TV on your iPad
Touchtv announced the availability of its Touchtv App for iPad™, which lets viewers watch their favorite programs on their iPad. Users launch Touchtv and “touch” any channel to start watching. From the home screen, viewers can add more channels and personalize their TV. The app updates automatically and seamlessly delivers the latest programs from the exact channels viewers want, according to the company.
Medical records online
Kaiser Permanente announced that its 9 million patients now can access their medical information on mobile devices through a mobile-optimized website. The Oakland, Calif.-based healthcare system has released a new app for Android devices. Users of other mobile devices, including the iPhone, can also get full access to that information from the Kaiser Permanente health record system with the mobile-optimized version of kp.org. An additional app for iPhone was scheduled to be released in coming months, but iPhone users can download a shortcut icon onto their home screens that will take them directly to the mobile-friendly kp.org. Kaiser Permanente patients will have 24/7 access to lab results, diagnostic information, direct and secure e-mail access to their doctors, and will also be able to order prescription refills.
Office applications for Android
Xform Computing Inc., Santa Barbara, Calif., announced that its AlwaysOnPC mobile app for Android is available in the Amazon Apps Store, with editions for Kindle Fire and other Android tablets. The AlwaysOnPC Virtual Desktop is said to offer productivity apps and features, such as editing Microsoft Word documents, PowerPoint presentations or Excel spreadsheets; viewing and editing PDFs, including annotations and forms; retouching photos and images; creating and editing graphics and drawings; and browsing/using productivity or game websites that require PC-class browser technology, such as Java. Users can host a web conference and share their screen (and show presentations or documents to participants) using the Zoho Meeting feature from their AlwaysOnPC virtual Desktop.
Stick, clamp or wrap your iPad 2
UZBL of Newport Coast, Calif., says it has developed a kit that allows iPad 2 owners to accessorize the tablet device to make it more easily usable in any setting. The “FLEX for iPad 2” kit includes a snap-on hand strap to hold the device, a shoulder strap to carry it, and a snap-on rotating pivot with a ¼-inch tripod thread that can be screwed onto any camera mount or accessory. The FLEX is said to be compatible with a range of accessories and allows the iPad 2 user to stick, clamp, wrap, hang, or prop the iPad 2 almost anyplace imaginable, according to the company. A silicone protects the iPad 2 if dropped.
At a glance
Operating your laptop with your eyes? The technology is already available, at huge cost, to the military and disabled people. But several companies – including Sweden-based Tobii – are set to offer it to makers of laptops and other everyday consumer devices, according to the New York Times. The Tobii system works this way: The system finds and learns where your eyes are by using a 10-second calibration procedure, in which you look at an orange dot as it jumps to four positions around the screen. In a “test drive,” New York Times Technology Editor David Pogue found the system automatically focused and zoomed in on whatever he was looking at during a Google Maps session; “clicked” toolbar buttons; and automatically scrolled down a web page and Word document while he was reading. “The system knows where your eyes are and how fast you are going, so it keeps your place centered on the screen, scrolling automatically as you go, even if you jump back to reread something,” reported Pogue.
Working with Office on the iPad
Although Apple’s iPad tablet has replaced laptops for many tasks, it isn’t a big hit with folks who’d like to use it to create or edit long Microsoft Office documents, reports the Wall Street Journal. But Palo Alto, Calif-based OnLive Inc. recently released a free app that brings the full Windows versions of key Office productivity apps – Word, Excel and PowerPoint – to the iPad. The programs are said to look and work just like they do on a real Windows PC, reports the paper. They let the user create or edit genuine Word documents, Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations. OnLive Desktop is a cloud-based app. That means it doesn’t actually install Office on your iPad. Instead, it acts as a gateway to a remote server where Windows 7, and the three Office apps, are actually running.