A couple years ago I successfully convinced my wife that we should get iPhones. Since then we could not have been happier with them. My wife is now an iPhone junky and I use it often to read books and search the web. It is a great tool especially when you are out and about and you need to look up something, or in those cases when you have a couple minutes to wait and need something to do. I often also will sit on my living room sofa and look up some information or read the news with my breakfast. It is a convenient tool in that I don’t have to get my laptop out and haul it around. The one issue I’ve always had with it, however was the screen is still very small. While very usable, a bigger screen would be nice for those breakfasts or times lounging on the sofa.

A couple days ago Apple announced its iPad. I was very excited as I always though that a lightweight 7-10 inch device would be great for the situations I mentioned above. It wouldn’t be great for those times when you are out and about, but that is what my iPhone is for. I envisioned a device that I could read like I do the paper, or use in the kitchen to look up recipes while I am cooking. Turns out that was what Apple delivered. Great right? Not in my opinion, I was very underwhelmed.

The iPad does allow you to read books, newspapers and websites; it is a great size and very light. The price is good too. I do feel that apple kind of took the simple road when it comes to features. The iPad is simply a more powerful bigger iPod Touch. Not a bad thing, but not what I was hoping for deep down. The first major issue is that the iPad does not support Flash. I personally hate Flash and wouldn’t mind if it didn’t exist. Many sites however rely on it. Flash is everywhere on the Internet. You cannot call a device “the best way to experience the Internet” and not have it compatible with such a large number of websites.

My second issue is the fact that there is no camera. I would have loved to see a forward facing video camera to allow video chat. I really feel this technology is right around the corner from being popular. I’m really hoping the next iPhone includes it and feel the iPad would have been a great way to debut. I understand that cell phone companies do not want it to slow down their networks, however there is no reason why we shouldn’t be able to have a feature we can use over wi-fi.

The third issue I have is screen-size. This is probably the one thing that I could live with, but I would have like to seen something a little bit better. I’m not talking about the physical dimensions of the screen, but rather the resolution. The screen is a 1024×768 screen. Not bad, but most websites are at least 800px wide. If you are using the device in portrait mode, the websites will not be able to fit on the screen at full size. Having said that, safari on the iPhone is a very good browser and is good at resizing, but I would have liked to perhaps see something with around 900 pixels on the shorter side.

I really don’t think I will be getting an iPad any time soon. Perhaps the next generation will offer some of these features, but for now, I already have everything I need in my iPhone. I look forward to seeing what other companies do to respond to this. I don’t think the iPad is the start of a tablet revolution, I also don’t think it’s the end of one either.

I recently saw the movie Avatar at a local IMAX theater. Despite already seeing the movie back in the 90’s (Dances with Wolves cough cough), I was truly blown away by the way the 3D effects along with the sound brought out the intensity of the situation. The last couple movies I have seen at the theaters have been in 3D. By looks of it, 3D is back and here to stay. The one thing about Avatar that I quickly realized was that once it is out of the theaters, it will be just another movie. Sure it will look pretty on Blu-Ray, but the experience will just not be the same with out the 3D visuals.

This week at the Consumer Electronic Show, several companies were debuting 3D televisions. This frustrates me. I just barely caught up to converting all my TV’s to flat panels…..OK you got me, I can’t wait for newer technology. In my mind the newer the technology the better. I look forward to viewing movies in 3D from the comfort of my living room. Even more so I can’t wait to get my hands on some 3D video games. I remember the feeling when I played my Nintendo 64 for the first time and saw the 3D graphics (not viewing in 3d, just a 3 dimensional world). My heart pumped with every new world I got to explore. I think bringing a 3D viewing experience to games will give me that feeling again….until it wears off…again. In the very least it will be a new experience.

Unfortunately, I think it will be a long time before 3D becomes the standard. This week we have seen that three 3D channels are set to launch in the next couple years (ESPN, Disney and Discovery).  It’s a step, but in reality right now I see 3D technology at home no different that using it at the theater.  It will be fun once in awhile, but not all the time. The biggest hurdle is the fact that you must wear glasses. The glasses are needed to produce the 3D image, Unfortunately, what you get in terms of a 3D image, you loose in viewing the rest of the world around you. Many times at home movies, video games and even night time television is a social event. We get together with our friends or family members and sit around watching the tube and talking. It is a very come and go activity where at any time you can get up to do something, or talk to another person. These times will be incredibly awkward with 3D glasses. At least in the theater, our goofball appearances are hid by the darkness and the fact that everyone is tuned into the movie.

The glasses also may come at a steep cost. Many of the TV’s will not come with glasses so you will need to shell out extra. Each will most likely work in a different way, so what may work on one TV will not work on another. There also lies the problem where you may have guests over. They aren’t going to have to their own glasses, and given the cost, you probably won’t have an extra 3-5 pair just lying around for each TV you own.

3D technology is very exciting and is one step closer to a holodeck (for you Star Trek fans out there), but for now it is just a novelty. When science can come up with a way to produce a 3D viewing experience without the glasses, we will finally up the standard viewing experience from HD to 3D.

Have you ever wanted to have a cool family e-mail that consists of your firstname@yourlastname.com. Now you can. Google has opened up a free version of Google Apps. Google Apps allows you to create e-mail addresses using any domain name available, that’s the second part of the e-mail address after the @ symbol. Among other things, Google Apps also allows you to create calendars which you can share with your family as well. To get started go here:

http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/group/index.html

You are going to want to register a domain name, you can do it directly through google apps or you can choose a variety of other registrars such as Godaddy.com, NameCheap.com or enom.com. Once you have your domain name, sign up for your google apps account at the link above. If you have created an account and registered through google, all of the following items will be done for you. When you log in for the first time there is also a step by step setup as well. If you would like to setup with the minimal amount of baggage, follow the steps below.

Once you’ve created your account you are going to have to verify that you own the domain name with Google. Here are instructions to do so:

http://www.google.com/support/a/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=47283

After you have verified that you own the domain name. You want to make sure you are getting e-mail at that email address. In order to do that you have to edit MX records. MX records tell the Internet where to send your e-mail to. If you bought your domain name through Google this will be done for you. If not go to the following link which will show you how to edit your MX records. Make sure to go through the three steps.

http://www.google.com/support/a/bin/answer.py?answer=33352

Finally you are going to want to create a simple way to access your mail. To do so we need to make sure that mail.yourdomain.com points to your google apps account. To do so Google has provided instructions for setting up url mapping using cname records.

http://www.google.com/support/a/bin/static.py?page=guide.cs&guide=22229&topic=22391#149095

Overall google apps is a great way to get personalized e-mail and share family calendars for free. I would like to see the ability to share contacts as well. I’ve read that this version is available in the paid version, however, the paid version is very expensive for everyday family use.

Someday, everyone’s phones will be able to take beautiful high definition video which we will be able to share at the touch of a button. Some phones including the new iphone have come close to this, but lack the high definition video quality one would hope for. Until that day we must find another alternative to ultra portability in video recording.

Around a month ago we picked up a Flip Video Ultra HD. At $199 it is much cheaper than most video cameras out there. Its only purpose is to shoot video. It fulfills its duty well. The Flip Ultra HD is small enough to fit in your pocket and keep handy. It comes packed with 8GB of memory which allows for recording of up to 2 hours of video. The video records at one resolution 1280 x 720 (720p). It also has a convenient flip out USB plug which allows for simple transfer of videos to a computer via direct download or through use of the built in software. Transferring videos could not be easier. The camera also comes with rechargeable AA batteries that can be recharged by simply plugging in the USB connector.

There are some negatives about this camera. The first one which almost made me not purchase it was the fact that it does not have a photo camera built in. One would think it would be easy enough to put in a 5mp camera. This would have made it very convient to only carry around one device. If I wanted a picture I could take a picture, if I wanted a video I could do that. Lucily my phone takes decent pictures and our regular camera is pretty small as well.

While the picture quality of the recordings is fantastic, this phone does have a couple issues. The first, recording in darker lighting tends to make the picture seem a little grainy. This is typical of a lot of video cameras however. The second, image stabilization. This camera doesn’t have any. You have to keep your hand incredibly still or else the video shakes a lot.

Overall, this is a great product. The price and portability as well as the great picture easily overcome the drawbacks. Having such a small easy to use device has already prompted us to take more videos which I know we will cherish for years to come.

About 6 months ago I discovered Hulu.com. I had seen advertisements on it, but always figured it was just a knock off of you tube. One day I finally decided to check it out. I found osme interesting clips on there but overall I wasn’t too impressed. Then something changed. It seems as the site gains popularity, they are starting to add some real content to their media library. By real content I mean full tv shows. This is not all that exciting in the fact that many of the major networks put up their shows on their respective websites the day after it airs on network television. If I miss this weeks episode of How I Met your Mother, I can go to cbs.com and watch it at any time. Hulu seems to take it a step beyond that however.

I have always been kind of techy person. I strive for new technologies that make our lives easier and more fun. Hulu is bringing one of the things I have longed for to reality. They have made deals with production companies to distribute full seasons of different shows. These shows do include some of the current network offerings, however they also incude shows from the past. It is very hard to keep up with every show currently on television. Having a resource like Hulu allows one to go back in time say 10 years and watch that series you were always interested in, but just didn’t have the time to get into. I almost feel it is a better way to watch because you don’t have to wait a week for the next episode. I dream of the day when I can use some type of internet connected device and at any time find any episode of any show I want and watch it instantly. Hulu is a great start to that. I am hoping for the company to grow and therefore add more content, creating a large media library for the world to enjoy.

In order to grow, money needs to be made. Advertising is something that I feel is one of Hulu’s strong points. Many people do not appreciate their shows getting interrupted by commercials. I am a part of this majority, however the way hulu has used advertising is definitly a large improvement over network television. For those who have not used Hulu, they usually have a couple different ways of showing ads. The first is just like normal television. They show you an ad every 8-10 minutes during your show. The difference is, they show you one ad that is maybe 20-30 seconds long. When watching hour long episodes these ads actually serve as a refreshing moment to catch your breath, stand up stretch and take a mental break. With just one ad, the “lets get on with it” feeling doesn’t have a chance to set in. You see the ad and you are back to watching the show. It is my opinion that the ads are more effective as well because the one ad sticks with you where as with multiple ads one right after another tend to get blended and are forgetful. Hulu’s other option is to watch a longer ad at the beginning of your show and then no ads during. This ad is usually around 2 – 2 1/2 minutes in length. This option is nice because you get your ad viewing done quickly. I actually prefer the ad breaks, but this option can appeal to those who really do not like advertisements.

With any luck, more of my favorite series will start popping up on Hulu along with some of those I missed along the way. With websites like Hulu those times where “There is just nothing on TV” are a thing of the past because in the future, everything will be on TV.

Here are some examples of great shows on Hulu that you may remember or may have wanted to see:

Stargate: SG1

Inspector Gadget

Doogie Howser M.D

Ben Heck, known for video game console modifications has recently built a laptop version of the PS3 slim. It’s sleek white case, speakers and screen can make any gamer salivate. He posted the process he used to complete the mod along with some video demos. All I can say is I wish I had one of these for my next plane ride (Although I guess I would need a battery).

View more by visiting Ben Heck’s Blog: http://benheck.com/10-01-2009/ps3-slim-laptop#more-697

Here are 5 video games that your toddler can play. These games help your toddler learn and even in some cases stay active.