Why A Dumb iPad Would Be A Great Device

As smartphones are ubiquitous and tablets are becoming more and more common, we frequently find ourselves configuring two different devices with nearly identical settings. It just seems to me as an awful waste of time and CPU.

I love my iPhone and my iPad but I hate to configure them and keep them up to date. I don't need an iPad with a slightly faster CPU than my iPhone and most importantly I don't notice the difference. What I want and has yet to be released is a totally dumb iPad which only purpose would be to mirror à la Airplay the content of my iPhone on a bigger and more comfortable screen.

As many apps are universal (i.e. contain the code for both the iPhone and iPad version), it wouldn't be complicated to scale them to take advantage of the iPad display.

What I want is simple :
- An easy way to pair my iPhone with my dumb iPad using either bluetooth or Wi-Fi (iBeacon ?).
- Once they are paired, I want the iPad to automatically mirror the content of my iPhone on its bigger screen scaling apps to take advantage of the iPad screen estate.
- An Easy way to unpair them (time-out after 5 minutes and/or a gesture).

This would be awesome and allow for sharing the same tablet amongst a household. It just doesn't make any sense to me to have a full-blown ultimate specs iPad with the same apps than on my iPhone. I don't want to download, install everything twice and I don't need twice the memory storage. I just need a device that has enough horsepower to mirror my iPhone content.

Please Apple, make a Dumb iPad!

The Ultimate Hotel For The Seasoned Traveler

Every time I stay in a hotel, I am annoyed by details which have become to me important issues that most of the hotels I've stayed in haven't tackled yet. So here are my rants, hoping someone will read them:

1) If you promise perks & benefits to guests that hold status with your program, deliver what your promise. For instance, if you promise top-tier status holders that they will be upgraded upon checkin if a higher category room is available, just do it.

I always check room availability on my smartphone minutes before I check in. I just hate it when I see that many rooms are available in higher categories and when I'm told at check-in : "I am sorry we can't upgrade you because we are 100% booked". I'd rather be told: "I'm sorry we're not going to upgrade you because we just don't feel like it". At least, it's not a blatant lie. Otherwise change the list of benefits of your program to "room upgrade depending on availability and mood of the staff member at check-in".

I frequently choose the hotel I'm going to stay at depending on the status I hold with the brand and the benefits that I should receive. When promised benefits aren't delivered, it just feels like I'm being ripped off. This is definitely NOT what you want your frequent guests to feel like.

2) By 2013, all hotels should have easily accessible electrical outlets AND USB ports on BOTH sides of their beds. I just hate it when I have to crawl under the bed to find an electrical outlet or even worse if I have to plug my phone away from my bed because there is no accessible power socket. I don't want to have to get up to get my phone in the morning or before I fall asleep at night.

3) If you charge for wireless internet access then let guests use as many devices as they want. Some hotels still charge on a per device basis and this is not acceptable anymore in this day and age. When I travel with my iPhone, iPad, MacBook & Kindle I just can't fathom being charged $15 X 4 everyday to have internet access. It just kills my mood and makes me never want to go back to that property.

How can you justify charging more for one day than what I pay per month for my cable connection at home?

And Please don't make me go through the trouble of logging in every 24 hours. It just upsets me. I don't want to lose 10 minutes every day to log all my devices back in. If Apple gives away free wireless internet access in all their stores without the need to log in, why can't you?

4) Please provide your guests with decent broadband speeds. 256k isn't acceptable anymore. Every guest should have at least 5Mb/1Mb. I just can't stand it anymore when I update my apps on my iPhone in the morning and it takes me 25 minutes compared to 30 seconds at home. In addition, if I have to restore my iPhone from my iCloud backup, it just shouldn't take me three days (as recently happened to a friend of mine)

5) Get rid of old iPod docks that won't work with most recent iPhones. Get bluetooth speakers a la Jambox that will work with any phone or tablet. You can't imagine how frustrating it can be to see an iPod dock sitting on your bed side table and not being able to use it to charge or listen to music from my iPhone. I just makes me feel like I'm staying in a hotel that was never renovated.

6) Let me open the door to my room with my smartphone so that I don't have to carry a key with me.

7) Let me charge my electronics inside the in-room safe thanks to an integrated electrical outlet.

Any hotel that will comply with these simple suggestions will likely greatly enhance their guest experience. So why not do it right now?

Dunhill Wants Your Wallet To Go Biometric

Is this just another Luxury Wallet? Well the answer is Yes and No. This beautiful wallet is a luxury item priced at US$ 825 but it sets itself apart from the competition by implementing a nice geek factor: Biometrics. As a matter of fact, only the touch of your fingerprint can open it. In my book, this makes the Dunhill QGK0169 a must have. You can even pair it with your bluetooth phone in order to receive an alarm should this precious piece of technology stray away from your immediate vicinity!

I'm still trying to figure out what Biometroc refers to in the product description though. Maybe something even cooler?

Note: I wish they mentioned how many credit cards this wallet can hold.