The Appeal of the Apple TV to Me

Earlier today, I wrote a bit about the Apple September Event and it’s affect or appeal to genealogists on the go. With the iPod touches once again mirroring the current iPhones for the most part, and becoming incredibly powerful and rounding things out with the iPad, I mentioned that I think genealogy apps on the iOS platform will continue to increase.

I also mentioned the use of the new Apple TV for doing presentations or acting as a backdrop of sorts at family reunions, for streaming video or slideshows to an HDTV.

A few hours ago, a friend asked why I didn’t just hook up my laptop to an HDTV and do the same thing and save $99. There are two answers to that.

One reason: At a large gathering with a lot of people, especially where there will probably be a lot of kids, I really don’t feel like leaving my laptop out in the open and hooked up to a TV. Too much potential for something to happen to it, whether it’s getting knocked to the floor, or somebody deciding they want to try and play games on it or do who knows what else. I don’t want to spend my time babysitting my laptop. Having it off elsewhere, where it can be secured, frees me up from wasting my time. It can also be used with a desktop PC, which means not having a tower sitting there hooked up to the TV.

The second reason: At a presentation, if I’m presenting photos or video, I really don’t want to have my laptop tethered directly to the TV, because it will be a distraction as people will be paying attention to me and not the TV. There would be times where I’d want to be out front of course, but a lot of times, if I’m going through something, I want the focus to be on what’s being displayed, and not me. I might lose the advantage of not being able to do a live demonstration of software, but I can still easily hook up my laptop for that if needed. I can also do screenshots of software or content and have those displayed through the Apple TV device as well. It would be really nice if I could tell the Apple TV device to switch from displaying photos or streaming a video to streaming my desktop, and maybe that’s a future update, but I’m not counting on it.

Of course, a genealogist using an Apple TV device is still reliant upon having a decent-sized HDTV available. If that’s not the case, you’ll still have to pull out the trusty old projector.

Apple’s September 2010 Event and Mobile Genealogy

Well, what did we learn today from Apple’s September Event, and what impact, if any, will it have on mobile genealogists? First off, there is a new iPod nano and iPod shuffle, but neither of those interest me since they can’t run genealogy apps. They are really awesome and very well designed, but I already have an iPhone and don’t need a second music player.

General news:
* iOS 4.1 is coming out next week, with some bug fixes and minor updates.
* iOS 4.2 will be out in November and it adds Multi-tasking and folders for iPads. It also brings wireless printing. That is big for some of us.

New 2010 iPod touch and notes about the iPod touch
* iPod touch is currently the most popular iPod
* 1.5 billion titles download to it
* 2010 design is thinner than pevious iPod touch
* Inherits the “Retina” display that the iPhone 4 has, which means a higher resolution and better-looking screen. Big deal for genealogists using iOS apps.
* A lot faster than previous model (good for big genealogy databases)
* Comes with a front-facing camera to work with Apple’s Facetime – two-way video chatting
* Rear-facing camera capable of HD-level video. It doesn’t do much in the way of still photos – very low resolution. Not surprising – Apple wants you to get into the iPhone 4.
* 8GB model – $229, 32GB – $299, 64GB – $399
* All three start shipping next week

iPad News
* iOS 4.2 updates really focus on the iPad, including wireless printing
Read more

Families 1.0.2

Families has received another fairly significant update – it now supports Apple iOS 4.0. Whether this includes full multi-tasking support, I’m not sure.

It also had an alternative synchronization option added via USB through iTunes. This is significant, since Families works directly with Legacy Family Tree software, which is Windows based. Families is an iPhone OS/iOS genealogy app from TelGen Limited that works with Legacy by syncing up with the data and allowing you to edit or add to the genealogy information while away from your PC. You can then rescync the changes with your Legacy Family Tree install. Prior to Families 1.0.2, you had to run a Windows application from TelGen to do the synchronization. I’m guessing that they’ve got it setup so that you can point to your Legacy Family Tree install from inside of iTunes.

Changes/updates:
* Added alternative sync option via USB/iTunes
* Added support for iOS4
* Fixed problems with image alignment when tapping arrow buttons in photo viewer rapidly
* Added support for additional Source types
* Fixed crash when adding text containing Scandinavian characters
* Fixed problem with search by RIN

Requirements:
* iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad w/iPhone OS 3.1 or iOS or later.
* Windows sync program available at www.telgen.co.uk/families

Families is available through the Families – TelGen Limited Apple’s App Store (iTunes) for $14.99

GedView 2.16.1

A new version of GedView is available. Version 2.16.1 consists of only bug fixes.

GedView is an iOS/iPhone OS genealogy application that revolves around importing GEDCOM files. You don’t need to be using a specific Windows or Mac OS X genealogy application/software package to use it. There are several ways to import GEDCOM files, and you can import multiple GEDCOMs into multiple databases you set up on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.

Requirements:
iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad running iPhone OS 3.0 or later

GedView is available through Apple’s App Store for $3.99.

Research Logger 1.2

Research Logger 1.2 is now available. Research Logger is an iOS/iPhone OS app for genealogists that helps you keep track of your genealogy research, both the research that you’ve already done, and the research you need to do or will be doing.

Version 1.2 is another major upgrade. You now have the ability to add audio recordings and pictures to your log entries. You can also email log entries to other people.

Changes:
* Audio recording and pictures in your log entries.
* Email individual log entries.
* Email all your log entries in .csv format.
* Various bug fixes.

Requirements:
iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad, with iPhone OS 3.1.3 or later.

Research Logger can be downloaded for $0.99 (US) through the Apple iTunes App Store

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