I am very much enjoying these “week in review” posts that Chris Bowler began putting together about a month ago. It’s a short list featuring some of the best posts and other cool things from the community of world-class publishers and creators found on the Fusion Ads network.
iPad vs iPad 2: RAM performance in Mobile Safari →
A side-by-side comparison of the original iPad and the iPad 2. The original had to re-load 4 of the 9 open browser pages, and all the pages showed checker-boarding when scrolling around. The iPad 2 didn’t re-load any pages and showed no checker-boarding.
As I’ve been using the iPad 2 over the weekend it’s not that there is one specific element that really stands out as the premier factor which makes the 2 better than the original. Rather, it is all these little things — the faster processor, the better graphics handling, the increased memory, the slimmer form factor — which, when added up, do their part to make the iPad 2 an altogether noticeably better device than the original.
Donate to Help Japan [iTunes Link] →
You can support the Japanese disaster relief efforts by donating to the Red Cross via iTunes. Every little bit helps, including yours. (You can donate via the official Red Cross website, here.)
Japanese Engineering →
A lot of pre-planning and brilliant engineering in Japan meant many, many lives were saved. Also, here is a
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhJzdtzl6KY) showing some of the sky-scrapers as they sway back and forth in the midst of the quake.
[Sponsor] Midori →
Midori is a Japanese dictionary app for iPad and iPhone. It is simple, easy-to-use, and yet strikingly powerful. Midori includes over 146,000 entries and 150,000 example sentences. There are multiple ways to look up words, including handwriting recognition where you can actually write down Japanese characters and it will recognize them.
Midori also comes with thousands of kanji stroke order animations, kanji lists, flashcards, and text translation. Making it the perfect app for those who want to become a master in Japanese language
The B&B Podcast, Episode 3 →
Recorded yesterday evening just after picking up some new iPads, Ben and I talk about standing in line outside our respective Apple Stores, our first impressions of the iPad 2, and more. Episode 3 is proudly sponsored by Due App and Justin Blanton.
Instapaper 3.0 →
The new and improved sharing / social feature in Instapaper is great. Before 3.0 you had to know someone’s exact Instapaper username and then subscribe to their “favorites” folder. And since Instapaper recently began requiring people to have email addresses as their username I’ve been hesitant to share mine publicly.
But now to subscribe to the articles someone likes in Instapaper you can find them much more easily if you also follow them on Twitter, Facebook, etc. (Though you will only be able find them if they have hooked their Instapaper account to their Twitter and/or Facebook accounts, etc.)
You can find my Instapaper likes via my Twitter account. I’m @shawnblanc on Twitter and if you follow me there, when you log into Twitter via Instapaper you’ll find me.
iPad 2 Release Spells a Bleak 2011 for Other Tablet Makers →
Andy Ihnatko:
I can’t come up with any reasonable scenario in which I’d recommend anything other than an iPad. “You tried it and hated it” is one reason to shop elsewhere, I suppose. Another is “Your eccentric uncle died and left you ten million dollars, on the proviso that you marry a woman named Vladimir, not buy any Apple products, and eat an entire leather sofa.”
I’m more likely to believe the second one.
Japan Earthquake Images on The Big Picture →
Devastating.
Agendas App →
Many thanks to Agendas for sponsoring the RSS feed this week. Agendas is an iPad app for meetings, and I have some co-workers that should get this app so the rest of us can benefit from it.
Agendas lets you build meeting agendas and share them with others on their iPads during your meeting. We all know that an agenda can make or break a good meeting. And I can think of two reasons why you should use Agendas for your meeting agendas: (a) it will help save the environment by not making paper copies that will just get tossed anyway; (b) it will help people pay attention instead of goofing around on their iPad while you’re trying to lead a meeting.
My iPad Home Screen on MacSparky →
David Sparks was kind enough to feature my iPad Home screen as part of his Home Screen Series. Click through to find out what I would do if I were in charge at Apple HQ.
My Diary of an iPad (1) Owner →
This was my “iPad 1 Review” from last year. And, naturally, I’ll be standing in line at the Apple store today to pick up an iPad 2.
Ben Brooks on iOS Notifications →
Let’s just say it like it is: notifications in iOS suck.
There are five things I routinely am getting notifications from: iCal alarms, reminders I set in Due, text messages, DMs from Twitter, Voicemails.
What irks me most about messages are two things:
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Text messages have to be responded to right away or else marked as read. If I want to ignore the text message so it doesn’t keep buzzing I don’t want it to be marked as read.
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iCal alarms that go off on my iPad, iPhone, and Mac at the same time. I can think of two ways to fix this: (a) the devices know when they are on the same Wi-Fi network and then just one device displays the alarm; or (b) give me the option to set a default device that is the only one that ever displays the alarm.
MacStories’ iPad 2 Review Roundup →
Links to and excerpts from all the reviews of the iPad 2 that were posted last night.