1. Traveling with the iPad is liberating.

2. The iPad on-screen keyboard still works well for me, better than I might have expected, but it’s still not the best for typing anything of length.

3. iPad battery life is amazing. I have no problem getting across country, listening to music, reading books, watching videos or working [...]]]>

1. Traveling with the iPad is liberating.

2. The iPad on-screen keyboard still works well for me, better than I might have expected, but it’s still not the best for typing anything of length.

3. iPad battery life is amazing. I have no problem getting across country, listening to music, reading books, watching videos or working and I still have plenty of battery life left.

4. Apple’s iWork leaves much to be desired.

5. The iPads method for dealing with document management leaves much to be desired.

6. The iPad’s screen has really nasty glare when viewed from the wrong angle. It’s easy enough to adjust but it makes it harder to use in certain places. Of course, the glossy screen on my MacBook has the same issue.

7. A case is a must. Not for durability. The iPad seems pretty solid and most stress tests show the glass is rock solid. Rather, a case is needed to get the iPad into a workable angle when using a desk or tray table.

8. iPads attract attention. If you travel with one, get used to giving demos to those around you. It’s par for the course for early adopters.

9. I’ve had no issues with WiFi as others have reported but there’s times when WiFi just isn’t available.

10. Downloading movies in hotel rooms can take forever, stock up on your content before you leave home.

via Two weeks of travel, Ten iPad lessons – SlashGear.

Earlier this morning, Rogers removed the $20 bolt-on option stating it was an error:

Many of you have asked about the shared data plan listed on the Apple website. This reference was an error and is being removed.

So if you do not have an iPhone and [...]]]> iPadinCanada is reporting that the $20 Bolt-On option from Rogers was removed

Earlier this morning, Rogers removed the $20 bolt-on option stating it was an error:

Many of you have asked about the shared data plan listed on the Apple website. This reference was an error and is being removed.

So if you do not have an iPhone and want to use the iPad 3G + WiFi in Canada, you have the following two non-contracted options from Rogers:

250MB: $15

5GB: $35

If you were basing your iPad WiFi + 3G purchase on this $20 add-on, how do you feel now after it has been removed?

via Rogers Removes $20 Data Bolt-On For iPad, Confirms No Fido Support | iPad in Canada – Canada’s iPad Blog.

OK, now that the reviews are out and that the consensus is that the iPad is pretty much meeting/exceeding expectation my brain just kicked into justification mode.

Here is my thought process on why I should buy the darn thing (or not) for me and my familly.

1. I would like to be able to read books in bed/living room [...]]]>

OK, now that the reviews are out and that the consensus is that the iPad is pretty much meeting/exceeding expectation my brain just kicked into justification mode.

Here is my thought process on why I should buy the darn thing (or not) for me and my familly.

1. I would like to be able to read books in bed/living room but I don’t like buying paper books because they just take so much space when done with and I hate throwing good books in the recycling bin. +1 for an iPad

2. I need something to play video during long car drive for the kids.  I currently use a dell netbook but the viewing angle is crap, the control interface is crap, video playback is sometime jerky and the kids keep complaining about the screen not being visible enough. +1 for iPad

3. I/wife/kids could play games on it. Neutral since they have Nintendo DS and they are happy with them… and there will not be enough iPads for the kids to all play at the same time.

4. I like new gadgets +1 for iPad

5. I can get rid of the Dell Mini 9 that collect dust on a shelf to offset iPad cost (-180$ maybe). +1 for iPad

6. I can use my Dell Mini 10v as a big hard drive to store more content for/from the iPad while on the road to do things I can’t with the iPad… like moving Pictures from my camera on the netbook, browsing sites that requires flash, etc.  Neutral. Could have been a negative for iPad if I had not own a netbook already.

7. I can use the iPad as a music source during long drive independently from my iPhone 3G that act as my GPS.  3G running Navigon struggle with multitasking as an iPod at the same time. This way I may postpone my iPhone upgrade another year. +1 for iPad

8. I will be able to run all those new iPad apps! +1 for iPad (self serving justification).

9. If I jailbreak my iPhone I could tether my iPad to it while on the road with no wi-fi (cause I will buy the cheap 16GB wi-fi iPad). Neutral

10. I will be able to watch my movies/tv shows in bed without worrying about battery life and stuttering of my Dell Mini 10v. +1 for iPad

I think this is enough.  I now convinced myself to buy one

Can you think of other good reasons to buy one?

As you may recall, Livestation was the first company in the world demonstrating live streaming on iPhones back in 2008.

A selection of Livestation’s partner channels is now available to watch live on iPhones/iPod Touches and soon iPads worldwide by simply opening the default browsers on the device and pointing it to http://mobile.livestation.com.

Currently there is [...]]]>

Image via CrunchBase

As you may recall, Livestation was the first company in the world demonstrating live streaming on iPhones back in 2008.

A selection of Livestation’s partner channels is now available to watch live on iPhones/iPod Touches and soon iPads worldwide by simply opening the default browsers on the device and pointing it to http://mobile.livestation.com.

Currently there is only a few channels offered as the service is in beta, but Livestation plan to add more free-to-air channels in the coming weeks and add support for premium channels on a login basis. Users who sign up for access to Livestation’s premium channels (CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg, Al Jazeera, etc) on the website (http://www.livestation.com) will be able to login through their iPhones and watch their favourite channels anywhere in the world both on 3G and WiFi.

Dell’s 5-inch Internet tablet is to be called the Dell Mini 5 according to the company, suggesting that it will fit in its portable products range as the second handset to follow the Dell Mini 3 and slot in under the “Mini” range of netbooks.

Dell told Pocket-lint the news at an exclusive round table [...]]]>

Dell’s 5-inch Internet tablet is to be called the Dell Mini 5 according to the company, suggesting that it will fit in its portable products range as the second handset to follow the Dell Mini 3 and slot in under the “Mini” range of netbooks.

Dell told Pocket-lint the news at an exclusive round table event with a handful of journalists at its suite in the Palm's hotel in Las Vegas.

The phone-come-Internet tablet (announced at CES at the Dell press conference on Wednesday) has yet to get a launch date, or in typical Dell teaser style, any tech spec details.

Through further conversations with Dell we've also found out that the new Dell Mini 5 will feature a SIM card slot for use outside of a Wi-Fi hotspot.

via The Dell Mini 5: Dell tablet gets a name – Pocket-lint.

We admit, we were pretty stoked when we first saw the Acer Aspire One AOD250 running Android in dual-boot mode. What could possibly be bad about it? Fast start-up, Google apps… other good things that aren’t coming to mind at the moment… what could go wrong? Turns out, just about everything. See, the Aspire [...]]]>

We admit, we were pretty stoked when we first saw the Acer Aspire One AOD250 running Android in dual-boot mode. What could possibly be bad about it? Fast start-up, Google apps… other good things that aren’t coming to mind at the moment… what could go wrong? Turns out, just about everything. See, the Aspire One AOD250 has an unfortunate lack of Google blessing, so that means no Gmail, which is really Android’s killer app, and no Marketplace either — so no opportunity to track down a different killer app. You can use your Google account for hooking up with Gcal, Gtalk and Google Contacts, but your Gmail account gets set up as a webmail shortcut to the included Firefox app — which does an alright, slightly hacked-on job of augmenting the standard Android browser, including support for Flash. Unfortunately, with connection woes over WiFi and Ethernet (as seen on the video), there wasn’t much redeemable even there, and perhaps the best news about the device is that it can be fully booted to XP at any time by clicking on the corner of Android’s home screen. We still think there’s promise for Android on a netbook, but it’s going to need some serious TLC (also, Gmail) before it’s ready for prime time. Check out our video impressions after the break.

via Acer Aspire One AOD250 impressions: Android gone bad.

Sony has finally released its first ‘proper’ netbook by announcing the Vaio Mini W-series. Whilst Sony has always claimed that the Vaio P was not a netbook, there’s not a chance they’ll claim the same with the Vaio W, which fits the typical netbook mould. The Sony Vaio W has a 10.1-inch high [...]]]>

Sony has finally released its first ‘proper’ netbook by announcing the Vaio Mini W-series. Whilst Sony has always claimed that the Vaio P was not a netbook, there’s not a chance they’ll claim the same with the Vaio W, which fits the typical netbook mould. The Sony Vaio W has a 10.1-inch high resolution (1366 x 768) LED backlit screen as standard. This is powered by a 1.66GHz N280 Atom CPU and 945GSE chipset. It comes with Windows XP, 1GB RAM and a 160GB (SATA) HDD. Other featured include Wi-Fi (including Draft-N), Bluetooth, webcam, microphone, two USB ports and MemoryStick / SD card readers. The three-cell battery should last around 160 minutes. There will be an optional 6-cell battery.

Read more…

HTC just launched their Hero in London. The device isn’t up on their official website, yet, and I’ll update this post when that happens, but preliminary specs indicate a 3.2 inch screen, 320 x 480 pixels, 5 megapixel camera, 528 MHz Qualcomm MSM7200A processor, 512 MB ROM, 288 MB RAM, 3.5 mm headphone jack, [...]]]>

HTC just launched their Hero in London. The device isn’t up on their official website, yet, and I’ll update this post when that happens, but preliminary specs indicate a 3.2 inch screen, 320 x 480 pixels, 5 megapixel camera, 528 MHz Qualcomm MSM7200A processor, 512 MB ROM, 288 MB RAM, 3.5 mm headphone jack, HSPA on the 900 and 2100 MHz bands, quadband GSM/EDGE, WiFi, GPS, compass and microSD slot. Oh and it runs Android, but not the stock Android, HTC thew in their own bits on top.

More via source

The Black model is the low end model and is priced at $349.99. The chassis is a different material and the keyboard keys are flattish like on the HP / Dell Mini netbooks.

The other colors are the high end [...]]]> The Toshiba Mini NB205, is now on sale today, as planned. Available in Brown, Black, Blue or White.

The Black model is the low end model and is priced at $349.99. The chassis is a different material and the keyboard keys are flattish like on the HP / Dell Mini netbooks.

The other colors are the high end models, costing $399.99 with a chiclet keyboard and high quality chassis material with a line pattern imprint on the lid.

All models come with a 6-cell 5800mAh battery that lasts 9 hours.

Rest of the specs: Atom N280 (1.66GHz) processor, 1GB RAM (upgradable to 2GB), 10.1’ 1024 x 600 LED Display (glossy), Intel GMA950 graphics, 160GB HDD, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi and Windows XP Home.

The high end model comes with Bluetooth V2.1 + EDR.

Via