I agree with most all but the last two points:

Read it here.

This past Sunday May 18th, 2009 Verizon and Novatel released the Mifi 2200 Personal Mobile Hotspot. In short this device uses Verizon’s network to gain you internet access (3g mind you) and rebroadcasts this over a Wi-Fi network that it creates. At glance this seems completely innocuous. However I can tell you that this device is nothing short of amazing.

After reading David Pogue’s review of the device I knew I had to have one. I had been waiting for years now for AT&T to allow tethering from my iPhone so I could get Mobile internet that way. Nothing so far. Sunday I purchased the MiFi with the 5gb/mo plan, $100 for the device (after rebate).

I have used the device everyday since (60% of the time on purpose for testing) and can report that in the 5 different locations I have used it in (all within 100 mile diameter) I get roughly 1mbps download speed on average and 0.25mbps upload on average. That is pretty darn fast. Here is where the device is truly revolutionary though: it is battery power, and tiny. I mean small. The MiFi is smaller than my iPhone, weighs nothing and has a 4 hour batter life with 40 hours of standby time. No cords, don’t even have to take it out of my bag. No extra drain on my Macbook Pro’s battery at all, just using WiFi.

Not to mention that I can connect 5 devices to it at once, so I can have my iPhone and Macbook Pro connected, and allow some other people to connect to it as well.

So here are the key features then:

• 3g Mobile Internet from Verizon
• Tiny form factor
• Battery Powered
• Broadcasts a WiFi network with up to 5 clients
• $100 with 2 year contract, $269 with no contract
• One button operation

All of these features are the reason that the MiFi is my gadget of the year. But there is more:

• $60/mo for 5gb or $40/mo for 250mb or $15 for 24 hours with no contract

That’s right, if you buy the MiFi with no contract you can use it for $15 for a 24 hour period of time. So if you are not expecting to use mobile internet much, but want the piece of mind this is your answer. I know the speeds that I posted above don’t seem very fast, but I can assure you that they are more than sufficient for web browsing, twitter and email all at once. Youtube can get choppy at times, but this device is not designed to be used as your primary internet for long periods of time.

Another note is that while 4 hours of battery life is not overwhelmingly good, you can charge it from a USB port on your computer, and use the internet tethered while you do that, on Mac and Windows. Also note that 4 hours is most certainly more battery life that most laptops have.

This is a purchase that I do not, nor will I regret making.

New version of Evernote for the iPhone has just been released. It is a major update as you can now use the app in landscape mode invludimg typing and editing notes, and thumbnail views for browsing. A great app just got better.

There are many different apps you can buy and put on the iPhone, claiming to increase productivity. Most of them don’t, but a few, if used right, really can.

The point of this post is not to review these apps but rahter to show you what I use and what I use them for.

Continue after the jump…The first one up is Things. This is a GTD style task management app that syncs with it’s counter part on the Mac. The syncing is fast and so is the program. This is where I capture to-dos and keep myself organized while away from my computer. I love the ability to schedule tasks and using the Today lists.

Next up is Evernote. It also syncs with it’s Mac/PC/Web counterparts. I use this to store notes that are usually typed on my Mac and send them to my phone. This is great for voice notes while driving since they will sync back to every other Evernote client. Taking pictures and Evernote will add OCR of items with text like: documents and whiteboards. I also write blog drafts here for adding links later on my mac (I am doing that now).

Next up is hContacts. This is an app that integrates with 37signals Highrise which my company uses for CRM. A snappy app that works wells for my needs. My only gripe is that you can’t view comments and notes. I use Mobrise to do that but it is a lot slower than hContacts, but does the job.

Encamp is the next app. This works with 37signals Basecamp project management which we use at my company for tracking to-dos and assigning them to each other. It is very fast and allows access to PDF info that is stored on the site as well as other things. Basecamp is really flexible so it is best to check out the website to see how best you would use it.

That brings us to Frontpocket. This interfaces with 37signals Backpack. I don’t use this as much as I used to but I organize my personal lists as well as set text message reminders with it.

INCHcalc is next. This is a foot/inch calculator and it does just that. Probably not useful to most people, but in my job I am always using this.

Next is 1Password, this is the iPhone client for the Mac application. It is a password manager and site launcher, autofills the fields, very nice app.

Kindle for iPhone, I know this may not sound like a productivity app, but I find reading really heps me to get a fresh take on things.

Those are pretty much all the productivity apps that I use on a regular basis there are many others on my phone, but most of them hinder productivity.

I was going to post a similar article today. But I have tried all the iPhone Basecamp apps, and Encamp is by far the best. Here is Macworld’s review. And contrary to what the review says you can indeed view files on it. Very slick app. The second best is a tie between Groundwork and Outpost, neither allows files as of this writing.

Things is a new GTD style task management app for the Mac by Cultured Code. I have used many applications that attempt to fill this void over the past 3 years, and while there are many good products, none met me needs. Things comes very close.

Before we get into the review, a few background items need to be addressed. First, I do not adhere to a strict GTD workflow. As with most GTDer’s I have modified the framework to best fit my personality this means that a straight GTD app that is set-up to strictly follow those rules often is difficult for me to use.

Having said that, since the inception of The Omnigroup’s OmniFocus program I have been using that application completely. I have tried other applications off and on and none suited me. That is until Things came around. I have been using this now for well over a month and have not looked back to OmniFocus.

Find out why after the jump…The main criteria that I have for a task management app these days is that it be flexible, Mac based, and have an iPhone app that syncs with it. This is very limiting, but Things meets all of them. For this review I want to share the main features of this program that I love, and then those that I hate.

Feature #1: Fast Syncing with iPhone.

This is the biggest pro, and a minor con for Things. Things syncs fast and automatically when it is set up and both programs are open on the iPhone and Mac (must be on same Wi-Fi network). This is awesome, and I have never had a problem with it. However you cannot sync over MobileMe like you can with OmniFocus. That kinda sucks, but the speed with which is syncs is fast enough that I don’t worry about that trade off. It also made me realize that I don’t really need that ability.

Feature #2: Repeating and Scheduled Tasks!

This was something that I had been wanting in OmniFocus since day one, and the sole reason I gave Things a whirl. Having the ability to schedule a future task and repeat those tasks that come up once a month or whenever is a great time saver. Not to mention a life saver if you are a forgetful person (I can be).

Feature #3: UI Design.

Unlike OmniFocus, this app feels like a Mac app, that was made this year. OmniFocus has always felt and looked old to me, now with Things, this could not be more true. The UI is very pleasant and easy to use, more straight forward than its competitor.

Feature #4: Memory Usage.

Things uses less.

Feature #5: Today List.

The today list is something I did manually in Omnifocus, so thankfully I don’t have to do that any more!

Con #1: Price

These apps still cost a lot and the iPhone version was pricey as well.

Con #2: Quick Entry

You can only enter one todo at a time, major draw back.

Thats it for now!

Much like Quicksilver, you can read about it here. It is pretty cool and I am glad to see something that could replace Quicksilver in the future. We just need the actions now.

But for now this is a good start.

I have been having some issue the past couple of days with my Macbook Pro (unibody) where it would wake up from sleep while in my computer bag on the way home. This led to it being very hot when I got home. Well last night this happened and when I rebooted it, my keyboard and mouse would no longer work.

Nothing I tried, nor the Apple Genius tried would work. The result? Apple is ordering a new logic board for it. This sucks…

I have been using the new Apple 24″ LED Cinema Display for about two weeks now, it is my monitor at work. I use this monitor connected to a new 15″ Macbook Pro (unibody). Since you really are not able to review a monitor without comparing it to monitors you use in the past. The monitors that I am comparing it to are the Apple 20″ Cinema Display, and the Acer AL2223W 22′ monitor. Both of those monitors have the anti-glare coating on them.

So now that you have a little background info let us dig into the awesome new monitor from Apple.

Continued after the jump…First things first, the 24″ has awesome color saturation and the vibrancy is excellent. The glossy screen is great, and I think it is the key factor contributing to the enhanced colors.

The LED backlight is also awesome, much like on the Macbook Pro, the instant brightness of it is really a nice thing. One must be warned though, it may blind you when it turns on.

That brings me to my next point, it turns on, you don’t turn it on. There is not a single button on the monitor, and it is turned on and off when you plug or unplug it from your computer. The brightness, and sound is all controlled through your Mac.

This monitor is big, really big. It makes that 22″ screen seem like nothing. This is due to the fact that:

1: It is bigger

2: The bezel around the screen is larger

3: It sits higher.

I find this to be at a very comfortable height when I sit at a desk. Overall this monitor is very nice and I highly recommend it. Though it should be noted that for now it only works with Macbooks (and Pro and the Air). No other Macs can use it, as it only has the mini displayport on for a hookup.

One last thing that I love on it, the charger that it has for the Laptop is the Air style magsafe, that is much cooler looking than a normal one would be.

Well I wanted to share with you my thoughts on the new Macbook Pro 15″ Unibody model. I have been using mine for a little over 2 weeks now (since Christmas 2008). There are plenty of other websites that you can go to and get performance numbers and really in depth information, here is not such a place. I as always will offer my unscientific findings of this new computer.

For those of you who do not want to read anymore, my verdict is that this is a must upgrade. Now lets get into why, but first here is my Mac background for which I am basing this review off of.

Started with: Powerbook G4 12″
Went to: Mac mini 2.4ghz G4
Then: Macbook Pro 15″ 2.16ghz CD
Then: Mac Pro 2.66ghz Quad Core
Then: Macbook Pro 15″ Unibody

That is a list over the last 6 or so years, coming from a PC background before. The model I have is the top of the line, with 2.8ghz maxed RAM and 320gb 7200rpm drive. Now that is about as technical as I am going to get.

Read on to find out my likes and dislikes…First and foremost the absolute best feature in my opinion is the screen on this laptop. It is very bright, great colors, black is black. Not to mention that when you open the lid from a sleeping state you are almost blinded by just how bright it is, unlike the older models where you find yourself hitting the brightness key to try and get some more light. The large frame around the screen (seems bigger to me than on past models) is noticeable unless you use a dark theme like I do.

Ok now lets talk about sound, the speakers on this thing are loud. And it is great! The old speakers used to be so quiet that it was embarrassing to try and show a youtube clip to a friend and have them ask if your computer goes up any louder, cause their Dell has a Bose sound system in it (ok not really but you get the point). Great addition to the machine.

This computer is really fast, like a lot fast than the computer I was using. It most likely is a mixture of twice as much RAM, 3 times the HD space, a processor that is 0.7 ghz faster, and a faster graphics card. But who knows, it is fast.

Now about that whole two graphics card thing, it is a pain in the butt. Having to log in and out to switch is annoying. Both cards are very fast, and work well. But the faster card is certainly faster. I thought I may just run the faster card most of the time and lose the battery life, but the computer runs hot when you do that…

Which brings me to my next point… this computer can be set in your lap, and used as a… wait for it, LAPTOP! When not using it for intensive graphics or using the faster card this computer only gets warm to the touch. The old Macbook Pros used to fry eggs on them.

The new trackpad takes some serious getting used to, but once you do it is no big deal. The click on the trackpad is very loud, and I am hoping that with time and use it will quiet down a bit. I do however like the fact that you can assign a corner of the pad as a right click, that is awesome and a true time saver.

There are a lot more things that I could go on to talk about it, but those are the ones I like best.

And there is really only one thing that I do not like: lack of Firewire 400, what a pain.

Coming up next is a review of the 24″ LED Cinema Display by Apple.