iPad 3G + USA = US Credit Card Only

09.09.10. 2 Comments
PB Visa Gold Credit Card
Image by liewcf via Flickr

Just a quick follow up for those who care, if you have an iPad with 3G and you want to use it in the US with an AT&T SIM, you will have a bit of a problem.

I happen to have an AT&T Micro SIM that came with the iPad, but I think those are easy to get. The problem is that in order to pay for a plan, you’ll need to enter your credit card information with a US billing address on the iPad itself. You cannot ask AT&T to add credit in any other way, it must be directly on the iPad.

I had thought of a few ways around this problem, but none seemed to work. You can only have a US billing address, that’s it. Just a heads up!

Found this out the hard way? Found an answer? Is this true in other countries?

Where to Read What

25.08.10. 2 Comments

Image Courtesy bit-101.com
Kindle & iPad @ 400x zoom

Rather than reviewing just plain old device reviews, I thought it would be worth looking at solving a particular problem. So let’s look at the latest gadget trend: reading.

The primary types of traditional content I tend to want to consume are:

  • Newspapers
  • Magazines
  • Comic books
  • Research material (say textbooks)
  • Books

So how, in mid-2010, should we read this stuff (assuming we are trying to eschew paper, of course)? Let’s look at each, and keep in mind that this can change monthly, so it will likely require a revisit. Also, let’s put aside the arguments about how these media should change for the digital age and just see how this stuff could just be ported over as-is. And don’t even get me started on cost and business models.
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iPad – Apps To Consider

28.06.10. 0 Comments

A bit late to the party, here are the key apps that I use and recommend. I’ve omitted a number of apps, and have yet to find a great IM app, and I’m not a huge gamer… Read on!

Multimedia

  • Air Video ($2.99) – Wonderful streaming app that runs a server on your PC/Mac and transcodes all of your video and streams to the iPad AND iPhone. Worth. Every. Cent.
  • SlingPlayer ($29.99) – If you have a Slingbox, this expensive iPhone app lets you watch it on 3G or WiFi. Not designed for the iPad, but it works.
  • iBooks (Free) – You cannot buy books yet in Canada, but it now views PDFs very well. Better than GoodReader, which I bought and do not recommend.
  • ComicZeal 4 ($7.99) – You can get Marvel and DC apps (awesome), but this views all CBR and CBZ files. Syncing requires conversion, but it’s worth it.
  • Zinio (Free) – You can buy some good magazines here. Neat app for consuming interactive mags on the go, and comes with a few free ones to start.
  • Dropbox (Free) – Dropbox is a must-have in my life (and should be in yours), and the app allows you to view your cloud-synced documents easily.

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iPad: Are You Appy?

28.06.10. 3 Comments

App Store

Well, I’m really loving the iPad. It really has taking over my non-creative tasks at home, and really makes consuming all content very much fun.  I really do recommend it.

I will be interested to see how apps do in the iPad store in general. While fun to use, they are a tad pricey. And I’ve bought far too many myself already. But I wonder what their future holds. I think the key reasons the iPhone apps are more revolutionary and perhaps compelling are (not counting creating a revenue model to incentivize developers):

  1. The iPhone, like all phones, has very constrained screen real estate, unlike the iPad
  2. They re-orient web apps to be touch friendly (something the iPad needs arguably less of due to its screen size)
  3. They utilize the phone’s hardware features very well (GPS, accelerometer, voice input, etc.)

While the iPhone benefits from all of these, the iPad benefits from some of #2, and definitely #3. Some compelling use cases have presented themselves to me (reading magazines is GREAT). The iPad has a great opportunity to make use of features that are non-standard on traditional computing platforms (GPS, touch, etc.), and I look forward to the innovation that will come. I don’t think we have yet seen its killer app. But, ultimately, will iPad app sales end up being more like desktop apps than iPhone apps?

What do you think?

Life with the iPad So Far

28.05.10. 1 Comment

iPad

I have had the iPad 3G for about a month now… and it launches in Canada today… here are some observations from someone who’s been living with it for a while.
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