It’s kind of a “real friends” tier that I suspect is where most Kin owners will spend a lot of their attention.

There are no apps on the Kin, and I can’t believe that Microsoft and the carriers that will carry the phones will leave it at that. There is simply too much money to be made at either the phone or the carrier level on apps. I suspect we’ll see Kin stores at least at the carrier level. The social networking stuff on the Kin is pretty nice, and the inclusion of Zune is great. I just don’t think it will be enough for either Kin owners nor the corporate players without apps.

The most important factor in whether the Kins will be big sellers wasn’t even mentioned in the hoopla yesterday — pricing. The Kin phone is aimed squarely at the demographic that would love the iPhone or other smartphone, yet can’t afford the phone nor the monthly plan. This segment is dependent on others to approve (and pay) for that commitment, which is why they often still have feature phones. That’s going to be a big factor in Kin sales, so the plan has got to be dirt cheap to get parents onboard.

Images courtesy Microsoft

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Everybody Hertz: The Looming Spectrum Crisis

I have been a mobile broadband user for years; I started back in the 1xRTT days as a matter of fact. I’ve watched connections speeds go up over the years, and until recently I was quite happy with the EVDO speeds I enjoy using my Verizon MiFi. Sprint has been madly rolling out WiMAX (4G) all over the U.S., and the recent news that Houston was lit up had me jonesing for a switch to the higher speed. I waffled over the decision to jump from Verizon’s 3G to Sprint’s 4G for a while, so the folks at Sprint decided they would send me a 4G Overdrive modem to test. I’ve only had it for a few hours, and haven’t found any 4G connectivity yet, but here’s a quick look at the Overdrive modem.

The Overdrive is like the MiFi as it is a 3G modem that serves as a Wi-Fi router to allow up to 5 devices to connect to the Sprint network simultaneously. Once the device has been set up to use the Overdrive’s Wi-Fi network, subsequent connections are as easy as hitting the power button on the modem. That’s what makes wireless routers like the Overdrive so compelling, they are easy and will work with any device with Wi-Fi. Oh, and if the Sprint 4G network is active in the area, it connects at those speeds (up to 10 times faster than EVDO). That’s pretty darn compelling, too.

The Overdrive is bigger and thicker than the MiFi, no doubt to fit those extra 4G bits inside. It has a nice LED display on the front that provides full status information, like connection info and battery gauge, which is sadly lacking on the Verizon MiFi. There is also a microSD card on the Overdrive to allow storing media files for streaming over the Overdrive’s Wi-Fi network.

Sadly, the 4G network is not live on my street yet, so I haven’t been able to enjoy that fast speed. The Overdrive tries to find and connect to the 4G network when powered on (which takes a minute), and failing that connects to the Sprint 3G network, which is happening at my home office. When I first checked the Sprint 4G coverage map a couple of weeks ago it showed the area where I live was fully covered with 4G. When I check it today it shows that there is 4G coverage most everywhere around me except on a few blocks surrounding my house. No 4G for me.

My limited testing has only been at home on the 3G network. The speed I am getting on the Sprint 3G (EVDO) network is slower than the Verizon 3G (EVDO) I get on the MiFi, which is disappointing. I wouldn’t mind trading the MiFi for the Overdrive if I didn’t give up any speed at home, but that’s not the case. Of course when 4G gets turned on here — and there’s no indication when that might be — there’s no looking back.

So far I haven’t seen any power problems as some have reported. The Overdrive has been solid in that regard, although it has intermittently dropped the 3G network connection a few times. That has been really annoying as it kills whatever I’m doing at the time. I have to manually tell the device to reconnect to the Overdrive and then I am back online.

I’ll be testing the Overdrive more thoroughly over the next few days, so I’ll find some 4G and report on the speed I get. I’ll also have a look at the Overdrive’s configuration, as every aspect of both the data connection and the Wi-Fi settings can be customized. This may have something to do with the connection drops I’ve seen so far.

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E-book readers have one thing in common — at least the ones not using LCD screens — they all display in black and white. The E-ink technology that is widely used in e-readers doesn’t do video either, something considered a drawback by many who watch the space. What E-ink screens do bring to the table are long battery life, and that is considered an acceptable compromise. We may not need to give up battery life for good color displays that can handle video, if LiquaVista brings its color display technology to market as they expect to do.

The LiquaVista technology uses electrowetting, a technique that uses electrical charges to move colored oil around in each pixel on the display. It is capable of frame rates up to 60 per second, per the company’s claims anyway. The BBC has produced a video of the technology in action, and it does look very promising. Video playback is smooth and fast, although the BBC found it to leave artifacts on the screen. It is a very early version of the technology, and since it can handle video well without backlighting, it should be very power stingy. This is definitely a technology worth watching.

A natural property of electrowetting is that the screen image gets more vivid in bright sunlight. This eliminates the need for any backlighting, and gives a distinct advantage to this technology over current display methods. The company is in discussions with partners, and hopes to bring the technology to market in the next year or two. I wonder if the iPad — LCD screen and all — already hampers the need for this new technology?

When Microsoft bought Danger, the company behind the Sidekick line of phones, speculation began at once that we’d see Redmond producing its own line of phones. The company denied that would be the case, but the rumors of Project Pink just kept fanning the flames. Microsoft has invited press members to a special event today, and memory maker SanDisk spilled the beans that it is indeed an announcement of the “Pink” phone(s).

The email I received on Friday from SanDisk was specific:

As you know, Monday marks a big day for Microsoft as the company will be unveiling its long-awaited “pink” mobile phone. As you gear up to cover this news, I wanted to remind you that SanDisk microSD cards are the ideal companion for mobile devices and provide phones with room for just about anything.

This statement told me there is indeed going to be a Pink phone announced today, and that it will have a slot for memory cards. I doubt Microsoft was happy with SanDisk for sending this blanket email out to those of us covering the technology space, thus spoiling their secret announcement.

A Pink phone from Microsoft will be unusual for several reasons. While it is believed the handsets will be produced by Sharp, Microsoft has been involved in all aspects of the design and production of the phone. The Danger team at Microsoft is believed to have controlled all aspects of Pink, making this Microsoft’s own line of phones. This can’t sit well with its partners in the Windows Mobile/ Windows Phone 7 space, as Microsoft will now be competing directly with them.

These phones are expected to be the next generation Sidekick given the Danger participation. This would put the Pink phones in a nether world between the feature phone and the smartphone. There’s no reason to believe the phones will serve any purpose not already served by either high-end feature phones or smartphones. The Sidekick was a popular line of communication phones — especially among young people — but it debuted before smartphones became so prevalent in the market (and so cheap).

The Microsoft event kicks off today at 10 AM PT, and we’ll be watching to see what the company is launching. You can follow Microsoft’s own live stream if you just can’t wait for Pink.