PreCentral.net reviews the latest iPad competitor — the HP TouchPad

PreCentral.net‘s Derek Kessler, who’s rapidly become one of my favorite voices in mobile, has just released the his HP TouchPad review. Widely anticipated due to its super smart, incredibly elegant webOS 3.0 operating system, but uncertain due to Palm’s recent history of middling hardware and tepid launches, it’s been simultaneously heralded as the first real iPad competitor and decried as a me-too device, both before it even hit the shelves. Which is it?

If you already have an iPad that you're satisfied with or think you'd be better served by an iPad, you probably shouldn't get a TouchPad. But if you're looking for a multi-tasking monster with fantastic web browsing, email, a growing app store, and oodles of potential, then you might want to consider the TouchPad.

As expected, the are issues with the software — it’s version one of webOS on tablets after all — and in the sheer quantity of apps available. Time, patches, and the phenomenal webOS developer community can fix all that. Issues with the hardware were also to be expected — Palm has struggled with that for a while — and there’s really no fixing those, just hopes TouchPad 2 gets it better. As to whether or not they “copied” iPad with the form factor, frankly they’d have been stupid not to. The Palm Pre Plus was essentially an iPhone 3GS and that made for easy game porting via the webOS PDK. If HP can get iPad games ported over just as easily, it’s worth any amount of teasing over the spec similarity.

No matter which way you slice it, the HP TouchPad is a contender for second place now in the tablet market, and that’s going to be the first great battle to win, and an important step in proving there’s a market for these things beyond the iPad.

HP has all the pieces in place, they just have the nail the execution. And soon. (Or, like RIM, preferably prior to launch.)

Check out Derek’s review and then come back and let us know what you think — is the HP TouchPad the best contender to date?

[PreCentral.net]

Google+ is the search giant’s take on a social network, and while it will get its own iOS app eventually, it’s already got it’s own world-class web app (would you really expect anything else from the company that’s defined the modern web?). Here’s a quick look at it, primarily the profile, circles, and friends elements.

Check it out the photo gallery, after the break.

While not specifically called out as part of Apple’s iOS 5 “cutting the (iTunes) cord” initiative, the ability to finally create and manage photo albums directly on-device for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch helps achieve just that. No longer are you stuck with what you sync over via USB. Now you can add a new album and move photos between albums and from Camera Roll and Photo Stream (for iCloud) to albums.

Only Photo Stream pictures appear to be synced stored and pushed to all your devices, however, not the folder structure. That’s a little disappointing. It would be great if whatever folder system you set up on your iPhone — family, friends, dogs, hawaii trip, etc. — would automagically be replicated on your iPad or iPod touch, but… baby steps.

Along with the photo editing features, on device album management is a great addition to iOS.

Reckon you’ll be showing up for iPhone Live tonight? You’re a daisy if you do. Now we’ll be you’re huckleberries, all you gotta do is sit there and chat.

Follow along with our show notes!

Time: 6pm PT, 9pm ET, 2am BST!

Place: http://live.tipb.com/live/

(You can watch from iPhone via Ustream Viewer app (here’s how) and iPad (we recommend Duet Browser.)

If you have any questions or stuff you want us to make sure we cover tweet them to @TiPb, email them to podcast@tipb.com, or leave them in the comments below!

Happy birthday original iPhone! You hit the world 4 years ago today in all your 2G, no App Store, aluminum-backed glory. And what a world it was, dominated by front-facing QWERTY in the Palm Treo and BlackBerry lines, and the beasts that were Windows Mobile. Palm didn’t think Apple could walk into the phone market, BlackBerry didn’t think anyone would want to type on glass, and Microsoft said they’d get no marketshare. Now, four years later, iPhone is one of the most dominant devices in the world, and the best selling smartphone on the market. And every one of their rivals (including Google who’s Android looked like a BlackBerry before the iPhone hit) have retooled or rebooted since.

Sigh. Our little baby is all grown up. Sniffle.

Do you remember what you owned before the iPhone? Did you get an original iPhone? Did you wait in line, or get crazy angry after Apple dropped the initial, exorbitant price? Did you upgrade it to iOS 2 and marvel at the App Store? Do you still have one?

While we cut the cake and hand out the party hats let us know your memories of the original iPhone, and the smartphone market before and since.

[Hat tip to iPhoneDownloadBlog and 52 Tiger, get your own iPhone cake]

The Seidio Desktop Charging Cradle is exactly what its name implies, a docking and charging station for your iPhone.

In contrast to Apple’s white dock, this cradle is matte black. It is very sturdy which allows you to easily use and tap on your iPhone without the risk of knocking it over. With dimensions at about 4″x2.5″x1″, the Seidio Desktop Charging Cradle isn’t tiny, but it isn’t bulky either. The cradle connects to your computer via micro-USB and iTunes does recognize when you dock your iPhone.

My favorite feature of this dock is that it is compatible with cases. There is a removable plate included with the cradle; this ensures that your iPhone fits properly in the dock regardless if you’re using a case or not . I use an Apple Bumper on my iPhone 4, and it fits perfectly with the plate removed. If the plate is attached, my iPhone 4 fits nice and snug in its naked state. Although the Seidio Desktop Charging Cradle is advertised for the iPhone 4, I tested it with my 3GS, and it fit just fine with the plate accessory removed.

If you’re looking for a charging dock for your iPhone, I recommend checking this one out. In addition to being a stylish way to charge my iPhone, I also enjoy having a slideshow display on it at the same time. The Seidio Desktop Charging Cradle is available in the TiPb Accessory Store.

Pros

• Compatible with case -Includes removable plate to ensure proper fitting
• Sturdy
• Stylish matte black
• Compatible with iPhone 4 and 3G/3GS bodies

Cons

• A little bit big (but not too big)

Tumblr, the popular blogging platform, has updated its iPhone app with a new look and new features. You can easily manage multiple blogs, read and reply to messages, and more.

• A beautifully simple new interface for managing multiple blogs.
• Improvements to Dashboard browsing.
• Improvements to posting, including landscape editing.
• Read and reply to Messages.
• Find followers via your address book.
• Sign up on your iPhone.

If you pick this one up, let us know what you think! Screenshots after the break.

[Free - iTunes link]

Have an app you’d love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.

Wondering why Google+ looks, well, uncharacteristically good for a Google product? Turn out Andy Hertzfeld, an former Apple design guru going back to the days of the original Mac, has been given the freedom to exercise his creative genius on the new Google+ project. No wonder it has such a simple, useful — dare we say elegant — look and feel to it.

Hertzfeld credits some of his work done on the project to Apple, saying that Apple’s reign on the mobile industry may have had “A little bit to do” with his creative design into the project of Google+.

Does knowing that a famous former Apple designer had a big hand in how Google+ looks and works make you any more likely to try it out?

[Wired]

Shotlist is an iPhone and iPad app designed to help with planning and tracking video shoots. It brings the "Production Stripboard" system used in the industry to the palm of your hand.

• Add, edit, delete or re-order scenes freely across multiple shooting days – with instant updating of the total number of script pages to be shot each day.
• Each scene can be clearly marked as "To Do", "Delay", "Cut" or "Done" as you shoot, ensuring a vital scene is not missed.
• View up to 6 storyboard frames per scene. Each frame can be individually marked off as it is completed.
• Store notes for each scene, hotlinked for instant dial-up of critical phone numbers or access to web addresses (such as location information, or train or tide timetables).
• Keep everyone informed by emailing them the latest "one-line schedule", or use Dropbox™ to exchange updated project files with other ShotList users on your team and for backing up your work.
• Track and schedule scripted drama, commercials, radio production or motion capture shoots.

If you pick this one up, let us know what you think! Check out the screenshots and video demo after the break.

[$29.99 - iTunes link]

Have an app you’d love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.

Missed a compelling piece of iPhone news, a great review, or a killer how-to? We’re not collecting absolutely everything in iPhone here — you can hit up TiPb.com/iPhone for that! — but we’re carefully picking what we think is the best of the last 7 days and presenting it here for your review.

And hey! — these double as show notes for our iPhone Live! podcast tonight at 9pm Eastern. So join us at TiPb.com/live and follow along!

Meta

• Iterate 1: SoftFacade
• Mobile Nations 1: Where the magic happens
• ZENandTECH 5: Food fight
• Welcome to the new TiPb Forums!
• Developer Spotlight: Igor Zhadanov of Readdle

iPhone 5

• iPhone 5 release pool: Morgan Stanley say Apple to start iPhone 5 assembly in mid to late August, with a September release
• iPhone 5 to have a dual-LED flash? [rumor]

iOS 5

• iOS 5 beta 2 gallery
• Sherlocked?
• Verizon iPhone slowing Android growth, could iPhone 5 stop it?

iCloud

• Apple posts MobileMe to iCloud transition guide

News

• LulzSec leaks shows AT&T considered speed and session-based pricing for LTE?
• Apple to move chipset production from Samsung to TSMC with Apple A6 SoC in 2012?
• Google announces social network Google+, should Facebook worry?

Jailbreak

• iOS 5 could shut down SHSH downgrades?
• Jailbreakme.com updated, been far too long working on iPad 2 Jailbreak?

Apps

• Top 5 camera apps for iPhone

Tips

• Daily Tip: How to tethered jailbreak iOS 5 beta 2 via Redsn0w 0.9.8b1