We love our iPhones (and yes, we did just both upgrade to the new iPhone 4), and we are growing increasingly addicted to our iPads (yup, we have two).

We consider both of these fine pieces of technology to be essential components of our technomadic arsenal. There is something magical about having the Internet in your pocket, a world’s worth of maps on your lap, email and messaging always with you, music and video on demand, and an abundance of incredible apps that every day make our iGadgets ever more useful tools for facilitating our full time domestic travels.

Oh, and apparently the iPhone actually makes phone calls too. (We really aren’t phone people…)

Today we’d like to share some of favorite apps that we use specifically in our travels. Please note that aside from the apps we were involved with creating, we paid for all of the apps and these are unsolicited reviews.  Just our honest opinions.   But, if you do opt to buy any of these apps off our recommendations, the links below are iTunes affiliate links and we will get a tiny cut.

Apps for Finding RV Parking & Camping

When we first starting looking for apps to create on our own – a campground locater was tops on our list. At the time, we could find no decent options.  More recently however, there seem to be a bunch of them – and we’ve been trying several of them out.  There still does not seem to be one single app that does everything – but there are some promising potentials.  We find ourselves using a combination of apps depending on the situation and type of camping or overnight parking we’re looking for.

	RVParking.com – Free This app claims to have more than 18,000 listings in their database, which is also accessible online at RVParking.com.  Both the website and app are brand new, and the database is still being fleshed out.  We’ve found many duplicates, bad addresses, missing parks, and listings for mobile home parks that don’t allow RVs. The maps in the app don’t seem to auto-update as you scroll through them, making browsing by map a bit of a challenge by having to start with a location search. They do have a unique angle tho that we’re really excited about – integrating in full park info, user reviews, photos and profiles. We’ve been enjoying leaving reviews, and would love to see this website adopted by others.  If it can get a lot of following, it stands to be an excellent central source for finding RV Parking information on the go. And as a free app – it’s definitely worth checking out (just be prepared to do a bit of fact checking until the database gets cleaned up.)
	Camp & RV by Allstays – $2.99 This app uses the same technology as the rest of the Allstays product line to help you find things near highway intersections and freeway exits.  It features a wide variety of RV camping and overnight options – including some public campgrounds, private campgrounds, KOAs, truck stops, Walmarts (including those that don’t allow overnighting), rest areas (including wifi & RV dump availability) and RV repair & parts stores.  Each category shows up on maps with nicely labeled pins so you can quickly scan for what you need. You can also adjust how far from the highways exit you want to search. The interface is fairly intuitive, and we like that the maps auto update with camping options as you scroll around.  Their nifty exit view auto updates as you approach exits to show you what is coming up. We’ve found a fair amount of discrepancies in the database, and a lot of missing campgrounds, so it is not entirely comprehensive.  The app has built in feedback to the developer to submit corrections.  As this is the only app that tracks free overnight parking options, we mainly use this app when we’re in transit and just in need of a place to sleep for the night.
	Campwhere – $5.99 This app only covers public campgrounds – including city, county, national, state, forest service, BLM and Army Corp of Engineer campgrounds.  Since this is our preferred camping style, this app has been a great tool for us to quickly find our public camping options. The database seems pretty comprehensive and accurate, and smartly leaves off campgrounds that are not accessible by vehicle. In the map view, each type of campground is displayed in a different color. The user interface is so incredibly well done, that we wish they had a version that was completely comprehensive of all camping & overnight options so we could only use one app.  There is not much information to be found for each campground listing aside from the number of sites they have, coordinates, weather forcast and web link.  The app would be more useful if it listed amenities provided, prices and more.  Overall, for finding public camping options, this is our top choice app – especially since the app now also works full-screen on the iPad.

If the three apps above could be merged into one comprehensive, user friendly app – we’d be very happy campers!

Apps to Aid General Travel

	HearPlanet: Audio Guide to the World – $4.99 We must admit, we’re partial to this app as were hired to orchestrate its launch at MacWorld 2009 (a very fun project!). Even without a connection to the app, we’d use it often in our travels to get an overview of things around us. It’s an awesome concept – an audio tour guide for the world around you, which are perfect for while you’re driving. The bulk of the database is basically text-to-speech computer voiced Wikepedia entries – however HearPlanet has been hard at work acquiring premium human voiced content. We even have some entries we have created in the app, just search for ‘TFT’ to find them.
	Google Earth – Free Chris is addicted to Google Earth, particularly on the iPad. Google Earth lets you zoom in and browse the entire world, using your fingers to zoom, pan, and tilt in a way that is so much more intuitive than any desktop application. We use Google Earth to scope out the road ahead, and the places we have been – getting a great overview of the towns and terrain we have passed through. And – Google Earth integrates Wikipedia as well – so whenever you see an interesting place, the Wikipedia page for more details is just a click away. Just the other day Chris used Google Earth to “fly” through West Virginia’s New River Gorge, reading about the regions rich mining history as he went. Amazing stuff!
	Roadside America – $2.99 This is an app version of the popular website that tracks all the various roadside attractions across the US – so now you’ll know where all those large balls of twine are!  We enjoy using this app to find cool off-the-beaten path things around as we travel.  We enjoy that users can leave tips and that you can mark the things you’ve seen.  They also have an interesting pricing model – the $2.99 purchase prices gets you 1 of 6 regions of the US.  If you want other regions or the entire US, you can make an in app purchase to activate them.
	CoPilot Live USA - $4.99 The iPhone and iPad are perfect navigation devices with the built in GPS and gorgeous high-resolution screens. For the most part, the built in Google Maps application works well, but only when you have cellular coverage. Because the maps are loaded over the Internet, if you are out in the boonies you can easily end up lost. The Google Maps app also doesn’t do turn-by-turn directions to let you know when a turn is coming up, or automatic re-routing when you veer off course. We’ve been in search of a better navigation solution, and for now we’re trying out CoPilot Live USA. At $4.99 for the entire countries worth of maps, it is an incredible bargain. The app so far has impressed us, though the UI is cumbersome at times, and the GPS seems to occasionally get confused – telling us to “turn right, then turn left” on long straightaways where no turn is necessary. But for the price, you can’t beat it.
	CoPilot Live HD North America –  $29.99 The only iPad-optimized full screen navigation app out so far is CoPilot Live HD North America, but it has gotten some rather poor initial reviews. For now we are waiting for an update to be released, or for TomTom or Magellan to come out with an iPad optimized mapping app.
	State Lines – $2.99 And of course, we have to mention our own app – State Lines. We developed State Lines to fulfill our own desire for a single resource for all those laws and regulations that change as you cross state lines.  The app itself is selling fairly well, despite us lacking the time to really do much of a marketing push on it. We also just released a alcohol specific version for just $.99 that tracks just state alcohol laws, including DUI information.  We must say, we are loving our own app, and we use it frequently as we cross state lines to find out if gas taxes will be cheaper in the next state, if we can overnight at rest areas, if we can buy beer in grocery stores on a Sunday and other such information. We’ve been busy collecting even more data (child safety seat laws, U-turns, more motorcycle information, etc.) that we will be releasing in an expanded version soon.  If you were so kind as to purchase the app and are finding it useful, would you mind leaving us a review in the App Store?

Apps for General Use in Travel

	GasBag Pro – $1.99 When you’re on the road as often as we are, being able to locate the cheapest gas can make a huge difference in our bottom line travel budget. There are several apps available for tracking gas prices, and we’re partial to this one because it also has a built in mileage log.
	Yelp – Free We love Yelp – both the iPhone app and their website. It helps us quickly locate good places to eat – as well as dentists, veterinarians, mechanics, hair salons and more. End users can leave reviews, so it’s a great way to get unbiased opinions about places when we pull into a new town.
	USPS Mobile – Free While we try to minimize the amount of mail we need to handle, we do utilize shipping from time to time. This app from the US Post Office lets us quickly location post offices and mail drop boxes.  Our favorite features is that it also lets us find the automated postal centers, which allow us to do full package shipping after postal office hours.

That’s our current list of our favorite RV travel essentials.

Do you have any other favorites? Please share them here – we are always looking for great new apps to try!

I’ve managed to do some amazing and artistic things with small but advanced pocket cameras like the Canon SX110IS that we relied on throughout most of 2009, but I continuously found myself pushing the edges of what small cameras were capable of – particularly once we started experimenting with light painting and long exposure photography.

But every time I’d begin to get tempted by a DSLR, I’d find myself turned off by the size and weight of the camera bodies and especially the lenses. I don’t have any interest in carting around a suitcase full of photography gear, and when it comes down to it – the absolute best camera is the one that is with you when you stumble across a great shot. I knew that anything bulky or complex would more often than not be left behind.

Every year I’d research the latest in DSLR’s, get tempted, and then talk myself out of it. The bulk (and expense!) just wasn’t worth it – particularly considering I’d only ever want to own just a lens or two. It’s not like I had a 30 year investment in legacy lenses that I cared about….

Panasonic G1 (2009) vs Canon T70 (1984) -- My first major camera purchase, and my most recent...

But then last year I started to hear about the upcoming promise of EVIL cameras, and the new Micro Four Thirds standard being pioneered by Panasonic and Olympus.

While Nikon and Canon DSLR’s are unquestionably excellent, they are victims of their legacy – and to maintain compatibility with their vast library of lenses they are based around the same optical design as film camera’s from decades ago. Central to every traditional DSLR is a mechanical mirror that needs to swing out of the way each shot, and a bulky glass prism that focuses the light onto the optical viewfinder that you look through. Up until just last year most DSLR’s couldn’t even offer a “live preview” on the LCD screen of the shot you were about to take (because the mirror is in the way of the sensor until you press the shutter), and even the newest DSLR’s sacrifice focusing speed while the live view modes are engaged.

EVIL (electronic viewfinder / interchangeable lens) cameras are designed from the ground up to be optimized for digital. They take the larger camera sensor and lens interchangeability of a DSLR, but do away with the dependence on a mirror, prism, and optical viewfinder. Cameras based around the Micro Four Thirds standard can thus offer most of the advantages of a traditional DSLR, and some new capabilities that DSLR’s can only dream about, all in a package that is vastly smaller, simpler, and cheaper than would be possible with traditional optics.

The G1 has instant shutter response - SNAP!

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1 was the first camera supporting the Micro Four Thirds standard to come to market, and it received rave reviews and spent most of last year sold out everywhere. But I was still concerned that it might be too big and bulky for my needs, and I never found a camera store with a G1 in stock to check it out in person.

Then late last year the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1 came out, offering essentially the same capabilities and Micro Four Thirds lens compatibility of the G1 in an even smaller package that travel photographers online were raving about.

I thought I had found my dream camera, so late last December we tracked down one of the few camera stores around that had the GF1 in stock.
(Recommended: The excellent Schiller’s Camera in St. Louis.)

We drove out to Schiller’s one bitterly cold winter day to try the GF1, and to my surprise and disappointment, I didn’t like it.

The GF1 just didn’t fit fell in my hands.

But Schiller’s had a “barely used” G1 on hand, and it was a joy to hold – particularly when combined with the new 20mm lens that came with the GF1. To my surprise, the slightly larger camera won me over once I had a chance to spend some time with it!

We thus came home with a great deal on an almost new G1, and have been loving it ever since.

Lumix G1 – The Good:

It isn’t worthwhile to rehash some of the other excellent G1 reviews online – such as the epic 33 page opus at dpreview.com. But here are a few of the things that I particularly love about this camera…

For me, what I most love about the G1 is its extreme versatility. The camera is small enough and light enough that it isn’t in the way taking it almost everywhere, but it is large enough that it feels great and stable in your hand. After several months of use, I am not at all regretting going with the G1 over the GF1.

I love the flip out LCD that makes shooting at odd angles easy, and I love the integrated electronic viewfinder that switches on automatically when you bring the camera up to your eye. The G1 is just as at home shooting both “thru the lens” as at arms-length, with no compromises in speed or features when changing modes.

The G1 is fabulous for night photography work...

I love being able to take pictures in RAW mode, particularly now that iPhoto supports Panasonic’s RAW format directly so no conversion process is necessary. The RAW files are 5x the size of JPEG’s, but the extra flexibility when editing has proven to be even more worthwhile than I expected.

I love having a remote shutter release, and support for manual “bulb mode” exposures for light painting and night photography. “Bulb mode” in particular was a feature completely lacking from ANY point-and-shoot camera I could find.

And most of all, I really love the wealth of manual controls that the G1 offers – it is so freeing to at last break free from the limitations of pocket cameras. But when I just want to take a good picture fast, the G1’s automatic modes do a wonderful job as well.

Lumix G1 – What’s Lacking:

The most significant feature the G1 is lacking is any support whatsoever for recording video. This has been frustrating at times, particularly since video has become a standard feature on all new cameras.

Fortunately all of the newer Micro Four Thirds models now do support HD video, so I can look forward to upgrading someday.

Other than the missing video features, the only thing I wish the G1 had was an even better sensor for handling high-ISO recording without noise. The G1’s sensor performs good/great at ISO’s up to 800, but I wish it was even better in its highest sensitivity modes. (The max ISO is 3200)

Lumix G1 – What’s Next:

Panasonic started with the G1, and last year added the ultra-small Lumix DMC-GF1 and the pricey pro-video-quality capable Lumix DMC-GH1 to the lineup.

Exploring depth-of-field and the mysteries of Bokeh...

Panasonic has also just announced two new Micro Four Thirds models coming later in 2010 – the Lumix DMC-G2 is externally nearly identical to the G1, but it adds HD video recording capabilities almost on par with the GH1, and a touch screen that allows for a very innovative “touch to focus” capability which reminds me of the iPhone 3GS. The G2 looks to be a very worthy successor to the G1. (And while supplies last, there are some great deals to be had on the G1 now too!)

Also new is the Lumix DMC-G10, also identically sized to the G1, but cost-reduced by eliminating the swing-out LCD found in the G1 and G2. The G10 does however offer basic HD movie recording support – though it is significantly less capable than the pricier G2.

The great thing is that all of these Panasonic cameras can share the same lenses, and the Micro Four Thirds standard is also being pushed by Olympus. You can freely mix-and-match Olympus and Panasonic Micro Four Thirds lens and bodies, and using lens adaptors you can actually even take advantage of nearly every legacy lens ever made – including lenses from Canon, Nikon, and Leica!

Essential Accessories:

A great camera deserves a great tripod, particularly for playing around with night photography. One of the highest rated tripods on Amazon is the Dolica AX620B100 62-Inch Proline Tripod and Ball Head, and it is indeed amazing – particularly consider how much it versatility you get for the price. It is easily as capable as many tripods costing 3x the price, and it even includes a free tripod bag!

Our second more portable tripod is the UltraPod UP-1, a small tabletop tripod that folds up to fit in a pocket.

Another essential accessory is our Cactus Wireless Shutter Release, which lets me wirelessly trigger the camera from up to 45ft away. This is great for long exposures and light painting, avoiding any risk of bumping the camera while it is recording. The Cactus shutter release even supports “Bulb” mode for arbitrarily long exposures!

We also purchased a Promaster Digital Elite Holster SLR Camera Bag that is a great match for the small size of the G1, a UV filter, a spare battery, and a 12v battery charger.

Future Photo Arsenal Upgrades:

Our photography arsenal isn’t quite complete yet however. One of the joys (and perils!) of embracing an interchangeable lens camera system is the temptation to start collecting lenses. Sometime this year I plan to add the phenomenally small and fast (low light capable) Panasonic LUMIX G 20mm f/1.7 Aspherical Pancake Lens. This lens is so small that when mounted on the G1, the camera actually becomes jacket-pocketable!

I also will eventually want to replace the default 3x zoom kit lens that came bundled with the G1 with a more versatile 10x zoom lens, such as the Panasonic 14-140mm f/4.0-5.8 OIS Lens.

We also could use a small external flash so that we can start playing with side-lighting and other creative lighting effects.

Though upgrading to the new G2 to get the video capabilities is tempting, I think we’ll try to get at least another year’s use out of the G1 first, and then consider our options. Cherie’s excellent and compact Canon SD780IS handles all of our HD video recording needs fabulously for now.

FYI: For more on the SD780 and why we chose it, read this blog post.

Conclusion:

I really like the technology behind and future prospects of the Micro Four Thirds standard that Panasonic and Olympus are pioneering. Traditional SLR cameras were designed for the pre-digital 35mm film era, and the bodies and lenses are less than ideally suited for the digital age as a result.

The Panasonic G1 was the first of a new breed of cameras, and the GH1, GF1, and upcoming G2 and G10 show that the format has staying power.

So far, I couldn’t be happier with our decision to skip the legacy Canon and Nikon DSLR designs to embrace EVIL.

In this case, EVIL is good. *grin*

Most links above go to our Amazon affiliate account. Should you make a purchase based on our review, we’ll get a small cut of the sale (at no increased cost to you) – which we greatly appreciate!

To recap, here are some quotes from our initial review:

One particular frustration that has vexed me for over three years now is that there is no “official” way to power any MagSafe-equipped Apple laptops directly off of 12v power. As full-time technomads living in a small solar-powered trailer, we have ample access to 12v DC, while 120v AC is a rare luxury for us. Sure, we could use an inverter – but (as you will see) that inserts a lot of overhead and inefficiency. We would much rather run our lives directly off of 12v as much as possible.

…

We checked out the (Mikegyver modified) Kensington All-In-One, and it has quickly become one of the most indispensable items in our technology arsenal. We have been particularly thrilled with no longer needing to power up our DC-to-AC inverter to power our laptops.

Our love of the Kensington soon faded however, as we discovered the downside of one of the All-In-One’s features – the dreaded low-voltage cutoff.

Low-Voltage Cutoff – More Bug Than Feature:
To protect you from draining and damaging your vehicle battery, the Kensington power supply automatically shuts down (and stays shut down) whenever its input voltage drops below 12 volt. At first glance, this seems like a smart thing to do – a battery bank that is reading less than 12 volts has already been 50% drained. (And ideally, you should never drain most vehicle batteries below 50%!)

But… Things aren’t always that simple.

If you are drawing a lot of current out of a battery (such as when you are charging a depleted laptop), it will register a lower voltage even if it has not been drained nearly that far yet. And if you have a long relatively thin gauge wire between your battery and your 12v jack (which is very common), this voltage drop will be even further exaggerated.

In our case, trying to charge a drained MacBook Pro off of even 75% charged RV batteries would sometimes draw too much current and trigger the Kensington power supply to shut down.

It was extremely frustrating – the Kensington became useless to us at the very time that we needed the increased power efficiency it offered the most.

And though most car batteries will suffer damage if drained below 50%, the true deep-cycle batteries used in solar and RV setups like ours can handle up to an occasional 80% discharge without problem. We hated being prevented from fully taking advantage of our off-grid electrical system.

For our needs, the Kensington increasingly kept failing to live up to our expectations.

iGo Everywhere:
Fortunately – when he realized the nature of the problems we were having, Mike of Mikegyver.com sent us an iGo Everywhere130 power supply to try as an alternative. It worked wonderfully.

NOTE: The iGo Everywhere130 is an older model than the iGo EverywhereMAX linked to above. The primary difference is that the EverywhereMAX is physically smaller.

The iGo Everywhere130 is significantly chunkier than the Kensington All-In-One, and it weighs twice as much. But… It doesn’t cut out when voltages drop – which makes it vastly better suited for some types of use.

Mikegyver currently offers both the Kensington All-In-One and iGo EverywhereMAX modified to support Apple’s proprietary MagSafe power connector for $229. Normally Mikegyver steers customers towards the Kensington because “the Kensington is lighter and slimmer”. Though the EverywhereMAX is reportedly smaller than the Everywhere130 we were testing, I can imagine that the small size of the Kensington is indeed a better option for a road warrior who needs to carry a go-anywhere power supply with them all the time.

But if you are planning to run off of deep-cycle batteries or solar, do NOT get the Kensington!

We have been using the iGo Everywhere130 for the past month, and we have been extremely pleased with it. Testing it head-to-head against the Kensington All-In-One, it was easy to create situations where the Kensington would shut off (and not come back until it is physically unplugged and plugged in again) while the iGo just kept on charging.

Just like the Kensington, the iGo is a combination AC & DC power supply that can power your laptop off of traditional wall current, a car power jack, or an airline power jack. They both have a minimal 0.1A no-load current draw, meaning that it can be left plugged in all the time without fear. The iGo and Kensington seemed to perform equivalently while charging too – both offering up overall power consumption vastly lower than if we had to power up our inverter to use Apple’s AC power supply.

Conclusion:
If you need to run an Apple laptop off of solar or deep-cycle batteries, the iGo Everywhere offered by Mikegyver is a great way to do it. If you just need to charge your laptop in an airplane or your car while in transit, the smaller and sleeker Kensington All-In-One is the way to go.

There are other emerging alternative however… The comment thread (37 comments and counting!) for my previous post has generated some “spirited” discussion, with representatives from HyperMac and Power My Mac both espousing the benefits of their own MacBook 12v power supplies.

We’ve gotten in a Hypermac power supply that we are testing now, and hopefully we will get a Power My Mac supply to throw into the mix soon too.

It wasn’t long ago that it seemed as if there were no alternatives for powering an Apple laptop off of 12v. Now there are options galore. In a future post, I will try and dissect the tradeoffs between them all.

February 2010 Update: Our Mikegyver iGo Everywhere has bit the dust as of a couple months ago. Currently, it’ll run our laptops but not charge them.  Our Mikegyver lasted less than 6 months of usage, which we don’t find all too impressive.  Our HyperMac however is still running like a champ. And yes.. a review of the HyperMac is overdo.  Perhaps someday. Power My Mac never followed through with a review unit.

We rely on this generator to top off our batteries when the solar is not able to keep up due to shade, weather, or our own heavy use. And we also turn to the generator to power our air conditioning on the hot days when our roof fans aren’t enough to keep us cool and comfortable.

The Honda EU2000i is a fabulous 2000 watt generator that is small, quiet, weighs just 46lbs, and it gets great fuel economy. We found ours online last summer at Wise Sales for just $850, with free shipping – way less than from any other retailer. (Honda stupidly prohibits dealers publishing prices online – but I suffer no such limitation…)

Most RV air conditioners require a much larger 2400 watt or even 3000 watt generator to work, but we specifically sized the air conditioner in our Oliver to work with this generator. Instead of the (formerly standard) 13,000 btu model, we specced a power-efficient 9,200 btu Coleman Polar Cub that still cools great, but which we can manage with the smaller, lighter, and more economical Honda EU2000 option.

Of course, the big downside of any generator is the need to deal with fuel. Carrying around canisters of gas for the few times we might need our generator isn’t ideal.

Instead of dealing with gasoline, I tracked down a propane conversion kit to allow our Honda EU2000i to run off of our Oliver’s ample 50lb propane supply. I installed the “Tri Fuel Kit” from Central Maine Diesel that allows the Honda EU2000i to run on gasoline, propane, or natural gas.

(The kit is $179, or a pre-converted Honda EU2000i is $1269 + shipping…)

When I bought the kit last year, I was the very first customer to get the “installs in minutes” kit, so it actually took me several hours to figure out how to swap out our Honda’s carburetor and reroute the necessary hoses with only a picture to go on. The carburetor removal instructions I found posted here were invaluable, and in theory my feedback has by now helped Central Maine Diesel create better documentation to include with their kit.

We have been thoroughly happy with how well our generator setup has performed over the past year. It worked great on the playa at Burning Man, and even during sweltering 100+ degree days in Zion National Park the generator was able to keep up despite the high altitude (near 4000 feet).

And when charging the batteries, I am able to sustain a 60+ amp charge current, which allows for a very rapid recharge of our battery banks.

Of course – you have to pick – you can’t charge batteries and run the air conditioner at the same time without overloading the generator. But, this setup sure beats carrying around a 135lb 3000 watt Honda.

Unlike some RV’s, our generator is not permanently mounted and there is no electric start.  But setup is still easy. The Oliver factory folks hooked up a low-pressure propane hose on the tongue for us so all we have to do is plug in a hose and power cable, open a valve, and then pull the starter cable a few time to get our generator fired up for use. This detached setup also allows us to take advantage of the flexibility that comes from having a small generator that is so portable.

For us, this setup is the perfect backup power source. And though we haven’t ever needed to, if we ever do need to resort to gasoline, this kit (unlike some conversions) still gives us the option.

We love it – particularly in the summer!  *grin*

It used to be my job to literally dissect every worthwhile mobile gadget in existence, and I typically carried multiple smartphones in my pockets with cell phone plans from every major carriers.

Imagine the looks I used to get going through airport X-Rays… (vintage 2004 tech)

I sometimes miss getting paid to play with so many cool toys, but I don’t miss the endless juggling and constant shifting from one device to the next.

Now I get to pick just one.

For the past two years, my choice has been the original iPhone.

The great leap forward in user interface that the iPhone represented left every other mobile device looking like a dinosaur, even my beloved Treo. Once the iPhone was opened up to third party developers, there was no looking back.

The iPhone 3G last year wasn’t enough to lure me into upgrading, though Cherie did happily leave behind Windows Mobile (another dinosaur platform) for one. Most of the new features in the iPhone 3G were added to the original iPhone via a free software upgrade, and the 3G speeds would have only been a compelling enough reason to upgrade if Apple and AT&T had allowed tethering.

Ever since the iPhone launched, everyone else in the mobile industry has been playing catch up – typically with extremely disappointing results. RIM continues to do one thing extremely well (mobile email), but Nokia, Samsung, and Motorola have all been left struggling desperately for a hit.

The only non-Apple phone that is in the same next-generation league as the iPhone is the newly released Palm Pre – a stunning achievement by the Palm team.

The Pre has real multitasking (sorely lacking from the iPhone), “Synergy” data syncing with multiple online services such as FaceBook and Google, and a fabulous UI that in some ways raises the bar even on the iPhone. With a bit more refinement and some third party developer momentum, the Pre will soon be even more compelling.

But not (yet) compelling enough.

Though I was sorely tempted by the Pre’s amazing multitasking abilities and super sweet Synergy, the brand new iPhone 3G S has won me over. We stopped at the downtown Chicago Apple store yesterday to get one:

I was surprised that there were still lines out into the street three days after the iPhone 3G S started shipping. Fortunately we only had to wait 30 minutes before I got mine.

So why did I choose the iPhone 3G S?

• Applications – There are over 50k iPhone applications out now, while the Pre is just getting started and the SDK isn’t even widely available yet. I am an application junky, and I have many daily-use iPhone apps that I can’t imagine being without.
• Compass + Accelerometer + GPS = Augmented Reality – Over the course of the coming year, I expect to see some amazing innovation in this area.
• Tethering – Though AT&T won’t say when they will support it, it is built into OS 3.0, and at least AT&T promises that it is coming. As technomads, the ability to use our phones to get our laptops online is crucial.
• 32 Gigabytes – I used to have a 60GB iPod, and I have felt hampered the past two years trying to cram my media collection into the 8GB capacity of my original iPhone. I am thrilled to once again be able to carry around a decent quantity of music and videos in my pocket. The Pre on the other hand can only hold 8GB.
• Pocket Video Capture – The iPhone 3G S has a very usable 3 megapixel camera, and it at last supports video! I am very much looking forward to having a reasonably decent still / video capture device that I can trust to be always with me.


Canon G9 (left) vs iPhone 3G S (right). Though the Canon is a much more powerful camera, for typical web snapshots the iPhone is at last reasonably good enough to allow leaving larger cameras behind…

• 3D Graphics – Before Palm, I used to work in the 3D graphics industry, and I have a fine appreciation for accelerated 3D graphics. Early benchmarks show that the iPhone 3G S is 4x faster than the iPhone 3G when it comes to 3D rendering. Assuming the next iPod Touch (due in Sept) has the same 3D hardware, it will be a killer gaming device indeed. Sony and Nintendo better watch out!
• Future Upgradability – Apple has provided the iPhone 3.0 OS as a free upgrade to iPhone 3G and even original iPhone owners, bringing even the oldest iPhones many of the new non-hardware-dependent features. I expect Apple will continue this trend, and even two years from now the iPhone 3G S will be getting major functionality upgrades. No other phone manufacturers has ever done such a good job continuing to support old hardware. Kudos to Apple!

In all of these areas, the iPhone 3G S is way ahead of the Pre, and light years ahead of anything else out there.

So far, I am loving the 3G S. It is a beautifully refined and polished product, with all sorts of little details and delights that show the intense attention to quality and detail that Apple is known for.

I have found my new ultimate mobile phone.

What is yours?

I love the MagSafe tip. I really do. But….

One particular frustration that has vexed me for over three years now is that there is no “official” way to power any MagSafe-equipped Apple laptops directly off of 12v power. As full-time technomads living in a small solar-powered trailer, we have ample access to 12v DC, while 120v AC is a rare luxury for us. Sure, we could use an inverter – but (as you will see) that inserts a lot of overhead and inefficiency. We would much rather run our lives directly off of 12v as much as possible.

Unfortunately, Apple has not released a 12v car-charger of their own, and they have threatened to send an army of lawyers after any third-party power supply manufacturer that dare introduce a MagSafe-compatible power cable. There is no technical limitation preventing Targus, Kensington, or iGo from producing MagSafe compatible tips for their universal notebook power supplies. But without a license from Apple, they just aren’t going to chance it.

But there is an alternative…

Mike Lee of Mikegyver.com has made a business of taking genuine Apple MagSafe tips, and splicing them onto 12v compatible power supplies.

His cheapest option ($60) involves you sending him your laptop power supply to convert, or for $165 he will include a new Apple power brick that he has modified for you. And for $229 you can get a MagSafe-equipped Kensington or iGo universal power supply that is slim, light, and runs off of both AC and DC, including from EmPower jacks found in many airliners. These supplies offer a true go-anywhere replacement for Apple’s power brick, only they are much more versatile.

We checked out the Kensington All-In-One, and it has quickly become one of the most indispensable items in our technology arsenal. We have been particularly thrilled with no longer needing to power up our DC-to-AC inverter to power our laptops.

I took some measurements to see how much power we are saving by using a DC-to-DC power supply, rather than needing to convert from DC-to-AC-to-DC via an inverter and the standard Macintosh power brick:

You’ll notice that our small Xantrex 400W inverter inserts about 10 watts of overhead, and our large 1500W Xantrex Freedom 458 Inverter/Charger wastes over 20 watts of power just by being fired up!

Here are a few other interesting notes and observations…

• The Apple power brick has a parasitic drain of 0.3A (4 watts) when plugged in, even when no laptop is connected. This is an example of why you should never leave wall-wart power supplies plugged in when you are not actively using them!
• The measurements in the table above are from Cherie’s laptop, a mid-2008 2.4GHz MacBook Pro, with the screen on full brightness. My early-2006 2.16GHz MacBook Pro is significantly more power hungry, despite the half-as-bright screen. It typically burned nearly 20 additional watts of power under a similar load!
• Power consumption while charging varied depending on how thoroughly drained the laptop is. I measured as much as 89W of power consumption while charging a fully drained laptop via the Kensington power supply!
• The Kensington power supply comes with two tips you can use – the N2 and the N3. The N2 puts out 16.5 volts (equivalent to the MacBook 60W power supply), and the N3 puts out 18.5 volts (equivalent to the 85W MacBook Pro power supply). According to Mikegyver.com you should not use the N3 tip on EmPower equipped airplanes because you risk overloading the 75 watt maximum of the airline jacks. But in my testing of charging a fully drained MacBook Pro, the N2 tip consumed 85 watts, and the N3 89 watts. In daily use, I have found the choice of tip seems to make no practical difference.
• The Kensington power supply has a low-voltage cutoff to protect you from draining your battery below 12 volts. This is great for use in a car, but can be frustrating if you have a solar setup and deep cycle batteries that can handle a deeper drain. Reportedly the iGo power supply does not come with this “feature”. (Read the update posted below to discover just how frustrating this “feature” proved to be for us…)
• If you are handy with a soldering iron, Mike also publishes a free “Do It Yourself” guide to doing the conversion of an old Macintosh power supply on your own, and he sells the parts (including the DC power supply) in his store for $65 to help you do this. Stuart Schmitt has published his own alternative description of the conversion process here.
• Another company, HyperMac, is taking preorders on their own MagSafe compatible 12v power supply for $149. Even though they have not shipped yet, they are claiming to be “the world’s first and only” – despite MikeGyver.com having been in business for years. For now, I suggest avoiding them. UPDATE: Be sure to read the comment thread to this post for much more information on the HyperMac, and look for an in depth review to be posted here soon.
• Mike often has some great deals on his refurbs page. Right now you can get a Kensington kit just like ours for $119!

The Mikegyver solutions are indeed expensive, but considering that Apple forces Mike into buying an entire power supply just to get the cable tip, the cost is not that unreasonable.

And if you live in a 12v world and are often away from AC power, we have discovered the Mikegyver solution to be truly invaluable. I have actually wired ours semi-permanently into our Oliver trailer (mounted in one of the under-seat storage bins), so that we have a charging cable always on hand.

UPDATE: After a month with the Kensington All-In-One, the low-voltage cutoff “feature” proved to be unbearably frustrating. Mike Lee of Mikegyver.com graciously sent us an iGo Everywhere to try out as an alternative. Read my thoughts and analysis of this solution here.

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February 2010 Update: Our Mikegyver iGo Everywhere has bit the dust as of a couple months ago. Currently, it’ll run our laptops but not charge them.  Our Mikegyver lasted less than 6 months of usage, which we don’t find all too impressive.

May 2010 Update: Our HyperMac has also bit the dust- the 12v connector melted in the socket. We ran it fairly regularly for less than a year.  Thankfully, no permanent damage to our trailer or computers – but wow. Not good.    Afraid at this point, we have no reasonable recommendations for 12v power supplies for MacBook Pros.  If you have one.. we’d love to hear about it!