Industry Gears Up to Compete with iPad

The iPad has become the hot, new technology since its release. Many educators and institutions have established pilot acquisition programs to see how the iPad might support instruction. The marketplace seldom stands still, especially in the face of a popular new technology, so now other manufacturers are joining the “Tablet Wars.”

Among those companies getting ready to release their own product is Samsung. The Galaxy Tab is described at http://galaxytab.samsungmobile.com/. Some of the basic features designed to set it apart from the iPad include: based on the Android 2.2 operating system, “users can continuously communicate via e-mail, voice and video call, SMS/MMS or social network with the optimized user interface,” it touts the ability to video conference, give access to the Android Marketplace of apps, supports the Adobe Flash player 10.1 and features a slim 7” TFT-LCD screen. No word on pricing, availability and whether or not it will be sold without a telecommunications (phone) contract.

Another option that is currently available is the slightly smaller (5” screen) Dell Streak (see http://www.dell.com/content/topics/topic.aspx/us/segments/bsd/mobile-streak?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd). It also runs the Google Android OS, can communicate with Google Mail or Outlook, runs Android apps and is designed for mobile web access, business applications and video conferencing. Dell lists the Streak for $549.99 but it may be available for as low as $299 with a two-year AT&T contract activation.

Google Tricks

Did you know that you can enter specific keywords in any Google search box to quickly obtain information you need? For instance, if you want to know the weather in a specific city, you can enter:

weather: [followed by the city name]

To find the weather in Boston today, type in:

weather: boston

If you don’t get the information you need (some city names are not one-of-a-kind), add the state abbreviation after a comma, such as:

weather: Kansas City, KS

Other examples (that generate a list of links to the information you need) include the following.

To find flights to a specific city:

flight: Durango, CO

To find the current time in another city:

time: Flint, MI

Find a definition:

define: haggadah

To find a current stock quote:

stock: KFT

To identify a file type, try entering:

filetype: amr

And, if you want to know movie show times for your area, type the following (substitute the movie name you want to see and your zip code):

movie: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince 66210

Thanks to Marziah Karch for her research on Google and her SIDLIT presentation titled “100 Things You Can Do with Google (Besides Searching),” see http://scholarspace.jccc.edu/sidlit/17/.

Information Please!

Nick Greenup, Sr. Analyst in the Ed Tech Center, recently shared this information with me. When Nick receives a new phone book, he slices out the coupon pages, staples them together and discards the rest of the book. With directory assistance and the Internet there’s no need to keep a bulky set of yellow pages around. Here are the ways Nick accesses the information he needs.

For residential, business, and "reverse" look up use: http://www.anywho.com. Reverse lookup is when you know the phone number and want to find out to whom it belongs. Try looking up your own information and you’ll see what’s available to anyone on the web. Helpful and scary.

When www.Anywho.com fails to locate a desired business or contact, try a Google Maps search (http://maps.google.com). Notice the Find Businesses tab at the top. You can be very general or specific with your search. For instance, try “colleges” in the What field and “Overland Park” in the Where field. You’ll see all the local educational options. Nick points out that you can also talk to Google Maps like a buddy instead of a computer program; e.g., type "pizza in overland park" or "lunch Westport" and you’ll see surprisingly good results including a list of findings and a map view with all contact info (often a picture or street view of the business too). You can also get driving directions using Google Maps.

Suppose you are not at your computer, then what? Call 1411 and pay up to $3.50 per call? No way! Try Goog411, by calling toll free 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411). Check out the YouTube video http://www.google.com/goog411/ for more details. There is no charge for the service and they will connect you to the desired number without charge too. If using a cell phone you can say "text message" and Google will text you the business details. If you have a phone with Internet access you can say map it and view a map/directions!

These options should cover all your “information” needs, but there’s still one more option. It’s not new, does include ads, but it’s also free. This company holds the patent for free ad-based 411 information. Simply call 800-Free-411. If you have a Skype account add the contact "FREE411USA" and when you call it using Skype you’ll be connected to the service. Nick also mentioned that “Microsoft and AT&T are also running a free 411, but I haven't tried them.”

Are You Using Google Alerts

Did you know that you can have the Google search engine automatically notify you when new information appears on the web? Google Alerts tracks the entire web for the topics you’re personally selected and sends you new results daily by email. For instance, if you are researching "instructional technology" & "mind mapping," you can enter those terms, get an immediate email listing of top sites and then daily receive additional updates by email. Without charge, you can track three different searches terms or topics. If you need additional searches and and more indepth results, there is a subscription fee.

Just go to http://www.googlealert.com/ and sign up.