Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Apple ipad, Google goes without Windows and Skype has 3G enabled calls.

8 weeks of Ipad

It is now 2 months since I am using my ipad and I have to say I liked it so far.

The best part of the iPad is that I read more, not books, but newspapers like US Today, NYT editor choice, Financial Times and Popular Science. It is so much more convenient to read them online in a dedicated app then on the web or to buy the actual paper. However the big problem is that there is no such rule how the apps should work. All of them have different ways to get to the next page. Either swipe from left to right or vice versa, swipe from top to button or vice versa, tap once on column right or do whatever you want.

It would be nice that all publisher agreeing on one way. Some apps don’t allow to email an article (like FT), which is pretty annoying, because we want sometimes to inform other people about news we read.

Two things are the worst part in the ipad. Printing is not be default working tasks, there are some apps which can help you to print, but don’t include things like pages or keynote. Speaking of keynote, it is totally not cross platform compatible. It can read PowerPoint but can’t export or send PowerPoint, only pdf or keynote, this is a big drawback. I am using Windows in the office and develop sometimes on the road with the ipad keynote presentations; I can’t send them in a readable and changeable format to Windows.

The second not yet solved problem is that almost nobody (including Apple) is using the new input control as they could. Working with pages and keynote is slow and hard. Why not allowing multiple touch function to do certain things like drawing a new box, modifying pictures, and text? I have to go through some unnecessary menus. Here most of the developer can do much more with the ipad. Please think out of the box and allow certain functions through multiple finger use. Maybe tapping at the same time - top left and low right will create a box.

But otherwise the iPad is a cool product, so cool that a lot of vendors now building their own similar device, which hopefully we get down with netbooks, which I could never understand that they exist. If I want to have a notebook, then I would buy a real notebook, not a tiny screen with keyboard.

Google goes Windows less

This is one of the most interesting news I heard. An American company with over 10.000 employees will not have Windows anymore because Windows is not secure enough. If they want to use Windows the CEO has to approve.But more interesting is that user can choose between Linux and Mac OSX. Mac OSX? Are you serious, google is fighting with Apple on every front, but at the HQ they want to use Apple. I can’t understand, or I can? I think their new Chrome OS will either run on Apple computers or other Intel/AMD computers. So finally Google is trying to get their foot into Apple computers. I don’t think it has to do that designers like more Apple, because google is not really creative in usability or design. It always looks geeky. My guess is, that Chrome is coming soon and all google employees have to switch to Chrome or use Linux.

Latest iphone update from Skype does allow 3G calls

This is great, but what will this tell us? I strongly believe that ATT opened 3G internet calls and skype opened their app for 3G to get to the next step, which might be released on June 7th. Apple will announce their new iphone and we heard enough about the found prototype and its ability. With skype allowing 3G call it might be obvious that the new iPhone will have a front camera for video calling, why else should I use skype? Yeah for international calls, but then I would use other software, because most of the time I would call landlines and not other skype users. But with the hopefully upcoming front camera I can finally call again other skype users and don’t need to use my computer. Plus I don’t use my computer anymore on the road; I use my ipad which has no camera at all. I can’t wait till next iphone is coming out. I am pretty sure it will include I chat with a nice feature, but again, most of my friends don’t use AIM or ichat but skype. However with over 35 million iphone users, the  build in ichat app could bring us to a new level of communication (assumption that iphone will have ichat) and will have a front camera), which brings me to the point I made 18 months ago. I strongly believe the cell phone today will not exist in 3 years anymore or at least will be not number one calling device. Carrier will change. Companies or Verizon will not be a big player anymore as cell phone sellers and phone contracts. With Wifi, WiMax and and 3G, phones are not phone anymore they are small computer devices we use for making VOiP calls. Google will be provider number one, and ATT and Verizon will only exist if they change their model. But for sure most of our cell call will not use the classic calling structure anymore. All will go at the end over the internet.

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