Dictation on the New iPad - with the Wireless Keyboard

This is one of those days that has been extremely busy - finishing up the summer semester, posting grades, and getting ready for fall semester.  I am working diligently to use some of the new productivity tools that I discovered, such as, dictation on the New iPad.

Since my text messages often contain more graphical characters than words (using the Emoji keyboard found in Settings > General > International Keyboards > Emoji), I wanted to use both the Bluetooth wireless keyboard and dictation.

Yes, the feature was under my eyes the entire time.  All that I had to do was to click on the top-right key of the wireless keyboard to get the iPad keyboard to show up - and then click on the microphone to dictate!  So easy to do!!

Dictation shortcuts:

• "Period". The "." is the standard way to end a sentence. It includes a space after the period, so you are ready for your next sentence
• "Question Mark". The "?" also includes a trailing space
• "New Paragraph". This keyword phrase starts a new paragraph. Remember to end the previous sentence before beginning the new paragraph
• "Exclamation Point". The "!" includes a trailing space
• "Comma". The "," includes a trailing space
• "Colon". The ";" includes a trailing space
• "Semi-Colon". The ":" includes a trailing space
• "Elipsis". The "..." includes a trailing space
• "Quote" and "Unquote". The " produced by saying "quote" does not produce a trailing space. The " produced by saying "unquote" does include a trailing space
• "Slash". The "/" symbol
• "Asterisk". The "*" symbol
• "Ampersand". The "&" symbol
• "At Sign". The "@" symbol

Source: http://ipad.about.com/od/ipad_tips/ss/How-To-Use-Ipad-Voice-Dictation.htm

Dictation on the New iPad

I was reading about Mountain Lion operating system (OS) when I discovered another feature that I have overlooked. The New iPad allows for dictation (as well as the 4th generation iPhone)! Check Settings > Keyboards > Dication > On to verify that it is turned on. Afterwards open an app such as Notes or Pages. Click on the microphone key on the iPad keyboard and talk. Click the microphone key once again when you are finished. Afterwards, the New iPad Dictation app iterprets what was said and types it out. You may be surprised to note the great accuracy!! This feature is a great work around for quick data entry without typing. Remember that dictation is only available on the New iPad, not the 1st or 2nd generations. Enjoy!

A demo of the feature is shown in the CNET YouTube video below (yes, dictation is misspelled) .

New iPad 4G Data Plans Comparison

The ePublishing faculty development workshop participants met last week.  One of the agenda items related to hardware configurations for the New iPad.  The New iPad was not released until yesterday, so we were guessing about the comparisons for pricing of 4G connections.  Not surprising, the plans are competitive.  I frequently use the AT&T $14.99 data plan on the iPad2.  For example, I used it the past two days at the NLNAC self-study forum in Atlanta because WiFi was not available at the conference (apparently WiFi was a problem everywhere at the hotel).  The table below shows a comparison of the monthly access fee pricing (assuming that the iPad has the capability of 4G). Of course, the choice is personal - and for me - a difficult one to make because for just an additional $5, I could get 1Gb. 

Verizon 1Gb - $20 2Gb - $30 5Gb- $50 10Gb - $80

AT&T 250Mb - $14.99 3Gb - $30 5Gb- $50

One other interesting difference is that if you order the New iPad WITH 4G activated, the package allows global connectivity.  The AT&T package is only for nationwide coverage.
Sources: http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/splash/ipad.jsp  and http://www.att.com/ipad/?fbid=W7ZoQBpj9j-

New iPad, New Apple App Updates

Work was too busy for me to learn about the Apple announcements yesterday, so I had to wait until early this morning. The CNET article, iPad vs. iPad 2 vs. the new iPad, provides a succinct overview of the changes in the new iPad. The video (long) at the Apple iPad site provides a comprehensive overview of the new releases. 

Several of the newest software updates require the new iOS 5.1.  The problem is that the servers are not able to keep up with the volume of attempts to update the software.  I have attempted to get the updates for the past two hours, but am getting timed out on the Mac laptop, the iPad, and the iPhone.  Once I can obtain the iOS update, I can report some feedback on the changes.