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Updated. Apple iPad owners have the $10 AirDisplay app to use their tablet as a second monitor for their Mac, but Android owners aren’t left out in the cold. Mobile app developer Shape offers a similar program for $5 that turns allows Android devices to be a second monitor for Macs or Windows PCs. The software is called iDisplay and it recently gained some updates in version 2.1. I’ve been using it on a 10-inch Android tablet with my iMac and it works as advertised although it’s not quite as responsive as AirDisplay for iOS.
You can see in the above photo that I’m using iDisplay to run Echofon, a Python IDLE shell and Rdio on the Android tablet as I’ve dragged those apps from my iMac. And see the USB wire connected to the tablet? The iDisplay app supports both a wired and wireless connection to the tablet. I didn’t notice any difference when using iDisplay over Wi-Fi vs over the USB connection, but I like the flexibility. Plus, my Mac can charge the tablet while I use it as a secondary monitor.
This new version of iDisplay contains a few fixes and additions. Namely:
The cursor pointing on the tablet is pretty precise, but I’m not sure how much faster the mirroring speed is compared to prior versions. You can configure the frame rate of iDisplay on the host computer — there’s a small bit of software to install on the Mac or PC — but I’ve left it to be auto-optimized. There’s still room for improvement then, but for those looking to get some extra use out of a larger Android tablet, iDisplay is surely worth the look at $5. The software also works with Android smartphones, but I’m not sure there’s much benefit on the smaller screen.
Update: Shame on me: I didn’t realize that AirDisplay — which I use on my iPad — is also available for Android devices. Thanks to Mario on Google+ who told me about it. I’ll have to try that one as well!
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Verizon Wireless apparently isn’t done talking about its controversial plan to phase out “grandfathered” unlimited data plans for smartphone users. It issued a statement to The New York Times Thursday, detailing exactly how the policy would be implemented. What it boils down to is this: You can keep unlimited, but don’t expect Verizon to subsidize your device.
Here’s the full statement as published in the Gray Lady’s Bits blog:
- Customers will not be automatically moved to new shared data plans. If a 3G or 4G smartphone customer is on an unlimited plan now and they do not want to change their plan, they will not have to do so.
- When we introduce our new shared data plans, Unlimited Data will no longer be available to customers when purchasing handsets at discounted pricing.
- Customers who purchase phones at full retail price and are on an unlimited smartphone data plan will be able to keep that plan.
- The same pricing and policies will be applied to all 3G and 4GLTE smartphones.
What that means is that you can probably cling to your unlimited plan from now until the end of time, like some old codger that refuses to give up his party line. But Verizon isn’t going to make it easy on you. The people who like unlimited data tend to be the people who like high-end smartphones, and since Verizon will no longer cut them deals when they upgrade to newer and better devices, they’ll be on the hook for full sticker price. I’m not sure if you’ve seen the prices on a brand new unlocked iPhone lately, but they ain’t cheap: $650 to $850 depending on the model.
The odd thing is, depending on how they’re priced, Verizon’s new shared plans might actually wind up saving a lot of current unlimited customers money. For instance, if you’re in a household with two smartphones both grandfathered to unlimited, you’re basically paying $60 a month for data. If Verizon keeps its same pricing structure in place you could get 2 GB to share for half the monthly cost, plus whatever per line charges Verizon chooses to charge.
The larger majority of U.S. smartphone users consume less than 1 GB of data a month. There are still plenty of people who use their unlimited data plans to the hilt – many of them GigaOM readers – and they’re going to hate this policy change in the very cores of their beings. But my bet is that a lot of people currently on unlimited plans might benefit from switching over to shared data. We’ll have to see the details of Verizon’s shared pricing, though, before we can say for sure.
Buffet image courtesy of Flickr user Wesley Fryer
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Two months after the new iPad’s debut in the U.S, a study shows that the device is beginning to appear in a wider geographic footprint beyond mainly wealthier, coastal states. Last month Apple’s new iPad accounted for 9 percent of all iPad activations, and this month it’s up to 13.5 percent, according to new data from Chitika Insights published Thursday.
Similar to last month, Hawaii and California lead in new iPad activations, accounting for nearly 18 and 16 percent, respectively. But Nebraska is a surprise No. 3. A big part of that isn’t due to your regular gadget consumers, but one of the state’s public education initiatives, which includes a 1-to-1 iPad program for students, according to the report.
You can see the other top seven states (and a district) for new iPad activations in May in the chart below:
Credit: Chitika Insights
But it’s not just Nebraska. There are other mainly rural — and less populated — states whose citizens are also scooping up the latest iPad. According to Chitika:
Nebraska’s adoption numbers in this second month, in addition to high adoption rates in states like Virginia, West Virginia and Alabama, indicate that rural states cannot be broadly labeled as technology laggards. Those residents are now pushing technology trends, often in greater numbers than their East and West-coast counterparts, rather than following them.
This kind of trend is exactly what needs to happen for Apple to continue to grow its customer base. The company can’t just sell new iPhones and iPads every year or every other year to the same early adopter types. By expanding through new industries — education, healthcare, transportation, etc. — the iPad is bringing Apple as a company into new territories that the Mac, at least at this stage in its life, never could.
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Tragedy struck just after 8 p.m. ET last Wednesday. Bounding down my apartment’s outside steps, I stumbled slightly, and in what resembled one of those slow-motion sequences you see on film, my iPhone 4 went flying out of my hand and over a balcony, landing three floors below with a plasticky smack and spray of glass shards.
You could say I was shocked, stunned and horrified. To clear a few things up: No, as I told my inquiring editor, tequila shots were not involved. Yes, I realize it’s just a phone. But I don’t make a habit out of carelessly destroying expensive things — especially when I’m so close to the end of my AT&T two-year contract and looking forward to a no-penalty upgrade to a new phone circa, say, October.
I’ll jump forward to the end: this is a happy story. I walked out of the Apple Store in Center City Philadelphia at 7 p.m. the following day with a brand new iPhone 4. But the journey was very impressive considering the level of service I received for a product that is not a refrigerator or pricey household appliance. Remember, we’re talking about a phone. (Note: I did not disclose my profession to the Apple Store staff for obvious reasons. Nor do I think every customer does or would have the same experience I did — your mileage at the Genius Bar may vary.)
Apple is famous for customer satisfaction — it scores tops among cell phone owners and computer owners, according to the American Customer Service Index. It’s probably no coincidence that high customer satisfaction scores – and offering professional and prompt technical help goes a long way towards ensuring satisfaction — are happening at the same time as the historic expansion of Apple’s business and the ascendance of its stock price.
After my Genius Bar appointment, Apple sent me its standard follow-up customer survey asking me about my experience. And since I write about Apple, I figured I’d share my answers here, in survey form. I was asked to rate my satisfaction with various aspects of Apple’s service on a scale of very dissatisfied to very satisfied.
Overall, how satisfied were you with your in-store repair experience?
Very satisfied. The morning after the fateful accident, I walked into the Center City store without an appointment. I was immediately greeted and told to come back for the next available time slot at the Genius Bar in 20 minutes. When I returned, I waited about a minute and 30 seconds before my designated Genius, Dan, walked up.
That wait was the only thing about my experience that was short — but we’ll get to that in a minute. Despite a somewhat complicated situation due to a failed iCloud backup, I was consistently updated on what was going on with my device. And the employees acted like they cared about solving my problem. Customer service isn’t necessarily the most rewarding job, so it’s gratifying when an employee understands that your presence means there is a problem and that getting it fixed is important. (Apple has just over 34,000 retail employees, with about 100 assigned to each store. Horace Dediu at Asymco calculated that Apple retail sales employees make from $9 to $15 per hour, but Genius Bar workers can make up to $30 per hour.)
Overall, how would you rate the professionalism and technical ability of the store employees responsible for your repair?
Very satisfied. This was somewhat of an emergency situation for me — it’s hard to get work done as a reporter when your only phone is unusable for calls or apps you might be writing about. The Apple Store employees made me feel like getting a new iPhone right away was a priority for them.
They also were very straightforward with me. They made sure I knew what my options were from the start: I could use my AT&T upgrade for a new iPhone 4S, which would start my two-year contract over again (no thanks), purchase a new iPhone 4S off contract for $500 (eek); or, if I left my broken device with Apple, they’d replace my same model with a new iPhone 4 for $149. I chose the latter.
They also let me know that this is fairly routine. Dropping a phone three stories? Not weird at all — they’ve seen and heard worse. The phone’s screen had a lot of scary-looking shards of glass sticking up from it, and when I apologized for its state, my designated Genius shrugged: “I have chefs’ fingers. I deal with cracked screens like this all the time.”
How many times were you contacted about the state of your repair?
At least 10 times, and I hadn’t even left the store. While my new phone was re-syncing Dan would attend to his other Genius Bar appointments, but he’d continually pop back over to update me on the status of my phone. This went a long way toward making me feel like the situation was resolvable and that they cared about getting me a satisfactory outcome.
Once your repaired product was returned to you, what happened?
This actually wasn’t a simple get-a-replacement-phone-and-resync-it-with-my-latest-iCloud-backup situation. Turns out, after 25 minutes of syncing my new phone, none of my roughly 3,000 photos copied over. This was, you might say, problematic. After some troubleshooting, Dan said iCloud was the culprit: my last iCloud backup had failed. He said I should bring my computer that my phone was synced with in and he’d try again, and made me another appointment later that day.
When I returned with my MacBook Air and my new iPhone, he battled further issues: iPhoto kept crashing, and the latest iTunes backup wouldn’t sync. He tried a few different approaches, and finally ended up finding a solution. This troubleshooting took almost an hour, again, thanks to the sheer number of photos I had on my device. Then once he figured out the fix, it was a least another 45 minutes of syncing.
From the start of the discussion, how long was your interaction at the Genius Bar?
Over the course of two different appointments, I spent just under four hours getting in-person tech support from the Apple Store. While that might sound excruciating, Dan was seriously heroic, never got flustered, and even took time to discuss one of my favorite topics while we were waiting: where to procure Philly’s best pizza. (Osteria on North Broad Street, if you’re wondering.) As someone who works from home or remote locations regularly, it wasn’t really a problem to be nearby the Apple Store all day. But that might be harder for people who have to report to offices.
Plus, when his shift ended at 6 p.m., he found another Genius to check in on me while we waited for my syncing to finish so they’d be sure my problem was entirely fixed before I left the store.
In the end, yes, it took a while, and iCloud has some serious issues to work out. But I left with a new phone, only $160 and some change poorer. And, perhaps more importantly, a lot of customer goodwill — an asset that even the most valuable company in the world can’t put a price on.
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Google’s social team has had a lot of love for iOS lately: Just days after rolling out a revamped iPhone app for Google+, the company now released an iOS app for its social activity service Schemer. The app mimics Schemer’s Android app in form and functionality, allowing users to tell the world what they’re plans are – and then join with friends for group activities.
Schemer has been an interesting initiative for Google. The service launched under the radar a few months back, then opened up to the public in April. Schemer is using a separate branding, but it’s tied closely to Google+, using your Google+ contacts to devise collective schemes. One has to wonder if Schemer could eventually become one of many apps running on top of Google+.
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With so many people writing about Apple, finding the best stories and reports isn’t easy. Here’s our daily pick of stories about the company from around the Web that you shouldn’t miss:
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Hope you’ve got a screen protector…Sesame Street has a new iOS app, “Potty Time with Elmo,” that is aimed at kids and parents going through the potty-training process.
The app, from Sesame Workshop and Publications International, is based on the bestselling book of the same title. For kids, there’s “a story with Elmo about the rewards of learning to use the toilet,” songs, stickers and a virtual rewards chart. Parents can “track their child’s potty progress” and get potty-training tips.
“Potty Time with Elmo” is $0.99 for now and will increase to $2.99 after May 29.
Elmo faces competition from other potty-training apps, but none of them are hosted by the little furry red monster.
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Apple’s next iPhone model will reportedly have at least a 4-inch display according to sources “familiar with the matter” and reported by the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. Apple hasn’t officially commented, which is expected as the company doesn’t make statements on unreleased products. However, the WSJ has a history of reporting on solid information about future Apple products, possibly as planned leaks from Apple itself. Regardless of where the information came from, a larger iPhone simply makes sense at this point in time.
I recall an online debate I had with my then co-worker Darrell Etherington in February of last year on this very topic: Should the next iPhone have a 4-inch display? Darrell held his own in that back-and-forth, but I believed then — as I do now — Apple can’t stick with a 3.5-inch iPhone forever. Or if it does continue creating phones with that size, they’ll likely be priced lower than a larger model. I even suggested that Apple could use a 4-inch display without increasing the overall size of the device by much, explaining how it would improved the overall experience for both consumption and input:
“Larger screen devices — without much larger form factors, I might add — can provide a better user experience for many: Text is larger as is the software keyboard, for example, as is the media experience, especially as smartphones can play back higher-resolution video. Think of it as moving from a 32- to a 40-inch HDTV set, only on a smaller scale. It’s not really about the screen size, or even about “keeping up with the Androids;” it’s about the improved experience that such a change can bring, and that’s not something you can see from a spec sheet.”
As I said back then, moving to a larger screen on the iPhone has nothing to do with keeping pace of Android handsets which are now topping out at 5.3-inch screen sizes. Between mobile apps, web browsing and online video, a larger display that’s still usable with one hand and fits in a pocket is simply more useful. Not everyone will agree, but of course, Apple doesn’t care about the fringe cases: It develops products for the masses with attributes that appeal to most. And if my suspicion is correct, Apple may still keep the 3.5-inch model around at a reduced price from any bigger siblings.
How will Apple accomplish the feat of using a larger display while maintaining its Retina Display definition? My guess is that the phone uses a 1024 x 768 panel which is the same resolution as the company’s first two iPads and works out to 320 pixels per inch. That would allow a 4-inch iPhone to natively run all of the existing iPad applications that aren’t optimized for the new iPad, which is double the resolution in both directions. Thoughts?
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