The iPad has been available in the states for a good month or so, and as always Europe is left behind! But no more! Apple have finally allowed us to pre-order the iPad from today!
So this Enigin developer has signed up, paid the cash and now has a 3 week wait before the product is in my hands!
Apart from having all the fun of an iPhone but with a larger screen, there’s another use I have in mind.
Here at Enigin we are always on the edge of technology and as soon as the iPad was announced we spotted it’s massive potential as a hand-held device to view your energy usage. So, all those who have been asking about an iPhone app can be assured that we are on the case!
That’s it for now but i’m sure you’ll hear more about the iPad and Enigin in the very near future!
The development team here at Enigin have a decision to make regarding the new Business Intelligence (BI) server platform I mentioned a few days ago. Do we buy an in-house server to run the system on our local network or use a remotely hosted server?
Here are the main benefits of each
In-House Server
+ One off hardware cost
+ Faster local network access
Remotely Hosted Server
+ Lower monthly payments
+ No additional load on local network resources
+ 24hr hardware callout included in monthly fee
+ Faster Internet connection
+ On the same LAN network as our other servers
+ Accessible from any Internet-enabled computer in the world
I love gadgets… gadgets can make our lives better… gadgets can also be a big waste of money!!!
My latest gadget purchase from Amazon has just arrived at the Enigin office, a Flip HD Digital Camcorder. It’s a small device, about the size of compact digital camera, that will record HD quality video at the touch of a button.
Flip are owned by networking company Cisco and my first thoughts are that they are heavily influenced by Apple (we love Apple!) in terms in packaging. It’s a very iPod-experience removing the device from the folding series of boxes. The FlipHD powered up without any charging and within 20 seconds I was already recording video! Here’s my first 13 second video, Enigin Designer, Alan talking about the Christmas chart battle between Rage Against the Machine and X-Factor:
The simplicity of this unit is it’s crowning glory. There are three main buttons on the back; Record, Play and Delete. I don’t think they need explaining! There’s also an up/down/left/right keypad to navigate through the recorded videos and operate the zoom. The only other thing on the back is the lovely high-resolution 2″ LCD display, which is visible in daylight conditions.
My version of the FlipHD has a whopping 8GB of internal memory, enough for store 2 hours of HD footage. The footage is easily downloaded via the flip-up USB connection and you can be uploading to YouTube within minutes.
Pros
Very simple and easy to use
Great value
Quality product
Cons
No option to turn HD compression off
Built in USB not always convenient to use (although an extension can be purchased)
CMOS sensor not too good in low-light conditions
Summary
Great product at a great price, I can’t recommend it highly enough!
Update
After using the Flip HD over the festival period, I love it! I’m even thinking about buying one for my parents! Great buy 5/5!!
