apple

Technolgy In The Kitchen /  by Admin

One of my goals this year has been to cook more often.  And so far, I've been doing well and really enjoying it.  It's relaxing, fun while learning new recipes, and challenges my creativity in the kitchen. And because I've been cooking more, I felt like I needed just the right gadgets to aid me in my journey.

So what gadgets have I invested in?  Nope, it's not a mixer or food processor or dehydrator. Actually, I did get all of the recently and it's been great.  But there are other gadgets that are way more important for me in the kitchen.  And thats.... wait for it..... Apple gear!

Ahhh yes, Tom the Apple nerd. One of the most recent things I've bought is the HoverBar for my iPad.  It's a flexible bar that can attach to the back of your computer or a kitchen counter or cabinet, and holds your iPad in the direction you may need.  I have my iPad hooked onto the HoverBar which is attached to my kitchen cabinet.

iPad 3 on a HoverBar

This setup is great whenever I need to follow a recipe via a youtube video I'm watching, a recipe app I'm using, or just when I need to jam out to some streaming music while cooking.  Which leads me to the next gadget, the Airport Express.

Apple Airport Express

An Apple Airport Express is a small device that can act as a router or even extend your wireless network.  It also has a USB port and a 3.5mm audio port where you can even connect speakers so they can be accessed wirelessly via Apple's Airplay.  I've had one for my bedroom speakers for awhile now, but recently picked up a couple more inexpensively on Craigslist.  I have that hooked up in my kitchen with just some basic speakers I got at Microcenter.

Basic speakers hooked up to my Apple Airport Express

So when I get home and start cooking and want to groove to some music, I just use my iPad or my iPhone and start streaming away.  I highly recommend creating an atmosphere where you can truly enjoy what you're about to be doing. This apple ecosystem has definitely been vital to my cooking journey. But if you don't have any of this, a good ole portable radio will easily do the job.  Be creative and have fun setting up your kitchen environment!

My thoughts on the iPad. /  by Thomas Nguyen

The Apple iPad was finally announced today.  Overall, it's basically a ginormous iPod Touch with Amazon Kindle capabilities.  So it doesn't seem that great or innovative right?  Well in my opinion, what makes the difference is size.  Size matters. TWSS.

The iPad has a 9.7" screen that will make everything just more enjoyable. Watching videos, reading an ebook, browsing the web, emailing, playing games, etc... all of that can be done on an iPhone, but the user experience is just ok.  The iPad however should blow away the user experience in all those activities.

During their presentation, The New York Times unveiled a new app of theirs that displayed their news articles just like a traditional newspaper.  It looked amazing!  However, imagine that on an iPhone.  It just wouldn't look that great.

Another great app that was featured during the presentation was Brushes.  Brushes allows artists to use the iPhone or iPad as blank canvas and their fingers as brushes to paint with.  It's a cool app for the iphone, but on a 9.7" iPad.. that's pretty dang sweet right there.  

Besides the stunning screen, the processor has been upgraded to be amazingly fast.  Games and pretty much every application is going to be running very smoothly.

And of course, lets not forget about the ebooks! The iPad features a new app called iBooks that allows you to buy and read ebooks in a stunning color capable 9.7" screen.  

Pricing

The Kindle's top of the line model costs $489.  And it's only an ebook reader. The base WiFI model of the iPad is only $499. But with the kindle, 3G wireless is a free service.  This doesn't matter if you will be mostly in WiFi Spots.  But if you want to use 3G capable iPad, it will cost you more.  The 3G + WiFi models are $130 more and you also have to pay a monthly fee for 3G.  It costs 15 bucks for 250mb worth of data or $30 bucks for unlimited data.  Bummer!  The only good thing is that there is no contract and you can cancel anytime.

I was holding out on buying a Kindle since I wanted to see what Apple had to offer.  Well, they are definitely offering more features and a better screen! I wish it had a screen and multitasking capabilities though! But I need to live up to my twitter name, addictedtoapple haha. I will most likely go with the iPad and probably a 16 or 32GB WiFi + 3G model.  I'll mostly be on WiFi but I like having the option of using the 3G if I needed it. Another bummer is that it's going to take 60-90 days to get one! 

So what are your thoughts?