Tag: iPad

Review: Reeder for iPad

I'm a tech news junkie.  I want to know what's going all the time.  One of the first apps I installed on my iPad was NetNewsWire.  That is my favourite RSS reader for my Mac and it made sense to use it on the iPad.  NetNewsWire syncs my feeds across multiple computers via Google Reader.  I can read my news via a browser while at work (my employer standardized on Windows and Internet Explorer) and then continue where I left off when I come back home to use NetNewsWire on my Mac.  With NetNewsWire for Mac, I can also save pages for later via Instapaper, delicious.com, or by flagging or clipping them. It also integrates nicely with MarsEdit, my blog editor.

Reeder for iPad Settings

However, the iPad version of NetNewsWire felt lacking. Yes, it syncs with Google Reader but it took a long time to sync feeds and the sync often failed. Twitter and Instapaper integration was basic and in general NetNewsWire was well ... just not sexy. I also tried NewsRack but I felt that it was similar in design and operation to NetNewsWire. The app store was buzzing about Pulse, a news reader that Steve Jobs mention during WWDC. Pulse turns your RSS feed into is visually pleasing magazine style application. It is a joy to use but its 20 feed restriction severely limits its utility to me. Good thing Reeder for iPad (and iPhone) came along.

Reeder for iPad describes itself as a Google Reader Client. Yeah, it does that. Well. Reeder syncs with Google Reader meeting my first criteria for a news reader. It has social sharing options (Twitter, Instapaper, Delicious, Mail, Google Reader Share) meeting my other requirement. The people I follow on Twitter post a lot of interesting links via Twitter links that I might now have found otherwise, and I feel the need to share and do the same for my followers.

When I launched Reeder for the first time I was prompted for my Google Reader account information. Once entered, Reeder synced all my feeds to my iPad. I can customize the amount of syncing via the iPad Setting tab. There are a lot of options. I can sync just a few days of unread items or all. There are several other sync interval choices with similar settings for starred and shared items. If you bought the 3G version of the iPad, you may be limited by the amount of data consumed via the data plan. If you are a heavy user, pulling down lots of images via Reeder can quickly exhaust your data allowance. Reeder has options to help with this. I can specify whether images are cached and that this happens via Wi-Fi only.

Reeder for iPad Settings

While feeds images and text are downloaded and synced locally, clicking on the article header will launch an in-app browser to pull up the full website. This is not cached.

Reeder has a few social sharing and bookmarking options including Twitter, Delicious, Instapaper, Read It Later, and Pinboard. I do a lot of sharing via Twitter and Mail so this ability is an important feature for me. With Mail, I get the option of sending the article (as Reeder sees it) or just a link. I also use Instapaper to store links to articles I want to read later. You can enable or disable these options via the iPad setting tab.

On the left side of the Reeder screen are buttons to sort feed item by starred or unread status, by date, and by feed title. There is also a button to mark all items read.

What of the other things I like about Reeder is the UI itself. The light grey text on the beige background makes things easy to read and gives the app a newspaper feel. However, it would be nice to have a way to adjust contrast or brightness for different lighting conditions. Each morning, after I get ready for work, I prepare a cup of French Press brewed coffee (usually an Ethiopian Harrar) and sit out on my front porch to read the news. Reeder is the perfect way to enjoy a cup of Joe. Reeder for iPad is $4.99 in the App Store.

My first 31 days with the iPad

It's been exactly one month since I received my iPad Wi-Fi 3G on April 30th. In the last 31 days, the iPad has become my go-to device for almost everything. Each morning, after I prepare for my day, I walk over to my nightstand, where I lay the iPad before I turn out the lights to sleep. It's been charging overnight with the volume on low so that nighttime notifications (it's insane that some people send the email at 2 AM) don't wake my wife. I don't need to charge it overnight - the iPad battery does indeed last through a whole day of use - I want it fully ready for my day.

The first two days with the iPad 3G were the most telling. I had stayed home that day to ensure that I did not miss the FedEx delivery. The iPad came pre-charged and ready to go. In anticipation of delivery I had read a host of reviews of iPad app and had already downloaded quite a few to iTunes (on my Mac mini). I own a second generation iPod Touch, so getting the iPad on my home Wi-Fi network, setting up email and calendar, and syncing apps and other content was easy and familiar. My next step was to pick a cellular plan. As promised, I had two no-contract options: 250MB for $14.95 and Unlimited for $30. I chose the 250MB and regretted it two days later. Here's why.

Netflix for iPad
Netflix on iPad 3G

The day after the iPad arrived was a Saturday, and we had planned to attend an event honouring my college Physics professor who was retiring. My wife and I both attended Drew University in Madison (a borough in Morristown, NJ) and as we headed out for the one hour drive north, I handed the iPad to my kids in the backseat. Why my wife and I chatted about our party days in college, the kids were busy in the back surfing the Internet, playing games and watching movies. We've had a Netflix subscription for quite some time, and when Netflix started offering streaming video via our TiVo, the service became even more valuable. That value increases even further when you consider that my kids can now watch Netflix instant queue movies on the iPad - on-demand movies from the backseat of the car. Via 3G. AT&T 3G.

We were at the event for about 6 hours with the iPad providing constant (the battery finally quit after 9 PM) entertainment for my kids while we caught up with our "boring friends" (as my daughter called them) from college. By Sunday afternoon, I had used up the entire 250MB. The iPad warned me at 10% and 5%, and before long, I had signed on for the Unlimited data plan. Living in the cloud requires high bandwidth connections.

I always start my day with coffee. I've developed a taste for Ethiopian coffees - Harrar and Yirgacheffe - brewed using the French Press method. This week I am enjoying Ethiopia Amaro Gayo Washed from Gimme! Coffee. Its taste is subtle and smooth. I am enjoying drinking it black. I have Type 1 diabetes, and part of my daily routine involves testing my blood sugars and injecting insulin based on the glucometer readings and what I plan to eat for breakfast. Through trial and error, my endocrinologist and I determined that for breakfast, I should wait 30 minutes after taking insulin before eating. That's thirty minutes to use the iPad while enjoying a great cup of Java on my front patio. Bliss!

NetNewsWire
NetNewsWire for iPad

The most frequently used app on my iPad is my RSS feed reader, NetNewsWire. It's also the feed reader I use on my iMac and MacBook. Upon launch, NetNewsWire syncs my read/unread items with Google Reader. I subscribe to over 200 news feeds, so reading everything is impossible. I do a quick scan of the headlines in the left pop-out panel, select the story I want to read and sit back for another sip coffee. Portrait mode is perfect for reading web articles. I prefer reading the articles as just text, but NetNewsWire also has a built-in web browser if I choose to read the article on the original web site. With a tap I can share what I'm reading via Twitter, e-mail or save for reading later in Instapaper.

Photo 6 - 2010-06-01
iPad Calendar

Before I head off to work, I quickly check my iPad calendar so I can start thinking about what I need to do when I arrive at the office. I also check for meeting changes or accept/decline new meetings invitations. In day view mode, The iPad Calendar mimics the look of a paper-based day planner., which I find comforting. At work, I keep my iPad in a stand I made from my son's Lego. It works well in either portrait or landscape orientations while viewing my calendar. I don't need to use the iPad calendar at work. My work computer has Outlook 2007. The iPad is just more fun.

iPad Lego stand
iPad Lego stand

I take my iPad to all my meetings. I use it to keep notes, quickly Google an answer to a meeting question, or pull up the current document under discussion. My coworkers are amazed that I can get work done with this lightweight device. I remind them that walking around with the 1.5lb instant-on iPad beats carrying around a 6lb computer. However, I find the back of the iPad to be a bit slippery, and I was concerned that I might drop it. After much research I decided to order the DODOcase for iPad. It's designed to duplicate the look of the popular Moleskine journals that were used by famous artist and writers. This works for me since I have been using Moleskines for a few years to keep my professional and personal notes. It turns out I'm not the only one. This morning, during our weekly one-on-one, my director was excited to show me that his iPad 3G will arrive June 18 (one day before father's day) and he mentioned he ordered the same case. Good to know we think alike.

Photo 10 - 2010-06-01
TweetDeck for iPad

On the lunch break, I use the iPad to catch up on my social networks and general news. I love Twitter, and there are quite a few excellent twitter clients for the iPad that make use of the 9.7" screen. My favourite is TweetDeck. It has a multi-column view - I prefer to use I in portrait - and support for multiple twitter accounts.

NPR for iPad
NPR

NPR and the BBC both have excellent news clients. Both apps provide live streaming of breaking news, and the NPR app also provides access to previously recorded shows. Reading news items is slightly easier on the BBC News app, and both apps provide tools for sharing (email, Facebook, and Twitter).

FriendSheep
FriendSheep

When I get back home, the iPad becomes an entertainment device. I love playing games with my kids, but I generally dislike board games, especially games with dice. However, I discovered a few good games for the iPad that my kids and I enjoy. The first game we played together is FriendSheep HD - a silly action board game for up to four players. The game showed up a competitive streak that I did not think my kids had. They had an intense delete in beating Dad. The ridiculously named game aims to herd sheep and make them stay put or prevent them from eating your patch of grass. I think we played this one five times yesterday. Time flies when you are having fun.

Small World
Small World iPad Game

The other multi-person iPad game that has become popular in my home is Small World for iPad. This iTunes description says it all.

Small World is an award-winning fantasy board game where two (human only) players vie for conquest and control of a world that is simply too small to accommodate all of the zany races such as dwarves, wizards, amazons, giants, orcs and even humans that inhabit it. Sitting across from each other around the iPad, you will use your troops to occupy territory and conquer adjacent lands to push the other players’ races off the face of the earth, in this rip-roaring fun digital board game.

When not playing or working on my iPad, I read books. So far I have bought only one book, Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? By Seth Godin, in the iBooks app. The app is easy to use, and you can purchase books right from the app. But iBooks has a limited catalogue of recent publications. Fortunately, both Amazon and Barnes & Noble have released the app for the iPad. If you are a Kindle or Nook user, you can download your existing purchases to the iPad. Amazon and B& N have a more extensive catalogue, and many older titles are available. Any book you can find in iBooks can be found in the Kindle and B& N eReader catalogues. The downside to the Kindle and eReader apps is that you must visit the Amazon.com and B& N web sites to make purchases. In-app book purchases are not available. Still, it is nice to know that anything my Kindle and Nook carrying colleagues can I access, I can do as well from my iPad.

iPad Camera Connection Kit

One other area where the iPad has made a difference is with my photography. I bought the iPad Camera Connection Kit. The iPad Camera Connection Kit includes two accessories for importing photos and videos:

  • Camera Connector: Features a USB port to directly connect your digital camera using its USB cable.
  • SD Card Reader: Features an SD card slot to directly connect an SD card.

In addition to supporting digital cameras and SD cards, you can also import photos and videos from your original iPhone, iPhone 3GS, and iPod nano using the Camera Connector. iPad and the Camera Connection Kit support standard photo formats, including JPEG and RAW.

Instead of waiting until I get home to preview and process my images, with this little device I download pictures from my camera's SD card, crop or make other adjustments (there are a plethora of great iPad apps for this), and upload to photo-sharing sites like flickr.com. The iPad has added freedom to my photography. I can imagine a professional photographer shooting a wedding event and being able to provide a sample set of preview images for the wedding party.

I love my iPad and each day I find new ways to use it. The iPad is not for everyone and is not meant as a replacement for my computer - I still use an iMac for serious photo and video editing - but it does most of what I do on a daily basis. And this is only the beginning. I'm looking forward to next week's WWDC where iPhone OS 4 (and perhaps a new iPhone) will be released and I expect Apple has a few more surprises up Steve's turtle neck sleeves.

This article was inspired by the article, Typical Day With the iPad, by James Kendrick.

Links:
* Typical Day With the iPad
* What's Inbox Zero?
* Type 1 diabetes
* Friendsheep HD: The Insanely Popular Party GameBy Floating Cube Studios
* Small World for iPad By Days Of Wonder, Inc.
* Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?
* Will Apple rebirth Lala.com at the WWDC?

Setup Google Apps (Mail, Calendar and Contacts) on the iPad

Google provides a method for accessing their Gmail service via the IMAP protocol. IMAP is a standard protocol for accessing email but unlike POP3 the email stays on the remote server. With POP3 you are limited to reading your email from one location. With IMAP the email stays on the server and you can read it from any computer. IMAP is the method I use to access my Gmail in Apple Mail. If I read an email in a web browser then it is marked as read on the server and in Mail.app. The iPad also has support for IMAP. Google provides no instruction on how to access the calendar service via the iPad but setup is fairly easy.

Google provides a method for accessing their Calendar service via the CalDAV protocol. CalDAV is a standard protocol that allows access to web based calendars from desktop clients like iCal. From iCal I can create calendar entries that appear in my Google web calendar and vice versa. The iPad also has support for CalDAV. Google provides no instruction on how to access the calendar service via the iPad but setup is fairly easy.

Setup Mail and Calendar

Add AccountsTo first thing we need to do is launch the Settings app on the iPad and click the Mail, Contact, Calendar tab.  We will be presented with several options but we are going to select Gmail.

Google Apps MailEnter your email address, password. The Description field is optional but go ahead an enter something to identify the account especially if you have multiple email account.  Then select Next.

Verifying Google Apps CalendarYou will get a message that your account is being verified.

Google Apps EmailIf your user-name and password are correct, the iPad will login you in and return you to the Mail, Contact, Calendar tab. You will now see a list of your mail and calendar accounts. Select the Mail account you just created (this is why it's important to enter something in the Description field). We are going to ensure that we are communicating securely with Google's servers.  Select Advanced?
Use SSLSelect the switch to ensure that SSL is enabled. SSL is a encryption technology that ensures that the communication between your iPad and Google's servers stays secure. Select "Done" and your mail account will be setup.

IMG_0015Email setup is now complete. Now for calendar. Back at the Add Account screen, select Other. From this screen select Add CalDAV Account.

Google Apps CalendarEnter www.google.com for the server and then add your Google Apps email address and password. If you have a Gmail account enter your email address.  Select None.  You don't need to add anything under Advanced so just go ahead and select Done.  Once your account information is verified you will be returned to the main Mail, Contact, Calendar tab?

IMG_0012You should now be able to sync your calendar and email with Google's services.

What about Contacts?

Neither Google nor Apple provide a way sync Google Contacts with the iPad directly as we have done above with Mail and Calendar.  However, all is not lost.  Apple provides a way via iTunes and setup is easy.

Plug in your iPad and then select it in iTunes.

Picture 1Select the the Info tab.  Click the Sync Address Book Contact check-box.  Then select the All contacts radio button.  Next, select the Sync Google Contacts check-box and click the Configure button.

Google Contacts Login infoEnter you Google ID and password and click OK.  Then click the Sync button and iTunes will sync your current Google Contacts to your iPad.  Each time you sync your iPad, iTunes will sync your any changes to your Google Contacts to the iPad Contacts.  Changes to iPad Contacts are synced back to Google Contacts.

Conclusion

I love Google Apps and I am excited that I can check or update my mail, calendar or contacts from anywhere - a browser, my Mac, and now, my iPad.  I have also written articles on how to sync Google Apps with Mail, Calendar, and Contacts with your iMac.