One of my favorite iPad apps is GoodReader, which I use to manage PDF versions of all of the documents in all of my case files. I knew that for many years, the developer, Yuri Selukoff, lived in Moscow, which raised security concerns for some. But I recently came across this February, 2016 article about Selukoff by Eric Lai of the official BlackBerry blog. Apparently Selukoff was no fan of the Russian government, especially after the invasion of Crimea, and applied for an EB-1 U.S. visa, reserved for an alien of extraordinary ability — typically folks like Nobel prize winners. He got it in July of 2015 based on his development of the GoodReader app. (I'm curious if any others have obtained an EB-1 visa simply based on the development of an app.) I discuss all of this today because, in a newsletter sent this week (which I don't yet see posted online), Selukoff announced that he is now living in San Francisco and is working on a major update to GoodReader. Version 5 will have a new user interface and will be a free upgrade. The release date has not yet been announced, but I'd love to see a new, clean interface on this essential app for my litigation practice. (For example, I used that app all day long yesterday in a deposition of a plaintiff; all of the documents produced in discovery were quickly available to me in GoodReader.) And now, the recent news of note:
- California attorney David Sparks discusses Scrivener, a beloved writing tool for the Mac that is now available on the iPad.
- South Carolina attorney Justin Kahn discusses the latest update to DocReviewPad, an iPad app for reviewing and annotating a document production.
- Brett Burney reviews Westlaw Case Notebook Portable E-Transcript, an app that can open a .ptx file from a court reporter.
- Geoffrey Fowler of the Wall Street Journal reviews Eero (his favorite) and other Wi-Fi routers that you can use to spread Wi-Fi throughout your house and eliminate dead spots. I addressed this problem in my own house in early 2015 by paying someone to run Cat 6 cable from one end of my house to another. My own solution has worked very well, except that there is still one spot at the end of my living room (between my two AirPort Extreme routers) that sometimes gives me trouble. If I had to do it again today, I would seriously consider Eero and similar products.
- GoodNotes, my favorite app for using my Apple Pencil to take handwritten notes on my iPad, was updated this week to add support for tabs. The update also supports one-finger panning when using an Apple Pencil, a feature that I wish existed in every app that supports the Apple Pencil. Read more on the GoodNotes blog.
- Sascha Segan of PC Magazine released the 2016 version of its report on best mobile networks in the U.S. It is an extensive report that looks at differences in numerous cities across the country. Here in New Orleans where I live, AT&T comes out on top, which I was glad to hear because I use AT&T. But in other cities there are other carriers with the best networks.
- Serenity Caldwell of iMore explains an update to Apple Music that lets you store your music library without digital rights management (DRM) — which essentially means that it incorporates the iTunes Match service.
- Apple's Lisa Jackson (VP of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives) explains why Apple is buying and protecting forests, not only in the U.S. but also in China.
- Apple's Eddy Cue (VP of Internet Software and Services) talked to Natalie Jarvey of The Hollywood Reporter about Apple's plans for TV.
- Peter Kafka of Recode offers a "translation" of what Eddy Cue told the Hollywood Reporter.
- Karen Freeman of WatchAware reports that a man's Apple Watch mostly survived being submerged at the bottom of a lake for over a month.
- J.D. Power announced that Apple ranks highest among manufacturers of smartwatches. The Apple Watch "ranks highest in customer satisfaction with smartwatches and performs particularly well in comfort, styling/appearance and ease of use."
- The folks at iMore discuss their favorite bands for the Apple Watch.
- And finally, one of Apple's newest "Shot on iPhone" ads shows a sped up version of a trip down a mountain on a cable car in Bregenz, Austria as a blimp passes overhead. Looks fun.
