Amazon would like you to think that it’s pretty much impossible to use the iPad outdoors (compared to the Kindle).  This new ad from Verizon Wireless goes a little way to dispel that notion.

Verizon Wireless recently started offering the Apple iPad, bundled together with their MiFi wireless hotspot device. The iPad/MiFi data plans start at US$20 for 1GB. Here’s the ad:

What do you think?

Since I first got my iPad about 2 months ago, I’ve been looking for a suitable “man bag” to carry it around in. I decided on the Switch Satchel bag from Brenthaven.  I bought mine from a seller on eBay,  and was quite happy to receive it within a week.

The Brenthaven Switch Satchel bag is designed for netbooks from 7 to 10 inches, which means it fits the iPad perfectly, whether inside a case or just bare “naked”.  This is really a minimalist bag, so if you like to carry around a lot of gear this might not suit you.

The “Switch” part of the bag’s name actually refers to the flap.  The flap is attached to the bag via two clips and a strip of velcro.  You can take off the flap and switch it to the other side for a different look.

There are 2 versions of the bag :

- Highway 99 / Amsterdam (first photo above)

- Gray GI Joe / Natural (the one I bought)

At the back, you can see a carry strap.  There’s also a back pocket which is deep enough for some documents or a folded newspaper.

At the front of the bag there’s a pocket for more documents and gear, plus a phone holder (which can take an iPhone inside a case), some pen holders and a key ring.   There’s a smaller zipped pocket right in front.

The main compartment has a separate zipper, too.  This compartment is padded on both sides, which should provide adequate protection for your iPad or netbook.

If you have your iPad in a case, not to worry because there’s sufficient space in the main compartment.  I usually have my iPad in a CAPDASE case, which adds quite a bit of bulk.  As shown in the photo above it will still fit nicely.

If your iPad is naked (sans case), then there’s enough room for a paperback novel, a newspaper or a couple of magazines.

There are a couple of features which set Brenthaven apart from other bag manufacturers.   First is Zero Impact. The Brenthaven Switch Satchel is “Zero Impact”‘ which means that Brenthaven promises to invest in Green projects that offset any impact that their products have on the environment.  You do need to register your bag at their website before they can invest carbon credits on your behalf.

Second, Brenthaven promises a 100% Lifetime Guarantee on their bags.

Overall, this is a great bag that should last you for years. You should be able to get the Switch Satchel for around $40.

Buy Brenthaven Switch Satchel bag from Amazon.

Google’s Android is catching up fast, shipping on a reported 60,000 handsets a day. That’s still not enough to catch up with the iPhone, but Android does get better over time.

What about the two remaining heavyweights in the mobile OS space? Both Symbian and Microsoft have been quiet and lackluster in the innovation front over the past couple of years. Well, both organizations announced their response to the iPhone OS in Barcelona.

Symbian has revealed Symbian 3, their new operating system. Here’s a video showing the key features of the new OS :

Highlights of Symbian 3 includes :
* Simplifications across the user for an improved user experience
* Architectural improvements that speed up the user interface and improve the behaviour of network-aware applications
* New features such as a podcast manager and an improved Homescreen

Symbian 3 is due in the second half of this year.

Microsoft has revealed their successor to Windows Mobile, with a name that’s quite a mouthful : Windows Phone 7 Series. Microsoft rewrote the entire operating system from scratch, taking inspiration from their Zune OS. In the new OS, you interact with “uber-applications” organized around a set of hubs: People, Pictures, Games, Music + Video, Marketplace, and Office.

Here’s a video of Windows Phone 7 Series :

Meanwhile, even Blackberry is joining the “refresh” game. One common complaint about the Blackberry devices is the web browser, which is not as good as Mobile Safari or even Opera Mobile. RIM has previewed a new web browser based on Webkit. If it sounds familiar, Webkit is the same base that Mobile Safari and the Symbian web browser is based on.

Here’s a video demo of the new Blackberry web browser :

It’s heartening to see that all parties are stepping up their game. With Symbian, Microsoft and RIM making massive improvements in their operating systems and applications “ecosystems”, the ultimate winners will be us, the consumers.

I don’t know about you, but I’m excited to see how Apple will advance the next iPhone OS.

And the cat and mouse game continues. Last Tuesday, Apple released the latest version of the iPhone OS 3.1.3 (7E18). This was an unexpected release, since a lot of people were hoping for the 3.2 version which is on the new iPad.

3.1.3 is a relatively minor update, fixing battery level reporting and a few crashes caused by 3rd party apps and the Japanese Kana keyboard.

Unless you absolutely need the improved battery accuracy, or your iPhone was crashing incessantly, you want to stay away from this update if you have a jailbroken and unlocked iPhone.

As usual, it didn’t take that long for the iPhone Dev Team to come up with a solution. They have released PwnageTool 3.1.5, which allows you to go to 3.1.3 while preserving your jailbreak and ultrasn0w unlock.

Of course, there are exceptions :
- if you used the blacksn0w unlock (at baseband 05.11.07), you need to stay at 3.1.2.
- if you have an iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS, it’s best not to upgrade (just to be safe).

PwnageTool 3.1.5 works with the iPhone 2G, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS with early bootrom, iPod touch 1G, and iPod touch 2G with early bootrom.

Since I just upgraded my iPhone 3GS to 3.1.2 about a week ago, I’ll stick to it until a bigger update comes along — 3.2 maybe?

Ah, analysts. They get paid a lot of money to predict and speculate, and write reports on those predictions and speculations that cost a few thousand dollars. Sarah Perez of ReadWriteWeb has compiled several different analyst reports on iPad sales, and they all look promising.

The numbers range from 1.1 million units sold in the first year, with the most optimistic prediction being 9 million units in the second year.

Here’s what I, a non-analyst (or a non-paid analyst) can tell you : Apple will sell containerloads of the Apple iPad. Apple is very good at selling you what you want, not what you need. Steve Jobs famously said they would sell 10 million iPhones in the first full year, and they did. This was back when the iPhone was a 2G-only, $700 unsubsidised device locked only to the AT&T network.

Even though a lot of people say they can’t see the use-case for an Apple iPad, you just know that once Apple gets these devices into the hands of people, and once these devices start being visible in public, the pull factor will be incredible.

In 3 months, when the 3G versions of the iPad will come out, we’ll have 150,000 apps available in the App Store, and many iPad-specific applications. Expect to see whole industries (logistics, education) adopting the iPad, or something similar to an iPad.

Non-Apple users will not be left out, we have maybe half a dozen different tablet offerings which are out now or will be out soon. This time next year, we’ll look back and wonder how we managed to get by without tablets.

What’s most surprising to me is how Apple positioned the iPad. It’s not the Kindle killer (at least not explicitly), but it’s the netbook killer. I think for people who treat netbooks as a third device (between the desktop/laptop PC and the phone), this could be true, but not for people who treat netbooks as their sole device (as a cheap laptop).

About The Apple iPad

Here’s what we know about the Apple iPad

- runs iPhone OS 3.2 (not the full Mac OS X) and can run almost all iPhone apps
- 9.7 inch screen, comparable to a Kindle DX, but in colour and with multi-touch of course
- 1GHz “Apple A4″ system-on-a-chip
- newly rewritten core apps (Mail, Contacts, Photos, Notes, iPod, Calendar, Maps)
- new iBooks ebook reader app
- built-in App Store, iTunes Store and a new iBookStore
- 10 hours battery life, 1.5lbs light, 0.5 inches thin
- no ports except for standard iPhone/iPod Dock connector
- Bluetooth and WiFi (802.11n)

There are six versions of the iPad – 3G and non-3G versions in 3 storage capacities : 16GB, 32GB and 64GB.

So what does the iPad replace? Nothing, really. It’s not a replacement for your iPhone or your laptop. It’s a third device for someone who’s entrenched in the Apple iTunes/App Store ecosystem. Think about the investment you’ve put into digitizing, purchasing, organizing your content and apps into Apple’s iTunes. The iPad makes all that effort just that much better.

People who were expecting an Apple tablet at a premium price ($800-900) would have been pleasantly surprised at the starting price : just $499 for the entry level 16GB version. That’s just $10 more than the Kindle DX. Even the most expensive iPad is just $850, well below the $1,000 threshold. Next year, when these storage capacities double for the same price, and with a number of apps written specifically for it, the iPad will probably sell very well.

I’m expecting the Keyboard Dock for the Apple iPad to be a very popular accessory. There are many people who want this for their iPhone, so hopefully Apple can release that version soon.

Would I buy it myself? The answer would be yes. I’ve been wanting a netbook for a while now, and the iPad actually can do most of what I want : editing blog posts, web browsing, ebook reading and watching video. It’s a little bit more than what I was planning to spend on a netbook, but all my media is ready to go for the iPad.

Save the date : Wednesday 27th January. Exactly one week from now, Apple is holding an event to launch or announce … something. Since Apple is not in Macworld this year, they didn’t have to rush things out so early in the year. So what will we see next week?

Is it going to be iPhone OS 4.0? Boy Genius reports that the new OS is probably imminent, and will bring some interesting new features:

* OS-wide multi-touch gestures.
* background applications / multitasking.
* Many graphical and UI changes
* new syncing ability for the contacts and calendar applications.

Whether we’ll see a brand new iPhone, is another matter. For the past few years, we’ve seen new iPhone models in June, but who knows what Apple might do. We’ve seen rumours that the current 8GB iPhone 3G will be replaced with an iPhone 3GS model.

The biggest speculations, of course, centre around the Apple tablet. The iTablet, or iPad, or iSlate has almost the same hype level as we did before the original iPhone was announced.

This is going to be a long week!

Google certainly made a splash with their launch of the newest Android phone, the Google Nexus One. Google made the phone available for sale unlocked directly from them, at google.com/phone. Google explained their different approach to selling the phone on their own blog, saying that they “want to make the overall user experience simple: a simple purchasing process, simple service plans from operators, simple and worry-free delivery and start-up.”

Let’s have a look at what people are saying about the new Google Nexus One phone.

Google Nexus One: The TechCrunch Review

“It’s Google’s vision of the perfect Android device, from the huge and beautiful screen and massively fast Snapdragon processor to the software elegance of Google Navigation, Live Wallpaper and the Voice Keyboard. When combined with Google Voice there is no phone on the market today that can touch the Nexus One … the Nexus One has no obvious flaws or compromises. The phone is the state of the art in mobile”.

Engadget : Nexus One review

“This is precisely the right phone at the right time: class-leading processor, vibrant display, sexy shell, and just a sprinkling of geekiness that only Google could pull off this effortlessly.” However, (while) “it’s a good Android phone, but not the last word”. Engadget says that the Motorola Droid is probably the better phone.

Gizmodo : Nexus One Review

“The Nexus One is an over-hyped Android phone. But that doesn’t stop it from being the best Android phone”

Nexus One Blog : Nexus One Review

“On a 3G network, there is no reason to stray to any other device … because of its hi-res display, speed, and it’s extremely attractive UI … it makes browsing the web a truly unique and visually stimulating experience.”

Android Central : Google Nexus One Hands On (Video)

Google Nexus One Specifications

Physical Dimensions:

* Height: 119mm
* Width: 59.8mm
* Depth: 11.5mm
* Weight: 130g with battery; 100g without battery

Storage:

* Flash: 512MB
* RAM: 512MB
* SD card: 4GB Micro SD card included (expandable to 32 GB)

Camera, photos, videos:

* 5 MP camera
* Mechanical autofocus
* 2x digital zoom
* LED flash
* Geotagging capable

Cellular & wireless:

* 3G T-Mobile and EDGE on AT&T
* Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n)
* Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
* A2DP stereo Bluetooth

Location:

* AGPS receiver
* Cell tower and Wi-Fi positioning
* Digital compass
* Accelerometer

Display:

* 3.7 inch (diagonal) widescreen, WVGA AMOLED screen

External buttons & controls:

* Physical power key
* Physical volume up/down key
* Tricolor, clickable trackball
* 4illuminated softkeys (Back, Menu, Home, Search)
* Haptic feedback
* Teflon-coated back cover

Connectors and sensors:

* Dock pins for the Docking Stations or other Nexus One Accessories
* 3.5mm, 40connector, stereo headset jack
* Earpiece
* Speaker
* Microphone
* Second microphone for active noise cancellation
* SIM card slot
* Micro SD slot
* Micro USB port
* Proximity sensor
* Light sensor
* Tricolor charging and notification indicator LED

Processor:

* QUALCOMM QSD 8250, 1Ghz

Audio decoders:

* AAC LC/LTP, HE-ACCv1 (AAC+), HE-AACv2 (enhanced ACC+)
* Mono/Stereo standard bit rates up to 160kbps and sampling rates from 8kHz to 48kHz
* AMR-NB 4.75-12.2kpbs sampled @ 8kHz
* AMR-WB 9 rates from 6.60kbit/s to 23.85kbits/s sampled @ 16kHz
* MP3 mono/stereo 8-320kbps constant bit rate (CBR) or variable bit-rate (VBR)
* MIDI SMF (Type 0 and 1), DLS Version 1 and 2, XMF/Mobile
* XMF, RTTTL/RTX, OTA, iMelody
* Ogg Vorbis
* WAVE

Audio encoders:

* AMR-NB 4.75-2.2kbps sampled @ 8kHz

Platform:

* Android mobile technology platform 2.1 (Flan)

Image formats:

* JPEG (encode and decode)
* GIF
* PNG
* BMP

Video decoders:

* H.263
* MPEG-4 SP
* H.264 AVC

Video encoders:

* H.263
* MPEG-4 SP

Power and battery:

* Removable 1400mAh battery

Palm Pre Plus has double the internal storage (to 16GB) and comes standard with the Touchstone back cover for wireless charging. Palm Pixi Plus adds Wi-Fi and has the option to get multiple colours for the back cover. Both smartphones will be available from Verizon on 25th January 2010.

webOS isn’t so hot if you want to play games, you say? Palm is getting their iPhone envy out of the way — they announced the release of 7 3D games for webOS. The games are mostly ports from other platforms :

* Need for Speed Undercover (EA Mobile)
* The Sims 3 (EA Mobile)
* MONOPOLY (EA Mobile)
* Asphalt 5: Elite Racing (Gameloft)
* Let’s Golf! (Gameloft)
* Glyder 2 (Glu Mobile)
* X-Plane (Laminar Research)

Want more? Here’s the Palm presentation video from CES 2010