I’m enjoying my iPad 2 very much and can’t really justify an upgrade to an iPad 3 so soon, but I have to admit that the prospect of having a retina display on my iPad is extremely tempting. That feature alone may be enough to prompt me to take the leap to the newest iPad. One thing is for sure — the next iPad tablets will just get better and better, especially with competitors trying to compete with Apple and take a bite out of the tablet pie and increase marketshare. Is the iPad 3 enticing you?

It’s that time of year — well, yes, it’s almost Christmas, but it’s that OTHER time of year… the time of year when it’s cold, snowy (depending on where you live), and germs run rampant as adults and kids alike have the sniffles. Personally, I’ve dealt with at least two colds and a bout of the flu. It seems like just when I was getting over one contagion, another would come along and smack me upside the head. This, of course, got me thinking very carefully about how to better protect myself from germs and further illness. In addition to doorknobs, restrooms, computer keyboards, etc., there’s the obvious culprit that most of us use frequently in our daily lives — our touch iOS devices!

I use my iPhone 4 constantly and my iPad 2 almost constantly, with plenty of tapping and swiping. I have protective screen covers on both, but the fingerprints and smudges are clear evidence of the constant touching those devices receive on a daily basis. How many germs are we transferring from other places and people onto the touch screens of our iOS devices each day? If you’re like me, you handle your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch without a second thought about the possibility that your touch screen is a Petri dish full of nasty critters.

What’s the solution for reducing the germs on our touch devices? There are numerous cleaning products out there marketed directly at touch device owners, and I won’t go into a discussion on the many products out there, but if we all simply apply a little common sense, we can greatly reduce the germs and risk of infection and illness. We should all wash our hands often with soap and water, use hand sanitizer when available, avoid touching our faces with our hands, and it’s a good idea to *carefully* clean and disinfect our iPad, iPod touch, and iPhone touch screens on a regular and frequent basis. You might simply apply some disinfectant to a microfiber cloth and carefully wipe away the smudges, fingerprints and germs from your iOS devices.

Speak up if you have additional ideas on keeping your iOS devices clean and germ-free!

“Being the richest man in the cemetary doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful — that’s what matters to me.”

“We don’t stand a chance of advertising with features and benefits and with RAMs and with charts and comparisons.  The only chance we have of communicating is with a feeling.”

“We’re gambling on our vision, and we would rather do that than make “me, too” products.  Let some other companies do that.  For us, it’s always the next dream.”

Apple is airing a new commercial toting the wonders of Siri on an iPhone 4S, helping Santa and his sleigh of eight tiny reindeer deliver presents to all good girls and boys. Both clever and fun, the commercial brings a smile to the face and, instead of visions of sugarplums dancing in our heads, perhaps we can better imagine and dream of new iPhones and iPads showing up in our stocking or under the tree. Here’s hoping!

According to an Apple press release today, Apple’s App Store has now over 500,000 apps and customers have downloaded over 18 billion (yep, billion with a “B”) apps to their iOS-powered iPads, iPhones, and iPod touches. Apps are currently being downloaded at a rate of 1 billion per month.

Having been a smartphone user for many years now, it’s simply incredible to me to see how Apple has revolutionized the mobile app market. The sheer numbers of apps available and the number being downloaded is mind-boggling. Clearly, if you are submitting a new app to the App Store, it will be a tremendous challenge to get noticed. Even if you have an app of the likes that no one has seen before, it will take some marketing savvy above and beyond the basic submission to the App Store to get your app noticed by the teeming iOS-using masses out there.

Are there any app developers out there with a thought or two about the current state of app development and marketing?

[Apple Press Info, photo from Tech Ticker]

Finally! We have all waited these many long months (for some features, even years) for iOS 5 to go public, and now the time has come. If you’re the proud owner of an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, you can now upgrade to iOS 5 and enjoy over 200 new features for your iOS device. There are step-by-step posts aplenty across the width and breadth of the internet, but to keep it uber-simple, just remember to first back up your device in iTunes first, then check for updates in iTunes and iOS 5 should be available for downloading and updating. Also, be sure you have the most recent iTunes update.

What does iOS 5 bring to the table? It’s an epic update — iCloud integration, iMessage, Notification Center, Reminders, Twitter integration, AirPlay Mirroring, and much, much more. Plug in your iOS device, dig in and enjoy!

Even when death must have looked certain and his time on this earth was quickly coming to an end, visionary Steve Jobs was hard at work planning the future of Apple. For more than a year, Steve worked on future iterations of the iPod, iPad, iPhone and MacBooks, with blueprints in place to fill a product pipeline for conceivably the next four years. Also, Jobs managed to get plans approved for a futuristic company headquarters in a park-like setting in Cupertino that will house 12,000 employees. A touching aspect to this land acquisition for the new headquarters is the fact that Steve had a part-time job for Hewlett Packard on the same site when he was 13 years old and he made sure that Apple bought the land as soon as it was available.

Few people in human history have impacted the lives of so many — dare I say the entire human family — and arguably Steve Jobs is one of these people. He was a pioneer in making personal computers accessible to everyday people and he did it with such enthusiasm, showmanship, and genuine delight that it was nigh impossible to refrain from opening one’s wallet. He envisioned two decades ago that the future of computing and media consumption would be portable, and not just by way of laptop computers — enter iPod, iPhone, iPad, and iCloud. Steve Jobs brought his amazing products into our lives, thus changing forever how we conduct business, social, and entertainment activities. Now, we can look forward to potentially 4 more years of products with his personal touch — thank you, Steve, for an amazing legacy that will continue to delight us for years to come.

[graphic: Jonathan Mak]

Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.

A few weeks ago we [The Mrs and I] bought an AT&T iPad 2, a white one at that, with WIFI and 3G. As light weight as the device is, I didn’t want to add too much more weight to it. So during our purchase process, we decided to buy a Smart Cover, too. A grey one; to me it would suit the white iPad 2 better.

I did a bit of research with various websites, and the likes, and decided to get a skin for the back. But, of course the question now was, which company, and which skin to get.

Well, GelaSkins seems to be one of the leaders in the ‘skinning’ business, and we decided to get a customer wallpaper skin. The cost of a skin is $29.95, plus $7.95 for 5-7 day UPS shipping. Bear in mind this cost is for the skin for the front of the iPad 2, and the back.

…read on

This is the skin we chose for our iPad 2. My wife is a serious beach lover, and simply  dreams of days sitting on the beach, and playing in the sand

If you look closely, you will notice the skin has all the cutouts for the camera, speaker,  corners, volume rocker, charging port and mute\rotation button. They all fit seamlessly.

(the lighting where I took the photos wasn’t the best, hence the image may look a little ‘  pink\purple’)

Before I go any further, let me explain how to put the skin on. Firstly, let me stress this, my wife, Christie, actually put it on. It took only two attempts, and less than 10 minutes. Rather impressive, no? We’ve all been there, trying to install Invisible Shield products and the likes. I swear those are hard to do, and take forever to get right. Anyway, the first thing she did was peel the skin off its protective paper, and lined the camera cutout and the top part of the iPad 2. After doing so, she used a cleaning cloth [not provided with the skin] to smooth out the skin, making sure there were no bubbles, and that everything aligned well. Yes, rather impressive once finished.

Here is the front of the device, but, I neglected to have skin for the front of the iPad  2 installed.

I know, you’re wondering why. Well, if you look at the image, you’ll notice that the current wallpaper matches the skin on the back of the device. GelaSkins developed a brilliant product, and even supplied their customers with the respective wallpaper to match their choice of skin.

But, I know me, I change gadgets, email address, mobiles, wallpapers, etc. often

So, it would be pointless to install the front skin which matches the wallpaper, because once I’d change the wallpaper it would look odd, no? In addition to the fact that I have an Invisible Shield on the screen [it was installed by Best Buy - Geek Squad]

Do you have a skin on your iPad?

Do you have a Smart Cover on your iPad?

What is your form of protection for your iPad or iPad 2?