The biggest two parts of my professional life center around my work in the theatre and writing for GottaBeMobile. I love writing, producing, and directing plays and I’m just as passionate about blogging about mobile tech and all that goes along with that.Occasionally those two life streams connect.

Well, occasionally isn’t really accurate as I blog quite a bit about how I use mobile technology to help with my work at Wayside Theatre. What I really meant to say is that occasionally and App or a gadget crops up that is specifically tailored to life in the theatre. In this case that’s the iPhone App, iPerform.

ProTalent Software’s iPerform is targeted at actors. I’m not an actor anymore, I gave that up long ago. But I spend my days and nights working with them and also feeling their pain when it comes to getting work. The maxim is that an actor’s job is really about getting the next job.

Sure it’s hard work rehearsing and preparing a role in a play or film, but until someone gives the gig, you’re on your own. Trust me, there are far more actors out of work at any given moment than there are trodding the boards. A big part of getting that job is keeping up with the nitty gritty details about auditions, theatres, casting directors, and who’s doing what, where, when and how. The other maxim that “it’s about who you know” is also true.

Many actors are really good at this, but an equal number happen to just sail through life scoring job after job without paying attention to the details. Those that have to work at it despise those who don’t seem to need to. But for most, the details do matter.

iPerform lets actors build and manage lists of contacts and the information necessary to get work, and carry that info around with them. It interfaces and syncs up with the online service iPerform. You can have a collection of your headshots (the actors calling card) stored on your iPhone broken down into categories for commercial work vs theatre headshots.

You can carry around a list of your audition clothes with you so you can plan on what to wear at that audition you have to attend tomorrow morning at 8am when you’re on your dinner break the night before. There’s a calendar function for you to keep all those appointments handy and you can have text or email reminders ping you when needed.

You can keep track of your finances, receipts and mileage for tax purposes, vendors you might deal with, theatres and who your contact is there, you name it. You can create invoices and use the App to get travel directions to your next audition or appointment. There are multiple categories covering all aspects of the business.

Of course you need to enter all that data in, but that is a part of the organization process.When an actor is standing in line early in the morning for a cattle call audition it can make that time even more productive as you can use that waiting period to keep your info up to date.

There’s even a social network component called Talkup. You register for the service and you can share your info, etc.. with other actors. This can sync up with Facebook as well. Finding out about what auditions are coming up is always a game and occasionally a science. By the time info is published info about an audition the smart actors already know about it via the grapevine and have been working to get a slot.

All in all, iPerform looks like a great way to help make the actors life a little easier as they go about the grueling task of trying to get work in the profession that they love. It can also be used on the iPad but there isn’t a specific iPad version as of yet. iPerform costs $5.99.

Patently Apple has put together an analysis of a patent Apple filed in Europe that describes a system for Macs to convert between their standard configurations and touch-centric configurations. PA believes it will switch automatically between Mac OS X and iOS. I’m not so sure.

The patent was published a while ago in January by the World Intellectual Property Organization under the patent name “Transitioning between Modes of Input”. True to its name, the patent does describe and demonstrate how an iMac and Macbook would switch between their usual configurations and more horizontal configurations better suited for touch input.

To switch to touch mode, the iMac screen would pivot upward and forward to bring it closer to the user. The Macbook description lists, as an example not as the design to be patented, a system identical to convertible notebooks/Tablet PCs.

In both cases, the conversion is described as changing from a high-resolution user interface, like the current Mac OS X, to a zoomed-in, low-resolution one suitable for touch input.

While the idea of a convertible notebook is hardly novel, the conversion described for the iMac appears to offer a wide range of screen angles, addressing an issue we regularly bring up when looking at touchscreen all-in-ones.

If Apple gets these designs to market, it would be a big boost for touchscreen input and could get people to stop looking weirdly at our convertible notebooks and Tablet PCs (though we should be ready to cringe at the words “Oh, just like the new Macbook”).

However, I cannot find any mention in the patent of the switching between operating systems that Patently Apple believes is in here. The description primarily points to a system that zooms in on the focus window and drops elements that are not suitable for a touch-centric UI when converted to touch mode.

The ability to pull down the menu bar in touch mode (shown at right), an element that does not normally exist in iOS, is specifically mentioned. While it is possible that Apple could release a Mac that can run Mac OS X and iOS, that is not what is described in the patent.

Regardless, commenters in the past have brought up the notion of a dual-mode OS that can switch between a desktop-based UI and a tablet-based one, and the idea was met mostly with enthusiasm (I’m all for it).

The patent also mentions external access to the system that can trigger the UI switch, which would make it easier to remote control your Mac via an iOS device or vice versa. What’s in the patent appears to be worth pursuing, but I don’t believe a dual-OS Mac is in there.

Dell’s Aero Android smartphone is available starting today at Dell.com/mobile for $99.99 with a two year contract after a $200 AT&T subsidy. Dell is touting the Aero’s multimedia and social networking prowess. The Aero ships with Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and QuickOffice, which allows users to view and edit Office docs and PDFs.

The Dell Aero is the latest mobile device to use Corning’s Gorilla Glass.

Here is a video run through of the Dell Aero’s basic functions.

Dell Aero Android-Powered Smartphone

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DELL AERO FEATURES:

• One of the lightest Android smartphones in the U.S., on the nation’s fastest mobile broadband network
• Experience YouTube and other Flash content in nHD
• 5-megapixel camera with 8x zoom, flash, dedicated camera key and advanced shooting and editing capabilities
• Multi-task with GPS, plus hands-free conversations
• Wi-Fi access at more than 20,000 AT&T Wi-Fi hotspots with qualifying AT&T service plan

DELL AERO SPECIFICATIONS:

• Android platform complete with Android Market and Dell user interface enhancements
• 3.5-inch (640 x 360p) capacitive multi-touch display with pinch-to-zoom functionality
• Quad-Band GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)
• Tri-Band UMTS/HSDPA (850/1900/2100 MHz)
• WiFi + Bluetooth
• 2 GB* on board user accessible Micro SD with expandable memory available up to 32 GB*
• Full HTML Browser with Adobe Flashlite
• GPS/A-GPS navigation
• POP, IMAP, Webmail and Microsoft Active Sync E-mail

HP’s webOS powered tablet will be launching early 2011, the company has confirmed.

Ending months of speculation as to when the rumoured device will be landing, the company made the confirmation in an investor call saying it would release “a webOS-based product in Early 2011″. The news comes on the back of the company’s third quarter earning results that showed a net revenue of $30.7 billion, up 11.4 per cent, or $3.1 billion, from a year earlier.

The news is likely to please Palm fans as well as investors keen to let HP’s Personal Systems Group, which looks after laptop, netbook and desktops, keep performing. HP says notebook revenue for the quarter was up 10 per cent, while desktop revenue increased 27 per cent. With a Q1 launch we expect the company to announce the new Palm tablet at CES 2011.

After it was rumored that HP’s Todd Bradley had told employees that their new webOS tablet would arrive in Q1 2011, we were all wondering when the company would confirm this release date and it looks like we have it.

Finally going on record, Bradley has confirmed that the webOS tablet will reach the gadget market in early 2011. “You’ll see us with a Microsoft product out in the near future and a webOS-based product in early 2011,” Bradley revealed to investors in a recent meeting.

Well, there’s something else to celebrate in early 2011, let’s just hope HP can deliver!

SEOUL, Korea – Korea HP (Representative Steven Gill, www.hp.co.kr) proclaimed to release a high quality notebook ‘ENVY17′ today (23rd).

HP ‘ENVY17′ is loaded with a 1GB DDR5 video memory and ATI Mobility RadeonTM HD 5850 graphic. The Full HD LED display applied with HP’s ultra-bright view technology provides HD video playing and great gaming environment that consumers can enjoy more visually through a 18:9 widescreen.

It also provides a multi display function ‘Wrap Around’, through Eyefinity technology. Through this function, customers can enjoy a more visual video clip in a wide work environment where 3 computers can be connected at the maximum. It also shows magnificence in transforming video clips using ATI Stream technology.

‘ENVY17′ provides a 2TB saving space and can save data safely using the HP ProtectSmart function. To add, the intel quad core processor i7-820, the intel hyper threading technology that supports two times the function of the number of cores, and the Turbo booster technology that automatically controls the processor speed depending on the work load, all makes up the best computing environment that has ever existed, fit for all works, from photo editing to playing games.

Director Dae Hwan Kim of Korea HP Personal System group said, “HP’s ENVY 17 to be released soon is like a jack-of-all-trades notebook with remarkable functions that is like no other”, and that “the perfect product ENVY17 does not lack anything at all and will give big satisfaction to customers no matter what use they use the product is put to”.

ENVY17 is planning to introduce the product live-on through twitter so that consumers can understand the product’s functions such as Eyefinity, more easily.

]]> http://folu.org/hp-proclaimed-to-release-a-high-quality-notebook-envy-17-today-provides-a-2tb-hd-and-intel-quad-core-processor-i7-820.html/feed 0 http://folu.org/worried-about-leaving-your-home-create-a-surveillance-system-and-monitor-them-using-the-mobiscope.html http://folu.org/worried-about-leaving-your-home-create-a-surveillance-system-and-monitor-them-using-the-mobiscope.html#comments Tue, 24 Aug 2010 07:04:16 +0000 http://folu.org/?p=758

Ever feel the prying urge to know what’s going on inside your home when you leave your teenage son all alone for the weekend? Or just to check up on that sketchy baby sitter that you suspect is engaged in the larceny of your video game collection? How about just to watch public accessible surveillance cameras around the world for your own kicks? Whatever your fancy, Mobiscope wants to give it you. In real time. On your smartphone.

While the home surveillance technology is not new by any means, Mobiscope gives wannabe spies on a budget a great way to start. All that you need to begin your snoop-tastic adventure is a simple web camera, and the Mobiscope app installed on your smartphone.

If one camera isn’t enough, you can access up to four well placed camera feeds at one time! The mobile app allows you to check up in real time what is going on in your home, or someone else’s (hey, no judgement here!). Spying can be hard, and Mobiscope knows this. That’s why the app lends you the ability to send an alert to your smart device when motion is detected so you don’t miss a beat! What’s more, the video feed can be recorded and viewed in real time with sound on the desktop edition, and on BlackBerry.

This app will run iPhone users just $9.99, while Windows, Palm, Android, and BlackBerry users will have to fork over $19.95. If spying is the name of your game, then you will definitely want to equip yourself with this little stealthy on-the-go gem.

The good folks over at The Omni Group make what many consider to be the definitive GTD and task management app out there in OmniFocus. We use it with great regularity on the Mac desktop, and snapped it up immediately as soon as OmniFocus for iPhone was released. When the iPad launched, the one app that we knew we wanted was a native OmniFocus client.

The Omni Group said they’d release it when it was done, opting to go feature complete rather than releasing a bare bones version and updating it incrementally with new features. Well, today OmniFocus for iPad launched, and we’ve gotta say, it’s impressive.

Like OmniFocus on iPhone, the app is location-aware, meaning that you can have it tell you what tasks on your list can be completed nearby, wherever you are. New to the app are a new streamlined task review mode, a Map feature, task forcasting, and more. Here’s the main feature list:

• Quick Entry for fast, easy task capture
• Task inbox where items can be stored for future processing
• Detailed task options like start and due dates, repeating schedules, and audio note and photo attachments
• Organize tasks into projects and folders, with as much hierarchy as is needed
• Categorize and view tasks by contexts, or work modes (ie, “Phone” for all phone call-related to-dos)
• Subtasks, for breaking large tasks into manageable steps
• Built-in search for locating any task in your database
• Cloud sync: synchronize with OmniFocus for Mac and OmniFocus for iPhone
• Location-based contexts: the Map makes it easy to generate and view tasks based on current or assigned locations
• Forecasts: see a weekly or daily view of all due tasks
• Built-in reviewing that helps you stay current on all your projects

The app sells for $39.99, so it definitely isn’t an impulse buy. However, if you are looking for an app that will keep you on top of everything in your work and home life, and sync between iPad, iPhone, and Mac desktop, we can’t recommend OmniFocus enough. It’s available now in the App Store.

Hey, all you iPad-owning parents out there, if you are looking for a children’s storybook that does more than just read aloud to your kids, you’ve gotta check out Bartleby’s Book of Buttons Vol. 1: The Far Away Island. What makes this different enough to warrant our excitement? Well, we’ve been playing with it since it’s been in beta, and it’s just fun for kids…and to be honest, even fun for an adult to go through once or twice.

It’s a case study for how you can take books, and do them differently on the iPad, providing a fun, interactive experience for kids and parents to share together. Each chapter of the book is a puzzle that follows the story, but to get to the next chapter, you must first solve the puzzle. Each puzzle that you solve “unlocks” that chapter in the table of contents, so you can skip to any unlocked chapter from the beginning.

The puzzles aren’t hard, but for a little child it might take them a minute or two of playing with the page to figure it out, which is great to see. We’ve got a Bartleby Book of Buttons gallery that shows you a page from each chapter, to give you an idea of what we mean. But seriously, if you have a child between the ages of, say, 5-10, we don’t see how you can go wrong. Bartleby’s Book of Buttons Vol. 1 is available now on the App Store for $4.99.

]]> http://folu.org/bartleby%e2%80%99s-book-of-buttons-a-case-study-for-how-you-can-take-books-and-do-them-differently-now-available-for-ipad.html/feed 0 http://folu.org/facebook-3-2-for-iphone-brings-places-location-check-in-background-uploading.html http://folu.org/facebook-3-2-for-iphone-brings-places-location-check-in-background-uploading.html#comments Tue, 24 Aug 2010 06:14:57 +0000 http://folu.org/?p=741

We all knew it was coming, but Facebook has finally released their location check-in methodology with the release of their Facebook for iPhone 3.2 app. The new ‘Places’ feature let’s you check-in Foursquare/Gowalla-style into venues that are around you. You can also track the locations of your friends as well, to see what others in your social graph are up to.

One seemingly annoying feature is that Places even allows you to check other people in with you, and that is on for every account by default. Of course, you can manually turn that feature off, but shouldn’t that be the default option?

Also new in 3.2 for phones running iOS 4 is background uploading of photo and video content, so you can start an upload and jump out of the app to something else while things continue. All iOS version also pick up new in-app privacy management features as well.

We’ve been trying to test out all the new hotness, but just about every area we go into on the new app results in some sort of error message. We’ll keep trying.

If you’re like me and were really looking forward to purchasing the cheaper, less hard drive-y Xbox 360 S for $200, then you may want to think twice. While the price tag is very attractive, purchasing one with a hard drive from the get go will cost you $30 less than buying the low end model and then upgrading to hard drive space later.

Having a lot of hard drive space is essential for those looking to purchase many of their games and movies through games on demand and the Zune marketplace. Things can get messy quickly when you have to think out of the box to fit all your favorite downloads onto your memory impaired console.

But if your’re content with only having 4GB of internal memory, and constantly switching out flash drives, then by all means don’t pass up the $200 console. The 250GB hard drive is currently on the Gamestop website, and is popping up in Gamestop stores around the country.