Thank you to Connected Data and Drobo, maker of the Transporter, for sponsoring iPhone J.D. this month, and for offering a special deal for iPhone J.D. readers.
As you may already know, the Transporter is a way to store your files on a drive that you own and that is available online 24/7. Thus, you can easily access your files from your work and home computers (either PC or Mac) and from an iPhone and an iPad. You technically have two copies of every file that is on a Transporter — the copy on the Transporter’s hard drive, and a local copy saved on your computer’s hard drive. The advantage of working this way is that when you want to use the file, you can do so quickly with the local copy without waiting to get the file over your network. But as you edit the file, the new version is sent to your Transporter’s own hard drive, and is then synced to any other computers set up to work with your Transporter. The system works very similar to Dropbox except that you own and control the hard drive on which your files are saved, so you can be assured that your private files are kept private.
The company sells two versions of the product. The original Transporter is shaped like a cone and contains a hard drive. The cost ranges from $199 for a version with a 500 GB drive to $349 for a version with a 2 TB drive. And that is a one time expense, so there are no monthly charges. Or, if you want to supply your own hard drive, you can get the Transporter Sync for only $99.
Connected Data is offering a special deal this month for iPhone J.D. readers. When you purchase from the Connected Data website, use offer code IJD10 to save 10% off of any Transporter (up to a $35 dollar savings) or IJD20 to save $20 off of the purchase of a Transporter Sync. That means that you can get a Transporter Sync for only $79, spend another $70 on Amazon for a 1 TB drive, and you are all set. Or you can spend a little bit more for the all-in-one Transporter — which frankly looks better in your office, although it works the same way as the Transporter Sync. Either way, you can securely store your files in a way that they are accessible to you anywhere.
Transporters are great for iPhone and iPad owners because you can use the Transporter as a way to expand the space on your iPhone and iPad. You can put thousands of files on a Transporter that would never fit on your iPhone or iPad and then use the Transporter app to access specific files whenever you need them as long as you have a network connection on your iPhone or iPad. Also, once you choose to download a specific file into the Transporter app, it stays there until you delete it so that you can acccess it even when you don’t have a network connection (e.g. on a plane). Whenever you are done with the file, you can delete it to free up the space on your iPhone or iPad, and the app will ask whether you want to just remove it from your device or whether you want to completely delete it from your Transporter hard drive.
Speaking of the free Transporter app, it was recently updated to add a neat feature: the ability to automatically upload to your Transporter any pictures that you take with your iPhone (or iPad). The way it works is pretty neat. You wouldn’t want the app to upload photos every time you take them because you will often be taking pictures out of the office when you are not on Wi-Fi and uploading a lot of pictures would each up your cellular data allotment. So instead, you pick a specific location where you have Wi-Fi — such as your home or office — and when the iPhone (or iPad) senses that you are in that location, it will automatically upload your pictures. This way, when you are at your computer and you want to access pictures that you recently took with your iPhone, they are automatically there waiting for you in a special Transporter folder called Camera Uploads.
But what if you want to upload photos when you are not at that specified location? That’s no problem either. Just tap the gear icon at the bottom of the app and tap Upload Now.
Not only does this feature make it easy to access your iPhone pictures on your computer, it can also serve as a way to backup your photos. Even if you delete the photos on your iPhone, once they are uploaded to the Transporter you will have a backup stored there, until you specifically delete the photos from your Transporter.
Additionally, if you don’t use the iOS Photo Stream function (I don’t), you can now use the Transporter to take a picture on your iPhone, have the picture uploaded to your Transporter, then you can access the picture in the Transporter app on your iPad. That way you can take the picture using the better camera on an iPhone 5s, but you can look at the picture using the larger and nicer screen on an iPad Air.
The Transporter was a useful product on day one, but the company has done a great job of frequently adding new features, making the product even more valuable over time.
I recently reviewed the Adonit Jot Script, the first iPad stylus that had a fine point tip, which works because the stylus also emits a signal that makes an iPad sense something larger making contact with the screen. It is an amazing stylus, but it has some disadvantages such as being noisy and lacking a clip. However, the Jot Script is not the only powered stylus for the iPad. About a week ago, Cregle sent me a free review sample of the Cregle ink, another fine point stylus that uses a battery. It seems like the Cregle ink was specifically designed to address each of the shortcomings of the Adonit Jot Script — although the Cregle ink also lacks some of the advantages of the Jot Script.
Fine tip that is quiet
The main feature of a stylus like this is the fine tip, so I’ll talk about that feature first. The Cregle ink has a very fine tip. It is not quite as small as the tip on the Adonit Jot Script — the Cregle ink tip is 2.4 mm; the Jot Script tip is 1.9 mm — but I didn’t notice that size difference when using the styluses. Both tips are sufficiently small to feel like a pen tip, as opposed to a traditional stylus that has a size closer to a thick marker or a crayon.
The following picture shows the tip of the Jot Script, then the Cregle ink, then the Wacom Bamboo Stylus duo (which has a 5 mm tip that is smaller than the 6 mm tip you see on most other styluses).
The small size of the tip on the Cregle ink, like the tip on the Jot Script, provides a completely different sensation when writing on an iPad. I raved about this in my Jot Script review and it is also true for the Cregle ink. You feel like you can be much more precise when you are writing with a tip the small. This is a great tip.
Note that when the Cregle ink first came out, the tip did not work well with the iPhone 5/5s, nor did it work well with the iPad air (which was released very close to when the Cregle ink came to market). Cregle then adjusted the electronics so that the Cregle ink stylus now being sold works great with both the iPad air and the iPhone 5/5s. This does make me wonder whether there will be an issue with either the Cregle ink or the Adonit Jot Script working with future iPads (and iPhones); hopefully that will not be a problem.
Although the size is similar, the Cregle ink has a different feel than the Adonit Jot Script. The tip on the Jot Script is hard, so it feels very smooth against the iPad screen and gives you the sensation of using a ballpoint pen. The tip on the Cregle ink is rubbery so there is more friction when used against the iPad screen. I actually prefer the feel of the Jot Script against the iPad screen; the decrease in friction makes it easier to write more quickly. But the feel of the Cregle ink is not unlike the feel that you get with most standard styluses against an iPad screen, and indeed the Cregle ink is better because the tip is smaller so there is less surface area. So while I give the edge to the Jot Script, both tips are excellent.
After using the Cregle ink for only a week, I have no personal experience with the durability of the tip, but both Cregle and Adonit talk about how long their tips are expected to last. Cregle says that the tip will last for 2 kilometers of writing distance. A replacement tip is included when you buy the Cregle ink, and you can buy a replacement pack of five tips for $3. Adonit says that the Jot Script’s harder tip will last for 120 kilometers of writing distance. So I think it is fair to say that you are likely to need to replace the tip on the Cregle ink from time to time, but you may never need to replace the tip on the Jot Script.
Noise
One of my two main complaints about the Adonit Jot Script is the noise of the harder tip against the iPad screen, especially when you are writing in print instead of script. That led me to actually include a video in my Adonit Jot Script review so that you could hear it for yourself, and longtime readers of iPhone J.D. know that it is pretty rare for me to feel the need to include a video in a review. It isn’t an excessive amount of noise, but it is enough for me to feel self-conscious when I am using the Jot Script around others.
The rubbery tip on the Cregle ink is virtually silent to use, similar to the tip of a (larger) standard stylus. Cregle knows that this is a key advantage of its stylus over the Jot Script, and Cregle says on its website: “No Clicking Noise, No Distraction – Built with specialized rubber pen tip, so you can focus on your work without feeling like you are under attack by angry crickets.” The “angry crickets” comparison is a little over the top, but it is fair to tout this as an advantage. I love that you don’t hear anything when you use the Cregle ink.
Pen clip
It seems odd to focus on something as seemingly minor as the absence of a pen clip on the Adonit Jot Script, but it is a missing feature that really matters. Not only does it mean that it is more awkward to put the Jot Script in a shirt pocket, but it also means that there is nothing to stop the round barrel of the Jot Script from rolling around. Indeed, as I am writing this review, both the Cregle ink and the Jot Script are on my desk, and it is driving me a little batty that the Jot Script keeps rolling around. (There is goes again! Stop that!)
Battery
Both the Cregle ink and the Jot Script are powered by a battery. The Cregle ink uses a AAAA battery, which is smaller than the AAA battery in the Jot Script. That means that the battery doesn’t last as long. Cregle advertises up to 11 hours of continuous writing. Adonit doesn’t advertise battery life for the Jot Script, but it seems like it lasts more than twice as long as the Cregle ink.
Unfortunately, the smaller battery doesn’t result in a thinner stylus. The Cregle Ink is actually slightly fatter than the Jot Script — the Cregle ink has a 12.2 mm diameter; the Jot Script has a diameter of 11.7 — although in practice I didn’t notice a difference in size. Both feel fatter than a normal pen or a thin stylus such as the Wacom Bamboo Stylus duo, not so much that they are uncomfortable to use, but enough that you notice it.
Also, a AAAA battery is a little harder to find than a AAA battery, and perhaps as a result is also more expensive. The Cregle ink comes with a replacement AAAA battery, but after only a week of use — albeit more extensive use than normal becuase I have been testing it for this review — the first AAAA battery is already dead.
No Bluetooth
You don’t need to use Bluetooth to use either the Cregle ink or the Adonit Jot Script. But with the Jot Script, if you do have Bluetooth turned on, and if you use an app designed to work with the Jot Script (such as Evernote or GoodNotes), your iPad becomes smart enough to ignore unwanted strokes such as your wrist or hand accidentally touching the screen while you are using the stylus. It is a nice feature, although not an essential one. It also has a drawback in that it is somewhat incompatible with multitasking gestures. I discussed this more extensively in my Adonit Jot Script review.
The Cregle ink doesn’t use Bluetooth at all, so you don’t get any of the special advantages of the Jot Script. But you can also use your multitasking gestures.
Power switch
I don’t like the power switch on the Adonit Jot Script. It is flush with the side of the stylus and is hard to find to turn the stylus on — although the Jot Script turns itself off after a short period of non-use so you’ll rarely need to find and press the button to turn it off.
There is no power button on the Cregle ink, and instead you switch power on and off by turning the back of the stylus (where the clip is located). The Cregle ink has a small blue light to indicate when the stylus is turned on, and you need to remember to untwist the stylus to turn it off. I actually prefer this approach because the Jot Script is so aggressive with power management that it frequently turns itself off prematurely. Having said that, I suspect one of the reasons that I went through a AAAA battery in only a week is that I leave the Cregle ink on much longer.
Other differences
The Cregle ink (35 g) is heavier than the Jot Script (22 g), which I actually consider a slight advantage because it feels a little more substantial in your hand. But I can just as easily see an argument that lighter is better, and frankly, you won’t notice the difference in weight between the two in normal use unless you really think about it and go back and forth between the two. (I was actually surprised to read specifications saying that the Cregle ink weighed over 50% more than the Jot Script because the weight difference didn’t feel that substantial, but I checked it on a scale and those are indeed the weights.)
The Cregle ink is smooth and shiny on the barrel, whereas the Jot Script has a brushed metal look and has ridges near the front of the pen to give you more traction when the stylus is in your hand. Both are clear advantages for the Jot Script. The Cregle ink can slip a little in your hand because it is so smooth, plus it shows fingerprints. The slight ridges on the Jot Script keep that stylus in place.
The Cregle ink is also cheaper than the Adonit Jot Script. The Cregle ink is $49, whereas the Jot Script is $74.99. I suppose that, over the long haul, the price of the Cregle ink goes up somewhat because you will be spending more money to replace the battery and you will eventually need replacement tips, which are five for $3.
Cregle ink 2
Although the Cregle ink that I am reviewing is the current model, Cregle is also working on the Cregle ink 2 and has an IndieGoGo page where you can pre-order the next version, expected to ship in August of 2014. Here are the advertised differences:
The ink 2 uses a AAA battery, which Cregle says provides 19 hours of life versus the 11 hours of the AAAA battery in the ink. That battery will also be easier and cheaper to buy.
The ink 2 uses a more durable rubber tip, expected to last twice as long as the tip on the ink. So that’s 4 kilometers of writing distance instead of 2 kilometers, which I mention mostly because it amuses me to use the word “kilometers” in connection with a pen.
The ink 2 will be lighter, although Cregle isn’t yet saying how much lighter.
The ink 2 has a power switch on the side. On the IndieGoGo website that button looks similar to the button that I don’t like on the Adonit Jot Script, but I’ll reserve judgment on it until I have seen it in real life.
The Cregle ink 2 will ultimately sell for $59, which is $10 more than the $49 Cregle ink, but as of today, you can preorder it now for only $29 if you want it in silver or $38 if you want it in black. (Cregle was selling the first 100 black models for $29, but those are already sold out.)
Here is a chart from the IndieGoGo page comparing the two:
In the world of electronics it is (unfortunately) common to buy a device only to see a new model come out the next month, one that you would have waited for if you had only known what is coming. Because of the IndieGoGo campaign, this is one of those rare instances when you can already see what you will get if you can wait for the second generation model.
Conclusion
I really like the Cregle ink. The fine point tip is fantastic. The Adonit Jot Script tip is even better, but it is also noisier and without a clip it is always rolling around my desk. The Bluetooth features of the Adonit Jot Script are nice, but I don’t miss them that much when I am using the Cregle ink, and I’m happy to not have a need to turn off multitasking gestures with the Cregle ink. On the other hand, battery life isn’t as good with the Cregle ink, and it will take extra effort to use AAAA batteries instead of AAA.
If you want a stylus with a fine tip, with both the Jot Script and the Cregle ink on the market, you can decide which features matter more to you. I currently find myself leaning more towards the Cregle ink because it is so much quieter than the Jot Script and because it has a clip, but it is a really close decision because the Jot Script tip is so smooth and the battery life is better. If the slight noise and lack of clip don’t bother you as much as they bother me, you will probably prefer the Jot Script. Moreover, as much as I like a stylus with a fine tip, I also like to use a stylus with a more narrow barrel for which I never need to worry about running out of power. Thus, I don’t think that the Cregle ink will completely replace my use of the Wacom Bamboo Stylus duo.
And finally, if you don’t mind waiting until later this year to have one, you should consider the IndieGoGo page for the Cregle Ink 2 to get the better battery life. There are no guarantees on the ship date, so you certainly could have to wait even past August, but the preorder price of $29 sounds like a good deal compared to the $74.99 for the Jot Script.
It has been five months since I wrote my review of the iPad Air. Before the iPad Air I used both a third-generation iPad and a first generation iPad mini. I would use the larger iPad 3 for most of my work because I liked the larger screen, but for more casual iPad use such as reading emails, surfing the Internet, etc. I used the mini because it was so much lighter and easier to hold and carry around. I noted in my review of the iPad Air that it was so much lighter than my iPad 3 that it felt more like an iPad mini than a full-size iPad. As I now look back over the past five months, I realize that I have completely stopped using my iPad mini. The iPad Air is so much lighter than previous generation full-size iPads that I can hold it for long periods of time to read documents without feeling any fatigue. The mini no longer has enough advantages over my full-size iPad to bother using and managing a second device. I mention all of this because every day I see so many lawyers using older iPads — mostly iPad 3s and iPad 2s. If you are a serious enough iPad user to read iPhone J.D. but you are not yet using an iPad Air, you should really consider upgrading. Of course you need to decide whether to do so today or wait; I’m sure that Apple will come out with a second generation iPad Air later this year, probably in October or November, but that is still five to six months away. I don’t think that you will regret making the jump now to an iPad Air, but if you decide to wait, I recommend that you strongly consider upgrading later this year when the next model comes out. The iPad Air is fast, light, has a beautiful screen, and is an important tool in my law practice. And now, the news of note from the past week:
California attorney David Sparks (briefly) reviews Mingle, an app that helps you manage your contacts.
Sparks also created a useful video showing off all of the features of PDFpen Scan+ version 1.3. I reviewed an earlier version of that app last November and concluded that while it had some limitations as a scanner, it did a great job of OCR’ing scanned images. The new version 1.3 is much better — for example, I no longer have any complaints about finding the edges of a document; the engine works much better and the interface is vastly improved. I still slightly prefer the quality of images created by Scanner Pro, but PDFpen Scan+ is quite good. If you use your iPhone (or iPad) to scan documents, you should get PDFpenScan+.
Kurt Eichenweld of Vanity Fair wrote an interesting article on the iPhone legal battles between Apple and Samsung.
David Pogue of Yahoo Tech reviews Adobe Voice, an interesting free app that lets you easily create “explainer videos” – videos where you do a voice over and various pictures, icons and text appear on screen. I haven’t yet thought of exactly how attorneys would best make use of this, but I feel certain that there is something really neat that could be done with this app.
Alyssa Bereznak of Yahoo Tech reviews the latest version of Google Maps for iPhone. There are lots of interesting new features such as driving directions that tell you which lane you should be in.
Jon Seff of Macworld provides advice for saving money on Office 365 — the subscription that lets you use the new Microsoft Office apps for the iPad.
Amazon is by far the #1 online sales company, but Apple — with its App Store, iTunes Store and online Apple Store — is now #2, as noted by Mikey Campbell of AppleInsider.
I often link to stories that describe how a person caught an iPhone thief using the Fine My iPhone feature, but as Ian Lovett of the New York Times reminds us, you should involve law enforcement rather than just showing up at the thief’s doorstep and taking justice into your own hands.
And finally, for anyone who has ever used an iPhone while in the bathroom — and let’s be honest, that is just about every iPhone owner — I present to you the Atech Flash iCarta2 Wireless Bluetooth Stereo Speaker, a $40 toilet paper holder with an included speaker. Yes, it has an old 30-pin connector, but it also has Bluetooth so it will also work with your newer iPhone or iPad. Click here to get it on Amazon. [via iMore]
GoodReader has long been one of the most useful apps on my iPad because it makes it easy to organize documents into folders and read them on the iPad. I have folders for each of my cases, sub-folders within each case folder for Correspondence, Pleadings, Exhibits, etc., and I sync all of my non-privileged documents to and from my iPad using Dropbox. It’s a good system that has worked well for me, and I know countless other attorneys who do the same thing.
Yesterday, the next generation of GoodReader was introduced. It is a new app called GoodReader 4, and you need to pay for it. It is currently on sale for $2.99, but after an introductory period the price will go up to $6.99. Unlike the prior version of GoodReader, GoodReader 4 is a universal app so you can buy it once and use it on both your iPhone and your iPad. You can tell the old app from the new app because the old app icon was green whereas the new one has an aqua gradient The old version of GoodReader was also updated yesterday to version 3.21, and you need to get that update in order to migrate your documents from the old version of GoodReader to GoodReader 4.
The main reason that current GoodReader users will want to buy GoodReader 4 is simply to continue to get updates to the app. Good.iWare, the developer of GoodReader, has always done a great job of frequently adding new features to the app, but because the App Store doesn’t let developers charge for updates, many of us have been using GoodReader since 2010 without ever compensating Good.iWare for all of the new features. After paying for GoodReader 4, I expect that GoodReader users will once again see many more free and useful updates to the app.
Migration
Before talking about the new features in GoodReader 4, I want to briefly discuss migration from an old version of GoodReader to the new GoodReader 4. When you first launch GoodReader 4, if the app detects that GoodReader 3 is also present, it will suggest that you start the Migration Assistant to move all of your documents, folders, bookmarks, etc. to the new app. When it does so, keep in mind that the app is COPYING your files. This means that you have to have enough free space on your iPad to at least temporarily store two copies of all of your GoodReader files. For most folks this will not be a problem, but if you are currently storing a ton of documents in GoodReader and/or you are low on free space on your iPad, you may need to free up some space before you start the migration. The app warns you about this before you start the migration.
If you want to see how much space is being consumed by the old version of GoodReader on your iPad, you can open the Settings app and go to General -> Usage. Your iPad will then show you how much free space you have and calculate how much space each app is taking (listing the apps by size, largest to smallest). This way, you can see how much space GoodReader is taking up, and if you need to delete something else to make space for the migration, you can see which other apps consume a lot of space.
Once you start the migration process, it works well. It took my iPad Air about seven minutes to move almost 4 GB of documents. If you have more documents or a slower iPad, expect longer wait times. Once the migration process ended, everything just worked in the new version of GoodReader the same way it did before, including syncing with my computer using Dropbox. When the migration is finished you can delete your old copy of GoodReader, although Good.iWare recommends keeping the old version around for a while just to make sure that all parts of the migration process were successful.
PDF Page Management
The main new feature in GoodReader 4 is PDF Page Management. In the prior version of GoodReader, you could use the app to organize, view and annotate your PDF files, but if you wanted to manipulate the PDF file you would have to use another app on your iPad to do so. GoodReader 4 adds the ability to manipulate pages in a PDF file.
Specifically, you can now (1) rearrange pages within a file, (2) rotate individual or all pages, (3) delete pages, (4) extract pages and turn them into a new PDF file, (5) extract pages to email just those pages, (5) split a PDF file and (6) insert pages to a PDF file from another PDF file. You can also add blank pages to an existing PDF file, useful if you want to add a page of notes as a part of a file, or create a new PDF file with one or more blank pages where you can take notes.
In my tests last night, the new features worked well. Tap in the middle of a document to see all of GoodReader’s buttons. At the bottom near the middle there is a button composed of a 2×2 grid of squares. Tap that to bring up the page management features.
You can then tap the Edit button in the top right corner to select one or more pages and then do something with them, such as move them around, extract them into a new file, email them, delete them, rotate them, etc. Tap the Append button at the bottom right to insert pages from another PDF file.
You can also use the Split tool to create two new files, one file with the first part of the original PDF file and one file with the second part of the original PDF file. This could be useful if you are trying to email a PDF file from your iPad that is too large; you can chop it into two or more smaller files. To use this feature, first tap the Split button, and then drag a marker to indicate where the file should be split — or you can just tap between two pages to move the marker to that spot. Then tap “Split here” to create the two new files.
The new PDF page manipulation tools in GoodReader include virtually all of the tools that you are likely to ever want to use to work with a PDF file. And the interface is nice enough that you may actually find it easier to manipulate PDF pages using GoodReader on your iPad than to do so using software on your computer.
Other new features
There are a few other interesting new features in GoodReader 4. One feature that I like is the ability to see page previews when you tap and drag the slider at the bottom of the file viewer window. This can make it much easier to find the page to which you want to jump.
Another new feature is that you can switch between a traditional list view or a grid view when viewing folders or files. And if you want to devote more screen space to viewing your folders and files, you can tap the double chevron at the top right of the screen to minimize all of the tools on the right side of the screen; tap it again to bring back all of the tools.
If you work with more complicated PDF files — PDF Portfolios and PDF documents that have attachments — a menu on the left side of the viewer screen makes it easier to view all of the documents without having to extract them.
The old version of GoodReader had a button at the bottom that you could tap to go to a specific page number. The new Page Management button in GoodReader 4 replaces that button, but the feature is still there. Just tap the Page Management button and then there is a box at the top, center of the screen where you can enter a specific page number to go directly there.
Conclusion
The ability to manipulate pages in a PDF file was one of the few, big missing features in GoodReader, so I’m happy to see this added in GoodReader 4. I look forward to future updates to the app; one item on my wish list is the ability to sync with a Transporter now that there are tools available for developers to do so. (GoodReader can already sync with Dropbox, OneDrive, SugarSync and a server that uses WebDAV, AFP, SMB, FTP or SFTP.) But most of all, GoodReader 4 is simply the continuation of the already great GoodReader app. GoodReader remains one of the first apps that I recommend that any attorney with an iPad purchase from the App Store. If you are an attorney (or anyone else who wants to store and view lots of documents on your iPad) and you don’t yet have GoodReader, you are missing out on a really good app, and I encourage you to check out GoodReader 4.
Thank you to WestlawNext for being a sponsor of iPhone J.D. The WestlawNext iPad app has always been the gold standard for legal research on the iPad. Last week, the WestlawNext iPad app was updated to version 3.0, and if you haven’t used the app in the last few days, you should check it out to try out the new features.
I’ve always been a big fan of the WestlawNext interface on the iPad app. With minimal distractions, clear fonts and large buttons, the WestlawNext app has had a clean interface since the app was first introduced. The well-designed interface has made it faster and easier to use the app — which is always useful, but is especially important if you are looking up cases on your iPad while in trial or in a hearing in court and you need to be efficient. The new interface in version 3.0 of the app keeps all of those great features but implements them in a flatter design that is more consistent with the aesthetic of iOS 7. Many buttons are now replaced with text and there is no more shadowing in the app. It is a clean, elegant and up-to-date look that makes the WestlawNext app look more appropriate on iPads running iOS 7.
The updated WestlawNext app also has an Alert Center. You can now manage your alerts in the app, such as pausing or deleting current alerts. You can also create new alerts.
Version 3.0 of the app also adds access to Practitioner Insight pages — targeted information for practice areas such as news articles, recent fillings, and pre-crafted alerts on selected topics. If you subscribe to the Practical Law service, you can now print Practical Law documents from the iPad app, and you can now have Drafting Notes delivered with a document when you email it from the app.
Of course, all of the old great features are there too. For example, I love that the app automatically syncs with WestlawNext used in a browser on a computer. This means that you can start a search on your computer, and then if you want to continue to go through the search results at a later time on your iPad, the search is already there in the history tab. Similarly, whatever work you do in the iPad app is a part of your search history when you use WestlawNext on your computer.
WestlawNext was already one of the best legal apps for the iPad, and this latest update makes the app even better.
I’ve heard from quite a few iPhone J.D. readers who were in New Orleans last weekend or are coming in town this weekend for the 45th annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival — known by everyone as simply Jazz Fest. The music is amazing, the food is perhaps even better than the music, there are lots of arts and crafts to browse and purchase, and it is almost impossible to not have a great time. New Orleans is probably more famous for Mardi Gras, which I also love, but I have more fun every year at Jazz Fest. If you were not able to make it this year, do yourself a favor and make plans to do so in the future; Jazz Fest is always the last weekend in April and the first weekend in May. And now, the recent iPhone and iPad news of note:
This week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Riley v. California and U.S. v. Wurie, cases which address the ability of police to search an arrestee’s cellphone without a warrant. It’s an interesting issue. While virtually nobody sees a problem with searching the contents of the pockets of someone under arrest, iPhones and other smartphones can (and often do) contain almost unlimited personal data. Washington, D.C. attorney Amy Howe wrote a great Plain English explanation of the issues for SCOTUSblog.
This week, Microsoft updated its Word, Excel and PowerPoint iPad apps to add the ability to print.
Launch Center Pro is a useful iPhone app that helps you to do all sorts of things more quickly. I reviewed the app back in 2012, and the app still has a spot on my first home screen. This week, Alex Guyot of MacStories wrote a detailed and comprehensive article on how to get the most out of the app.
Francisco Tolmasky recently debuted a fun iPad app called Bonsai Slice in which you hold your iPad and use it as a sword. It is sort of like a 3D version of Fruit Ninja. It is an interesting approach to gaming, and my eight-year-old son thinks that the game is awesome. Brian Chen of the New York Times wrote an interesting article in which Tolmasky talks about the creation of some of the original iPhone apps, including the Safari app that he worked on. I’ve since seen other reports suggesting that Tolmasky’s role was not as important as he claims it was, but regardless, the article is a good read.
And finally, Dan Frakes of Macworld wrote a fairly extensive review of a $240 iPhone case — not even a full case, just a bumper — called the Curvacious Bumper. It sounds like it a nice bumper, but $240? For something that almost surely won’t even fit whatever new model iPhone Apple releases later this year? But maybe I’m missing something, so if you want to get it, here is an Amazon link.
A stylus is a very useful accessory if you want to take notes on an iPad or annotate a document. I often use the Wacom Bamboo Stylus duo, an excellent stylus with a soft tip that is 5 mm in size — smaller than other styluses which are often 6 mm. A smaller tip is better because it allows you to be more precise. I was impressed when I reviewed the Adonit Jot Pro stylus back in 2012 because the company had come up with an innovative way to put a sharp, tiny tip on a stylus by placing a clear disc on the end of the tip. Your eyes see the small tip making it easier to write, but the iPad senses the larger, clear disc. I still think that Adonit’s Jot Pro is a great stylus.
For the last few months I’ve been testing another innovative stylus from the smart folks at Adonit called the Jot Script. This stylus has a sharp tip that is only 1.9 mm. That is much too small for an iPad to normally sense it — remember, the iPad was made to recognize something the size of a finger tip — but Adonit found a workaround, a technology that Adonit calls Pixelpoint. The Adonit website explains Pixelpoint as follows: “Touch screens emit a capacitance signature. Each of the iOS devices has a slightly different capacitance signature coming from their touch screen. When Pixelpoint detects the unique signature of a particular screen, it inverts the signature and sends it back. Just hit the power button and start making.”
So in other words, the iPad senses not just the tiny tip of the Jot Script but also the signals emitted from the pen itself. Pretty cool. As long as the Jot Script is turned on, the iPad recognizes it just as it would recognize your finger tip. With other styluses you sometimes feel like you are using something with a thick tip like a crayon or a big marker to write on the screen, but with the fine point of the Jot Script you feel like you are using a pen to write on the screen. You can look at where the tiny tip of the Jot Script touches the screen and see where the digital ink will appear on the screen.
So what do I think about the stylus? Frankly, I’m conflicted. The Jot Script has advantages over every other stylus that I have tried or read about, making it easy for me to understand why some people consider it the very best iPad stylus on the market. Many attorneys told me at ABA TECHSHOW last month that it is the only stylus that they use. But it also has some big drawbacks as well. Here are the pros and cons.
[UPDATE 5/12/14: Today I posted a review of the Cregle ink, another powered fine point stylus that fixes some of the shortcomings of the Jot Script but also has its own weaknesses. If you are considering buying a Jot Script, you should also read my review of the Cregle ink to compare the devices.]
PRO: Fine tip
I really cannot rave enough about the size of this tip. It is far smaller than the tip on any other stylus, and that makes a big difference. Whether I am taking notes with a note-taking app such as GoodNotes or drawing with an app such as Paper, it is so nice to have the extra precision that comes along with a smaller tip. Going from a regular stylus to the Jot Script is not quite as dramatic as going from writing on paper with a crayon to writing on paper with a ball point pen, but it is that type of difference.
Here is a comparison of the tip on the Adoint Jot Script and the tip on the Wacom Bamboo Stylus duo:
The only real problem that I’ve noticed when drawing or writing with the Jot Script is that if you try to draw a diagonal line and you move the Jot Script very slowly, the line becomes wavy. My understanding is that this is not Adonit’s fault and has to do with the way that the iPad works, and other active power styluses have the same problem, as noted in this review of the LYNKtec TruGlide Apex Fine Point active stylus by Julie Strietelmeier of The Gadgeteer. In normal use, however, it is very unlikely that this will be a problem for you.
PRO: Ignore unwanted strokes (with some apps)
The full name of the Jot Script is the Jot Script Evernote Edition. When I first heard the name, I thought that the stylus only worked with the Evernote’s Penultimate app. That’s incorrect. You can use the Jot Script with any app on the iPad, even if Bluetooth is turned off on your iPad. If an app recognizes your fingertip, it will also recognize the Jot Script.
However, when you turn on Bluetooth on your iPad and use an app that is designed to talk to the Jot Script, you get extra features such as the ability to ignore unwanted strokes. I don’t use Evernote or Penultimate, but I do use GoodNotes 4.0. Once you pair your Jot Script to GoodNotes (Tap … in the top right corner, then tap More Options, then tap Smart Stylus), GoodNotes becomes smarter.
GoodNotes knows whether you are touching the screen with the Jot Script or with something else, such as your finger. The app lets you use either a finger or the Jot Script to tap on menus, pinch to zoom the screen, etc., but when you are touching a part of the screen where you can draw, the app only accepts input from the Jot Script. Thus, if you rest your palm on, or otherwise touch, the area of the screen that is used to take notes, the app knows to ignore your hand and will only draw when you touch the tip of the Jot Script to the screen. Similarly you no longer have to worry about accidentally drawing a line on the page when you were just trying to swipe or you just inadvertently touched your fingertip to the screen. It’s a great feature that makes a drawing program like GoodNotes work even better.
Adonit has a page on its website that lists Featured Script Apps which names ZoomNotes, Noteshelf, Penultimate, GoodNotes 4, PDFpen and Concepts.
So in short, you don’t have to use a special app with the Adonit Jot Script, but if you do, you get some great extra features.
CON: Noise
My #1 complaint about the Adonit Jot Script is that it is noisy to use. Every time the plastic tip touches the screen, you hear a tap — exactly the noise that you would expect to hear when a small plastic tip touches a glass screen. It isn’t loud enough that the judge in the front of a courtroom will hear you taking notes, but it can be loud enough for people around you to hear it, and I find it annoying. Here is a very short YouTube video I created that compares using a Wacom Bamboo Stylus (which is essentially silent) and using the Adonit Jot Script:
I filmed that video in a quiet room. If you are in a noisier environment, it is less likely that you will hear the Jot Script over background noise. Also, note that I write in print; if you use script, your stylus will spend more time touching the surface of the screen and less time tapping the screen, so the noise is less of an issue. Finally, I realize that the noise that I am complaining about is not a very loud noise. Having said that, it is loud enough that when I go to a meeting with other attorneys, I feel more self-conscious when using the Adonit Jot Script then when using other styluses.
I know I am not alone in thinking that this stylus is too loud. For example, back in January when I mentioned on iPhone J.D. that I was starting to look at the Adoint Jot Script, I received an email from an attorney in Indiana who told me: “I have personally found the Jot Script Evernote Edition to be far too noisy (the clicking on the screen of my 5th generation iPad) to be able to use when anyone else is around and in a quiet environment, such as almost any meeting, court, library … It calls attention to itself in an annoying way (to me).”
Is there anything that can be done about the noise? Adonit could change the tip to something softer, which is an approach taken by some other manufacturers of powered styluses with fine tips such as the Cregle ink (which I reviewed here). When I initially reviewed the Adoint Jot Pro back in August of 2012, I said that I loved the stylus but that it made too much noise when the plastic disc touched the iPad screen. Adonit then came out when a second generation Jot Pro that specifically addressed this problem by adding a spring to the tip. As I noted in my review of the second generation model, this was a huge improvement and made the stylus much better. If Adonit can find a way to also make the Jot Script more quiet, then I would be much more likely to use and recommend it.
I contacted Adonit to ask about the noise, and while I didn’t expect the company to tell me about any unannounced products that they may or may not be working on in their lab, the response was simply: “Unfortunately, for any harder tipped styluses, the contact is going to generate some noise.”
CON: Absence of a clip
The Adonit Jot Script doesn’t have a clip on the side. A clip would of course be useful for when you want to put the Jot Script in a shirt pocket and don’t want it to move around too much. More importantly, the clip would stop the Jot Script from rolling around. It seems like almost every time I put the Jot Script on a flat surface, it starts rolling. If I don’t notice it soon enough, the next thing I know I hear the Jot Script roll off of the desk and onto the floor. The Jot Script is sturdy enough that this has never caused any damage, but this would never happen if the Jot Script simply included a clip.
I also complained about the lack of a clip when I reviewed the first generation Adonit Jot Pro. That is not something that was updated when Adonit designed the second generation Jot Pro. Indeed, none of the styluses sold by Adonit sells include a clip, so the company seems opposed to them for some reason. I wish they would reconsider, or at least make it an optional accessory.
CON: Battery
The Jot Script uses a AAA battery. This results in a number of disadvantages.
First, it means that the stylus is thicker than a standard stylus (or a standard pen) to make room for a AAA battery. (At least, I assume that the AAA battery is the reason for the large size; it could also be because Adonit couldn’t get the electronics any smaller in this generation of the product.) The size is not a huge problem, and it is offset somewhat by the fact that the Jot Script is nicely weighted and otherwise feels pretty good in the hand. But it does feel more awkward to hold the Jot Script than most other styluses becuase it is thicker than a pen. Here is the Jot Script next to the skinnier — and perfectly sized, in my opinion — Bamboo Stylus duo:
Second, the use of a battery means that you have to worry about your stylus being charged. With a traditional stylus, you just pick it up and go, and it always works. With the Jot Script, you cannot tell how much power it has just by looking at the stylus, so you always want to keep an extra AAA battery nearby just in case you need it. (Apps designed to work with the Jot Script can give you an indication of the remaining battery life.) There is a small light next to the power button that is normally green but instead flashes red when the Jot Script is almost out of power, but you get no warning before that point, and when the Jot Script is without power, it will not work at all. Having said that, the Jot Script can go a few weeks on a battery (depending upon your use) which is good, AAA batteries are easy to find when you need to buy a new one, and the the Jot Script turns itself off to save power if you haven’t used it in about a minute.
Third, the use of a battery means that you have to turn the stylus on in the first place. That shouldn’t be a big deal, right? But the tiny button on the side of the Jot Script is tiny, flush with the stylus itself, and is very hard to find and press. I always find myself wasting a few seconds looking for the button whenever I want to use the stylus. (Indeed, in the above video, you can see that I had to fumble around to find the button.)
I wish Adonit had made the button more prominent so that it would be easier to find when need to turn on the Jot Script. You can also hold down the button to turn off the Jot Script, but in my tests the power save feature results in the Jot Script turning itself off long before I think to do so, so you really just use the button to turn it on.
CON: Multitasking gestures
When you have Multitasking Gestures turned on in the Settings app, you can use four or five fingers to switch apps. It is the iPad equivalent of Control-Tab or Command-Tab on your computer, and I use this gesture all the time to switch between apps. If you use this feature on your iPad, note that it is not 100% compatible with the Jot Script, and Adonit recommends that you turn off Multitasking Gestures. The issue, as I understand it, is that if you are using an app that is designed to work with the Jot Script and you touch your iPad screen with another finger or your palm at the same time that you are using the Jot Script, the app itself is smart enough to ignore the input other than that from the Jot Script, but the iPad gets confused and can start to switch apps on you.
I like Multitasking Gestures enough that I usually keep them on even when using the Jot Script, but this means that every once in a while I am annoyed by the iPad thinking that I want to switch apps when that was not my intent.
Beware of lemons
I normally don’t take several months to prepare a review of a stylus, but it turned out that the first unit I tried was defective so I had to wait to get and use a replacement unit before writing this review. I started testing the Jot Script in January after Adonit sent me a free review sample. At times it worked great, but other times it would stop recognizing my writing while I was in the middle of a word. I thought at first that I was doing something wrong, or that the battery was low, or that it was the Multitasking Gestures, etc. When I could find nothing else to do, I contacted Adonit and they sent me a second free stylus. This second one has worked well and does not exhibit any of the problems I saw with the first one. I see that Warner Crocker of GottaBe Mobile had the exact same problem and he also had to request a replacement. His post even includes a video that shows the defective unit in action.
If you get a Jot Script and find that it sometimes stops working while you are using it, ask Adonit to send you a replacement unit. I don’t know how widespread the probelm is, but apparently there are some lemons out there.
Conclusion
The Adonit Jot Script is at times the very best stylus that I’ve ever used with my iPad. I am truly amazed at what Adonit was able to accomplish with this device. But other times, the Jot Script annoys me because it is too loud or because of its other idiosyncrasies like the lack of a clip and the hard-to-find button. Of course I don’t expect every product to be perfect at all times, but this is a stylus that costs $75 — much more that you pay for most other styluses. Paying that much for a stylus is fine if it is a great product, and in many ways the Jot Script is an amazing product, but in other ways it has some flaws. Ultimately, the advantages are enough for me to say that anyone who is serious about taking notes on an iPad should consider the Jot Script. But if you are on the fence, then this might not be the right stylus for you. In the future, I plan to review other powered styluses that have a fine tip to see how they compare. (Adonit was the first to come out with this type of stylus in late 2013, but other companies are now coming up with similar styluses.)
My hope is that Adonit will improve the Jot Script in a second generation model just like they did with the Jot Pro. The existing Jot Script is very impressive, and if Adonit could keep what is great about the Jot Script and address some of the shortcomings, then they would have something really special. As for this first generation of the Jot Script, I like it enough that I still plan to use it in the future when I take notes, and I know of many other lawyers who love theirs, but I’m sure that I will often instead reach for another stylus such as the Wacom Bamboo Stylus duo.
This article won the BlawgWorld Pick of the Week award. The editors of BlawgWorld, a free weekly email newsletter for lawyers and law firm administrators, give this award to one article every week that they feel is a must-read for this audience.
I often have trouble finding enough outlets when I travel. Hotel rooms will frustratingly only provide a single wall outlet near a desk, with one of the two outlets already occupied by the desk lamp. It is starting to become easier to find power outlets in airports, but you can still often find only a single outlet available for your use. One solution is to use a power strip, but those are typically too large to take with you with you travel. The Outlets To Go Power Strip from Monster seeks to provide a solution for travelers, and after seeing Tampa attorney Katie Floyd call it her favorite travel accessory, I purchased one from Amazon before I headed to Chicago for ABA TECHSHOW last month. I have since used it on several business trips. It has worked well for me and I can recommend it.
The device features two outlets on each side that are spaced far enough apart that you should not have a problem with even larger power adapters. If you are plugging in three of four devices at once it can be a little awkward to have things plugged in on both sides, but it works, and designing the power strip this way keeps it as small as possible.
The cord is about a foot long when stretched out, which is sometimes not quite enough to stretch from a wall outlet to the top of a desk that is next to the wall. On the other hand, it is nice to have a little space between where it plugs in to the wall and where you plug in your devices.
More importantly, the cord is short for a reason. The marquee feature of this device is that when you are not using it, the cord can wrap around the device to make it portable for travel. When you wrap the cord for travel, the device is just over six inches long and just over two inches thick. This size is not ultra thin, but it is small enough to fit into a briefcase or easily fit in your suitcase.
Katie Floyd recommends putting it in a shoe during travel, which makes some sense, but I prefer to keep in the same bag or briefcase where I store my iPad during travel for easy access.
For example, I was recently in the Orlando airport with over an hour before my next flight. I wanted to charge my iPad and iPhone, and fortunately the Southwest waiting area had seats with outlets, but there was only a single outlet per chair. I simply plugged in the Outlets to Go strip and I could easily then plug in the chargers for both my iPad and iPhone, and both devices were fully charged before I got on my flight.
Katie Floyd pointed out in her post that the Outlets To Go also works well when you are with others: “I plugged my laptop into one outlet of my power strip and quickly made three new friends and business contacts who had depleted batteries. Even when I arrive late and find the power outlets taken, I find if I bring a power strip, people are willing to let me unplug their devices and plug in my strip to add additional ports.” I haven’t yet had the opportunity to use my Outlets To Go as an icebreaker to make friends, but I have no doubt that it will happen to me at some point. (I still carry a USB to 30-pin cord with me, even though all of my Apple devices now use Lightning, because I freqently encounter folks asking me for help charging their iPhones and iPads and sometimes they are using older devices.)
At ABA TECHSHOW, I gave a presentation with Judge Hebert Dixon of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. He saw me using my Outlets To Go and mentioned that he has a similar model called the Outlets To Go Power Strip with USB. That version costs the same and has three outlets plus a single USB port. The advantage of that one is that you can simply plug a USB to Lightning cord directly into the Outlets To Go without having to also use a power adapter. The USB port on that version only provides 1 Amp of power so it would be very slow to charge an iPad, although it should work OK with an iPhone. I often bring two Apple 12W USB Power Adapters with me anyway when I travel, which charges an iPhone a little faster than using a 1 Amp USB port and provides the maximum charge for an iPad, but if you are thinking of buying Outlets To Go, consider which model will work best for your needs.
On the Monster website, the version of Outlets To Go that I have with four outlets sells for $19.95, but you can get the Outlets To Go for under $10 at Amazon, which is where I bought mine. That is a great price for a very useful travel accessory that will help you to keep your iPhone and iPad (and any other devices) charged while you are on the go.
Earth Day was this week, and this week we heard from Lisa Jackson, Apple’s Vice President of Environmental Affairs. Jackson grew up in New Orleans (where I live) and after getting a B.S. from Tulane and a Masters from Princeton in chemical engineering, spent most of her professional life working for the EPA and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Before joining Apple, she was EPA Administrator from 2009 to 2013. Steven Levy of Wired wrote an interesting article after spending time with Jackson looking at the renewable energy (such as solar) used to power Apple’s data centers — the massive computing hubs that power Apple’s Siri, iCloud, App Store, Messages, and other cloud-based services. (You can also watch a video of Jackson showing off the data centers on NBC’s Today.) I didn’t realize that data centers use up 2% of all of the electricity used in the U.S., so it is great that Apple now gets 100% of its data center power from renewable energy. You can learn more about Apple’s environmental initiatives at this new page on its website as well as an Our Progress page. And now, the rest of the news of note from the past week:
California attorney David Sparks provides some perspective on the iWatch … or whatever new product Apple will release later this year.
Ohio attorney Richard Weiner discusses WiFi security issues in an article for the Akron Legal News.
I mentioned this earlier this week, but it is worth mentioning again. One of the easiest ways to use and manage complex passwords it to get a password manager. Robert Myers of The Sweet Setup looked at all of the top password managers and decided that 1Password is the best one. (I also use and really like 1Password.) It is 50% off through the end of the day today, so if you were thinking of trying it, now is the time to do so. My review from early 2013 is here, but the app has been updated many times since then — and just this week the app got a new iOS 7-style look and some new features.
Farhad Manjoo of the New York Times discusses a hearing aid that works with your iPhone and which doesn’t just help people with hearing problems but can also help improving hearing for anyone.
Jim Dalrymple of The Loop reports that J.D. Power ranked the iPhone #1 in customer satisfaction for all four of the U.S. carriers.
Brent Dirks of App Advice discusses JUMPR, an upcoming battery charger that will cost under $100 and can not only charge your iPhone, it can also jump your car.
David Chartier of Finer Things in Tech notes that you can setup an Apple TV simply by touching it with your iPhone or iPad.
Apple released iOS 7.1.1 this week. For the most part this is a minor update that improves things such as Touch ID on the iPhone 5S, as noted by Dan Moren of Macworld, but AppleInsider reports that some people are seeing much better battery life with iOS 7.1.1. If it seemed like you were getting less battery life with iOS 7.1, then hopefully iOS 7.1.1 will fix that for you.
Eyefi cards are SD cards for a camera that have Wi-Fi built-in. Harry McCracken of Time explains that with the new Eyefi Cloud service, the card works even better with iPhones and iPads.
Read all about the new Squandr app in this article … from The Onion.
And finally, Apple released a video this week called Better to note Apple’s environmental efforts. The video is narrated by Apple CEO Tim Cook, and is worth watching. Click here, or watch below:
Yesterday, Apple released the results for its 2014 fiscal second quarter (which ran from December 29, 2013 to March 29 2014) and held a call with analysts to discuss the results. Apple always sees a big decrease in revenue in its second fiscal quarter because it comes right after the holiday quarter. Nevertheless, Apple reported quarterly revenue of $45.6 billion and net profits of $10.2 billion, which is a record for Apple’s second fiscal quarter and is Apple’s best ever non-holiday quarter. If you want to get all of the nitty gritty details, you can download the audio from the announcement conference call from iTunes, or you can read a rough transcript of the call prepared by Seeking Alpha. Apple’s official press release is here.
As always, I’m not as interested in the financial details as I am the statements of Apple executives during the call that are of interest to iPhone and iPad users. Nevertheless, I did think it interesting that Apple announced a 7 for 1 stock split to take place in June, which will result in a change from the current approximately $525/share to about $75/share. I don’t own Apple stock and I certainly don’t provide advice on Apple stock, but I suspect that this stock split will be seen as good news to some Apple investors. Matthew Yglesias of Vox speculates that Apple might be doing the split in an attempt to get Apple included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
But anyway, back to the product-related news. Here are the items that stood out to me as of interest to iPhone and iPad owners:
iPhone
Apple sold 43.7 million iPhones last quarter, which was the main reason that Apple had such a good quarter. By comparison, in the 2013 fiscal second quarter, Apple sold 37.4 million iPhones. By my count, as of March 29, 2014, Apple had sold over 515 million iPhones — over half a billion.
Luca Maestri, who will be Apple’s new CFO later this year, said that a big reason for the increase in iPhone sales was strong iPhone sales in China and Japan. He said that in China, the “affordably priced iPhone 4S” has sold particularly well. Apple CEO Tim Cook said that in the U.S. there was more “pressure” on sales because of carriers being more strict in enforcing their upgrade policies — i.e., people may have wanted a new iPhone, but they need to wait longer before they an buy one at a subsidized price.
Over half of the people who registered their iPhones in the past quarter were new iPhone owners.
iPad
Apple sold 16.3 million iPads last quarter. This was less than the 19.5 million iPads sold in the 2013 fiscal second quarter, but Cook explained that the cause was not a decrease in demand for iPads but instead a change in the way that Apple is handling inventory combined with a large backlog in orders for the iPad mini a year ago whereas lately Apple has been able to produce the supply to match the demand. Whatever the reason, Apple still sold a lot of iPads. By my count, as of March 29, 2014, Apple had sold over 211 million iPads. (Cook said “over 210 million.”)
Most iPads are being sold to first-time users. Cook said that over two-thirds of people registering an iPad in the last six months were new to iPad.
Cook noted that the iPad is the fastest growing product in Apple’s history. Cook pointed out that the over 210 million iPads that Apple has sold in the four years since the iPad was introduced in April 2010 is almost twice as many iPhones as Apple sold in the first four years of the iPhone. (By my count, Apple sold just over 108 million iPhones in the first four years.) Cook also noted that the iPad is the only Apple product to be an instant hit in three key markets: consumer, business and education. In education, the iPad has over 95% of the U.S. tablet market. In business, Cook said that “virtually all, 98% of the Fortune 500” are using iPads.
Cook also noted that people really love their iPads. “The other thing you look at on iPads that are just blow away is customer sat[isfaction] is 98 [percent]. There is almost nothing in the world with a 98% customer sat[isfaction]. And the ‘intention to buy’ numbers look good with two-thirds of the people planning to buy a tablet or planning to buy an iPad. The usage numbers are off the chart, far and exceeding Android tablets, four times the web traffic of all Android tablets combined.”
Cook was asked about the significance of the release of Microsoft Office for iPad. He said: “Office, I believe, does help. It’s very unclear to say how much. I believe if it would have been done earlier, it would have been even better for Microsoft, frankly. There’s lots of alternatives out there from a productivity point of view, some of which we brought to the market, some of which many, many innovative companies have brought. But I do see that Office is still a very key franchise in the enterprise, in particular, and I think having it on iPad is good, and I wholeheartedly welcome Microsoft to the App Store to sell Office. Our customers are clearly responding in a good way that it’s available. So, I do think it helps us particularly in the enterprise area.”
Cook said that the “iPad has a bright future,” noting that “of course, the thing that drives us more than any of this are the next iPads, if you will, the things that are in the pipeline, the things that we can do to make the product even better. And there is no shortage of work going in on that nor any shortage of ideas. … I’m very bullish on iPad.” He also noted: “We continue to believe that the tablet market will surpass the PC market in size within the next few years and we believe that Apple will be a major beneficiary of this trend.”
iOS 7
iOS 7, released in September of 2013, is now being run on 87% of iOS devices.
Apple Store
Cook announced that next week, Angela Ahrendts will join Apple as the Vice President in charge of Apple’s retail and online stores. Ahrendts was announced last October, but since then she has been winding down her job as the CEO of Burberry. Most consider her perfect for the job, and it will be interesting to see what she does to improve Apple’s stores in the future.
iWatch?
This time last year, Cook announced that Apple was working on “new product categories,” and three months ago Cook confirmed that new products are planned for the end of 2014. The assumption is that this will be the iWatch. Cook noted yesterday: “We are expanding Apple’s products and services into new categories and we are not going to under invest in this business.” Later on in the call, Cook said that “we currently feel comfortable in expanding the number of things we’re working on, so we’ve been doing that in the background. And we’re not ready yet to pull the string on the curtain. But we’ve got some great things there that we’re working on that I’m very, very proud of and very, very excited about.”
Cook also noted that Apple is not going to rush to introduce new types of products just to be first on the market; Apple will instead wait and take the time to get the product right. “But for us, we care about every detail, and when you care about every detail and getting it right, it takes a bit longer to do that. And that’s always been the case, that’s not just something that just occurred. As you probably know from following us for a long time, we didn’t ship the first MP3 player, nor the first smartphone, nor the first tablet. In fact, there were tablets being shipped a decade or so before then, but arguably, we shipped the first successful modern tablet, the first successful modern smartphone and the first successful modern MP3 player. And so it means much more to us to get it right than to be first. And I think you can see so many examples out in the marketplace where it’s clear that the objective has been to be first. But customers at the end of the day don’t care about that, or that’s not what they look for from Apple. They want great — insanely great — and that’s what we want to deliver. And so that’s the way we look at it.”
