Best and Worst of Macworld 2013
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By Imei Hsu, Performance Artist
For the third year in a row, I’m attending Macworld|iWorld 2013 in San Francisco, CA, checking out the latest gadgets, apps, and clever uses of Apple products that can enhance your artistic lifestyle. With three days of expo floor showroom hours with vendors from around the world, and iFan Pass level access to breakout workshops and main stage experts in the field, Macworld is a treat for creative types like myself. This post is contains only a small portion of the hundreds of hours of instruction and demonstrations of the best (and the worst!) of Macworld|iWorld 2013, and represents my personal “take” on the expo for those of you who cannot attend. Take a look at my “Day 1″. I’ll have more in a following post on Day 2 and 3 of the Best and Worst of edition.
Best of Macworld 2013
While some of these products do not have a readily identifiable connection to art and art production, anyone working with technology on a daily basis through the use of smartphones like the iPhone and iDevices (iPad, Macbook Air, iPad Mini) can see how these developments can enhance supportive work, such as file sharing and storage, and mobility.
Bear Extender – BearExtender.com is a small long-range wireless adapter that sits right on your device. It picks up Wi-Fi signals from 2-4 times the distance of Apple Airport cards, and for the price point of $49.97, is a very affordable option for the average consumer. Engadget, Macworld, and TUAW have already given the thumbs up on this little dynamo originally designed for students on college campuses. Small and lightweight, this could be your new companion when you’re mobile and needing to create and produce on the fly with a strong signal. $49.95USD.
myFC PowerTrekk – the world’s first portable fuel cell charger made for consumer use that runs on ordinary water. While I’ve seen these in being used in Africa using water and soda bottles, this is a commercially available powerpack that can charge your iPhone or iPad. It’s small, lightweight, and of course, it does not require a power source. It is a hybrid of a fuel cell system (which you have to replace) and an internal battery. For the artist on the go (i.e. you like mountain climbing and you bring your iPhone for taking photography, or you like travel), this is a really light weight and splash proof option. There are undoubtedly obvious options for emergency situations as well when there is a loss of power, as in a natural disaster. $229USD, $4USD for the fuel cell pucks.
iHangy Music Necklace – made of either silicone for the necklace alone, or durable fabric for the necklace plus built -in earbuds, this clever necklace secures your iPhone safely with a connector piece so you can wear your iPhone around your neck and listen to your tunes or take a phone call. The earbuds are similar to the ones that come with the iPhone, and better yet, they don’t get tangled with the necklace. I like the concept for the fact that it gives you another hands-free option without additional cords, and you don’t have to carry the iPhone in a murse/purse that can be misplaced or stolen at a social event. For artists, keeping your hands free while you are doing something else while having your iPhone within reach is a nice plus. $20USD silicon necklace only/$30USD for fabric necklace w/earbuds.
Considering that this is going to sit next to your skin, make sure you are not allergic to silicone before purchase.
Bowblade – interactive gaming device. Did you like “The Hunger Games”? This safe-for-home-use bow has the feel of real bow (although it is much easier to pull than on a real bow), with several games and options to allow you to lean and move the sight as you search for targets on your iPhone. It is completely physical with the tilt mode, allowing you to have much more than the finger-thumb gaming experience.
With everything in the news about kids being shot in schools, here is a physical toy that still employs physical movement and hand-eye coordination without the fear of injuring anyone. The product itself has some heft to it, so it is not for small children because of the weight, but if you can pull back five pounds of pressure in your bow arm, you can easily manage a Bowblade.
Will this make you more artistic? [Well, no. But I still thought it was pretty damn cool.]
This one might just have to be on my Christmas wish list. After playing “Hunger Games”, I’ll eat some bacon! This item has been reviewed by big-time Apple fans… and so far, they really love it. $185 USD
Transporter – portable non-Cloud Server. Now, this might actually be my favorite thing I’ve seen so far at Macworld, and it doesn’t have anything to do with art directly, but it may have some ramifications for all who consider file sharing and storing. iCloud is not the option for everyone, and it is definitely not an option for those of us who have to consider privacy and security for our work. The Transporter is a fully-funded Kickstarter project that puts a mini server in your hands, only it doesn’t require an IT professional to maintain it. This is a portable data solution that makes your file YOURS, and yours alone. You know exactly where your stuff is, and no one else owns it. Photography people, art people, listen up. If you have ever worried that your stuff can be hacked and stolen, you might want to consider this option, freeing you up to concentrate on your art without worries of having things in the Cloud up for grabs. $199 without a drive, $299 and $399 for 1 terrabyte and 2 terrabyte drives.
The people behind Transporter were very keen on talking to me about this product because I work as a mental health counselor, and privacy in regards to HIPAA and client care are big business for the sole practitioner. We cannot afford to use the government-sponsored IT programs of hospitals, but we need affordable options. This one may be the one for me, especially because the iCloud just isn’t an option (nor would DropBox or Evernote, as there is really nothing secure about these options for the medical world).
Stay tuned for my next installment of Macworld highlights!
Dance Artist, Psychotherapist, Triage Nurse. Gluten intolerant and recovered anorexic. Consumer geek and audophile. Slave to two adorable Applehead Siamese iKittehs with conductive paws. iPad DJ. Soon to be published author. Google Glass Explorer since July 1, 2013. Plays with the geeky toys and likes them. Marathon runner training for her first marathon May 4, 2014 and first Olympic Distance Triathlons in Summer 2014. Send offline comments to info at hips for hire dot com.
4 Responses to “Best and Worst of Macworld 2013”
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1) The Transporter looks interesting. But one comment below the linked article found the manufacturer to be questionable. Any thoughts? 2) What happens when a HD crashes? With the Cloud, I assume there’s multiple back-ups but with the Transporter, there are only as many back-ups as there are units.
Larry –
I have a promise from Mark from Transporter to have his people call me and possibly set me up to test drive the Transporter myself. We had a conversation about Transporter and its use for photography storage as well as secure data such as HIPAA data for medical professionals, and they are very interested to hear more from me. I’ll keep you informed as this develops. Transformer should hit the market in about two weeks, though it has been in beta since about October 2012.
To be fair, Drobo is another product. It is not the Transformer. If the HD crashes, it would be like going to where you would fix any other hard disk and retrieve data.
This product is really marketed for those where Cloud storage is out of the question, as it would be for someone like myself. For everyone else who isn’t storing sensitive data, perhaps your best bet is still something like Dropbox. As for me, I’ve grown very tired of having to do crazy things to port data around securely. It makes me feel like I’m working for the CIA.
I guess the whole idea behind the Transporter is share data between units so logically, there would be at least one back-up copy in case of a HD crash.
Yes, that is the idea. The owner of the Transporter would want to make sure that who s/he granted password access to share a file is also storing things securely on the receiving end (i.e. either another Transporter, or an external HD or non-Cloud server). But the implications for the small business owner — photographers, for example — who have large amounts of files, is wonderful. No more monthly fees. No TOUA suggesting you don’t own your own work.