• There seems to be no way to auto (or manually) update your contact list (in the form of a push notification). I was forced to sign out, and reconnect before I was able to see my brother online. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems you must wait for Skype to refresh itself. Interesting.

• Calls come-in as expected. It would seem Skype waits for your permission to initiate a video call. If you call someone, you may initiate a video call directly from your buddy list. However, if someone calls you, you must give Skype permission to initiate a video call, after accepting the invitation.

• Video quality on my parent’s low-bandwidth, WiFi connection¹ is more of a proof-of-concept. I wouldn’t call it revolutionary by any standards. Both incoming and outgoing video appeared surprisingly blurry. The dim lights in my parent’s house didn’t help.

• Overall, I would say it’s about time. My thoughts on video calling (over 3G) will have to wait until I get back from my vacation.

3G Video

• Incoming video (from Mac to iPhone) was pixelated, but by no means disappointing.

• The same can be said about outgoing (iPhone to Mac) video. The experience on 3G was as-good, if not, better than my experience with WiFi at my parent’s house.

I don’t know how I was able to miss this incredible interview of Shawn Blanc, including his thoughts about content creation on the iPad:

To say the iPad and iPhone are not meant for creating content is to assume that making something involves only one step and can be done with just one tool.

Well suppose you couldn’t use the iPad to draw or write and you couldn’t use the iPhone to take pictures or edit short movies. Even still, if you could only ever read, watch, or listen to things with the iPad and iPhone they would still be valuable tools for creating content. The best writers are also avid readers. The best photographers are always framing shots even when they’re not holding a camera. The best teachers would actually say they are students. My point being that those who create also consume, and if the iPad and iPhone are helping more people to read more and etcetera, then that is a step towards better content production in and of itself.

But you can produce content on the iPad and iPhone. I mean, who has the right to define what content creation is anyway? True content creation is not defined by the tool or the method. Because it comes from within and without us. We build and make things based on our experiences, our skills, and our relationship with God and with friends and family. It’s up to us to decide what tools and means best help us to capture and materialize what we want to make.

It would be a disservice to yourself, not to read the entire interview.

I use it almost 12-to-16 hours a day: in other words, it is almost always on. I often watch Netflix on it, I use it as my music console, I use it write, reply to emails and surf the web. […] It is a classic, much like a well-made plain white shirt. I get more use from this device than anything else I own. It makes working fun.

The same can be said about my iPad. It’s true, when I am home, I will spend 90% of my time on the iMac; like most, I find comfort and effieciency in using something I have become accustomed to using — the rest is spent on the iPad. When traveling, the iPad gets 100% of my time and attention.

Andy Ihnatko for Macworld.com:

We tend to forgive the features that Apple left behind, though. We’re confident that Apple will get around to it in time. It’s like loaning money. We understand that there’s a risk in giving Apple our $499, but the company is a good credit risk and we’re confident that within 12 months they’ll give us a feature that they never outright promised to deliver.

Lovely. The danger there is that we might someday accept all of this as normal. It isn’t. Our expectations should always be high and should never lose our ability to feel a sense of disappointment.

Nick Bilton:

So what happened to the year of the tablet? The answer is simple: the iPad. Apple offered a slatelike computer that incorporated its perfected iTunes app experience, at the right price point, and with an intuitive interface that helped the company quickly sell millions of its newfangled device.

The “problem” has been the same for years; the industry is lacking innovation. Next year will not be the year of the Tablet, nor iPad; instead, it will be the year of iPad 2.

A great video to bring in the holiday weekend. If you are on an iPad, here is a link to the mobile version.

Network neutrality is the idea that your cellular, cable, or phone internet connection should treat all websites and services the same. Big companies like AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast want to treat them differently so they can charge you more depending on what you use.

The folks behind “The Guide” have put together a very clean and organized website; someone unaware of what is at stake can, and will, understand. The Guide covers the single most important topic threatening the internet today.

• What is “net neutrality” and why is it important?

• greed: excessive or rapacious desire, especially for wealth or possessions.

The fact that this is even up for discussion, is disappointing at best.

Ben Brooks:

The Powerbook never felt fast, it felt quick, but not fast – but the size was very nice. The Mac Pro felt massively fast, but was just about the biggest, heaviest computer I have ever owned. The MacBook Air feels like their love child.

A sound resolution.

Cameron Moll:

I’m not yet convinced it can. I consider it to be passable for the daily rigors of design, development, and editing work, but only marginally.

Both a surprising and respectable verdict. I’m interested in Cameron’s thoughts on who the MacBook Air is suitable for; many people out there have no intentions of running hardware-intensive programs like Photoshop and Final Cut Express (aka my entire family), both of which Cameron described as necessities, and included in his initial (and presumably, current) installation.

So much of design critique is focused on graphics and photography. It’s time to shed light on the most basic element of communication: the type. At Fonts In Use we’ll catalog and examine real-world typography wherever it appears — branding, advertising, signage, packaging, publications, in print and online — with an emphasis on the typefaces used.

This update adds new email options to iPhoto ’11. It also improves overall stability and addresses a number of other minor issues.

Back in August I linked to a piece by The Wall Street Journal, titled “Apple’s Ad Service Off to Bumpy Start.”

Part of the reason some marketers are experiencing delays in getting their iAds to market is that Apple has kept tight control on the creative aspects of ad-making, something advertisers aren’t used to, according to several ad executives involved with creating iAds.

To which I responded,

Once HTML 5 becomes a solid developing platform, all of these ‘issues’ will be ironed out.

Today, I am proud to say, these ‘issues’ have been ironed out.

On my last vacation I attempted to travel sin MacBook (2007). Consider that, Mistake #1. Though the iPad can (and will) complete most everyday tasks, they will not get done with the same speed and efficiency experienced when using a good, old-fashioned Mac. This is what makes the MacBook Air so appealing; a small iPad-like form factor, combined with the speed and efficiency of a Mac. Everybody wins.

Despite Fred’s recommendation, his review of the Nexus S seems mixed. He likes the Google integration, but is disappointed by – what seems to be – marginal improvements to the hardware (when compared to the Nexus One).

[E]very time you select “Foursquare” in the sharing options and tag your photo with a location, we’ll not only check you in on Foursquare, but we’ll also attach the photo as part of your check-in so your Foursquare friends can see as well.

Promote what others can’t: world coverage.

The illustrated books (aka children’s picture books) are somewhat disappointing – at least, for now. Turning a page can take, what may seem like, quite a bit of time, and the pages do not take-up the entire screen. In portrait orientation, this gets better, but it is still not the ideal solution. The NOOKcolor wins in the readability department, requiring you to double-tap the paragraph you want to see in a more kid-friendly format (see the 0:17 mark), while the iPad is limited to zooming by pinching (or double-tapping) and panning. Did I mention samples are limited to four pages? Prices range from $3.99 to $12.99.

Collections work as advertised (folders for your books and PDFs), but smart collections would be nice. I currently have three collections – Books, PDFs and Samples. Every time I download a sample, I then have to move it from the Books collection to the Samples collection. It’s easy enough to move them, but it would be even better if the iBooks Team were able to port the iTunes Smart Playlist algorithm to iBooks. While we’re at it, an “Everything” collection (a central hub where you could see all of your books and PDFs) would be nice.

Printing is now possible. Unsurprisingly, the feature is limited to notes and PDF documents, meaning you cannot print a page from the eBook itself.

Hyphenation helps, although I am not a fan.

[M]any apps try to imitate real life behavior in their apps. That’s not a bad thing, but you can easily exaggerate this. This is a screen, a touch screen, and not 3D objects like in real life. So, real life metaphors can be great, but you have to be careful using them. The problem is that the big screen makes it so tempting to “over-design” the UI.

Agreed.

Many of you have read the news stories about Delicious that began appearing yesterday. We’re genuinely sorry to have these stories appear with so little context for our loyal users. While we can’t answer each of your questions individually, we wanted to address what we can at this stage and we promise to keep you posted as future plans get finalized.

Things I would like to know: context.

con•text: the circumstances that form the setting for an event, statement, or idea, and in terms of which it can be fully understood and assessed.

MacBook Air wins.

I remember when Apple TV could not make the Top 100, let alone make it into the Top 5.

HTC Corporation has released a full-fledged YouTube client for Windows Phone 7 devices. Unfortunately though, this YouTube app is limited to HTC’s handsets only, running the exclusive HTC Hub.

This is a great example of real world problems that exist when you have multiple devices running the same OS.

frag•men•ta•tion: the process or state of breaking or being broken into small or separate parts.

On page 133 of the SI brochure, the International Bureau of Weights and Measures says, “The numerical value always precedes the unit, and a space is always used to separate the unit from the number [...] The only exceptions to this rule are for the unit symbols for degree, minute, and second for plane angle.” (emphasis added)

By those standards, 3.06 GHz, 500 GB, and 1.44 MB are correct. 3.06GHz, 500GB, and 1.44MB are wrong — but so many places have been doing it wrong for so long that it’s almost become common practice.

Common Practice: 32GB looks better.

I must admit, I thought it was an “Entertainment App” at first, but it seems I was wrong. You can download Word Lens for free on iTunes, with additional “language pairs” priced at $4.99 each..

When you activate tracking, Hidden will locate your stolen computer anywhere on the planet, collect photos of the thief and screen shots of the computer in use.

Deceitful and unprofessional.

After an internal Yahoo presentation revealing plans to “sunset” Delicious, and other products hit Twitter, Yahoo product boss Blake Irving is saying on Twitter that he’s going to fire whoever leaked it.

I tend to navigate my Mac using a combination of the ⌘-Tab and ⌘-` commands. In the process of “fast app switching,” I tend to hit the ⌘-Esc command, launching Front Row at the most inconvenient times. Alas, Front Row will remain on my Mac; my conscious would be in ruins if I were to tamper with my Mac’s default settings. If you have the guts, the same does not have to be true for you.

Disclosure: I know I can change the keyboard shortcut for Front Row. I also know I am stubborn.

I was hoping (at first glance) it was an iPad App, but alas it is merely another addictive Flash sequencer. The web-based app lets you create music based on Sim City-styled street layouts: cars are the player, and ornamentations (trees, houses, street lights) are the musical notes. You have the option to browse the Top 50 “Islands,” which (as you may have guessed) is my favorite feature.