Why I'm deeply in love with my iPad

Last week I traveled to the west coast visiting some customers and partners of ours.

My bad luck came to hunt me from the very first moment; arriving to the airport, I noticed an unusual line of people, indicating it was going to be a long one… after 40 minutes I was still standing in line for the check-in. You know how it goes when you stand in your line and everyone else seem to be progressing faster than you while you fight this uncontrolled urge to switch lines, knowing that the minute you switch – that would be the minute when your original line will magically start progressing faster…

Anyways, things got even worse when I discovered my company's agent forgot to book me a sit, which means I didn't have an aisle sit for a 12 hours flight!

"I'm tall!" I tried fighting the inevitable, "I have long organs! Especially in my lower body!"…

It didn't help.

Flight started as usual, but then the entire entertainment system went dead…

It's one thing to have a dead engine, but no movies during a 12 hours (day) flight when you sit between 2 relatively big people? How bad can it get?

But then my iPad came to the rescue, reminding me why I was so excited about this magnificent gadget when I just bought it a year ago:

Without any movie to watch, I managed to utilize most of the iPad goodness to pass the time: reading RSS feeds (in offline), playing different soccer games (management, KONAMI, and a different kind of soccer only iPad can propose), reading comics, going over some work 'todo's', presentations and excel files, playing some tower defense games, and more games, playing music on different instruments, and some more work using OmniOutliner which turned out to be the best iPad productivity app I've ever used.

Yes, the iPad games are not as addicting as computer games we used to play when we were young (or maybe it's me getting old…), and the touch-based controls are not as convenient as game-pads. Yes, using excel (Apple Numbers) is still very hard for me so even for productivity the tablet is not perfect yet.

But for working for hours, comfortably even in the middle sit of the plane, and doing so many different tasks in parallel – it's very close to being perfect.

Yep.

The iPad saved me well that day and in fact, during the entire travel. I used it in many occasions, both work and pleasure, and all that time – I was not disappointed.

Perfect portability, endless apps list, tons of content, high usability and a battery that practically lasts forever. There's no wonder why Apple's iPad is holding over 80% of the tablets market share.

Technorati Tags: iPad,Tablets,iOS

2 comments | Read more...

Last week I traveled to the west coast visiting some customers and partners of ours.

My bad luck came to hunt me from the very first moment; arriving to the airport, I noticed an unusual line of people, indicating it was going to be a long one… after 40 minutes I was still standing in line for the check-in. You know how it goes when you stand in your line and everyone else seem to be progressing faster than you while you fight this uncontrolled urge to switch lines, knowing that the minute you switch – that would be the minute when your original line will magically start progressing faster…

Anyways, things got even worse when I discovered my company's agent forgot to book me a sit, which means I didn't have an aisle sit for a 12 hours flight!

"I'm tall!" I tried fighting the inevitable, "I have long organs! Especially in my lower body!"…

It didn't help.

Flight started as usual, but then the entire entertainment system went dead…

It's one thing to have a dead engine, but no movies during a 12 hours (day) flight when you sit between 2 relatively big people? How bad can it get?

But then my iPad came to the rescue, reminding me why I was so excited about this magnificent gadget when I just bought it a year ago:

Without any movie to watch, I managed to utilize most of the iPad goodness to pass the time: reading RSS feeds (in offline), playing different soccer games (management, KONAMI, and a different kind of soccer only iPad can propose), reading comics, going over some work 'todo's', presentations and excel files, playing some tower defense games, and more games, playing music on different instruments, and some more work using OmniOutliner which turned out to be the best iPad productivity app I've ever used.

Yes, the iPad games are not as addicting as computer games we used to play when we were young (or maybe it's me getting old…), and the touch-based controls are not as convenient as game-pads. Yes, using excel (Apple Numbers) is still very hard for me so even for productivity the tablet is not perfect yet.

But for working for hours, comfortably even in the middle sit of the plane, and doing so many different tasks in parallel – it's very close to being perfect.

Yep.

The iPad saved me well that day and in fact, during the entire travel. I used it in many occasions, both work and pleasure, and all that time – I was not disappointed.

Perfect portability, endless apps list, tons of content, high usability and a battery that practically lasts forever. There's no wonder why Apple's iPad is holding over 80% of the tablets market share.

Technorati Tags: iPad,Tablets,iOS

Mobile Spoon Recommends: OmniOutliner for iPad

You know how it is, you start a new email trying to summarize a meeting, some tasks, action items or anything that needs to be summed up in a clear, bullets-driven way.

Before you know it, you add some bullets, indent them as some of them to create a parent/child relations and sub-items hierarchy, and make some of them bold, as some of them are more of "comments" on top of the bullets. Sometimes the bullets-based summary is later transformed into a table, to allow a structure of bullets with multiple cells for comments, status, etc.

Well, if that scenario rings a bell – you're goanna love OmniOutliner for iPad.

OmniOutliner is designed for short, clean, straight forward notes. Arranged by bullets in a hierarchy, with comments, notes and ability to add columns.

I've downloaded OmniOutliner for iPad last night and so far I absolutely love the concept.

When turning the bullets based list into a table you can also choose from a veriaty of columns with checkboxes, selection lists, free text and dates – which means that you can easily turn your list into a powerful todo list which doesn't require too many typing and clicks to create a new "todo" item (all you need is to click on the "enter" button or "+" and you have a new entry in your list…).

 

I'm going to use OmniOutliner next week as I'm out on the road for some business meetings and will be able to tell if the structured concept of this app is indeed awesome as it seems from first impression or is it too limited. Meanwhile – here's a short video showing most of the capabilities in an impressive way:

OmniOutliner for iPad from The Omni Group on Vimeo.

Check out OmniOutliner on the iPad for $19.99 from iTunes.

Technorati Tags: iPad Application,App,Productivity

3 comments | Read more...

You know how it is, you start a new email trying to summarize a meeting, some tasks, action items or anything that needs to be summed up in a clear, bullets-driven way.

Before you know it, you add some bullets, indent them as some of them to create a parent/child relations and sub-items hierarchy, and make some of them bold, as some of them are more of "comments" on top of the bullets. Sometimes the bullets-based summary is later transformed into a table, to allow a structure of bullets with multiple cells for comments, status, etc.

Well, if that scenario rings a bell – you're goanna love OmniOutliner for iPad.

OmniOutliner is designed for short, clean, straight forward notes. Arranged by bullets in a hierarchy, with comments, notes and ability to add columns.

I've downloaded OmniOutliner for iPad last night and so far I absolutely love the concept.

When turning the bullets based list into a table you can also choose from a veriaty of columns with checkboxes, selection lists, free text and dates – which means that you can easily turn your list into a powerful todo list which doesn't require too many typing and clicks to create a new "todo" item (all you need is to click on the "enter" button or "+" and you have a new entry in your list…).

 

I'm going to use OmniOutliner next week as I'm out on the road for some business meetings and will be able to tell if the structured concept of this app is indeed awesome as it seems from first impression or is it too limited. Meanwhile – here's a short video showing most of the capabilities in an impressive way:

OmniOutliner for iPad from The Omni Group on Vimeo.

Check out OmniOutliner on the iPad for $19.99 from iTunes.

Technorati Tags: iPad Application,App,Productivity

Android vs. iOS, again, how good are those apps?

Whenever I argue with any of my geek friends (actually I don't think I have non-geek friends…) about iOS vs. Android (you know the usual scenario…) it always ends up with a childish dispute.

Every day there is something new that can be added to this endless dispute: "iOS5 steals Android's notification bar, Android activates 350,000 units daily while iOS activates "only" 250,000, iPhone alone makes more money than entire Google, Android is customizable, Cyanogen open source is actually making Android better than the original Android and iOS, there are more free apps for Android, iPad holds 82% of tablets market, there are better apps for iOS", you probably heard those arguments many times in the past.

Here is something new which can easily become an argument for claiming that iOS is better: App attrition on Android Market twice as high vs. App Store

Here's a quote:

"The analysis comes by way of app discovery service Appsfire, which found that of the 300,000 apps that have been published overall on Android Market, 95,000 or about 32 percent, have been pulled over time. Meanwhile, of the 500,000 apps that have appeared on Apple’s App Store, 80,000 or about 16 percent, have been unpublished at some point.

So why are apps less likely to stick around in Android Market? Appsfire said it’s likely because the apps there are more experimental and may be designed to give developers more experience, making them easier to pull. Android Market’s lower barrier to entry, along with tools like App Inventor, also invite more of these apps compared to the App Store, which has stricter guidelines, a review process and a $100 development fee."

App attrition is a small element in the global apps war between Google and Apple. In general it is another indicator that shows Android market has more "amateur" apps, the kinds that were built by a developer as a technology research less than a means of making money.

iOS AppStore is currently at around 450,000 apps. Android Market holds around 200,000 apps. That's a big difference although I doubt if there is something truly missing when you have 200,000 apps to choose from. Android is not likely to close the gaps soon which means that the argues will continue… sales numbers on one hand, apps quality (and quantity) on the other.

5 comments | Read more...

Whenever I argue with any of my geek friends (actually I don't think I have non-geek friends…) about iOS vs. Android (you know the usual scenario…) it always ends up with a childish dispute.

Every day there is something new that can be added to this endless dispute: "iOS5 steals Android's notification bar, Android activates 350,000 units daily while iOS activates "only" 250,000, iPhone alone makes more money than entire Google, Android is customizable, Cyanogen open source is actually making Android better than the original Android and iOS, there are more free apps for Android, iPad holds 82% of tablets market, there are better apps for iOS", you probably heard those arguments many times in the past.

Here is something new which can easily become an argument for claiming that iOS is better: App attrition on Android Market twice as high vs. App Store

Here's a quote:

"The analysis comes by way of app discovery service Appsfire, which found that of the 300,000 apps that have been published overall on Android Market, 95,000 or about 32 percent, have been pulled over time. Meanwhile, of the 500,000 apps that have appeared on Apple’s App Store, 80,000 or about 16 percent, have been unpublished at some point.

So why are apps less likely to stick around in Android Market? Appsfire said it’s likely because the apps there are more experimental and may be designed to give developers more experience, making them easier to pull. Android Market’s lower barrier to entry, along with tools like App Inventor, also invite more of these apps compared to the App Store, which has stricter guidelines, a review process and a $100 development fee."

App attrition is a small element in the global apps war between Google and Apple. In general it is another indicator that shows Android market has more "amateur" apps, the kinds that were built by a developer as a technology research less than a means of making money.

iOS AppStore is currently at around 450,000 apps. Android Market holds around 200,000 apps. That's a big difference although I doubt if there is something truly missing when you have 200,000 apps to choose from. Android is not likely to close the gaps soon which means that the argues will continue… sales numbers on one hand, apps quality (and quantity) on the other.

Html5 is killing Flash, now even with videos…

I'm a strong believer in Html5 and the change it will bring to mobility. Being able to develop true device agnostic applications for multiple mobile platforms is something that will change the current apps status.

Looking at how enterprise desktops applications evolved into being all web based, I'm sure Html5 and the offline capabilities it brings will make a similar impact to enterprise mobility solutions that will most likely switch from being native to becoming all web-based. 

Today I learned that not just business applications can benefit from Html5. We all heard about the media capabilities of Html5, but not much was mentioned about the quality of those capabilities. According to GigaOM.com – Html5 video outperforms Flash (when it comes to mobile devices). Nine mobile devices were tested and had no issues playing back 720p content via HTML 5, but less than half were able to do the same in Flash with a satisfying performance.

Flash? Silverlight? Java? Forget about them. They will probably not be significant players in mobile-web, which according to VisionMobile, grew more than Android and iOS in the last 12 months in terms of developers ecosystem. Think about it.

You can read more about the comparison made and how did Html5 videos performed in here.

Technorati Tags: Html5,Flash,Videos

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I'm a strong believer in Html5 and the change it will bring to mobility. Being able to develop true device agnostic applications for multiple mobile platforms is something that will change the current apps status.

Looking at how enterprise desktops applications evolved into being all web based, I'm sure Html5 and the offline capabilities it brings will make a similar impact to enterprise mobility solutions that will most likely switch from being native to becoming all web-based. 

Today I learned that not just business applications can benefit from Html5. We all heard about the media capabilities of Html5, but not much was mentioned about the quality of those capabilities. According to GigaOM.com – Html5 video outperforms Flash (when it comes to mobile devices). Nine mobile devices were tested and had no issues playing back 720p content via HTML 5, but less than half were able to do the same in Flash with a satisfying performance.

Flash? Silverlight? Java? Forget about them. They will probably not be significant players in mobile-web, which according to VisionMobile, grew more than Android and iOS in the last 12 months in terms of developers ecosystem. Think about it.

You can read more about the comparison made and how did Html5 videos performed in here.

Technorati Tags: Html5,Flash,Videos

Android continues to rage, Windows Phone barely exists…

WMPowerUser is one of my favorite blogs for years. The site is always up to date with latest Microsoft products, releases, apps, tweaks etc. It is currently focusing on Windows Phone and includes many useful resources for every WP7 fan.

Still, the site always tries to find positive signs in every piece of statistics from the mobile market (like in this article, talking about a turn around by WP7 although it is currently 2.8% of UK market) even when there is nothing optimistic about the numbers...

I don't agree with optimistic people in general, but this example (2.8% market share??? Are you joking me!?) is of course an extreme example where there is nothing to be optimistic about…

All I see in those UK sales numbers is Android, some more Android, and finally some additional Android. Android is a phenomena! Look at the numbers! All the others suck. Either they are falling or they have a funny number of 2.8%.

What's going on with WP7? Is it the name (Windows)? Is it the last minute timing? Is it Microsoft? 2.8% is the kind of numbers you expected from webOS after launch, Samsung Bada, or any other unknown mobile OS, not the numbers you would expect from a new cutting edge product by Microsoft!

The worst part of it is that Windows Phone is really a great product, but with such bad numbers - who knows how long will Microsoft continue and push it?

KIN was once a promise too you know…

Anyways, it's funny that IDC continues to maintain the forecast that by 2015 Windows Phone will overtake iPhone and BlackBerry:

1 comments | Read more...

WMPowerUser is one of my favorite blogs for years. The site is always up to date with latest Microsoft products, releases, apps, tweaks etc. It is currently focusing on Windows Phone and includes many useful resources for every WP7 fan.

Still, the site always tries to find positive signs in every piece of statistics from the mobile market (like in this article, talking about a turn around by WP7 although it is currently 2.8% of UK market) even when there is nothing optimistic about the numbers...

I don't agree with optimistic people in general, but this example (2.8% market share??? Are you joking me!?) is of course an extreme example where there is nothing to be optimistic about…

All I see in those UK sales numbers is Android, some more Android, and finally some additional Android. Android is a phenomena! Look at the numbers! All the others suck. Either they are falling or they have a funny number of 2.8%.

What's going on with WP7? Is it the name (Windows)? Is it the last minute timing? Is it Microsoft? 2.8% is the kind of numbers you expected from webOS after launch, Samsung Bada, or any other unknown mobile OS, not the numbers you would expect from a new cutting edge product by Microsoft!

The worst part of it is that Windows Phone is really a great product, but with such bad numbers - who knows how long will Microsoft continue and push it?

KIN was once a promise too you know…

Anyways, it's funny that IDC continues to maintain the forecast that by 2015 Windows Phone will overtake iPhone and BlackBerry:

iOS5 – A Lame Catch-Up Or A Final Blow To Competition?

So what do you think of iOS 5?

The cynical will say Apple is simply catching up with the competition (mainly Android and BlackBerry). On the other hand, who else has all of those new capabilities, on top of a superior user interface and over 80% of tablets market-share?

I'll help you with the answer: No one does except for Apple.

iOS version 5 does not innovate, but for tablets market it may mean a final blow to competition (that is, until something new comes in of course…).

The Mobile Spoon has collected the features that seem to be taken inelegantly from other platforms. You will be able to find Android and BlackBerry of course, but also Windows Phone, Windows Mobile (yeah! even that goofy thing!) and others:

Notifications Center (Source: Android):

Android Notifications Bar can now be found in iOS 5. Weird sentence, but If there is one thing Android does much better than iOS is handling notifications, alerts and different kind of popups which are all presented in this drop down curtain. iPhone was never great with notifications but now it has a very similar drop down curtain with all recent alerts and notifications.

 

Improved Lockscreen (Windows Mobile 6.5):

iOS new improved lockscreen mechanism was a must have change. Here, again, the idea was first introduced by another company – in this case: Microsoft. Windows Mobile 6.5. includes a similar mechanism for unlocking the device while at the same time jumping directly to the location of the on-screen notification (see image below). Apple took this idea and enhanced it. There is no other modern mobile OS that can do that these days (yes, I know I just mentioned Windows Mobile – but it's not modern…)

 

BTW, Jailbroken iPhone users are familiar with this concept which was available through Cydia for over few years now (using apps such as LockInfo for unlocked phones).

Gestures-based Multi-Tasking (Source: BlackBerry PlayBook):

When I just saw the new gestures I immediately thought to myself… hey, I've seen that before… the source of this one is the QNX multi-tasking style, which can be found in RIM's latest PlayBook tablet…

I'm actually very happy Apple stole this one: iPad's multi-tasking is horrible, I just hate this double click on the home button – it's slow, not fun to use, everything which is not Apple style. The gestures seem much more elegant, intuitive and fast.

Thumb Keyboard (Source: Motorola Xoom):

Another Android feature which can be found in the Xoom is now part of iOS for iPad. This one is a good feature, but again, not too original…

Camera Improvements (Source: Windows Phone 7):

Camera improvements may be required and important, but the biggest change is that you can now access the camera directly from your lockscreen (Just like… Microsoft WP7, isn't it?) or use the volume key to take a picture…

In Windows Phone 7, Microsoft demanded that the hardware vendors will include a hardware button to start the camera from any location. This is one of the coolest WP7 features (especially when you have tons of small kids you want to picture whenever you get excited about them doing something banal every kid does…). This feature doesn't mean it is that simple to take a video (for non-WinPho7 experts that is…) and now it's not only Wp7, it's iOS too.

Twitter Integration (Source: Microsoft Kin's Social "Spot"):

The ability to submit just about everything to Twitter reminds me of Microsoft's "Spot" which used to be part of the social networking features embedded in the known Kin phones (which were a huge failure eventually as you all know…). The "spot" allowed you to easily share content in twitter and facebook by dragging a special dot into the sharable area.

 

Reading List (Source: InstaPaper):

Reader/Reading List is a nice feature, however it's clearly the same as using InstaPaper.
Once again, Apple added a good capability, but without innovating too much.

Location Based Reminders:

Location based reminders – while this may sound as a great innovative idea – there are plenty of Android apps that are doing just that, and for quite a while now: location based alerts and reminders are great if you need your phone to notify you in case you are passing by location that relates to one of your tasks (or personal "Todo's"). I've personally experienced a few Android apps which will send you those kinds of notification if you just ask…

 

iMessages (Source: BlackBerry Messenger):

Last nail in RIM's coffin? This killer feature will probably make many iPhone users happy while creating a crisis between Apple and the cellular companies… Still, probably one of the most important new features in iOS 5.

 

OK, so just to wrap it up, a lot of new features – all of them can be found in such way or another in at least one leading mobile operating system which is not iOS.

Technorati Tags: iPhone,iPad,iOS5,iOS 5,Apple,Mobile OS Market

 

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So what do you think of iOS 5?

The cynical will say Apple is simply catching up with the competition (mainly Android and BlackBerry). On the other hand, who else has all of those new capabilities, on top of a superior user interface and over 80% of tablets market-share?

I'll help you with the answer: No one does except for Apple.

iOS version 5 does not innovate, but for tablets market it may mean a final blow to competition (that is, until something new comes in of course…).

The Mobile Spoon has collected the features that seem to be taken inelegantly from other platforms. You will be able to find Android and BlackBerry of course, but also Windows Phone, Windows Mobile (yeah! even that goofy thing!) and others:

Notifications Center (Source: Android):

Android Notifications Bar can now be found in iOS 5. Weird sentence, but If there is one thing Android does much better than iOS is handling notifications, alerts and different kind of popups which are all presented in this drop down curtain. iPhone was never great with notifications but now it has a very similar drop down curtain with all recent alerts and notifications.

 

Improved Lockscreen (Windows Mobile 6.5):

iOS new improved lockscreen mechanism was a must have change. Here, again, the idea was first introduced by another company – in this case: Microsoft. Windows Mobile 6.5. includes a similar mechanism for unlocking the device while at the same time jumping directly to the location of the on-screen notification (see image below). Apple took this idea and enhanced it. There is no other modern mobile OS that can do that these days (yes, I know I just mentioned Windows Mobile – but it's not modern…)

 

BTW, Jailbroken iPhone users are familiar with this concept which was available through Cydia for over few years now (using apps such as LockInfo for unlocked phones).

Gestures-based Multi-Tasking (Source: BlackBerry PlayBook):

When I just saw the new gestures I immediately thought to myself… hey, I've seen that before… the source of this one is the QNX multi-tasking style, which can be found in RIM's latest PlayBook tablet…

I'm actually very happy Apple stole this one: iPad's multi-tasking is horrible, I just hate this double click on the home button – it's slow, not fun to use, everything which is not Apple style. The gestures seem much more elegant, intuitive and fast.

Thumb Keyboard (Source: Motorola Xoom):

Another Android feature which can be found in the Xoom is now part of iOS for iPad. This one is a good feature, but again, not too original…

Camera Improvements (Source: Windows Phone 7):

Camera improvements may be required and important, but the biggest change is that you can now access the camera directly from your lockscreen (Just like… Microsoft WP7, isn't it?) or use the volume key to take a picture…

In Windows Phone 7, Microsoft demanded that the hardware vendors will include a hardware button to start the camera from any location. This is one of the coolest WP7 features (especially when you have tons of small kids you want to picture whenever you get excited about them doing something banal every kid does…). This feature doesn't mean it is that simple to take a video (for non-WinPho7 experts that is…) and now it's not only Wp7, it's iOS too.

Twitter Integration (Source: Microsoft Kin's Social "Spot"):

The ability to submit just about everything to Twitter reminds me of Microsoft's "Spot" which used to be part of the social networking features embedded in the known Kin phones (which were a huge failure eventually as you all know…). The "spot" allowed you to easily share content in twitter and facebook by dragging a special dot into the sharable area.

 

Reading List (Source: InstaPaper):

Reader/Reading List is a nice feature, however it's clearly the same as using InstaPaper.
Once again, Apple added a good capability, but without innovating too much.

Location Based Reminders:

Location based reminders – while this may sound as a great innovative idea – there are plenty of Android apps that are doing just that, and for quite a while now: location based alerts and reminders are great if you need your phone to notify you in case you are passing by location that relates to one of your tasks (or personal "Todo's"). I've personally experienced a few Android apps which will send you those kinds of notification if you just ask…

 

iMessages (Source: BlackBerry Messenger):

Last nail in RIM's coffin? This killer feature will probably make many iPhone users happy while creating a crisis between Apple and the cellular companies… Still, probably one of the most important new features in iOS 5.

 

OK, so just to wrap it up, a lot of new features – all of them can be found in such way or another in at least one leading mobile operating system which is not iOS.

Technorati Tags: iPhone,iPad,iOS5,iOS 5,Apple,Mobile OS Market

 

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Shockwave arrives to Transformers 3

In the original comic series from the 80's the Decepticons are led by evil Megatron (number 68 in the all time greatest villains list), but after failing to occupy planet earth and defeat the Autobots, an unknown Decepticon named Shockwave appears, far more superior than Megatron and one who is motivated not by greed or wickedness, but only by cruel logic.

Shockwave notifies Megatron it is logical to replace him because he has failed in his war against the autobots, and when Megatron refuses Shockwave humiliates him in one of the strongest battle scenes of the Transformers series - in front of all of his warriors.

Megatron becomes irrelevant (but kept alive) while Shockwave, the unstoppable one eyed robot who turns into a huge cannon, becomes the leader of the Decepticons (it takes a long while until he disappears in battle against the Dinobots).

Shockwave, is probably the most popular character for true transformers fans (probably second only to Soundwave) and is about to make his appearance in the new Transformer film: Dark Of The Moon.

(Shockwave in Transformers 3, different design as usual, but still one eye…)

I hope the movie will not turn him into a sad joke like it did to Megatron in chapter 2.

Actually… I'm hoping the flaws in movie number 2 will be fixed, the effects will be easier to watch, the zoom level will change a bit to make it easy to understand what is actually happening and that the story will not end like Indiana Jones.

Still, regardless to all the issues I have with the Transformers movies – I can't wait to be in the premier.

Enjoy some teasers:

 

5 comments | Read more...

In the original comic series from the 80's the Decepticons are led by evil Megatron (number 68 in the all time greatest villains list), but after failing to occupy planet earth and defeat the Autobots, an unknown Decepticon named Shockwave appears, far more superior than Megatron and one who is motivated not by greed or wickedness, but only by cruel logic.

Shockwave notifies Megatron it is logical to replace him because he has failed in his war against the autobots, and when Megatron refuses Shockwave humiliates him in one of the strongest battle scenes of the Transformers series - in front of all of his warriors.

Megatron becomes irrelevant (but kept alive) while Shockwave, the unstoppable one eyed robot who turns into a huge cannon, becomes the leader of the Decepticons (it takes a long while until he disappears in battle against the Dinobots).

Shockwave, is probably the most popular character for true transformers fans (probably second only to Soundwave) and is about to make his appearance in the new Transformer film: Dark Of The Moon.

(Shockwave in Transformers 3, different design as usual, but still one eye…)

I hope the movie will not turn him into a sad joke like it did to Megatron in chapter 2.

Actually… I'm hoping the flaws in movie number 2 will be fixed, the effects will be easier to watch, the zoom level will change a bit to make it easy to understand what is actually happening and that the story will not end like Indiana Jones.

Still, regardless to all the issues I have with the Transformers movies – I can't wait to be in the premier.

Enjoy some teasers:

 

Metro UI is now all over Windows 8!

Although there are plenty of Windows based tablets out there already (HP Slate, Panasonic, and others), it's no secret that Microsoft's powerful OS doesn't have what it takes to provide a decent touch friendly experience.

Sure, there are some finger gestures, scrollable lists and other small gimmicks. The HP slate even comes with multi-touch support and pinch to zoom capabilities – cool. BUT, what about the "close" button which is not finger friendly? What about the keyboard that is floating on your content? What about the tiny tray icons area which is hard to operate even with a stylus?

Nope, Microsoft's Windows OS doesn't fit a tablet yet. And now that the tablets market is beginning to slow down Windows sales – it's time to react: Microsoft recently introduced a new shell for Windows 8 which is all about touch: finger friendly, flat a-la Metro design – exactly it should have been 2 years ago. But better late than never, right?

The new UI sits on top of the regular Windows and the user can seamlessly switch back and froth between both the worlds. Take a look:

Windows Phone 7 style lock screen:

Finger friendly multi-tasking:

Onscreen keyboard, identical to the one in Windows Phone 7

I love it. I think it makes sense to use the Metro design and once 3rd party applications will become touch friendly – the package will be perfect (at first I expect it to have issues: just from looking at the video below I can tell Excel will be far away from being tablet ready…)

Here's the full video:

And one last thought: iOS is amazing and all, but once Windows becomes tablets ready and combines a nice user interface with a true desktop power – I don't think there will be any doubts what platform is stronger. Then it will remain only a matter of content (iOS apps vs. Windows applications & tools) and hardware specs (battery, performance, etc.).

2 comments | Read more...

Although there are plenty of Windows based tablets out there already (HP Slate, Panasonic, and others), it's no secret that Microsoft's powerful OS doesn't have what it takes to provide a decent touch friendly experience.

Sure, there are some finger gestures, scrollable lists and other small gimmicks. The HP slate even comes with multi-touch support and pinch to zoom capabilities – cool. BUT, what about the "close" button which is not finger friendly? What about the keyboard that is floating on your content? What about the tiny tray icons area which is hard to operate even with a stylus?

Nope, Microsoft's Windows OS doesn't fit a tablet yet. And now that the tablets market is beginning to slow down Windows sales – it's time to react: Microsoft recently introduced a new shell for Windows 8 which is all about touch: finger friendly, flat a-la Metro design – exactly it should have been 2 years ago. But better late than never, right?

The new UI sits on top of the regular Windows and the user can seamlessly switch back and froth between both the worlds. Take a look:

Windows Phone 7 style lock screen:

Finger friendly multi-tasking:

Onscreen keyboard, identical to the one in Windows Phone 7

I love it. I think it makes sense to use the Metro design and once 3rd party applications will become touch friendly – the package will be perfect (at first I expect it to have issues: just from looking at the video below I can tell Excel will be far away from being tablet ready…)

Here's the full video:

And one last thought: iOS is amazing and all, but once Windows becomes tablets ready and combines a nice user interface with a true desktop power – I don't think there will be any doubts what platform is stronger. Then it will remain only a matter of content (iOS apps vs. Windows applications & tools) and hardware specs (battery, performance, etc.).