Interesting New Products At The Apple Store

Yesterday, I spent some time at my local Apple Store. I never tire of taking a look at the most recent crop of products that they have available. It's amazing how a product can become seemingly more useful when it can be connected to mobile technology. This genre of products has seen tremendous growth in the last several years, and there are several companies that design and offer only products that are functionally tied directly to the Apple iOS devices.

Of particular interest to me is the rapidly increasing array of products that can be connected to Apple iOS devices like the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. Below you will find three products that caught my eye.

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IHealth Blood Pressure Dock 

(Available for iPhone4, iPod Touch 4th Gen, and iPad)

This device claims to be able to measure and track your blood pressure, as well as help you to identify relationships between your blood pressure and your daily life.

Included inside the package you will find: the iHealth Blood Pressure Dock, cuff, cable, manual, and quick start guide.

The system is priced at $99.95, which is not inexpensive, but if it is accurate and provides functionality for those that need to keep track of their blood pressure on a regular basis, it may be worth it!

Manufacturer listed product highlights incude:

• Simple, attractive, elegant interface
• Visualize measurement process
• Record your systolic/diastolic numbers, heart rate, pulse wave, and measurement time
• Flick up and down, right or left, to check your test results, pulse wave graph, and WHO classification
• Check your results and changes in blood pressure in a beautiful history graph
• Generate your own graph by time, date, or systolic/diastolic numbers
• Calculate averages based on time, date, or systolic/diastolic numbers
• Instantly see systolic/diastolic numbers, heart rate, and time for all the measurements in visible part of the graph
• Smart WHO classification tool
• Easily add or edit measurement results using slide-in controls
• Share your results by e-mail
• Comprehensive database of frequently asked questions regarding blood pressure
• Dock battery management

For more information and to purchase the iHealth Blood Pressure Dock, please view the product here on the Apple Online  Store. Currently the device is selling for $99.95 USD.

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AmpliTube iRig

(Available for iPhone4,3GS,3, all iPod Touch models, and iPad)

This looks like a pretty cool device that would be useful to musicians. With this device, you can plug a guitar, bass, keyboard, microphone, or other line level musical instrument into your iOS device and use it to play along with your itunes library. For example, you could hook up your guitar and pay utilizing an expandable collection of effects and amplifiers. It features a stereo output that can be connected to headphones, amps, or speakers. Looks like a pretty innovative way to experiment with different musical sounds.

Priced at $39.95, the iRig is fairly inexpensive and looks like it could be fun and useful for musicians.

Manufacturer listed product highlights include:

• 1/4-inch mono input designed for electric guitar and bass, but also works with keyboards, hand-held microphones, mixers
• 1/8-inch stereo output can connec to headphones, amplifiers, speakers or stereos
• 1/8-inch connector jack plugs into to your Apple device's headphone input for future-proof operation
• Works with AmpliTube FREE for the iPhone/iPad app, letting you play, practice and record through famous guitar amps and effects right on your phone
• Compatible with other iPhone/iPad apps: Tuners, metronomes, recording apps, amp sims

For more information and to purchase AmpliTube iRig, please view the product here on the Apple Online Store. Currently the device is selling for $39.95 USD.

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IGrill Grilling/Cooking Thermometer
(Available for iPhone4,3GS,3, iPod Touch 2nd Gen+ models, and iPad)

I love to grill. I've had electronic grill thermometers before, but they haven't lasted very long. This device really caught my eye. Since its Bluetooth enabled, you can keep your iOS devices safe and far away from the grill heat source. It also offers cooking timer functionality, so not only can you monitor the grilling temperature of your food, but the time it has been cooking as well.

At $99.95 USD, the price seems a bit steep for a grill thermometer, but the added connectivity and functionality may be worth it.

Manufacturer listed product highlights include:

• Device
• iPod touch, iPhone and iPad compatible
• Blutooth enabled
• Multi-probe capacity
• Integrated probe storage
• Works as a stand-alone thermometer
• App
• iGrill Device connectability
• Multiple view options
• Kitchen timer
• Time-remaining feature
• Recipes and resources

For more information and to purchase the iGrill Grilling/Cooking Thermometer, please view the product here on the Apple Online Store. Currently the device is selling for $99.95 USD.

What's your opinion on the potential functionality these devices can offer. Do the products add value, or will they end up fading into obscurity. I'd love to get your take in the comments below.

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Verizon iPhone4 Launch Day Post Round-Up

Today was launch day for the Verizon iPhone4. Welcome to the party. I've been using the iPhone on AT&T since the 3G was released and currently have the iPhone4. That said, I had the opportunity to take a look at the Verizon model at the office today as a co-worker had gotten theirs.

My initial inspection of the Verizon iPhone4, concurred with what many have reported... it isn't noticeably different from the AT&T model. The one major difference that I have been made aware of is that you cannot use the data services and voice network at the same time. I was not able to test or verify this, but that is what I have read and heard.

Here is a listing of posts that surfaced today that address the launch of the Verizon device:

• Survey of first Verizon iPhone 4 buyers finds limited AT&T cannibalization via AppleInsider
• Verizon iPhone Teardown Reveals Only Minor Changes via MobileCrunch
  
• Verizon iPhone customers line up across the US via The Unofficial Apple Weblog
  
• The Best Games For Your Verizon iPhone via Gizmodo
  
• Jumping Ship from Android to iPhone: A Switcher’s Guide via lifehacker
  
• Verizon iPhone hands-on: better calls, slower data, the iPhone experience you know and love via The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Did you get your hands on the Verizon iPhone4 yet? Please share your impressions and experiences with the device below in the comments. Thanks for reading!

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Related Posts:

• iPhone 4 On Verizon - Do You Care?

Angry Birds May Be The Highlight Of The Super Bowl

You may have not yet heard, but the cast of characters from the runaway casual gaming hit Angry Birds are getting a prominent spot in a Super Bowl advertisement. The Angry Birds ought to start smiling. They are pretty successful!

In what is to be the first Super Bowl commercial to include an embedded code, the characters from the Rovio's smash-hit game appear along side characters from the upcoming film release Rio from Twentieth Century Fox.

The commercial spot will feature an embedded code that gamers will be able to enter into the Angry Birds game and be taken to a special hidden Rio level in the game. The game level will also take you to a Rio sweepstakes. The winner of the sweepstakes will get to attend the premiere of the Rio film in Rio de Janeiro on March 22, 2011. Pretty unique marketing!

I've seen the Super Bowl commercial already, and characters from Angry Birds get significantly more screen time than the characters from the upcoming film. This definitely lends credibility to the popularity of this game. It is still the top selling app store item on Apple's iPhone and iPad, and has landed as a downloadable game on the Xbox 360 and Sony PS3 as well. Angry Birds will also be released for the upcoming Nintendo 3DS.

Have you played Angry Birds and/or the supplemental level game Angry Birds Seasons? I enjoy them, but I take my time trying to get three stars on each level before progressing. It's challenging, and it will definitely take me some time to get perfect scores on all of the levels as I advance. I'm in no hurry.

Are you a fan of the game? Have any tips or tricks? What do you think about this marketing strategy for promoting the Rio film?

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iPad App Review: The Daily

Yesterday, February 2, 2011, News Corporation (parent company of Fox News and other media properties) released their "The Daily" application for the iPad. The app has been under development for some time, and a lot of resources have been dedicated to making it useful and successful.

Below, I will show you what the app looks like and describe some of its basic features.

Splash Page

The splash page you see when you open the app each time is pleasing to the eye, and features some subtle and effective animation and movement.

Main Page

The main page features a scrollable left-right movement between categories of stories. The section of focus spins to the front much like the cover-flow display seen in iTunes and many other media applications. It is an effective way to group categories of stories. You can also select some categories from the bottom of the screen. In the upper right hand corner, you will also see that it displays the current temperature at the location you have indicated in the general settings.

Pop-up Menu

Clicking the triangle icon on the bottom right portion of the main screen brings up the pop-up menu shown on the bottom of the picture above. The menu allows you to view video, listen to audio, see your saved stories, access your settings, and more.

Section Main Page

This is the main page of the Apps & Games section. It features a graphic that is related to the story, and the story tagline.

Story Page 1

The first page of the story features some more graphics, and you will see that the text is laid out in the fashion of a traditional news magazine.

Story Page 2 With Interaction

The second page of the story continues with the same formatting. In this particular story, there is some interactivity in the form of a poll on the right that you can interactive with and contribute your vote to.

General Settings

The settings are accessible from the main screen pop-up menu by choosing the icon that looks like a gear. The general settings, as shown above, allows you to toggle receiving pop-up notifications about breaking news, launch the daily anchor at startup, setup a horoscope, and set your location.

Account Information

The account settings page allows you to sign up for a free application account to personalize your settings, shows how long your subscription is valid for, allows you to manage your subscription, and also to reset your content settings.

Subscriptions

The subscription page (sub-area off off account settings) allows you to manage your subscription to daily issues of the application. As you can see, you can pay $0.99 / week or $39.99 / year.

Sharing

The sharing features the application (shown above) gives you the ability to share a news story via facebook, twitter, and email. It also allows you to save the story for later viewing from the saved stories section on the pop-up menu of the main application screen.

Conclusion

Out of the gate, The Daily is a nice looking app, functions well, and hasn't crashed on me yet. I think if the News Corp can keep up the solid content and make upgrades where needed, they will have a winner on its hands. I definitely recommend trying it out. The app is free to download, and there is a short trial that will let you try it out with new daily editions for more than a week before you need to fork over the cash for a subscription. 

iPad users can download the app HERE

I'd love to hear your comments and thoughts on the application in the comment section below.

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• Will Tablets Kill Newspapers Or Help Them?
• Mobile Payments - When Will They Be The Mainstay?
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Will Tablets Kill Newspapers Or Help Them?

Long before the spring 2010 debut of Apple's iPad, we have seen a decline in traditional print media. The delivery of information on the world wide web and to a lesser extent email newsletters has given people alternate ways of being notified about things that they care about.

Several print publications have gone out of business or have ceased publishing print editions. Today, there are hundreds of newspapers that no longer publish print editions, and have moved strictly to electronic formats of distribution. The new format seems to be popular among those that have embraced technology, while many consumers miss their papers in their old traditional tangible format.

In a time where we find many companies wrestling with how to successfully move front print to digital revenue models, USA Today, the second largest newspaper in terms of circulation behind The Wall Street Journel as of September 30, 2010 has come forward and said that it is doing very well on the iPad. As reported in The Telegraph today, Gannett Company (the publisher of USA Today) COO Gracia Martore stated that "the iPad has been a real positive for USA Today," and added, "we expect this will translate into a much more significant improvement," regarding revenues.

After cutting more than a hundred staff members last fall, USA Today decided to devote a large amount of its remaining resources to the evolution and support of the iPad application. Since April of 2010, there have been more than 1.4 million downloads of the app. It seems that they have made a wise choice in embracing the new digital tablet format.

As more tablets come onto the market, there will be more and more publishers seeking to stake their claim to tablet screen real estate. The News Corporation will be debuting their news application The Daily on the iPad tomorrow. The application features an in-app subscription process that improves upon the models other print media have used on the iPad by not requiring consumers to buy issues individually. The individual purchase model has hurt magazines that saw some initial success on the iPad platform. Perhaps they will move to an in-app extended subscription model as well.

How do you consume your news? Do you have an iPad or tablet? Could you imagine using one as a primary source for news and textual media consumption? Please leave a comment below!

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Google Voice Now Allows Porting Your Own Number - (Update - Option is now gone)

Google Voice is a terrific product. Up until now, the main caveat has been that you needed to select a number they provided for you to use with their service. That obstacle is now gone.

As of today, Google Voice now allows you to port your own mobile number to use as your Google Voice number. Now you can give your number out and manipulate it in the myriad of ways that are available through Google Voice. Your messages can now be transcribed using the service, (and yes I know the transcriptions aren't always the best.)

There are a few important facts to consider:

• You must first check to see if your number can be ported. This can easily be checked on your Google Voice page. Under your Voice Settings, you should now see an option next to your Google Voice number that says Change / Port. Once you click that, you will be asked if you want a new Google Voice number, or if you want to use your existing mobile number instead. You then enter your mobile number and select Check. If your number can be ported, you will see this screen:

• As you can see in the screen above, there is a $20 fee associated with the number port.
• Additionally, it has been reported by Engadget that your existing phone contract will be terminated when you port your number to Google voice. They show a screen shot showing the text: "Your mobile phone service plan will be terminated when you port your number to Google Voice and your carrier may charge you an early termination fee." I do not see this when I check my number. I am simply notified that I will need to pay $20. I am an iPhone 4 user on AT&T.
• By terminating your contract, you will potentially rack up some heavy penalty fees from your cell phone carrier. 
• I believe this is due to the fact that to receive voice calls, you will need a "new" contract from a carrier for a number that Google Voice can send calls to. This is somewhat confusing right now, so I will need to do some further research.

This is no doubt exciting news. Although I have not yet ported my mobile number to Google Voice, I will stay tuned to see how this works for people and how it affects contracts, call flow, and functionality.

I love the feature set that Google Voice offers, but I do not want to breach my contract and be pinned with large early termination fees. I also am interested to see how the functionality works for people that have ported their mobile numbers.

Will you be porting your mobile number to Google Voice? What functionalities will you gain by porting your number?

Update:
The option to port your mobile number has been removed from Google Voice from now. Google has mentioned that they are still testing the feature. Stay tuned... it's bound to resurface soon.

Mobile Payments- When Will They Be The Mainstay?

On my way home today I heard an interesting story on NPR. It seems like men have been carrying around wallets and women have carried purses for a long time. With today's advancements and technology, more specifically mobile technology, I'm surprised that we have not been able to more fully utilize mobile payments. Today's smart phones have so much processing power and so much capability that we could easily and securely store the tiny amount of information that is stored on magnetic credit card slips.

Why is it that we can sit at home on the Internet and purchase just about anything we need or want with a few clicks of the mouse and have it delivered to her door, yet when we venture down to the corner gas station or supermarket we must carry a bulky wallet with credit cards, cash, and store loyalty cards. It seems to me that smart phones are so functional, as they now take pictures, play music, deliver and send e-mail, and so much more. Why couldn't we store our payment information on the phones as well and use them as a mechanism for paying for purchases on a mass scale?

It seems so impractical to carry a wallet, when we so often use only one thing and it. Maybe it's a credit card, a medical insurance card, or a store loyalty card. There are several application and hardware developers that are working on mobile payment options that will be secure, convenient, and easy to use.

One such company is Bling Nation, It utilizes a small sticker containing a microchip that is affixed to the back of a mobile phone. At stores that accept Bling Nation payments, you simply touch the tag on the back of the phone to a special terminal, and the money is then deducted from your account, and you are on your way.

Another recent pioneer in the area of mobile payments is Square. By utilizing a tiny device that plugs into the headphone jack of iPhones, users are able to accept credit card payments wherever they are. For instance, let's say you are splitting the cost of a meal with a friend. You plan on paying via credit card, as does your friend. If the restaurant did not split the check, what are you to do? With Square, you can swipe your friends credit card for the amount he or she is responsible for, and the money is deposited into your account, after a small transaction fee is deducted. You now can pay for the entire restaurant bill with your own credit card, having already been reimbursed for your friends portion. Pretty convenient.

What do you think the future holds for mobile payments? Do you ever foresee a time when all of our identity and financial information can be handled on mobile devices, and we will no longer need to carry identification cards, insurance cards, and credit cards?

iPhone 4 On Verizon - Do You Care?

At a special press event in New York City, NY yesterday, Verizon Wireless executives revealed that Apple iPhones for the Verizon wireless network would be available in stores on February 10, 2011. Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook revealed that the deal with Verizon was possible as AT&T's exclusivity contract to carry the phone expired "recently."

This deal opens up a huge portion of the US mobile phone market to Apple. Since Verizon is the largest wireless carrier in the US, more users will be able to purchase and use the iPhone. There is also the possibility that many current iPhone users, unhappy with AT&T service, will switch to Verizon and get the new Verizon version of the iPhone.

Cost
The cost of the Verizon iPhone will be the same price at which AT&T currently offers it (2 year contract pricing will be $199 for 16 GB, $299 for 32 GB).

Changes?
The phone is pretty much identical to the version of the iPhone 4 that is currently available at AT&T. There has been a modication of the internal antenna configuration in the Verizon version, as well as a slight modifcation to the volume and mute areas on the phone.

This version of the iPhone being released for Verizon will not support simultaneous voice and data, so facetime over the cellular data network will not work. The phone uses 3G (Verizon EV-DO), and not 4G or LTE. It is not a world phone. It  will only work on Verizon's network.

Impact
How much impact will this new market sector have on Apple? Will Verizon users turn out in droves to pick up iPhones for use on their carrier? There are a couple of areas I think we need to watch:

• Businesses - Business and corporate Verizon customers with multiple users may have stuck with RIM Blackberry, or picked up Android phones simply because those were the choices available to them, not because they preferred them. IT departments may start deploying iPhones rather than Blackberry devices, as they require no licensing for enterprise email.
• Users unhappy with AT&T - There are many AT&T users that have had many usage and data connectivity problems with their iPhones. Many if these users love the devices, but would jump to Verizon in a minute if the iPhone was available there.

Now that Verizon has ended months of speculation and will have Apple's iPhone, what does it mean? Do you care? Will you buy one? Will you be switching carriers to get one?

Verizon press release 

How Much Do We Really Care About Privacy?

Over the past decade, my perception has been that we have lost a lot of privacy. Since the Patriot Act was signed in late October 2001, the US government has had less difficulty in obtaining any personal and private information they want, as well as given themselves the opportunity to search our homes and personal effects with much less restriction.

Although I am opposed to the loss of several layers or regulation and restriction on the governments use of my information and preferences, the last couple of years, we have voluntarily been handing over this information to third party advertisers, application developers, and other businesses. The new gorilla in the room could be... apps.

A recent investigative article from the Wall Street Journal shows that smartphones and their popular applications are sharing your personal information such as phone numbers, current location, the owner's real name and other unique identification information widely and regularly. A link to the original article can be found HERE.

The WSJ goes on to illustrate that several of the most popular applications like Pandora Radio sends your information to up to eight trackers. Although the fact that these applications send data to application developers, advertisers, and other companies is outlined in many of the application license agreements that you must accept to use them, end users rarely if ever take the time to read them. Many software and hardware products come with lengthy end user license agreements (EULA) they are often peppered with legalese that most folks, myself included have difficulty deciphering. 

I personally am ok with most of my applications sharing the data that they have. Some applications actually share your personal contacts with third party services. This bothers me somewhat. When I learn that an application takes a little too much liberty with the information it gathers, I remove the application and cease using it. Many of these applications are free. I can understand how free applications need to be subsidized with in application ads, or sharing some information to offset development costs and the costs that would be paid for if users were to outright purchase the apps, but many paid apps share the same information as well.

As an example, the WSJ uncovered that the most popular smartphone game Angry Birds from Rovio Mobile, Ltd. transmits your contacts, location including city and gps information, phone id, and your username and password to third parties. The developer claims that it transmits this data to a game platform and analytics service to better understand what its users want. My question is, how secure are third parties when they handle this data.

Although we are often quick to cry fowl when the government accesses and transmits our private information, we seem to look the other way and be unconcerned when out must-have apps and games do the same thing. As a society, I think we need to be more diligent in controlling all of our information. I see this situation getting worse, not better. Consumers really need to be educated and take action.

What are your thoughts on the way application and hardware developers are handling your information. Although we have to opt-in to use these games, so few of us take the time to understand what is being done with this information.

Men Want Androids, Women Prefer iPhones

A recent report from The Nielsen Company illustrates that the iPhone is the most desired phone among those seeking to upgrade their smartphones. The three leading smartphones in the US are the Apple iPhone, RIM Blackberry, and various Android phones. Nielsen was able to generate some interesting information from the data they gathered in October 2010.

• Women prefer iPhones over all others: 30.9%
• Men prefer Android phones over all others: 32.6
• Current non-smartphone users looking to upgrade would prefer moving to Android: 28%

What is really interesting is that those that currently do not have a smartphone would prefer getting an Android phone, as opposed to those that have currently have smartphones and want get the iPhone. Does this tell us anything about the experiences users are having with the Apple iOS and Android OS once they become smartphone users?

It almost seems like the statistics may be telling us that those that use the iPhone as their current smartphone may be unwilling to move to a different platform, whether it be the Android OS, or RIM's Blackberry OS. Are users unhappy with their experiences using Android and Blackberry and looking for a change at the next upgrade? How would you interpret these results?

I'm wondering if there is something about the interfaces of these phones that dictate whether men or women favor certain phones in particular. Perhaps the ease of use of the iPhone interface appeals more to women as opposed to the perceived openness of the Android platform appealing to men.

I'm interested in your take on these findings and my perception on the results of the data.

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Related Posts:

• How Much Do We Really Care About Privacy?
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Changing the Information and Media Distribution Channel

Remember the days of dialing the rotary telephone? Have memories of sitting down and writing a distant relative or friend a letter, with a pen, finding a stamp, and placing it the mailbox? Those days are far removed from where we find ourselves today. Welcome to the age of instant information distribution. So much of our information is created, consumed, and distributed from mobile devices.

A majority of American households have at least one mobile phone. Many have notebook computers. Over the past few years, the miniaturized form-factor and capability of mobile devices has brought the power of communication and content creation to the masses, all in a device that can easily fit into a front pocket. With increased portability, we've seen an incredible surge of amateur journalists, the ability to break news instantly, and a constant record of visual events that occur around us.

An event that comes to mind that clearly illustrates this trend is the horrific terrorist events that occurred in Mumbai, India from November 26th through 29th in 2008. Moments after the first shots of the attack were fired, Twitter users in India were using the micro-blogging service to send eyewitness accounts of the unfolding events. As tragic as these events were, we can gather that it was the general populous, using commonly available mobile technology and social media services that broke the story. Mobile users were able to report the news more effectively than the mainstream media. This clearly illustrates how mobile platforms and services have allowed us to make the world a smaller place, and in many regards, spurn global concern for events that were once before considered to be so distant.

With the announcement of the Apple iPhone4 device, as well as devices featuring the ever-evolving Google Android OS, users can now hold face-to-face videoconferences with users across the globe, with a device that fits in the palm of your hand. This "Jetsons" technology has finally become a reality, and it is just the beginning of the convergences we will see in the future.

The ability to record high definition video in a small, simple form factor was perfected by the Pure Digital FlipVideo devices. These devices have existed for a couple of years, but were limited strictly to recording audio and video. The smartphones available today can do everything the FlipVideo and its competitors can do, but can also make phone calls, browse the web, as well as run any of the thousands of currently available mobile applications. The smartphones are now our media players, affording us the ability to take feature films, television shows, photo collections, and thousands of songs with us on the go. The recently announced iPhone4 can record high definition video as well as give users the ability to edit the video on their phone, and then upload that video to YouTube with the push of one button.

We've been living in a brave new world for quite sometime, but mobile technologies are continuing to offer consumers the ability to distribute massive amounts of information and media. This paradigm-shift has afforded us the ability to on many occasions bypass mainstream corporate media as a source for quality news, information, and media.