Bluetooth vs. Airplay Speakers

It's better to choose Bluetooth speakers over Airplay speakers, to stream audio wirelessly from an iDevice, according to this article.

Nomad Paintbrush

A handmade conductive paint brush for the iPad.

It's only a matter of time before the cheap, mass-produced knock-offs arrive.

PadPivot Stand for iPad (Kickstarter Project)

Jim Young, a Seattle designer, has started a Kickstarter Project looking for funding to build the PadPivot, an iPad stand that works both on your lap and on a desk.

It looks interesting, but I'm not too keen on gluing something to the back of my iPad.

Clamcase

The Clamcase is a removable keyboard/case/stand for your iPad.

It is normally priced at $119, but is on sale for $99.

I will wait for the reviews.

The Register Reviews iPad Slipcases, Skins and Folio Cases

The Register reviews 46 iPad cases including slipcases, skins and folios from 17 different manufacturers.

My personal preference is for a soft skin (like the iSkin Duo made by iSkin, which is conspicuously absent from the review) that lets the design of the iPad show-through. I find the Apple Folio (it always reminds me of the Gestapo officer's folio in The Great Escape; it's memorable because he had a rather quirky way of closing it using a one-handed motion) case rather craptacular in aesthetics but I cannot deny its practicality. It is the most popular case in my iPad sightings; I have never seen a bare iPad nor any other case so far.

I currently don't use a case (as evidenced by the scratches on the rear of the iPad) and I carry it in my messenger bag wrapped in a cloth place-mat inside a large padded manila envelope (in which Apple shipped me the 3G micro-SIM).

Photo to come.

"The Register" Review of Philips DS8550 iPad Speaker/dock

The Register reviews the Philips Fidelio DS8550 wireless iPad speaker/dock with AirPlay support and gives it high marks.

(It can be used with an iPhone and iPod Touch too.)

Apple Store Black Friday Sale

Don't forget to check out the sale today (Nov 26) only!

I am tempted to get the Airport Express (note, Canadian store link) and the camera connection kit.

You can wirelessly stream music from the iPad to speakers connected to the Express.

Bluetooth Camera for the iPad?

I was reading a post by Tim Bray comparing the iPad to the Samsung Tab where he mentioned the prohibitive size of the iPad for use as a camera and it occurred to me that it would be cool if there was a Bluetooth camera that would allow you to keep the iPad in your bag while performing the photography with a compact device. Or evan an iPod Nano with a camera that streamed the photos/video to the iPad.

Then I read a /. post that mentions a NY Times article about body sensors that transmit data to the iPhone via Bluetooth, implying that the iOS stack has been augmented to support more than just audio for headsets and keyboards.

iPad Stands

Of all the iPad stands I have seen so far, the business-card holder is my favourite. It is compact, elegant and simple to use.

There are several stand designs that look like miniature artist easels and look too complicated. The Griffin Loop Stand is not compact and elegant. The Belkin Flip Blade is a bit more interesting because it's compact and elegant but it looks like it has some moving parts.

There are several LEGO stands that have been made, but none of them meet my criteria.

I was thinking of designing a stand similar to the business-card holder (which Business Depot in Canada doesn't seem to carry) but made of a single block of wood.

Update: I just found out about the Glif, an iPhone4 stand which can also be used to mount the phone on a tripod.

Update 2: I found instructions for a wooden iPad stand made from a single block of wood, which my brother built for me.

Moleskine Covers

Moleskine announced covers for both the iPad and the iPhone:

Both Covers are combined with blank notebook pages. They are conceived as analog-digital ultra-portable workstations for the contemporary nomads.

 My Moleskine notebook, which is a few years old now, is used mostly  for jotting down random thoughts, noting books-to-read and for sketching. I also keep track of the weather for each day and what I wore that on that day, so that on a future day with the same weather, I can choose the appropriate number of layers that worked in the past.

I also have a watercolour-paper Moleskine, which has some paintings, but has been neglected for about a year.