New tech, tools and reviews.

I'm going to try to get an Apple iPhone 4 on Friday. I've heard wonderful things about it; from the retina display to the 5MP camera and video chat, the phone is likely to be a game-changer. Thus far, dual camera devices haven't done much to make mobile video chatting attractive to consumers — seems like the iPhone 4 will change that.

Things from Amazon

Yesterday, I placed an order for Autodesk Sketchbook Pro 2010 and a Sherpa pen. I should receive the software tomorrow. I'd really like a new tablet to take advantage of the awesome drawing tool; I saw the Motion Computing LE1600 for $450 at Amazon, though I've been thinking, a Wacom Cintiq 12WX might make more sense. (if I'm going to sketch at home, I'd rather do it connected to Mac, and if I'm out, I'd use the iPad)

I'm strongly considering getting the new graphite Kindle DX; I'm not upset about waiting now, either, because of the $110 price drop. As much as I love my iPad, reading from a backlit screen just doesn't cut it. Maybe when the iPad gets retina display, the experience will be better. Reading magazines on the iPad is superb, but I'd never spend hours on end reading them — as opposed to books, ad they generally take at least one hour, and I try to read at least two every day.

Other tech

I hope Apple updates the MacBook Air. The new iMacs are really nice; I'd certainly create marvels with the 27". I am out more often now, and with several events coming up in the near future (SC2 Bay Area Launch Party & Tournament, for one), it might be practical to get a 3G iPad.

We'll see. To pay for these things, I'll need to finish up my other designs and projects. Reading up/studying programming and CSS isn't much fun for me, so I've been reading some books on grids and typography as well to break up the bits. I'm putting together new websites (not just for me) and finalizing some print-work — perhaps I'll share some of it, as I think you'll like it.

Tidbit about Draft

Software, idea management, brainstorming

I've enjoyed playing around with mind-mapping and idea-mapping, GTD and other task management solutions (Action Method)... though I'm still trying to be more bit literate. I've found Things for iPhone to be helpful, Taskpaper, and I like Adobe Ideas for iPad. The App Store has a dedicated GTD section filled with great tools such as Momento and Penultimate.

Despite reading negative reviews and the $9.99 pricetag, I decided to try 37signals' first iPad app, called Draft. Its features are limited; with only two color pens, one writing size, an eraser and one-level "undo," the app is hard to comprehend. It can sync to Campfire (a web-based group chat platform with iPhone apps like Ember) but not Backpack (yet). I'm really hoping that it gets better.

I'm going to try Use Your Handwriting Gold ("UYH") today — I see it as being a nice note/task management tool for use during phone calls (for things like writing phone numbers).

I told a friend that I'd post more often

So I will... and I'll try to keep it engaging. I've got another busy week; SF, Infiniti dealership, design, print, meetings — I need to get adequate rest.