Check them out at Bobbys Beds!

I think in the last couple of days the enormity of what is about to happen in my life has started to dawn on me. I’ve started looking around our flat and realising that there is going to be baby stuff where previously there was junk. My desk will be replaced by a changing unit and my futon will be replaced with a cot. My space is going to become his space.

But thats the least of my problems – going out on a whim, throwing money around (no iPad for me this year!) or just getting a good nights sleep is all going to go out of the window and be replaced with a screaming, shitting little pink blob.

You know, despite all that I will lose from my former life I have so much to gain. I mean, already I feel like I have bonded with the little guy – I lie with my ear against my wife’s stomach and listen to the noises he makes as he moves around, I talk to him and he responds with kicks and punches. This little thing is already a massive part of my life and changing the person I am, and the person I will become.

I wouldn’t change it for the world – I love this little pink blob and I absolutely can’t wait for him to come out. To see that little face for the first time and hold those little hands, to hear him laugh and cry – that is all I crave now. I am going to be a dad, my life is going to be different and you know what…

I can’t wait.

SGU Blue Alien:

Eifel 65 Blue Alien:

What do you think? Did the SGU designers get their inspiration from an early 2000’s dance music video or is it just really hard to design a bi-pedal blue alien that doesn’t look like this?

For those that haven’t seen it… here’s the original music video for Eifel 65’s “Blue”

The project also helps support charities as rather than purchasing the books from an actual book shop, I purchase used books from local charity shops – this means the books get a second chance, and the charity gets a couple of quid per book to help support their cause!

Today I received a bill from BT which had a few extra charges for services I have NOT used!

These services were advertised as FREE during the signup process. However it appears you actually have to use them to be free – hidden away in BT’s terms of service is a charge for not using FREE services! That is a total dick move on BT’s part, but it actually gets worse! I really don’t think it’s appropriate any company, let alone a major service provider like BT to be hiding charges in their terms and conditions. It’s clearly an attempt to make a bit of extra money by deceiving customers – anything I have to pay for should be made obvious and shown up front, especially when it’s relating to something you don’t have to pay to add to your account. It’s like a car company giving you free insurance with your car purchase, but then charging you if you don’t have a crash!

They also added ‘Friends and Family International’ to my account at an extra £0.99 per month without asking me or giving me any kind of notification.

Luckily, I was able to remove these “services” with a relatively helpful agent on their new Live Chat service. BT, however, would not remove the charges from my bill or credit my account to make up for this.

While we’re on the subject of BT, their website is a total sham from a usability perspective here’s just one small example:

A pretty standard sign in form for customers to check their account online. However, with BT your username is your email address – so why not just label the form ‘email address’ rather than confusing customers by using unspecific terminology?

This whole episode with BT has left a pretty sour taste in my mouth. The only positive thing I have drawn from this is that their live chat service allowed me to speak to someone without having to pick up the phone, meaning I can deal with it while doing other things at the same time.

And no… before you ask, they didn’t offer me any ringdings to assist with my callings.

Check it out!

The only other thing flash does that’s of any interest is games but all those existing web games out there are designed for mouse actions – trying to play those games on an iPad would be like trying to steer a car with two peices of rope. Sure you could make it work but it’d be a shitty driving experience! If Apple did add Flash to the iPad they would just get flooded with complaints by people who can’t play FarmVille on Facebook properly.

Add to that the fact that Flash is a resource hog and a drain on battery life and you have one hell of an argument for leaving it out.

The guys at Apple are amongst the best user experience designers in the world -they have left Flash out because it would simply suck on that platform. These guys know what they’re doing, I think it’s about time we trusted them!

As a Mac fanboy, I feel it’s my duty to at least speculate on what we’re going to get in public, before the event, just so that I can say “I was right” or “Apple was wrong” when it finally happens. So, here we go:

Name

There has been a lot of debate about this one, but I think that it’s not going to have an iName. This will not be the iPad or the iTablet. I think it’ll simply be called the Apple Tablet.

Form Factor

Apple isn’t especially fond of giving consumers lots of choice, so I believe that the Tablet will come in a single size – 10″ diagonal. The look will very closely match the iPhone – Black or white back (one or the other, I don’t believe there will be a choice) and a chrome bezel around the screen. I think there may be some buttons, but I think they will be on the sides – I think the front will be reserved for the screen and maybe a small front facing camera. There will not be a home button on the front of the case.

Speakers will be small and subtle like the iPhone and there will be a dock connector along one of the longer edges. It will naturally have a headphone connector (likely at the opposite end to the dock connector). I think this device is designed primarily for home use so it’ll not have access for a SIM card or any 3G connectivity or a normal camera on the outer case.

Naturally the back of the Tablet will have a shiny Apple logo, possibly illuminated like on the Apple laptops.

Features

• 10″ Screen
• 802.11n Wifi
• 64 / 128 GB SSD
• Touch Screen
• Bluetooth
• 1024 x 600 Resolution

Input Method

I think it will be primarily designed for finger inputs like the iPhone, however a stylus will be available for the creative types. I think there will be a couple of new gesture types including one that replicates the way you hold a pen. This will give you a finer level of precision centred between the finger and thumb. There will likely be bluetooth keyboard support as well.

Accessories

Naturally, there will be a dock available for the Tablet. This will mount the Tablet in a horizontal format so it can be used as a digital picture frame when not in use.

I think Apple will sell an optional stylus input for creative types that want to have a finer level of control when performing arty tasks but it will not be included *with* the Tablet. Same goes for a keyboard – there will be an optional Bluetooth keyboard for when you want to do some serious typing.

I have a dream that the Tablet will somehow dock onto the keyboard converting the tablet into a netbook of sorts, but that’s a dream and Apple rarely go for such unattractive

Naturally some kind of case / pouch / sock / rubber skin type thing will also be available soon after launch from the like of iSkin or Griffin technologies.

Operating System / Software

There is no doubt in my mind now that the Tablet will run on a modified version of iPhone OS, however it will likely have a number of differences such as a better keyboard and more space on the home-screen.

Apps such as Mail will likely be modified to make the most of the extra screen real estate with an optional folder view (more like the desktop version of Mail).

I highly believe there will be some kind of art / design package available out of the box for the Tablet, probably more aimed towards the creative sketching crowd rather than architect / engineer types.

I suspect there may be a dock of some kind that shows open and favourite apps.

Functionality

I think the Tablet will have a ’screensaver’ mode that gives you the ability to view a photo slideshow (like a digital picture frame), naturally accompanied by some amazing transitions. There will also be other screensaver modes, such as a clock mode, RSS news feeds (like in OSX) and a widget mode that shows you information such as stocks etc.

The Tablet will definitely feature app switching / multitasking. Anything less would just be silly on a larger more useful device.

A lot of people are saying that Apple are likely to try and take on the Amazon Kindle in the e-book space, so I imagine that despite having an LCD screen it will have amazing support for reading books with gestures to flick from page to page. I also think this may mean that the screen will have a higher DPI than normal screens to make text appear more “real” and easier to read.

I also believe that the Tablet will be able to be used as an external tablet input device for your desktop mac.

Price

The big question! the rumor mill says the price point will be around $1000 dollars which will put it out of reach of most ‘normal’ people. I suspect it’s much more likely to be around $600 and as always, Apple will screw the UK by selling it at £600 despite the stronger pound.

Of course, there’s no way a massive brand like Craigslist hasn’t considered this option, so there must be a reason why they haven’t decided to go with it that Seth and myself have failed to see… or perhaps they’re just scared to make a big change to their business model!

OK… this is definitely my last post now before I go travelling (I leave on Friday this week!). If you want to keep up with me you can do so at:

The Wandering Warburtons Travel Blog

It’s now one month and one day until I leave to travel the world with my wife and as such, I will be concentrating my blogging efforts on our travel blog. I should be back in the UK around the end of January, so by time I’ve wrapped up the travel blog and what not, it’s likely to be March before you see me posting here again.

So… if you want to know what I’m up to leading up to our travels, where we’re going and our tales from the road, please visit our travel blog at www.warburton.me