Technology Tips and Tricks

Dave's Corner Column - June 2010

SuperUser Account — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 08:00:00 GMT

I have said this before, I will say it again —we are in the midst of a computing revolution right now. For those who have been in the IT space, or have been responsible for IT for their companies, things have been done the same way for years. PCs were PCs, servers were like big PCs but more expensive, and notebook computers just changed size and price over time.

Now comes technology like virtualization, that allows you to run multiple servers on one box, failover systems that can restore a crashed server in minutes instead of hours or days, and then, there is the iPad.

I am not an Apple “fanboy” by a long shot. I do not have an iPhone, but I do own a Mac notebook and an iPod. When I heard about the iPad, I thought that it was a beefed-up Amazon Kindle, or a bigger iPhone, but I was wrong—it is much more than that.

In this issue, we have an intro article on the iPad, and I have made the supreme sacrifice of purchasing one for R&D purposes to see how well the iPad can work in a business environment. After playing with one at the Apple store, my mind reeled with the possibilities of how this could change the way that people compute in the medical, manufacturing, legal, and other fields.

Keep an eye out for next month’s issue for a full report. Δ

The Apple iPad

SuperUser Account — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 08:00:00 GMT

All about the new Apple product

Talk about the Apple iPad is everywhere. Many people are convinced it will revolutionize computing, some say it’s a highly evolved eReader, and others believe it will evolve to be the next Netbook. The iPad does not have any USB ports and therefore will not be a laptop equivalent, but Apple does expect you to use email and sync files between the iPad and your computer. After reading this article, you will know if the iPad is right for you.

Design

Comparable to the rest of the Apple family, the iPad looks like a big iPod Touch from the front, with a slightly curved aluminum back, making it resemble the top half of a MacBook. The screen size is relatively large at 9.7 inches and only 0.5 inches thick. Furthermore, the iPad’s screen is olephobic (oil-resistant) so fingerprints can easily wipe off. Since the iPad lacks a physical keyboard, you can purchase the iPad Keyboard Dock, which props the iPad and provides a keyboard for $69 (a mouse will not work with the iPad).

Software and User Interface

The iPad comes with a user-friendly interface similar to the iPhone OS. The iPad comes with 12 preloaded apps: Calendar, Contacts, Notes, Maps, Videos, YouTube, iTunes, App Store, Safari, Mail, Photos, and iPod. But unlike the iPhone, you can customize the desktop by using your own photos. Furthermore, there are over 150,000 apps available for download from third party app developers. Apple also anticipates more than 5,000 iPad apps, many of which will be 3D,
specifically for the iPad.

Pricing

There is different pricing in regards to the size of capacity and the type of wireless service. The iPad comes with two options: Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi+3G. The Wi-Fi only iPad 16G is $499, 32GB is $599, and 64GB is $699, and the Wi-Fi+3G 16GB is $629, 32GB is $729, and 64GB is $829. If you buy the Wi-Fi+3G model, you will have to pay AT&T for the 3G coverage, which is around $14.99 per month for 250MB or $29.99 a month for the unlimited data. There is no commitment or contract to sign, and you can switch plans or cancel at any time.

Battery and Power

The iPad comes with its own 1.0Ghz A4 processor. As for battery life, the iPad will last up to 10 hours while surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching videos, or listening to music, and up to 9 hours using the 3G data network. Unfortunately, you cannot multitask on the iPad. For example, you can’t surf the web while streaming Pandora. Although eReaders, such as the Amazon Kindle, can easily last a week on a full battery charge, the iPad promises good time for being a color multitouch tablet; making 9 hours of battery life pretty good if you’re surfing the web or playing video games.

iBooks

Accessing the iBookstore is a simple tap. All the books are colorfully displayed on the swiveling bookshelf and by tapping the cover, you quickly go to the last page you were reading. Book prices are in line with Amazon’s Kindle selections. While it is a good choice for illustrations and graphics, for now you cannot make notes in the margins or highlight text, making it less attractive to business users and students.

Photos

The redesigned photo app neatly stacks your photos into albums and you can easily access them by tapping or using the pinch gesture. Like the iLife on Macs, you can view your pictures based on when they were taken. When you’re not using your iPad, it can double as a picture frame and slideshow pictures across.

Music and Video

iTunes allows you to purchase music, movies, and TV shows directly from the iPad. You can also sync content you’ve already purchased on other computers. The full-screen video looks great, with high quality images. You can also access YouTube for free and watch those videos. Unfortunately the iPad does not support Flash, so you won’t be able to access Hulu.com.

Maps and GPS

The redesigned Maps application features Streets View images, showing the streets exactly as they look. Though the Wi-Fi only iPad can pinpoint your exact location with accuracy, it can provide turn by turn directions to match any TomTom, ALK, or Navigon.

So, should you buy one?

Compared to other tablets, the iPad provides a lot of functionality for $499. It’s interface is highly intuitive and similar to other Apple products. It does a good job with multimedia and can run thousands of different apps at full screen. On the other hand, Apple calls this a mobile device and not a computer for a reason. The gadget is not as versatile as a Netbook. There is no Flash support, no ability to print or ability to save files to your local area network. Other missing features include no webcam or a memory card slot. If you think of the iPad as a bigger iPod Touch or a more robust Kindle, you will be pleasantly satisfied but not if you view it as a cheap PC.

We will write a follow up article on the potential for the iPad as a business productivity tool using custom applications (think remotely entering orders into a point of sale system from the field), and we will go more in-depth in that article – stay tuned…Δ

Clear Wireless in PDX

SuperUser Account — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Why Clear is leading the way
by Dave Johnson

Wireless networks are improving, competition is fierce, and prices are coming down. At some point, all of us will be using wireless technology in our day-to-day business. I’ve been using Clear Wireless and will share my personal experience with their service later in this article. First, however, it’s important to understand the different types of networks available to small businesses and the technology behind them.

Types of Wireless Networks
Wireless, or WiFi technology, is a way of connecting your computer to a network using radio frequency and no network cables. It works in similar fashion to cordless phones; they transmit data from one point to another through radio signals. Wireless technology, however, also requires that you be within the wireless network range area to be able to connect your computer. There are three different types of wireless networks:

Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN): WLAN are wireless networks that send radio waves. The backbone network usually uses cables, with one or more wireless access points connecting the wireless users to the wired network. The range of a WLAN can be anywhere from a single room to an entire campus.

Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN): These are short-range networks that use Bluetooth technology. They are commonly used to interconnect compatible devices near a central location, such as a desk. A WPAN has a typical range of about 30 feet.

Wireless Wide Area Networks (WWAN): WWAN are created through the use of mobile phone signals typically provided and maintained by specific cellular service providers. WWANs can provide a way to stay connected even when away from other forms of network access. Additional charges are often associated with the usage of WWANs in some locations.

Cellular Internet Options
3G or 3^rd Generation is a family of standards for mobile telecommunications (cellular). 3G allows the simultaneous use of speech and data services and higher data rates (up to 14.0 Mbits/second on the downlink and 5.8 Mbits/second on the uplink). As a result, 3G networks enable network operators to offer users a wider range of more advanced services while achieving greater network capacity through improved spectral efficiency. As more people use 3G in crowded urban areas, where there is no room to expand a 3G network, more calls are being dropped because too many people are trying to access limited network capability.

4G or 4^th Generation will address this issue and will enhance existing communication networks. It is expected to provide a comprehensive and secure IP-based solution, where facilities such as voice, data and streamed multimedia will be provided to users on an “anytime, anywhere” basis and at much higher data rates compared to previous generations.

If you are interested in getting connected wirelessly using your cell phone without incurring big carrier bills, give me a call at 503-241-3499 and I will share a secret with you that has allowed me to get high bandwidth connections for my notebook with my cell phone that did not increase my phone bill by a penny.

Clear Wireless
Clear Wireless uses technology co-developed by Intel called WiMAX. Think of it as WiFi on steroids. It has superior range, and a greater ability to handle large quantities of high-speed traffic than an office or home WiFi. WiMAX also has the ability to pass your connection seamlessly as you change locations. It was designed to move IP-based network traffic instead of moving it through a network designed for low-bandwidth and intermittent voice traffic (cellular).

Clear Wireless is not the first company to offer this kind of service—not by a long shot. AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint have been in competition for years, leveraging their cellular infrastructures to provide consistent, highly-available, and fast bandwidth to their subscribers, who are willing to pay $45-$69 per month. I have tested a number of them over the years and have been unimpressed. At one Sprint store (mind you, we only use Sprint for our office mobile phones, and I am very happy with them), they had a Dell notebook with their wireless card in it for customers to test. I spent a good 15 minutes with the thing, and could only get 2X modem speeds from it, with dropouts galore—not very good.

How Well Does Clear Wireless Work?
Very well. There are no areas where I have not been able to get a connection. However, the building you are in can impact the reliability of the connection. While at my doctor’s office in Lake Oswego, I could not get connected from where I was sitting. When I moved 20 feet to my right (close to an open floor plan in the atrium), the connection snapped to life and I was getting 5 Mb/second (for you non-techies, that is plenty fast) and life was good again.

Other Features and Options
Clear Wireless offers a wireless receiver designed to support a small office when connected to a WiFi router or hard-wired network. We use this for an Internet connection for our clients and guests. This solution allowed us to replace our DSL service that we had just for this purpose.

Clear also offers a ClearSpot “portable hotspot,” which is about the size of a deck of cards, allows up to 8 devices to connect to it and share the bandwidth. I would love to test one out (are you listening Clear?). Notebooks and NetBooks are now shipping with WiMAX support built in, so look for that feature if you are in the market for a new machine. (See NetBooks article pg. 5) ∆