Author Archives: Michelle Lentz

Back in September, when I was refusing to even think about snow, I was sent a pair of SmarTouch gloves from Isotoner (free sample, etc). The SmarTouch gloves are one of the many types of gloves you’ll find on the market this year that allow you to use your touchscreen device without freezing your fingers off. I wasn’t immediately blown away, mostly because it was still in the 80 degree range in Cincinnati and because they are a terrible teal color. I sort of filed the gloves away for later use.

Thanksgiving arrived and we headed north to Chicago to visit family. On a whim, I took the Isotoner SmarTouch gloves with me. After all, it was cold in Cincinnati, but freezing in Chicago. The gloves work. I had no problem keeping the gloves on and using my HTC Incredible (touchscreen) or my husband’s iPhone. I had to slow my typing a bit, as the gloves are larger than just my bare hands, but they certainly worked without a problem.

Some of the gloves you’ll see on the market have small metallic receptors sewn in – I’m not completely sure what happens when you need to clean those gloves. The Isotoners are completely washable, which is good. They work because they have conductive threads embroidered on teh index fingers and thumbs. The threads convey electrical impulses to the touchscreen.

The Isotoner SmarTouch gloves are available in men’s and women’s styles. I’ve seen them on-sale a lot locally, considering that it’s 23 degrees in Ohio now. Are they warm? Well, they aren’t the warmest gloves I own, nor are they as warm as any of my leather gloves, which is really what I prefer. (If someone makes leather touchscreen compatible gloves, please let me know!) On the other hand, they certainly beat fingerless gloves when it’s 23 degree out. The gloves worked well enough that I actually purchased a grey pair, which I find much more practical than teal.

Isotoner is also running a “Give the Gift of Touch” sweepstakes in which you and a friend can win a pair of gloves and an iPad. All you have to do is send a friend a virtual pair of smarTouch™ gloves on Facebook. If they click on the gift, both are entered to win.

SmarTouch gloves are available at most major department stores and online. They retail for around $40 but always seem to be on sale for around $19.99 – $25.

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Cheers!
Tweet Michelle @writetechnology, send her technology news at michelle[at]writetech[dot]net, visit her wine blog when you’re thirsty, and drop by one of her day jobs.

I woke up this morning to an NPR article on an artist in Paris. David Hockney, a 73-year old, has just opened a new gallery exhibition called Fresh Flowers. He means really fresh … all of the art was created on iPads and/or iPhones using an app called Brushes.  He occasionally emails new paintings or updates to the displayed images. Once the exhibition is over, the paintings will be gone for good. Like real fresh flowers, digital art is apparently only temporary.

Image: "Untitled, 10 July 2010" by David Hockney via NPR

So that came to mind when I received a press release about Art Rage, a new app available for the iPad. I haven’t downloaded it yet, but I’m told it lets you become a mobile digital artist, “painting digitally on an iPad canvas with oil paints that smear and blend, and watercolors that flow together to create soft, wet gradations, just as they would in a traditional art studio.”  ArtRage sponsored “Future Canvas,” in San Francisco a few days ago – an art event dedicated to iPad art.

ArtRage for iPad: Nelson's StarWars Boy

Features of Art Rage include

• Printing support: Print your images via AirPrint (assuming you have one of the few printers with which AirPrint works).
• User definable canvas sizing: Create new files at any size up to 1440 x 1440.
• Quick Access Color Sampling: Access color sampling via simple toggle switch.
• Zoom Level: Precise zoom level is indicated while you zoom.
• User Interface Enhancements: Includes current preset highlights and other visual feedback.

Coming in at $6.99, ArtRage is also less expensive than I would have thought, considering I often end up paying $9.99 for an iPad app.  Additionally, there are desktop versions for both Mac & PC that have more features, but really … the idea of creating great art with my fingertips – like fingerpainting – is way more exciting than using my PC.

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Tweet Michelle @writetechnology, send her technology news at michelle[at]writetech[dot]net, visit her wine blog when you’re thirsty, and drop by one of her day jobs.

I hate doing taxes to such an extent that for the second year in a row, I’ve filed an extension. Most of this has to do with the fact that I start out organized each year, and then all my receipts, etc, deteriorate into stacks of paper everywhere. I hate paper.

While I was getting my taxes together a couple months back to take to the accountant, I had a brilliant idea. I needed a portable scanner. If I can just scan my receipts and save them out to my Evernote Receipts notebook, I’m set. Everything then is digital and searchable – just the way I like it. So I started pricing portable scanners.

There are some neat ones out there, but they were all a little out of my price range. Then I stumbled upon Doxie.

Doxie is small and comes with a carrying case. It has only one cable – a USB cable that connects it to your Mac OR PC and also provides the power. Yes, it’s a cute scanner, with the little hearts, but it also comes with skins in case it’s a little TOO cutesy for you. Personally, I like the hearts. Even the required software is rather sassy.

Shortly after receiving my Doxie, I started scanning in all my travel receipts from the front half of 2010. True to my nature, they were scattered everywhere in my office (and I may not have found them all yet). Now, however, they are all scanned in as PDFs and Doxie immediately sent the PDFs to my Evernote.

One of the neatest things about Doxie is its ability to share instantly to the app of your choice – including the ones in the Cloud. If I’m scanning in photos, I can send them to iPhoto or one of my Flickr accounts. I can even send it to Doxie’s cloud hosting service, where it will create a condensed URL for me and send that to Twitter. It also scans out to Google Docs (which I use extensively), to Scrib’d, Picasa, and to Acrobat and Evernote locally (amongst others).

It was a speedy scanner, getting me through 5 months of receipts in around 2 hours, including my various digging, finding, and organizing in that time period. It takes up to 8×11 or A4 and as small as a business card. It required a download of software, which I liked because that gave me the latest and great version.

In fact, the only downside to Doxie that I can find right now is that it does have to plug in via USB. Some of the more expensive versions are self-sufficient, but USB is a small price to pay for, well, a small price.  Of course, the USB thing (and the need for specific software) does preclude me from using the Doxie with my iPad.

Doxie fits in several of my purses, and definitely my various pieces of carry-on luggage. Since acquiring the Doxie, I’ve carried it with me on multiple business trips. If I have a laptop with me, then I grab a point during each trip to scan in my receipts. Maybe next year, doing my taxes won’t be quite as painful. If I’ve just carried the iPad however, then I can’t bring the Doxie.

Doxie costs $129 and is available only on the Doxie web site.

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Cheers!
Tweet Michelle @writetechnology, send her technology news at michelle[at]writetech[dot]net, visit her wine blog when you’re thirsty, and drop by one of her day jobs.

I make no secret that I’m a fan of Verizon’s Android phone line – and I appreciate that they let me test out a lot of the gadgets. However, I get a lot of questions about the NAME. I spent 30 minutes once explaining to someone the difference between their HTC Hero Android phone and a Verizon Droid Eris – all due to naming. So Verizon, I may really like your stuff – but I question the naming convention you’ve gotten yourself into.

So here goes …

Droid is a product line of Android (Google) operating system phones from Verizon. If it’s not from Verizon, it may indeed be an Android OS, but it’s not a Droid. For instance, the Sprint EVO and Hero are both running Android OS. However, they are not Droids. A Droid phone has to be Verizon and run Android OS, but can be made by anyone. Right now, Verizon has good relationships with Motorola and HTC.

To make things slightly more confusing, the first phone released in the Verizon Droid line of phones was … the Motorola Droid. Yeah, I know. It’s basically the Droid Droid.

Verizon also has the HTC Droid Eris, the HTC Droid Incredible, the Motorola Droid X, and the Motorola Droid 2. I think the Motorola Droid Devour is still available as well. Where does it get really confusing? Well, I’m not exactly sure where the Android-based LG Ally falls. Is it a Droid or just an LG?

So, is your T-Mobile MyTouch a Droid? Nope, it’s an Android phone. Is your original Motorola Droid a Droid? Yep, because it’s from Verizon.

I know this seems a bit simplistic, but the amount of times I’m asked this question is a bit out of control. So when you see those Droid Does commercials from Verizon, just remember that even if your Android phone isn’t a Droid, it still probably does a lot of what the ad mentions. In my opinion, apps really help make a phone, and those are available to all Androids.

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Cheers!
Tweet Michelle @writetechnology, send her technology news at michelle[at]writetech[dot]net, visit her wine blog when you’re thirsty, and drop by one of her day jobs.

Have you ever had the sort of summer where everything gets away from you? That has been my summer. Back in early July, the good folks at Verizon sent me a Droid X to play with. I realized this morning that almost two months later, I still have it. They’ve been very patient with me considering that it had completely slipped my mind.

So, what do I think of the Droid X? Well, it’s a great phone. It’s also a big phone, so I won’t be trading in my HTC Incredible just yet. I need something that fits in my pockets a little more comfortably. But if you’re into bigger is better, you may absolutely love the Droid X.

Thin form, with a bump at the top to support the camera

The Droid X is everything the original Droid (it hasn’t even been a year) should have been. The keyboard, while virtual, I found extremely easy to use. It supports Swype and while I didn’t intentionally use Swype, it certainly typed easier than even my Incredible. It could just be the form factor – no matter which way you turn it, the Droid X has a huge screen.  It’s a 4.3″ FWVGA 854 x 480 resolution screen. It’s crisp and instantly responsive. Putting numbers aside, things just look pretty on the Droid X screen. It’s closest comparison would be the Sprint EVO, which has a slightly thinner, shorter form factor.

There are aspects of Motorola’s MotoBlur integrated into the Droid X, mostly apparent through a few apps and widgets. For the most part, the Droid X is pure Android though. If you’re familiar with HTC’s Sense UI for Android, then you know how different a UI can make this OS. Whatever parts of MotoBlur they added to the X, it’s few and far between. In fact, I’ve gotten so accustomed to the Sense UI, that it could be one reason I wasn’t bowled over by the Droid X.

Over the last 6 months or so, I’ve adjusted to the fact that physical buttons on phones may actually be a thing of the past. A while back, one of my favorite things about the Droid Eris was that the buttons were actually physical. There was a button for home, back, Phone, and so on. The Droid X picks up on this, with buttons for Settings, Home, Back, and Search. While the keyboard is virtual, the physical buttons are a nice switch.

With heavy usage, I’ve gotten one day of battery life out of the Droid X, which pummels my Incredible (for which I always carry a backup battery).  The most draining things on the Droid X battery are using the GPS for actual navigation and using the built-in mi-fi-like 3G Mobile Hotspot. While I believe it requires an extra plan from Verizon, you can easily replace your mi-fi or broadband stick with this feature. Running a test while traveling in Chicago, my husband and I hooked up a netbook, iPad, and full laptop to the Droid X signal and had great service.

The Droid X is a speedy machine, and I would expect nothing less. I laugh a lot about the specs of the new “super” phones. Years ago I had one of the first iBooks (in orange, with a handle). These phones at least triple the specs of that machine, if not more. The Droid X has 8 GB onboard memory, 16 GB microSD pre-installed, and supports up to 32 GB micro SD – total memory expandable up to 40 GB. It has a 1 Ghz ARMv7 processor.  Speedy. I sometimes look at my old/current MacBook Pro and think, “My phone might be faster than you.”

It has an 8 mp camera that works as fast as the camera in my Incredible. I turned my husband loose with the Droid X while we were on a Frank Lloyd Wright Walking Tour in Chicago and he got some great shots with bright colors. I find the camera button to be a bit stiff, but apparently its just a matter of personal adjustment. There is an HDMI out port on the device as well, which I didn’t get a chance to test. Note that an HDMI cable is not included in the box.

Photo taken with DroidX

As far as call quality, with and without Google Voice, I had great quality and no dropped calls. I had no trouble hearing anyone and they were able to hear me without any issue.

Overall, the Droid X is a great device. I hesitate to use the word “phone” anymore, as these devices are really uber-portable computers. I already have several friends who ordered the Droid X as quickly as I ordered the Incredible. While it’s certainly not the device for me, due to size and my apparent attachment to HTC’s Sense, it’s certainly a great addition to the Verizon Droid line.

It looks as if the latest batch of Droid X devices will be shipping by August 31. With a two-year contract, the Droid X retails for $199.

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Cheers!
Tweet Michelle @writetechnology, send her technology news at michelle[at]writetech[dot]net, visit her wine blog when you’re thirsty, and drop by one of her day jobs.