Did you get an iPad? Is it a game changer?

[AutoArchitech]

Got one last week along with the Sprint Mifi in case I did not have access to wifi. Dial up the mifi, connect and go. We are developing iphone apps for a few Dealers and it was nice to walk in Today and show them what their app will look like when it goes live.

 

[Jeff Kershner]

Day 3 for me and I'm more impressed now! I'm still most impressed with the news and reading apps, but here is a list of the apps I am using right now:

News
MyCongress - keep up with your representatives
AP News - Associated Press probably has done the best job of the free iPad news apps
USA Today - my favorite "newspaper" app. It handles just like a newspaper - very cool
Editors' Choice - New York Times. Very light and good for larger stories. I like the editorials, but that is the only thing they have over any other newspaper app
BBC News - a little buggy, but has videos to go along with each story
WSJ - Wall Street Journal. Was so buggy I had to uninstall it. I couldn't even get it to launch.
Eyewitness - Guardian News' feeds of today's top photographs - phenomenal imagery with tips for photographers. However, the images are so good anyone will want this app.

Entertainment
*Netflix - can't believe Apple let them in because they're a competitor, but I'm damn glad they're here! Really great!!!!
Marvel - yep, comics. I can't believe I'm reading them again, but I can't believe how amazing they are on the iPad.
Pandora - much like the iPhone app except bigger.
Yahoo entertainment - very nice job. Updates TV listings, streams some TV shows, and has a fun entertainment news portion.
IMDb - Movie database. Is nice on the iPhone too.

Weather
Weatherbug - definitely my favorite way to view the weather now. It is really fantastic!
AccuWeather - I like what they did, but it is just "too cool" for everyday use. Weatherbug definitely gets the job done better.

Productivity
Adobe Ideas - it was free. It let's you doodle. I just haven't ponied up the $9.99 for Brushes yet.
Kayak Flights - damn cool way to book and track travel! They did a great job.
Calculator XL - ya gotta have a calculator sometimes. It was free.
Evernote - great app on the iPhone and now the iPad. It is basically a bigger version of the iPhone's right now. Voice memos, photo memos, note pad, etc - just a great way to keep track of things.
....most of the other apps in the category come with a bit of a price tag, so I haven't messed with them yet.

Social Media
Wordpress - BIG! Beats the hell out of writing articles on the iPhone.
TweetDeck - was so buggy I uninstalled it. However, I replaced it with.....
Twitterrific - holy crap has this made Twitter awesome again! You have not enjoyed twitter until you've tweeted from this app! It is almost worth buying an iPad just for this if you're a twitter-holic.

Other
iBooks - you've seen the advertisements. It works just like that. I wish I could transfer my whole paper-book library to this one.
*Air Mouse Pro - this is a slick app for the Touch or iPhone and it got slicker on the iPad. You control your other computers through it. Not VPN or virtual desktop - think of it as a keyboard and mouse for presentations or a home entertainment center remote control (what I use it for)
*1Password - if you have a Mac you should buy this product for your Mac immediately. I feel so sorry for you PC people who don't get this amazing software. If you're going to buy the iPhone/iPad app, be sure to get Pro so you only pay for it one time.
Zillow - holy crap is this not a real estate agent or home shopper's dream come true. Even if you aren't in the market to buy a house, get this app - it is just awesome....and free.
WTD - and of course....the crack machine game found in most bars across America. No longer do you need to turn a $5 into quarters for good drunken fun, you can get it for free on the iPad now. It is the game where you tell it which picture is missing what. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, then you need to get out more. This is the one video game women will play in public for hours on end.


*denotes this application is not free. Netflix is free, but requires subscription to their service.

Showoff...rubbing it in.

 

[AutoArchitech]

I know a lot of guys are waiting for the one with 3G built in. If you are one of those guys consider the MiFi option (verizon or sprint) You can use that to make anything connect (up to 5 devices) not just the ipad....

 

[Katie]

Day 3 for me and I'm more impressed now! I'm still most impressed with the news and reading apps, but here is a list of the apps I am using right now:

News
MyCongress - keep up with your representatives
AP News - Associated Press probably has done the best job of the free iPad news apps
USA Today - my favorite "newspaper" app. It handles just like a newspaper - very cool
Editors' Choice - New York Times. Very light and good for larger stories. I like the editorials, but that is the only thing they have over any other newspaper app
BBC News - a little buggy, but has videos to go along with each story
WSJ - Wall Street Journal. Was so buggy I had to uninstall it. I couldn't even get it to launch.
Eyewitness - Guardian News' feeds of today's top photographs - phenomenal imagery with tips for photographers. However, the images are so good anyone will want this app.

Entertainment
*Netflix - can't believe Apple let them in because they're a competitor, but I'm damn glad they're here! Really great!!!!
Marvel - yep, comics. I can't believe I'm reading them again, but I can't believe how amazing they are on the iPad.
Pandora - much like the iPhone app except bigger.
Yahoo entertainment - very nice job. Updates TV listings, streams some TV shows, and has a fun entertainment news portion.
IMDb - Movie database. Is nice on the iPhone too.

Weather
Weatherbug - definitely my favorite way to view the weather now. It is really fantastic!
AccuWeather - I like what they did, but it is just "too cool" for everyday use. Weatherbug definitely gets the job done better.

Productivity
Adobe Ideas - it was free. It let's you doodle. I just haven't ponied up the $9.99 for Brushes yet.
Kayak Flights - damn cool way to book and track travel! They did a great job.
Calculator XL - ya gotta have a calculator sometimes. It was free.
Evernote - great app on the iPhone and now the iPad. It is basically a bigger version of the iPhone's right now. Voice memos, photo memos, note pad, etc - just a great way to keep track of things.
....most of the other apps in the category come with a bit of a price tag, so I haven't messed with them yet.

Social Media
Wordpress - BIG! Beats the hell out of writing articles on the iPhone.
TweetDeck - was so buggy I uninstalled it. However, I replaced it with.....
Twitterrific - holy crap has this made Twitter awesome again! You have not enjoyed twitter until you've tweeted from this app! It is almost worth buying an iPad just for this if you're a twitter-holic.

Other
iBooks - you've seen the advertisements. It works just like that. I wish I could transfer my whole paper-book library to this one.
*Air Mouse Pro - this is a slick app for the Touch or iPhone and it got slicker on the iPad. You control your other computers through it. Not VPN or virtual desktop - think of it as a keyboard and mouse for presentations or a home entertainment center remote control (what I use it for)
*1Password - if you have a Mac you should buy this product for your Mac immediately. I feel so sorry for you PC people who don't get this amazing software. If you're going to buy the iPhone/iPad app, be sure to get Pro so you only pay for it one time.
Zillow - holy crap is this not a real estate agent or home shopper's dream come true. Even if you aren't in the market to buy a house, get this app - it is just awesome....and free.
WTD - and of course....the crack machine game found in most bars across America. No longer do you need to turn a $5 into quarters for good drunken fun, you can get it for free on the iPad now. It is the game where you tell it which picture is missing what. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, then you need to get out more. This is the one video game women will play in public for hours on end.


*denotes this application is not free. Netflix is free, but requires subscription to their service.

Wow. That list of apps just got me so much closer to ordering one.

 

[Alex Snyder]

Wow. That list of apps just got me so much closer to ordering one.

Admit it. You just want the WTD game

 

[tijerin]

I know a lot of guys are waiting for the one with 3G built in. If you are one of those guys consider the MiFi option (verizon or sprint) You can use that to make anything connect (up to 5 devices) not just the ipad....

That's what I use. Works brilliantly!

 

[joe.pistell]

iPad fails outside use test. Can't see display in strong sunlight.

 

[Alex Snyder]

Quite literally a way the iPad is a game changer:

Dave at Magic Jungle Software wanted to turn the iPad into a video game console. So he got on his thinking cap and did a little bit of development to turn his idea into a reality. The video you see here shows an iPad running a demo of his game, Chopper 2 (currently in development), while connected to a 42" TV via Apple's component cable.

Even better, David notes that he used all public APIs to accomplish this feat. As of the 3.2 SDK, Apple now offers App Store-safe ways to send video out through a VGA connector or through a component video or composite video adapter cable. You can get an idea of some of the details behind this technology in the slides from this 10-minute impromptu talk given by Erica Sadun over the weekend at the Voices that Matter conference.

But wait! There's more! The super fun part is that he's controlling the game with is iPhone via Bluetooth. He's using a GameKit two-device connection, effectively turning the iPhone into a wireless controller for the iPad. It's very cool, and the first we've seen an iPhone controlling an iPad game in this way. Connecting it to a TV was the cherry on top.

This isn't the first time this kind of gaming on the TV using an iPhone has been done. Freeverse engineer created a proof-of-concept system using private APIs to achieve video out with an iPhone back in 2008. You can watch the video they created, using routines that Erica published over at Ars Technica. Magic Jungle isn't using any private calls, however. Their software is publishable, which means unlike that early demo, the chances of this ending up in your hands so you can try it out on your actual device are pretty high.

All in all, this is pretty neat. Games often suffer from your hands being in the way (I'm looking at you, Resident Evil). On-screen smudges can diminish a real immersion experience. You simply don't experience those issues when the device itself is merely a controller.

Here's hoping we seem more of this.

I can't wait to play.

 

[Alex Snyder]

And another one:

Lecere Corporation will begin testing their iPad-based, Fully-Integrated Restaurant Management Software in a "major restaurant chain" this week. The iPad FIRMS POS system, which can also be used with the iPod touch, offers a 90% savings on traditional POS systems and can be optimized to fit restaurants of any level -- form the individual restaurant to multinational chain restaurants, to hotels.

"Using those devices [iPad, iPod touch], along with a couple of standard ticket printers, brings the startup cost for the pilot to under $2,000," Lecere CEO Jim Morris said. "Contrast that with an upfront cost of about $20,000 to install a traditional, on-premises POS system with its heavy, non-movable POS terminals, printers, and back-office servers."

Ignoring the fact that the above video has the production values of a bad porno, the POS system on an iPad could easily take off, especially once you consider the cost savings over a traditional POS system. If any of you are restaurant dining this week and happen to see the FIRMS iPad POS system in action, be sure to let us know how the experience went and what restaurant chain you saw it at!

Thanks to J. Browning, who is currently serving in Iraq, for sending this in.

 

[ehoopman]

I originally wasn't interested as I have the iPhone, laptop, desktop trio. Can't tell you how wrong I was. I've been like a walking testimonial for the past three weeks. Verizon connect card & 50+ hour road trip later and I'm absolutely hooked. Extremely responsive.. No painful wait on the boot sequence and even the Dealer Refresh homepage scroll loads with ease @Jeff.. Need a mobile version of site for quick reference/check ins (Sure it's already queued up in dev todo list)

Also did a ton of demoing on it over DD8 andid consider it much more than just a toy.

I think we just connected with a dealer on a website as well. The poor guy had a 100% flash based site with no redirect to another usable version. Site just went black and requested to load flash player ( currently not support) I felt really bad for them hopefully we can help.

Can type at about eighty percent speed of a normal keyboard. GPS works great and the media power of the player is great for keeping everyone entertained.

All said id give it a nine point five.. Needs multi application/tasking to really make the final move..