It wasn't all that long ago (last year) that I was reading of the Crunchpad idea coming out of Techcrunch.  On Friendfeed, there was always a lot of fun discussions and playful banter between Robert Scoble and Michael Arrington and a lot of mention of the Crunchpad project in the prototyping stages.

Of course, since then, there's been a bit of acrimony between Arrington and Fusion Garage, who've taken the concept, removed the Techcrunch involvement and remarketed the Crunchpad as the JooJoo.

Arrington is now suing Fusion Garage.

I'm trying to imagine how the Crunchpad/JooJoo would be if the partnership had remained, what sort of impact Arrington would have had if he were still involved and whether he'd have asked for some features in the pad that would have competed better against the iPad.

As it is, as the JooJoo is currently promoted, I'm scratching my head on whether it really is a worthy competitor to the iPad.

It's a dog-eat-dog world in business, but what happened with the Crunchpad project wouldn't exactly make me feel happy buying from Fusion Garage.

Then there's the way the JooJoo is in tech terms.  Effectively it's wi-fi only at the moment.  There's some talk of Fusion Garage partnering with telecommunications companies to perhaps get something akin to 3G on it.  It has 4GB of space on it.  It's 16:9 aspect in a 12.5 inch diagonal size.  And really, all it does is access the web for pretty much all its apps.

While I like my web access, there's some times I like to turn wi-fi and 3G off and just run a few things offline.  So really, if the JooJoo is ALL internet, I'd be disappointed.  Eventually it's going to be possible for us to have full cloud access, but not at this fledgling stage of a lot of the key technologies.  There's still a point to having some things still available offline.

So in reality, the JooJoo is just an over-sized web browser.  Interestingly easy solution, I suppose, but a bit lazy in development terms.  Google and Chrome OS would probably still do it a lot better.

I've yet to read what else the min-Linux system the JooJoo runs off actually does apart from that.

So my iPad still has more real app capability than a JooJoo.  It's also got a few decent programs that will keep me occupied if my wi-fi suddenly goes off.

The size and aspect ratio...I'm a firm believer in the idea that a good tablet is at its best at 4:3.  I find my iPad comfortable at that aspect ratio.  The more I keep looking at any tablet which is 16:9, I try to imagine cradling such an aspect ratio in my arms.  I think Apple hit the sweet spot with the 4:3 aspect.  A nine-and-a-bit inch screen isn't bad.  Sort of A4-ish and large bookish.  Anything much bigger gets cumbersome.

Do I think the JooJoo is serious competition to the iPad, or just trying to ride on the iPad's coat-tails?

The latter.

Perhaps if they'd kept Arrington in the loop, it might have been a better pad/tablet.  Arrington's still closer to the pulse of where tech is going.

As it stands, I doubt I'd buy a JooJoo.

In this case, iPad by a clear knockout.

Would readers find a JooJoo an alternative to the iPad?  Let's hear your own thoughts.

I got up very early this morning, Melbourne time, to update my iPhone 3GS to the new iOS 4.

How early? Initially 2am, only to find I still had another hour to wait. So, back to bed, playing on my iPad, until 3am.

So 3am came and passed, but the iTunes on my computer still only registered OS 3.1.3. I kept clicking until, finally at 3:05am, iOS 4 was finally available. Download and install.

Half an hour later, my iPhone had this cute little home screen background (shown above) and I was on my way to setting my eight pages of apps down to a mere two...home screen and most of the built-in apps, plus another page of FOLDERS.

Yes, this was a welcome update.

The new folder system is quite easy. You hold an app till it shakes, then move it over another, similar app, which turns it into a folder with both of them, first of all with a suggested name, like Productivity, then, if you want to change it, to anything you want.

The backgrounds operate very much the same as for the iPad. In settings you now have an option for the lock screen and the home screen. Initially it starts with the same background as your lock screen, but I like having something different on each.

As you can tell from the image, iBooks is also now able to be downloaded from the App Store for iOS 4.

Email...the inbox is now combined, though you still have options underneath the "All Email" category to access each individual email address's inbox. So now I can simply go into the combined inbox and read or delete messages from there.

And finally, multi-tasking and fast app switching. Double-click the home button and you can see a row of the current open apps. The multi-tasking itself still needs to wait for those apps which have iOS 4 awareness programmed in, but it's still good having a nice task switcher.

There's more to explore yet, but so far so good. I'm not quite sure if iOS 4 affects my 3G data, though. Initially web pages seem a bit slower. However, this might simply be due to the signal where I tested this.

Of course, when iOS 4.0.1 comes out, we'll see just what's been tightened up then.

In general, the new iteration brings some much-needed features to the iPhone 3GS.

So how are the rest of you going with your own updates to the new OS version?

We're only a few days away from iOS 4.

My current iPhone is the 3GS model, so I'm expecting the next update I get to be a full one: backgrounds, folders, Apple-style multi-tasking, etc.

On the other hand, my missus has my old 3G iphone, so she won't get the multi-tasking part.

The nine-year-old and three-year-old have a second-generation iPod between them, so they're out of luck on a full update too.

Oh well...at least they'll be able to organise their apps a bit better and have a pretty springboard if nothing else.

Still, what we will get will be a vast improvement on what we've had the past year.  I also have to agree I do like the fact Apple wait till they've got things right before they bring in features other phones have had for a longer time.  I'm still impressed with iPhone OS 3's cut-and-past method, which beats the crap out of implementations I've seen on any Nokia phone.  I tend to like it a tad better than Android's method, too.

For most of us, the practical part of iOS 4 will be in having folders.  We've worked with a nine-screen limit for our apps on our iPhones prior to this.  We may have had specific screens for specific types of apps.  Now we can have a Social Media folder and all associated apps in it, one for Photography and so on.  And our app limit is now somewhere around 2,000 total apps...or until we run out of iPhone disk space.

Yep, the folders are probably more valuable to us than whether the system mult-tasks a bit better.

I also have to say I was seriously getting tired of looking at a plain-black home screen.

Once iOS 4 is out, I'll be able to see the difference between the 3GS and the 3G on the multi-tasking issue and be able to comment better on that topic.

At least now, though, I can start to think of having more apps to play with instead of having to do pruning whenever I'm nearing the nine-screen limit.

So what things are the rest of you looking forward to in the new iPhone OS?

Somehow that got missed among all the fun features.

It was a bit of a surprise this week to read one tweet about it having micro sims.

Micro sims? So unless I trim down my old 3GS sim, I have to get a new micro sim if I buy an iPhone 4?

Let's hope the migration to the new sim size doesn't involve extra cost. A migration to a different sim would mean swapping your old number over to the new micro sim, or a new number. So that's either one sim useless after getting the new micro sim, or it means an extra account.

I'm waiting to see just how the telcos are going to go about this.

Grumble!

I'm not so stinky on the idea of the iPad having a micro sim. That makes perfect sense. It's an entire new category of device and having a totally new account, postpaid or prepaid, makes some sense there. It is still an additional device.

On the other hand, an iPhone 4 is an upgrade from your iPhone 3GS. So that's a bit of an imposition, making you change over to an entirely incompatible sim that you can't use (without an adapter) in your old, still-working 3GS.

That aside, I'm also noting that there are people on eBay selling iPhone 4 phones, even though it's only PRE-ORDER stage. I can guess we'll see the usual low-feedback crowd selling a device they don't even have yet, not much differently from what it was like with the iPad.

The prices I've seen so far, though, border on the ridiculous. One person is selling an iPhone 4 for $AUD 1,500. I've also read some people are charging $5,000.

Good thing I'm not in a hurry for an iPhone like I was with the iPad. And even with the iPad, it still required me being picky who I bought from.

Some suggestions for those wanting an early delivery via eBay: make sure you're buying from someone who has one of these physically with him/her. At least make sure it's one you can pick up, so you can see you're not being ripped-off. Very much try to get one from someone with a decent feedback score on eBay...although even with the iPad, it was still possible for a genuine seller with decent feedback and a store to get his whole inventory delisted over an iPad listing glitch.

If you're going to impulse-buy an iPhone 4, practice safe buying. And pray you get an honest seller.

Still, it's a nice piece of telephony/computing, isn't it?

It's a pity my current iPhone contract still has over a year-and-a-half to go, because one look at the new iPhone 4 and I'm in love.

It wasn't too much of a surprise seeing it. We've all had a look at the Engadget articles on the early model lost in a bar and the photos from one Vietnam site.

Regardless, it's nice seeing it all ready AND with iOS 4 (no longer iPhone OS) running.

Front-facing camera and the new Facetime app. Wifi-only for the meantime, but with eventual 3G functionality. Great side and top buttons. A black model and a completely white model. HD 720p.

Oh well...at least I get iOS 4 in the next month or so on my 3GS. I'm so looking forward to having a background on my home screen and folders to organize my apps (I'm starting to run close to the 9-screen limit at the moment, so this is really looked forward to).

And then there's multi-tasking Apple-style.

Ah, iPhone...

It's been interesting to read what Steve Balmer thinks of the iPad the past week.

"It's just another PC," he's said.

Well, he's partially right...it's a computerized device, there's an underlying operating system and so on...

However, he's still in denial of the fact Apple was able to do what Microsoft hadn't. Apple made the tablet computer sexy.

There have been Windows tablets around for a substantial part of this past decade, but they've never really gone beyond niche markets, like medicine. Windows tablets have never really taken with the general buying public.

So where is the Windows 7 HP Slate? Sunk.

Sure, some people have brought out Windows 7 tablets in recent weeks, others plan to by the end of the year. Except for one thing. Is a Windows 7 tablet really going to compete against the iPad?

Not with a boot time running into minutes. Not with sluggish resistive touch-screens. Not with thicknesses that make holding them difficult. Simply put, you don't need a desktop or laptop OS on a tablet.

Apple tapped into a particular need of most people to be able to run the things they want without half the need to learn OSes.

Your grandmother doesn't want to know Windows OS or Linux. She wants something that plays music, writes emails, plays videos of her grandkids, all with minimal fuss. A secretary wants something that takes meeting notes which he or she can email off as a PDF or a JPG. A social media person wants something he can hold comfortably, type on quickly and patch a web link into with simple cut-and-paste.

They don't need laptops for this. Smartphones come close, but don't have the screen real estate.

So it's time for Steve Balmer to seriously rethink his company's tablet strategy.

Windows Phone 7 OS might be a better alternative to Windows 7 on a Microsoft tablet. Anything but Windows 7 itself, because it's really only good for desktop and laptop computers. And a tablet is not a netbook. Nor should it be.

So seriously, Mr Balmer, if you want me to contemplate me buying a Windows tablet at all...come up with something that catches my imagination. I've tried a Windows 7 T91MT convertible/tablet. It didn't thrill me.

Show me something different.

It's been an interesting month having an iPad before the Australian release.

It's also been good to blog about it both here and over at www.geehall1.org  in that time. I didn't have to wait in any lines, although I did have to pay just a tad more and sit through two false starts using the eBay system. That's what happens when you want to be an early adopter.

This morning, however, I read a tweet by one of my Twitter correspondents about how my month of blog posts had helped him convert some people to the iPad. Being able to give some early insights into its use has done some good, then.

I'm also working since the weekend on my second novel using the Pages app on the iPad, testing out just how this works and to what degree it's usable for productive writing.

Just to have something to contrast it against, I also installed the full Pages 09 to my Macbook. So far I'm up to the third chapter of this novel and should have another two done later today.

If I were to make just ONE recommendation to Apple about Pages at the moment, it would be for them to add a novel template, or at the very least, put in sections or section breaks. That's ALL I'd ask from them for Pages for iPad right now.

Other than that, I'm impressed with it and its iWork stablemates as MOBILE productivity programs. I've never seen a MOBILE word-processor this good. It helps that I treat Pages for iPad for exactly what it is, a MOBILE app. It's what gets you started out on the road, it's good for quick creation of documents on the road. Whether it can be used effectively for novel-writing is a personal experiment. It's a challenge. I like to explore what I can or can't do with it. And there's no reason I can't try. If it's not been done before, it's still very much worth a try.

Since Saturday I've used the Keyboard Dock for large amounts of writing, although I still find the on-screen keyboard just as usable. It's kind of fun having the iPad and Keyboard dock set up, the footprint of it all taking up way less room than the nine-year-old's laptop. It also makes a handy stand when we want to listen to some music or play some videos in the kitchen.

And the apps...I've found at least a few decent note apps, my favorite being ableNotes. This particular app allows you to use text, freehand drawing, photos, Google Maps and even web-clippings in a note. The nine-year-old got a brilliant assist with his homework last week, using ableNotes. He was able to do a poster of famous people of Melbourne's past AND a collage of his favorite Melbourne landmark. One quick, emailed PDF from it later, it was printed out on his own computer and pasted to his homework book.

Anyway, since www.geehall1.org has been the predominant blog I've used for iPad stuff, I'll continue there with that topic, while keeping this blog for general tech and social media topics. That still leaves www.geehall1.com.

I'm going to field suggestions on what topics to run on my third domain. Should I serialize the new novel there? Or should I pick a whole new field? Your feedback will be welcome.

Aussie iPad Delays

In the last couple of days there's been news Aussies might still have to wait an extra week because demand outstrips supply.

Preorders have been said to have covered available stock within the first two days. So the preorder date is now adjusted to June 7 for Johnny-come-latelies.

As to what that means for the retail side of things, we'll find out on May 28.

Generally,the iPad looks to be as in-demand as it was in the United States.

The iPad on eBay

I was reading the stats last week for how many iPads have been sold worldwide thru eBay. It seems just over 5,000 have graced the pages of the online auction site.

Australia, at last week's count, was where 317 of these went.

Being an iPad early-adopter in Australia is still an eerie feeling because you're not sure whether it's a good thing letting friends acquaintances know. The better friends will appreciate the early tips, while some friends too jealous of you having one might not be the ones to walk down a dark alley with.

Hopefully you've got good friends who just want directions to the nearest Apple store or eBay page.

A Couple of Weeks on...

My poor Macbook is feeling jealous of all the attention the iPad is getting.

Apart from EyeTV-recording a Doctor Who episode and fine-tuning another blog post, the Macbook hasn't seen much action.

That's how much the iPad has been in use the past two weeks. I'm finding most of my main Internet work (Twitter, Facebook, blogs, etc.) is being adequately done on this 'magical' device.

Last week I also found it a handy note-taking device for an important family project.

Typing on an iPad? Well, it's not quite perfect touch-typing, but it's no slouch either. In fact, this post is being written on the iPad in an iPhone app in portrait mode...at a reasonable typing pace. For a touch-screen keyboard, I've seen way worse.

My biggest gripe at the moment is I still have to wait just over a week for full access to the App Store and being able to buy the iWork suite of apps.

[Sigh...]

Sent from my iPhone

Showing The iPad To Friends

Yesterday I had some chores to do and took my iPad along for reference, using one of the note apps I downloaded.

I stopped at our local hairdresser's along the way. She loves gadgets, having a DS Lite and one or two other devices...but when she saw the iPad, her eyes bulged.

This lady loved the iPad on first sight, but she'd been reading up on them anyway.

She explained to me that her partner usually used their main computer at night, but she'd been wanting a more portable device so she could check Facebook and other web sites in their bedroom. The iPad suited her for just such a purpose.

I showed the iPad to another neighbor who also likes tech toys.

It seems there's quite a buzz building with still another couple of weeks before the Australian release and a few potential buyers just in our suburb.

The Telcos

Telstra and Optus have released their iPad plans, but essentially there's no Unlimited Data Plan like there is in the States. However, it's still more generous than data plans for other devices. Depending on which of these two you go with, $20 will get you 1 or 2 gigabytes for 30 days.

As yet, no word from VHA about what the Vodafone and Three brands will charge.