Apple Finally “Gets it” With New Magic Mouse
November 5, 2009 by admin · Comments
The Bottom Line:
If you’re a Mac owner and are looking to upgrade the lousy mouse that came with your system you will be very satisfied with the Apple Magic Mouse Those looking for more buttons and macro functionality should look at similarly priced products from Logitech and others.
Review:
Apple is known for elegantly designed products, but unfortunately its input devices have fallen short over the last decade or so. That all changes today. The Magic Mouse is the first Apple mouse in probably twenty years that lives up to the elegance of the products it will be connected to.
The entire mouse is touch sensitive, and surprisingly it actually works without many ‘false’ reads. The Magic Mouse is smart enough to detect finger movement for scrolling even when my palm is resting on the device.
A ‘momentum’ setting in the software driver gives your Mac the same type of scrolling behavior as the iPhone. Fast flicks of the finger scroll faster, while slower movements give finer control. It gets a little flaky when a scrollable form is embedded on a webpage, but these are things that can get worked out with future driver releases. Best of all most of the mouse behavior works in virtual environments like VMWare and Parallels.
Magic Mouse also has a very satisfying mechanical clicking system. Like the trackpad on the new Macbooks, it just feels right. Right clicking is available, but it must be configured first in the control panel.
I am puzzled that while Apple prides itself on designing non-replaceable rechargeable batteries into its products, the Magic Mouse runs on AA’s. Batteries are included, but they are not rechargeable. You’ll need to get your own charger and batteries if you wish to use rechargeables. Battery life is decent, and after three full work days I’m still at 90%.
PROs
Beautiful design with an innovative touch sensitive surface
Satisfying clicking mechanism
Seamless bluetooth connectivity
CONs
Only has two possible button combinations (click and right click)
Apple software update required before the mouse is fully functional (as of 11-3-09)
Right clicking needs to be configured in the control panel first
You’ll need a seperate battery charger if you wish to use rechargeables
Windows users won’t get the same functionality as Mac owners at this time
The Ultra Quick iPhone 3G Review for Current iPhone Owners
August 15, 2008 by admin · Comments
So there are already volumes of reviews out there that provide all of the in depth coverage you could ever hope to have on the new iPhone.
But what if you already own a first generation device? After all you plunked down a couple hundred bucks not too long ago and you’re wondering if it’s worth ditching the old for the new.
So in an effort to justify my purchase of a 3G and the hour long wait I had to endure to get it, I will provide for you my list of what’s good and bad about the new device as compared to the first gen iPhone. The list is surprisingly short.
The Good
They finally fixed the iPhone speakerphone!
I used to be so frustrated that the iPhone had a speakerphone you couldn’t actually hear while driving. Thankfully they have made a major improvement to the speaker in the 3G, meaning that most of the time you can actually hear what somebody is saying to you. Audio quality is also improved through the earpiece.
3G Speed is Fast (when available)
If you’re in an AT&T 3G area you will see a sizable increase in data speeds. I was out earlier today pulling down a decent sized PDF off of a website and found that it was actually a tolerable experience! Not as good as WIFI but a sizable improvement over EDGE.
GPS is Creepy Accurate
To be sitting on my porch and have the blinking blue dot overlayed on the satellite image exactly where I was seated is a bit creepy. But there will be some really cool applications taking advantage of this in the very near future. I’m especially looking forward to a Geocaching application this guy is working on.
Headphone Jack Doesn’t Require an Adapter
This is one of those little things that really makes me happy. On the original iPhone you had to walk around with these little doohickeys that had to sit in between your favorite headphones and the iPhone. This was because the headphone jack on the original was ‘recessed’ supposedly for aesthetic purposes. Thankfully the new 3G iPhone does not require an adapter to plug in speakers or your favorite pair of headphones. And it doesn’t even look that bad.
The Not So Good
Battery Life Takes a Dive
When you have all of the stuff on (bluetooth, wifi, 3G, cellular, GPS, etc) you can just about watch the battery meter drain. I suppose the only consolation is that the iPhone does it more gracefully than competing handsets. You can disable different services to save battery life (i.e. I turn off Bluetooth, Wifi, and 3G when I don’t need them) but the process for doing so is cumbersome. See my rant about that in my prior blog post.
Slightly Larger than the First iPhone
Although it looks sleeker, the 3G is actually slightly larger than the first iPhone. It’s wider and thicker. Apple’s design geniuses tapered the edges to make it feel thinner, but the measurements speak for themselves.
No Turn by Turn Directions
One would think that with all of this fancy GPS stuff built in you could actually do something with it. But unfortunately there is no turn-by-turn application just yet. Apple says it’s coming ’soon.’
So there you have it. Some nice improvements but it’s definitely evolutionary and not revolutionary. You’ll have to decide if it’s worth the $199 and an additional two years of your life devoted to AT&T. If you don’t need GPS and a better speakerphone you might just be content sticking it out with the 1G with the 2.0 update and wait for Steve Jobs’ next masterpiece.
iPhone 3G is Great but Needs Better Power Management Tools
August 15, 2008 by admin · Comments
I picked up an iPhone 3G last night after standing on line for much longer than I should have. Unfortunately a friend who was traveling with me couldn’t get one due to some number porting issues
with Sprint.
It’s not much different from the previous iPhone, with the exception of a GPS and faster data speeds. All of its software features are currently available to owners of the original iPhone with the new 2.0 upgrade that became available yesterday.
I do have one gripe, and that has to do with power management. Watch my video to see what I’m talking about:
This has been bugging me since the original iPhone came out last year. It’s crazy how many different menus I have to go through to disable or enable a radio (bluetooth, wifi, etc). I was hoping that the 3G iPhone, with a total of four different power draining radios, would have a single place to manage all of them. Unfortunately it doesn’t.
Hopefully Apple will move all of these settings into either a single app or change the layout of the settings screen to have on/off sliders for all four radios just below the airplane mode slider. Giving us an easier way to manage power consumption will most certainly result in happier customers!
Stuff I find interesting- Apple approaches $200 billion March 7, 2010
- Obama Gives Cheney a Call February 26, 2010
- Plants vs. Zombies breaks records on the iPhone February 26, 2010
- ‘Find My iPhone’ Rescues Two Stolen Phones at Busch Gardens February 25, 2010
- Poll: Republicans more partisan February 24, 2010
