Archive for the 'iPad Apps' Category

Eric’s Kindle Fire

I opened my Kindle Fire today (upon returning from Asia).
I’m pleased but underwhelmed.

First Impressions:

1) Great Screen
2) Heavier than Kindle 3rd Generation, much heavier than iPod
3) Fast Browsing
4) Interface as responsive as the iPad
5) I have no content (except for lots of books with talking animals in those books).

But, I can stream video from Amazon Prime, so that is a bonus. I can now cancel my Netflix account completely after 4 years, despite a tiny selection of streaming videos.

I can also borrow 1 book a month from Amazon’s lending library as long as I pay for Amazon Prime.

Still it isn’t an iPad, or an iPod or an iPhone.

For $200 it’s a great deal for anyone looking for a tablet for e-mail and light surfing and buying lots of stuff on Amazon.

It has a larger screen than the iPod at $200, but you won’t go running with a Kindle Fire strapped to your arm either. 

One thing the Kindle Fire does not do is Text-To-Speech.  So, I guess Amazon doesn’t really love me. (Yes I’m still mining original Kindle review because it’s the one people have most commented on or e-mailed me about.) You can read how free donuts go together with Kindles here.

Formatting blogs – We switched our website around. We were continually getting hacked.  I have no idea why anyone would hack my lousy blog.  So the formatting on this might really be bad.  If so, I apologize, and applaud your efforts as you read down this page.

International Flights – Kindles and iPads

I noticed lots and lots of people with either Kindles or iPads.  I noticed more people reading on their iPads than I normally do.

I sat next a some poor CEO who got stuck in a middle seat in economy with people like me sitting on the aisle.  She said, "This is going to sound stupid, but I mostly read on my iPad." "I don’t play games," she said.

So I guess the KindleFire gets the Amazon crowd to upgrade to a color screen (and staying up  all night reading because of the active light source keeping their brains awake).

Amazon also grabs the people that stood outside HP (next door to us) to get a TouchPad who actually didn’t stand outside, but want a supported product.

My point is: Apparently, a lot of people read, and they like to read, but this Tablet extends the reach to other people who don’t read, but want a nifty, cheap tablet. (It’s possible that reading and wanting a nifty tablet are not mutually exclusive as well)

Yes, I know, if you’ve followed the Kindle Fire launch at all this isn’t new.  I have to say, I’m a bit underwhelmed at the moment, but after I transfer some legal video content from my Tivo to my Kindle Fire, I might feel better.

(Late Note: I found that I have a digital copy of “The Dark Knight” in the Amazon Cloud, so I’m listening to that while I finish this entry. In just 5 seconds it had enough downloaded to start playing the movie).

The thing that I like about the iPad 2, is that when I buy a video or app, it automatically downloads to my desktop, and I can sync the content with all my other devices quickly.  I can’t do that with my Kindle, and I’m not planning on re-buying content, so I might end up buying another iPad rather than 2 more Kindles.  I don’t know yet.

40+ Designs, 30+ Customers for USB 3.0 digital IP and PHYs

I’m really proud of our R&D and Support teams who built and supported tape-outs of real products in real chips at real customers like DisplayLink and Realtek.

I should point out the 40+ design wins are for actual ASICs that have already started, or have finished, and not just FPGA prototypes.  Corporate strictly regulates formal announcements, so we provide the most accurate data we have. We count real USB 3.0 products.

Here’s a video from DisplayLink explaining why they buy IP from suppliers that have lots of customers.

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I’m still trying to figure out how you subscribe your enemies automatically. I think that might be considered bad, but they are your enemies, so why do you care?

I’M HITTING “PUBLISH” NOW AND HOPING THIS GETS TO THE INTERNET.

Eric’s Kindle Fire

I opened my Kindle Fire today (upon returning from Asia).
I’m pleased but underwhelmed.

First Impressions:

1) Great Screen
2) Heavier than Kindle 3rd Generation, much heavier than iPod
3) Fast Browsing
4) Interface as responsive as the iPad
5) I have no content (except for lots of books with talking animals in those books).

But, I can stream video from Amazon Prime, so that is a bonus. I can now cancel my Netflix account completely after 4 years, despite a tiny selection of streaming videos.

I can also borrow 1 book a month from Amazon’s lending library as long as I pay for Amazon Prime.

Still it isn’t an iPad, or an iPod or an iPhone.

For $200 it’s a great deal for anyone looking for a tablet for e-mail and light surfing and buying lots of stuff on Amazon.

It has a larger screen than the iPod at $200, but you won’t go running with a Kindle Fire strapped to your arm either. 

One thing the Kindle Fire does not do is Text-To-Speech.  So, I guess Amazon doesn’t really love me. (Yes I’m still mining original Kindle review because it’s the one people have most commented on or e-mailed me about.) You can read how free donuts go together with Kindles here.

Formatting blogs – We switched our website around. We were continually getting hacked.  I have no idea why anyone would hack my lousy blog.  So the formatting on this might really be bad.  If so, I apologize, and applaud your efforts as you read down this page.

International Flights – Kindles and iPads

I noticed lots and lots of people with either Kindles or iPads.  I noticed more people reading on their iPads than I normally do.

I sat next a some poor CEO who got stuck in a middle seat in economy with people like me sitting on the aisle.  She said, "This is going to sound stupid, but I mostly read on my iPad." "I don’t play games," she said.

So I guess the KindleFire gets the Amazon crowd to upgrade to a color screen (and staying up  all night reading because of the active light source keeping their brains awake).

Amazon also grabs the people that stood outside HP (next door to us) to get a TouchPad who actually didn’t stand outside, but want a supported product.

My point is: Apparently, a lot of people read, and they like to read, but this Tablet extends the reach to other people who don’t read, but want a nifty, cheap tablet. (It’s possible that reading and wanting a nifty tablet are not mutually exclusive as well)

Yes, I know, if you’ve followed the Kindle Fire launch at all this isn’t new.  I have to say, I’m a bit underwhelmed at the moment, but after I transfer some legal video content from my Tivo to my Kindle Fire, I might feel better.

(Late Note: I found that I have a digital copy of “The Dark Knight” in the Amazon Cloud, so I’m listening to that while I finish this entry. In just 5 seconds it had enough downloaded to start playing the movie).

The thing that I like about the iPad 2, is that when I buy a video or app, it automatically downloads to my desktop, and I can sync the content with all my other devices quickly.  I can’t do that with my Kindle, and I’m not planning on re-buying content, so I might end up buying another iPad rather than 2 more Kindles.  I don’t know yet.

40+ Designs, 30+ Customers for USB 3.0 digital IP and PHYs

I’m really proud of our R&D and Support teams who built and supported tape-outs of real products in real chips at real customers like DisplayLink and Realtek.

I should point out the 40+ design wins are for actual ASICs that have already started, or have finished, and not just FPGA prototypes.  Corporate strictly regulates formal announcements, so we provide the most accurate data we have. We count real USB 3.0 products.

Here’s a video from DisplayLink explaining why they buy IP from suppliers that have lots of customers.

Subscribe

This Blog Address has moved to:

http://blogs.synopsys.com/tousbornottousb/

To subscribe, click on this link: http://feeds.feedburner.com/synopsysoc/ToUSB

I’m still trying to figure out how you subscribe your enemies automatically. I think that might be considered bad, but they are your enemies, so why do you care?

I’M HITTING “PUBLISH” NOW AND HOPING THIS GETS TO THE INTERNET.

After about 4 weeks with the iPad 2, I’m really surprised at what I’m using it for.

I thought I’d use it for:

1. Videos – To watch recorded shows while exercising.
2. Browsing – Casual browsing and news
3. Games – On airplanes
4. Apps – Like Weight Loss
5. E-Mail

What I really use the iPad for

1. eBooks – Read and Exercise (when I’m on a machine)
2. iBooks – For reading Market Research PDFs
3. Facetime – For video conferencing with the family
4. E-Mail

I’ll explain why I love the above 4 items after I look at the cons

What I’m puzzled by (Semi-negative input)

1) Browsing -  I’ve found browsing the web to be cumbersome, I think because when I search, it seems to take longer to find and scroll through lots of lines of search.  I’m simply not enjoying reading the news on the iPad for some reason.  This may change if I subscribe to the WSJ via the Kindle.  An application called Flipbook is pretty good, but I’m concerned about privacy so I don’ t use it with my Google RSS fed.

2) Games – I’m just not interested.  I mean the kids love it.  What is interesting to me as a Marketeer? Games, high quality games, that were made a few years ago can run on the iPad 2.  Publishers can extract more dollars, without the cost of media or advertising from their best titles.  Without physical media or inventory, Apple has created a market for IP that otherwise would be wasted.

Okay, now the fun stuff.

1. eBooks – I’ve spent probably $30 on eBooks using Amazon’s Kindle App.  From self-publishers to traditional books.
   1. Free Books – Lots of free books like “Alice in Wonderland” or “Tom Sawyer” can be downloaded for free using the Amazon Kindle store.  I’m sure these are available in some Google store also.
   2. Self Publishers – These writers publish their own works and sell them for $1 to $5.  I think they only split the proceeds with Amazon, so they don’t need to charge a lot.  The Amazon community rates the books, and they either do well, or they don’t. Again, a market that thrives with the help of both Amazon and Apple, but didn’t really exist 5 years ago.
   3. Traditional books – I find myself paying more for a digital copy of a book than for a good used copy.  This means that publishers don’t even need to print a hard copy, they get a bigger margin.  In fact, I’m considering buying more digital copies of books I already have, just so I can read them at the Gym.
2. iBooks for PDFs – I’ve found this is the best way to read PDFs.  There’s a zoom feature so I can focus in and increase the font to make it more readable.  It’s simply fun to read on the iPad.
3. Facetime – I’ve come to rely on this to communicate with my home.  Since my family members always seem to have an iPad or iPod within reach.  It’s also easier to use than a phone. And “free”

   I visited some relatives in China, connected to their WiFi and had a FaceTime Video Call up and running in about a minute with my parents. (Picture below)  I’m thinking of getting an iPad for my mom just for video conferencing.

More next time. And, expect me to buy 1-2 Apple products a year going forward.

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Microsoft heavily promoted the Kinect XBOX 360 games today at E3. Developers have had a another year to generate new uses, and it shows in the latest line-up of games.

The Kinect is a USB peripheral.  I know you remember that the Kinect is Motion Sensing Video Camera that let’s you use your whole body to play games. 

More Creatitivity with 3D Web Cameras

A 3D Camera like the Kinect allows you to really find ways to be creative.

See a demo of Drawing in 3D at 3:00 in the video below.

Or advance to 4:00 to see you you can use the Kinect to take a real 3D object and bring it into a 3D world inside the XBOX

Fun Stuff

Here’s a Demonstration of Dance Central 2 – The game detects your movements so:

a) You can dance with your kids for hours
b) You can be a better dancer (hiding your inner nerd)
c) Your kids can be better dancers that you ever will be.

If a bunch of people post comments, maybe I’ll post video of myself playing Dance Central on the XBOX 360 with Kinect.

Here’s the Star Wars Kinect Demo.  I’m sure the kids will love that too.  It’s the closest they’ll ever become to being a Jedi.

3

As a Concept – 3D Art drawing is interesting. Advance to 3:11 to see this demonstration.

The Best BlackBerry Ever

After my 20th trip to Japan where my phone didn’t work (during the earthquake), I requested a replacement.  I’m excited to say I received my 6th Blackberry phone, and it’s fantastic.

The BlackBerry Curve 3G has:

1) beautiful interface
2) fast response time, and
3) superb voice recognition. 
4) 3G
5) Better WiFi (as far as I can tell)
6) Even the USB seems faster.

And it hasn’t crashed or frozen on my even once.  So I’m loving this phone.

Tango on the iPad 2 and iPod Touch 4

I installed “Tango Video Calls” on my iPod Touch and iPad 2 (yes I got one) and had a call with my Dad in less than 2 minutes.  It was super easy, and good quality over WiFi.  FaceTime has taken longer for me to set up, but it also seems to work.  FaceTime does not work on my corporate WiFi, but Tango does.  Tango is free, so give it a try.

More on my iPad 2, and maybe SSIC next time.

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Send this URL onto your friend. and tell them to
Subscribe to this Blog, one option to subscribe is as follows:

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