Currently browsing Posts Tagged “ipad”

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Is This Really The Future of Magazines or Why Didn’t They Just Use HTML 5?

Posted by Scott Jarkoff in Shorts

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Interesting observation on the Wired app for the iPad:

Why is the magazine so large? Being the intrepid hacker that I am (*wink*) I mounted my jail broken iPad via AppleTalk and quickly tore into the app itself to see how it was constructed. Similar to the PopSci+ magazine application, each Wired issue is actually a bunch of XML files that lay out a bunch of images. And by “a bunch of images” I mean 4,109 images weighing in at 397MB.

Each full page is a giant image – there are actually two images for each page: one for landscape and one for portrait mode. Yes, I’m laughing on the inside too. There is no text or HTML, just one gigantic image. The “interactive” pieces where you can slide your finger to animate it are just a series of JPG files. When you press play on the audio file and see the progress meter animate? A series of PNG files.

On the one hand I can see the point but on the other hand I have to wonder what he expected? Surely as publishing for the iPad matures, the manner in which the “magazine” is constructed will change over time.

I cannot help but wonder what he expected as far as the so-called interactivity. Surely Wired could have done some really cool things had they opted to, but I suspect they were more interested in focusing on displaying advertising and the content they created for the magazine – the articles themselves.

It is easy to laugh at an app weighing in at 4000+ images costing almost 400MB in download size. But to criticize without nary a suggestion other than using HTML 5? Consider me unimpressed with the feedback even though I am, too, completely underwhelmed with the Wired app offering.

NTT Docomo To Provide iPad Coverage via Handheld WiFi Access-Point?

Posted by Scott Jarkoff in Shorts

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Buried at the end of this Reuters report regarding the iPad being a huge hit in Japan is this little nugget of information:

NTT Docomo, Japan’s biggest mobile phone operator, will sell wireless LAN routers for the iPad’s Wi-Fi connection next month to rival No.3 operator Softbank, which exclusively provides 3G networks for iPad.

So rather than providing a SIM to insert directly in to the iPad itself, it appears NTT Docomo will be selling what I assume to be some form of a portable WiFi access-point which connects to their 3G network on the WAN side and allows your iPad to connect on the LAN side.

This sounds far more beneficial overall, seeing as it ostensibly would provide access to more devices than just an iPhone, than paying Softbank solely for iPad 3G access.

It will be quite interesting if such a product does become offered, especially since it is widely accepted here in Japan that DoCoMo has a far better 3G infrastructure compared to Softbank’s spotty coverage.

I’ve Changed My Mind About The iPad

Posted by Scott Jarkoff in Shorts

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Fred Wilson has changed his mind about the iPad after using it for a while and letting it sink in:

Over the past week, I have fallen in love with the thing. And so I am telling you why.

It may be the best email device I have ever owned. It took me a while to warm up the way Gmail is rendered on the iPad and I really miss my Google Labs hacks, but I prefer doing email on the iPad to my two phones and my laptop right now.

I suspect this is the way a lot of folks feel about the iPad.

Folks are jazzed about the idea of the iPad so they buy one. After bringing it home and playing with it for a bit they realize the iPad is a drastically different computer than they are used, often resisting the urge to change.

Then after using it for a period of time they realize the iPad is a game changer – that it is truly the magical device Apple believes it to be.

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