Futurelawyer

GTablet Or Xoom? Decisions, Decisions

By now, regular readers know that I bought a Viewsonic GTablet, as I couldn't wait for the Xoom's introduction last week. No, Virginia, iPad wasn't on the decision tree. Too closed of a system, too few connection capabilities, and too expensive at $599 and up. After the Xoom coming in at $599 to $799 last week, my choice of the $399 GTablet has become a good choice.However, don't buy the GTablet unless you are willing to read the developer pages, and figure out how to root it, and install a ROM that removes the bad interface (or call me up, and I will walk you through it :-). Under the hood, however, it has the same Tegra dual core processor as the Xoom; and, unless the iPad2 has a similar fast processor when it comes out later this year, they both beat the iPad in the hardware race. The killer feature on the GTablet, for me, is the full USB port. Neither of the others has one, and I plug in a USB keyboard, a USB mouse, and USB drives with a lot of file storage, among other peripherals). The best feature of the Xoom is a rear camera and a GPS. If you want a real comparison of the outside of the GTablet and Xoom, here is a good one:

 

It's Springtime In Florida - There Must Be Baseball

MLB.com At Bat 11 - Android Market. Good friend, Monica Bay, she of ALM and Common Scold fame, is down for Spring Training, and I will join her on March 4th to watch her beloved Yankees and the Red Sox at Legends Field in Tampa. I will get to see my favorite Ray, Carl Crawford, in his new uniform (Ugh). But, these annual visits have become a time for me to show Monica the latest and greatest apps for smartphone and computer that are related to baseball, and I have some great ones this year. The one essential app for baseball fans, for both the iPhone and Android phones, is MLB.com's AtBat 11. Live audio from every game from Spring training to the Series, daily news stories, video highlight streaming, and, this year, with an MLB TV subscription, supposedly live game streaming. I enjoy watching the pitch by pitch updates and stats for all the games, in real time; especially, when I don't feel like scoring the game. This year, however, I have a new Android app, also available for iPhone, that permits complete scoring of the game, and with an add-on, automatic Major League rosters and statistics, daily. ESPN iScore Baseball is very cool, and will keep the baseball fan engaged from the first pitch. All this goodness is cheap, too. AtBat 11 is only $14.99, ESPN iScore Baseball is $9.99, and a full season of daily stats and roster updates is only $19.99. And, you can install the software on as many Android devices as you have. I put both AtBat 11 and iScore on my Droid X and on my GTablet. After all that, I have only one thing to say: "Play Ball!"

Xoom Xoom... Problems?

Xoom 4G upgrade could take more than six days - Computerworld. The Xoom by Motorola is a great tablet, if you have $600 to $800 to spend on a device without a keyboard. However, I took a look at them at BestBuy the other day, and was not impressed. My $379 Viewsonic GTablet has the same capacitive screen, and the same speedy Tegra dual core processor. I don't have the fancy new Honeycomb interface yet; but, I have Flash 10.1, and the Froyo interface is familiar and works great. In fact, I don't even know that I like the Honeycomb interface. Now, we hear that the biggest benefit of the Xoom, its ability to upgrade to 4G, won't be available for a while, and will require a 6 day trip to Motorola? And, the biggest reason I will keep my GTablet is that the Xoom doesn't have a USB port. Excuse me? The biggest reason to avoid the iPad is its lack of customization ability. Without a USB port you need to use accessories that are BlueTooth only. Anyone who has experienced problems with BlueTooth pairing or syncing, raise your hands. Yes, Viewsonic is brain dead about the interface; and, you have to do some fiddling with the Linux interface to get rid of the TapNTap garbage that comes with the unit. But, the GTablet is the best value for the price, and the Xoom changes nothing. 

SlingPlayer Mobile for Android Gets HD Video

SlingPlayer Mobile for Android - now with high quality video -- Engadget Mobile. While not law related technology, the new version of SlingPlayer Mobile for Android now provides HD video quality from your home cable box. While I create this post, I am watching the news on my Droid X while connected to my home Slingbox. This capability is also available for iPhone, and is, by itself, a reason to own a smartphone. As for HD quality video on the Droid X, only one word will suffice: Wow. This is like having an HD TV in your hand. The software is pricey, at $29.99; however, buy it once, and upgrades are free, and you can install it on all your Android devices. I am going to install it on my 10.2 inch GTablet now. 

Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office

Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office. I still prefer creating documents in WordPerfect. Reveal codes, and my document assembly software, make it easy to create documents; especially, for tasks that I perform often. However, I have a copy of Microsoft Office 2007, and use it to view documents created by all of the users of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Now, Google has created an alternative to Office Live, with Cloud Connect. This add-on for Office 2003, 2007 and 2010, permits Word, Excel and PowerPoint users to collaborate on documents, spreadsheets and presentations by storing them in the cloud, and making them available to their clients and colleagues. It is free, installs in a minute, and makes Word, Excel and PowerPoint much more powerful. This little demo shows how it works:

FlexT9 - Speakit, Traceit, Writeit, Tapit.

FlexT9 Speak-Trace-Write-Tap - Android Application on the Android market. Sometimes, my readers alert me to new products that solve a problem or that do the job better. While I have had problems with Nuance products in the past, and with their lack of service, and Draconian authorization schemes, reader Miguel de La O. thinks that their Android dictation and keyboard product is the best one out there. In Miguel's words:

"This is a fantastic replacement keyboard for any Android device.  It is made by the company that created Dragon Speak and incorporates dragon speak's techonology for voice dictation/translation.  The advantage of dragon speak over google voice input is that google requires you to be connected to the Internet into order to fetch the translation of your voice dictation into words; dragon speak does not. But that is only the beginning of this keyboard replacement's power.  With FlexT9 (worst name ever), you can input text four ways: 1.  Regular typing on the keyboard.  2.  Voice through dragon speak.  3.  Swype, where you slide your fingers from key to key.  4.  Handwriting.  If you ever used a Palm Pilot, you'll remember graffiti.  This is about the same, except you don't have to learn a new writing style.  Just write and the keyboard translates your fingers' input into typed letters.  FlexT9 costs $4.99.  The voice input is MUCH more accurate than that Google's (dragon speak has been doing this a long time)."

Thanks, Miguel. I will give it a try.

Type On This, Road Warrior

Better Input for Mobile Devices Is on the Horizon. I hate virtual keyboards. I learned to touch type at an early age, and the travel and click of a real keyboard has always allowed me to enter text into computers at a fast pace. Typing on tiny virtual keys on a smart phone or tablet screen is, to me, a version of being sent to Purgatory to pay for my sins. (You know, Hell for the rest of us). I can do a serviceable imitation of text entry on my Droid X smartphone by using Swype, which is highlighted in this article about keyboards for new devices. By dragging your finger from key to key without removing it from the phone, you can achieve faster text entry speeds on Android smartphones. For my tablet computer, I use a USB plugin mini keyboard; but, that sort of defeats the purpose of not having to carry one around. I don't know the answer; although, the early voice activated systems from companies like Vlingo for Android, iPhone, Blackberry, and other smartphones, may be it. You can actually dictate emails to the phone; however, you give up some privacy by doing this. By the way, I am touch typing this post on a full sized Logitech keyboard, connected to my Dell Duo by a USB port. Click, click.

Lawyers And New Technology - An Allegory

Somewhere in this classic Peanuts cartoon there is some advice for lawyers and their need to learn about new technology.

Apple Wants It To Be November, 2009

Why aren't people buying the Verizon iPhone? | Fully Equipped - CNET Reviews. What a difference a year makes.  Back in November, 2009, Apple and iPhone were on top of the smart phone world. The Apple iPhone 3G was the best smart phone out there, and a lot of us Verizon customers were salivating over it. We went so far as to buy the iPod Touch, which was an iPhone without the dropped calls. If Verizon had come out with the iPhone on its network then, I (and many like me) would have bought one in a cell phone minute. (That's a real minute or any part thereof for those of you who have never paid a cell phone bill). But, Apple and Verizon couldn't, or wouldn't, get together, and Verizon got the first Droid. I bought one on the first day they were available, and never looked back. Why aren't people buying the Verizon iPhone? Because, the Android phones are better, people are locked into contracts, and everyone wants the next new thing, that's why. 

 

Windows 7 Service Pack 1 - Do You Need It?

Windows 7 Service Pack 1 is Released: But Should You Install It? - How-To Geek. By now, PC users have become used to the rock-solid reliability of Windows 7. If you haven't upgraded already, you should do it. Windows 7 is everything that Vista wasn't, and it is much leaner and easier to use. Gone are the days when network problems required an advanced computer degree. Now, most networking problems can be fixed automatically by the OS, just by clicking the button that searches for problems. But, now that you have Windows 7 installed, do you need to install the Service Pack 1 that just came out? If you have automatic updates set, probably not. Service Pack 1, like previous Windows versions, collects all of the updates since the release of Windows 7, and installs them as one big package. So, unless you have installed a new system from an older Windows 7 DVD, you can avoid the rush. Just keep automatically updating, and new fixes will automatically be added to your system periodically. If you have automatic updating turned off, you need this Service Pack, and then you need to turn it on.