Was going to do an unboxing, but ran out of time…

Free stuff is good stuff…

Related posts:

1. Get an iPad 2 for free. [Repost] This is a repost with the updated information. Still need...
2. My free iPad 2 coming soon…. I get a lot of questions about the “free stuff”...
3. I want to make my iPad a….so this is what I do… On Engadget today, they release specs on the new Crux...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

http://phandroid.com/2012/01/12/hands-on-asus-padfone-is-it-a-phone-tablet-or-both/

Related posts:

1. Connected Classroom: Asus eeePC 101MT I’ve been blessed with a finance committee that sees the...
2. Not really covering CES, just reading about it… I m not one if the 140,000 press members and...
3. Top 10 Android Apps for Ministry…. Shortly after iOS 5 came out, I made the jump...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Ubuntu Linux powered TV

iRig Stompbox (I would love to demo one of these!!)

Vlingo Voice Assistant coming to TV…

Polaroid Smartphone/Camera Combo

1st Intel Based Smartphone

Gorilla Glass 2 

Related posts:

1. MinistryTech Minute: LG Quantum for AT&T… The LG Quantum is a Windows Phone 7 smartphone from...
2. Top 10 Android Apps for Ministry…. Shortly after iOS 5 came out, I made the jump...
3. Tech that will boom in 2012, and Tech that will bust in 2012… It is the time of year to look at what...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Five that will boom:
1. Any device with Android 4.0 – If you have had your finger on the pulse of this story, you have seen the future, and it is good…

2. Ipad 3 and Iphone 5 – These will both hit in 2012. not if, but when. Apple is fairly predictable in their product cycles. Based on what is out now, the next steps are good ones.

3. Mobile Apps for Ordering food – I used the Papa John’s app the other night while on a youth conference and it worked beautifully. I was able to discuss with the group what we wanted, put it in, and send the order. 30 minutes later, the delivery guy was there with the pizza!.

4.  Entry Level Smartphones – As the price becomes less of an issue, and the line blurs between feature phone and smartphone, the winners become the entry and mid level smartphones. If carriers can keep the required data pricing attractive,  more and more customers will make the jump.

5. Mobile payments -  I use square, paypal, my starbucks app, and other methods to move money to an from my accounts. I am not convinced that NFC (Near Field Communication) will go big in 2012, but the mobile payments industry has many other ways of getting your money to someone who wants it….

5 Technologies that will Bust in 2012

1.  Ultrabooks -  There, I said it. I love the idea, I really do. However, the implementation has been slow and expensive. The MacBook Air has had too much of a head start on the Ultrabooks to see much of a threat. There will be a few niche adopters, (maybe business travelers) but I believe that widespread adoption will not take place in 2012.

2. Google TV –  The set top box has been tried and tried again, with little success. Anyone remember Microsoft WebTV? Many would just rather have a means to hook something like a laptop, Gaming Console, or HTPC (Home Theatre PC) to their TV, and use a Hulu or Netflix app.

3. Blackberry –  Unless things drastically change, Blackberry is soon to become not much more than a footnote in tech history. Slow design-to-market timing is keeping RIM in a constant game of catch-up. The Playbook showed promise, but was late to market and incomplete when it got there.

4. Near Field Communication (NFC)-  As I noted in above, NFC is not quite ready for adoption. There are only a handful of devices that carry it, and it is going to take a couple years of development and adoption to really see what NFC can do.

5. Microsoft Office – I am not saying that Office is going away in 2012, but with so many other free and cheap options, combined with more tablet options that run compatible suites, The market share has got to be shrinking for MS. I have Office, but usually use Google Docs for most of my Word Processing and Simple Spreadsheet work, due to simplicity and the availability online.

These are my best guesses. I may do an article like this in 2013, and say “wow, I was wrong”. If you think I am right or wrong, let me know below in the comments section. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Related posts:

1. What is #CarrierIQ and Why does it matter? I saw this story breaking yesterday and thought that it...
2. Low-Tech Hi-Tech Sure it’s cool that the Droid X, Evo 4G and...
3. Google Currents If you have not tried out this app for iOS...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

If you have not tried out this app for iOS and Android, you need to. It can even pull in your google reader feeds and “make them pretty”…

Android Source : Market

Related posts:

1. Top 10 Android Apps for Ministry…. Shortly after iOS 5 came out, I made the jump...
2. What is #CarrierIQ and Why does it matter? I saw this story breaking yesterday and thought that it...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Wow! Just when you thought they were all gone….

Related posts:

1. Tough day if you just bought a TouchPad… News just broke that HP is ceasing opearion of its...
2. What is #CarrierIQ and Why does it matter? I saw this story breaking yesterday and thought that it...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

1. CarrierIQ is a system implemented at a “deeper than application, but just above Operating System Level” on  wide variety of Operating Systems and Carriers. The newest information seems to peg its use on Android and iOS versions before iOS5
2. Some carriers use it “for network diagnostic purposes”. The software is capable of far more than that. Including monitoring every keystroke and application launch.
3. Is there a way to uninstall it? Yes. On Android, you simply Root the phone, unlock the bootloader if needed and load a Android Open Source Project (AOSP) based ROM (such as CyanogenMod)
4. Is there a way to avoid it when purchasing a new phone? Yes. Buy an unlocked, unsubsidized phone (Such as the Google Nexus Series) or one Running Windows Phone (Microsoft claims not to support it)

Related posts:

1. MinistryTech Minute: LG Quantum for AT&T… The LG Quantum is a Windows Phone 7 smartphone from...
2. Developing… HTC tracking whether a device is rooted? I guess HTC is running some detection schemes via software...
3. Connected Classroom: Asus eeePC 101MT I’ve been blessed with a finance committee that sees the...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

For example, here is my comparison…. (Keep in mind we use a lot of 16×9 format DVD’s…)

Hope this helps you.

Related posts:

1. Connected Classroom: Asus eeePC 101MT I’ve been blessed with a finance committee that sees the...
2. Awana Gospel Message App… An App…That helps you share the Gospel! What an idea....
3. Youth Camp Recap. Recently, our Youth Department returned from Youth Camp in Warsaw, Missouri...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

10. Google Docs (Free) – With every update, Google improves what you can do on your Docs with an android phone or tablet…

9. QuickOffice ($) – Works great to open attachments, including PDF files

8. Google Reader (free) – This is a great way to follow and categorize RSS feeds.

7. Evernote (free) – I use this to catalog, organize, and share ideas.

6. B&N Nook/Amazon Kindle (free) – I have a Nook (am working on replacing it with an iPad2), and these apps work reasonably well to catch up on reading while in waiting rooms, etc…

5. WordPress (free) – I use this to maintain several sites and blogs. It improves with each update.

4. CloudPrint (free) – This is a great app to implement Google CloudPrint from your phone or tablet.

3. GrooveIP ($) – I use this to make free calls over wifi or 3G using Google Voice, making it a reality to lower the minutes on my voice plan.
If you use 3G, it does use the data on your plan. It can even integrate into your dialer.

2. Document Scanner ($) – Smartphone cameras have finally gotten to the quality to enable the camera to capture photos as PDF Documents. It works well

1. Bible (YouVersion) (free) – How can I not put the Bible first? But really, YouVersion is the best Bible App I have used in many years of smartphone use…

What are ones that you use that are not on the list?

Bonus:

Would you like to go to an Android Tablet for free?? 

You can get an Asus EEE Pad or Moto Xoom for free!

Related posts:

1. MinistryTech Minute: LG Quantum for AT&T… The LG Quantum is a Windows Phone 7 smartphone from...
2. Ministry Tech Tip : Website Prep If you are using a website in your lesson, always...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Usability

I see this OS as more of an evolution of what iOS is going to be. There are some very nice refinements over version 4, such as the Notification Center is a nice addition. I still prefer the Android OS approach to notification of emails/texts/appointments, but iOS 5 has went a long way in the right direction.

Apple has made no secret of hiring some from the “jailbreaking community” that have made “un-official improvements” to iOS. I have seen evidence of this in two places. First is the Notification system. Second is a neat little camera trick. If you double click the home button from a lock screen, you have a nice shortcut to the camera (in addition to getting the top volume button as a shutter button).

Other improvements that rise to the top is much improved twitter integration, small but needed tweaks to the mail and messaging apps, and improvements in the settings app (more ability to change more things!).

Speed

I have not noticed any significant drop in speed from iOS 4.3.3 on my iPhone 4.

Battery Life

I have noticed that with heavy use, you can experience a drop in battery life on iOS 5. For most users, this will be almost a non-issue. It is similar to the battery life that you experience when you jailbreak iOS 4.3.3.

Overall Opinion

I am very pleased in the steps Apple has taken to improve iOS. Is it the “nail in the coffin” for any of its competitors? Not in my opinion. But it is a lot of small improvements to a already very good mobile OS/Hardware combination.

Related posts:

1. MinistryTech Minute: LG Quantum for AT&T… The LG Quantum is a Windows Phone 7 smartphone from...
2. Random iPhone Thoughts: HTC Smackdown Edition…. I was reading this article yesterday, and it got me to...
3. Being Left behind the Curve of Development… I’ve been waiting a while on this to develop more,...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.