davidfutch.com

I’ve been trying to decide which iPad2 I want over the last week or so and now I’m ready to purchase. Yes, I will have to wait, but I think the wait has been worth it. It’s been a fun process of learning about the differences between the two and more specifically how does the 3G model acquire map data.

I first started with an honest evaluation of what I was going to do with my new iPad2. Many thanks go out to my friend Jerry who has an iPad and asked probing questions that made me look deeper into the purchase. I’ve worked through the early reports of a “sub-standard” camera and decided that while a camera comparable to the one one the iPhone 4 would be a great option I would not let it be a “deal breaker”.

Since I had already decided that I would purchase the iPad2 based on its improvements over the reduced price iPad and I had come to terms with the camera issue there was only one more consideration for me and that was the GPS capability.

The biggest question was whether or not the iPad2 needed the 3G access to get map data for my favorite GPS navigation app, MotionX GPS Drive and my Geocaching app.  Other than these two apps I could not think of any other application for me, at this time, that would require GPS on the iPad2. So the question is simply a matter of the cost in an additional cost in the iPad2 WiFi + 3G and the data package from A&TT.

As it has worked out, not being able to find an iPad2 on the shelf and not willing to wait in line for one has worked out quite nicely for me. My friend Kim sent me this article (Wi-Fi iPad 2 Gets GPS With iPhone 4 Connection Sharing) that answers the question about creating a hotspot with my iPhone 4 and then I found this blog cross-posted at CNET that really helped me make up my mind. As the blog points out, the iPad2 can get its location data from the tethered iPhone and according to those that have tried (combination of iPhone 4 hotspot and iPad2) seem pretty happy.

As it stands right now I will be getting an iPad2 WiFi only.

I’ve decided to attempt to jailbreak my iPhone 4 instead of the AT&T option to create a hot spot. It’s my understanding that when I pay for the tethering option with AT&T I will give up my “grandfathered” unlimited plan. If it works well I’ll post my findings.

Actually I would have jailbroken the phone last night but I upgraded to iOS 4.3 BECAUSE I heard about the tethering option. I found out that there is not a jailbreak for that version yet…but there will be soon!

Until next time…

I’ve been investigating the use of QR codes since I saw them on signs at FETC11 this year. I like the idea of placing the QR code on just about everything from digital to printed media and the ability to encode information (URLs, text, SMS, phone calls and vcards) is a real cool feature. What I really want to know is how are people applying the technology? Even a bigger question for me is how can it be applied to education?

Then, while on a flight this last week I saw a QR code at the bottom of an article in the airline magazine. I pulled out my phone and scanned the QR code and it revealed a web address. I went on to search for other QR codes in the magazine and scanned those as well. My QR code scanner of choice, ATTScanner , not only read the code quickly but also saved the scanned URL for future reference. Since that experience on the plane I was conducting a presentation and a QR code appeared on the web page that I was showing participants. To my surprise one of the participants hopped up and scanned the QR code that was on the screen. We were both disappointed that the scan only returned a series of letters and numbers that made no sense to either of us.

So now I understand one very good use of the technology but what other applications are there? If you have seen other ways of using the technology add a comment below. I’d like to hear about it’s use in the educational environment too.

Below is a cool feature from MailVU.com which allows you to record yourself and send a video email to others. Give it a try and send me a video email at davidfutch at gmail dot com.

If you want to use the feature you can use the code below to embed on your blog or website.

iframe src=”http://mailvu.com/widget/mailvu” height=”580″ width=”367″ frameborder=”no” >

You will have to enter the "<" just before the iframe statement and ">” just after the iframe statement for the code to work with html.