Month: January 2014

Seven years ago yesterday, on January 9, 2007, Steve Jobs introduced the first iPhone to the world.  It would not go on sale until June 29, 2007, and according to behind-the-scenes reports (such as this great article by Fred Vogelstein) it was a miracle that the the unit that Jobs showed off on January 9th worked at all, but that was the day that Apple changed how people would think of a smartphone.  In 2008, Apple started selling third party apps, and this week, Apple announced that it has now sold over $10 billion worth of apps, including over $1 billion just in December of 2013.  Quite a bit has happened in seven years!  And now, the recent news of note:

• New York attorney Nicole Black recommends “must-have apps” for a lawyer’s new iPad.
• John Edwards of Law Technology News shares 15 iOS 7 tips and tricks.
• Alan Cohen of Law Technology News reviews the iPad Air.
• If you are having trouble logging in to the Fastcase app in iOS 7, Fastcase is aware of the problem and is working on a fix.  For now, here is a workaround:  enter your username and password but DO NOT tap the green Login button on the screen.  Instead, tap the Go button on the keyboard. 
• Do you love your iPhone but miss the keyboard on your former BlackBerry?  The new Typo keyboard provides a BlackBerry-like keyboard for the iPhone — so much so that BlackBerry is actually suing the company that makes Typo, a company backed by Ryan Seacrest.  Kevin Michaluk of the CrackBerry site reviews the Typo keyboard.
• Roy Furchgott of the New York Times describes the Filip, a new $200 watch that your kids can wear that lets you use your iPhone to track, call and text your kids (which you could also do if your kids were using an iPhone) but which isn’t a smartphone so you don’t have to worry about your kids surfing the Internet or texting.  I’m not sure about this one, but it is interesting.
• David Pogue of Yahoo Tech reviews the Mophie Space Pack, an iPhone case that doubles the battery life on your iPhone 5 or 5s and also provides up to 32 GB in additional storage.  It costs $150 and goes on sale in March.
• Alyssa Bereznak of Yahoo Tech reviews the ZeroHour, a flashlight that will also recharge your iPhone up to seven times.
• Derrick Story of Macworld has tips for using an iPhone to take portrait pictures.
• Marianne Schultz of AppShopper describes the SkyBell Doorbell app, an iPhone app (and doorbell accessory) that gives you a live video feed of who is at your door and lets you talk to them.
• Thanks to all of you who voted for iPhone J.D. in the ABA Journal Blawg 100.  Because of your support, iPhone J.D. won the Legal Technology category.  The only prize is bragging rights, but even so, I really appreciate the vote of confidence.
• And finally, there are countless rumors about Apple developing a smart watch that will work with the iPhone.  But David Soofian has what he thinks is a better idea — just attach an iPhone directly to your wrist.  The result is a Kickstarter campaign for a product he calls Smartlet.  I’m not so sure about this one, but who knows, this could be a solution for some folks.

Many attorneys tell me that GoodReader is one of the most useful third-party apps on their iPads, and I wholeheartedly agree.  I use GoodReader almost every day to read and annotate PDF documents on my iPad.  All of the important public documents in all of my cases (e.g. pleadings) are in GoodReader on my iPad and are synced back to my computer via Dropbox, which means that I always have those important files whenever I might need them.  (For confidential documents, I use Transporter, a current sponsor of iPhone J.D.)  Because GoodReader is so important to my law practice, I am always interested to learn about updates to the app, which happens regularly.

This week, GoodReader was updated from version 3.19 to version 3.20.  Don’t let the numbers fool you … this was a major update to GoodReader.  The app now features a new user interface that is a vast improvement.  I always considered the prior interface rather clunky, but the app was so useful that I loved it anyway.  I’m thrilled to see an improved and more useful interface.  The app also includes some new features that I think lawyers will like.  Here are the features that jumped out at me the most.

Let me start by showing you what the new interface looks like, and then I’ll focus on specific features:

New Path Bar

The top left of the file view in the app now features a path bar which makes it easy to understand where you are in a folder substructure.  Also, unlike the old GoodReader where you only had the option to go back to the prior folder, you can now instantly jump up several levels in the folders or tap the home button to go all the way back to the top.

Tools button for every file

In the past if you wanted to do something to a file (such as change the name) you had to tap the Manage Files option on the right and then select the file on the left before you could select what you wanted to do with the file.  You can now do the same thing in only a single step.  Each file entry has, at the far right (just below the file size), a tools button.  It is in very light gray so it isn’t obnoxious, but it is always there when you need it.  When you want to act on a file, just tap the specific tools button on the line next to that file name and the right side will come to life with each possible file management button that could pertain to that file `highlighted — such as the Rename button if you want to change the file name.

New tools layout on the right

Speaking of the tools on the right, GoodReader no longer has a series of bars that you must tap to reveal the options under each bar, which would cause the viewable options to move up and down so you never know where anything is located.  Now, the tools layout has five options at the top right that are always visible and in the same location:  Find, Recents, Starred, Connect and Manage Files.  Tap one option and all available selections appear underneath those five options.  And as noted above, only the tools that would work with whatever you have selected are highlighted, so the irrelevant tool don’t distract you.  I find the layout much easier to use, and it is far easier to find the options that you want.

The options at the bottom also stay in one location, and now one of those buttons is the very important Sync button that updates all of your files with Dropbox.  I love that this button has a permanent home, making it easier to find.  The button next to it, Back to Reading, is a fast way to go back to the last document you viewed in the app.

Also, the tools layout is more efficient.  Because it takes up less space, there is more space available to display file names which is helpful if you are using long file names a la David Sparks that start with a date in a Year-Month-Day format.

Flatten PDF annotations

When you add annotations to a PDF file, sometimes you want to be able to go back and edit those annotations.  Other times, you want to make the annotations a permanent part of the file so that someone else cannot change your annotations and so that you can be sure that the annotations are viewable in any PDF viewer.  Flattening is the process of making annotations a permanent part of a PDF file.

Under the Manage Files option there is a new button called Flatten Copy.  You can now flatten the annotations in many PDF files with a single button click, without needing to open up each file one by one to flatten it.  Doing so creates new files with the original file name followed by “- flattened”  If you try to flatten a file that doesn’t contain any annotations, the app will tell you that there are no annotations.  Also, when emailing a bunch of PDF files, there is now an option to flatten all files at once. 

Images to the clipboard

Most of my GoodReader files are PDF files, but I have other file types too such as some pictures in JPG format.  When you view a picture in GoodReader, there is now an icon at the bottom of the screen that you can tap to copy the image to the clipboard.  This makes it easy to go to an email message and paste the picture right in the email or paste the picture in a document in another app.

Other enhancements

GoodReader now has full support for iWork 2013 files,  Finding files is easier with the ability to limit a search to this folder, subfolders or elsewhere.  You can now star files with seven different colors, and search for individual color tags.  There is a new audio player if you want to use GoodReader to manage your audio, something that I haven’t tried (although I do sometimes use GoodReader to manage videos associated with my files, such as a local TV news story on an accident that is the subject of litigation).

GoodReader already seemed to work fine in iOS 7, but this new version advertises “full iOS 7 compatability,” which sounds good to me.  It also advertises faster PDF rendering for some PDF files, another improvement that I haven’t noticed but sounds good.

Put it all together, and GoodReader version 3.20 is a great update for an app that I already love to use.  I continue to believe that GoodReader is the best $5 that any attorney can spend on their iPad — now more than ever.

Click here to get GoodReader for iPad ($4.99):  

A few months ago, Pennsylvania attorney Sara Austin wrote to tell me about a neat little portable battery called the Halo Pocket Charger 2200, and she let me turn her email into a post with her review of the product.  Shortly before the holidays, Powerocks sent me a free review sample of a similar product called the Super Magicstick.  The Magicstick contains a 2800 mAh rechargeable battery (so it holds a larger charge than the Halo unit that Sara Austin reviewed) but it uses a similar design — a small tube that is easy to toss into a briefcase or a purse or even a pocket on your pants or jacket.  I tested the Magicstick extensively when I was traveling on business before the holidays and while traveling for pleasure during the holidays.  It was very handy to have this easy-to-carry external battery with me, and I suspect that many others would like it just as much as I did.  You can get it on Amazon for about $30 to $35.

The Magicstick is a small tube about 3.6″ long and almost 0.9″ in diameter.  It has a smooth, brushed-aluminum finish that reminds me of an iMac or a MacBook Air.  I like the rounded design because you don’t have to worry about any sharp edges when the Magicstick comes in contact with something else in your briefcase (or scratching you in your pocket), and the brushed-aluminum finish is resistant to scratches so the unit should stand up to wear and tear. 

The unit that I tested is silver, but on Amazon you can currently also get it in black, blue, purple, red, pink, green and gold.  And the Powerocks website indicates that there are other colors available, so you might see more choices when you shop for it.

The Magicstick only weighs 2.6 ounces.  Thus, you’ll barely notice it in a briefcase or purse, and you will only somewhat notice it in a pants or coat pocket.

One end of the Magicstick has two ports — a USB port and a micro USB port. 

To use the device to charge your iPhone, take the cord that came with your iPhone that has both a USB connector and a Lightning connector (iPhone 5/5s) or 30-pin connector (iPhone 4S and earlier).  (The Magicstick doesn’t come with the cord to connect to your iPhone, which makes sense because different devices need different cords.)  My preference is to use the Magicstick with an iBoltz XS five inch cord that I reviewed last year, which lets me charge my iPhone (or iPad) on a desk without having lots of extra cord get in my way.

The Magicstick holds a 2800 mAh charge which is more than enough to fully charge an iPhone and almost enough to charge an iPhone twice.  (For example, an iPhone 5S has a 1560 mAh battery, and an iPhone 4 has a 1420 mAg battery.)  The Magicstick puts out 1 Amp of power so it is designed for the iPhone, but you can use it with an iPad if you need to do so, although it won’t charge as fast as a regular iPad wall adapter that puts out 2.1 Amps and the 2800 mAh battery will only give you a partial charge on an iPad.  When I used the Magicstick with my iPad Air, a fully-charged Magicstick was able to add about 20% battery life to the iPad Air, and that took about two hours.

The Magicstick comes with a USB to micro USB cord that you use to charge the device.  Powerocks says that it takes about 5 hours to fully charge the Magicstick, and based on my tests, that sounds about right.  You can get a sense of how much charge is in a Magicstick by pressing a button on the end of the device, which cause the button to glow for a second in one of three colors:  blue (70% to 100% charged), green (30% to 70% charged) or red (0% to 30% charged).

The Magicstick comes with a cloth carrying pouch, but I never used it.  I just tossed the Magicstick into my briefcase and it held up fine.

I see that Powerocks just recently announced a similar device called the Flash Magicstick, which includes all of the features of the Super Magicstick that I reviewed but is slightly longer and adds an LED flashlight.  It will retail for $49.99 and will be available in the first quarter of 2014.  I’ve used other chargers that have an LED flashlight and I’ve never found a need for the flashlight, so the Flash Magicstick does not appeal to me.  Nevertheless, I mention it here because if you are shopping for a Magicstick and see both the Super and the Flash for sale, now you know the difference.

My iPhone usually has no problems lasting all day on a charge, but there are times when it runs through its battery more quickly, such as if it is having trouble maintaining a cellular connection or if I am tethering my iPad to my iPhone’s 4G LTE.  I never want to run out of power when I am in Court or in a meeting but I cannot always depend upon having easy access to an outlet.  Thus, I consider a small, portable, easy-to-carry external battery an incredibly useful accessory for the iPhone, and the Powerocks Super Magicstick hits the sweet spot:  a great size, shape and weight, more than enough power for a iPhone and even enough to add a little extra juice to an iPad, and a reasonable price.  If you are in the market for an external battery, this is a good one.  I see that Amazon has different prices depending upon the color you select and who you buy it from, but the range is $30 to $35.

[UPDATE 1/26/15:  I have been using the Powerrocks Super Magicstick extensively for the past year.  I might sometimes go two weeks without using it, but then I would use it several days in a row.  I’ve noticed over the past few weeks that the ability to hold a charge drastically decreased, to the point where it could only charge my iPhone 6 about 10% before the Super Magicstick ran out of power.  So based on my experience with this one unit, it lasted about a year of moderate to heavy use.  I find this device so useful that I just ordered another one to replace it, and fortunately the price has gone down since I reviewed it last year; the price fluctuates from day-to-day on Amazon, but when I ordered mine on Jan. 24, 2015, it was $12.50.  So keep in mind that, if you buy one of these, you might not get more than a year of use out of it, but considering the price I still consider it a great value.  And I continue to love this product for the same reason noted when I wrote the above review a year ago:  it is so small that it is easy to carry around in a pocket.  By the way, a brand new Super Magicstick (2800 mAh) was able to bring an iPhone 6 from 12% power to 91% power when I wasn’t using the iPhone — not as much power as it provided an iPhone 5s, but more than enough to give your iPhone new life at the end of a day.]

Click here to get the Magicstick on Amazon ($30 to $35).

Thank you to GoodCase Apps for sponsoring iPhone J.D. this month to promote its CaseManager apps for the iPad and iPhone.  CaseManager was created by New York civil rights attorney John Upton as a fast and inexpensive solution for sole practitioners and small firms who want to use mobile devices to manage their law practice.  The app debuted in 2011, and I discussed the app back in August of 2012 when GoodCase Apps last sponsored iPhone J.D.  Since then, the app has added many new features including the ability to save a backup of all of your data in Dropbox, synchronize data between multiple devices using Dropbox, the ability to add handwritten notes (and the ability to email those notes), greater user customization, the ability to print lists, etc.

CaseManager is an app in which you can store all of the key information about your cases.  You can add documents to the app to carry around the key pleadings, contracts, etc.  You can add contact information, calendar entries and tasks that are unique to each case.  The app even includes a Facts section so that you can track the key events in the timeline of a case and can help you track your time and expenses.  All of the information is stored in the app itself, so you can access your information even when you don’t have an Internet connection. 

The main screen of the app is the Cases screen.  Each case is indicated with a large, easy to tap button, and you can easily add new cases by tapping in the top right.  (To delete a case, slide your finger from right to left across a case name and a Delete button will appear on the right.)

Once you select a case, you are brought to the main navigation screen for that case, where you are presented with nine choices such as a Calendar view of your events and tasks, buttons that let you view a list of Events or a list of Tasks, a button that lets you enter Time & Expenses, etc.

For example, to add an event you can tap either the Events or the Calendar button and then tap the Add Event button.  You can then enter the title of the event, the date and time, the location, and whatever description that you want to add.  And if you would rather draw than type, tap the Pencil button next to the word “Event” and you can sketch a note, diagram, etc. using your finger or a stylus.

To see other information in the case, you can either tap the Back button at the top left of the screen to go to the main navigation page, or better yet you can tap the Case Navigation tab that appears at the bottom of most screens.  (It looks like the top of a folder.)  That tab gives you quick access too all of the case navigation options.

The Calendar view lets you see all of your events and tasks in a specific case.  Or if you want to view all of your events across all of your cases, tap on the Calendar button on the black bar at the bottom of the app.  This gives you a calendar with a large number on each day representing the number of events or tasks that you have for that day.  (It is optional to include tasks on your calendar — you can decide that as you enter a task.)  Just tap a day to see what is on your calendar for that day.

If you give CaseManager access to the main Calendar app on your iPad/iPhone, then when you create an event the event will also be placed on your main iPad/iPhone calendar as a 10 minute entry.  That can serve as a reminder for you to go back to the CaseManager app for more details.

You can also use CaseManager to enter time, either manually or via a timer that you start and stop, and to enter expenses.  This is a useful way for you to remember your billable hours and expenses when you are out of the office so that when you get back to the office you won’t forget what you need to record the time/expense into your billing software.

One of the new features of CaseManager is the ability to save your data on Dropbox.  This is useful to save a backup of all of your important data.  It also gives the app a way to sync between CaseManager on the iPad and CaseManager on the iPhone.  (There are also versions of CaseManager for Windows and for Android, but I did not test those.)  To use this feature, you go to the Settings portion of the app and tap a button to Link to Dropbox.  This will launch the Dropbox app, where you give CaseManager permission to access the CaseManager folder on your Dropbox, and then returns you to the CaseManager app.  Then tap the Sync Dropbox button to sync all of your data with Dropbox.  Once you have synced on your iPad, you can then go to your iPhone and sync in all of the new data (and vice versa).

The above screenshots all show CaseManager on the iPad in landscape mode, but the app also works in portrait mode on the iPad.  And as indicated above, there is also a version of CaseManager for the iPhone, and here are some screenshots to show you how it looks — basically the same as the iPad version, just formatted for the iPhone screen.

 

CaseManager doesn’t aim to compete with expensive case management software that is designed for dozens or even hundreds of users and often has a monthly fee.  Instead, CaseManager aims to provide a simple and easy-to-use solution for folks who want to manage their own case files on a mobile device that is always with them.  And at only $20 for the iPad or the iPhone version of CaseManager, it will only cost you a fraction of a billable hour to get up and running.

Click here to get CaseManager for iPad ($19.99):  

Click here to get CaseManager for iPhone ($19.99): 

If you are looking for a great way to get your CLE hours in 2014, my favorite CLE every year is ABA TECHSHOW in Chicago.  It is a great opportunity to learn about technology, see some of the latest in legal tech, and spend some time with some great people.  This year, TECHSHOW is March 27 through 29, 2014.

Over the last few years, the number of sessions dedicated to the iPhone and iPad have increased substantially, and 2014 looks to be the best year ever for iPhone J.D. readers.  The first day of the conference, Thursday March 27, features an entire track devoted to the iPad.  The day starts with a session entitled “iPad in Action.”  Next, there is a session called “iPad in Trial / iPad for Litigators” that I will be presenting along with Judge Hebert Dixon of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.  Judge Dixon is a tech-savvy judge who has been involved with ABA TECHSHOW for a long time, and I hope that we will be able to provide some great iPad tips for litigators from both sides of the bench.

The first session after lunch on Thursday is called “iGadgets and iGear for the iLawyer,” and Ben Stevens of The Mac Lawyer and I will team up to discuss all of the great accessories that you might consider using with your iPad.  I’m sure that we will mention some cool iPhone accessories too.  This is the first time that there will be a TECHSHOW session devoted to iPad accessories, and I’m looking forward to it.  The final session on Thursday is called “Advanced iPad:  Working with Word and So Much More,” and will provide tips for taking your iPad to the next level.  

Then on Friday, there will be lots of sessions of interest to iPhone J.D. readers.  For Mac users, there is an entire Mac track.  There is also a Mobile track which includes sessions for lawyers who travel and using an iPad as a PC-replacement.  There is also an entire track devoted to going Paperless.  There is also a session devoted to Evernote users, a session in the Advanced IT track on mobile device security, and even some Android sessions for anyone curious what life is like on the other side of the tracks.

Saturday morning, TECHSHOW is bringing back 60 Apps in 60 Minutes, a fast-paced and fun session at which you are sure to learn about lots of new apps.  I’m thrilled to see this session return to TECHSHOW after a one-year absence; I was a part of all of the prior 60 Apps sessions in 2010, 2011 and 2012.  This year, my co-presenters for the 60 Apps session are D.C.-attorney Reid Trautz (Reid and I did the first two in 2010 and 2011), legal consultant Brett Burney (Brett joined me for the 2012 version, along with Josh Barrett of the gone-but-not-forgotten Tablet Legal website) and Ohio litigator Chad Burton.  Reid, Brett, Chad and I are already talking about the apps that we will include in this year’s 60 Apps in 60 Minutes, and there are going to be some great ones.

When you are not attending a session, TECHSHOW also has a fantastic exhibitor hall.  Last year, it was full of apps and hardware for iPhone and iPad users, giving you a great chance to try-before-you-buy and the opportunity to talk directly with the folks who create some of your favorite apps and accessories.  I suspect that the iOS emphasis among exhibitors will be even greater in 2014.

Even if you are attending TECHSHOW by yourself, you don’t need to worry about eating dinner alone.  On both Thursday and Friday nights, TECHSHOW will feature Taste of Techshow dinners.  Each dinner is (loosely) organized around a topic, so just pick one that looks interesting and you can get to know 10 to 12 other folks with similar interests.  Brett Burney and I will co-host a dinner on Thursday night, and I’ll post on iPhone J.D. when more details are available so that you can reserve a spot.  I’ve made many friends during prior Taste of Techshow dinners who I still keep in touch with today.

So unlike prior years when there were some great iPhone/iPad sessions at TECHSHOW and then lots of other blocks of time devoted to other subjects, this year it will be possible to devote almost every minute of your time at TECHSHOW to something that relates to these mobile devices.  To be honest, this just heightens the “problem” of TECHSHOW — with seven simultaneous tracks, interesting topics, talented speakers, and a vibrant exhibit hall, there are just too many great choices competing for your time throughout the day.

If all of this sounds interesting to you, I’d love to see you in Chicago in two months.  You can get the lowest conference rate if you register by February 10, 2014, so make your plans over the next few weeks if you want to save a few bucks.