Canadian Cabinet Ministers Can Expense iPads

Even though Canadian Members of Parliament have taken a stance against the purchase of iPads, Treasury Board President Stockwell Day has allowed cabinet ministers and senior public servants to expense the cost of the devices. 

Day, an avid user of the iPad, says that a pilot project in his department has proven their cost effectiveness. “I just think they’re wrong on this one,” Mr. Day said in an interview. “MPs will account for the equipment that they buy.… They need to look at it again from the point of view of efficiency and cost saving.”

According to the Globe and Mail, Mr. Day's pilot project came at a cost of $20,530.69. 

NDP MP Pat Martin is quoted as: “Why are we forced to use a horse and buggy when everybody else has got state-of-the-art equipment?” he asked. “I kind of resent that. If it’s good enough for cabinet ministers and senior bureaucrats, it’s good enough for MPs.”   

BTW: According to the article, Stockwell Day has admitted to playing the odd game of Angry Birds on his iPad. I wonder if the tax payers covered the download costs? Then again, I can't disagree with his logic as I have all but abandoned paper in favor of my iPad as well.

Is Your iPad Changing Your Television Watching Habits?

It seems that I am not alone in my iPad / TV watching habits and my transition away from the big screen to the one I can hold in my hand. As reported by Kit Eaton, Fast Company,  a new study is showing that reading online is cutting into prime time TV watching. I for one am finding that the iPad accompanies me in front of the television as I catch up with email, search IMDB to find out who that actress is and where do I know her from? In my case, I am also short circuiting TV altogether at times by downloading and enjoying commercial free episodes from itunes or audio books from Audible. If it weren't for the other members of my household and perhaps live sports in HD, I'd probably scrap my cable subscription all together in favor of downloaded content to my iPad.

Truth is that my iPad is much more convenient, I can take it with me to my favorite chair, which isn't even in a room with a television, and it remembers where I was when I shut the device off. In my experience interruptions are also less frequent as their is less desire to interrupt someone when they have their ear buds in.

What are your findings? 

Have iPad, Will Travel... Awkwardly

So it seems that some men are envious of the iPad but are not willing to purchase one because of the difficulty transporting it. I actually lug mine around, in the official Apple case, like a note pad, in my hand and held against my hip but then again I am not very concerned that the device will be recognized by would be thieves. I also don't typically carry too much else into the office and my parking is just steps away from our building.

It seems that in larger cities guys are both more leery of displaying the device openly and more fashion conscious. The New York Times discusses....

Note: This post seems to have been partially lost, I'll come back to it once I locate the link to the NYT story.  

The Android Tablet Cometh

Hold on to your hat Apple a slue of android powered tablets are set to rock the market place to it's core, well maybe. While there have been a few cheap attempts at displacing the iPad, no serious competitor has made it to the market yet but just in time for Christmas are offerings from  Samsung, Toshiba, ViewSonic and Archos with screens ranging from 7 to 10 inches in size and some boasting 1080p resolution, usb interfaces, and of course adobe flash support. The android tablets are set to debut at anywhere from $299 for the Archos 101 Internet Tablet to arround $1000 for the Galaxy Tab by Samsung putting them all around the $499 and up offers for the various iPad models.

It will be interesting to see if the iPad will continue to dominate or if the trend being felt in the smartphone market will carry over into tablets. My prediction is that the lower priced Archos will be a winner, I'd love to see the Galaxy Tab do well but the price point may be a sticking point unless it is subsidized by carriers on a contract. All in all, the android operating system is gaining favour and could propel android powered tablets into compelling alternative status.

French Security Firm Warns Of Apple IOS / PDF Vulnerability

French security firm Vupen has reported a vulnerability targeted at Apple products running IOS, namely the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, that could allow hackers to take control of your device. The scam is an old one, lure users to a malicious website planted with an infected PDF document. It's been done before on PCs but this is the latest in a string of attacks aimed at Apple's popular mobile devices. It would seem as though Apple is feeling the pain long suffered by Microsoft, it's tough being at the top!

Apple is looking into the claim.

Credit: The Globe and Mail

Flipboard, What Your iPad Was Made For

Yesterday a new app hit the iTunes app store and because it was showing up in a bunch of twitter posts ("Exclusive first look at Flipboard: http://scobleizer.com/Revolutionary social news app for iPad." @Scobleizer) I downloaded it to see what all of the fuss was about. It would seem that every other iPad owner on the face of the planet was also downloading Flipboard and trying to connect it to their social network as well. The app store held up to it's end of the bargain but Flipboard itself was a little overwhelmed by all of the attention and I was unable to connect it to my Facebook or Twitter accounts. None the less this is the killer iPad app! There, I said it too... Flipboard turns your iPad into a rich media experience. You have to try it to understand but the app maker has done a great job of explaining and demonstrating it via this video:

I now officially love my iPad!

The Magic of iPad

I'll let the video do the talking on this one...

Bravo!

Wired: "Tablets haven’t been this hot since Moses came down from Mount Sinai."

If I may butcher a line from Spider Man, it would appear as though with great power comes a great deal of interest from other manufacturers to get their own devices out the door. To that end Wired has created "...an overview of some interesting tablets we expect — or hope — to see this year." Among the contenders is a Google/Verizon offering, an Acer device expected in a couple of weeks, a Dell/AT&T device slated for later this summer, and reported other offerings by Sony, HP, and even RIM. Check out the line up at Wired.

As for me, I'd like to hold out for an Android powered device but the iPad's initial success and sleek Apple designs are just too strong to resist and therefore... me too please!

Adobe Will No Longer Support iPhone Development Tool

It would appear as though Adobe has given up it's fight with Apple over developer tools ,after Apple updated the terms and conditions of the license that software developers must sign to create and sell apps for the iPhone and iPad shortly before Adobe's release of Creative Suite 5 earlier this month. CS5 was Adobe's tool that would open up the path to iPhone and iPad for Flash developers, Apple however wants full control over it's platform and is playing rough.

Mike Chambers, Adobe's principal product manager for developer relations has written on his blog "...as developers for the iPhone have learned, if you want to develop for the iPhone you have to be prepared for Apple to reject or restrict your development at any time." 

It's as if Apple has a burly bouncer at the door to an exclusive club, and that's why I love my android powered phone! 

Sorce: BBC

iPad Not Ready For Higher Education?

It seems that the iPad is attracting the wrong kind of attention from a number of high profile universities for reported issues with connectivity and degradation of the school's networks when a number of the devices are connected. The Wall Street Journal is reporting "The tablet, lauded by many as the next wave in education technology, is having difficulty being accepted at George Washington University and Princeton University because of network stability issues. Cornell University also says it is seeing connectivity problems with the device and is concerned about bandwidth overload."

In addition to the networking woes, some educators are also complaining about a lack educational content available via the iBookstore application. Regardless, I am sure that Apple will be working hard to solve the hardware issues and attract more content. Not to mention, too many consumers Apple products are simply irresistible!