This is a great run down from French site Nowhere Else. 
Large version can be downloaded here.
I think they are probably pretty close with most of their guesses. What do you think?
Author: Matt Hand
When your Google Places Page is Gone Check This!
Here is a short screencast on bringing back your Google Places page if it may have vanished. I am not sure how widespread this problem may be, but it worked for me to bring it back.
6 Must Have iPad Apps
A little over a week ago I invested in the iPad 2. Why? Well I will be teaching an iPad class up at the local community college and it has one extremely useful feature which is the ability to mirror the screen out. This is a very nice feature that I am looking forward to. I also enjoy the smaller size and the smart cover really is smart.
But this really isn’t a review as I was recently asked by someone what apps I consider essential. Here is my list of the 6 must have iPad apps.
1) Dropbox: Dropbox is my essential app for managing files and share them between my Mac and the iPad. The other great thing about Dropbox is the amount of other applications that use Dropbox as a storage mechanism. Some of which I have include Plaintext which is a simple text program that stores all of your notes to Dropbox. Another great thing is the ability to share files by copying the link to a file using the app and emailing it to someone. To get a Dropbox account you can find it here.
2) GoodReader: GoodReader is one of the best file opening tools. It reads most files including PDFs, MS Office files, iWork, and even handles Quicktime files. GoodReader allows you to annotate all of these and store them out as PDFs. The great part of this app lies in the new synchronization with remote servers. The one thing Dropbox is lacking is the ability to upload files. With GoodReader you can use the open in GoodReader function and then choose to synchronize it with your Dropbox folder and voila it is in your Dropbox folder on your computer. I have folders in the application that I store all of my PDF manuals and can access them in the field.
3) Evernote: Evernote is for me where I store all of my notes on everything including webclippings and other pieces of information I want to store. Evernote never forgets and is completely searchable with tags and words within the content. If you upgrade to the premium version you gain the ability to search images and pdfs as it converts text within the images. GoodReader even now allows you to open in Evernote and store edited PDFs. Find more out about Evernote here.
4) River of News: If you have a Google Reader account and like to read your news feeds River of News should be a must buy. While most people have heard of Reeder for iPad I prefer the way River of News user interface more closely mimics that of Google Reader and you can quickly navigate between the news feeds. It also has some great features like sending to Instapaper, posting to Twitter and Facebook, as well as sending the entire article to an email address which I use to send it to Evernote using a feature in Evernote that gives you an email address to send notes to.
5) Kindle: I just love reading on my iPad and what a better way than having the entire Kindle library.
6) Netflix: Bummed they removed the instant que from it a few months ago, but the new update is very nice and if you are somewhere and want to kill some time what better way to do it than watching a movie.
I have many more apps installed than this, but if I were getting a new iPad and needing some key apps these would be the ones I would download first.
My favorite part of today’s iPad announcement
This highlights some great uses of the iPad for certain.
I am going to be in line for mine first thing when they come out.
Facebook makes some much needed changes with pages
I just got this in an email today:
Facebook pages are getting an updated layout and several new features to help you engage with your fans. Here’s some of what you’ll be getting:
• Notifications when fans interact with your page or posts• A place to showcase photos along the top of your page• A news feed for your page• The ability to Like and post on other pages as your pagePreview your page and you’ll be given the option to upgrade early. All pages will automatically be upgraded on March 10.
These are some much needed improvements and if you haven’t ever built a page I would recommend giving it a shot by going here to start the process and look for the create page button which is in the top right.
I am not sure why it has taken so long for the notification piece, but I am very excited about being able to get those notifications which will increase the ability to interact. Being able to post as a business should be interesting as well as you will be able to interact on a B2B level now with other pages.
Honeycomb is not using Web M so why should Chrome?
Take a look at this video during the recent Honeycomb launch event:
Watch only the part that shows CNN demoing the live video.
For those of you that may have missed this fact Google has discontinued support of the H.264 codec in the Chrome browser saying that they need to transition to a more open standard being Google’s Web M codec. I believe this is the wrong decision, but time will tell on this. I would like to highlight that this video playing on the Honeycomb platform however is not Web M. In fact it probably is H.264 and not even Flash. Why? Well the toolset (hardware & software) simply does not exist for a company like CNN to use Web M. It may in time, but right now it doesn’t. So much for open standards.
By the way for you Windows users of Chrome. Microsoft will be releasing an H.264 plugin for Chrome which ultimately will negate Google’s push to Web M.
Looks like AT&T may be worried about switchers
I just got this offer in my email. AT&T is clearly pointing out that you can talk and surf at the same time which you can’t do on the Verizon CDMA network. I am so glad that AT&T now has competition for the iPhone as well as allowing multiple carriers to help battle Android market share.
The shifting face of what we watch on TV part 2
A couple of weeks ago CES wrapped up and with all of the major geek announcements from new 3D TVs to a whole slew of new tablets running Android. There was great fanfare surrounding many of these announcements and many were carried by most of the main stream media. A lot of CES was covered by the podcasters and some would say (me included) did a better job. No podcaster out there could match up to TWiT though.
Leo at 2011 CES – from Flickr Dan_H
For a primer on who TWiT is this is from their Wiki FAQ –
• What does “TWiT” mean? Is it an acronym?
“TWiT” stands for “this WEEK in TECH”, the name of the flagship netcast for TWiT.tv, an operating trademark of TWiT LLC.
• What is TWiT.tv? Is it some sort of network? When did it start?
TWiT.tv is one of the biggest netcast networks around. It started in August 2005 with only 2 netcasts and now it has grown to include over 15 shows. The domain twit.tv gets over 2 million views per week, according to alexa.com.
TWiT is one of the leaders in tech podcasting. They are so big that Leo Laporte their head “Twit” was even written up in the New York Times recently. The amazing stat in this article that shows how new media is changing the distribution model is this:
Advertisers, especially technology companies, appreciate Mr. Laporte’s reach. Mark McCrery, chief executive of Podtrac, which is based in Washington, and measures podcast audiences and sells advertising, said TWIT’s advertising revenue doubled in each of the last two years and was expected to total $4 million to $5 million for 2010.
Now Leo is by no means a new comer to the media scene as his credentials go back to TV including a stint as the host of The Screen Savers on Tech TV from 1998 to 2004 with even further credentials going back to the early 90s. He even recently appeared on Regis and Kelly.
What is exciting about what Leo has done is that the TWiT network was one of the first to be offered on Roku. They believe strongly in delivering their content to the broadest audience possible including the use of live streaming apps on iOS, Android, and now even Windows Phone 7. They netcast, as they call it, an amazing amount of content every week and have a tremendous amount of downloads and live views everyday.
This is why content distribution is dramatically different today and will be changing even more in the next year.
China to be larger than our economy by 2020!
This is a very fascinating TED talk that gives an interesting take on why we might not be able to understand China.
The shifting face of what we watch on TV part 1
It’s been a great year for Roku!
Roku announced amazing numbers that came through their boxes. From their press release –
Roku players averaged over 11 hours of playing time per week – a significant amount of TV viewing for Roku customers when compared to the national average of 36 hours per week.
“A billion streams is pretty amazing and shows just how engaged our customers are with their Roku players,” said Anthony Wood, founder and CEO of Roku, Inc. “If you think about it, our active user base now matches that of a top 10 US cable company. Our core values of simplicity, great content and affordability clearly resonate with mainstream customers.”
This is pretty impressive.
The future of how we consume content is moving online and the current generation of connected boxes.