Jeff Richardson

Yesterday, Apple introduced two new iPhones, the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c.  The iPhone 5s is the flagship model.  It will be available starting September 20, 2013, and it costs the same as the iPhone 5 that it replaces:  $199 for 16 GB, $299 for 32 GB and $399 for 64 GB.  The iPhone 5s includes some great new features, and the more I read about this device, the more I am sure that lawyers are going to love it.

Before I get to the phone itself, I have to be a technical lawyer and comment upon the typography of the name.  To my eyes, it looks wrong for the “s” to be lowercase.  Apple used an uppercase letter for the iPhone 4S and the iPhone 3GS; why is it different this year?  Back in 2009 when Apple introduced the iPhone 3GS, some parts of Apple’s website called it the “iPhone 3G S” but then Apple realized that the space before the S was silly and removed it.  The chance of a change this year seems smaller, especially since there seems to be an argument for using a lower case “s” in the Helvitica family font used by Apple, but I’m still holding out hope that the anti-e.e. cummings crowd at Apple prevails.

On to the phone itself.  For many years now, Apple has had a “tick tock” cycle in which they introduce a bold new design for the iPhone one year, and then the next year they use the same design with improvements.  Thus, we had the iPhone 3G, followed by the iPhone 3GS that used the same form factor; the iPhone 4 followed by the identical-from-the-outside iPhone 4S.  In 2012 we had the new design of the iPhone 5, and this year, the iPhone 5s looks almost exactly the same, and has the same dimensions, weight and battery life.  If the iPhone 5 was the “tick” what is the difference in this “tock”?  The changes include a speedy new processor, a fingerprint sensor, a better camera and a few more features such as new colors.

 

1. New Processor

The iPhone 5 used an A6 processor.  The iPhone 5s uses an A7 processor with a 64-bit architecture.  The A7 is twice as fast as last year’s A6 and is 40 times faster than the original iPhone introduced in 2007.  This will make the iPhone itself seem more responsive, reducing the friction between you and getting things done.  More importantly, apps can use the faster processor to include features that were previously impossible.  Yesterday, Apple showed off a game — Infinity Blade 3 — that looked incredible thanks to the A7 processor.  I’m not a big gamer (although I did play and enjoy Infinity Blade 1 and 2, so I suspect I’ll buy the sequel), but I look forward to seeing what app developers can do with this new processor to make more powerful apps.

2. Touch ID

Apple is combining the power of the A7 chip with some new hardware inside of the home button on the iPhone 5s to add a fingerprint scanner, technology that Apple calls Touch ID.  If you are an attorney using an iPhone, then I certainly hope you are using the passcode lock feature so that someone cannot simply pick up your iPhone and start reading your email and other confidential information.  But of course, it is a pain to have to type in that passcode every time you go to use your iPhone.  With the iPhone 5s, you won’t have to type in that passcode.  Simply place your finger on the home button and the iPhone will scan your finger, confirm that you are really you, and then unlock the phone.  Similarly, you can use your fingerprint instead of typing your Apple ID every time you download a new app.

Touch ID can store up to five fingerprints, so you can choose your thumb, your index finger, fingers on left and right hands, etc.  And they can be from different people, useful if you want your spouse to be able to easily unlock your iPhone while you are driving.

At first I assumed that the iPhone 5s is taking a picture of your finger, but that’s not how it works.  Security expert Rich Mogull explains in an article at Macworld that it uses a “capacitance fingerprint
reader [that] leverages a handy property of your skin: The outer layer of your
skin (your dermis), where your fingerprint is, is non-conductive, while
the subdermal layer behind it is conductive. When you touch the
iPhone’s fingerprint sensor, it measures the minuscule differences in
conductivity caused by the raised parts of your fingerprint, and it uses
those measurements to form an image.”

According to folks who tried it out yesterday, it works really well.  For example, John Gruber of Daring Fireball wrote:  “It’s fairly quick to train, and once trained, it is really fast, and in
my brief hands-on testing, very accurate. The optimal way to use it to
unlock your phone seems to be to tap the home button once to wake the
phone, and then just keep your thumb or finger on the button for just
another moment. Boom, unlocked. It’s very impressive technology. I
already feel silly tapping in my passcode to unlock my iPhone.”  David Pogue of the New York Times wrote:  “I got a few minutes with the 5S at Apple’s event introducing the phone. I
trained it to recognize my finger, then used it to unlock the phone a
couple of times. It worked perfectly, which is a welcome advance. And
the placement on the Home button is ingenious.”  By the way, I see that Pogue and the Times seem to agree with my opinion that “5S” looks better than “5s”.

For now, third party apps cannot use Touch ID, but I’m sure (or at least I hope) that will change in the future.  For example, I’d love to be able to simply use my fingerprint to unlock the 1Password app on my iPhone.

Security is incredibly important to lawyers — especially in this age of mobile devices — but it always involves a trade-off between protection and ease of use.  Using a password of “1234” is easy to remember and easy to enter, but provides horrible protection.  Complex passwords provide more protection at the cost of convenience.  Touch ID has the potential to provide both high security and high convenience at the same time, a juxtaposition that was previously impossible.  I’m very excited to try it myself and see future enhancements to Touch ID.

3. Better camera

Every year, Apple finds a way to improve the camera in the iPhone 5, and I’m incredibly glad that they do so.  Since your iPhone is always with you, it is the camera that you are most likely to use, whether you are taking pictures of your kids or photographing a document to scan it.

The iPhone 5s combines the A7 with new camera hardware — a larger sensor and an improved flash — to take even better pictures.  And the faster processor lets the camera do things like take 10 photos a second in a burst mode, provide auto image stabilization, and improve the color balance.  The camera also supports slow motion video, something that I don’t think that I’ll use in my law practice but will be fun while taking videos of the kids.

4. And that’s not all

Colors.  The iPhone 5 came in black and white.  The iPhone 5s has a white-and-silver model, a black-and-gray model (Apple calls it “space gray” whatever that means) and a new white-and-gold model.  There have been rumors of a gold iPhone for a while now and I feared that it would be tacky and gaudy, but this is Apple after all so it is no surprise that their version of gold looks tasteful and rather nice, even if it is a bit too much bling for me.

Free apps.  When you buy a new iPhone, you now get some great apps designed by Apple — Pages, Keynote, Numbers, iPhoto and iMovie — for free.  The first three cost $10 each while iPhoto and iMovie cost $5 each, so that’s $40 in free apps, all of which I use on my iPhone and recommend.  (I use them even more on my iPad, so hopefully they will also be included with the 2013 version of the iPad that I expect Apple to introduce next month.)

Motion data.  The iPhone 5s comes with a new M7 motion data processor that measures data from the accelerometer, gyroscope, and compass much more efficiently, using less power, than prior iPhones that used the main processor for that task.  As a result, the iPhone can monitor your motion all the time and react accordingly.  Apple explains on its website:  “Since M7 can tell when you’re in a moving vehicle, iPhone 5s won’t ask you to join Wi-Fi
networks you pass by. And if your phone hasn’t moved for a while, like
when you’re asleep, M7 reduces network pinging to spare your battery.”  Fitness apps such as the Nike+ Move app will be able to take advantage of the M7 to better monitor your exercise.

Improved LTE coverage.  If you travel internationally with your iPhone 5s, the improved LTE coverage will give you faster speeds on more networks around the world.  This isn’t something that I plan to use because international roaming charges are expensive, but if your job takes you around the world, you might appreciate this feature.

Conclusion

The iPhone 5s only adds a few more things to the iPhone 5, but they look like features that most any lawyer would appreciate.  The security and ease-of-use improvements of the Touch ID would be enough of a reason for me to upgrade, and when you add the faster A7 processor, the better camera and all of the other improvements, there is no doubt that I will be getting one — and that would be true even if I didn’t publish this website.  If you currently use an iPhone 5, the upgrade to an iPhone 5s is certainly not essential, but it will make your constant companion even more useful.  (If you are not eligible to pay the subsidized price because you bought an iPhone 5 within the past year, you might be able to use a subsidized upgrade available to someone else on your wireless plan such as a spouse; that’s what I did last year.)  If you currently use an iPhone 4S or older model of the iPhone, then you get all of the improvements noted above plus the improvements of the iPhone 5 such as the larger screen and the thin, light design — so you are in for a treat.  And if the iPhone 5s will be your first iPhone, then welcome to iPhone J.D., and I hope that you stick around.

A few words about the iPhone 5c

Yesterday, Apple also announced the iPhone 5c.  It is $100 cheaper than the iPhone 5s, but you lose almost all of the advantages of the iPhone 5s.  For the most part, the iPhone 5c is just last year’s iPhone 5 with some bright colors added to the back.  If you are trying to get a less expensive iPhone for your teenager who wants a cool color anyway, the iPhone 5c is a fine choice.  But I think that most attorneys would be wise to spend the extra $100 to get a much more powerful device with better security and an improved camera.

Today at 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern, Apple will introduce the 2013
version(s) of the iPhone.  I add the possible “s” to “version” because the rumor is that Apple will announce both a flagship iPhone 5S and a lower cost iPhone 5C.  I also expect to get more details on iOS 7. 

A year ago, Apple held this event at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater in San Francisco.  This year, Apple is holding the event at a smaller venue on its own campus — the Town Hall auditorium at 4 Infinite Loop — which may indicate a more focused event.  Or it could have no significance at all; who knows.

The event will be attended by select members of the press, many of whom will
live-blog the announcements as they occur.  Here are direct links to the live
coverage at some of the sites that have in the past provided the best live
coverage:

• Macworld.  Jason Snell and Dan Moren are perhaps the best live-bloggers in the world for Apple announcements.
• The Verge. 
  
  Joshua Topolsky typically live blogs Apple announcements for The Verge.  UPDATE: Dieter Bohn is doing the live blog, and is doing a fantastic job.
• Engadget.  I’m not sure who will do this one.  Tim Stevens recently left Engadget, and Ryan Block says he is sitting this one out. UPDATE: Brad Molen and Myriam Joire will cover.
• Ars Technica.  In past years, Jacqui Cheng has done a great job with this live blog, but she says that this year it will be handled by Andrew Cunnigham.

Sometimes Apple provides a live video stream of the event.  If one is announced, I’ll update this post and provide a link.  But whether or not a live video stream is offered, Apple always posts a video of the event later on in the day, so you
should be able to watch it on Tuesday night.

We are just a few days away from Apple’s introduction of the next model of the iPhone, plus I expect we’ll see more information and a release date (and perhaps a few surprises) on iOS 7, the next version of the iPhone and iPad operating system with a radical new interface and lots of improvements.  If you plan to upgrade to a new iPhone, Apple has a new iPhone trade-in program whereby Apple will give you some cash for your old iPhone if you get the new one at an Apple Store.  As Joseph Keller of iMore notes, you can get $250 for a 16 GB iPhone 5.  It’s a pretty exciting time of the year for iPhone lovers.  And now, the rest of the news items of note from the past week:

• Should your law firm create an iPhone app for publicity purposes?  While a few law firms have had success doing so, for the most part I don’t think that this is a good use of your time and money, and I instead encourage you to make your law firm website iPhone-friendly.  Erik Mazzonne, the director of the Center for Practice Management at the North Carolina Bar Association, feels the same way, as he explained in this article for Law Practice Magazine.
• Your iPhone (and iPad) can be made more useful with the right accessories.  John Edwards of Law Technology News identifies some of the best smartphone accessories.
• What external battery do you get if you want to get the most extra battery life?  Alan of the website Art of the iPhone explored that question and decided that the Turcom 33,600 gives you the most.  He says you can recharge an iPhone around 15 times, so I’m sure you could recharge an iPad many times over.  You can get it on Amazon for $129.99.
• Earlier this year, I reviewed ABBYY TextGrabber + Translate, an excellent iPhone app that can perform OCR on the device itself.  The app is about to be updated to version 4.0 to add support for the iPad as well, and the update may be available by the time that you read this.  You can get more info here.
• Jonah Bromwich of the New York Times reviews KeyMe, an app that lets you scan a key so that if you lose it, you can provide a blueprint to a locksmith to recreate the key.
• Marco Tabini of Macworld discusses Apple’s improvements in iOS app security.
• And finally, what do you do when it’s time to pop open an ice cold bottle of beer but you don’t have a bottle opener handy?  According to a bunch of folks including Michael Rose at TUAW, you can just use your iPad charger.  The below picture comes from Susie Ochs of TechHive.  I absolutely, positively, do not in any way condone doing this … but you have to admit, it is tempting to try.

One of the most common tasks that I do on my iPhone and iPad is review a Microsoft Word document that I receive via email.  While it is possible to tap the document once and read it using the iOS built-in document viewer, I far prefer to instead open the document in Documents to Go.  In Documents to Go I can see redline track changes, comments and footnotes, none of which appear when you use the built-in viewer, and I like being able to pinch to make the text size larger or smaller to make it easier to read the document, something that you cannot do using the built-in document viewer.  Documents to Go is also useful for editing documents, but I suspect that 90% of the time that I use Documents to Go I am using it as a superior document viewer.

This week, Documents to Go was updated to version 5.0.  I’m always happy to see any update to Documents to Go on iOS, especially a significant update, because three years ago, much of the assets of DataViz were purchased by RIM, the company that makes (and subsequently changed its name to) BlackBerry.  I’ve never seen a full explanation of the details of that transaction, and when it occurred I was worried about the future of Documents to Go on iOS, but after three years of continued updates, hopefully there is no longer any reason to be concerned.

This update does a few things.  First, it changes the interface to better match iOS 7, which I expect Apple to release this month.  It’s just a cosmetic change, but it does have a fresh new look.  Here is what the main document screen looked like in the previous version of Documents to Go on an iPad, followed by the  main document screen in version 5:

Version 5 also adds support for iCloud if you are using Documents to Go Premium.  You can now backup and save your documents to iCloud and use iCloud to sync documents between multiple devices.

The update also improves viewing of PowerPoint slides (and the editing of PowerPoint slides if you use Documents to Go Premium), but that is not a feature that I ever use so I cannot comment on the changes.

The final change is to the way that you view documents, and while it is a minor change, I like it quite a bit.  As noted above, viewing Word documents is the primary thing that I do with this app, so I always appreciate an improvement.  In the prior version of Documents to Go, you always viewed a document in an edit mode.  There was always a bar at the top with the document name and some other buttons, and there was always a bar at the bottom with formatting buttons.  Here is what it looked like:

In version 5.0, when you first open up a document, a bar briefly appears at the top with the document name but then it goes away and the app goes into a view only mode with no bars at the top or bottom.  Thus, you can see more of the document on the screen (typically 1-2 more lines) plus there are fewer distractions because essentially your entire screen is devoted to the document, except for the standard iOS bar at the top:

Not only does the initial View Only mode remove the bars, it also removes something I will call the Annoying Keyboard Problem.  You see, in the prior version of Documents to Go, sometimes when you touch the screen to scroll through a document or simply accidentally tap on the screen, the app thought that you were trying to edit the document so a cursor would appear and the keyboard would pop up, taking over the bottom half of the iPhone or iPad screen.  This always proved to be a major distraction for me.  But in the new View Only mode, the keyboard never pops up.  If you are like me and spend 90% of your time in this app viewing documents, you’ll love this one, small change.

When you are ready to edit a document, simply tap once on the screen and a blue bar will come down from the top.  Tap the pencil button at the far right and Documents to Go switches to the edit mode, which works the same way that the prior version of Documents to Go always worked — you’ll see menu bars at the top and the bottom.  Tap the three dots at the top right for more options such as word count, find and replace, save the document to your Documents to Go file list and email the document.

All of the above images show the app on an iPad, but you see the same improvements on the iPhone.  This first picture shows the old version of Documents to Go, and the second pictures is the new version in View Only mode:

 

I wish that this update offered more.  For example, it is great that Documents to Go can show you redline track changes in a document, but I wish that DataViz would add the ability to create your own redline track changes in a document.  Nevertheless, the updates in version 5 of Documents to Go are nice improvements that I will appreciate every time that I use the app. 

If you are still using the iPhone or iPad’s built-in viewer to read Microsoft Word documents, I strongly encourage you to consider purchasing Documents to Go.  For many years now, it has been one of the most useful apps on my iPhone and iPad.  The $10 standard version might be all that you need, or for $17 you can get the Premium version that adds the ability to use cloud services (Google
Docs, Box.com, DropBox, SugarSync and now iCloud) and adds more features for editing PowerPoint slides.  If you buy the standard version but then decide you want more features, you can pay $7.99 within the app to add all of the features of Documents to Go Premium.  Both versions of are universal apps, so you can buy the app once and use the app on both your iPhone and your iPad.

Click here to get Documents to Go Standard ($9.99): 

Click here to get Documents to Go Premium ($16.99): 

Yesterday,
Apple announced that it will make an announcement on September 10th. 
Apple didn’t actually say what the announcement is for — the invitation
to select journalists simply states “This should brighten everyone’s day” —  but we all
know that it will be the new iPhone.  According to Jim Dalrymple of The Loop, the invitation includes this
picture:

The pictures and/or messages that accompany invitations to new iPhone announcements typically include a clue to a new feature of the iPhone.  In September of 2011, the invitation said “Let’s talk iPhone” and the new feature of the iPhone 4S was Siri, giving us the ability to talk to an iPhone.  In September of 2012, the picture on the invitation showed the number 12 with a shadow, but the shadow was not of the number 12 but instead a 5, indicating that the next iPhone would be called the iPhone 5.

There are rumors that the next iPhone — the iPhone 5S? — will also come in gold in addition to the black and white models.  There is also a rumor that Apple will simultaneously release a lower-priced iPhone that will come in many different colors, perhaps called the iPhone 5C.  So perhaps circles with different colors are a nod to the new colors.  The message about brightening our day could also be a reference to bright colors, or it could be a reference to lower-cost iPhones, or it could be a reference to iOS 7, the new operating system that I expect to debut along with the new iPhone(s) which has a brighter appearance.

There are also rumors that the next iPhone will incorporate a fingerprint scanner for additional security.  I suspect it will also be faster and have a better camera, but we’ll see.

I also expect that Apple will announce new iPads at some point before the holiday buying season, but as to whether new iPads will be announced on September 10, I have no idea.  Many other websites predict that the new iPad announcement will be later athis year.

The announcement will be at 10 Pacific / 1 Eastern and will occur at Apple’s campus in Cupertino, CA.  Sometimes Apple provides a live video stream of events like this, or you can probably just put your ears or eyes close to any part of the Internet on September 10 and you’ll learn what Apple is announcing.

Scott Grossberg is a California attorney, motivational speaker and even a magician, but I know of him because he frequently writes and speaks about lawyers using iPads.  In early 2013, he released a Kindle ebook called The iPad Lawyer with tips for using an iPad in the practice of law.  More recently, he released a Kindle ebook called The Million Dollar iPad with tips for using an iPad in any business.  That book is normally $9.99, but thanks to Grossberg, if you download it today (Tuesday, September 3, 2013) it is free.  It is a Kindle ebook so you can either read it on a Kindle hardware device if you have one, or you can read it on your iPad or iPhone using Amazon’s free Kindle app.

The ebook starts by covering the basics of how to use an iPad, then
provides a great set of iPad shortcuts and tips, then recommends some of
the most valuable iPad accessories (covers, styluses, chargers,
keyboards, etc.), and then recommends apps to accomplish lots of
different tasks.

Grossberg’s writing style is sometimes a little aggressive — I am not surprised to see that he is also a motivational speaker — but it is never boring.  My favorite part of the book is the discussion of iPad tips.  He includes tips that you might already know but are always worth reading again such as keyboard shortcuts and tips on maximizing battery life.  I also liked his discussion of inserting a document into an email reply — something that the iPad doesn’t really support except for pictures/videos, but he explains some good workarounds.

A large portion of the book is devoted to recommending apps.  This part of the book is helpful if you want to find an app to do something and don’t now where to start looking.  Unfortunately, he doesn’t offer explanations of the apps or describe why you might want to pick one app over another.  For example, his section on Word Processing apps simply identifies eight apps.  He includes some great ones, but doesn’t explain that there are huge differences between using an remote access-based app like CloudOn and OnLive Desktop versus native apps that keep your document on your iPad such as Documents to Go or Pages.

The book also omits many apps that I would include — for example, he describes seven apps for taking handwritten notes with the iPad but excludes my current favorite, GoodNotes — but to be fair, I recognize that app recommendations are necessarily subjective and different people recommend different apps.

If you have that nagging feeling that you could be more productive with your iPad but you just don’t know how to do it, I’m sure you will learn something from this book.  I strongly encourage you to get this book today while it is free. 

When the price returns to $9.99, I suppose it is more debatable whether the book is worth it.  I can’t help but think of another California attorney publishing ebooks, David Sparks, and his $9.99 book on going paperless is not only full of great information but also is a beautiful book that takes full advantage of all of the bells and whistles that an Apple iBookstore book can offer such as lots of video, audio and animation.  Any simple Kindle book is going to pale by comparision.  On the other hand, $9.99 is not going to break the bank for anyone, and fortunately you can use the helpful Amazon “Look Inside” feature to get a feel this book.  The Look Inside feature provides you with the entire index and overview of all of the chapters, which should help you decide how helpful the book will be for you, plus it even includes Grossberg’s valuable checklist at the beginning of the book where he describes the apps and accessories that he says that he cannot live without — valuable information whether you buy the book or not.

If you are reading this post on September 3, 2013, get the book right away while you can.  Otherwise, take a look at the Amazon Look Inside preview to decide if the valuable information in this book would be helpful to you.  I feel like I know a lot about the iPad, and even so, reading this book taught me a few new things.

Click here to get The Million Dollar iPad ebook for Kindle ($9.99, but free today).

Because I take my iPad with me when I travel or do business out of the office, my computer never leaves my desk.  For almost all of the tasks that I do out of the office (such as email, reviewing and annotating documents, giving presentations and working with my calendar) native iPad apps do everything that I need.  But sometimes I need to use a tool that is only available on a “real” computer, and when that happens I use a remote desktop app to connect to my PC.  There are quite a few good ones on the market, and for many years now my favorite has been LogMeIn.  This week, a new app called Parallels Access was released that offers remote access to a PC or Mac with a twist: the twist is that the software you are using on your PC or Mac behaves, in many respects, almost like a native iPad app.  Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal/All Things D likes it, as does David Pogue of the New York Times.  I can’t remember the last time that the WSJ and the NYT both talked about a new iPad app on the same day, which tells you something about the appeal of this app — plus, many iPhone J.D. readers sent me emails this week to make sure that I heard about the app.  Suffice it to say that this product has buzz.  For a legal perspective, New York attorney and TechnoLawyer publisher Neil Squillante provides this overview.  For an early negative review, Andy Ihnatko writes for ChicagoGrid that he had problems when using a Bluetooth keyboard.  I’ve only used Parallels Access for 24 hours so it is too early
for me to write a review, but so far, I’m impressed.  It is more expensive than other remote access apps — $79 a year per computer — but you can use it with a PC for free for the next 90 days while they finalize the PC software (which has worked fine for me so far).  You only get 14 free days to control a Mac.  Stay tuned for my full review, but if you are ready to check it out during the free trial period, click here to download the free iPad app.  And now, the rest of the news of note from the past week:

• Dallas attorney James Gourley created the pi Mount,
  
  an innovative and inexpensive ($9.00) product that elevates your iPhone
  
  above a power adapter.  It’s a neat idea, and since Gourley is a patent
  
  attorney, it won’t surprise you that he has a patent on it.
• California attorney Scott Grossberg explains how to handle your snail mail from the U.S. Post Office on your iPad.
• 
  In addition to reviewing Parallels Access, this week David Pogue of the New York Times also offered travel tips including using travel apps such as the excellent Delta and FlightTrack Pro apps.  I agree with almost every one of his suggestions, except that I wonder how he has avoided taking off his belt in all of those TSA millimeter-wave scanning booths; the agents always instruct me that I need to remove my belt, and I’ve never gotten the impression that this issue is open for discussion.  Do I look like that much more of a terrorist than David Pogue?
• I like to listen to audiobooks when I workout, and while I prefer to use my 6th generation iPod nano to do so because I like the way you can clip it on a shirt sleeve, I know that many people prefer using an iPhone.  Susie Ochs of Macworld reviews six iPhone apps that you can use when running.  I haven’t tried any of them, but the one that makes you think that you are running away from Zombies is an intriguing way to add encouragement to your run.
• Mike Wehner of TUAW reports that, according to the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security, 79% of mobile malware is written for Android versus only 0.7% written for iPhone.
• And finally, actress Charlene deGuzman wrote and stared in this short film “I Forgot My Phone” which provides a sobering perspective on excessive iPhone use.  She explains the film in this post on her Tumblr page. 

Katie Floyd is a litigator in Tampa, FL.  She is well-known for being the co-creator and co-host of Mac Power Users, a fantastic podcast that devotes each episode to an in-depth look at a technology topic, sometimes an iPad or iPhone topic.  She also writes on her KatieFloyd.me blog.  Last week, she posted on her blog a review of the Kingston MobileLite Wireless, a $60 device that provides external storage for an iPad or iPhone but also includes many other features.  It is a great review of an interesting product, so I asked if she would let me re-post it here.  Of course, hopefully all of you are already reading Katie’s blog, but just in case you missed it, here is that review.  A big thank you to Katie Floyd for sharing with iPhone J.D. readers.  Take it away, Katie:

– – – – –

I’ve always bought 16GB iPads. Some think that’s crazy, but for the 95%+ of my daily usage I don’t find the storage constraints of 16GB to be a problem. I’m not doing any major photography work with my iPad, storing my music collection or videos. However, I do quickly bump up against the 16GB storage limit when traveling. Then I like to load up my iPad with media-rich iBooks and video content to watch on the go. I also like to backup my photos taken with my digital camera to the iPad so if a camera is lost or damaged, the images are still preserved. Still, it was hard to justify spending an extra $100 – $200 on a larger iPad for those few times a year I need the extra space. I was looking for a better solution.

For a couple of years now companies have been making add-on storage for the iPad. I looked seriously at the Seagate Wireless Hard Drive at Macworld this year but with a price tag of $200 it was a little too expensive to justify for occasional use. My friend David Sparks recommended the Kingston Wi-Drive which he uses to add 32, 64 or 126GB of storage to his iOS devices. While researching the Wi-Drive on Kingston’s site I came across the MobileLite Wireless which seemed like a better fit for me.

The MobileLite is a few devices in one. First, it’s a wireless card reader that will transfer data between a memory card and your iOS (or Android) device. By comparison, the Apple SD to Lightning Adapter works with SD cards, but currently only for iPads. In addition to using an SD or MicroSD card for storage, the MobileLite also has a USB port that you can use to expand your storage options even further. Plug in a USB flash drive or hard drive to make that hard drive accessible to your iPhone or iPad. This potentially expands the storage space on your iPad by a couple terabytes if you’re willing to carry around a separate hard drive in addition to the MobileLite. Third, the MobileLite will work as a backup battery pack and can use its 1800 mAh battery to provide power to a USB powered devices in a pinch.

The MobileLite connects to your iOS device via Wi-Fi and requires the use of a free companion App available currently for iOS or Android. You can connect up to three devices simultaneously to the MobileLite which makes it great for sharing with family or colleagues. Before we left on vacation I instructed my family to download the MobileLite App for their respective devices and I loaded up an SD card with movies and TV shows. When we got on the plane I turned the MobileLite on in my bag and we were each able to connect and watch different programs from our various devices.

Importantly, you can configure the MobileLite’s wireless access from within the app. I was able to change SSID of the MobileLite and include a password to prevent other travelers from potentially accessing my files. Because an iOS device can only connect to one Wi-Fi access point at a time, you can configure the MobileLite to connect to other wireless networks and bridge the connections. Meaning I could save the Wi-Fi information for various access points within the MobileLite App and still have Internet access when connected to the MobileLite network. This allows you to share photos or documents from within the MobileLite App without having to first transfer files to your iOS device and then change networks.

The feature I like most about MobileLite is that you bring your own storage. This gives the device a much longer life expectancy because I have the ability to expand storage based on my needs. I can travel with a 16GB flash drive or SD card for a short trip, or bring along a 500GB hard drive to plug in via USB if the need arises. Because you bring your own storage, loading up content is as easy as plugging in your preferred storage device to a computer and dragging your content over. Although not required, I choose to organize my content into folders separated out by movies, TV shows, podcasts, and other media.

In my case, I choose to store my content on an SD card because once inserted the SD card was flush with the MobileLite and added no additional bulk. A 16 or 32GB SD card is fairly inexpensive now and was plenty of space for movies and TV shows while still leaving room for photos. I simply popped the SD card in my MacBook air, copied over my media files and they were immediately recognized when I put the card into the MobileLite and activated the App.

In addition to using the MobileLite as a storage device to stream content to my iPad, I also used it as a backup for photos I took throughout my vacation. The MobileLite App has access to iOS’s camera roll meaning you can save images to or from the camera roll and the MobileLite app. Before leaving on my trip I created a folder for photos where I intended to backup all our various photos. Each night, I would collect the SD cards from various family members and plug them into the MobileLite, using it as a bridge to transfer the days photos to my iPhone’s camera roll. From there I could view, edit, delete and share the photos as I desired. Once I had all the photos from a particular day transferred, I would put back in primary SD card back into the MobileLite and transfer all the photos from my camera roll to the MobileLite for backup. In the event we lost a camera or an SD card was corrupted, we always had a backup of the photos from the day before on the MobileLite.

The only complaint I had about the MobileLite was when it came to selecting large quantities of photos to move to or from the SD card. I found you either had to select all photos or select photos individually, there was no way to batch select a group. This may be more a limitation of iOS than the MobileLite but it was still an annoyance when transferring a hundred or more photos from an SD card each night. I tried one night just selecting all my iPhone’s camera roll and asking the App to overwrite the duplicates on the MobileLite, unfortunately this produced a warning message I had to tap for each and every photo it found a duplicate for making that process no easier. Hopefully this is something that can be in a future software update with the addition of a “overwrite all” option.

The MobileLite is about the size of a portable USB hard drive, and will easily fit in a travel bag. It recharges via micro-USB which is a standard these days meaning you likely already carry the cable in your bag and won’t have yet another proprietary charging cable. Battery life is claimed to be up to 5 hours but will vary depending on your actual usage. I was able to use the MobileLite for several hours at a time on the airplane and never got a low battery warning.

The MobileLite served all my needs and was a great value at $60 given the variety of uses. Especially when you consider the Apple SD to Lightning card adapter alone costs $30. While you can buy other wireless hard drive solutions to use with iOS I liked the “bring your own storage” approach used by the MobileLite as it keeps initial costs down and almost everyone has a spare flash drive of SD card they can use with it.  While I was seriously considering upgrading the storage on the next iPad I purchase, the MobileLite has alleviated that concern.    

Click here to get the Kinhston MobileLite Wireless on Amazon ($59.99)

The International Legal Technology Association
(ILTA) is a peer networking organization for people who work in the
legal technology field, such as the people who work in law firm IT
departments.  I know that the folks in my law firm’s tech department
frequently take advantage of ILTA resources when seeking advice on
selecting and working with hardware and software designed for the legal market and
when recruiting new hires.  ILTA just concluded its annual conference in Las Vegas, and at the conference ILTA and InsideLegal released the results of their eighth annual technology purchasing survey.  The survey was sent to 1,232 ILTA member law firms with responses from 223 (18%) law firms, about 85% of which were U.S. firms.  You can download this year’s report in PDF format here.

When respondents were asked to describe the most exciting technology or trend, two of the top three answers were mobility and consumerization.  (The other popular answer was virtualization.)  Those answers do not surprise me.  I see more and more lawyers using iPhones and iPads, and most of them are buying their own devices and using them at work (consumerization). 

BYOD

The consumerization trend is often called the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) movement.  85% of the survey respondents say that lawyers at their law firms can purchase their own laptops, tablets or phones, which is an 11% increase from 2012.  Indeed, 24% of respondents let their attorneys do all three — bring their own laptop, tablet and phone.

Lawyer iPad use

I previously reported that the 2013 ABA Technology Survey reveals an increase in attorneys using iPads, with about 48% of all attorneys using a tablet. 86% of the ILTA survey respondents said that at least some attorneys at their law firms are using tablets in their day-to-day work. However, only 7% of law firms reported more than half of their attorneys using a tablet for work.  This question was not asked in ILTA surveys from prior years so we do not know the year-to-year increase, but I presume that these numbers are higher than last year.  Indeed, I’m sure that all of us see more attorneys using iPads in 2013 than we did in 2012.

In light of the BYOD movement, at first I was surprised to see that 58% of the respondents said that their firms purchase tablets.  Looking deeper at the numbers, though, I saw that this doesn’t mean that ILTA-member law firms purchase tablets for everyone.  To the contrary, only 4% of the surveyed law firms purchase tablets for all of their attorneys, and another 12% purchase them for attorneys only on a case-by-case basis.

For those law firms that do spend firm money purchasing tablets, all of them report purchasing iPads.  The next most popular tablets are Android devices (purchased by around 22% of law firms purchasing tablets) and Microsoft Surface tablets (purchased by around 17% of law firms purchasing tablets).  These results seem consistent with the ABA Technology Survey results which indicate that about 91% of all attorneys using a tablet use an iPad.

35% of law firms have a formal tablet security policy, and another 32% state that they have a formal tablet security policy in the works.

Lawyer iPhone use

The 2013 ILTA survey indicates that about 79% of law firms purchase smartphones for their employees.  For those firms that purchase smartphones for their employees, 91% are purchasing iPhones.  In light of the rapid decline in lawyer BlackBerry use over the past few years, I was somewhat surprised to see that 60% of law firms still purchase BlackBerries for at least some of their attorneys.  Almost as many, 57%, purchase Android smartphones for some of their attorneys.

Apps

The ILTA survey is all about how law firms spend their technology dollars.  Thus, the survey doesn’t reveal anything about what apps lawyers are using, but it does address who is paying for those apps.  The survey reveals that 69% of law firms don’t pay for any apps used by their attorneys.  The other 31% either provide an app allowance or reimburse specific types of apps, such as productivity or security apps.

Apple’s iWork suite of apps — Pages, Keynote and Numbers — are some of the best apps on my iPad.  I use Pages, along with an external keyboard, to type documents, I use Keynote every time I give a presentation (I cannot even remember the last time I used PowerPoint), and while I don’t use a spreadsheet on my iPad very often, when I need one, Numbers works great.  But because there are no Pages, Keynote and Numbers programs for the PC (they do exist for the Mac), in the past I would have to convert documents created on my iPad to use them on my PC at work.  But as of this past Friday, Apple has now given everyone access to all three of these apps via Apple’s free iCloud.com website so you can now work with your Pages, Keynote and Numbers documents in the browser on any computer, Mac or PC.  [UPDATE:  Dan Moren of Macworld reports that due to overwhelming response, Apple is throttling iWork access for new users.  If you don’t have it yet, hopefully you will very soon.]  Simply point your browser to iCloud.com (it works best using Chrome on a PC or Safari on a Mac), login with your Apple ID and password, and you’ll see the new Pages, Numbers and Keynote apps in your browser.

For example, I can type some notes using Pages on my iPad, and then later I can simply go to iCloud.com on my PC, click on the Pages app, and all of the Pages documents on my iPad show up.  I can double-click any document to read it or edit it on my PC, and then when I go back to my iPad any edits that I made on the computer are there on the iPad.  You can also use iCloud.com to export a Pages document to Word or PDF format — something you can also do on the iPad, of course, but now you don’t have to pull your iPad out of your briefcase to do this and can simply do it on your computer.

For people who use Keynote to give presentations, the Keynote app in iCloud.com could be a life-saver.  Hooking up an iPad (or iPhone) to a projector is easy if you have the right cable, but if you ever find yourself in a situation where that is not possible — perhaps you forgot the necessary cable at home, or perhaps the setup in the room is such that the projector is far away from where you will be standing and you need someone else to handle your slides from a computer – you can simply go to iCloud.com from any computer connected to the Internet and pull up your Keynote presentation.  You can make any last-minute edits on the computer, and then you can enter presentation mode in Keynote on iCloud.com.  If the computer is connected to the projector, then you can give your presentation without using your iPad at all.

The iWork apps in iCloud.com don’t have all of the features as the full apps on the iPad, nor do they have all of the features in the Mac versions of Pages, Keynote and Numbers.  (Jeffery Battersby of Macworld notes the limitations.)  For example, you cannot print from the web browser versions of these apps,
so you’ll need to do that from your iPad or iPhone, or email the
document to yourself (such as a PDF version) and print from your
computer.  But the essential features are there, so it is easy to make quick edits.  And frankly, I’m amazed that Apple could create a version of this sophisticated software that runs in the browser.

The addition of Pages, Keynote and Numbers to iCloud.com makes those iPad and iPhone apps even more useful.  If you use the iWork apps on your iOS device, be sure to check out the new iCloud.com.

Click here to get Pages ($9.99): 

Click here to get Keynote ($9.99): 

Click here to get Numbers ($9.99):