Archive for May, 2011
Xoom tablet love fest
Just when I thought there was no further gas left in Neil's tank of technology love enter the Xoom. I've been anticipating this moment for some time for the following reasons. 1. I want a portable device that will let me connect to Adobe Connect sessions wherever I need to connect. 2. I'm keen to explore the implications of this technology with the latest secondlife apps – whilst not perfect, the open source community have been doing wonderful things to bring this world to the tablet. 3. Portability, with an hdmi out link its possible to use this for practically any task, presentations (once we move towards the latest projection units at RIT!) demonstrations, even games (stay away from fruit slice is my advice). 4. the input of the Xoom is excellent, I'm touch typing on this as we speak. 5. My fave.. it supports flash. I mean seriously Steve – the 80's called – fix your operating system before you lose any further ground in this race. 6. The screen, speed of response, quality of camera, sound dock, clean lines and overall sexiness (it's black) really impress me. Overall assessment – rather pleased with this acquisition. With respect to possible enhancements, there aren't many. Mostly these relate to applications. I'm looking forward to skype mobile with video for the Xoom, forward facing camera options for Adobe Connect, fruit slice two, and an absence of oily fingers. Dress gloves of course are optional in the use of this machine but recommended.
A new level of productivity – enter the Thunderbolt
With fond remembrance I experienced my last dropped call last week and unceremoniously dumped the old Blackberry Storm into the bin of obsolete technology. In its place – a spangly new HTC Thunderbolt. So far so good. The phone isnt really a phone but more of a personal computer. One thing I love most about it is the front facing camera for skype mobile. I also approve 100% of the Adobe Connect app that lets me join and participate in connect sessions remotely. The 4G on this phone SCREAMS. We've certainly come a very long way since I first owned a mobile in 1995 and it seems theres just no excuse these days for not being productive on the go. So to test this I took myself off to the lake late one evening to see how the 4G network performed. The GPS works exceptionally well, responsive, accurate (you can follow your own footsteps on zoom it seems). The speed with which data loads is remarkable (much faster than roadrunner cable back home) and I work well with the touch screen keyboard. In short, with this much power (and a couple of extra batteries – this thing is more hungrier for power than a small west african nation dictator) I'm closer to being truly connected at all times irrespective of location. A few other tests included: taking and uploading a gps tagged photo to my flickr account in less than 10 seconds. Captured and uploaded a short video snippet of a social media vblog to YouTube – 1 minute (including recording time). Will report back on my experience in times to come.
