The Brooks Review

Author: Ben Brooks

  • Letter From Silicon Valley: Doing the Math on Android vs. Apple

    Fred Vogelstein:

    Here’s the math: I think we can all agree that Apple is selling iPhones at a rate of 4 million a month. Add the 1 million iPads/month Apple is selling and another 1.85 million/month as a guestimate for iPod Touch sales and you get … wait for it …  6.85 million iOS devices a month, or 42 percent more than Android. Apple doesn’t consistently provide iPod Touch numbers, but over the years it has provided enough data to make an educated guess.

    I don’t disagree with the math here, but I do disagree with the iPad being in this category. I would say you need to include the iPod touch, but that the iPad should be considered a portable computer not a phone, likewise for any Android tablets (like the monstrous new Dell Phone/Tablet).

  • RIM Said to Plan Tablet for November to Take on Apple’s IPad

    Hugo Miller:

    Pricing for the device will be in line with the iPad, which starts at $499, the person said. RIM is focused on reaping additional profits from the tablet effort, rather than competing on price to sell a large number of devices, the person said.

    Something tells me that there will be someone ‘reaping additional profits’ and that someone is not RIM.

  • Making iDisk Usable

    One of the things that annoys most every MobileMe subscriber is the speed of the iDisk online storage that you get – it is miserable to try and use. Great for storing small files, but unbearable for storing large files, which is annoying because it is 15gb of online storage.

    A couple of days ago I came across a great tip for using iDisk: use it with an FTP client like Transmit. I own and love Transmit so I decided to give it a try, and wow is it fast. Nothing ground breaking here, but never again will I use iDisk via Finder, it is easily faster using a program like Transmit. I have no clue why, but trust me it is faster.

    Now some of you may be wondering why I use iDisk to begin with. Well for starters I pay for it, and DropBox is just to small of storage to store large backups. Large backups are what I use iDisk for, it houses tons of archived websites and PSD files.

    Give it a try with an FTP client (not all work with it) and see if you can’t give it new life.

  • Porn Industry Aroused by iPhone FaceTime

    Nothing ground breaking being reported here, and we all saw this one coming I think. However take a look at the picture that they use for the article – hilarious.

  • Android Wallpaper Apps Developer Responds

    The developer:

    I also collected device id,phone number and subscriber id, it has no relationship with user data.

    But why collect the phone number?

  • Joshua Topolsky Reviews the Magic Trackpad

    Joshua Topolsky:

    There isn’t anything truly magical, revolutionary, or groundbreaking about the Magic Trackpad. It’s not the first of its kind, and it doesn’t turn our current computing paradigms on their ear. It’s an excellent device for those who prefer touch input to mouse or trackball, and it’s a solidly built piece of gear that will compliment the uncluttered workspaces of lots of geeks out there. But it’s not a game changer or the death knell for our modern day method of interacting with our PCs as some have speculated. In all, at the $69 price tag it’s difficult to call something like this a must-have — it’s a niche product for a niche user.

    I am still going to get one, I am guessing that it will be perfect for my home office.

  • 70 Billion Pixels Budapest – The largest photo on Earth

    Worth installing Microsoft Silverlight for, also zoom in.

  • Using Your iPad With Your Mac / PC – to Help You Focus

    Aside from email (which I hate) there are two things that really distract me while I work on my Mac during the day: Tweetie and Things / OmniFocus. Before the iPad (Bi) I used to have Tweetie open on one screen and my task management app of choice open on another. Between those two apps I would spend a stupid amount of time organizing tasks and changing due dates, and reading tweets and replies.

    A few weeks ago I thought this was all a waste and that there had to be a better way of dealing with these distractions. Keeping them on their own space was not good enough – I had to remove them from my Mac. The answer was of course the loyal iPad sitting in its lovely stand next to my computer.

    Now I check Twitter during the work day on it with Twitterific and review my tasks on it as well. I keep the task management app open on my Mac, but the window closed, so that I can quickly enter a new task, but I never actually mark off tasks on my Mac. Same goes for Twitter, Tweetie stays open so that I can tweet quickly if I desire, and so that if someone DM’s me I can see it via Growl, but I never read through the stream on my Mac.

    All of this means that I check Twitter once or twice and hour instead of every 15 minutes and that I only look at tasks when I need a new one. The best part is that the iPad screen turns off automatically after a bit so I really can’t be distracted.

    Hello focus, welcome back.

  • OmniFocus for iPad (Quick Thoughts)

    I was reluctant to buy OmniFocus for the iPad when it came out – I had just switched to Things (for the fourth or fifth time) due to the lack of an iPad app for OmniFocus and have been very happy with Things. Ultimately my curiosity won over and I got OmniFocus for the iPad to use. A couple of quick things before I get to my otherwise quick thoughts: I have been a heavy OmniFocus user since before it was available for purchase and have switched between OmniFocus and Things regularly, the only reason that I have been using Things for the past couple of months is due to the lack of an iPad version of OmniFocus.

    Thoughts

    • It is awesome to have over-the-air syncing between devices once again.
    • OmniFocus takes way to long to open.
    • OmniFocus is the best looking Omni app to date.
    • The icon on the iPad is hideous.
    • There is a lot of ‘texture’ being used and I can’t decide if I like it.
    • There is no fake paper look, which is refreshing.
    • The input for a new action is better than the same on Things.
    • I love the forecast view, it is something that task management apps really need.

    I will of course be doing a full write up on OmniFocus versus Things in a couple of weeks so look for that here. I am not just going to be looking at the iPad apps, but at the full suite of apps for each.

  • Clive Thompson on the Death of the Phone Call

    Clive Thompson:

    We’re moving, in other words, toward a fascinating cultural transition: the death of the telephone call. This shift is particularly stark among the young. Some college students I know go days without talking into their smartphones at all. I was recently hanging out with a twentysomething entrepreneur who fumbled around for 30 seconds trying to find the option that actually let him dial someone.

    I bet that if it was not for my current job I would make one phone call every other day – the rest I currently make are all for work.

  • Missing Antenna Videos on Apples Site

    MG Seigler:

    As you can see on this page, the videos are nowhere to be found. Instead, the page now only shows the overview of the antenna design and test labs. A search of Apple’s website brings up a few of the landing pages where the videos used to be — here’s the Droid X one, for example — but now those just redirect to the antenna design page as well. Odd.

    That is odd.

  • It’s Too Late for Microsoft To Build Its Own Handset

    Kevin C. Tofel:

    Perhaps another opportunity will appear when Microsoft can create its own phone, but even then, the company is at risk. Four of the five handset partners are also companies that build Microsoft Windows computers. If Microsoft cuts them out of the loop in mobiles, it won’t sit well with them from a notebook and desktop standpoint. Granted, I doubt that any of these partners would completely jump ship to Ubuntu, but such a situation would raise tensions between Microsoft and its partners.

    I’m sorry, but no. This is a dumb point, and to be frank most of the post I disagree with. Now is the time for Microsoft to break out with their own device while licensing the OS, they must do it or face dying a slow death.

  • July 30, 1935: Penguins Invade Britain, Readers Rejoice

    John C Abell:

    Retailers like Amazon push for $10 digital bestsellers. Customers don’t see why something which costs “nothing” to produce should cost as much as a printed book. Publishers are afraid of losing their pricing prerogatives. Authors are scared that the already minuscule chance of making a living through their words will shrink along with cover prices.

    Let us try not to forget that without writers there would be nothing to read – and without livable salaries writers won’t be able to write novels.

  • Why Apple Should Buy Infineon: To Own Mobile And Screw Intel

    Sounds pretty compelling to me, but I wonder if Apple won’t just make it’s own chips like it did with the A4 instead.

  • Microsoft should cut out the middlemen, build its own phones

    Peter Bright:

    However, there is still a strong case for further vertical integration. A bunch of hardware companies are on board for the first release of Windows Phone 7, and there will be a range of handsets for sale when it launches. But whether those partners will stick around is less clear. Windows Phone 7 offers much less scope for an OEM to differentiate its products. The custom front-ends that proliferated under Windows Mobile, and are commonplace in the Android world, aren’t an option, and by discarding them, the vendors lose a lot of branding opportunity.

  • More Details on the Android Wallpaper App That Steals User Data

    Lookout:

    While the data this app is accessing is certainly suspicious coming from a wallpaper app, we want to be clear that there is no evidence of malicious behavior. There have been cases in the past where applications are simply a little overzealous in their data gathering practices, but not because of any ill intent.

  • Magic Trackpad or tragic Mac pad? A review

    Jacqui Cheng:

    If you have $70 burning a hole in your pocket, you love Apple’s aesthetic designs, and you can’t live without multitouch gestures on your Mac desktop, however, it could be a nice thing to have—kind of like the treadmill in your living room that is destined for a life as a clothes hanger, or the ivory dog in your foyer.

    Like I told my wife last night, as soon as I can play with one in the Apple store I will decide whether to buy one. The battery charger though, that I will buy.

  • Marco Arment on The Kindle update

    Great post by Marco about the circumstances when you need a Kindle. His post reminded me of my wife and I’s recent backpacking trip.

    We get to camp and are resting, my wife turns to me and says: “Can we play some games on your iPad?” Now perhaps this is a testament to how many places I take my iPad (everywhere) but I decided not to add yet another 1.5lbs to my backpack for the sake of having an iPad. I would have liked for my wife to have brought her Kindle along for us to read, but we both forgot about it.

    If Marco is anything like me, when you backpack with your wife you end up carrying most of the weight – I try to carry as much as I can leaving her with less. It makes the trip easier and more enjoyable for her.

    The interesting part about hiking and technology is that it all comes down to weight – with hiking gear you pay a lot of money for good gear that weighs next to nothing. It makes so much sense to take an Kindle over a book or an iPad.

    On a separate note I feel the pain Marco must in having to not bring the 5D with him. As someone who loves photography it always is a struggle deciding whether to carry the extra weight of a dSLR compared to a well equipped point and shoot such as Marco’s S90 or my G9.

    Marco nails this point though:

    Gizmodo and the like probably don’t care that the Kindle is the perfect device for so many uses like this that people encounter on a regular basis in Real Life. But Kindle owners, and Amazon, don’t need them to.

  • Navigate the American Museum of Natural History with New iPhone and iPad Apps

    Awesome use of mobile technology. Hit. Nail. Head.

  • OMB nominee got $900,000 after Citigroup bailout

    Oh come on, Jim McElhatton:

    President Obama’s choice to be the government’s chief budget officer received a bonus of more than $900,000 from Citigroup Inc. last year — after the Wall Street firm for which he worked received a massive taxpayer bailout.