PalmAddicts

Preparing for the Hurricane

The post below is what I wrote before the Hurricane. I was having an issue posting a graphic, which is why I am posting it now without a graphic. My house has been without power since Sunday morning when I woke up. I have been using my iPhone and iPad a lot this week, which I will write about later. I prepared for Hurricane Irene by going to BJs Friday
morning. All I needed was some Coke, water, a bag of Pop chips for the wife and
some D batteries. I found out the night before that I have every type of
batteries except enough D batteries for one of my flashlights. All I needed was
three D batteries. Unfortunately, they were all out. The only batteries they
had left were double and triple As.

I went in search for the elusive D batteries. After looking
at five other places, I went home. I had things I needed to do, but my search
continued Friday afternoon where I ended up going to another five places. No D
batteries.

I went back to Ace Hardware, one of the places I went to
that morning, that was possible getting a shipment of batteries around 5 p.m. I
waited a hour and a half so I used my iPad to keep me entertained as I was
waiting. I also used my cellphone to call a few places in Manchester to see if
they had batteries. I was calling to answer some people’s questions posted on a
Facebook thread started by the Ellington-Somers Patch website. I waited for
nothing since it turns out Ace was getting the batteries until the next
morning, which I wouldn’t be able to go to because of work.

I did get four D batteries from my mother-in-law. I am so glad for hoarders. Well, the ones who haven’t gone overboard and should be on the A&E show. If anyone needs batteries, check out VIP. My wife’s friend’s sister said the place had a lot of batteries. That will be the place I will go
the next time I need batteries.

I am ready for the Hurricane. My iPad is charged up. I also charged up my Schumacher IP-1850FL Instant Power Portable Power Source so if the power goes out I will have something to charge my wife’s and my iPad and iPhone with. I bought this device over 15 years ago and it has come in handy
numerous times.

Ink thoughts from my iPad

Rohdesign sketches

I love Mike Rohde's excellent skethches; since 1999 Mike has done a lot of great work here at PalmAddict, so if you get a couple of minutes go check out his awesome work. Make the jump to Rohdesign.

 

Ex-Microsoftie Paul Maritz sees Windows PCs below 20% in era of cloud, devices

[From Stephen Trew] Sammy, Very interesting article here on the rise of mobile and decline of windows. "Quote from a speech (much more at the post): "What we're seeing in the cloud era is not just hundreds of millions but billions of new users and devices now coming into play. Three years ago over 95% of the devices connected to the Internet were personal computers. Three years from now that number will probably be less than 20%. More than 80% of the devices connected to the Internet will not be Windows-based personal computers." Obvious, really (think: smartphones) but intriguing to see it put that way. Maritz's real point though is about what becomes important when that is true." Read in full.

Android contunue to be ahead, with Apple second and Blackberry third but losing ground

It seems Android are ahead in the US smartphone wars followed by Apple and then Blackberry, who are losing ground. "According to ComScore, out of the 82.2 million people in the US with a smartphone (up ten percent from last quarter), Android came in first as the biggest platform yet again, capturing a whopping 41.8 percent of the market like a boss. In a not-so-close second, Apple was able to snag 27 percent, followed by RIM in the third place spot with 21.7 percent -- down 4 percentage points from last quarter. Pulling up the rear is Microsoft with 5.7 percent, and lastly Symbian with a grim 1.9 percent -- both down when compared to the previous three months. " Read in full

Sammy's Diary: My morning gadget routine.

Last night I was dj'ing as my regular readers will know and today I just wanted to write a few lines about my morning routine. Let's take today as a typical example, which in fairness is common to most mornings. Now I charge my iPhone and iPad at the wide of my bed, I have a docking station for my iPad and I have a radio dock for my iPhone. All very handy. My iPhone alarm wakes me at 7:45am and I can then see if I have missed any calls overnight, received text messages, tweets or Facebook alerts. Now with that in mind I pick up my iPhone and start to read emails. I'll respond to friends and family first because these are the emails I enjoy reading the most. Once they are out of the way I may do a quick tweet. I then get up grab my iPhone and iPad and head to the kitchen. I'll then grab some caffeine, and check Flipboard on my iPad, this gives me the low down on the websites I like to check in, social network sites and also breaking news.

Once I've done this I'll head to the gym and when I'm on the treadmill it's there that I'll start responding to business emails, and whatever else that isn't family or friends and I may even write a PalmAddict update whilst there.

This routine is pretty standardised to me, and it's a routine that works well for me. Yes it sometimes differs especially if I'm in another country but on the whole it works great. So that's my routine, keep sending your user thoughts and opinions on how you use your mobile device and in the meantime have a great rest of your Wednesday.

Do you fancy being a Ninja? Take a look at Ninja Tap for iOS

Do you fancy being a Ninja? Then take a look at Ninja Tap for iOS [$0.99]. "School got you down? Boss has you pushing too many pencils? Feel like your awesome ninja skills are wasting away behind a desk? Pitiful! Break free from the boredom of your miserable non-ninja reality with Ninja Tap!

The premise is simple, ninjas are invading your village. You need to wipe out as many as possible within the time limit. Collect coins for bonus points, hit the ninja archers to extend your game time, and make sure to avoid hitting the townsfolk! Perfect in short bursts, this game will have you coming back for just one more go." It is available in both the US App Store and the UK / European App Store.

Top 10 Copied iOS 5 Features that May Leverage iPhone 5, iPad 3 to Stardom

[From Hans] International Business Times looks at the top 10 copied iOS5 features. "Apple has copied certain features from Google-powered Android to scale new heights in the smartphone industry. Below are the top 10 copied features" Read in full.

TracyandMatt post a review of the T-Mobile myTouch 4G Slide

TracyandMatt post a review of the T-Mobile myTouch 4G. "T-Mobile's 'myTouch' branding may be alien to us here in the UK, but for our friends across the pond, it is a common and successful line of consumer friendly Android devices. Some eagle-eyed fandroids might even recognise the roots of the myTouch 4G Slide in the form of the HTC Magic, one of the first Android hits in the UK. While it may not have evolved here to what the Yanks have with this 4G Slide, some of us may still be interested with it being more powerful than all other landscape qwerty device currently available in the UK." Read in full.

More HP TouchPads are on the way

More new HP TouchPads are on the way according to James Kendrick. "In another bizarre twist in the already insane HP TouchPad story, the company has notified customers unable to get hold of a $99 tablet that more are being built for sale. The HP NextBench blog says that HP has decided to “produce one last run of TouchPads to meet unfulfilled demand.”" Read in full.