FlyThru Laptop bag from Belkin review

The Transportation Security Administration (you know, the TSA folks at the airport that ask you to throw out your shaving cream, take off your shoes and take your laptop out of your carry-on bag) has come up with Checkpoint Friendly Laptop bag rules.

One that I've seen reviewed is Belkin's FlyThru bag.  It looks like a nice design.  The laptop section unzips (not completely) so that it can 'butterfly' flat on the scanning belt.  The laptop section has a clear screen so that the TSA folks won't have any question about what's inside.  And I've read that the metal zippers won't interfere with the x-ray scan.  

The price doesn't sound too bad ($59.99 list price, or $42.80 at the PC Connection website).  I'm not sure when it will be available.  PC Connection's site says to call for availability, and Circuit City says it's to be released December 8, 2008.  (Anyone else nervous about buying anything from Circuit City?  I believe their days as a retailer are numbered!)

Anyway, if I end up getting one, I'll update this post with an actual hands-on review of the product.  If anyone else has got their hands on one, let us know what you think!

TinyURL.com

Ever wanted to share a website address with someone, but the address is some huge string of characters no one would ever be able to remember?  Like my URL for my photography blog: http://windycitycameraphile.blogspot.com.  Now that's a lot to remember.

Well, you can go to TinyURL.com and assign a shorter, easier to remember name for your site.  When you type in the TinyURL address, it directs you to the site!  I did this and gave my photo blog site the address http://TinyURL.com/chicagomike.  Try this with sites you go to all the time that have long, hard to remember URLs.

G1 phones are now here! The T-Mobile G1

Went to 'google' something today and noticed that the G1 phones are now on sale. Is this the iPhone killer? The Gadget lab crew from Wired magazine has a review on YouTube here. Anyone out there have one? Tell us what you think! Is it as good or better than the iPhone?

The interesting thing to me is that Google developed the Android software, but it seems that they are not in the business to sell phones, but instead to provide a portal to the internet (and to their advertising) on the cell phone network. So although they are competing with Apple's iPhone, it seems that they have a different motivation. Not sure what that all means...

New MacBooks to come out today!

I can't wait to see what the Geniuses at Cupertino have up their sleeve for us. I've been looking at the MacBook Pro laptops for use with digital photography, but have delayed the purchase pending the new ones to come out today. Both Mac Rumors and AppleInsider are rampant with "leaked" photos of the aluminum laptop cases, and speculation as to what ports will be available on each model. There are also guesses as to the various price points. It's funny, with only a few hours before Apple's presentation, people are racing to guess what will be unveiled!

Apple has done a good job keeping the announcements mysterious, letting the fans whip themselves into a frenzy, waiting for the next big thing! Well, I hope Apple doesn't disappoint! Click here to follow along this morning!

Update: Post Announcement

Well, the improved graphics on the MacBook Pro looks impressive (2.3 X faster graphics processing when using discrete NVIDIA 9600M GT processor), but I'm wondering if the glossy display will work best for digital photography. Some feel that the colors are saturated, and are not a good representation of the photo. Others claim that the glossy display is the only way to go. Photographers, Graphic Artists... anyone have an opinion? Post a comment!

Update

The glossy screen scares me. I ordered the previous version MacBook Pro 15", 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM, 200GB HD on sale from MacMall for $1449 (after $150 mail in rebate) and upgraded the RAM to 4 GB with memory from Crucial. So far so good! My wife commented the other night on how beautiful the screen is! I know, the new version is supposed to have greatly improved graphics, and a unibody carved from a 5 lb block of aluminum... but I just can't get over the glossy screen! And saving $550 didn't hurt either!!

Anyone get the new one? What do you think of it so far?

Moving music from iPod back to iTunes: PodWorks Review

Well, I just had my Western Digital My Book Pro Edition 500GB external hard drive crash. I had loaded somewhere between 200 and 300 GB of music onto my iTunes library. The good news is the drive was under warranty, the bad news is the drive is in no condition to recover the data, without sending it to a third party service. The fee for some of these companies start at $500!

I did a Google search to see how I could at least send the approximately 40 GB of music (and luckily 95% of my purchased iTunes) from my old iPod back to my (replacement) hard drive. One site said to download the free TinkerTools so that you could open the hidden iPod_Control->Music folder on the iPod. This worked, but it was very confusing what to do once I got to this point. I clumsily moved the entire Music folder onto the hard drive, and followed the next few steps to clean up the mess of music, but didn't have much luck.

Today I read about a few software packages (some free, others at a small fee for the full version) that would assist me moving my music back where it belongs. Senuti (itunes backwards) moves your music back to your computer, and it's free. The next one I read about was PodWorks, which got good reviews, and was supposed to prevent duplicating songs in your iTunes library. They allow you to use it free for 30 days and up to 250 song transfers. I figured for $8 I would splurge (especially since I want to move around 2,700 songs) and buy the full version. It was very simple to pay for and download online.

So far it couldn't be simpler! I clicked on my iPod name, and then clicked on Send All to iTunes and let it do it's thing. The version I downloaded was 2.9.3. I was going to see if folks compared Senuti to PodWorks, but didn't want to spend too much time agonizing over an $8 piece of software that got generally positive feedback. I would be interested to hear other folk's experience with moving their music back onto their computer, since Apple kind of planned for this to be a one-way flow of data (mostly to prevent folks from sharing their library with all of their friends for free).

iPhone 2.0.2 firmware upgrade

I uploaded the latest system software for the phone Friday. If you let it backup the iPhone, it takes hours! Anyway, wondering if I really see much difference in the performance. The iTunes site doesn't say specifically what this upgrade is supposed to fix, other than 'bugs.' Has anyone else noticed a big difference in their 3G phone performance since uploading the 2.0.2 firmware? Post a comment, I'd be interested to hear!

Here is what Scott Kleinberg at iPhone, Therefore I blog says about his experience with 2.0.2 after 24 hours. Not impressed!

3G iPhone Review... anyone have any killer apps downloaded?

Well, the Mrs said to me on July 12 "want to get an iPhone?" I yelled "YES!" on my way out the door, headed to the Apple Store on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Never mind that we had a sitter, and were supposed to go out and celebrate our anniversary! She is the nicest wife ever, by the way. Now last year, her and I just happened to be on Michigan Avenue walking around the day after the first generation iPhone went on sale. I had a neighbor that waited all day to get his, so I surprised to find out that they were not out of them, and anyone could buy one without any line. I guess at $599, the market thins out quickly.

No such luck on July 12; I waited 3 hours and 20 minutes before being helped by a helpful and friendly fellow at the Genius Bar. While waiting in line, we all had plenty to talk about. I met a nice woman named Mabeline, and a student in town for an internship (I'm so bad with names, I swear I forgot his name the second he told me). The one thing I can't figure out to this day is why everyone thought the phone was so much cheaper. When adding back in the extra $10 per month AT&T charges for the data plan, the total cost of ownership is actually more! I guess people feel the immediate pain of the cost of the phone, and rationalize the later stream of payments for the service plan.

So I love the phone! I think Hunter said it best:

If you need a phone, get a Nokia.

If you need a laptop, get a Dell.

If you need road-warrior-level email, get a BlackBerry.

If you need a portable entertainment device get a Sony PSP or Nintendo DS.

If you need directions, get a Garmin.

If you need an MP3 player, get ... well, get an iPod Touch.

If you need all of these, get an iPhone. It does none of above perfectly. It does all of the above sufficiently well to deserve its hype and status. I paid full price last August, and was thrilled. When the 2.0 software came out, I went from "thrilled" to "smitten." I honestly don't think I could go back to anything else.

The only thing I might change is for the laptop, get a MacBook Pro! I recently got the Garmin 60CSx, and it is a much more powerful GPS tool. And until now, I've always bought Nokia cell phones: they just work!

I never had the first generation iPhone to compare to, but I do feel that if you use the Safari browser, the GPS, or any app utilizing the web for any length of time, your battery drains fairly quickly. My Palm TX has the same issue when using the Wi-Fi browser for any length of time.

Since getting the phone, I've been downloading lots of apps from the App Store. I looked today, and I've got 75 on my phone!

Here are some of my favorites: NYTimes Reader - very nice reader for New York Times articles (the paper of reckoning-according to the movie Quiz Show). Free

MLB.com At Bat - Great for checking up on your team (brings your team to the top of all games for the day). And you can watch cool video clips of big plays of the game. The quality is very nice if you have Wi-Fi connectivity, but wish it were as good over 3G. Couldn't they just let you wait a little longer for the file to load? $4.99

AOL Radio and Tuner - AOL Radio finds radio stations across the country. However I found out that if you want to tune into a baseball game on the local AM station, there must be some sort of backout agreement. Both times I tried, the station was playing another program other than the baseball game, even though if you grabbed an AM radio you would have caught the game. Tuner, by Nullriver, Inc, is an application that allows you to play internet radio stations through your iPhone. It has over 500 stations, and if you know of one that's not listed, enter the URL and add it! I downloaded it today, hooked it up to my desk speakers, and streamed classical music for hours! But it seemed to drain the battery faster than it could charge using the AC plug. Not sure if anyone else has experienced this issue. Maybe it wasn't tested to run all day?
AOL Radio - Free, Tuner - $5.99

Things - A GTD (Getting Things Done) type of organizer. Their latest upgrade is supposed to sync your tasks with your desktop. I haven't tested this yet. I like having all my To Dos in one place, and this app lets you schedule tasks and create projects. It's a little expensive relative to other apps, but if it can increase your productivity, I figure it's well worth 10 bucks! $9.99

My Lists - A nice little program for keeping all sorts of lists: grocery, movies, music, books, To Do, etc. You can assign a little icon to each list, and even email the list! Nice to have this all in one place! $1.99

Moonlight Mahjong Lite - An addictive 3D puzzle game that involves removing pairs of tiles. You can move the board, spin in 3 dimensions, zoom in and out. My favorite game downloaded so far! Free!

Shazam - I don't know how it works, but start it up and hold it next to the radio. It will sample the music, and 5 or 10 seconds later tell you the song, artist and album. I've tried it a few times and it works! Free

midomi - Similar to Shazam, but you sing or hum a song. I've tried this out and it figured out my rendition of Deep Purple's Smoke on the Water! Free

Hey, what are your favorite apps? Do you have any killer apps you think everyone should have? Send a comment and let us know! I'm sure people would be interested to hear about your experiences.

Update

Facebook - An iPhone tailored interface to your Facebook page, it makes keeping in contact with your friends so easy! If you have a Facebook page, you need to try this one. I think you'll like it! Free