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G-Technology G-Drive mobile: Rugged, pocket-sized, and fast

  By Steven Sande | May 18, 2012 - 9:30 pm | Uncategorized
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The march of technology amazes me. Yeah, I'm an old guy, but it still surprises me when I realize that the amount of storage that used to fill a data center can now fit in my pocket. G-Technology's G-Drive mobile (made by Hitachi, US$199.99 MSRP for 1 TB) is the perfect example of mass storage in a small, silent box. Read on for a review of this mobile companion and a chance to win one!

Design

There's not much too say in terms of the design of the G-Drive mobile -- it's a slim metallic box 5 inches long, a little over 3 inches wide, and about 3/4 of an inch high. There's no power port; the G-Drive is bus-powered by either FireWire (400/800) or USB 2.0. The device comes with cables for each connection. A single white LED on the front of the drive indicates when it is powered up and in use.

On the inside, there's a 5400 RPM 1 TB drive with an 8 MB cache. For speed, I'd much rather see a 7200 RPM drive, but that would most likely drive up both the cost and power requirements of the drive. However, as you'll see with the benchmarks, this is still a pretty fast drive despite the slower rotation speed of the disk.

The G-Drive mobile also comes in 500 MB ($149.99 MSRP) and 750 MB ($159.99) versions, although I'm at a loss why someone wouldn't want to double their capacity for just fifty bucks more. I found the drive to run a bit hot -- I had placed my iPhone on top of the drive at one point, and when I answered a call I wondered why the phone was so hot...

As with other drives of this ilk, the G-Drive mobile is almost completely silent.

Benchmarks

TUAW uses a standard industry benchmark to compare the I/O capabilities of disks and arrays. The benchmark uses the AJA System Test, which simulates reading and writing video. The specific test I used was the Disk Read/Write test, also known as the DiskWhackTest, set at a video frame size of 720 x 486 8-bit and a file size of 128 MB.

The drive read speeds were surprisingly fast in our benchmarks, matching almost every FireWire drive that we've tested (only one is shown below for space considerations). When it came to USB 2.0 read speeds, the G-Drive mobile was slightly faster than the competition across the board. Write speeds were slower for the G-Drive when connected via FireWire 800, while almost identical to other drives with a USB 2.0 connection.

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Conclusion and Giveaway

If you're the owner of a MacBook Pro and have an available FireWire 800 port, or have a FireWire-equipped desktop Mac you'd like to back up while keeping a lot of available desk space, then the G-Drive mobile will fill your requirements. Those who only have USB 2.0 ports on their Macs should spend their money on less expensive USB-only drives that offer read/write speeds in the same range as the G-Drive mobile.

Thanks to G-Technology and TUAW, you now have a chance to win one of these sweet little drives. Just fill out the entry form below (only one entry per person, please) and we'll pick a random winner next week. Here are the rules for the giveaway:

  • Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older.
  • To enter, fill out the form below completely and click or tap the Submit button.
  • The entry must be made before May 20, 2012 11:59PM Eastern Daylight Time.
  • You may enter only once.
  • One winner will be selected and will receive a G-Technology G-Drive mobile valued at $199.99.
  • Click Here for complete Official Rules.

G-Technology G-Drive mobile: Rugged, pocket-sized, and fast originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 18 May 2012 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Daily iPad App: Feed Me Oil HD

  By Mike Schramm | May 17, 2012 - 10:00 pm | iOS, iPad
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Chillingo's Feed Me Oil was released a little while ago, and it's a solid game that didn't get a ton of press when it first dropped. The reason for that is probably because it's somewhat similar to Where's My Water, in that you're trying to get a fluid simulation into a certain place on the screen by tweaking physics-enabled objects in the world. But while Where's My Water was all about digging, Feed Me Oil is much more about creation -- you place objects like platforms and wheels in the world to try and get the "black gold" flowing where you need it to go.

Like pretty much all of Chillingo's other titles, there is lots of content here to play through: Lots of levels and puzzles with an increasing number of objects to use and move around to your heart's content. And while the game is on the iPhone as well, it's much better on the iPad -- the graphics are bigger and the objects are easier to manipulate in the game's space. Feed Me Oil is an excellent game, and especially because it's on sale today for completely free. Check it out.

Daily iPad App: Feed Me Oil HD originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 17 May 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Daily iPad App: Feed Me Oil HD

  By Mike Schramm | May 17, 2012 - 10:00 pm | iOS, iPad
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Image

Chillingo's Feed Me Oil was released a little while ago, and it's a solid game that didn't get a ton of press when it first dropped. The reason for that is probably because it's somewhat similar to Where's My Water, in that you're trying to get a fluid simulation into a certain place on the screen by tweaking physics-enabled objects in the world. But while Where's My Water was all about digging, Feed Me Oil is much more about creation -- you place objects like platforms and wheels in the world to try and get the "black gold" flowing where you need it to go.

Like pretty much all of Chillingo's other titles, there is lots of content here to play through: Lots of levels and puzzles with an increasing number of objects to use and move around to your heart's content. And while the game is on the iPhone as well, it's much better on the iPad -- the graphics are bigger and the objects are easier to manipulate in the game's space. Feed Me Oil is an excellent game, and especially because it's on sale today for completely free. Check it out.

Daily iPad App: Feed Me Oil HD originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 17 May 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Daily iPhone App: Amoebattle does RTS right

  By Mike Schramm | May 17, 2012 - 7:00 pm | iOS, iPad, iPhone
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Most takes on real-time strategy for the App Store have to corrupt the form in some way, yet some still turn out well (see Total War Battles for a a great RTS game that takes a different turn). But Amoebattle impressively does RTS as you expect it. You choose units, send them around exploring, and tap to attack or move through the fog of war in real-time.

There are nine different unit types to be discovered during the campaign, and each has its own attributes and abilities. The graphics are cute and colorful, but the tactics are hard to master -- especially near the end, when the game has no shortage of challenges to overcome.

Amoebattle is an excellent RTS title for Apple's touchscreen devices, something that a lot of RTS fans have dreamed about ever since the iPad was first announced. It's not perfect, but it doesn't skimp from RTS traditions, even on a mobile device, and it holds up to them well. The game is US$4.99, in a universal version, on the App Store now.

Daily iPhone App: Amoebattle does RTS right originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 17 May 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Daily iPhone App: Amoebattle does RTS right

  By Mike Schramm | May 17, 2012 - 7:00 pm | iOS, iPad, iPhone
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Most takes on real-time strategy for the App Store have to corrupt the form in some way, yet some still turn out well (see Total War Battles for a a great RTS game that takes a different turn). But Amoebattle impressively does RTS as you expect it. You choose units, send them around exploring, and tap to attack or move through the fog of war in real-time.

There are nine different unit types to be discovered during the campaign, and each has its own attributes and abilities. The graphics are cute and colorful, but the tactics are hard to master -- especially near the end, when the game has no shortage of challenges to overcome.

Amoebattle is an excellent RTS title for Apple's touchscreen devices, something that a lot of RTS fans have dreamed about ever since the iPad was first announced. It's not perfect, but it doesn't skimp from RTS traditions, even on a mobile device, and it holds up to them well. The game is US$4.99, in a universal version, on the App Store now.

Daily iPhone App: Amoebattle does RTS right originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 17 May 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hello iPhoto for iPad & iPhone is an amazing new way to learn

  By Steven Sande | May 16, 2012 - 9:00 pm | Uncategorized
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If there's one thing about iPhoto for iPad and iPhone that I've never been too happy with, it's that the apps aren't exactly self-explanatory and Apple doesn't provide much in terms of an onboard guided tour. Long-time Apple developer and publisher Saied Ghaffari has just published a new iBook titled Hello iPhoto for iPad & iPhone (US$1.99) that provides a unique way of learning the tricks of iPhoto for your iOS device.

I had the opportunity to talk with Saied recently about the book, which was created in iBooks Author and has been featured by Apple in the iBookstore. He's no newcomer to the how-to book market, having created the popular "It's About Time: Learn the Switch to Mac" application that led a generation of switchers to the OS X platform. That app made it into special bundles with Parallels Desktop as well, providing a way for switchers to painlessly make the way between Windows and OS X.

Times change, and now Saied has embraced iBooks Author and created a helpful companion to the iOS version of iPhoto. Once purchased and downloaded to your iPad, the book appears on the shelf in iBooks. With a tap, it opens to a gorgeous photo of the Grand Canyon -- an image repeated on other chapter headings. In the lower left corner is a small thumbnail that opens a launch page when tapped.

Gallery: Hello iPhoto for iPad & iPhone

The launch page provides a portal to learning a bit about iPhoto and iTunes on your Mac, iPhoto on your iPad, or iPhoto on your iPhone. Tapping any one of the images on the launch page takes you right into that specific book chapter.

Going to the iPad chapter brings up three more images, any one of which can be triggered with a "tap to learn." The main topics are an Overview of iPhoto, Browsing & Sharing, and Editing. If I select Browsing & Sharing, for example, I see a more focused page with descriptions of two lessons -- one for Browsing, one for Sharing. With a tap on either description, I'm into the lesson. Once you're at this level, the document is readable in the usual "swipe to turn a page" manner.

This is where Saied's experience in computer-based training really shines. Through the placement of small "magnifying lenses" on the page, your eye is drawn to a feature of iPhoto that you're going to learn about. Saied then takes you through a succinct written description of the feature to accompany the images.

To be honest with you, I pretty much ignored iPhoto for iOS until I read Hello iPhoto. In the short amount of time that it took for me to go through the book, I was able to pick up a lot of hints and tips about iPhoto for iOS that I wasn't previously aware of. I feel that the $2 price tag of the book is a perfect price point for Hello iPhoto, as it definitely provided much more value in terms of a learning experience.

If you have purchased iPhoto for iOS, but still find yourself not using the app all that much, you owe it to yourself to buy Hello iPhoto. It will get you up to speed on iPhoto in no time at all.

Hello iPhoto for iPad & iPhone is an amazing new way to learn originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 16 May 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Logitech’s Ultrathin Keyboard Cover: The best iPad keyboard case yet

  By Steven Sande | May 15, 2012 - 9:00 pm | iPad
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Logitech's Ultrathin Keyboard Cover (US$99) has been out for a while, but TUAW didn't receive a review device until last week. After a weekend of happily pounding on the keyboard and giving this shiny new product a workout, I'm pleased to say that it's the best iPad keyboard case I've reviewed so far.

Design

Logitech appears to have started with a clean sheet of paper when they came up with the design for the Ultrathin Keyboard Cover. While the rest of the teeming mass of accessory manufacturers have pretty much all chosen to take a folio case and throw a keyboard -- removable in some cases -- into it, Logitech took the unique idea of making the keyboard the case cover.

The thin (.31 inch) and light (11.6 ounce) keyboard has a Smart Cover-like hinged magnet on one side. Drag that magnet against the left side of an iPad and it snaps into place. The Ultrathin also has magnets on the right side to turn the iPad 2 or third-generation iPad on or off.

Gallery: Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover

The back of the Ultrathin is made with aluminum that matches the material of the iPad. If you'd like to customize your Ultrathin, Logitech provides free laser engraving if you order the keyboard from its online store.

When the keyboard cover and iPad are mated together, they form a nice curvy aluminum shell about .68 inch thick. That just so happens to match the maximum thickness of a MacBook Air. The combined weight of the Ultrathin and third-generation iPad is 2.185 lb., .2 lb. (3.2 oz.) less than that of an 11" MacBook Air.

The right side of the keyboard has a small Bluetooth button (used for re-pairing the device), an on-off switch, and a micro-USB port for recharging the battery. The port isn't going to get much use, since Logitech manages to squeeze six months of battery life out of the keyboard based on two hours of use each day.

Once the keyboard is flat on your desk, you see a white angled slot above the top of the keys. That slot is where your iPad fits in, either in landscape or portrait orientation. If the iPad is placed in that slot with the left side down, magnets hold the iPad in securely. That keeps the iPad from sliding out if you're holding it on an uneven surface like a lap.

The keyboard is almost identical in terms of key placement to the Apple Wireless Keyboard, which is my personal standard by which all other keyboards are measured. The only exception is the number (top) row of keys, which serves not only to provide the standard numbers and characters but also performs a variety of functions when used in conjunction with the fn key.

Those functions include home, search, virtual keyboard enable/disable, select, cut, copy, paste, and volume controls. The bottom row of the keyboard is a bit taller than the others, making the space bar almost identical in size to that on the Apple keyboard.

Functionality

When it comes to Bluetooth keyboard functionality, there's really only one thing that I'm interested in -- the feel of the keyboard. If it has a good feel, good positive feedback, and the keys are spaced properly, I can type quickly. That's the case with the Ultrathin.

With most other keyboard folios and standalone keyboards for iPad, the spacing and placement of the keys is all wrong. Since typing is mainly all muscle memory at work, those other keyboard really throw off my typing until I have used them for a while. I had no such issues with the Ultrathin; it felt so much like my Apple Wireless Keyboard that I was able to type at full speed almost immediately. Kudos to the engineers at Logitech for creating a keyboard with such a perfect touch.

As a protective device, the Ultrathin Keyboard Cover provides just as much care for the screen on your second- or third-generation iPad as the Smart Cover; possibly more. If you would like for the back of your iPad to be protected as well, you won't be happy. I tried using one of the many lightweight iPad shells to protect the back and found that it made the iPad too thick to use with the Ultrathin. You might be able to squeak by with a film cover like those made by Zagg. However, there's one thing missing, and that's the ability to prop the iPad up in several configurations. I wasn't used to using my iPad in a "standup" mode similar to that of a laptop screen, but fortunately it didn't take long for it to me to get used to that configuration.

Of course, the angle at which your iPad is standing cannot be changed; it's fixed to the angle of the slot on the keyboard. I found myself occasionally grabbing the iPad to change the angle, as if it was the screen on my MacBook Air. If you can stand a little more thickness and weight, you might want to look at Logitech's Solar Keyboard Folio ($129.99). It's adjustable to a variety of angles and never needs to be plugged in.

Researching some other reviews of the Ultrathin showed that some bloggers have seen issues where a key will stick and/or repeat when the iPad is pumping out a lot of Wi-Fi traffic. This never happened to me personally, but it's worth reporting as a possible issue.

We've had the debate about iPad + Keyboard versus MacBook Air quite a few times here at TUAW so I won't repeat it. For some of my work, I still require Mac OS X and the MacBook Air as there just isn't a viable solution on the iPad. However, the introduction of high-quality, lightweight keyboards like the Ultrathin is rapidly decreasing the number of situations where I need a full laptop. If the TUAW content management system provided a way for me to upload images from an iPad, I'd seriously consider using the iPad and Ultrathin Keyboard Cover as my "laptop".

Speaking of TUAW, blogger Richard Gaywood mentioned that he uses the UK version of the Ultrathin -- "Can I add a small point to your review? Mine came with a UK keyboard layout -- a £ sign on shift-3, and (more importantly), a double-height (as opposed to double width) return key. This is really great for people used to UK keyboards, and it wasn't at all obvious from Logitech.com that that would be what I got -- all the press pics are a US keyboard layout. Many no-name iPad keyboards only offer US layouts so that was a welcome surprise"

Conclusion

The ultimate convergence of laptop and tablet might not be here yet, but products like the Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover are making it easier to blur the lines every day. Combining the protection of Apple's Smart Cover and the typing ease of the Apple Wireless Keyboard into a wafer-thin cover is a great idea, and Logitech's execution of the concept is essentially perfect. Without a doubt, this is the best iPad Bluetooth keyboard on the market at this time.

Logitech's Ultrathin Keyboard Cover: The best iPad keyboard case yet originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 15 May 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Due for Mac now available with cloud sync, much more

  By Dave Caolo | May 15, 2012 - 5:10 pm | Uncategorized
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ImageWe've been using Due for iOS for quite a while now (our review) It's exciting that there's finally a Mac version of Due available. It's just as useful as its mobile counterpart an offers wireless sync, rapid reminder creation and great looks. Plus, it's still a nag, which is exactly what I need. Here's a look at Due for Mac.

UI

Due for Mac is quite good-looking, as you'd expect. The main window is small and unobtrusive by default, though you can resize it. Four icons line the top of the main window: view reminders, view timers, view logged reminders and create a new reminder. The pinstriped window is tidy and resembles Due for iPhone. When you create a new reminder or edit a timer, a pop-up window appears which also looks very nice.

Use

Creating a reminder is simple. Click the new reminder button (or hit Command-N) to open the creation window. You can use natural language here, which is great. "April 10" works as well as "tomorrow" or "in four days." Also, "10:00 AM" works as well as "10am."

Also, you needn't tab into each field. You can simply type "Pick up mail at 2pm tomorrow" and everything will be filled in properly. The reminder is set as soon as you finish typing, so there's no "confirm" button to click.

ImageKeyboard support is extensive. You can create reminders, hide the app, pull it up front again, reschedule things, mark them as done and so on without touching a mouse.

The snooze feature that I like on my iPhone has made it to Due for Mac. When a reminder's due date passes without being marked as done, the app will repeatedly remind you that it's still outstanding.

Of course, the cool new feature is cloud sync between Due for Mac and iOS. All of your reminders and timers can be synchronized via iCloud or Dropbox. In my testing, this works flawlessly. Reminders created on either device showed up on the other almost instantly. Also, marking a reminder as completed did the same thing. It's really nice to create errand-based tasks on my Mac and have them ready to go on my iPhone when I leave the house.

Finally, the customizable alert sounds are pretty cool. You can assign a longer or louder alert to an especially important task. That's also useful if you know you're going to be in a noisy setting when the reminder will sound.

Conclusion

At US$9.99 it's not a throw-away app. I think it's worth it for the cloud sync alone. Due for iOS has kept me on track many times, and now I'm glad to have my Mac in on the fun. I recommend checking it out.

Due for Mac now available with cloud sync, much more originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 15 May 2012 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Daily iPhone App: This Could Hurt dodges danger with ease

  By Mike Schramm | May 15, 2012 - 12:00 am | iOS, iPhone
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I first saw Chillingo's latest title, This Could Hurt, at GDC earlier this year, and back then I didn't really get into it. It's a one-button title that I thought looked a little too simple. But after giving it a longer try post-release, there's actually a lot of surprising depth here. Yes, there's only one control (touch on the screen to make your character stand still), but developers Orange Agenda do an impressive job of wringing a whole lot of gameplay out of just that one mechanic.

As your character runs along, he'll come across lots of strange contraptions designed to hurt him, and the goal of the game is to time your stopping just right so that he isn't harmed by whatever dangers await him. There are powerups in the game, but they mostly just involve moving slower or faster, so really, the game is just a list of ways to test your timing skills. And that list is surprisingly long. There are forty levels in the game, and each one of them puts a new spin on ways to try and avoid getting hurt.

This Could Hurt does a whole lot with very little, and on the App Store, that's always impressive. It's available for 99 cents right now.

Daily iPhone App: This Could Hurt dodges danger with ease originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 14 May 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Daily iPhone App: This Could Hurt dodges danger with ease

  By Mike Schramm | May 15, 2012 - 12:00 am | iOS, iPhone
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I first saw Chillingo's latest title, This Could Hurt, at GDC earlier this year, and back then I didn't really get into it. It's a one-button title that I thought looked a little too simple. But after giving it a longer try post-release, there's actually a lot of surprising depth here. Yes, there's only one control (touch on the screen to make your character stand still), but developers Orange Agenda do an impressive job of wringing a whole lot of gameplay out of just that one mechanic.

As your character runs along, he'll come across lots of strange contraptions designed to hurt him, and the goal of the game is to time your stopping just right so that he isn't harmed by whatever dangers await him. There are powerups in the game, but they mostly just involve moving slower or faster, so really, the game is just a list of ways to test your timing skills. And that list is surprisingly long. There are forty levels in the game, and each one of them puts a new spin on ways to try and avoid getting hurt.

This Could Hurt does a whole lot with very little, and on the App Store, that's always impressive. It's available for 99 cents right now.

Daily iPhone App: This Could Hurt dodges danger with ease originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 14 May 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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