I had actually intended writing this blog post WHILE I was waiting, after all, what better to do when I really had nothing else to do. Unfortunately I found myself rather uncomfortable MOST of the time to the point that I just couldn’t bring myself to writing a blog post. I did however take notes, pictures and videos so that I could come back at a later time write the blog post! It was a long wait and as I mentioned, quite uncomfortable but in my opinion, totally worth it!! I got a bad sunburn (The curse of pale skin) and spent the night in what I consider to be colder than hell frozen over. But in the end I made it through and ended up the FIRST in line to purchase the all-new iPad 2.
Posts Tagged ‘Hulu+’
A Day in the Life of *MY* iPad
24
Feb
I have seen conflicting reports over the past 11 months relative to how people feel about their iPads. Ever since the release of the iPad April 2010, I have heard from people who LOVE it and people who HATE it. There are also plenty in between who bought their iPad only to realize that they never use it and it essentially became an expensive item to have hanging around the house. I myself bought an iPad from a man who bought it and no longer needed it. It was in perfect condition and even still in the box because he bought it and obviously found no place for it in his life.
This idea has often made me wonder why I can get so much use out of it and others find it so useless. I cannot help but think that many bought their iPads simply because it was the thing to do. But, as an Apple fan boy, I can always find a use for such a device so it baffles me that others cannot as well. Perhaps they regret their decision to buy it, or even resent Apple for the device, or maybe they are just looking for an excuse to hate it. No matter what the excuse, I have seen plenty of articles about why people hate their iPad and they just don’t stack up to those who LOVE their iPads. Of course that is easy to say coming from the guy on this side of the fence, but I also wasn’t one of those who jumped on the bandwagon, I waited to purchase my iPad until I could “justify” the purchase. I had to come up with a reason WHY I needed that iPad. Now, I see that it was truly one of the best purchases I made last year, not a day has gone by since I purchased it that I haven’t used my iPad. Literally, I use it day in and day out. I have many uses for it, one of which is maintaining this blog. I have found it easy to carry around with me, in a good case it stays safe and I can use it in many environments. If I am going to have a sit down meeting with someone, this makes for a great tool to show demos, write up notes or look things up on the internet. I use my iPad for news, videos, documents, communication and when I’m bored, games! I can also see the day when I am on a hunt for a new job, with all of my cover letters and resumes right on my iPad, the ability to print from my iPad, email my resume, and even show examples to potential employers.
The Christmas App Store
26
Dec
The iTunes store, App store and now iBookstore are of course the perfect place to give or receive a gift. For the past couple of years, I have seen it every Christmas day, a high number of tweets and Facebook posts that go something along the lines of: “my first post from my new _______ “. Although some of those new devices are undoubtedly some other substandard phone or PDA of some sort, a lot of them are posted from iDevices that were received as gifts Christmas morning. I have seen a lot of blog posts the past few days telling people about the best iPhone or iPad apps to install on your ‘new’ iDevice. Although I have a lot of suggestions, you really can find them plain and clear on my top ten lists. So this post won’t be about suggestions of what you can buy, but rather some of the things that make the best gifts for iDevice users all around.
Now, in general the apps, music or books one would buy for their iDevice is more of a personal decision. The books and music I like in particular will vary widely from that of another. Likewise my choice of apps ans games is based on my picky choices. So for me, purchasing something for my iDevice that I did not implicitly request, as a gift for me, may be a risky path to take. So one thing that works every time without fail is gift cards. Normally I am not a big fan of gift cards, but with iTunes it is certainly a good option. Apple has provided a great way of sending gift cards of any denomination, in addition to allowing you to buy iTunes gift cards from all your major stores (usually located close to checkout). These cards are great and I of course use them often to give out to people as gifts when I know they are into iDevices. The card can be used in any of the Apple stores for iDevices. The system automatically tracks a credit on your account for the amount you have remaining.
Review: Netflix (iPad)
09
Dec
Netflix (Netflix, Inc. FREE) Universal App
*UPDATE* I have updated this review and upgraded it from 3 stars to 4 stars. Please visit my updated review to read more about changes to this app
This is a universal app although since the two versions are very different, this review specifically refers to the iPad version. I will review the iPhone version separately so that I can explain the differences between the two. The iPad version was first released and has been out a bit longer, but I think during the time before they released the iPhone version, they spent a lot of time working on the app making it just right for the iPhone. The iPad version feels like they put barely any effort at all behind it. I use the iPad version by far a lot more than the iPhone version, simply because of the difference in screen size. That is not to discount the iPhone version because as it is the iPhone version is done a lot better. The iPad version is just a simple port of the website onto the iPad and unfortunately there are some issues that make it difficult to use. The navigation is slow and hard to get around to what I am looking for. That being said, it is still very usable and definitely one of my favorite apps.
If you are a Netflix user then you probably already use this app. If you are not use a Netflix user then maybe this review will help you make a decision as to whether or not you should join. The app itself is free but requires a monthly subscription with prices as low as $7.99 a month for the streaming only plan. They also offer a two week free trial if you want to see whether or not the service is for you. The streaming aspect of Netflix is definitely a lot more restricted than the disc rentals, but this is mostly due to the studios limiting availability and Netflix is working hard to bring more and more titles on a regular basis.
If I were to choose between the Netflix app/service and the (price comparable) Hulu+ app/service, I would definitely go with Netflix as it is the superior option. I will say this however, the Hulu+ app for iPad is a lot better done than the Netflix app for iPad. You can tell they put more thought into it and it just plain works better. That being said, the overall experience with Netflix (to me), leaves going with them instead. There are many reasons for this, not the least of which being the fact that anything that is available via Instant Watch (Netflix) can be watched on the iPad, as opposed to Hulu+ which restricts mobile availability. Here are the features that I find most attractive about the Netflix app/service:
Review: Hulu Plus (Universal App)
19
Nov
Hulu Plus (Hulu, LLC FREE) Universal App
The Hulu+ app has been available for a few months now, it requires a paid subscription which was first only available as a special preview. Recently though, Hulu released an update to their app, (bringing some good new features) as well as officilly taking it out of preview mode (beta) in addition to decreasing the monthly price from $9.99 a month to $7.99.
I first tried the app during the preview period, and then stopped using it because the cost just didn’t seem to be worth the value. When they released the update and decreased the price i signed up again, giving it another shot. Now that it is available to anyone, they are offering a 1 week free trial, additionally giving you 2 weeks free for referring a friend (your friend also gets an additional 2 weeks)