Marianne Schultz

the musings of a geeky girl

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everythingiCafe: the show “iPad New, New iPad 3 HD”

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Chris Meinck and I recorded episode 52 of the everythingiCafe.com podcast earlier this week and it’s now available through iTunes for download. We were off for several weeks since I have been traveling far more than usual but my schedule has settled down for now so the game is back on.

This was a big episode covering the announcement of the 3rd-generation iPad and Apple TV, the release of iOS 5.1, and some welcome changes to iCloud. Both Chris and I preordered new iPads (which had not yet arrived when this podcast was recorded) and we were pretty excited to finally learn that it would have a retina display as indicated by so many rumors beforehand.

We also talked about the release of iOS 5.1, which contains two features I’m particularly happy about: the ability to delete individual photos from PhotoStream and a permanent camera shortcut button on the lock screen for the iPhone. I take a lot of iPhone and iPad screenshots for work and these end up junking up my PhotoStream and I’m happy I can finally get rid of those after I’m done with them. I also find myself using the home button double-click shortcut a lot to get to the camera on my iPhone 4S. My dog’s antics, while plentiful, can be brief in nature and every second helps to be able to capture them.

We also had a few choice words for AT&T in relation to iOS 5.1 since, somehow, it convinced Apple to change the network indicator on the iPhone to show 4G when connected to its HSPA+ network, which is not true 4G. I shake my fist at you, AT&T.

My Teh Awesome this week was the Jawbone Jambox, a Bluetooth speaker I mentioned in a previous blog post describing a trip to an AT&T store when my mom upgraded to an iPhone 4S. It worked really well on the trip I took last week to San Francisco to attend GDC with the TouchArcade editorial staff and I definitely recommend it if you’re looking for a portable yet decent-sounding speaker for your iPhone or another Bluetooth-capable device.

Chris’s Teh Awesome was the free app Houzz Interior Design Ideas, which has been helpful for him and his wife as they remodel their house. The app houses hundreds of thousands of photos of home design elements and lets you tag and save items and looks you like for later reference and shopping.

As I post this, my pre-ordered iPad is in my hot little hands and I’m really enjoying it so far. The retina display is truly impressive and I find I’m using it more than my iPad 2, though this could just be because it’s a new gadget for me. Did you get a new iPad? If so, how do you like it so far?

everythingiCafe: the show “Faster Horse”

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Chris Meinck and I recorded episode 51 of the everythingicafe.com podcast earlier this week and it’s available through iTunes now for your listening pleasure. If my site cooperates, it should also be available right in this post using the embedded player above if you’re using a Flash-capable browser.

Chris and I talked about iPad 3 rumors that peg March 7 as the announcement date for the next iteration of Apple’s tablet. We expect it to have a retina display and quad-core processor at the very least when it comes to new features. Rumors also indicate it will have 4G LTE though I’m not sure if Apple will make the leap to 4G quite yet when it’s not available yet in the iPhone.

Also on the agenda was an article from the Wall Street Journal claiming that Apple is testing an 8-inch iPad. I, for one, would love a smaller iPad since I mostly use my current iPad 2 as an ebook reader and I’d like a more portable version. I’ve owned a Kindle before and think that size is pretty ideal for ebook readers.

We also talked about Foxconn a little more, a topic we covered quite a bit when the company was getting a lot of coverage in the news a few weeks ago because of poor working conditions. The manufacturer is going to getting a visit from the Fair Labor Association who will conduct audits of the working conditions. We hope that some improvements will result from this.

Last on the agenda was some news about Path, an iPhone app that got a lot of publicity recently since it was uploading the entire contents of users’ contacts lists without requesting permission to do so. Path has since changed this but they caught a lot of flak for this, and rightly so, in my view.

We did have a listener question from nanikai (thank you!) about apps that come in separate iPhone and iPad versions compared to universal apps that are optimized for both the iPhone and iPad at the same time. This is a hot topic for many since I’ve seen a lot of people get upset when they have to pay twice to get an app for both an iPhone and iPad. Chris and I have had a lot of experiences with these and have some fairly strong opinions on the topic.

My Teh Awesome of the week was Temple Run, a great game by Imangi Studios that I’ve been playing a lot lately. Chris had two selections for the Teh Awesome part of the show this week. The first was the app Mealtime, a neat app that helps you discover new restaurants. His second selection was the Spigen SGP GLAS.t screen protector for the iPhone, which he recently reviewed.

I’m out of town for a week and will not be available for a podcast on our regularly-scheduled day this week so we’ll pick back up on our regular Tuesday recording schedule on February 21.

everythingiCafe: the show “Ron Swanson”

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Chris Meinck and I recorded episode 49 of the everythingicafe.com podcast this week and it’s now available for download through iTunes. As always, if you’re reading this with a Flash-capable browser you can listen to it right here through the embedded player above.

Chris and I had a fairly long discussion about the hubbub last week following a New York Times article about working conditions at Foxconn, where several Apple products (as well of those of many other companies) are made. We’ve seen some people advocate a boycott of Apple products to protest what they see as Apple’s failure to remedy these issues. But is this really Apple’s fault? If the working conditions of Foxconn employees concern you, what can you do about it? Listen to this episode if you want to hear where Chris and I fall on this issue.

We also talked about the hiring of John Browett to fill Ron Johnson’s old role as SVP of Retail at Apple plus iPhone 5 rumors.

Chris’s Teh Awesome of the week was Voice Control on the iPhone, a feature that is automatically enabled on the iPhone 4S if you turn off Siri (a trick that I did not know about). We’ve discussed in previous podcasts how Siri’s comprehension skills can be less than stellar and Chris finally got fed up and followed a recommendation from listener 4forkssake to go back to Voice Control.

My Teh Awesome was a Twitter app for the Mac, YoruFukurou. It’s billed as a Twitter app for power users since it offers a lot of customization options to tweak the interface to look just the way you want it. My boss also uses it and I thought I’d give it a try and I like it so far. It’s free, which is –as we all know– the best price ever.

I still have some free promo codes for Scrabble and Madpad to give away, as mentioned in this blog post. If you want one, just comment on this post and be sure to use a legit email address (it will not be visible to others) so I can send you a code.

everythingiCafe: the show “Revenie”

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Chris Meinck and I recorded episode 48 of the everythingicafe.com podcast earlier this week and it’s now available for download through iTunes. As always, you can also listen to it here using the embedded player above if you’re using a Flash-capable browser.

Chris and I talked about Apple’s Q1 results for fiscal year 2012, which were absolutely phenomenal. We also talked about the jailbreak that just came out for A5 devices running iOS 5, Absinthe. (And I think I’m going to be trying that jailbreak myself this weekend – I do miss me some LockInfo.) Also on our topic list was the report claiming that there have been more than 350,000 downloads of textbooks in the iBookstore and a few other items.

Chris’s Teh Awesome for the week was Thermostapp, a free iPhone app that lets you control a compatible Wi-Fi enabled thermostat. If I had a Wi-Fi-enabled thermostat, I’d totally try this app. Unfortunately, while we have some nice programmable thermostats in our house, they work just fine and don’t need to be replaced and I don’t think I could convince my husband to replace them when it’s not necessary. 🙁

My Teh Awesome was the free iPhone game, Tiny Tower. I admitted a little bit of shame in liking this game so much since it’s a little Farmville-like but I’ve been surprised at how much I’ve been playing it, trying to place my little Bitizens in their dream jobs and completing the various missions. It’s completely free to play and I definitely recommend it if you like games where you create and manage your own little virtual world.

In case you’re keeping track, I did not post about the last podcast episode that we recorded last week, #47 – Crappy Earth Science. I’ve been struggling a little getting back into my groove after attending CES but I’m finally getting back on track. You can see more about this episode over at everythingicafe.com here.

[frame]To make up for my lack of posting here recently, I have a few codes to get paid apps for free to give away, courtesy of Starbucks and their free Pick of the Week cards. If you want one of the codes, all you need to do is write a comment on this post. Feedback on my site and/or our podcast would be appreciated and be sure to specify which app you want. Make sure your email address is legit – I’ll email you the code using this address (email addresses are not published for the world to see, FYI).

Here’s what I have (these links open iTunes):

  • MadPad for iPhone ($.99) – 7 codes expiring February 14, 2012
  • Scrabble for iPhone ($1.99) – 3 codes expiring March 20, 2012

One code per person, please. These codes are valid for U.S. iTunes store only and they expire as indicated above. Instructions on how to redeem codes can be found on Apple’s support site here.[/frame]

everythingiCafe: the show “Happy Happy Joy Joy”

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Chris Meinck and I recorded our last podcast episode of 2011 earlier this week and it’s now available through iTunes.

We talked about Apple’s rumored purchase of Anobit, a flash memory company, the latest iPhone 4S commercial featuring Santa Claus, more rumors about the Apple Television and the iPad 3 and more.

Chris’s Teh Suck of the week was the Hipstamatic Disposable app and its sleazy in-app purchase tactics, which he talks about in this article.

My Teh Awesome of the week was my new 27″ iMac that I got (after saving up for a while) to replace an aging Mac mini. I purchased it directly from Apple and it’s one of their refurbished models. It’s the base model of the current generation (with Thunderbolt) and it’s super fast. Working on it is a pure joy, full of much less yelling and frustration compared to my Mac mini.

Also, I apologize for my audio quality in this episode. I failed to ensure my shiny new iMac was using the external microphone to record instead of the built-in one. 🙁 I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen again in future episodes.

Christmas is just a couple of days away and I’d like to wish everyone a wonderful holiday season! We’ll be spending Christmas at home with friends and family and hope your holidays are filled with warmth, happiness, and good food and company.