Live iPad GiveAway Show

Well, it's time to start preparing for the live show I'm planning to do tomorrow. Live is uncharted territory for me, I specifically went with the "ScreenCast" format in the early as I wasn't too enamoured with having to appear on screen (I'll leave out the usual "perfect face for radio" cliché...Too late!)

But after 4 years of screencasting and my more recent forays into YouTube videos and MacBreak Weekly, I should be able to cobble something together. Besides which, I'm always fascinated by trying out new technology.

So the plan is this....

I'll be broadcasting live on Ustream (and on the Ustream iPhone application) at 9pm UK Time on Friday 9th April 2010. If you're unsure of your local time, this should help (thanks to @DaveHamilton for the inspiration)

Fixed Time - World Clock 9pm UK Time - Click to check your Time Zone

The show will be anything from 15 minutes to 30 minutes long (hey, it's my first time) and I'll give you my first impressions of the iPad and a quick look at some of the applications. I'll also be taking some pre-recorded questions from the ScreenCastsOnline audience. Rather than try and handle these live, I thought it best to get some pre-recorded questions to keep it flowing! If you have any questions, please feel free to record a short video clip and send it into me (or a link to it on dropbox or similar) at screencastsonline@gmail.com.

Of course, the main event will be the live drawing of the winner of the 16GB iPad.

Although anyone can watch the live show, the iPad draw is only open to ScreenCastsOnline Extra Members who are in current membership at 5pm UK on the 9th April and have entered their names into the draw (or have joined or renewed since 1st March) - Terms and conditions apply. I'll be closing the entry at that time to weed out any duplicate entries before the draw show.

If you're an existing members and want to enter the draw, go to the special prize draw page.

If you'd like to become a member to be entered automatically, check this page for details.

If you can't make the live show, I'll be recording a high quality version and posting it to the ScreenCastsOnline members feeds as this weeks show.

So all that remains for me to do is to setup the studio and learn how to use some of this new fangled technology.

Wish me luck!

One slight hitch...

As you can see from the previous entry, all has gone to plan and I have my iPad.

I have to say that it's exceeded my expectations in almost every area (including weight!)

However, one thing that has caused me disappointment is that it won't play my ED (960x540) or my HD (1280x720) screencasts.

Nooooooo!!!!!!!

The good news is that it will play my iPod versions fine, but they are only 640x360 and may appear a bit "fuzzy" on the beautiful iPad screen.

I'll have to wait until next week before I can do any further investigation, but my gut feeling is that I most likely will need to create a new iPad version of the shows for members - drat!

There's probably something in the spec of the video support for the iPad that needs addressing so it's unlikely that the existing versions will ever run. If you're a ScreenCastsOnline member and want to download the iPod versions for now, just head over to the special members iTunes feeds and sign up to the iPod/iPhone feed.

Once I crack the problem with what is required to play HD versions on the iPad, I'll create a new feed for you to subscribe to.

If anyone has the time and the knowledge to work out what the problem is with the existing files and the iPad spec, I'd certainly welcome the input!

Update on Thursday, April 8, 2010 at 11:06AM by Don McAllister

I've done some further testing and found some settings that create a 1280x720 version that plays beautifully on the iPad and Mac. The HD version looks truly stunning on the iPad!

The downside is that I'm probably going to have to make new versions of the current shows and you'll have to re-download them. I'll use the new format for shows going forward so there won't be a separate feed for HD and iPad, it will still be the same feed.

It's going to take me a while to encode and upload new versions of the older shows. I'll probably have to do them in batches over the coming months. 

So if you can be patient I'll make a start on this next week.

iPad Unboxing Video

Everything went to plan and I got my iPad plus one to give away as part of the ScreenCastsOnline prize draw.

Forgot to post the unboxing video in the blog. Just checked and it's already had over 3000 views!

New Interview on The Screening Room

Telestream (the developers of ScreenFlow) were kind enough to interview me for their blog - The Screening Room.

Of course, I was delighted but a little bit unsure as to if they'd still want me as I don't use ScreenFlow exclusively. I do use it for all my video capture and for some assembly editing, but I still use Final Cut Pro to create the final version. I raised this as a potential issue to them.

To their credit, it wasn't a problem and I received back the response:

That’s fine. My aim isn’t to promote ScreenFlow over all other products. I really want to show how everyday users are using the program, so that people can maybe learn something new and compare their own processes to yours.

Very refreshing!

Anyhow, you can read all about my current workflow over on The Screening Room Blog

Thanks to Telestream for publishing the interview

MiFi, GPS & the iPad

One thing that's been troubling me (but not too much), is how GPS will work on the WiFi iPad. I decided a couple of months ago to get one of the first WiFi iPads and get around the lack of 3G by getting a MiFi unit.

This has proved to be a great solution for more reasons that I expected (see previous blog posts under the category - MiFi).

However, I'm still confused by how the WifI iPad will handle GPS and the specs say that only the 3G model is Assisted GPS enabled. Both have a digital compass though.

I've heard lot's of speculation that the Wifi only model will still be able to triangulate location, based on the SkyHook service.

The particular MiFi unit I purchased (Novatel Wireless MiFi 2352 Intelligent Mobile Hotspot) has Built-in Assisted GPS. I have to say, I'm not sure if this is carrier dependent though.

So, to do some testing, I took my original 1st generation iPhone out with me on a short drive, powered up the MiFI and switched on Google maps.

Wouldn't you know, it found my location, and pretty accurately too!

Result!

Now it's probably not going to be suitable for Tom Tom, but I feel a bit happier that location based services will work just dandy on my WiFi iPad. That's of course as long as I remember to take the MiFi, an extra battery and a USB charger for the car.