Bagel Wednesday: Tim Cook at D11

Apple CEO Tim Cook is a busy guy and everybody wants some of his time, but it’s not an easy ticket to get! A coffee date with him goes for $610,000 and even several U.S. senators wanted to have a talk with him.

Assuming you don’t have half a million or subpoena powers, the chances of you getting to sit down with Tim is pretty unlikely.

Fortunately The Wall St. Journal’s tech blog “All Things D” was able to sit down with him at their D11 conference. At the going rate they got $825,000 worth of his time and you are able to watch the whole interview here.

As usual for CEOs, there wasn’t much new information that came out. Despite the interviewers best attempts, Tim wasn’t giving much in the way of the upcoming iWatch or what an Apple TV would look like, or do, or when it would be released or, well, anything. . .

While the video isn’t big on actual information, it’s also not that often that we hear the CEO of Apple chat it up for over an hour about the future of tech.

Do you have any thoughts on what Tim said? Let us know on Twitter @PlasticMobile

As the highest selling tablet in the world, the iPad is everywhere. Here are three incredible iPad stories coming out of the US last month.

1) Saved by iPad

A man was trying to get some nice pictures of a softball game in Iowa when an errant foul ball came directly at his face! The backstop netting between him and the field didn’t stop the ball but the iPad in front of his face probably saved him an injury. Don’t believe it? See the video.

2) An iPad stuck in a car’s bumper

A woman in Georgia drove for nearly one hour with a stranger’s iPad wedged in the bumper of her car after the device flew off the roof of another car, bounced on the roadway and landed in her car’s bumper. Amazingly, the iPad still worked and the woman was able to return it to its rightful owner. More details here.

3) Sworn in on an iPad (through the bible app)

Four firemen from New Jersey were about to be promoted to the rank of battalion chief but when officials at City Hall couldn’t find a Bible for the oath of office, it was looking like they would have to postpone. That is until they decided to simply use an iPad running a Bible app. More details and the video here.

Do you know of any other incredible iPad stories? Let us know on Twitter @PlasticMobile

Plastic Mobile co-founder and COO, Melody Adhami, was quoted for a Luxury Daily article on Christie’s new iPad app.

For those of us not in the multi-million dollar real estate market, Christie’s is a publication listing high-end properties from around the world. They recently released a free iPad app. The app is a high quality digital magazine with excellent production values. It’s easy to read, navigate and comes loaded with breathtaking photos of some of the worlds most beautiful properties.

Anybody can tell you that an app with nice pictures is good, but Melody digs deeper, “Magazines are a very vivid, visual and tangible medium. When it comes to leisurely browsing, the kind that consumers have been trained to do for years with existing magazines, the simple added screen real estate of the iPad and other tablets allows users to garner more of this traditional experience.”

With print media increasingly struggling, Melody says that “if magazines are going to survive, they will simply have to embrace mobile devices.”

Do you think the iPad and other tablets are the future of magazines? Share your thoughts with us on Twitter @PlasticMobile

This holiday season, cross everyone off your list with a few quick taps and swipes using the all new AIR MILES iPad app.

This morning, AIR MILES and Plastic Mobile launched the iPad app as the latest addition to the AIR MILES mobile family.

The new iPad app allows Collectors to earn reward miles and shop at their favourite Canadian and American online retailers directly through the new airmilesshops.ca feature.

Modeled after the award-winning iPhone and Android AIR MILES apps, the AIR MILES iPad app also boasts a beautiful interface for browsing rewards, and still lets Collectors Check-in to Sponsor locations for the chance to double the rewards earned each month.

Watch this video on just how amazing the new app really is.

The AIR MILES iPad app is the answer to all your holiday shopping prayers! At least, it is to ours. Thank you, AIR MILES!

Apple’s autumn release blitz continued today with the much anticipated iPad Mini, a new MacBook Pro, iMacs and the iPad 4.

Out of the shadow (literally) of it’s predecessor, the iPad Mini has all the functionality of the standard iPad in a smaller package. Features like 1080p HD video, LTE, faster WiFi and an A5 processor are jam packed into a 7.9 inch frame. Consumers can get all of Apple’s great mobile capabilities in a device as thin as a pencil.

During the event, presenter and Apple VP Phil Schiller emphasized the fact that the iPad Mini is not just cross between a speechless smartphone and a tablet. In fact it’s probably handier than you’d think. At $300 less than the standard iPad, the Mini gives consumers an option of how much they want to shell out for the newest Apple technologies. It offers the same capabilities as the iPad which are – as Schiller reminds us – everything from browsing to educating and gaming and is still easy to tote and type on.

Shipping starts November 2nd.

A few days ago, while browsing the app store, an app in the New & Noteworthy section caught my eye. After reading some reviews and checking out some screenshots, I decided to cough up $1.99 and give it a try. Within five minutes of launching the app I was not only happy with my purchase, but I was also hooked. The app, True Skate, is and iOS game available on iPhone, iPad and iPod. It is best described as Tony Hawk series on PlayStation. Minus Tony Hawk.

You probably did not hear it from us first, however, our Technical Director let us all know this morning that the infamous “yep” has been written.

According to one of the greatest sources for clarifying Apple rumours, Jim Darlymple, Apple will reveal the new iPad mini on October 23rd.

We can’t wait to see if this rumour will prove true, and what features this new iPhone 5 / iPad in-between will offer other than being, well, in between in size.

Are you excited for the reveal? Let us know @plasticmobile.

If you weren’t satisfied with Apple’s iPhone 5 launch last month then gear up for the debut of Samsung’s new Galaxy 3 III Mini tomorrow.

Timing for Samsung’s miniature release couldn’t be any better. Amidst a continual cavalcade of problems surrounding the iPhone 5, the Galaxy S III has gained ground and cache in the mobile world. While Apple is handling scratches and product delays, Samsung will usher in the newest member to its family tree.

If the GS III has been criticized for anything it was its 4.8 inch screen. Now a moot point as the iPhone 5 features a 4.8 inch screen, the GS III mini would fix this issue outright. It will provide the same specs that the larger version provides while giving customers an option for a smaller body and price point.

Samsung is not the only smart device that is diversifying. Apple’s newest additions, the rumoured iPad Mini or an updated iPad 4, will be uncovered later this month. With both companies opening up their lines to larger and smaller devices, digital consumers will be able to use smart technology in new and interesting ways.

Tech developments this fall have been game changing for the mobile industry. The introduction of Passbook, Samsung’s moment in the sun and the upcoming size additions will revolutionize the way that consumers interact with smart devices in the home, when shopping or on the go.

Yesterday, Twitter unveiled its new app for the iPad. A Twitter redesign should be about helping users post hilarious status updates or share what they had for dinner. But in reality, Twitter’s new app is all business.

At our weekly Bagel Wednesday meeting, there were a number of comments made on this latest design effort.

Why?

Well, the app is very different than its earlier iPad versions, it is very similar to its sister iPhone app. Twitter’s iPad update features additions like a header on profile pages and a live-stream feed layout. While these designs are new for Twitter, they seem a little familiar. In fact, you might have seen them on Facebook Timeline.

Another added feature is Photostream, which allows users to browse photos easily by tapping on a photo and swiping left or right through the rest of their posted photos. While it’s a breeze to tap through photos, tapping through the rest of the interface is labourious and overcomplicated. Pinching gestures have been eliminated and the user has to tap through to open and close a number of windows. Just one tap won’t get you to a profile anymore – expand the tweet and tap again. The app has also eliminated the ability to browse the web while looking at the Twitter timeline and lists are hard to access.

Although the platform update does share UI with the rest of the Twitter app family, it seems like Twitter has taken away a lot of functions from the user. So what is improved by this update? Twitter’s autonomy.

In recent months the social media giant has been cutting ties with third party image uploaders and information sharing or support sites like Twitpic, Facebook and Tweetbot. Developing apps for and sharing information with Twitter has almost all been completely shut out. Amidst these moves, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo was quoted calling Facebook an “enemy,” referring to the fact that they are pitted against each other as top dog in the social media playground. But Twitter isn’t being a bully – it’s just being smart.

This year Twitter earned $132m in mobile ads, beating out Facebook who raked in only $73.9m. For both companies, survival is based on ad sales and working with small screens presents challenges on that front. By creating an app that is similar to other social media sites, it helps to prevent Tweeters from using competing apps and Twitter can declare social-media sovereignty, advertising space and the revenue.

This redesign isn’t about the user as much as it’s about Twitter. While the update is not so great for us it may be worth compromising for. Eliminating the competition and gaining revenue will allow Twitter to improve for us in the long run. Let the battle begin.

What do you think of the new app? Let us know @plasticmobile.

I frequently use my iPhone to catch up on news, current events and other various web content. To get all of this various reading material, I use Flipboard -a widely used and extremely popular app that offers stylish and easy-to-use content aggregation.

It would be a little too late in the game to discuss and review Flipboard. By now, most people are either using, have used, or at least know of the app and what it does. However, there are a few less known apps out there that offer similar functionality and a comparable overall experience (minus the flipping). One such app has been around for some time now, but hasn’t seen the level of success attained by Flipboard.

Google Currents!

Much like Flipboard, Google Currents displays content in a magazine-style grid layout, which makes skimming and scrolling of content very easy and efficient. The top of the screen sports a more visual scrolling news ticker section, which automatically scrolls through some top headlines.

Users are also presented with a set of pre-loaded feeds, as well as a “Trending” section that displays the top 5 headlines in several different categories, such as Top Stories, World, Business, Entertainment, etc. Users can customize their trending section by choosing which categories will be displayed and which will be hidden.

One thing I liked about Google Currents was its support of both portrait and landscape viewing, automatically re-organizing content to fit in both views. Flipboard, on the other hand, is locked to portrait and does not support landscape viewing.

Another notable feature includes the ability to sync content for offline viewing. I found this extremely useful for trips on the Toronto underground subway, where connectivity is obviously rather limited. The syncing function can be found in the settings menu, near the top of the list.  Users just need to tap “Sync all editions now” to have their content downloaded to their devices.

Users also have the ability adjust syncing settings for images. For instance, when a user doesn’t have access to wifi, they can reduce their data usage by disabling images for offline reading.

Some other features that deserve mention include the ability to translate content in over 30 languages and the plethora of sharing options available to users.

Overall, I really enjoyed using the app. However, I have been using Flipboard for so long, and have grown so fond of it, that I don’t see myself going with another app. For those of you who might not be as devoted to Flipboard, however, I would recommend checking out Google Currents. It’s a free app, so it won’t cost you anything, but, as with all Google apps, you will need a Google account to use it.