Dragon Dictation - Dragon Search - a must have for iPad & iPhone

Dragon Dictation is an easy-to-use voice recognition application powered by Dragon® NaturallySpeaking® that allows you to easily speak and instantly see your text or email messages. In fact, it’s up to five (5) times faster than typing on the keyboard.

You can also dictate status updates directly to your Social Networking applications (Facebook and Twitter) or send notes and reminders to yourself….all using your voice.  So when you’re on-the-go, stop typing and start speaking – from short text messages to longer email messages, and anything in between.

Dragon Search translates your voice queries into text and performs a wide-ranging Web search. If you’re looking to go beyond Google, you’re in luck. The app lets you choose from a variety of search engines and other Websites including Yahoo, Bing, iTunes, Twitter, Wikipedia, YouTube, and of course, Google itself.
When you open the app, you get a simple screen with a red button. Tap the button to record your voice query. Nuance then deploys its extensive experience in speech recognition to provide an accurate set of results. In my brief testing the app had no trouble deciphering my voice.

SPE Sync Cable for iPhone and iPad

The SPE sync cable for iPhone and iPad is a affordable solution for the problem of never having enough cables handy when you need them. If you’ve ever experienced being some where and finding your iPhone at only 30% battery life and realizing that you don't have your sync cable or charger… this accessory is for you.

At only $4.95, the SPE sync cable is $14.05 less then the price of Apple’s cable. So there's no excuse now, you can get your self that extra cable or two for those occasions when you need a charge. You can always keep one with you...

http://bit.ly/ib9hzT 

Find your IP Address on a Mac

You can find your IP address from the Mac System Preferences:

• From the Apple menu pull down “System Preferences”
• Click on the “Network” preference pane
• Your IP address will be visible to the right, as indicated in the screenshot below

Your IP address is the number listed, in the above case it is 192.168.0.100

Now we’ll cover the more technical approaches to getting your IP address using the Mac OS X command line:

iOS 4.2.1 - Is Something Missing on Your iPhone?

Some users have reported an issue in which music, movies and other media are missing from the iPod app on their iPhones after the update to iOS 4.2. In this case, the iPod app will generally display the message “No Content. You can download music from iTunes,” although iTunes may show that storage space is occupied on the iPhone.

Fixes

Play a song on your iPhone in iTunes. With your iPhone connected to your computer, select it from the left-hand pane and pick one of your songs or movies, then double-click to play it. This may cause the “sync” message to briefly appear and the iPhone to once again show all media.

Turn iPhone off then on. Simply turn your iPhone off, by holding the sleep/wake button until the power slider appears then sliding it, then back on. Reconnect the iPhone to your computer and you should see a “Syncing” message followed promptly by reappearance of your media.

This is a relatively simple; after using iTunes to play a song stored on the iPhone, resyncing and opening up the iPod app again should force mobile libraries to update. 

iOS 4.2 on a iPhone 3G

My first impression of the upgrade was that it doesn't do much for the much slower 3G iPhone, but then I opened Safari and to my surprise it was like I had upgraded to a 3GS. The update did make the phone speedier when it came to tasks such as typing, scrolling, and loading Web pages.

The reports of benchmark tests show that things seem to have improved, the bottom line is how many cell phones out there that are two years old can you do a OS upgrade to and actually increase their performance. While data entry, scrolling, pinching and zooming have improved. Where I see the most gains on the iPhone 3G is in the JavaScript results.  Whatever the Safari team is doing, it is having a positive effect with each release.

We Were Right - Find My iPhone/iPad Service Now Free

The ability to locate your phone from anywhere doesn't seem like a big deal until you get that panicked feeling when it's gone.

Apple's Find My iPhone service has do just that with many iPhone owners with their lost phones, and the service is now free for all iPad owners now.

Previously, the service was a paid feature for owners that allowed them to use the iPhone's internal GPS signal to locate their lost device. It could also remotely lock the phone, display a message on it or wipe the memory. Find My iPhone still provides the same features, but now it's free.

Find My iPhone can be used through a browser or through an iOS app on another device. It works for the iPad and the fourth-generation iPod Touch as well.

Find my iPhone to be free in iOS 4.2 for current-gen devices

Find my iPhone instructions makes it clear that the service is only available for the iPhone 4, the iPad or the current (4th generation) iPod touch. 3GS, 3G and original iPhone owners are out of luck; however they can still subscribe to MobileMand get Find My iPhone as part of the paid service.

There's also a grandfather clause of sorts: if you create your Find My iPhone account on a qualified current-gen device, you can then use that same ID to enable FMI on any iOS 4.2 device, which allows you to stretch back to the 3GS, 3G and previous-gen iPod touch at least.

http://bit.ly/buxSiw

Apple’s iOS 4.2 code hints at free MobileMe accounts

"Earlier this month, we noted that the original golden master version of iOS 4.2 appeared to be preparing to allow users to sign in to MobileMe using their Apple IDs and even offer users the ability create a free Apple ID right from the MobileMe settings page in iOS.


http://bit.ly/cpX8ze 

Next-gen iPad rumored with GSM-CDMA radio

Apple is developing a new iPad with a Qualcomm multimode CDMA-GSM chips built in. This chip would allow the iPad to run on both AT&T and Verizon networks which use different wireless technology.


Rumors also indicated that the new iPad will be thinner and will have a forward-facing camera. The new iPad is to be thinner than the existing model and hogged out from one piece of metal. This may require a new type of manufacturing process, but most likely it will be similar to the company's unibody approach used in the MacBooks.


We should know soon...

iPad Tuesday Tip

iPad Soft Reset - The single most common thing people don't realize about the iPhone OS is how to perform a soft reset—which can be extremely helpful in cases when your iPad system freezes.

Just hold the top (power) and bottom front (home) button for a few seconds. Your iPad will restart. To force quit an application, just hold the home button by itself in a similar fashion.
 http://bit.ly/af3x4h 

Hide all Windows on a Mac

If you need to quickly hide all windows within a Mac OS X application, hit Command+H and all the apps windows will become hidden. You can then manually retrieve the windows of through the applications Dock icon.

Hide all windows except the currently active window.

Another great alternative is to hide all the windows on screen except for the currently active window. To do this, hit Command+Option+H at any time. This is a great trick to help focus on the task at hand.

WideMail is Back 10.6.5 - Widescreen Apple Mail Plugin

Here is the latest release of WideMail - If you haven't tried it take a look. 

Updates in this release:

• Fixed: General bug fixes.
• Change: Mac OS X 10.6.5 compatibility.

You can download the release below:

Download (1.6MB)

http://bit.ly/dhQ8oN

Tomorrow is just another day. Lets see Apple

While that phrase is pretty dramatic, the iPad ended up being the biggest hit of the year. And in true Apple fashion, it had a press conference and a year of hype to go with it. This iTunes news appears to be just an announcement posted to Apple.com, scheduled for 7 a.m. PT tomorrow morning, which begs the question: what could possibly could it be... A new MobileMe... 

iOS 4.2 Release for iPad, iPhone Delayed to Nov. 16?

The iOS 4.2 update could be delayed until at least next Tuesday, Nov. 16, according to a new report by iPhoneHellas. The new date contradicts earlier rumors that we would see the update arrive today, Nov. 12. References found in iOS 4.2 carrier bundles pointing to a Nov. 12 launch have been removed, further supporting the change of date.
http://bit.ly/cCCL2u

Preparing for & installing Mac OS X 10.6.5 update

Preparing for & installing Mac OS X 10.6.5 update - "OS X 10.6.5 will be the fifth version of a major release of OS X
http://bit.ly/cAjbup

Using the iPhone as a Cash Register

iOS credit card readers offer lower cost, more mobility, and new possibilities to small businesses.
http://ping.fm/rmvzr

MiFi Bundle w/iPad: There's the Catch

A Verizon MiFi bundled with an Apple iPad could save you big money on data plans, but if you already own an iPad or a MiFi, you out of luck.

The MiFi device, which offers 3G data access to up to five WiFi devices, can be purchased with a 5GB traffic plan for $60 per month. If you buy an iPad and MiFi bundle from Verizon, though, you will pay $10 less for the same service, which is priced at $50 per month. Also, it doesn't require a two-year commitment (same with AT&T's iPad 3G plans); just a rolling monthly service, with no termination fees.

It sounds great, right? Heavy data users will pay less per month if they use a MiFi with their iPad. Well, not so fast. According to Verizon's set of frequently asked questions (FAQ) on the deal, if you already have an iPad or a MiFi, you're not eligible for the reduced data traffic rate. Of course, you can still use an iPad with the MiFi (like you could by now), but data charges won't be less than before.

Virgin mobile on the other hand offers a 10 day 100MB 3G for $10.00 or a Unlimited MiFi 2200 for $40.00 which I think is the better choice.

Attention US iPhone users: use a standby alarm clock for now

If you live in the United States, you're probably already aware that the nation is set to switch to Standard Time on November 7, moving clocks one hour back. What you may not be aware of is that if you're using an iPhone or other iOS device as your primary alarm clock, it might not make the switch as planned -- and you could end up late to work on Monday as a result.

iOS 4 introduced a bug into how iOS devices handle the switch between Daylight Saving and Standard Time. The bug got some attention when it first hit New Zealand back in September -- when our clocks rolled forward an hour, our iOS alarms did not. Many New Zealanders woke up an hour early following the switch to DST because of this bug, myself included. The same thing happened a couple weeks later when certain Australian territories switched to DST, and Apple promised a fix.  http://bit.ly/adZovX 

My New Life without FLASH

Last week I told you about a new plug-in "ClicktoFlash" Every wonder why the web page your going to is loading slow? Install ClicktoFlash and find a new world of very fast loading web pages. What it does is simple puts in automatically a elegant looking grey backdrop where a flash movie was set to play and if you want to load it or watch it you just click it.

The project was abandoned and deleted but Johathan 'Wolf' Rentzch grabbed it and now maintains clciktoflash at Github. Wolf has updated it to include the ability to "white list" a domain (meaning that Flash will always load for pages from certain sites) or load every Flash object on a page, rather than having to click all of them separately.


If you visit YouTube you will also find that if you control-click on movies, you are given a chance to load either the Flash OR H.264 versions of movies, or open the movie in QuickTime Player, or download the H.264 version. That alone makes it a great addition to any Mac.

http://clicktoflash.com/

Google Instant Arrives on iPhone

Google Instant for mobile went live yesterday, bringing the auto-populating search results to iPhone. http://bit.ly/9J92gU

iPhoto '11 Update Brings Back Calendars

Apple News | iPhoto '11 Update Brings Back Calendars

Apple has updated iPhone '11 with the ability to create and order calendars once again.

This update adds several new print product options to iPhoto ’11. It also improves overall stability and addresses a number of other minor issues.

● Provides the ability to create and order calendars in iPhoto.

● Additional letterpress holiday greeting card themes are now available.

● Fixes an issue that prevented videos downloaded from MobileMe or Flickr from importing correctly into iPhoto events.

● The update is recommended for all users of iPhoto ’11.

You can download the update by choosing Software Update from the Apple menu at the top left of your screen.

Hulu Plus

Enjoy the full current season of popular shows anytime. Hulu Exclusive access to every episode, all season long, from ABC,NBC,CBS.
Stream episodes instanly in HD (720) to your connected TV, Blu-ray player, gaming console, set-top box, iPad , iPhone, and other devices.

http://www.hulu.com/plus

WatchonyourTV,mobiledevice,orcomputer.

Thursday 90 second Tip

Set Up Free Chat From Your Blog or Website
http://ping.fm/zyTw4

iPhone Tip for Wednesday

Every want to saving images in Safari and Mail?

Touching an image in Safari or Mail for a couple of seconds, it will present you with an action sheet which will enable you to save the image. The image will get stored in the “Saved Photos” library of the Photos app.

iPad is cinematic, elementary, academic, full-size, presenting, bought, sold, fantasy, electric.

Apple debuted its latest iPad commercial Monday night that follows the same “iPad is” theme used in previous commercials. The latest ad touts the iPad as “electric” with the AmpliTube app driving a real electric guitar.

Like previous iPad commercials, “iPad is Electric” shows off the versatility of the multimedia tablet. This latest ad uses terms like “cinematic,” “academic,” “presenting” to describe the device.

Keynote, the powerful presentation application for Mac, redesigned for iPad.
http://ping.fm/LQPeP

Turn Your I Pad Into A Presentation Device -
http://ping.fm/EblJY

GIST - View all of your Contacts

Gist. - Brings your contacts into one place.

http://ping.fm/LTB1G