Now for the killer. If you have an iPad on Verizon’s LTE network and use it as a personal hotspot (not currently possible on the AT&T version), it will last you roughly 25.3 hours on a single charge. Obviously that’s with the display turned off, but with a 42.5Wh battery driving Qualcomm’s MDM9600 you get tons of life out of the new iPad as a personal hotspot.

That is an absurd number, and is great news for road warriors who often need to break out the laptop in remote locations.

Fastest charging – iPad charger: For the fastest charging of any iPad, use the iPad’s included 10-Watt USB Power Adapter or a third-party charger certified for fast-charging an iPad. This will fully charge a first- or second-generation iPad in a few hours, even if you’re using the iPad at the same time; the third-generation iPad will take a bit longer, as explained below.

 

Slower charging – high-power USB port: When connected to a high-power USB port—such as one on a recent Mac, Apple’s USB Power Adapter for iPhone, or third-party chargers certified for the iPhone—a first- or second-generation iPad will charge, even during use, but more slowly. (Some third-party USB hubs provide higher-power USB ports, but many don’t; similarly, the USB ports on many Windows PCs don’t provide this additional power.)

 

Slowest charging – lower-power USB port: When your iPad is connected to a lower-power USB port—those on older Macs, many Windows PCs, and many USB hubs (powered or unpowered)—the battery is charged only while the iPad is asleep. If a first- or second-generation iPad is awake and in use, its battery essentially holds its current charge level. What’s confusing here is that the message Not Charging appears in the menu bar when the iPad is awake, which might lead you to assume that the offending USB port can never charge your iPad. But rest assured that once you put the iPad to sleep, the battery will charge.

 

The third-generation iPad: The newest iPad has even heftier charging requirements than its predecessors, for a couple reasons. First, it has considerably more battery capacity than the first two iPads—42.5 watt-hours, compared to 25 watt-hours—so even at the fastest rate of charging, the third-generation iPad takes noticeably longer to fully charge. (And, in fact, according to testing by DisplayMate, the new iPad’s battery doesn’t reach a full charge until about an hour after its battery meter displays 100%.) So no matter how you charge, it will take longer to fully charge a third-generation iPad than either previous iPad.

In this edition of iPhone Boot Camp, we’ll take a look at Maps’ best features and how you can make the most of them.

[Note: this post is inspired by and draws from Macworld's recent article, 'Eight tips for iOS's Maps app']

Pinpoint your current location

In most cases, the first thing you’ll want to do when you launch Maps is find where you are right now, whether it’s to find something nearby or get directions from your current location.

Doing so couldn’t be simpler.  Just tap the Current Location button in the lower left-hand corner of the screen, and Maps will quickly detect and mark your location with a pulsing blue dot.

Your location is determined in one of two ways.  If you’re connected to Wi-Fi, it uses your Wi-Fi hotspot’s location data to quickly pinpoint where you are.

If you’re out roaming around and not connected to Wi-Fi, the iPhone pulls off a pretty nifty trick: it quickly triangulates your approximate location within a few hundred meters using a combination of the nearest cell towers, and while this is happening, your iPhone’s GPS chip is pulling in an exact location.  This is why the iPhone appears to find your location much quicker than, say, a standalone GPS unit – it can start with the cell tower data while waiting for the GPS data to come in.  On a standalone unit, nothing happens until communication with the GPS satellite is complete.

Search for It

Maps also has very powerful search functionality built-in, thanks to Google Maps’ massive database and intelligent matching algorithm.  To search for something, just tap in the search box and type what you’re looking for.  A few examples:

• Looking for a bite to eat?  Type in a cuisine, such as “sushi”, or a service, such as “pizza delivery”.  Or just search “restaurants” to get a broader selection.
• Type an exact address, e.g. “610 E Morehead St Charlotte NC 28202″
• If you’re light on details, just type what you know.  E.g. “610 Morehead”.  Maps will either find the address or offer close matches to choose from.
• Type any business name, e.g. “Apple Store”
• Type a city name to quickly get directions or estimate drive time for your next road trip.
• Typing “CLT” or another airport short code will return the location of that airport.

Get Directions

Once you’ve found what you’re looking for, you may want directions too.  There are two ways to get directions: quick and quicker.

• Quick: tap the red pin on your destination, tap the blue arrow for details, tap Directions To Here, and tap Route.
• Quicker: tap the red pin, tap Directions at the bottom of the screen (top of screen on iPad), tap Route.

Power of the Page Curl

As you’re mapping your way around town, you can also unlock a few hidden features by tapping the page curl button at the bottom-right corner of the screen.

• Drop Pin: If you’re looking at a particular location and would like to bookmark it for later reference, tap Drop Pin.  A purple pin will fall from the sky, which you can move around by tapping and dragging.  Once it’s set, tap the pin, tap the blue Details arrow, and tap Add to Bookmarks to assign a custom name and save it for later.
• Print: If you have AirPrint printers set up on your network, you can print the current map view straight from your device (contact us for more info).
• Show Traffic: Tap Show Traffic to add a traffic overlay to major thoroughfares and highways.  Maps will indicate traffic volume in different areas with green, yellow, and red lines.
• Change View: Tap Standard, Satellite, Hybrid, or List to get a different view of the map or your search results.  Standard is the default Google Maps look.  Satellite shows aerial photography, while Hybrid overlays roads and other map data over the aerials.  List will present search results or directions in list form in lieu of the map.

Walk Around in Street View

The best-kept secret of Maps has to be Street View, which, when activated, seems transports you into an alternate dimension.  Here, you’re looking at the selected address as if you’re standing right in front of it.  Tap and drag on the screen to look around.  Pinch to zoom in or out.  As you pan around, you’ll see white arrows on the road.  Tap those to move along that path and change your view.

The effect is surreal: you’re walking down the road, looking around, all from your iPhone.

To enter Street View, search for a business or address, tap the red pin, and tap the orange button on the left side of the flag that pops up.  To exit Street View, tap the round map at the bottom right corner of the screen.

Quite a bit was covered during the 90 minute keynote presentation by Tim Cook, Eddy Cue, and Phil Schiller, but here’s a quick round-up of what’s new and notable in both hardware and software:

Hardware

AppleTV

Basically the same as the existing model, except it now outputs in full 1080p HD (thanks to a faster graphics processor) instead of measly 720p. There’s also a software update which brings a new interface (also available for the current model), but that appears to be about it.

Should you get it? If you have an iPad or iPhone, AppleTV is a great and underrated accessory thanks to AirPlay. It’s also an excellent buy for conference rooms, as you can wirelessly mirror your iPad or iPhone screen to an HDTV for presentations, browsing Google Earth, etc. If you don’t have an iPad or iPhone, but want easy access to iTunes’ collection of movies and TV shows, plus Netflix and other services, it’s a no-brainer.

iPad

Retina Display. Easily the most harped-upon feature of the entire announcement. Early reports from those at the keynote who spent a few minutes with demo models backstage indicate that it has to be seen to be believed. Here’s what The Loop’s Jim Dalrymple had to say about it:

It’s impossible to put into words just how good the Retina display is on the iPad. It’s not just images that look sharper, it’s text too. Reading a Web site or an iBook on the iPad’s display is incredible. Even the home screen on the iPad is crisper and sharper than I expected.

In short, “Retina display” is Apple marketing jitsu for, “so damn clear your eyes can’t even make out individual pixels”. Scaling the iPhone 4S’ crystal clear Retina display to 9.7″ isn’t as easy as it sounds. It’s a remarkable feat of graphics processor design and display quality. This will prove to be a killer feature in about a week, once people get to experience it.

A5X Processor. Upgraded from the iPad 2′s A5 processor, this is what powers the iPad’s Retina display and makes all your swipes and apps silky smooth.

Camera. A drastic upgrade from the mediocre camera in the iPad 2. The new iPad now features a 5 megapixel camera, nearly on par with the iPhone 4S’, with autofocus, face detection, white balancing, and 1080p video recording with image stabilization. Unfortunately Apple didn’t come up with a solution to looking like a complete nerd while recording video with your giant tablet thing. Put that thing down.

4G LTE. Apple proved me wrong on this one – I didn’t think they’d pull it off so soon. Battery life issues have plagued every other 4G device on the market, but Apple has managed to squeeze a 4G antenna into the same form factor as the iPad 2, while also maintaining its best-in-class…

Battery Life. Basically unchanged, which is remarkable given the Retina display, more powerful processor, and 4G antenna (typically a huge power hog). 10 hours of general use, 9 hours while browsing over 4G.

Software

iOS 5.1

Several bug fixes and little improvements not really worth getting into, but it’s required for other goodies like iPhoto and so on, so go ahead and get the update. To update, Tap Settings > General > Software Update.

iPhoto

The star of the show in terms of software. Several times during the on-stage demo, I found myself saying, “Holy $@*#”. Here’s Macworld’s quick rundown:

While Apple didn’t spend much time talking about iOS 5.1, it did offer details on various other pieces of software. The flagship announcement was Apple’s completion of the iLife suite for iOS with the introduction of iPhoto for iPad and iPhone. The $5 app, available Wednesday, offers not just photo organization tools, but a suite of touch-based photo manipulation and editing tools as well. You can tap on a specific section of a photo to edit its properties—tap the sky, for example, to adjust its saturation without affecting the rest of your photo. The app also offers touch-based controls for setting white balance, adjusting skin tones, and more.

iWork

Apple also updated its iWork suite of apps, including Pages, Keynote and Numbers. Boooooring.

Other Things to Note

• Pricing and model line-up are exactly the same as iPad 2. Wi-Fi only models start at $499, AT&T & Verizon 4G models start at $529.
• iPad 2 is still available and its prices have been slashed by $100 across the board. That means you can now get an iPad for $399. That’s huge.
• iPad now has dictation support, just like an iPhone 4S. Tap a button, start talking, and Siri will transcribe your speech into any text field, such as an email or text message.
• The lock screen camera shortcut I highlighted in a previous post now appears by default in iOS 5.1. No need to double-press the home button.
• iTunes in the Cloud now supports movies, in addition to music and TV shows. That means you can browse through and watch previous movie purchases as many times as you want, free of charge.
• You can now upload photos to iCloud’s photo gallery and share them with friends.
• You’re still reading? Go download iPhoto already!

So what’s the best way to repurpose it? Macworld has a few good ideas:

1. Library The iPad has iBooks, the Amazon Kindle app, and the Barnes and Noble Nook app. You can keep your old iPad around as a dedicated e-reader with access to an entire library of material.

If you have a business with a waiting area for customers, you can subscribe to magazines on the iPad and leave it out for public use, rather than cluttering up a table with piles of out-of-date periodicals.

2. Presentations Another great business use for an iPad is as a dedicated presentation device. If you have an Apple TV connected to a display in a conference room, you can use AirPlay streaming to wirelessly display what’s on the iPad on that larger screen. Presenters can use the iPad to control their presentations.

3. Conferencing If your old iPad is an iPad 2—the one with a front-facing camera—you can turn it into a dedicated video-conferencing device. You can use Webex, Skype, FaceTime, or other video-conferencing services to conduct virtual meetings with clients and co-workers almost anywhere in the world.

4. Point of Sale Get yourself a Square credit card reader and leave your old iPad at your register (or wherever you process transactions) as a point-of-sale platform; it can also be tied into a database like FileMaker to manage and update inventory at the same time.

5. Digital Frame Load your old iPad with pictures of your business, products, customers, and employees, and set it up to rotate through the images as a slideshow. You can prop up the iPad in your company’s reception area so customers can enjoy the pictures.

6. Hand It Down Somebody can still use it. If you are rushing out to get a shiny new iPad 3, why not re-provision the old tablet by giving it to one of your employees? It will probably be much more valuable as a mobile productivity tool for someone else than the couple of hundred dollars you might scrounge from selling it.

Specs are still unannounced, but the new iPad is widely expected to have a faster processor, a more powerful graphics processor, and a Retina display to match the iPhone 4S’ pixel density and clarity.

My predictions, in addition to the above:

• Same form factor as iPad 2
• No 4G connectivity, just 3G, because of persistent battery life issues (hope I’m proven wrong on this, of course)
• Same pricing as the existing line-up
• An introduction of Microsoft Office for iPad
• Full GPS capability
• Improved camera optics

How do you feel about your name, likeness, and life story being used, for free, to promote a brand?

Today, The Next Web has the story of Nick Bergus, who unwittingly became a spokesman for 55-gallon drums of lube:

A week later, a friend posts a screen capture and tells me that my post has been showing up next to his news feed as a sponsored story, meaning Amazon is paying Facebook to highlight my link to a giant tub of personal lubricant.

Other people start reporting that they’re seeing it, too. A fellow roller derby referee. A former employee of a magazine I still write for. My co-worker’s wife. They’re not seeing just once, but regularly. Said one friend: “It has shown up as one on mine every single time I log in.”

It’s never not a good time to delete your Facebook account.

With all the new features, chances are you’re not taking full advantage of everything the home button can do.  Here’s a quick look at what you’re missing [note: some of these work on iPad as well, so feel free to experiment]:

Spotlight Search

From your main home screen (the first page of apps) press the home button to move to Spotlight, iPhone’s system-wide search function.  From here, you can simultaneously search your contacts, apps, music, videos, notes, email, calendar events, text messages, and reminders.

For example, searching for ‘Tom’ will pull up recent emails involving Tom, his contact card, calendar events with his name in them, and my text message conversation with him. From Spotlight, pressing the home button again returns you to the first page of apps.

Lock Screen Camera Shortcut & Music Controls

With your screen locked, double-press the home button to access a couple of handy shortcuts.  As covered previously, you can use the camera shortcut to quickly take a photo.  On that same screen, you can also control a running music or audio app, including the built-in Music (iPod) app, Pandora, Instacast, and more.

Siri (iPhone 4S only)

Press and hold the home button from any screen or app to trigger Siri.  Press the home button again to exit Siri and return to your previous spot.

Multitasking Tray

From any home screen or app, double-press the home button to bring up the multitasking tray.  This is simply a list of recently launched apps (not running apps!), designed to give you quicker access as you switch back and forth between them.  Tap an app from this tray to switch to it, and repeat to switch to any other app.

The multitasking tray also has its own hidden features.  Swipe right on the tray to reveal orientation lock (to prevent your iPhone screen from rotating automatically), music/audio controls, and a shortcut to the Music app.

From here, swipe right again to access an on-screen volume slider and AirPlay selector (AirPlay only appears if you have an AirPort Express or AppleTV nearby, for wireless music or video streaming to a stereo or television).

Force-Quit a Frozen App

In the rare instance when an app has completely locked up on you, there is a way to force-quit it and return to the home screen.

First, hold down the lock button until the “swipe to turn off” screen appears.  Release the lock button, and press the home button until the app quits and you’re returned to the home screen.

Hard Reboot

In the even more rare instance when the entire iPhone has locked up and needs to be rebooted, you can do so with a hard reboot.  This is the iPhone equivalent of holding your PC’s power button in until it completely shuts down.

You should only do this if your iPhone won’t turn off the normal way (holding down the lock button and then swiping the red slider).

To perform a hard reboot, hold the lock button and home button together for about 5-7 seconds.  The screen will go black, indicating that the iPhone has been turned off.  Release both buttons, and press the lock button again for about 2 seconds to turn it back on.  Your iPhone should reboot normally.

Starting today for Android, and coming soon for iOS, the Dropbox mobile apps can automatically upload your photos and videos to Dropbox using Wi-Fi or your data plan. They’re all uploaded at original size and full quality, and saved to a private folder in your Dropbox called Camera Uploads where they’re ready to view or share. Here’s a shot of the Android app in action:

Upcoming updates to their PC/Mac apps will also add the ability to automatically grab and upload photos from a digital camera memory card.

Googlighting is what happens when the world’s largest advertising business tries to sell productivity software on the side. In fact, according to Gartner, Google Apps accounts for merely 0.5% of the ad company’s revenue after five years of Googlighting. Meanwhile, Microsoft enjoys its trustworthy reputation in the cloud; with 40% of companies from the Interbrand list of top 100 brands.

Then there’s this incredibly cheesy, yet pretty enjoyable, video from Microsoft (hosted on Google’s YouTube, of course):

These are the latest shots in an ongoing campaign by Microsoft to separate itself from Google in the minds of small and medium-sized businesses.  They don’t want anyone comparing Google Apps with Office, but Google has succeeded in sparking that conversation and getting some traction in the market because of it.

Based on our real-world experience over the years, there really is no comparison.

When Google Apps launched, it was a promising alternative to the Exchange/Outlook/Office empire.  Google was viewed as the plucky upstart David to Microsoft’s hulking incumbent Goliath.  It was exciting and attractive because it was new, accessible, and, best of all, absolutely free.

Since then, most of that luster has been lost for businesses who absolutely have to have a reliable email and productivity solution.  Google continued to push half-baked features and updates out the door, causing bizarre bugs that wasted valuable time for IT departments as well as end-users.  To make matters worse, when there’s a problem, there’s no one to call.  Google never provided phone support, even for the paid “Business” version, until just a few months ago.

Let me rephrase that: it took Google five years to provide basic phone support for a service that they’ve been 1) charging end-users for every month on the front-end, and 2) double-dipping on by selling advertising against the content of their users’ emails.

It seems obvious now: you’re not the customer, you’re the product.  Advertisers are Google’s customers.  If you need support for a Google product you’re using, you’re on your own.  But if you’re an advertiser, you can quickly get your problem solved by a staff of courteous, professional Googlers.

By using Google Apps, you’re agreeing to let Google comb through your emails and other data and sell advertising against whatever they find.  Send an email about an upcoming fishing trip, and you might see an ad for Orvis when you open your friend’s reply.

You may be OK with this, but when your business absolutely depends on email to get things done, can you afford to be viewed by your email provider as the product being sold, and not the customer?

I’m happy to see Microsoft finally fighting back, even though they took their sweet time.  I could be described as an “Apple guy”, but I won’t hesitate to say that Office365 is an outstanding product with numerous features and benefits:

• Excellent phone support, available 24/7
• 99.9% uptime guarantee
• Automatic backup and redundancy for all of your data
• Seamless, automatic email, contacts, and calendar syncing to desktops, laptops, smartphones, and iPads
• Works with Macs out of the box (Outlook not required)
• Web conferencing with live online presentations
• Group communication with Lync instant messaging
• Web-based clients that allow you to access all your data from any internet connected computer in the world
• Complete integration with Office 2007 and Office 2010
• Flexible, affordable pricing starting at $5 per user per month

Of all the things keeping us busy these days, we’ve been busiest with setting up new and existing clients with Office365.  Please feel free to drop us a line if you’re interested in learning more.