Do you tend to drop things, including your iPad? Or maybe your grandchildren are a bit hard on your electronic devices. These cases are just for you!
“These cases are designed to serve in more severe conditions than the usual “pretty” cases that we see all the time, and with their “truck tread” silicone skin on the back, the Drop Tech Series cases look like they’re made to survive.”
iOS 5 has added some multi-touch gestures that I’ve become quite addicted to. They feel natural, and cut down on the use of the Home button. They allow you to return to the home screen, reveal the mutlitasking bar, and switch between apps.
First, you need to be sure these new gestures are enabled. In the Settings app, tap on General in the left-hand column, and look towards the bottom of the right-hand column. Turn Multitasking Gestures “On“. Below this switch is a review of what the gestures are, so you can always come here to remind yourself of them until they come naturally.
Turn on Multasking Gestures in the Settings app.
The new gestures include:
1. Pinch four or five fingers together to return to the home screen. This is the new gesture that I use most often. When I’m finished with an app, I just pinch it closed.
2. Swipe up with four or five fingers to reveal the multitasking bar at the bottom of the screen. This is the list of your currently running apps, ordered by the ones you have used most recently. Tap on one to return to it.
Swipe up with 4 or 5 fingers to view multitasking bar.
3. Swipe left or right with four or five fingers to switch between apps. This allows you to quickly bounce back and forth between 2 apps. I use this a lot for checking out links in an email alert, using them to get to the browser, then easily swiping left or right to return to the email message to explore the next link.
Try it, you’ll like it! Which is your favorite?
If you have already updated your iPad to iOS5, then the first update for it is now available. Not only does it give original iPad owners (like me) the multitasking gestures (more on that in the next post), but it gives us a chance to try out the new updating feature — no more resorting to the old method of syncing using a Mac or PC! And it’s super simple. But for those of you (like me) who like to see lots of screenshots of what to expect, here goes.
Go to the Settings app and tap on General in the left-hand column. The second entry on the right is Software Update — tap on it.
Choose "Software Update under "General" in "Settings" app.
After checking for updates, the iOS 5.0.1 update and its features will be shown. Tap on Download and Install.
iOS 5.0.1 Update
Read about the update, then agree to the terms and conditions.
You will be asked to plug your iPad into your source (ie, wall outlet) to be sure it has enough juice for the update.
Plug power outlet into wall.
The download and installation will now start. The download itself may only take a couple minutes. However, allow at least 15 or 20 minutes for the installation to complete. Your iPad will restart itself a couple times, showing a slowly advancing progress bar. Do NOT get impatient and interrupt it. Go have a cup of coffee or play with the cat. If you aren’t looking when the reguler “Slide to Unlock” screen comes up, your iPad will go to sleep, as usual. When you come back and wake it up, it’s all updated and ready to go.
And you have completed your first over-the-air update! Not hard, was it? Next post, I’ll go over those new Multitasking Gestures that are now available for both the original iPad and the iPad2! I love ‘em!
Hopefully, by now you have installed iOS5 on your iPad and you’re ready to start using its new features. One of the most anticipated features is iCloud. Just follow these step-by-step instructions to set it up. If you’d like to learn more about others things you can do with iCloud, check out this “Introduction to iCloud Services” article.
1. Be sure you have installed iOS5. If not, check out this blog entry for instructions.
2. If you didn’t skip the “Sign in with an Apple ID” step when you were installing iOS5, you are already set up in iCloud! Skip down to the Settings step.
3. If you skipped the setup process or want to change your iCloud settings, no problem: you can do it now. Go to the Settings app and tap on iCloud in the left column. Go ahead and enter you Apple ID and password. (That’s probably your email address — what you use to buy and download apps.) That should get your iCloud account started. Now you can configure it the way you want. You can always come back to Settings to make changes.
4. Now that you have set up iCloud, you can decide which features you want to use. Let’s keep it simple for now, and just use the “Find My iPad“ and Backup features.
If you aren’t already there, go to the Settings app and tap on iCloud in the left column.
You can turn off and on whatever you like in the right-hand column. (I have an email account with Apple, so I sync that.) You can play around with the other options at your leisure — or just ignore them if you like!
Be sure Find My iPad is on.
Then tap on Storage and Backup to get that set up.
Turn on iCloud Backup. Do an initial backup now if you like. Note what it says about what is included and when your iPad is backed up:
“Automatically back up your camera roll, accounts, documents, and settings when this iPad is plugged in, locked, and connected to Wi-Fi.”
In other words, when you plug your iPad in overnight to charge it while you’re sleeping, it will check and backup anything new! So set it and forget it!
Have you ever mistakenly gotten rid of a Tab in Safari and wished you could get it back? The tabbed browsing feature of Safari is new in the iOS5 version of the iPad software, and so this is a new situation. But now it’s easy to recover recently deleted tabs.
In Safari for iOS 5, just press and hold on the “new tab” plus sign on the right, and you’ll see a menu of your recently closed tabs. Neat!
The long awaited new software for your iPad was released last week, and one-third of all eligible devices were updated during the first week. If you’re new to these upgrades, don’t worry: Apple makes it quite painless. Still, you might like a little more up-front information than:
“To update to iOS 5, just connect your device to your Mac or PC and follow the onscreen instructions in iTunes. (Requires iTunes 10.5.)”
If you’re like me, you like to know what to expect. So here are some details on how it went for me. Note that I have an original iPad, which I have been keeping up-to-date by plugging it into iTunes on my computer, and taking the updates as they are offered. Mine is a 64 GB model, and it’s about two-thirds full with around 275 apps, 1000 photos, and a few videos, songs and books. Total time for the update was about two and one half hours. If you have less, it should go more quickly, but the steps are the same. I used my MacBook laptop, but iTunes should look similar on a PC.
Recommendations:If you aren’t comfortable downloading and installing software, 1) have a friend or family member do it for you, 2) go to an Apple store and get help, or 3) just skip updating: your iPad will still run the apps you have just fine!
In later posts I’ll go into some of the neat new features.
If you like to forge ahead, by all means, take off now and go do it!
For those of you still with me, let’s take a look at how this update will happen. If you click on the screenshots below, you can see a larger version.
Be sure you have the latest version of iTunes!
1. I went to Apple’s iTunes 10.5 page, downloaded the version for my computer, and installed it.
2. When I plugged my iPad into my computer and started iTunes (yours will probably start automatically: just wait for it), the following message came up: 
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I clicked on “Download and Update“. The following window appeared:
I clicked on “Update.” I read the features and agreed to the terms:
The download took 24 minutes for me. This will depend on the speed of your computer, your internet connection, and on how busy the Apple server is.
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After the download phase is completed, iTunes will immediately start the backup of your iPad:
If you haven’t been doing these updates on your computer, the initial backup before the update begins can take a looong time!
iTunes will continue the restore phase of the update, displaying progress messages in the box at the top center of the iTunes window.
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The next screen that comes up can be puzzling — you wonder what the answer should be. But never fear, the correct choice has been made, and in fact iTunes will continue on with no intervention on your part! If it doesn’t shortly start on its own, scroll over to the right (not visible on this screenshot), and click on the “continue” button.
The next part of the restore lasted for 13 minutes for me:
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3. Now the iPad itself gets into the act. Be sure you wait patiently and do not try and do anything at this point — there is still a long way to go!
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Because of all the apps I have, these next 2 steps took one and a quarter hours to restore apps, videos and music to my iPad!
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Regular syncing now continues for a few minutes:
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Finally, the update is finished!
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4. But wait! When you go to your iPad, you find there are some steps to complete there! This is new, because the iPad is breaking ties with the mother computer and now, for the first time, is able to stand on its own!
Below are the screenshots from the iPad itself. The questions are not difficult. You will need your Apple ID and password — that’s the one you use to buy and download apps.
Enable Location services, so apps such as Maps and Weather can find you.
Choose your network and tap on Next. (You may need to enter your network password.)
Then choose “Sign in with an Apple ID.”
Enter your Apple ID and password, then tap on Next.
On the next screen, read the terms and then tap on Next.
Tap on Agree. I like to help Apple with diagnostics, so tap on Next.
You’re all set to go! Start using your iPad!
TED app
TED (free) has some of the most interesting and thought-provoking 15-minute talks I’ve heard, by people passionate about their topics. I listen to them on satellite radio when I can’t sleep, but watching the videos is even better! One added this week is Steve Jobs on “How to Live Before You Die.” Even if you don’t care for most TV shows or movies, I’ll bet you’ll find something to interest you — read more about it here.
“TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) is an amazing application which combines technology and entertainment in a great extent. They believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world.”
Quick Tip
Have you ever wondered what the price is of some app you bought ages ago? It’s not easy to find out, once you’ve bought it! Here’s an article that shows you how to use Google search results to find out!
“In App Store [in iTunes on your computer], right-click the application icon. Choose Copy Link and launch Safari [or your favorite browser]. Paste the URL into the search field (not the navigation field) and click return. The first search result should show the price.”
Welcome to my blog for those entering this post-PC era (or whatever it is!) with their iPads. I’ve included posts that I consider useful for the new and experienced iPad user, including getting started hints, basic and new apps, tips and tricks, accessories, breaking news, essays, and fun stories. Use the search box to find older posts or specific topics. You can subscribe via email using the button on the right.
Verizon HotSpot
Do you find your 3G connection on the iPad to be slow while you’re on the go, after experiencing the (possibly) much snappier speed of your home Wi-Fi connection? This mobile hotspot device from Verizon my be just what you need for your road trips, if you can accept the higher monthly rates! Rae Ann says its great while on vacation at the shore! [Thanks for the heads up!]
“So how fast is it? In the San Francisco Bay Area, the Samsung SCH-11 consistently offered download speeds of around 9.5Mbps and upload speeds of around 7.3Mbps, about two or three times the speeds of the alternatives from T-Mobile and Sprint. Basically it’s fast enough to justify the lack of features.”
