Apple Event Highlights

So Apple introduced some new products this week. Some of these we expected, and some were complete surprises. We pretty much knew we would be seeing the iPad Mini, the 13" retina MacBook Pro, and the updated Mac Mini. However, Apple really threw a curve ball by also announcing the new iMac, and the 4th generation iPad (the latter being the biggest shock considering the 3rd generation model has only been around since April.

The new Macbook Pro, iMac, and Mac Mini are all fine and dandy if you are a designer/graphicsy type person, but I'll be honest and say they don't excite me as much as the two new iOS devices, so unsurprisingly I'm going to focus on the latter devices instead.

Let's start with the 4th generation iPad. How is it different? Well, it's got the new A6X chip which doubles the speed, improved WI-FI, a FaceTime HD camera, and it now has the Lightening Connector of course. That's about it really so it's a minor update in my opinion. The fact that Apple have broken their usual refresh cycle for the iPad though makes me wonder if we will see the 5th generation of their hugely popular tablet next March/April as usual.

For me, I have to say that I would have preferred if they had stuck to their usual cycle and added a few more changes next year - such as finding a way to make it as thin as the iPad 2 again, and getting the iSight camera up to 8 megapixels. Oh well!

So finally, we can talk about the iPad mini. This device looks very nice indeed. I'm a little surprised at the price, and the basic model will set you back £269.00 in the UK. This is £69.00 more than the Google Nexus 7, but quite frankly I don't think this price difference is going to matter. As ever with new Apple products, I think demand for this device is going to be huge, and I predict that competitive Android tablet sales will really suffer as a result.

I have the Google Nexus 7, and it's a good device. It's not a great device however, and this is why I am currently trying to sell it. I've not got many takers so far sadly, and I think that's because people just love Apple a whole lot more than they do Android, and I understand this - because personally I find Android to be limited, and boring.

Google claim that Android is the most popular Mobile Operating System, and Samsung claim that they are the worlds largest smartphone manufacturer. However, on my recent business trip to the United States, I played a bit of device spotting in hotels, restaurants, and airports. Overwhelmingly, I saw people using iPhones, and iPads. 2 people spoilt my glee by using Galaxy S3s however at Heathrow aiport on the way home. I swear these were the only Android devices I saw on my trip though. Each to their own I suppose.

In summary, as you can probably guess, I have my eye on an iPad mini already. It's an appealing, exciting device, and as Gollum would say "I wants it". The Nexus on the other hand, was OK for a while, but it only succeeded in proving that Android is not for me!

Planes, Trains, & Automobiles

A few weeks ago for work, I had to arrange to travel to our offices in the United States. Now anyone who knows me well will know that I am not particularly fond of travel. If a car journey is going to take more than 1 hour, then I don't really want to do it. So the prospect of such a lengthy journey involving connecting flights was a little daunting I must admit, but by the same token I have to confess that I was also a little excited for this trip.

However,by the time I made it to my ultimate destination in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio - I felt like I had just lived the movie Planes, Trains, & Automobiles, but without John Candy as a travelling companion. My dear wife Louise points out that I would in fact have been the noisy, inappropriate and annoying John Candy character however, and on reflection I guess she is right! Whichever part I ended up playing in this travel caper though, here's how it happened.

Welcome to Wichita Toronto

It all started pretty well and I flew British Airways from Newcastle to Heathrow without any real problems other than a 20 minute delay due to high winds. I felt fairly comfortable with Heathrow as I had connected to Frankfurt there a year earlier, and I was confident of making my next flight which was with Air Canada to Toronto. It wasn't until I arrived at Heathrow however that I realized how much I had underestimated the size of the place.

I hadn't realized that I would have to transfer from Terminal 5 to Terminal 3 to make my trans-atlantic flight. I had to go through security, was 20 minutes late, and this was already a tight connection. Basically, I didn't make it! Imagine my sense of surprise, panic, and terror when the really unpleasant, unhelpful, and irritating woman at the Air Canada desk couldn't seem to give two hoots about my plight. She said it was British Airways fault as they had delayed me getting to Heathrow, and she encouraged me to talk to them. So I did, and they couldn't have been more helpful. They got me onto their flight to Toronto an hour later and I still had an outside chance of making my connection to Cleveland Ohio.

Of course, flying trans-atlantic with BA instead of Air Canada meant I had to go back from Terminal 3 to Terminal 5 again. This involves a 10 minute bus ride through underground tunnels, clearing security again, and finally a little monorail ride to my gate. Thankfully though, I made it! I was sat at the very back of the plane which did not bode well for my chances of a quick disembarkment at Toronto. However, those lovely BA staff once again did their best to help me and about 20 minutes before we were due to land, they moved me up to the front of the plane into one of those first class booths with a bed in them no less. Now that's what I call service.

Sadly, once again, the flight was delayed, and when we arrived in Toronto - I had a pretty good idea that this is where I would be spending the night. My last flight to Cleveland was departing in about 20 minutes. I was not checked into it, and I hadn't cleared the Canadian border, or US customs (both of which you have to do at Toronto).

Nevertheless I did not give up. I presented my Canada landing card and was allowed through. I took yet another monorail ride to a different terminal, and went to the Air Canada desk. The man I spoke to here I am convinced must be the Brother of that horrible woman I spoke to at Heathrow. He was equally as unsympathetic, but at least he gave me an emergency number to call for stranded travelers to try and get a bed for the night. He also got me on the first flight to Cleveland the following morning.

I rang the number, and the helpful people on the other end of the phone checked me into the nearby Hampton Inn for the night, and arranged to send a free shuttle to the airport to pick me up. The final twist in this tale however, is that it turns out there are two Hampton Inns close to Toronto Airport, and I of course managed to catch the shuttle for the wrong one. When I arrived, they had no idea who I was and did not recognize my reference number. They very kindly got someone to quickly take me by car to the correct Hampton Inn however, where my day from travel hell finally came to an end, and I slept in a really luxurious room for only $69.00, and it even had an iron and ironing board!

Thankfully, my luck changed the next day. I got through US Customs and made my flight to Cleveland and only lost a few hours of that working day. The trip back home a few days later was equally uneventful.

I will look back on this little adventure and laugh now, but I sure won't be going via Heathrow and Toronto on future trips if I can help it, that's for sure!