We in Japan are not so lucky, we’ll be lucky to get them in late April but early May is also likely. This is opposite to what you know who claimed in his announcement in January. Oh well…

Anyway when it does arrive, these are the 5 apps I am most looking forward to using with the iPad and why. *Click on the images to go to the iTunes Preview page

Dropbox

Dropbox
If you’ve ever used Dropbox, I probably don’t need to explain but for some of you who haven’t it provides effortless and free syncing between computers and computers or computers and iPhones/iPod touches/iPads (paid plans are also available). As someone who doesn’t do the full USB sync often it is a lifesaver. Just drop a PDF or some pictures in the dropbox on your computer and seconds later you can access it on your iPad. If you mark files as favourites, it will store them locally.  But talking of pdfs…

GoodReader

GoodReader
The iPhone has built-in PDF reader functionality but it’s not very good. Zooming, controls, how to access it or files are all poorly implemented. It seems like an afterthought. GoodReader on the other hand is a supremely well made PDF reader. Zooming is great. It does PDF reflowing, where it tries to read the text of the PDF, fits it to the screen and then allow you to change font size. Access to files is easy too, download direct from the web, or from Dropbox or ftp servers. The files are then stored on the iPad/iPhone. With the likelyhood of the iBooks store not being available in Japan at launch and even then with limited or overpriced content, GoodReader will let me read PDF versions of books I already have or are available on the web. The biggest problem with GoodReader on the iPhone is the iPhone’s screen size. It isn’t really comfortable to read long books, even with all the tricks GoodReader has, but the iPad’s screen should be much better in this regard. It would be even better if it read ePub files, so that I wouldn’t need to use Stanza. Stanza is great for ePub files, stylish, usable, easy to read but trying to access books not in the libraries is a maze.

WriteRoom

WriteRoom
I’m actually typing this in WriteRoom and it is great for just bashing out text without distractions. You could say that the notes app is sufficient but I love the syncing abilities of WriteRoom. (see a pattern here?) Half of this post was typed on the iPhone and half on my desktop. I don’t actually see myself doing a lot of work on the iPad, but one type of task I probably could do without frustration would be writing. I can definitely see myself at Starbucks bashing out posts with the iPad 3G and a bluetooth keyboard ala Gruber.

VNC

VNC
I use vnc quite a lot with my iPhone. Of course with the screen resolution, it is bearable but not totally productive. With 1024×768 of iPad screen space I could control the mac mini being used as a media center in full screen mode and for my desktops I could control them with a lot less scrolling. Add in a VPN connection and I could access the Mac I use at work. In the same way, I’m sure some people are also looking forward to using the pricier LogMeIn Ignition.

Evernote

Evernote
This is a strange one as although it is available for the iPhone I haven’t made much use of it. I’m not alone, there are quite a number of 1 star reviews on the app store. So why am I looking forward to the iPad version? Because I can see how it can pair up with the one I have on the iPhone. The iPhone is a great capture device but it feels cramped as an organising or filing device. So I see myself using my iPhone to capture notes and photos, they would be automatically synced in the Evernote cloud and then I can review and organise on the iPad. And it isn’t just Evernote but all the other apps like JotNot that upload to the Evernote cloud that will make Evernote (iPad version) attractive to try out.

So those were my top 5 apps I am looking forward to using on the iPad. If you are thinking of getting an iPad what are yours?

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My new keyboard is the ThinkPlus with UltraNav (TrackPoint) as it is called in Japan.  In other countries is just called ThinkPad Full-Size UltraNav USB Keyboard.

I bought this keyboard new on Yahoo Auctions and am using it with OSX.  I’ve been eyeing a ThinkPlus/UltraNav keyboard for a long time but they have been a little pricey at around 9500 Yen (~95USD)  I managed to get this one for 4980 Yen, possibly because most Japanese people were put off by it being a US English layout keyboard.

The reason is that I love my ThinkPad keyboards is the TrackPoint.  The trackpoint is just so handy as unlike a touchpad you never have to move your hands off the keyboard.  And the middle button works for scrolling.

So basically the ThinkPlus is the ThinkPad keyboard moved into a external format.

Let me share some of my thoughts and hacks so far .  I’ve been using a compact mechanical switch keyboard for a while now and the key feel of the ThinkPlus is not as satisfying.  But the feel is probably better than 80% of the keyboards out there.  More of a problem is it is a much larger keyboard so I am having to adapt and stretch a bit more.  It is something that maybe worries me the most.  The backspace being the biggest and most frequent stretch.

Under OSX, the volume keys work.  The blue ThinkVantage or whatever the blue button is now called does nothing, but maybe it can be remapped.  Interestingly enough the Fn-F4 combination will bring up the Restart/Sleep/Shutdown dialog.  The page forward and page back keys are read as Shift Left and Right arrow so I have used them as the keys to switch between Spaces.  I have 4 Spaces in a single row for this set-up.

The keyboard doesn’t have a Windows key so the usual remapping to the Command key can’t be used.  What I did was remap the Caps Lock to Control and Control to Command, using the Keyboard preferences.  As with my previous keyboard I am using “Command .” to switch between the Romaji and Hiragana input types.

The trackpoint works as a mouse without extra drivers or software.  Scrolling with the middle button works in some apps like Firefox.  I’m trying out the SmartScroll program which enables the scrolling with most apps (but not Air apps it seems).  I rarely touch the mouse now for general computer use, only if I am using graphics apps like Photoshop.

The keyboard has a couple of USB ports but they are recessed so it can be hard to plug in fat or odd shaped devices.  A tiny extender cable would solve most problems.

Lastly the trackpad also works but I’ve disabled it as I didn’t want to move the pointer when I accidentally brushed it with my palms.  I couldn’t find any way of doing so with software settings (I searched the googleverse with “disable trackpad on ThinkPlus keyboard OSX” and similar combinations resulting in no useful results) so my solution was to open up the keyboard and disconnected the tiny ribbon cable.  No need for a “how-to”.  It was a simple 2 minute operation by removing the screws but be warned that there are 2 screws that are smaller.  I didn’t notice until I had them all out..

For around 5000 Yen it is as close to a perfect keyboard for my personal tastes.  If you love the keyboard on the ThinkPads you’ll love this one too.  Having used it I would say that I would probably pay the full price for it if I had too.

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If you are looking for a webcam for your mac mini then this might be the solution for you. The problem with the mac mini is that it doesn’t have a microphone socket so what you really need is a webcam with a built-in USB mic. And that is exactly what the Logitech S7500 (also known as the QuickCam Communicate Deluxe) has.

Let me run down the hardware specs of the S7500

• 1.3 Megapixel resolution
• 30fps video
• Glass lens
• RightLight2
• Manual focus
• Privacy shutter
• USB mic built in
• UVC

If you are using this webcam with Windows then the last feature Universal Video Class isn’t that important because it has a full driver suite. It may come in handy though as you can use it driver-less, though Logitech doesn’t recommend this. But for OSX or Linux it is a vital feature. Plug it into OSX Leopard and it is recognized and select USB mic input and it just works.

So how does perform? Picture quality is excellent, the video is nice and bright, the audio is clear enough. I tested it with Skype under OSX and Windows.

There are however a few problems. It isn’t an auto-focus or fixed focus camera. You focus via a wheel on the side. This isn’t the best as it can be a little hard to judge for yourself so you might need to call someone up and have them assist you. The other problem is that it is very wide-angled. Logitech lists this as a feature but I guess it depends on the user. As I discovered, for one on one’s your face becomes a fairly small part of the picture. I guess it would be great for families, say parents talking to their children and their families at the same time.

Would I recommend this web camera?  It has to be a reserved yes. Unless you have the budget for one of the more expensive models like the Logitech Vision Pro, this camera will do a good job especially if you have a mac mini.  Mine cost about 3800Yen (around USD 38)

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HHK Lite 2 and Apple Wired Keyboard

Happy Hacking Keyboard is known as a great keyboard for programmers and three of our team members use it. Mine is HHK Lite 2 English Black, Ice’s one is HHK Lite 2 Japanese White, Har’s one is HHK Lite 2 Egnlish White.

HHK Lite 2

I used it for the last 2 years and thought yes it’s the best keyboard ever, if you want a small one especially you use it with Emacs or Vi. Definitely, the professional version is much more comfortable but it’s REALLY expensive. Someday I want it.

OK. I said it’s great. But only one thing I can’t stand for the HHK. It’s a location of “~” mark. It’s on right top of HHK and ESC is on left top. It always confuse me when I switched from build in keyboard on MacBook Pro to HHK. To prevent this problem, I was looking for another choices but no any alternatives I could find.

Now I’m using an Apple Wired English Keyboard. This one is borrowed from Har. He has two! After this trial, I may switch to an Apple Wireless English Keyboard due to the “~” problem. This keyboard is also nice and looks cool if you use with an Apple mighty mouse like me.

Apple Wired Keyboard

Anyway, HHK is one of the best keyboard worth try if you don’t care the “~” key.

Side view of 2 keyboards

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Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2. It’s the sequel to the “Dynasty Warriors: Gundam”.

In “Dynasty Warriors” series, we always beat enemies up rhythmically. This Gundam one too. But there are so many more actions you can do in this one than another series cos you’re controlling Gundams. Not so many patterns of fighting commands but there’s a certain thrill when using the boost up command.

MAs and huge MSs are too hard to beat for beginners. It’s not for someone who want to beat enemies up rhythmically. It probably fun for you to find out how to beat the huge MSs but once you find it, it becomes a bit boring.

You can get items from enemies when you beat them and use it to build up your machines. It’s fun but it makes the game complicated. “Weak pilot on the awesome machine”. The feature is good for someone who just want to beat enemies.

Your machine always gets blown up when you get damage by enemies and it can leave you frustrated. It’s a weakness of this game I think.

One other bad thing about this game  I need to tell you about. The package says you can get many more machines than its prequel, this means extra machines have been added. Yes, you can choose new ones but you may not want to use them.

In the end though, if you love Gundam this may be the game for you!

If you’ve played the game, tell me what you felt about it in the comments.

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