Question: Document management?

How do you manage your documents and other electronic files? Carefully-constructed hierarchy of directories, a third party application, or just chucking everything into one place and searching? From Neil.

Levels

I know many people who are retired, live alone or who have lives that are stable. They are financially secure, have no major health problems and their lives, from the outside, look fine.

And some of them can get incredibly stressed about such minor problems that people like me look and cannot understand what is wrong with them. There is, of course, nothing wrong with them. Their lives are just running along at a different level to mine.

I remember a couple of years back, being joined to my BlackBerry, dealing with hundreds of emails and text messages a day and just generally living at a level that felt natural after months of behaving that way. Little problems were ignored, major problems somehow became less significant and I never felt really stressed because I was stressed 24 hours a day and it felt normal in a perverse sort of way. Eventually it all took its toll and I crashed. Not badly, but enough to make me step back and realise what was happening.

Today I am much less stressed and my life is relatively normal. I have no BlackBerry, not so many emails and am cutting back on needless work. Yes, I find myself getting stressed over silly things that would not have even entered my consciousness two years ago. I am at a different level. A level I enjoy much more of that there is no doubt, but it occurred to me that as humans we all need stress and if we have none, we will go and find it. We will make up stressful situations and exaggerate problems in our minds just so that we can be stressed.

This article has little connection to smartphones, but I will say it again. Smartphones (BlackBerrys in business) can be a source of stress and stepping back is rarely a bad thing.

Samsung takes to the streets

Samsung has again taken the marketing attack to the iPhone and other smartphone users by showing users what a Samsung Galaxy Note can do. Some of these adverts have been over the top in my opinion, but the general premise of the campaign makes a lot of sense given the current situation. Not convinced about the validity of the actress (?) in the abovert below...

How audio engineers tweak music for the iPod age

The new "Mastered for iTunes" feature from Apple may sound like a white elephant, but Ars Technica has looked into the process and spoken to people in the know. Worth a read for anyone who is into their digital music.

“In an age when Apple has become the top music retailer without selling a single physical disc, audio engineers are increasingly creating specially mastered versions of songs and albums designed to counteract the audio degradation caused by compression. Though audiophiles typically scoff at paying for compressed audio, preferring vinyl or high-end digital formats such as DVD-A, mastering engineers are doing their best to create digital masters that can pass through Apple's iTunes algorithms with minimal sonic corruption.

To highlight work done to improve the sound of compressed music files, Apple recently launched a "Mastered for iTunes" section on the iTunes Store. It now also provides a set of recommendations for engineers to follow when preparing master files for submission to the iTunes Store. To qualify for the "Mastered for iTunes" label, Apple says that files should be submitted in the highest resolution format possible, and remastered content should sound significantly better than the original.

How does this work? Ars spoke with Masterdisk Chief Engineer Andy VanDette, who recently completed a project remastering the bulk of Rush's back catalogue. As part of the process, VanDette created special versions of each song specifically for uploading to the iTunes Store. He described the often lengthy, trial-and-error process of trying to make iTunes tracks sound as close as possible to polished CD remasters.”

Magic MacBook Pro

I think I could be tempted by a Magic MacBook Pro. I really could.

"We have here the Magic MacBook Pro vying for attention. The concept features a sliding trackpad that holds an iRemote within. The Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enabled device acts as function buff, allowing you to manage your music, media and “computer stuff” in a streamlined way."

Would you pay £1,000 for your smartphone?

The video below is an inside look at Foxconn and in particular, the part that builds Apple products. It highlights what looks like poor working conditions, but in China they may not be so bad. Let's not presume this is just an Apple problem because it is a Chinese problem. And one that is created thanks to our desire for the items they build. So, ask yourself a question. Would you pay double the price you do now for a tablet or a smartphone to see wages and conditions improve in China? Or even better, to see these objects of desire built in the West to help improve our own economies? And if you still believe that this is an Apple problem, consider who is building the budget tablets and phones. I dread to think...

QOTD: Will you buy an iPad 3?

Will you buy an iPad 3 after it is announced in early March? If so, what improvements does it need to make you purchase and would a retina display with a better battery life be enough to make you upgrade? For me, it has to be smaller. A 7" or 8" iPad and I am in- a better display and battery life are no way near enough to make me buy one.

When is an iPhone 4S case not an iPhone 4S case

Last weekend I was out and decided that I needed a new case for my iPhone 4S because my current one was getting dirty- for some reason, most clear silicon cases seem to go yellow on the inside corners of my iPhones. I presume this is because of heat because it doesn’t happen anywhere else and almost looks like small burns.

Anyway, I decided to buy a new case and spotted a rather nice tight fitting plastic case in the O2 shop. I rarely venture into O2 shops because I don’t use the network, but the case looked good and said iPhone 4 / 4S on the front so it had to fit. Right?

No it didn’t. I was sat in a coffee shop thirty minutes later and decided to put the case on, but it didn’t quite fit. One side was fine, but not the other and when pushed the other side would pop out. And so I returned to the O2 shop.

The lady looked at me and told me that my phone was not straight. I sniggered and told her that it was and so she then proceeded to place it on the counter and look at it from various angles. It was straight so she got out her iPhone 4S and the case fitted perfectly. She looked at me and said that it was my phone and that they could not offer a refund. I think the look on my face told her where the conversation was going next.

I then remembered that the white iPhone 4S is slightly thicker than the black version because of the paint. I explained this and she told me that this was not true. It was her attitude that bugged me more than the problem and in particular the presumption that it was somehow my fault so I asked her to try the case on a white iPhone 4S- she refused, saying that she would not open a phone just to test a case.

The lady next to me being served had a white iPhone and so I asked her if it was a 4S. She said yes, a bit uncomfortably, and I asked her if we could put the case on it to see if it fitted. She agreed and so I put the case on it- it didn’t quite fit. To be fair to the assistant, she held up the phone and relaxed a bit.

I then explained that every tight fitting case they sold potentially did not fit the white iPhone 4S and that they would need to check before selling them in the future. She apologised for the confusion, refunded me my money and I left.

The moral of the story? Well, there isn’t one except that you should always try a case before you buy it if you can. I have never seen an iPhone 4S case for sale that doesn’t claim to support every iPhone 4S, but this may not always be the case (excuse the pun).

The PlayStation Vita

The PlayStation Vita has finally gone on sale in the UK and retails for £209.99 for the Wi-Fi-only version. This may seem expensive for a portable gaming console, but when you consider the specifications it looks to be price about right. However, the cost of the games will raise eyebrows in 2012 as the portable gaming market moves to a more casual approach.

Two reviews from Amazon sum up the opposing thoughts of this product-

“There are so many ambiguities with the handheld I don't know where to start:
1) It's too expensive at £200+.
2) Battery life is a joke.
3) No Multi Account system.
4) The system uses expensive proprietary memory cards.
5) £30/40 a game is laughable, portable gaming has changed and nobody wants to pay that much anymore for gaming on the go, especially if you have a Android/iOS device.
6) It's only a games system, it doesn't do much more than play games. I expect more from a £200+ device these days.
7) The tech will be outdated within 12 months as smart phone/tablet GPU/CPU's are advancing so quickly. It won't be long until you see games that are on Vita appear on Android/iOS devices…”

“Most of the cons above can be remedied with firmware updates and price drops which is great. Apart from that the Vita shines bright. It's easily the best handheld gaming device available today with powerful tech behind it, great controls and a gorgeous touchscreen. Most importantly it's competitively priced at launch for what it can offer. Sony has gone all out and created a new mobile gaming platform which it intends to back 100% - you can just tell by looking at the games available now and also scheduled for release.

The PlayStation Vita is the best handheld ever made and offers an experience which the DS, 3DS, iPhone nor iPad can match. Once the firmware updates start rolling in to iron out the minor things the Vita will keep on improving. Hopefully prices will get better for the device itself as well as the games and memory so the Vita has a chance at being widely adopted. Great device - well done Sony.”

So, how about you? Should this product exist in 2012 and will it be a success in your opinion?

Top 10 Upcoming Low-Cost Android 4.0 (ICS) Tablets for 2012

Top 10 Upcoming Low-Cost Android 4.0 (ICS) Tablets for 2012 is a list from Android Authority that intrigues me, if only because I would prefer to see one high-end Android tablet that can match the iPad. Just one please.

"Can there be such a thing as a good cheap Android tablet? Has Ice Cream Sandwich really leveled the playing field so that cheaper hardware can run it smoothly? Ever since the “tablets” have become a must-have item, it seems as if every electronics manufacturer on the face of this earth is trying to get their hands on some of the market share. That’s right, Sony, HTC, Samsung, Motorola, Lenovo and even Amazon have stepped up and produced Android tablets. However, no matter how many Android tablets the manufacturers push at us, they all seem to fall very short of the iPad. So why do people still buy them and why are they still being made you ask?"

Question: the maximum?

Another question from Jah today. What is the absolute maximum you are willing to pay for an app for your Smartphone and if you have a tablet, how more would you pay for a tablet app?  My limit in £10.00 for either Smartphone and tablet.

A cheaper Mac?

The fact that Apple hardware, namely laptops and desktops, are expensive in comparison to their peers has been discussed countless times for many years. Some use it as an argument to suggest that Apple computers are merely good looking products that are overpriced whereas others view the combination of hardware and software as the reason why Macs are so fantastic to use every day.

I used to be in the former camp, but eventually moved to a Mac Mini and now an iMac. I can’t imagine using a Windows PC at home to get stuff done. I really can’t.

I won’t get all snobby about it and denigrate Windows, but from a personal preference I find that the iMac suits me much better than any Windows PC I have used in the past. I am also much more loyal to my Mac than I am to iOS; I can use any smartphone, but my iMac is staying and there is no reason for me to change.

I do believe that the £999 I paid for my iMac is good value for the day to day reliability, the way it saves me lots of time and the fact that it will have a high resell value should I come to upgrade in the future. I use it enough to justify the purchase. The problem for Apple is that most people do not use their home computers enough to justify paying so much. They will walk into PC World, see a nice looking desktop or laptop that does what they need for half the price and they are sold on it.  I understand that for the majority.

iOS device sales are growing exponentially and the iPad and iPhone are now where the money is for Apple. As the company pushes for convergence and tried to make iCloud the centre of everything it does, the desktops and laptops feel somehow left out in terms of numbers. Mac sales are growing, they have for the past 6 years, and the profits are still large in this area, but not to the level of iOS devices. As time goes by, iOS devices will continue to sale in bigger numbers and the disparity will reach a point where the laptops and desktops are seen as poor relations in terms of profit, volume and users.

Is it finally time for a cheaper Mac?

I must admit that I am torn on that question, but am leaning towards a ‘yes’. I would personally still buy the high-end Macs and I am sure that many current Mac users would also, but there are some valid arguments in favour of opening up Mac hardware to the wider population. The plain fact is that the average person will not buy a Mac for £1,000. Why would they move operating systems, learn something new and pay such a large amount of money for the privilege? They may, however, buy a Mac for £450.

And then I think that my answer should be ‘no’ because Apple has little reason to consider such a price drop. The company is hardly struggling, profits rise every quarter and they probably see all of their product ranges as gradually falling into place and slowly merging with one another. Apple does baby steps well and they seem to have little desire to sell their Mac hardware to billions of people.

I have changed my mind. Despite part of me believing that a cheaper Mac can only benefit Apple, there is of course the huge risk that it would bring the entire product range down to the level of every other computing product out there. Whether people agree that Apple hardware is superior or not, the perception that it is for so many people is what ultimately drives their growth. And price happens to be a part of that perception.

PlayBook OS 2.0 released

In what could be considered the biggest ‘too little, too late’ move in the tablet world since they became popular again, RIM has released PlayBook OS 2.0. You get an email app (yes, really) and many other new features. I must admit that my opinion of the PlayBook is not great anyway so I am not sure what this will bring that can possibly help RIM’s tablet ambitions. It is the next OS that will hopefully do that.

Research, no motion: How the BlackBerry CEOs lost an empire

A stunning article from The Verge.

Research In Motion, whose BlackBerry phones pioneered wireless email, no longer holds the commanding heights in the smartphone market. With Android, iOS, and even Windows Phone gaining market share, the Waterloo, Ontario, company finds itself in a battle for relevancy. The past year has been especially hard on the once-innovative RIM, but it may be at a turning point. Or the beginning of the end.

Last April, Mike Lazaridis sat in a BBC studio, holding his company's future in his hands: a svelte seven-inch tablet, black, with the word "BlackBerry" emblazoned across its front. The PlayBook.

The company was Research In Motion, the Canadian firm whose BlackBerry virtually created the smartphone market. Success had come almost naturally to the company, until five years ago, when Apple released the first iPhone and upended RIM's long-held strategy of appealing primarily to email-addicted professionals. Apple expanded the market by building a smartphone not just for business people, but for the great mass of well-heeled, tech-hungry consumers. Apple's success opened the door for another large, deep-pocketed competitor: Google, with the acquisition and development of Android. The mobile landscape shifted dramatically — new players, new customers, and new alliances — and RIM made costly missteps scrambling to adjust.