Gizmodo iPad Review

My god, am I underwhelmed by the iPad. This is as inessential a product as I've ever seen, but beyond that, it has some absolutely backbreaking failures that will make me judge anyone who buys one.

Big, Ugly Bezel
Have you seen the bezel on this thing?! It's huge! I know you don't want to accidentally input a command when your thumb is holding it, but come on.

No Multitasking
This is a backbreaker. If this is supposed to be a replacement for netbooks, how can it possibly not have multitasking? Are you saying I can't listen to Pandora while writing a document? I can't have my Twitter app open at the same time as my browser? I can't have AIM open at the same time as my email? Are you kidding me? This alone guarantees that I will not buy this product.

No Cameras
No front facing camera is one thing. But no back facing camera either? Why the hell not? I can't imagine what the downside was for including at least one camera. Could this thing not handle video iChat?

Touch Keyboard
So much for Apple revolutionizing tablet inputs; this is the same big, ugly touchscreen keyboard we've seen on other tablets, and unless you're lying on the couch with your knees propping it up, it'll be awkward to use.

No HDMI/HD Video Out
Want to watch those nice HD videos you downloaded from iTunes on your TV? Too damned bad! If you were truly loyal, you'd just buy an AppleTV already.

The Name iPad
Get ready for Maxi pad jokes, and lots of 'em!

No Flash
No Flash is annoying but not a dealbreaker on the iPhone and iPod Touch. On something that's supposed to be closer to a netbook or laptop? It will leave huge, gaping holes in websites. I hope you don't care about streaming video! God knows not many casual internet users do. Oh wait, nevermind, they all do.

Adapters, Adapters, Adapters
So much for those smooth lines. If you want to plug anything into this, such as a digital camera, you need all sorts of ugly adapters. You need an adapter for USB for god's sake.

Read Full Article Here

Disaster Recovery Tip #4

Know your generator needs.

"If the power goes out, we'll get a generator." It sounds so simple, but it's never as simple as it seems.

Like most things, preparation is the key. Where will you place a generator? Do you need permission from your landlord or building management company to run cables through the building? What are the specifications of your electrical circuit – volts, amps, phase?

One easy way to answer these questions is to request a site visit from an electrician to survey the location and provide an assessment of needs.

MedCom's Disaster Recovery

Disaster Recovery Tip #3

Plan ahead for evacuation.

Businesses located in disaster prone areas (such as hurricane, tornado, ice storm and earthquake zones) should develop an evacuation plan directing employees to a safe and pre-established area, and then recover business operations in the same location. You will have employees on-hand to begin working again, rather than spending days or weeks trying to locate them.

For more information on creating your evacuation plan, visit Ready.gov.

Disaster Recovery Tip #2

Think about relationships.

Operations and supply chains are reliant upon external relationships, particularly if you're a small or mid sized business. Take an active interest in the disaster recovery plans of your vendors and partners to ensure your business will not be effected if a supplier suffers a disaster or interruption. If your vendors fail, it increases the chance your business will also fail during a recovery situation. You're only as strong as your weakest link.

Disaster Recovery Tip #1

Keep it simple.

Be realistic about who and what you will need during a recovery. There is no sense in trying to bring everyone back to work and have all systems back up if you can survive on less; especially in a short-term recovery. Identify your critical people, teams and define your business critical systems. These should be the focus and your top priority in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. Keep it simple. Simple works.

Google Nexus One Available Today

http://www.google.com/phone
http://www.google.com/googlephone/tour/
http://www.google.com/phone/static/en_US-nexusone_tech_specs.html

The Nexus One, the Google Phone, is really here. And everything you need to know about it? Right here.

What Is It?

It's the latest, maybe greatest, Android phone. Google calls it a "superphone" that's an "exemplar" of what you can do with Android. It was designed by Google and HTC, who designed the G1 and the Ion.

How Much Does It Cost and Where/When Can I Buy It?

At Google's new web store, where you can shop for Android phones and do live demos of them over the internets to see if you like it. You need a regular Google account and a Google Checkout one to actually buy the phone.

You can buy it today on T-Mobile for $180 with a 2-year contract. Or you can buy it unlocked, without any service, for $530. Shipping's free.

The standard plan T-Mobile is offering for $80 a month includes 500 voice minutes, unlimited messaging (SMS and MMS) and unlimited internet.

Oh, and you can get it custom engraved.

It's Coming to Verizon in a Few Months

Verizon's getting it in 2010, though we don't know for how much yet. (Probably $200.)

The web store is launching today in the US, and will be shipping to test markets: UK, Singapore and Hong Kong. The Nexus One is just the first phone Google's selling with this new model, with more phones, operators and countries coming in the future.

Will It Work on AT&T?

Yes, but you won't get 3G, because it only supports the bands for T-Mobile's 3G in the US: UMTS Band 1/4/8 (2100/AWS/900) and GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz).

What's Inside?

A really fast 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, with a 3.7-inch, 480x800 AMOLED screen. The camera's 5 megapixels with an LED flash—it also shoots MPEG-4 video with one-click YouTube upload, which should be quick over its wireless N Wi-Fi. The trackball's got a multicolor LED for different notifications, and of course it's got a compass, GPS, stereo Bluetooth, 3.5mm headphone jack, two mics for "active noise suppression," light and proximity sensors, and an accelerometer onboard. It's got a 1400mAH battery, from which they promise 5 hours of 3G browsing and 7 hours of 3G talk time. Oh, it's skinnier than a #2 pencil.

And did we mention Android 2.1?

What's Android 2.1?

It's basically a much sexier, more polished Android 2.0, which is on the Droid. We've got a visual guide to Android 2.1, but some highlights: You have things like five screens for homescreen panels and Live Wallpapers, which are basically backgrounds you can interact with. There's a revamped 3D photogallery, which pulls visual tricks like having photos zoom out when you tap an album, and load on a 3D plane when you move the phone around. And, galleries are now background-synced to Picasa.

Voice is even huger: Every text field is voice enabled, so you basically never have to type anything. Voice might turn out to be the biggest thing in Android 2.1, actually. Well, besides the fact you'll soon be able to install apps to the SD card, at last freeing Android of the internal ROM app limit.

There's also a new 3D framework that lets it do those fancy things like those interactive backgrounds, a new whizbang 3D photogallery app, and a refreshed, zoomier app launcher. And, we'd guess, better graphics in games. Explains a lot of the zippier, lag-free performance we noticed in our hands on, too.

Is There Multitouch in Google Apps, Since There's No Keyboard?

No.

What's It Like?

Like this: "If you want Android phones, this is the one to get."

The best way to remember what's important to you

reQall is a voice-enabled memory aid that seamlessly integrates your mobile phone, email, text messaging and IM into a powerful organizer, reminder system and productivity assistant. reQall lets you capture your ideas, tasks and commitments before you forget, and it proactively keeps you well-prepared and memory-strong. Explore the pages below to see what you can do with reQall and learn how it integrates with the devices and programs you’re already using. See our comparison chart to learn about the two versions of reQall, Standard and Pro.

• Capture ideas
• Organize for me
• Remember where I am
• Jog my memory
• Remind myself
• reQall with friends
• Sync my calendars
• Shopping lists
• Touch to act

Google to Offer Free Public DNS

Google today launched a new, free DNS service—called Google Public DNS—aimed at making your web browsing experience even faster. Here's how it works:

For those of you who are unfamiliar with DNS (and it's cool if you are—as long as DNS is working, most people never need to know what's going on), Google offers an explanation:

Most of us aren't familiar with DNS because it's often handled automatically by our Internet Service Provider (ISP), but it provides an essential function for the web. You could think of it as the switchboard of the Internet, converting easy-to-remember domain names - e.g., www.google.com - into the unique Internet Protocol (IP) numbers - e.g., 74.125.45.100 - that computers use to communicate with one another.

Google Public DNS, then, aims to replace your ISP's default DNS with a (hopefully) faster, safer, and more reliable alternative. Google Public DNS isn't the first freely available alternate DNS we've seen. Previously mentioned OpenDNS is an excellent DNS alternative (it boasts keyboard shortcuts, parental filters, and more), but—for better or worse—we're guessing that even more people may be interested in Google's offering.

To set up your computer or router to use Google Public DNS, hit up Google's instructions (they've got specific instructions for Windows, Mac, Linux, or your router).

I swapped my DNS to Google's service earlier today and so far my page loading seems to have a spring it its step, but you know how these things go. If you give it a try, let's hear whether things are feeling snappier for you in the comments.

Read Article Here

Google Wave: The Future of Email?

Email is antiquated. We need a better way to get things done online than hitting “reply all” to long message chains and sending constantly updated attachments.

Google aims to make waves in email. Image: Google.

Google (GOOG) is attempting to solve this program with a new service called Google Wave. Announced at a developers’ conference last May, the software application and computing platform blends email, instant messaging and online collaboration. If it gains traction, it could be disruptive, particularly in the enterprise market—but the chances for that may be slim.

Here's how Google says Wave works: You create a wave and add people to it. Wave members can add their own text, photos and feeds. They can also edit the wave. Everyone on the wave can view changes being made in real time. Through a playback feature, you can also rewind the wave and look at how it has evolved.

If you’re having trouble wrapping your mind around what exactly Google Wave is, you’re not alone. Google opened the service to a limited number of users in September. I am not in this group, which includes a sampling of software developers and early technology adopters, but I spoke to a half-dozen folks who are trying it, and all report that it’s a little hard to understand.

That may be Google's largest hurdle with this service as it will be more useful with more users.

Google Wave is inherently a social program. For it to succeed, it will need to gain critical mass among users. And to do this, the service must attract mainstream developers willing to sink resources into building out software programs that link into the system. The company has plans to launch an app store at some point. Several prominent businesses are already experimenting with it. Novell (NOVL) has an upcoming product called Novel Pulse that makes real-time collaboration more suitable for corporate users by providing companies the tools to limit groups and visibility and structure the type of collaboration that is possible. SAP (SAP) also has an application for Google Wave called Gravity in the works.

Masters of search but not social stuff

But Google has a few strikes against it.Though YouTube is beginning to see some success, the company hasn’t mastered anything social yet. Remember Orkut, it’s early social network? Now even the Brazilian audience that once kept it going is migrating over to Facebook. OpenSocial, Google’s attempt to create common standards for development on social networks, has had a quiet evolution, in part because the most popular social network, Facebook, didn’t embrace it.

Recently Google’s Joe Kraus, who has led the efforts, moved over to become a partner in Google Ventures. Also, the company hasn’t impressed large enterprise customers recently with its “Word-killer,” Google Docs. There have been several lengthy outages in recent months during high usage times. And Google tries new things often; many are eventually left for dead. (Remember Notebook? Dodgeball? Jaiku?)

Perhaps Google’s biggest problem is that new communication platforms are rarely imposed from the top down. Rather, they evolve with users’ demands. Facebook is a great example. In 2005, when college kids first started logging on, the idea of posting anything to a “wall” or a moving public stream of information struck mainstream Internet users as absurd. But Facebook evolved as users joined and asked for new services. Now only troglodytes refrain from creating a profile, and about half of Facebook’s 300 million users log on every day to view their stream of status updates, photos and links.

Google understands the need for this type of organic innovation, and that’s why the company has launched Google Wave to a select few to experiment with before the service goes live. But users report it may be too different from anything they’ve seen before to catch on. And Google isn’t the only company trying to replace email, either. From small start-ups like Drop.io, which lets users communicate with each other and share documents in real time, to Facebook itself, plenty of companies are experimenting with better ways to get things done. It's not yet clear whether Google will be able to ride this wave.

Microsoft Office 2010 Beta Is Now Available

The next version of the best-selling software of all time, Microsoft Office 2010, is finally available in beta today. Get used to the new Office: We're all going to use this stuff at some point or another.

There's a lot new about Office 2010: Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook all come with evolved UIs, taking cues from Office 2007's "ribbon" UI by using tabs instead of traditional menus. Word offers the new "backstage view," which replaces the old File menu with a sort of visual representation of it: You'll get a sidebar with live previews, which could come in handy for things like print preview. Besides that, Word (along with PowerPoint and Excel) also adds minor photo and video editing tools like color adjustment, cropping and trimming. PowerPoint brings the new "broadcast slideshow" feature, allowing you to beam a presentation to any connected PC with a one-click interface; and Excel adds some smart enhancements like automatically shading the highest numbers in a given chart, and Sparklines, which are word-sized graphs that can be added inside charts.

There are a boatload of minor changes in Office 2010, and we won't go into them all. The biggest change, and the one that's most exciting to us, has been around for awhile in some form or another: SkyDrive, Microsoft's online storage, now includes what's essentially the Office take on Google Docs. With any version of Office 2010, you get 25GB of storage space. That storage gives you the ability to create and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents on the fly, with simultaneous group editing, just like in Google Docs.

There are two main versions of Office 2010: The full version, the price of which has not yet been announced, and the Starter version, which offers limited-feature (we might say crippled) versions of the three main programs in the suite, and will come free with many new PCs. With either option, you'll get the 25GB of storage space and access to SkyDrive. Office 2010 will be released sometime in the first half of 2010.

Right now, it's just technically available for Technet and MSDN subscribers, but you should be able to get a copy in another way, if you know what we mean.

Read Article Here