My sister got married last weekend and with all of the family activitiy, there was no time for me to publish In the news last Friday. Thus, in this 150th edition of In the news — didn’t we just have the 100th edition? — I am highlighting some interesting stories from the last two weeks.
- This week was the LegalTech West Coast conference. According to an article by Monica Bay of the Law Technology News, there was a lot of focus on the iPad. (Sounds similar to what I saw at ABA TECHSHOW earlier this year.)
- Florida attorney Katie Floyd writes about how to save an iPhone after you spill water on it.
- Tampa, Florida attorney Jenny Byars Gribbin of Fowler White Boggs had an idea for an iPhone app to manage lists for busy parents. The result is the app Mothern Belle, and Gribbin was profiled by Margaret Cashill of the Tampa Bay Business Journal.
- Carol Gerber of Attorney at Work compiles iPad shortcuts useful to lawyers.
- Massachusetts lawyer Robert Ambrogi reports that the North Carolina Bar switched from Casemaker to Fastcase, in part because Fastcase has a great iPad app.
- Adam Lashinsky wrote a great cover article for Fortune on how Tim Cook is changing Apple. It’s a good read.
- Joshua Topolsky of The Verge wrote an interesting article for the Washington Post about how so few companies outside of Apple are coming up with innovative designs for their tech products.
- I often write about people using Find My iPhone to locate a stolen iPhone, but Alex Heath of Cult of Mac writes about a woman who used the iCloud Photo Stream service to do the same thing after her iPhone was stolen on a Disney cruise. The iPhone thief was an employee of the cruise ship and he used the iPhone to take pictures of himself and his friends — which were promptly uploaded to the woman’s iCloud and appeared on her computer. Based on the pictures, the thief was apprehended and was fired.
- Ben Worthen of the Wall Street Journal wrote an interesting article about young children using iPads.
- Kevin Tofel of GigaOm writes that if you get internet access from cable companies Bright House Networks, Cablevision, Comcast, Cox Communications or Time Warner Cable, you’ll soon be able to access a bunch of Wi-Fi spots across the country. Initial access will be in New York, Los Angeles, Tampa, Orlando, and Philadelphia.
- Ken Shirriff analyzed what makes up an iPhone charger. It’s more sophisticated than you might think.
- David Pogue of the New York Times discusses tracking smartphone data usage.
- Pogue also reivewed the Jawbone Big Jambox and the Bose SoundLink Wireless Mobile Speaker, Bluetooth speakers that work with the iPhone.
- The App Store has been around for four years, and Federico Viticci looks at those lat four years for MacStories.
- Georgia of iMore reviewed several iPad styluses, including the Bamboo Stylus that I like so much. I disagree with several of the opinions in her article (including her take on the Bamboo Stylus), so it is a good read if you are looking for a different perspective from mine.
- Borys Kit of The HollyWood Reporter reports that Aaron Sorkin (of The West Wing and The Social Network fame) is writing the screenplay based on the Walter Isaacson biography of Steve Jobs. I’ve seen it reported elsewhere that Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak will a consultant on the film.
- Harry McCracken of Time compares the two upcoming movies on Steve Jobs.
- Geri Drelling of LawyerTechReview writes about one judge’s use of an iPad in court.
- Simon Sage of iMore recommends his favorite free iPad games.
- And finally, there was a short but very nice tribute to Steve Jobs at the recent 16th Annual Webby Awards with tributes from Presidents Clinton and Obama, Bono and others. It is worth watching, and you can watch it in this clip from CNET: