Month: March 2015

Late last year, I purchased an app called Workflow just as soon as it came out.  I wasn’t really sure what to do with it, but the idea sounded interesting:  an app that lets you automate certain tasks on the iPhone.  But after poking around the app a little, it seemed a little complicated and I wasn’t exactly sure what I might do with it, so I never really started to use it in earnest, and thus never talked about it on iPhone J.D.  Then a few weeks ago, California attorney David Sparks released a video tutorial — Sparks calls it a video field guide — explaining exactly how the app works and what you can do with it.  Sparks was nice enough to send me a free copy of his Workflow Video Field Guide for review purposes, which was nice because I was actually about to buy a copy anyway (it is only $9.99) to see if this video would help me to figure out exactly what the Workflow app is all about.  I had high hopes for the video field guide because Sparks has done such a great job with his prior e-book field guides (e.g. Paperless, Email, Presentations, and his prior book iPad at Work), but even though I expected something really special, this video tutorial is excellent so I was not disappointed.

The Workflow app lets you combine tasks done by different apps and do them all at once, making you more efficient on your iPhone (and iPad).  For example, you can create at workflow that lets you press one button and then the app figures out how far you are from home, determines how long it will take you to drive home from where you are, and sends a text and/or email to multiple recipients to say what time you are expected to arrive.  Another workflow lets you press one button and have your iPhone take a series of photographs and then stitch them together into an animated GIF and then post that GIF on Twitter. 

In this video, Sparks walks you through every step of creating a complicated workflow, sometimes starting by downloading one of the many (free) downloadable workflows and then modifying it, other times by creating a workflow from scratch.  By the time I finished watching the one hour video, I finally felt like I understood how the Workflow app works and how I can integrate it into my life.

For example, I’ve long wanted to stop saving paper receipts and instead save them electronically, but I never thought it was worth the hassle of setting up a system.  This video field guide helped me to create my own workflow (it just took a few minutes to create) in which I press one button and my iPhone asks me to enter one string of text — the name of a vendor, restaurant, etc.  Then the iPhone turns on the camera and waits for me to take a picture of a receipt, then the app converts the picture into PDF format (my preferred format for saving documents), then the app creates a title for the PDF file in the format of the date plus the text I entered (such as “2015-03-30 – Commander’s Palace”), and then the app saves the PDF file into a folder of my Dropbox called Receipts.  So all I need to do is press a button and enter a word or two, and the app does everything else automatically, and I don’t have to save the paper receipt.  If I ever need the receipt in the future, all receipts are stored by date in that one folder in my Dropbox, which I can access from any computer, iPhone, iPad, etc.  And best of all, because the workflow is right there on my iPhone, I can image the receipt immediately after I receive the receipt and before I forget about it, and then I no longer need to think about it again — much better than other systems that require me to bring the receipt home and then find time to remember to scan a bunch of receipts and make sure that each has the right date.

That’s just one workflow that appeals to me.  Maybe that one doesn’t appeal to you.  But by devoting just an hour of your time to this video, you’re sure to come up with ideas for lots of other tasks that you can do more efficiently with the Workflow app.

I realize that the Workflow app is geeky and not for everyone.  But if you think that the app might be for you, you can watch the first 11 minutes of the Workflow Video Field Guide for free by clicking here.  That preview is more than long enough to demonstrate the high quality of the video tutorial that Sparks has created.  If you like the first 11 minutes, I encourage you to buy the full video and then find an hour one night — or maybe even find some time while having lunch in your office — to watch the full video and learn all about Workflow.  It’s a fascinating app, and an excellent video.

Click here to get Workflow Video Field Guide by David Sparks ($9.99).

Click here to get Workflow ($4.99): 

This past weekend, the ABA Journal sponsored its second Hackcess to Justice legal hackathon, where attorneys and programmers worked all weekend to create apps that help lawyers and increase the ability of individuals to gain access to legal services.  This year the event was in my hometown of New Orleans, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to go.  Victor Li of ABA Journal describes the winning apps.  The first prize went to an app called Legal Proof that helps an attorney or a client collect and organize evidence.  Second prize went to New Orleans attorney Ernest Svenson and Massachusetts attorney William Palin for their PaperLess app.  Read the ABA Journal article to find out about the other best entrants.  It is great to see that there is still so much creativity in the field of law-related apps.  And now, the news of note from the past week:

• Fantastical is my favorite calendar app for the iPhone and iPad.  This week, the company released a Mac version, and California attorney really likes it for the reasons he explained in this review of Fantastical 2 for Mac.
• Charlotte Jee of Computerworld UK reports that all 650 British Members of Parliament are all getting an iPad Air 2 and a laptop when they begin to serve in May.  The program will cost £200,000 a year, but it is estimated to save £3 million a year by getting MPs and staff to read and annotate electronically instead of printing hard copies.
• Jim Schoettler of the Florida Times-Union reports that a Jacksonville attorney was arrested this week for smuggling an iPhone 6, phone charger and Bluetooth headset to his client in the Seminole County Detention Center.  I’m a big fan of attorneys and their clients using iPhones, but this went a little too far.
• Adam Lashinsky of Fortune wrote an interesting profile of Apple CEO Tim Cook, in connection with Fotune naming Cook #1 on its list of the world’s 50 great leaders.
• Lashinsky also wrote a short article on Apple retail head Angela Ahrendts.
• Apple recently showed off to Good Morning America its previously unseen by the public health and fitness lab, being used to improve the Apple Watch.  You can watch the report here.
• And finally, do you find it annoying that every time you throw your iPhone to the ground and then drop a 50 pound safe on it, the iPhone breaks?  Well then you need a rugged case made to stand up to insane abuse.  Justin Johnson and Eric Beck of Wired torture-test four rugged iPhone cases and declare a clear winner in this video.  Warning — do NOT try this at home:

Last week, a federal appellate court ruled that two law firms missed an appeal deadline in a $40 million case notwithstanding the defense that the law firms were misled by a notice of electronic filing email sent by the trial court.  The decision has been the subject of quite a few news articles (such as this one in the ABA Journal) and for good reason — there is a lesson to be learned here, and attorneys who use an iPhone or other mobile device ought to know about this opinion.  The decision is Two-Way Media LLC v. AT&T, Inc., No. 2014-1302 (Fed. Cir. March 19, 2015).  You can get a PDF version of the opinion here, or you can read the opinion for free on Google Scholar here.  

In that case, AT&T lost a jury trial and then filed, under seal, motions for a renewed Judgment as a Matter of Law or a new trial.  The trial court issued orders denying the motions and entered a final judgment, which caused appeal delays to start running.  However, the notice of electronic filing email that linked to the orders stated that the orders granted the motions to file under seal, without indicating that the orders also denied the relief sought in the motions.  AT&T’s attorneys say that they did not discover this until after the appeal deadlines had already run, but on appeal, in a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that it was too late and that the trial court correctly denied the defendant’s motion to extend or reopen the appeal period.

You can read the decision to learn why the court ruled, and you can read the dissent to get the opposing view.  Reasonable minds can differ on whether the majority opinion or dissent reached the correct result.  But in light of this decision, the lesson for lawyers is that you should not trust the wording in those notice of electronic filing emails that attorneys who practice in federal courts (and attorneys who practice in state courts that use electronic filing) get all of the time.  Instead, you need to actually click the links to see what the documents say.

It seems to me the iPhone has the potential to make this situation worse, or make it better, depending upon how you use your iPhone.  The danger is that many people (myself included) use the Mail app on the iPhone to triage important emails, taking a quick look at everything as it comes in so that the urgent stuff can be dealt with right away and the rest can be handled when you return to the computer in your office.  I can certainly see someone reading the description in a notice of electronic filing on an iPhone, decide that the order does not require further attention, and then move on.  And then later in the office, if the message is already marked read, I can see the attorney assuming that he has already dealt with the email and doesn’t need to deal with it again.  I don’t know whether that was how it happened here — the opinion merely mentions that the notice of electronic filing was emailed to 18 attorneys for the defendant at two different law firms, without mentioning how those attorneys received and read the email.  But it certainly wouldn’t surprise me if at least one of those 18 attorneys first read the email on an iPhone or other smartphone.

But the iPhone also has the potential to help you avoid what happened to the defense lawyers in that case.  First, you could always mark notice of electronic filing emails unread after you first look at then on your iPhone so that they will still be unread when you return to your computer and you will remember to look at the email again and download the document. 

Second, you can make it a practice to always look at the actual documents on your iPhone (or iPad) when you receive the notice of electronic filing email and not just trust the label in the email.  Federal court ECF links can be opened on an iPhone (and iPad), so when you get that email with the notice of electronic filing, instead of just reading the label given to the document, you can also click on the document link and read the actual document on your iPhone.  Then you can see exactly what the document says.  There is, however, a downside to doing this.  Once you have viewed a file once using your ECF link, the next time that you try to open the document, you’ll get an error message that your free view of the document has already been used, and thus you will have to go to PACER and pay to download the document to read it again.  Fortunately, there are ways that you can avoid having to pay for the document to view it again.  Here are two suggestions.

First, when you are viewing the document on your iPhone, save the document.  There are a few ways to do this, but one easy one is to tap the icon in the middle of the bottom of the screen (the box with the arrow), and then tap on the Mail app icon.  This will create a new email with the PDF file attached.  You can just email it to yourself, your assistant, or whoever so that you can look at the PDF file again in the future, save it in your document management system, etc.

 

Second, I know that at least some federal courts let you have more than one email address associated with your account when you register for electronic filing. You can add your secretary’s email address, or you can add an alternative email address for yourself.  My secondary email address is my Gmail account, so if I ever use up my free view when a notice is sent to my primary email, I can always find the notice that was emailed to my Gmail account and use that ECF link to view the file again.  For example, here is the form for the Eastern District of Louisiana which gives you the option to designate a second email address:

I’m sure that there are other solutions that work just as well.  The key, however, is for you to come up with your own method of dealing with notice of electronic filing emails on your iPhone or other mobile devices.  In light of the Two-Way Media decision, it is important that your plan for dealing with these emails includes a way to read the actual document at some point, whether it be instantly on your iPhone or iPad or later on your computer.

A calculator may not seem like a very important app to buy for your iPhone.  After all, the iPhone has a built-in calculator that is easily accessible by swiping up from the bottom of any screen.  Also, I often find that the fastest way to do simple calculations is to hold down my home button to activate Siri and then ask something like “what is 93 divided by 6.”  But Calcbot, which was updated just a few weeks ago to version 2, is worth looking at.  There is a free version so that you can get a feel for the app, but you’ll want to spend $1.99 in the app to upgrade to the Pro features to get the full value from this app.  It is certainly worth two bucks.  Here is why.

A great calculator

Of course, Calcbot is calculator.  Fortunately, it is a great calculator.  What sets it apart from the iPhone’s built-in calculator is the way that it shows your work and gives you an answer faster than other calculators.  Let’s say that you want to add 75 and 45.  First tap 75, then tap the + key, and then as you type 45 — even before you hit the equal key — you already see the result (120).  This is not how calculators normally work; normally you see the number that you are typing.  But in Calcbot, what you are typing goes into the equation, in a small font just below the answer.  In this way, you can see your work, and as you continue to add, subtract, multiply or divide other numbers your equation gets longer, but you always see the current result based on the numbers you have typed so far.  Once you get used to the way that Calcbot works, it is a much better approach than what you get on other calculators because you see the answer more quickly and you always see all of the numbers that got you to that answer.

 

When you are done, tap the equal key, and this does two things.  First, it adds the equation to the tape of prior calculations.  Second, it gives you the ability to hold a finger on the result to copy it so that you an paste it elsewhere on your iPhone.

A really like the tape function of Calcbot.  For each prior entry, you can see both the prior equations and the prior answers.  The free version of the app limits you to the past 10 records; when you pay $1.99 to upgrade to Pro you have an unlimited history tape.

Tap on any prior calculation and you can either use the result (the final number), use the expression (bring the equation back so that you can do even more calculations), copy the answer, or send as an email the entire equation plus the answer.  And if you want to see more than the last two entries in the tape, just swipe down from the top of the screen to see the full history.

 

When you are looking an entries in the tape, you can tap a star next to any of them to make it a favorite.  That way, in the future, you can tap on the star button on the calculator to see prior results that you have made a favorite.  It is like the memory function on a typical calculator, except that you typically get only one number in memory (and you have to remember what it is), whereas in Calcbot you can have lots of numbers in memory and you can see what each of them is and select just the one that you want.

If you turn your iPhone to landscape orientation, you get scientific functions.  That’s not something that I ever use as a lawyer or in my every day life — I don’t think that I have used the sine or cosine function since high school — but if you want it, there it is.

Unit Conversion

Calcbot is a fantastic calculator, but that is only half of what it does.  After you spend $1.99 to upgrade to the Pro version, you gain access to the other half of the app:  unit conversion.  Swipe your finger across the main part of the app (where the numbers appear) to switch to unit conversion mode.  For example, type the number 78 and then swipe from left to right to change to unit conversion mode.  You will then see icons representing different units.  If you are in the currency mode, the app can tell you, for example, that $78 in U.S. currency is currently equal to €71.94.  Swipe up and down to change the currency you are converting from and you are converting to.  Or swipe up and down on the icons on the left to change to other categories such as weather (e.g. Fahrenheit to Celsius), weight (e.g. ounce to gallon), area (e.g. acre to square mile), etc.  Just about any type of unit conversion that you might want to do is just a few swipes away.

 

 

Etc.

The app has some other features that you might find useful.  Although I like the default theme, you can change it if you want.  When you upgrade to Pro you can select the Pro theme, or you can purchase optional theme packs.

 

Although I normally keep the sounds off for virtually every app on my iPhone, Calcbot is one of the very rare apps that I permit to make noise, because the sounds provide feedback as you are entering numbers and getting results, and the sounds used by the app are noticeable but not obnoxious.

You can also clear your history tape or send the entire history tape as an email.  And if you are dealing with currency you can opt to have all of your calculations rounded off to two decimal places.

All of these are minor but nice touches that make it that much better of an app overall.

iPad version

This is a universal app, so it also works on the iPad — useful because the iPad, unlike the iPhone, doesn’t come with a built-in calculator.  Although I do like Calcbot on the iPad, especially all of the advanced features that I mentioned above, I typically use my iPad in landscape orientation, and I don’t like that this means that I always see those scientific function buttons, buttons that I never use. 

I wish instead there were an option to just display larger keys.  For example, I am a big fan the large iPad buttons in the Digits app.

Having said that, one thing that is really nice about the iPad app is that both the iPhone and iPad apps share and sync the history tape.  Thus, if you want to revisit a calculation from the past, you don’t have to worry about remembering whether you did it on the iPhone or the iPad; it’s there in both apps.

Conclusion

Given the iPhone’s built-in calculator and the usefulness of Siri, a calculator app needs to do something really special to be worth recommending.  But Calcbot is special, and I definitely recommend it, especially on the iPhone.  The calculator function is a big improvement over the built-in calculator app, the unit conversions are incredibly useful, and the other features add to the value of the app.  This one is worth checking out.

Click here to get Calcbot (free, but $1.99 for Pro version): 

Last week, I linked to interesting excerpts (1, 2, 3) from the upcoming book Becoming Steve Jobs:  The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary World by Rick Tetzeli and Brent Schlender.  This week, Fast Company posted another interesting excerpt plus part of an interview by the two authors with Apple CEO Tim Cook.  If you are interested in Steve Jobs, this book looks like it is going to be really good.  It comes out next week, and you can preorder it on Amazon or on Apple’s iBooks Store.  And now, the news of note from the past week.

• In 2012, the ABA adopted Comment 8 to Rule 1.1 of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct stating that lawyers have a duty to be competent in technology.  Massachusetts lawyer Bob Ambrogi reports that 13 states have adopted this duty of technical competence.  But of course, if you care enough about technology to be a reader of iPhone J.D., then I suspect that you are more than fulfilling this ethical duty.
• Similarly, California attorney Jeff Bennion discusses what a lawyer ought to know about technology in a post for Above the Law.
• California attorney David Sparks discusses Ulysses, a writing app for the iPad.
• Next month at ABA TECHSHOW, one of the sessions I will be presenting on April 16 is called iUse Microsoft Office on My iPad.  Yesterday, the TECHSHOW blog posted an excerpt of the materials that I wrote for that session if you want a small sample of what I will be discussing.
• ResearchKit is Apple’s new platform that lets the iPhone and Apple Watch be used to facilitate medical research.  Daniela Hernandez has an article in Fusion describing the origin of ResearchKit.
• Speaking of health, law professor (and iPhone enthusiast) Nick Terry asked me to announce that he and Professor Frank Pasquale started a new podcast called This Week in Health Law.
• Neil Hughes of AppleInsider reports that yesterday Apple (AAPL) replaced AT&T as a member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
• Want to learn all about the Apple Watch?  There are good overviews of just about everything that is known about the Apple Watch over at Six Colors and at iMore.
• Want to learn how Apple makes the Apple Watch?  I strongly recommend that you read this analysis by Greg Koenig, a product designer in Oregon.  It’s a great read.
• Want to read a first impression of the Apple Watch?  Here is what Clayton Morris wrote.
• Want to print out a paper Apple Watch to see how the different sizes and bands fit on your arm?  Then check out this page on the ExactFitness website.
• Want to make your own Apple Watch?  Chris McVeigh has created instructions (PDF file) for making your own Apple Watch out of Legos.
• If you own an Apple TV, then you should read this article by Rene Ritchie at iMore with tips on using the Apple Remote with the Apple TV.  There are some great button combinations in this article that I didn’t know about.
• John Brownlee of Cult of Mac reports that you can now live above an Apple Store in Australia.
• And finally, if you are ready for the next big thing after the Apple Watch, then Conan O’Brien introduces the Apple Pocketwatch in this video:

The GoodReader app is one of the most frequently used apps on my iPad because it has such great tools for organizing my documents, syncing them to my computers, and annotating PDF files.  And perhaps best of all, the developer is constantly finding ways to make the app even better.  This week, GoodReader version 4.10 was released, and it adds the ability to create and add signatures to your documents.  I've used many other apps with a signature feature, but GoodReader does such a nice job of implementing the feature that it may now be the best way to sign a document on an iPad or iPhone.

Being able to sign a document with your iPad or iPhone is very useful.  Someone sends you a document that you need to sign, such as a permission slip for school.  Rather than print out the document, sign it with a pen, and scan it again, it is so much faster to just sign the PDF file.  Of course, you can use just about any PDF app to get a drawing tool and sign your name, but it is much faster to just sign your name once and have the app save your signature so that you can quickly use it in the future without having to manually sign every time.

To use the signature feature in GoodReader, just hold your finger or stylus down on (or near) the spot where you want to sign.  This brings up a contextual menu with annotation tools which now includes the "Sign" tool at the far end.  Tap on Sign.

The first time that you use the tool, GoodReader prompts you to create a signature.  Use the large white area to sign — preferably with a stylus if you have one, but you can certainly use your finger if you are neat about it.  GoodReader gives you the ability to save more than one signature.  Just tap the plus sign to create another one, so you can have a full formal signature, a more friendly first name signature, etc.  When you are done, tap save.

Once your signatures are saved, tapping the Sign tool will invoke a pop-up menu with thumbnail images of each of your signatures.  Just tap the one that you want to use, and the signature is inserted.  Or if you need to create additional signatures or change the ones that you already have, tap the icon at the far right with a pencil on a box to bring you back to that same screen where you created a signature in the first place.

Once you have inserted your signature, you can move it around to place it in the exact right spot.  If it is too big or too small, drag the corners to resize the signature.

Once the signature is where you like it, you are done.  Now you have a signed document.  You can now use GoodReader to email the document, save it to your Dropbox or some other location, etc.  I recommend that you select "flatten annotations" as you send the document so that your signature becomes a permanent part of the document.

GoodReader also lets you modify your signature, just like you can modify other types of annotations.  For example, perhaps you used a blue pen when you saved your signature but you want to change this particular signature to black.  And perhaps you also want to use a thicker pen stroke, as if you had used a marker instead of a fine tip pen.  You can make any of those types of changes just by tapping on your signature and then tapping on the appropriate options in the pop-up menu.

Some people are worried about saving their signature in an app because someone else could theoretically use the app with your saved signature and put your signature on documents that you did not intend to sign — such as a child getting access to your iPad and applying a signature to a permission form without asking you.  This is not a big concern to me.  There are copies of my signature all over the place — for example, on hundreds of pleadings filed in courts throughout the state of Louisiana — so if anyone wanted to get a copy of my signature, scan it, and use it again, they could do so.  Nevertheless, it is nice that GoodReader gives you the option to use TouchID with the signature feature, assuming that you are using an iPad (or iPhone) with a fingerprint scanner.  With this option turned on, every time you invoke the Sign tool, you are first prompted to put your finger on the home button so that the app can verify that you are truly you before letting you apply a signature.  Even though I'm not really concerned about someone using my signature in GoodReader inappropriately, this feature works so well and it is so easy to scan my finger on the home button that I'll probably leave it on anyway.

As an added security measure, signatures are stored in the GoodReader app in an encrypted form, are never uploaded anywhere, and are not backed up to a computer or to the cloud when your iPad or iPhone is backed up.

I've been taking about using this feature on an iPad, but it also works on the iPhone, and in some ways is even more useful on an iPhone.  You can save your signature on your iPhone at a time when you are sitting at a desk and concentrating on creating a neat signature, using either your finger or a stylus.  That way, when you are out and about and you want to sign a document quickly, you can do so with just a few taps — first tap where you want to sign and select Sign, then select the signature you want to insert, and then resize and place it in the right spot.  Send off the signed document, and you are done.  In just a few seconds, you could sign a document while waiting to check out at the grocery store.

The new signature feature makes GoodReader an even more useful app, and confirms that it is one of the few apps that I consider to be a must-have for most attorneys.

Click here to get GoodReader ($4.99): 

I had a weird problem with the Mail app on my iPhone over the last few days.  First, I noticed that there were three emails on my iPhone that I could not delete.  I would try to delete them, then get an error message that the iPhone couldn't access the mail server.  (I forget the exact wording.)  But I knew that wasn't right because the Mail app continued to get other messages and would let me delete other messages.  Moreover, those same three emails were deleted when I looked at my Inbox on my PC (running Outlook) or on my Mac (running the Mac OS X built-in Mail program).  So the messages were indeed gone, but the ghosts of those messages continued to haunt my iPhone's Mail app.  Second, I noticed last night that an email that my wife had sent me was not appearing in the Inbox on my iPhone, even though it still showed up in my Inbox on both my PC and Mac. 

To remedy this, I went into the Settings app on my iPhone, selected Mail, Contacts, Calendars, then selected the account that I use to sync with the Exchange server at my law firm, and then I scrolled to the bottom and selected Delete Account.  My iPhone warned me that this would delete all of the email, calendars and contacts from my iPhone (all of which I sync with Exchange), and I confirmed that was OK.  After less than a minute, the process was done.

 

I then went back to Settings -> Mail, Contacts, Calendars and selected Add Account, and then I entered all of the information needed to connect to the Exchange server at my office, such as my username and password.  I placed my iPhone close to my Wi-Fi router so that it could access the Internet (and download data) at top speed, and after a few minutes, all of my emails, contacts and calendar entries were re-synced to my iPhone.  And sure enough, the email from my wife was right there in my Inbox where it belonged, and the ghost emails were exterminated.

If you find that there is something strange in the neighborhood of the Mail app of your iPhone and you are similarly seeing ghosts of emails that should be deleted or missing emails, hopefully this solution works for you too.

[UPDATE:  Several folks have suggested, including in a comment to this post, that another way to solve this problem of ghost emails is to go in Settings to the screen that has toggle switches for Mail, Contacts, etc. (the second picture I posted above) and turn off email.  This will delete the email from your device.  Then turn on email again and the email will download again.  I prefer the way that I did it because it starts fresh with all of my Exchange data, just in case there is anything else wrong that I haven't noticed yet (such as a calendar or contact problem), but the downside is that I did have to re-enter my username and password.  Thanks for the suggestions, and let me know if you are aware of any other solutions.]

In addition to providing details on the Apple Watch earlier this week, Apple also announced a new super-thin laptop computer called the MacBook.  I normally don’t talk about Apple computers on iPhone J.D., but the new MacBook is interesting because of the possibility that it offers a glimpse into the future of the iPhone and iPad.  First, it uses a new version of USB called USB C, which has a versatile and tiny connector.  Daniel Howley of Yahoo Tech wrote one of the best articles that I have seen describing this new USB port.  This has led many folks to wonder if Apple might bring USB C to the iPhone/iPad in place of the Lightning connector.  I think that Apple likes using a proprietary connector for those devices, but who knows, maybe we will see USB C on an upcoming iOS device.

Second, the MacBook uses a new Force Touch trackpad, borrowing technology that is also part of the new Apple Watch.  This new trackpad is no longer a button — you cannot physically push it down — but it does sense how much pressure you are putting on the trackpad and sends vibrations to the trackpad that make you think that you have clicked a button.  Jason Snell wrote a great article for Macworld describing how well this new technology works.  And then over on iMore, Serenty Caldwell thinks about what this could mean for the iPad, noting that it would let you get feedback while you touch the screen and could greatly improve drawing on an iPad.  Indeed, Apple’s website now shows that you can do pressure-sensitive drawing with the new trackpad on the MacBook, noting that you can “[p]ress lightly for a thin stroke or harder for a thick one when marking up a Mail attachment or creating a signature for forms in Preview.”  If Apple brings this technology to the iPad, it could greatly improve the ability to take handwritten notes on an iPad using a stylus.

Between the Apple Watch, the MacBook, and new health apps, Apple has given us a lot of cool new things to think about this week.  And now, the other news of note from the past week:

• Australian attorney (and upcoming TECHSHOW speaker) Philippe Doyle Gray writes about the ethics of attorneys using technology such as Dropbox and iPads.  It’s a detailed and thoughtful article, and worth reading no matter where in the world you practice law.
• Yesterday, I talked about some great reasons to go to ABA TECHSHOW next month.  Here is one more.  Lit Software, maker of the great TranscriptPad and TrialPad apps (and a current sponsor of iPhone J.D.) revealed this week that at TECHSHOW the company will be announcing “a major upgrade, and a new app!”  Considering how useful TranscriptPad and TrialPad are, I’m excited to see the company’s third app for lawyers.
• Chris Gayomali of Fast Company has a series of interesting excerpts (1, 2, 3) from the upcoming book Becoming Steve Jobs:  The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary World.  The advance buzz on this book is quite good.
• Suzanne Kapner of the Wall Street Journal takes a look at the value to a mall of having an Apple Store, noting:  “Apple draws so many shoppers that its stores single-handedly lift sales by 10% at the malls in which they operate, according to Green Street Advisors, a real-estate research firm.”
• London-based analyst Benedict Evans has some good thoughts on why Apple is releasing an expensive gold version of the Apple Watch, including this one:  “You sell the $50k (or more) couture dress (which may be worn once), but you also sell a lot of lipsticks with the brand halo (and if you think Apple’s margins are high, have a look at the gross margins on perfume).”
• Rob Griffiths produced a spreadsheet that shows all of the different Apple Watch combinations.  What I found most interesting is that it shows the weight of each Apple Watch and band revealing, among other things, that the white sports band weighs more than the black sports band.  That’s strange.
• Have you noticed that in all of Apple’s images of the Apple Watch, it displays the time 10:09?  Steven Twedie of Business Insider has some theories on why this is.
• Caitlin McGarry and Susie Ochs of Macworld wrote an article on everything that you need to know about the Apple Watch.
• Rene Ritchie of iMore wrote a great article on what the Apple Watch is and what it isn’t.
• John Callaham of iMore discusses the latest update to the OneNote app which adds a way to see thumbnail previews of your notes.
• When I write documents using a keyboard on my iPad, I usually use Apple’s Pages app.  It isn’t perfect, but it lets me get my words on paper and them export them so that I can later deal with them on my computer.  But I know that many folks swear by sophisticated writing apps.  I new one came out this week called Ulysses, and it is similar to the software that has been on the Mac for some time.  If you are interested in cutting edge writing software, Mitch Wagner wrote a review of the Ulysses iPad app for Six Colors.
• Security expert Rich Mogull has an interesting article at TidBITS analyzing the recent news that the CIA has been trying to find ways to break the security on an iPhone.
• I doubt that you need a selfie stick, but if you think that you want one anyway, Nick Guy at The Wirecutter did an extensive review of the models on the market and picked his favorite selfie stick.
• And finally, Jim Cramer of CNBC’s Mad Money got a surprise call yesterday from Apple CEO Tim Cook on the 10th anniversary of the show.  Cook told Cramer that health-related technology on the iPhone and Apple Watch is a big part of Apple’s future, noting:  “For years, people have depended on strictly somebody else to determine their health, but now these devices, in essence, empower people to manage and track their own health and fitness.  And so I think that market is probably significantly underestimated.”  Cook also answered several questions about Apple’s new announcements this past week.  The video is short, fun and interesting to watch.  Here is the video:

Two months ago, I mentioned that I will be speaking at ABA TECHSHOW in Chicago, April 16-18, 2015.  This is a great CLE, where you can learn about legal technology and meet lots of great folks.  If you have been thinking about attending but haven’t signed up yet, you want to do so right now.  The early bird registration prices were recently extended through Friday, March 13, but after then you’ll need to spend an extra $200 to attend.  There is no reason to spend $200 unnecessarily, especially right now when that would help you to pay for a shiny new Apple Watch.

I’ll be teaching three sessions at TECHSHOW this year.  On Thursday April 16, I’m teaming up with Canadian attorney Bjorn Christianson for Easy and Effective Presentations from Your iPad.  Right after that, I’m teaching a session on using Microsoft Word and other Office apps on the iPad.  And on Saturday, April 18, I’ll be teaching 60 Apps in 60 Minutes, along with Ohio attorney Joe Bahgat, legal tech consultant Adriana Linares, and Dallas attorney Tom Mighell.  Click here to see the full schedule, where you will find eight different simultaneous tracks, so there is sure to be at least one session that would appeal to you throughout the day.

At some point soon, registration will open up for the Taste of TECHSHOW dinners on Thursday and Friday nights.  I’ll be co-hosting one with Florida attorney and Mac Power Users co-host Katie Floyd. Katie and I have not met in person yet, but after reading her blog, listening to her podcast, and emailing her over the years, I feel like we already know each other, and I have no doubt that we will have a really fun dinner.  Our dinner will be at 7:30pm on Friday, April 17 at Rosebud on Rush, an Italian/Steak restaurant. But even if you don’t sign up for our dinner, there will be lots of other ones hosted by some of the smartest and nicest folks who spend a lot of time thinking about legal technology.  Note that some of these dinners fill up very quickly, so if you want to attend the dinner with Katie and me, I encourage you to follow me on Twitter because I’ll tweet as soon as I see TECHSHOW turn on the webpage on which you can sign up for dinners.  [UPDATE 3/17/15:  You can now register for the dinner on this page.]

Whether you come to a session I’m teaching, come to the dinner, or bump into me on the Expo floor or between sessions, please do say hello (here is what I look like), not only because it is the neighborly thing to do, but also because John Hartigan, the President of MOBiLE CLOTH, was nice enough to send me a whole bunch of cleaning cloths with the iPhone J.D. logo on them, and I’ll be handing them out for free to anyone who asks for one (while supplies last).  I’ve reviewed the MOBiLE CLOTH several times in the past (1, 2, 3) and they are the very best cloths I’ve ever used for cleaning my iPad and iPhone screens.  Hartigan also gave me cloths to hand out last year, but this year they are even better.  First, the company has been refining the way that it applies custom logos to the cloths so that they now have higher color saturation.  The colors pop a little more.  Second, the company is now offering clear boxes with custom logo cloths.  They cost a little bit more ($.35 per unit) but they make the product look more premium.  Here is a comparison of a custom logo cloth in a traditional plastic bag next to a clear plastic box.  The first picture has the flash bouncing off of the products to better show you the box edges, but the second picture is more true to life:

If you like the idea of putting your own custom logo on MOBiLE CLOTHs to hand them out to current and potential clients, Hartigan has a special offer for all iPhone J.D. readers.  For a limited time, if you use promo code iPhoneJD when you order, you will get a discount of 25%, plus a free upgrade to the new clear box packaging, plus free shipping.  I’ve ordered custom logo cloths for my own firm and they look great:

I’ve had lots of clients and colleagues tell me that they love using a MOBiLE CLOTH that I give them, sometimes years after I first gave it to them.  A MOBiLE CLOTH is a heck of a lot more useful than a boring coffee mug or frisbee with your firm logo on it.  If you want more information on custom MOBiLE CLOTHs, click here.

I hope to see you next month in Chicago!

Yesterday, Apple hosted an event in San Francisco to make several announcements.  First, Apple announced that the new HBO NOW service — which lets you pay $15 a month to watch HBO even if you don't have a cable TV subscription — will debut exclusively on Apple TV, iPhone and iPad next month.  Sounds like a good deal if you don't want to pay $100 a month for cable but you do want to watch Game of Thrones.  (Apple also cut the price of the existing Apple TV from $99 to $69, but did not announce a new version of the Apple TV, which many folks expect Apple to unveil at some point this year.)  Second, Apple announced new medical research initiatives that take advantage of the iPhone.  Third, Apple announced a new, thin laptop computer called the MacBook. 

Finally, Apple provided additional details on the Apple Watch.  Here are the details that I consider most important:

Availability

You can pre-order the Apple Watch starting April 10, and you can also go to a retail Apple Store starting April 10 to try one on to help decide which one to order.  The watch will ship on April 24 in the U.S. and eight other countries.

Prices and Bands

There are three types of Apple Watch:  the Apple Watch Sport, the Apple Watch, and the Apple Watch Edition.  Each one comes in either a 38mm size or a 42mm size.  The larger size is $50 more expensive in the Apple Watch Sport and Apple Watch collections.

The least expensive model is the Apple Watch Sport.  It has an anodized aluminum case, a glass front (strengthened with something called Ion-X glass), and only comes with rubbery (fluoroelastomer), colorful sports bands.  The price is $349 for the 38mm model, and $399 for the 42mm model.

The mid-range model is simply called the Apple Watch.  It is made of polished stainless steel and has ten different bands to choose from.  Instead of glass, its display is protected by sapphire crystal.  The prices range from $549/$599 to $1049/$1099 depending upon which band you get.  (Remember, the larger model is $50 more.)  If you buy the cheapest Apple Watch for $549/$599, you get the same type of sports band that comes with the Apple Watch Sport, either black or white.  For an additional $100 ($649/$699) you can get either the black classic leather buckle or the stainless steel mesh Milanese Loop.  For the same $699 for the 42mm version (and not available for the 38mm version) you can get the quilted Leather Loop in a variety of colors.  For $749 for the 38mm version (and not available for the 42mm version) you can get a leather buckle in a variety of colors with a magnetic closure called the Modern Buckle.  If you go up to $949/$999 you can get the model with a stainless steel link bracelet with a butterfly closure.  Add another $100, and for $1049/$1099 you can get space black version of both the Apple Watch and the stainless steel link bracelet.

The high end model is called the Apple Watch Edition, and if you have to ask the price, then you cannot afford it.  But more specifically, it starts at $10,000 for the 38mm with a white sports band (a much fancier version than the one that you can get with the Apple Watch Sport or the Apple Watch) and $12,000 for the 42mm model with a sports band.  Those two models come in either 18-karat rose gold or 18-karat yellow gold.  You can then pay even more, up to $17,000, for nicer bands.  The Apple Watch Edition will only be available at select retailers.

You can buy additional bands.  Sports bands are available in six different colors and cost $49, so I can see that being a popular accessory for any of the more expensive models.  Wear your nice band during the day, and swap to the rubbery sports band when you work out.  Other bands are more expensive, such as $149 for the Milanese Loop and $449 for the stainless steel link bracelet with a butterfly closure.

Sizes

When you are deciding whether to get the 38mm or 42mm watch, and when deciding which band to get, you need to consider your wrist size and consult the Apple Sizing Guide (PDF link).  For example, when you buy the sports band, you actually get two bands in two sizes.  For the 38mm watch, the smaller band is made for wrists 130-180mm, and the larger band is made for wrists 150-200mm.  But for the 42mm watch, the smaller sports band is made for wrists 140-185mm and the larger band is made for wrists 160-210mm.  For the link bracelet, the 38mm band fits wrists 135-195mm, whereas the 42mm band fits wrists 140-205mm. 

I've always known that I have a larger hand and wrist, and thanks to my wife (who sews and has ready access to a cloth measuring tape), I quickly learned last night that my wrist is about 205mm.  I never really thought I would get the 38mm model, but now that I know my wrist size and have looked at the Apple Sizing Guide, I know that the larger 42mm watch is designed for me.

Battery Life

You charge the Apple Watch Sport, Apple Watch or Apple Watch Edition with an included magnetic charging cable.  One end of the cord is USB (and comes with a USB wall charger) and the other end has a magnetic circle that attaches to the back of the watch.  With the Apple Watch Edition, you also get a case that can charge the watch.  You can also buy an additional magnetic charging cable for $29 for 1m or $39 for 2m.

Apple announced yesterday that a charge should last about 18 hours, but that depends in part on what you do with the watch.  You can talk for up to three hours, or you can play music for up to 6.5 hours, or you can workout for up to 7 hours, or you can just check the time up to five times an hour for up to 48 hours.  And those numbers are all on the 38mm model; the 42mm model has a larger battery and lasts slightly longer.

Suffice it to say that you are going to want to charge it every night.  Apple says that you can charge the Watch from 0% to 80% in 90 minutes, and then it takes an additional hour to get up to 100%.

Water Resistant

Apple says, in the fine-print at the bottom on this page that could have been written by a lawyer, that the watch is not water proof, but it is water resistant.  "Apple Watch is splash and water resistant but not waterproof.  You can, for example, wear and use Apple Watch during exercise, in the rain, and while washing your hands, but submerging Apple Watch is not recommended."  Apple also says that the watch has a "water resistance rating of IPX7 under IEC standard 60529."  Um, yeah.  Thanks to Wikipedia, I learned that this means that the watch could go under water, up to 1 meter, for up to 30 minutes.  So you don't want to go swimming with the Apple Watch, especially if you are diving, but you should be fine if it gets wet while you are participating in an ice bucket challenge.

Note, however, that Apple also says that the leather bands are not water resistant.

Apple Watch iPhone App

You need an iPhone to use an Apple Watch.  Yesterday, Apple released iOS 8.2, which includes a new built-in app called Apple Watch.  You use this app to pair your iPhone and your Apple Watch and to load apps onto your Apple Watch from your iPhone.  For all of us who do not yet have an Apple Watch, the App also provides information about the Apple Watch including videos that show off the watch.

 

Third Party Apps on Apple Watch

Apple now devotes a page on its website to some of the initial third party apps that will work with the Apple Watch.  The SPG app lets you unlock your door in a Starwood Hotel.  Airline apps let you check in for a flight and use your watch as a boarding pass.  Use the Evernote app to quickly dictate a note.  The eBay app can notify you when you are outbid at an auction.  The Dark Sky app tells you how many minutes until it starts to rain.  The ESPN app gives you the latest scores. 

Using the Apple Watch

Much of what Apple said about how folks will use the Apple Watch was similar to what was said when the device first debuted last year.  You can get quick access to information by just glancing at your wrist while your iPhone is still in your pocket, purse or briefcase.  And with a few taps, you can interact with that information.  You can even use Siri to ask questions or dictate a note, and you can place or respond to phone calls.

Looking at the Apple Watch, I'm reminded of the iPad.  When it first came out in 2010, I was interested, but didn't yet understand how I would use it.  I didn't even get my first iPad until later that year.  Now, I use my iPad every day.  Similarly, I suspect that the Apple Watch will start out as an interesting curiosity, and then will turn into a device that I use, and depend upon using, every day. 

And finally, Apple started airing TV commercials for the Apple Watch last night.  Here is the first commercial: