It really is touching the future.. Industry Pundits worldwide are already calling the iPad a big failure. People have gone on to say that the iPhone was one of the last great things we would ever see from the iconic Steve Jobs. The iPad in many ways is something that is radically new than just trying to innovate an existing market that the iPod and iPhone lines have done.

The iPad is Apple’s Computer for the rest of us. By the rest of us, I mean the people who aren’t in the Technology profession. Tech Enthusiasts world over have been crying foul that the iPad is not open and they cannot install apps of their choice. I’d have loved it if Apple allowed open App Development on the iPad without being dependent on the App Store, but the fact remains in doing so they would be jeopardizing the Experience that Apple has built around its platform.

I’m a student of Computer Science and I appreciate the power that my MacBook Pro or my Dell PC offers me, but everytime my Mom wants to send an email to somebody there are just too many steps involved with both of these platforms. But she understands how the iPhone works, it really is that simple. When I showed her the iPad video the only thing she said was I’d love to have this thing.

And it is then that realization struck me that Apple isn’t making the iPad for us Tech Enthusiasts who live by the night trying to code or to fix a bug but for the proverbial Mom who is looking for simple solutions to her problems.

Does she need Photoshop on her iPad? Does she need something like uTorrent running on her iPad? Heck No. I could easily say that atleast 80% of the Internet Connected Population uses the Internet for just EMail, Chat, Social Networking and Blogs. And the iPad solves the problem of the majority and not that of us minority who live by Technology.

Before I proceed further I want you all to watch the iPad Introduction Video. Watch it till the end, and try to gel everything that I’ve said thus far with what you see.

So why is that Tech Bloggers, the Media is calling the iPad a big failure?

First of all the print industry is scared to deaths that iPad will take over the Publishing industry. I can very well see the day when we will be reading magazines in full color and gloss on an iPad flipping through the pages just like what we do in a real magazine or a book.

And Second us the Tech Bloggers, Coders, Programmers, Computer Mechanics or whatever. We are obviously scared that we will loose our God like status in the society. Have you ever seen the pleasure that a Techie derives when he helps the average guy next door send an email or fix whatever the issue with his PC not booting up.

With the iPad, Apple is giving all these average next door neighbors a device so sexy and so easy that they won’t need us Techies anymore. Everything is so obvious and straightforward on the iPad. There are no crashes, no viruses, no weird phenomena that we have to come to associate with computing in general over the past decade.

And this is why the iPad is quite literally touching the future. No more confusing User Interfaces. Apple has taken a big step forward with the iPad. Having read elsewhere that iPad is what Apple set out to build, and the iPhone is actually is its child I can very well predict an exciting future for Apple’s MultiTouch Computing Platform.

But that does not mean iPad is not without issues. Here are some things I’d like Apple to fix before the iPad enters the market or atleast in the next product revision.

• MultiTasking
  Yes MultiTasking is a must on the iPad. It makes more sense on an iPhone to not have Multi Tasking with its limited screen estate, but the iPad a big no no. Multi Tasking is a must on the iPad.

  However there are already rumors that iPhone/iPad OS 4.0 will bring Multi Tasking to the platform. Here’s to hoping that these rumors are true.

• USB Interface
  A USB Interface is again a big request. I’d love to see an easy way to transfer my Photos from my Camera and upload it to Facebook or Flickr just like iPhoto already does on the Mac.

  I’d love to be able to complete my Spreadsheet on Numbers and plug in a USB Printer when I arrive at the office and take a quick printout to show it to my boss. The Applications are endless, so please Apple throw in a USB Connector.

• Video Camera
  This is more of a novelty though but it would be nice to do Video Chats with my friends while on the move. Ofcourse a Camera on the back is pretty much pointless because I don’t see people taking pictures with the iPad, but a front facing Camera will be welcome.

So does Apple have a Winner with the iPad? I’d say, Yes! The fundamental we compute is about to change. And Will I buy an iPad? Probably not the first revision, but definitely later. The iPad will make for an amazing second computer.

I’m a big fan of GTD and keeping my life as organized and structured as possible. I Currently use a simple WhiteBoard at home with Sharpie Pens to jot down everything that I need to know. I use this method simply because the GTD apps like Remember the Milk, Things for Mac are an overkill for a guy like me, and to date didn’t really find a simple web based ToDo list.

Yesterday while browsing through my RSS Subscriptions I chanced upon TeuxDeux thanks to John Gruber(Daring Fireball) who described it as Clever, simple, date-based online to-do app. I immediately signed up and I’ve been hooked to it ever since.

As you can see from the Screenshot the interface of TeuxDeux is very clean, minimal and simple. Its the kind of UI that most of us normal users need, rather than the complex UI’s of other GTD apps.

The best thing that I like about TeuxDeux is the fact that it kinda resembles your personal diary, in which you jot down stuff you need to do.

How Does it Work?

To add a task, you just need to type into the textbox. It’ll be automatically be added to the todo list. To remove a task hover over the task and click the cross button. And the best thing, if you don’t complete a task today it will automatically be added to tomorrow’s tasks. Tasks can be drag dropped from different days, which makes it flexible.

The Days that are already past are in light faded Gray, while Today is in Red, and the future dates in the deep black. A simple but clever presentation idea.

Here’s a demo video that shows how TeuxDeux works :

So if you are finding it difficult to keep your life in order, and need to remember things to do, you must try out TeuxDeux.

TeuxDeux (A Swissmiss and FictiveKin Product) | Photo Credit : tracitodd

Boxee one of my favourite startups at the moment is unveiling its beta version of the popular Boxee software. I’ve been using Boxee for almost an year on my Macbook Pro and needless to say the experience is simply wonderful.

With today’s Beta launch Boxee aims to enter newer territories with the launch of a dedicated Boxee Box in partnership with D-Link. What’s more important is a totally revamped and redesigned interface for Boxee, that makes using it even more fun. The UI changes aren’t the only changes though, Boxee beta brings about many major under the hood changes that will allow for less resource intensive playback of your media.

Boxee for Windows will shift from using the OpenGL graphics engine to DirectX runtime, along with support for Nvidia’s cheaper but faster Graphics chips. I believe these are major steps for Boxee, because for so long it has remained in the confines of Mac and AppleTV users, with Windows/Linux Adoption being almost negligible.

Before I tell you about the Dedicated Boxee box, lets have a sneak peak into the new Beta interface. And I have to say the new UI is a marked improvement over the old one, and I can’t wait for the nice people at Boxee HQ to give me access to the beta

This is the new Home screen. The most visible change is the shifting of the navigation from Left to top center. Along with it comes a new centralized hub for all your content. You can now see recommendations from friends on Boxee, Facebook or Twitter (via RSS feeds), recommendations from Boxee’s staff and partners (Featured) and the latest episodes from your favorite shows or things you’ve saved for later (Queue).

The new global menu, makes Navigation even more easier than it was before. This menu makes it easy to access helpful resources (TOP – Logout, Settings, Now Playing, Queue, Feed, History), the main menu (MIDDLE – Photos, Music, Movies, Home, TV Shows, Apps, Files) and shortcuts (BOTTOM) to your favorite Apps, TV Shows, Movies, or folders. This has to be my favorite new feature of the Boxee Beta. Makes me feel that the old navigation was boring and slow!

The screenshots above show the new TV Shows Library and Photos in action. The new sidebar on the left, makes searching/sorting etc. even more easier than it was before.

The New Boxee makes sharing even more fun and easier. After all the entire Boxee experience is a social experience. So now you’re gonna have an endless amount of media to consume thanks to your friends.

At the heart of the new Boxee is the Queue that runs thorough out the software. As you browse your library, you can continuously queue up items. So the next time you don’t have to remind yourself that you wanted to catch up with the latest episode of “How I Met Your Mother”!

There’s a lot more that’s changed in Boxee beta, which I can’t talk about, because I don’t have direct access to the Beta. But looking from the screenshots already posted on the internet, I’m already in love with the new Boxee.

Now coming to the Boxee Box from D-Link, here’s what Senior Marketing Executive Daniel Kelley at D-Link had to say :

“By pairing Boxee’s innovative social entertainment platform with D-Link’s technology we’re able to create a solution that introduces people to what TV should be. Additionally we’re bringing a new level of social interaction to the living room.”

The Boxee Box will have HDMI, SPDIF and RCA Audio connections, Plus two USB ports and it will work on both 802.11N. The price isn’t known yet, nor are the other technical details. What we all know is that Boxee will debut it during at the CES 2010. However rumors point to sub $200 price point which I believe will be very attractive to many home users.

Looks like 2010 will be the year when Digital Media finally makes the transition into our Living rooms. Thanks to Boxee, this is a space that we are all excited going into 2010.

Image Credit : Phil Campbell | Screenshots via Boxee Blog

I’ve been a huge fan of Boxee for managing my entire media library. But a lot of people I talk to always seem to be telling me, why not use the built in Media Center in Windows? Windows Media Center does have an excellent interface and is easy to use, but so far Boxee’s integration with the web to download details of the plot, reviews, trailers etc. for movies was what kept me hooked onto it.

But to fret no more, the built in Windows Media Center can also do the same, thanks to a third party app that lets you download Trailers from iTunes and other websites, Media Info, High Quality pictures etc.

To begin with download MediaBrowser, and install it on your PC. Once you are done, fire it up and you should be looking at a screen like the one shown below.

Add the required folders to your media collection, and Media Browser should then do all the dirty work for you. Alternatively you can also add/configure various plugins for Media Browsers. To do select the plug-ins tab.

There’s also advanced configuration options that lets you personalize your Media Center experience. For more of this, click the advanced option in Media Browser

All said and done, start Windows Media Center and select “Media Browser” from the home screen.

Windows Media Center should now be presenting you, your entire media library in its full glory. Click around to enjoy.

What do you think of Media Browser? Finally I believe that Boxee has a decent competitor but yes the Social features of Boxee will be hard to replicate. For those of you who enjoy Media Center already, Media Browser is a worthy extension to your Movie Watching experience.

Image Credit : lanuiop | Via : Addictive Tips & Announcement on Official Blog

Google seems to be getting everywhere. They are there in just about every corner of our online life, and now they have taken a step further by launching Google Public DNS. Google Public DNS aims at making the web faster for you, by using a high speed, public DNS server. Here’s what DNS does in simple words :

Say you type in the Wikipedia.org in your browser window. The DNS then converts the URL you typed into machine readable IP address and returns it to you. Only after the actual IP of the website is determined does the webpage begin loading for you.

OpenDNS has long since been considered the pioneer in the making the web faster by giving users a free, fast public DNS server with servers spread around the globe to reduce latency.

I’ve been using OpenDNS for the past two years for my needs, and needless to say the experience has been quite good. Not to forget the increase in speed while browsing the web. But today with the release of Google’s own DNS solution I was curious to see if it could beat the already fast service that OpenDNS provides.

So I ran my own tests sitting here in India, using this script by Manu over at TechSutra.

#!/bin/sh 
for i in "lifehacker.com" "facebook.com" "dailyapps.net"  "reddit.com" "google.com" "bbc.co.uk" "microsoft.com" "yahoo.com" "ebay.com"
do
  for j in "4.2.2.2" "8.8.4.4" "208.67.222.222"
  do
    echo $j $i `dig @$j $i | grep Query | awk -F ":" '{print $2}'`
  done
done

And here are my results :

As you can see Google DNS consistently was atleast two times faster than OpenDNS and even more faster than Level 3. Those of you in the U.S I believe shouldn’t see much performance difference between Google and Level 3.

For me personally, Google was always in the range 90-110ms while OpenDNS was in the 200-210ms range. A Significant performance boost I must say.

Is Performance a tradeoff for Privacy?

Hmm it depends on how you look at it. Surely Google has a lot of information about you, and a DNS server will only allow them to gather more data about you. They could in theory gather information about all the websites you visit. Sounds like Big Brother ain’t it, except that Google makes it explicitly clear that “Collected data includes IP address (up to 48 hours, to detect malicious behavior against the service), ISP information and geographic information (2 weeks each). The data is not correlated with your Google account in any way”

For more on what they log while using their DNS service, read the Google Public DNS Privacy Policy.

So as things stand at the moment you don’t have to worry about Privacy Issues. But OpenDNS founder David Ulevitch seems to have other concerns :

“Google claims that this service is better because it has no ads or redirection. But you have to remember they are also the largest advertising and redirection company on the Internet.
……
To think that Google’s DNS service is for the benefit of the Internet would be naive. They know there is value in controlling more of your Internet experience and I would expect them to explore that fully. And of course, we always have protected user privacy and have never sold our DNS data.”

At the end of the day, its pure competition. Google has been entering a lot of verticals lately, in their quest to make the web a better place for everyone. They’ve a long way to go, before they can achieve their goals.

What does this mean for OpenDNS? Well guys, you’ve had the free run for the past three years, now you got to make OpenDNS even more faster. Competition is always a wake up call.

So are you willing to give Google DNS a shot? Google has a handy guide for you to get started.

Google Public DNS (via Google Code Blog) | Photo Credit : jpctalbot

Back in September this year when Twitter founder and inventor Jack Dorsey left the company, to a work on a new project, everyone was skeptical at best when he said “I came back to St. Louis to find the next thing, and I found it.” Obviously we are aware of the Genius of a person that Jack is, so expectations are quite high.

Well today he’s revealed this next big thing to world as Square. The idea – let people quickly and easily accept physical credit card payments from their mobile phone. A small device attaches to the phone via the headset/microphone jack. The device gets the power it needs to send data to the phone from the swipe of the card, and sends the information over the microphone connection.

Even before launch Square is now valued at $40 Million with already $10 Million in Venture Capital Backing. By the looks of it, Square is a bold entry into this huge market of physical payments. “What PayPal was to eBay, Square is to the real world,” said one person close to the company.

The Big credit card companies Visa, Mastercard and American Express are already on board with Square to take credit card payments. Square has already won the attention of the blogosphere, and we will have to wait and watch to see if Square becomes the next big thing.

Enough of the talk, lets have a look at what Square looks like…

I am already quite excited at the numerous possibilities once Square is launched to the general public. Imagine Street vendors being able to accept Credit Card payments without the usual hassle of get merchant accounts, and of course the curse of Paypal fees.

At the moment from the available information Square works on the iPhone platform and Verizon Droid. I am sure Jack and team are looking to extend to the high end Nokia’s and Blackberry devices as well.

If Square takes off, it’ll be a big boost to the credit card companies IMHO. Square is in my heart the next big thing in the world of ecommerce. Paypal sit up and take note. You have a new competitor in town….

More Info at Official Website | Twitter Account

Google Chrome OS, the Operating System being currently built by Google for people who would like to work in the cloud has been in the wild as public test builds. It wasn’t isn’t that easy to get Google Chrome OS running on your machine keeping in mind the limited hardware support, and the relative complexity to get it installed.

However if you still want to try out Google Chrome OS, don’t fret Chrome OS Diet is here. The biggest change is the 300 MB download, a far cry from the 8 GB that “real” Chrome OS consumes. The small download size means that Diet Chromium OS much easier to get hold of.

Diet Chrome was built by developer Hexxeh in his free time. What’s even better is that he’s managed to add some more hardware support in his builds, which means the chances of Chrome OS working smooth on your system is even greater.

Here’s how you get Chrome OS Diet up and running on your system. Won’t take much of your time I promise.

1. Download the Diet Chrome OS torrent (or alternatively get a direct download mirror from here)
2. Download and extract Image Writer for Windows.
3. Extract .tar.gz archive using your favorite software.
4. Launch Image Writer and write the newly freshly extracted image file (the one with .img extension) onto a 2GB or better USB Pen Drive
5. Voila that’s it. Just boot into Chrome OS from your System by restarting.

I tested this on my Dell Inspiron 530s and everything worked perfectly. Chrome OS booted up from the USB drive in like about 6 seconds. There’s isn’t much to play around with at the moment, so I got bored by it pretty fast.

You might want to have a look at Diet Chrome OS FAQ here : http://chromeos.hexxeh.net/faq.html

If you don’t want to reboot and boot into the USB Pen Drive, you can use MobaLiveCD to run Diet Chrome directly in Windows.

I am not really sure if Google Chrome OS will manage take off in the real world, because the demand of an always available Internet connection isn’t any bit easy to achieve. Its a long way ahead for Google and its ambitious plans for Chrome OS.

Have you tried out Chrome OS? Tell us about your experiences in the comments.

Diet Chrome OS

Google Wave seems to have been dominating the tech blogosphere headlines for quite some time now. Almost everywhere I go people are talking about how Google Wave is going to be the next big thing on the internet.

Am not quite sure if Google Wave is ready for primetime yet, because in my opinion it needs a lot of fixing up to do. At the moment Google Wave is kinda buggy and slow (faster than other web apps of course, considering the high standards Google has set for itself). But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try out Google Wave if you haven’t already.

I have 8 invites of Google Wave to giveaway at the moment, and I will update this post if there is more in the future, so make sure you keep this page bookmarked and check back often.

What Should You Do?

Comment on this post, saying why do you want a Google Wave Invite and how it can make a difference to your day to day life. And second just tweet the following :

“RT @coolkarthik88 #DailyApps Giveaway : Google Wave Invites | http://j.mp/6ROWH3″

8 Lucky people will be randomly chosen from the Comment thread to receive the Google Wave Invites.

If you have invites that you’d like to giveaway to DailyApps readers please get in touch with me using the contact form.

Till then Happy Google Waving!

Image Credit : thelastminute

Google Search Engine is a constant changing one.. Recently after the successful internal testing of Caffeine, Google has decided to deploy it in the wild starting next year. But these are under the hood changes that most of us may not notice.

But over the past few months, Google has also been secretly testing a new UI and look for the Google Search engine, which has essentially not changed much since its inception. Do you want to be one among the secret testers, to have a sneak peak of the new design?

To get this Hack Attack to work for you, you need to be using the international version of Google i.e. http://google.com/ncr and not the localized version that you are redirected to usually.

Once you are at the Google Homepage, copy the following text and paste it in the address bar as it is…

javascript:void(document.cookie=”PREF=ID=20b6e4c2f44943bb:U=4bf292d46faad806:TM=1249677602:LM=1257919388:S=odm0Ys-53ZueXfZG;path=/; domain=.google.com”);

Once you are done, press enter and reload the Google Homepage. You Should now be looking at an all new design for the homepage. Perform a search and you’ll see a new search results page with an always visible Sidebar.

So Do you like the new look? I do quite like it, at least the sidebar is useful to perform searches more rapidly. But I’m not quite sure if it will be well received by all the people because it is quite a departure from the Google we are all used. However they could tone down the Blue a bit because at times I feel am at the MSN of yesteryears rather than Google.

Or you never know Google may never release it in the wild…

However if you aren’t a fan of the new design, you can remove the corresponding cookie from your browser. Here’s how its done in Chrome

Leave your comments, as to what you feel about the new Design?

Via Google Blogoscoped | Google Caffeine Update | Image Credit : ientu

Browser security has become a raging debate these days, with the myriad of plugins and extensions you can install on your computer to customize your internet experience. However plugins like Java, Silverlight, Flash etc. are powerful stuff that if found vulnerable can give hackers multiple attack points targeting a huge audience.

So what Mozilla is trying to do is trying to make plugin management as easy as managing extensions in Firefox is. Though the plugin check page is limited by what it can do at the moment, it will be fully utilized starting Firefox 3.6 to update plugins just like extensions do so now.

For now the scripts on the page will check for installed plugins and compare the version of the installed plugin with the latest version that is available. At the moment some of the plugins supported are (among others) Apple Quicktime, Shockwave Flash, Adobe Acrobat, Java, Silverlight, RealPlayer and Windows Media Player plugins.

The Plugin Check page will show you a Green “Up To Date” button if you are running the latest version of the plugin, a yellow “Update” button if a new version button is available, and a red “Update Now” button if you are running a version that has a critical security exploit fixed in the latest version.

It is hearty to see Mozilla taking these steps to ensure a safe browsing experience for all of us. Looks like Firefox 3.6 will be an awesome release! Looking forward to it

Mozilla Plugin Check