Over the Christmas break I got a chance to play with the Azend Zippy BT-500 bluetooth keyboard. I went through a series of emotions about this little thing. Initially, I was not too impressed with how cheap it felt in my hands (like a dollar store toy for my daughter). Mainly, that was just because the bottom looked very toy-like to me. Then after flipping it over, I was a bit overwhelmed with all the stuff on the keys. I know it can do a lot of things but I dunno, it doesn’t really ALL need to be printed on the keys, does it? It connected extremely easily to both my iPhone & iPad and also only took a second to connect to my Mac so that was pretty cool. The bluetooth switching is what I thought was super impressive. You can connect the keyboard up to six different devices and with a quick key combo (seen in the picture above), switch back and forth between them. That’s pretty sweet!

Additionally, I know this is suppose to be an ultra lightweight, compact keyboard and that it surely is. I guess maybe my fingers are a little fat for it though as I kept hitting 2 keys at a time and missing. Other people I had try it didn’t have as many issues as I did so I’ll just chalk that one up to me. All in all, I like the keyboard but just wish it was SLIGHTLY bigger and not so plastic. It fits in my back pocket and I feel like I’m going to break it. But that’s probably just me.

The Akitio SK-3501 Super-S3 hard drive enclosure is a one stop shop for your extra storage needs. This 4-port enclosure is speedy, stackable, capable of handling drives up to 3TB and works with Mac OS 10.2 and up.

I am a huge consumer of hard drive space. Between graphic design, web projects, print, branding, UX and video editing, hard drives fill up as fast as I can buy them. I have found it a bit easier to buy JUST the HD and swap it out of an enclosure as I fill it up. The Super-S3 is perfect for just that plus it offers 4 different connection ports (2 Firewire 800, 1 eSATA & 1 USB 3.0). It’s speedy, keeps the drive cool without needing a fan and stacks with other Super-S3′s really nicely. It retails for about $100 from Amazon.com. (Just remember that you need to buy the drive too)

I don’t have a USB 3.0 or eSATA port on my MBP but the FW800 and USB 2.0 worked great (and fast). I definitely recommend this drive as an addition to your storage needs however I can’t really speak on the subject of it’s longevity as I’ve only had it for a month but it’s worked like a charm 100% of that time for me.

Last night I noticed that my MacBook Pro was acting a little strange so I decided to take it in to the Apple store for a check up. I started to go about the traditional method of booking a genius bar appointment.

> Go to Apple.com… <wait> <wait> <wait>

> Go to APPLE.COM!!

At that point I realized that my Internet was completely down, how convenient! Then I remembered that there was an Apple Store app for the iPhone. After a few seconds, I downloaded the app and was browsing for my store. In a few more seconds, I had booked my appointment and was packing up the MBP for it’s ride in the car. As I was pulling in to the parking lot of the Apple store, I got a notification asking me if I wanted to check in for my appointment. Cool! I checked in and was notified that there was 1 person in front of me (all before I even walked in the door). Once inside, I walked up to the genius bar and was promptly greeted by one of the geniuses asking “Are you Brent?” again… COOL!

We worked through several things on the MBP which turned out to be small minor issues and I was off with a much healthier Mac. Needless to say, I was incredibly impressed by the Apple Store App. It does a lot more than just what I used it for but that was just a great user experience. Here’s what Apple is saying about it:

It’s the easiest way to get an iPhone 4S – right from your current iPhone.* Wherever you are, you can research and buy products, read reviews, make Genius Bar and One to One appointments, view in-store events, and more. And when you’re in an Apple Retail Store, you can request help, meet up with a Specialist, and more.??Here’s what you can do with the Apple Store app:

• Research and buy the latest Apple products, accessories, and software and get them shipped to your door.
• When at an Apple Retail Store, request help, check in for reservations, meet up with a Specialist or Trainer.
• Make Genius Bar and One to One reservations and sign up for workshops and events.
• Get free iPad and iPod engraving and signature gift wrapping for select Apple products.
• Custom-configure a new Mac with the options you want, including larger drives and more memory.
• Reserve iPhone and other select products for pickup at an Apple Retail Store.

*Rate plans for AT&T and Verizon Wireless are available through the Apple Store app. To purchase iPhone with a Sprint plan, visit the Apple Online Store or an Apple Retail Store.

I discovered LiveView by Nicholas Zambetti. This little (free) app pairs your desktop with your iDevice of choice. By placing a little window on your desktop (zip file), you can use the app (iTunes link) to connect to your Mac and see what it will look like on the iDevice screen in (fairly) real time. It refreshes pretty quickly and even supports some touch response on your iDevice back to your Mac kinda like a mouse. So… As you can guess, this came in super handy laying over the top of my Photoshop window while I designed the interface screens and mockups. Thanks Nicholas!

Note: Mac OS X 10.5 and iOS 3.1 Required

If you know me, you’ll know that I have been a Mailplane user for ages but recently with my upgrade to OSX Lion, I switched to the good ‘ol mail.app app. Now, don’t get me wrong, I still am pretty partial to Mailplane and there’s still a chance I might switch back once I feel like I’ve given the new version of mail.app a chance. That said, I’m pretty happy with the improvements that were made in Lion. Now, I can’t make a great comparison here because I didn’t really use the other versions of mail.app, but I used them enough to not really like the feel.

To me the new version seems to function so much more like the finder windows and seems a lot more friendly. That said, I will parry with the fact that I have been using Mac OS for several years now and have gotten used to it so they may have nudged me along over the years without me realizing it. Anyway, I dig it, it’s speed and I absolutely LOVE the full screen mode. So my style there!

All that said, what do you think of the new mail.app?

There aren’t too many apps in the “Save My Life” category but Wunderlist comes pretty dang close. Once again, here’s an app that is just plain simple and yet superbly awesome at the same time. Wunderlist is a simple to-do application that allows me to sort, assign and manage my to-do items extremely easily. However, that’s only the tip of the iceberg. It’s collaboration features are stellar. I can create a list, name it accordingly (i.e. “Client Name”) and share the list with a fellow Wunderlist user. Now we both (or more than 2 of us) have the ability to create tasks, assign due dates, write notes and check tasks off when completed.

BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE!

Not only is Wunderlist completely free, in addition to it’s wicked cool web app interface, it’s also available as a free app for iPad, iPhone, Android, Windows & Mac.

WHAT?!?!?! 

I know right? ok… Anyway, it’s awesome and I use it all day every day on every device I can install it or run it on.

Recently, I started using HotGloo for my UX/Wireframing projects. Being a HUGE OmniGraffle fanboy, this was a tough switch but I was looking for something that allowed me to wireframe and ideate with my business partner Sunny at the same time. We both work together on nearly everything and it’s hard waiting on each other to make tweaks to a wireframe when only one of us can have the file open at a time. So we went searching for something to fit the collab bill and we found HotGloo!

It may not have all the nifty features as some of the other favorite wireframing solutions out there but it’s pretty dang awesome in it’s own right. Just being able to open up a browser and join Sunny in a wireframe session makes it worthwhile, but there are a lot of other features worth mentioning. One in particular is the interactions you can build in to your wireframes. You can simulate pretty closely the functions of a page or site by activating clickable areas in review mode. Then you invite your client and let them play around.

The interface is pretty sweet as well. I found it extremely intuitive and caught on to using it pretty quick. I’m still looking for some form of way to create my own symbols (that I can edit once placed on a sheet) and the way to rotate something (I’m sure I’m missing that somewhere). All in all though, this tool is serving us nicely and I look forward to getting better and better at using it.

Thanks guys for a great app! Keep it up! Follow Hotglue on twitter or facebook (and tell them I said “hi”)

Here’s some pics so you can see what it looks like:

This is not an over-complicated app by any means, but it does what it is supposed to well.  That is, displaying images from Flickr in an easy to use format.  While it works in both portrait or landscape mode, landscape will obviously give you the best experience.  This has the so-called standard layout of the menus on the left, and a large viewing area on the right of the iPad.  Whether you are displaying photos from your own gallery, groups you are a member of, or just general browsing, you can view images in either a list or gallery style.

Browsing in the gallery mode you will now have the thumbnails on the left, and a larger gallery image on the right, and clicking a button will give you the detailed view where you can add/view comments, see tags, and find the location on a map.  FlickStackr also gives you the option to open in Safari, share view e-mail, add to favorites, or send to a Stack.  Stacks are basically a favorites area where you can send photos for viewing at a later time, even off-line if you choose.

And an added bonus is that you can upload pictures to Flickr right from FlickStackr.  You still have the same options to add information to your upload as you would by uploading via the website.  All in all this is a great application for browsing (and uploading) images to Flickr.  It only costs $0.99 and it is designed for both the iPad and the iPhone.

FlickStackr (iTunes Link)