My Wife Said No

I’m convinced that with each passing day, a team of programmers are working around the clock to create new features and cool applications for the iPad with the sole purpose of “rubbing it in my face” that I still don’t have one. Seriously. I mean, Elgato has just announced a device that will stream live TV to your iPad so you can basically use it like a portable TV. REALLY?! It wasn’t bad enough that you could buy shows and movies from iTunes, listen to streaming internet radio, keep all your documents on it, and play freakin’ awesome games on it. They had to go and make it a portable TV. C’mon! You gotta be kidding me.

The EyeTV HD, from Elgato (Spanish for “not as popular as a dog”….what? look it up , is basically a DVR that connects to your Mac and allows you to record live video or schedule recordings of your favorite shows. It works with cable and satellite boxes as well as an old fashioned antenna (you can ask your grandparents about those). It’s setup to record to an iPhone/iPad friendly version of h.264 simultaneoulsy so you have the option of exporting to either device when the recording and encoding are complete. But the real lure of this device is the iPhone app that has recently been submitted for the iPad as well.

EyeTV HD features a unique dual-format capture mode and can record in both the iPad and iPhone formats at the same time. This feature supports super-fast exports to iTunes from EyeTV, and facilitates the streaming of live and recorded TV to an iPhone or iPad using the optional EyeTV app.

This opens up a whole new world of possibilities for the iPad. I think it’s been established that my wife is not in favor of me having one of these. However, if I present that scenario that the Bachelorette is on at the EXACT time that I’m trying to watch Breaking Bad (I know they’re on different days of the week, just go with it for the sake of the argument), and she wants the big TV, I could watch my show sitting on a couch or in bed by streaming directly to my iPad. Pretty sure I’m a genius.

CBS has slowly begun to roll out an HTML5 version of it’s site to cater to mobile devices lacking Flash support. More specifically, the iPad. This is great news for iPad users and hopefully a trend that the other networks continue to follow. While ABC does not have an HTML5 version of it’s site, it does offer it’s video catalog through a dedicated iPad app. CBS has stated that they plan to release a dedicated iPad app (to hopefully replace their lame first attempt) but not until they have finished converting their Flash video offerings online. Currently, online Survivor is available through the new HTML5 video version of the site. CBS plans to continue developement over the summer with hopes that all video is HTML5 ready in time for the Fall TV season. The updates to their site coming first makes sense as enabling an HTML5 version opens the door for more devices than just the iPad. It also gives CBS time for some “lessons learned” before creating a new iPad app. Hopefully, this is another signal of the shift away from Flash for video. I’m not one of the “Flash is dead” evangelists, it just needs to be used where appropriate. And it’s not good for video for a variety of reasons.

As for Hulu, there are now two big networks (ABC, CBS) serving their video content in iPad friendly formats and it would be foolish of the other networks not to follow suit. This is unfortunate because of Hulu’s ease of use and “one-stop shop” for all TV viewing online, but I don’t see how it could happen at this point. The networks are learning that they can manage their own video and may not need Hulu after all (see “Comedy Central leaves Hulu“). So consumers will be stuck with multiple apps/sites to pull in all their video. But it the ultimate end is the ability to drop cable all together, it may be worth the slight frustration of changing between apps. Besides, multi-tasking is coming

Well, that was a mistake. I went to the Apple store again. This time they had the ABC app installed as a demo and I was able to watch Lost. It was amazing. I tried out typing on the iPad and was impressed how quickly I got the hang of it. It got me thinking. The stands they have at the Apple Store for the iPads are pretty nice. They should sell those.

This led me down the path of researching every iPad stand I could find to determine what I would choose if I ever get an iPad. First off, let me say, I’m a minimalist. I don’t have a case on my iPhone and would only ever consider an Invisible Shield at the very most to prevent scratches. So any stand for the iPad would have to be ultra compact and fit with the aesthetic of the iPad design.
First up,

Element Case Joule Stand
http://www.elementcase.com
Price: $129.99

This case has a lot going for it in the looks department. Sleek and modern, it has an upscale feel and does it’s job without any unnecessary bulk. I’m not a huge fan of the “shiny chrome” look but I could live with it if the price wasn’t so outrageous. At $129, I can only assume the Sales people at Element Case are literally escaped mental patients.

Macally ViewStand
http://www.macally.com
Price: $59.99

The ViewStand has a nice “integrated” look to it. Overall it seems like it could have come straight out of Cupertino. The brushed aluminum and smooth curves make it seem right at home with the iPad. In one iteration of the stand in use, it even looks like an iMac. The titled table position is interesting as it gives you a great angle for typing without getting in the way. However, the biggest deal break for this stand is it’s size. It’s freakin’ HUGE! I can’t think of any instance this would be useful other than in a home office to have your iPad double as a TV/Media center. But then, that kind of defeats the “portable” aspects of the iPad.

Scosche kickBACK
http://www.scosche.com
Price: $59.99

This stand is really a case/stand combo which is cool if you’re taking your iPad into some rugged condition but also want to prop it up to watch a movie and relax. So if you plan on mountain climbing and then watching a movie at the top, this case/stand is for you. Made of shatterproof polycarbonate and shock resistant rubber hybrid, you could probably stop some bullets with this thing. I can’t say that I “hate” the design of this case, but it seems too “Mission:Impossible secret briefcase” for my tastes.

Random Business Card Holder from Office Depot
http://www.officedepot.com
Price: $0.69

After reading the price, you really shouldn’t have to bother reading a review but here it goes anyway. This thing has it all. Small, portable form factor. Sleek modern design. Fits in with the iPad without detracting from it’s look. ONLY 69 CENTS!!! Yah, this is my pick. It will probably need some non-slip tape or something similar to keep everything else in place but other than that, perfect.

Official MyWifeSaidNo.com recommendation for iPad stand:

The only thing surprising about this case is how soon it came out. I fully expected all of the “case designers” to come out of the woodwork when the iPad was announced with their crazy ideas on what consumers want to protect their iPad but figured it would take some time for all of the “normal” case ideas to be exhausted first.

CalmCase has issued a press release announcing their new iPad case that essentially turns your tablet into a netbook by adding a built-in bluetooth keyboard. Their concept video includes Iron Man 2 footage accompanied by an ACDC soundtrack and showcases the various configurations you can contort the case into. The press release details the features such as:

BLUETOOTH® KEYBOARD
The chiclet style Bluetooth® keyboard offers a tactical feedback allowing you to compose and type quickly.

360 DEGREE CASE
The 360-degree torque hinges enable greater flexibility and fixed angles for featured modes of operation as the simple and sleek design of the ClamCase™ protects your iPad® from dents and dings.

POSITIONING STAND
Designed to enhance the iPad® experience by providing a you-decide stand with an endless combination of positions to accommodate your desired tasks.

What gets me about this case is it turns your useful and portable iPad into a bulky and cumbersome netbook. Is their really a huge demand for a physical keyboard to “get some serious work” done on the iPad? It seems to be popular because it’s NOT for serious work. Leisure computing is supposed to be easy. Assuming the price is anywhere north of the $50 mark, which it must be if it includes a bluetooth keyboard, you’re looking at a total of at least $600 when coupled with the cheapest iPad. For that amount, you can buy a pretty nice ASUS netbook or Dell Mini10.

It’s iPad 3G release day and guess what? I seem to be stalled at $13.02 worth of donations. Yay! The thought that this is actually going to work is starting to fade. Granted, my strategy of “begging for money for a luxury gadget during a recession” probably isn’t the most well thought out plan. But if I somehow manage to get enough donations from the wonderful “people of the internet” and get an iPad despite my wife’s definitive “No!”, it would be my crowning achievement.

So I’ve decided to give away a 64GB iPad 3G plus an Apple wireless keyboard as soon as my donations reach $1800 (One for me, one for you. Do the math.) Now I know what you’re thinking. “Wow, that’s really crappy seeing as how you only have $13.02 so far. I bet this giveaway never even happens.” And to that I respond, “Yes, you’re probably right. Quit squashing my iPad hopes and dreams. ”

Now, I can’t ask anyone to donate to enter the giveaway, so in order to win you just have to:

1. Follow @MyWifeSaidNo on Twitter.
2. Send out a tweet from your Twitter account with this link http://goo.gl/IVvL and the #MyWifeSaidNo hashtag included (the rest of the tweet text is up to you, but feel free to be creative! ex. “What a crappy giveaway. This will never happen. http://goo.gl/IVvL #MyWifeSaidNo).

Each tweet sent with #MyWifeSaidNo and the link included will be considered an entry into the giveaway. When (if) the donations reach $1800, a winner will be randomly selected and announced via Twitter.
Yes, this is a super lame last ditch effort but my wife said “No!” and I still want an iPad.
See Official Rules for details.

With the announcement that Hulu will launch a paid subscription service on May 24th, analyts are speculating that this means the rumored iPad Hulu app is on it’s way as well. The $9.95/month service is being called “Hulu Plus” and will give users access to additional episodes and a more comprehensive selection.

During the days leading up to the iPad launch, Hulu was one of the rumored “launch apps” but ultimately never appeared. MacRumors claimed Hulu was waiting to launch a “subscription service” before rolling out an app.

From a technical standpoint, there are a few hurdles to overcome before this happens:
1. Hulu video is Flash.
The iPad notoriously doesn’t support Flash and given recent statements from Adobe, it likely never will. Hulu could possibly offer an HTML5 version of it’s site similar to the way YouTube and Vimeo have but the question is whether or not Hulu’s underlying videos are actually h.264 encoded mp4’s or if the Flash player is merely calling Flash encoded FLV files. The problem with an HTML5 version of the site is the video no longer has the “DRM-like” quality that Flash provides. Users can easily download the mp4 sources files. Even ad them to iTunes and watch completely independent of Hulu. Most likely Hulu will need to work on some type of server side streaming solution to prevent this.
2. Ads
None of the reports on the new “Hulu Plus” service specify “ad free” video so let’s assume that ads are here to stay for Hulu. Those ads are triggered within the Flash player and are critical for Hulu to continue getting content from the “always scared of new technology” TV networks. With an HTML version of the site or a native iPad app, considerable coding will be needed to recreate the same experience. I can’t see Hulu doing double work for all videos so will they transition to an HTML5 only version?

Regardless of how they choose to deliver the content, if the app does appear, it makes yet ANOTHER compelling reason to have an iPad around as the ultimate media consumption device (iTunes, ABC, CBS, Netflix).

One thing that has been nagging me about the iPad is how I will get a connection for it (assuming I ever get one). At home it’s no issue. I’ll have WiFi always on. However, I live in the “so desperately wants to be a real city” called Orlando where ever-present WiFi is but a mere dream. Granted, I could possibly get by on Wifi at home and at the office except that the building I work in was apparently built out of left over lead shield from some pre-war era bomb shelter so there is no WiFi getting through any walls. This leaves me with the option of 3G. The ATT plans are decent. $30/month for unlimited data and $15/month for 250mb. But I don’t want to worry about turning the plans on and off as I use them and there is a certain ethical problem I have with paying ATT $30 more for unlimited data when I’m already paying that for my current iPhone 3GS. I realize I could jailbreak my iPhone to allow tethering but iPhone OS 4.0 is coming soon and I’d rather not have to rely on a hack for service.

This brings me to Sprint’s Overdrive 4G. The service is provided via a small router that gives you access to Sprint’s new 4G WiMax service. With speeds of 3 – 6 Mbps it’s a much faster solution that ATT’s 3G plans and they’ve even got a snazzy iPad specific case.

The idea of carrying around my iPad with a teeny “constant WiFi” in my case is exactly what I want. Now the bad part. It’s $60 a month and $349 for the router (although current promos take it down to $99 for a limited time). That is twice the ATT plan but if I could share the cost with coworkers/friends (5 people at $12 a pop) then it becomes the best deal for the money. Should be easy to find 4 people to chip in, right? Maybe I should just work on getting an iPad first Check out the video for more details.

One of the common complaints about the iPad (and any Apple product in their ecosystem) is the lack of video codec support. Apple restricts all their devices to various flavors of H.264 encoding and not much else. Numerous hacks are floating around the internets to allow devices like the Apple TV and iPhone to play other codecs. However, most of these get thwarted with Apple firmware updates or iTunes upgrades and have to be redone and reinstalled. The constant back and forth is not ideal and is frustrating at best. The iPad is the perfect “portable TV” device when it comes to size, comfort to hold, and battery life. But being restricted to just the iTunes store and H.264 encoding limits your viewing choices.

Thanks to the flexibility of the App Store this problem has been solved, sorta. The $3 Air Video app allows you to stream any video on your desktop straight to your iPad. You do have to install a small video server app to your desktop and have it on in order to stream your videos, but according to reviews, the quality over wi-fi is fantastic. Where the “sorta” comment comes in is that the app doesn’t actually stream ANY codec. Rather, it converts non-h.264 video on the fly using the ffmpeg library on your computer. This is a great workaround assuming your desktop can handle the conversion without choking which should be true for any 720p file but I wonder what a full 1080p Bluray rip would do.

A reader from TechCrunch has asked his girlfriend of almost 3 years to marry him using his newly purchased iPad. Zach took his girlfriend to the spot where they first met two and a half years ago and gave her headphones to listen to a slideshow he created. The slideshow was photos of them set to music with the final slide showing “Will you marry me?” Congrats to Zach, but I’m pretty sure (based on my experience) that as soon as this guy gets married, his wife will say “No!” and that iPad is going back to the store

Engadget has a great write up on a fantastic piece of hardware from China. Moonse (you like how I reference them as if you’ve heard of the brand?) has a new tablet called the E-7001. It sports a 7-inch touchscreen, runs Android 1.5, an SD card slot, built in Wi-Fi, a front-facing camera and a USB port. Not too shabby. And the rumor is it’s set to come in around $130 US. Of course, that’s if it ever really comes out. No word on availability.

The only real problem I see with this whole plan is that I’ll have a crap Chinese knock-off that does slightly more (Flash) than the iPad and my wife won’t understand my techno-babble about how it’s not really an iPad so she’ll be mad. Super.