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I’ve been hauling my Surface RT tablet to the office each day in backpack designed to hold a standard sized 15-inch notebook. This is not the ideal way to carry it during the day to, for example, meetings. After looking around a bit, I decided to buy this bag/sleeve from Amazon for $25.

STM Bags dp-2140-1 Jacket Extra Small Sleeve, Fits Most 11-Inch Screens, Black/Green

The Surface tablet slips in easily and the bag fits over it snugly but allows for easy zipping. This STM bag has both a shoulder strap (removable) and a handle. It also has a small front zippered pocket to carry a few odds and ends (including a phone).

I’m quite pleased with it after using it for about a week. It has a 4.5-star (out of possible 5) average customer rating (24 reivews) on Amazon.

When Hawaii 5-0 rebooted in 2010, I noticed the Windows Phone product placement on the show. In fact, for a while it looked like the “good guys” used Windows Phone while the “bad guys” used Android.

In 2012, Microsoft is at is again. This time it is the Microsoft Surface tablet running Windows RT that got some prime time product placement on the Nov. 19 episode titled Ohuna (full episode available for a limited time on CBS.com). Officer Kono Kalakaua (Grace Park) literally goes through the motions snapping the Surface’s kickstand before firing up the display.

We’ll probably see a Nokia Lumix 920 or HTC 8X before the end of the holiday season.

Angry Birds Star Wars Edition for the iPad is as good or better than the original Angry Birds (I’m not a fan of the other versions). So, I was interested to see the game appear in the Windows RT app store. Unfortunately, the version for RT costs 66% more than the iPad version: $4.99 vs $2.99.

While making more money per sale for developers is a good thing. I think Windows RT app prices need to be competitive with versions of the same app on other platforms.

Note: Composed this app entirely using a Surface with Windows RT. The biggest problem was finding an image editor. None of the RT apps provided freehand cropping. Will discuss how I worked around this in a future blog item.

I just received a Incipio Dual Pro for iPhone 5 case. I’ve holding out hoping to find a decent affordable case with a belt clip for the iPhone 5. But, with no prospects available, I decided to spend $15 on this case which has a 4.5 star average customer rating on Amazon (80 reviews).

The case comes in three parts:
1. Film screen protector
2. Rubbery inner case that covers buttons (on/off, volume) but not ports or the cameras.
3. Outer hard shell to project the back and sides

The film screen protector was reasonably easy to apply. You can see there there are cutouts to expose the front facing camera and select button. The soft inner case was easy to pull onto the iPhone 5. It does not stress the phone at all. The outer hard shell case holds everything in place and provides a bit of added protection.

It looks and feels pretty good so far. And, at $15, it is very affordable.

I have not had a lot of luck with cabled accessories that shipped with my iPhone 5. The Earpod that came with my iPhone 5 was replaced last week because the volume control and pause/play button did not work. The Lightning USB cable apparently went bad in the last day or so because it now causes my iMac to issue multiple error messages about a USB device drawing too much power. The interesting thing is that this happens even if nothing is attached to the other end of the Lightning cable. Just plugging the cable itself into the iMac causes this error message to appear. I verified that it is the cable that shipped with the iPhone by trying a spare Lightning cable I bought from the Apple Store. This second cable does not cause any issues. It looks like the "smarts" that Apple added to the Lightning cable is more trouble than anything else.

Noticed I passed the 4000 mile mark on my fitbit today. And, I’m closing in on 9 million steps and 7000 floors (stair flights).

I’ve logged these numbers using the original fitbit and the fitbit ultra. I’m giving a lot of thought to buying a fitbit One which has the ability to sync with iOS devices.

Microsoft promotes the soon-to-be-released Surface RT by saying it can let you:

Work anywhere, anytime with Windows RT and Office 2013 RT

And, yet, on the same page it states this, it also says:

Office Home & Student 2013 RT Preview and the final version are not for use in commercial, nonprofit, or revenue generating activities. Commercial license options available (sold separately).

AllAboutMicrosoft’s Mary Jo Foley explains the commercial license options:

Microsoft Office for Windows RT: How to move to a commercial-use license

However, you cannot use Office RT on a Surface RT for work related purposes out of the box without violating the Office RT license.

The PR firm for SRS Labs (now part of DTS, Inc.) sent me small audio enhancing hardware to try out: The iWOW-U.

The iWOW-U retails for $89.99 but is available from Amazon for $59.99. One of the two customer-reviewers on Amazon complains that this model does not have an Apple 30-pin connector as an older model did. Of course, if you just bought a shiny new iPhone 5, this is a good thing. The iWOW-U works with any headset and music producing device (like an iPhone 5) using ordinary mini-jacks. No special connector is required. This also means that it requires charging using a provided micro-USB cable (any micro-USB cable should work).

I’m charging the iWOW-U up now and will give it a spin for a few days before providing my impressions of the device.

Todd Ogasawara, Emil Reyes, and Jay Stone try to make sense of the rants about the iPhone 5 after its announcement and pre-order availability in MobileViews Podcast 59 (just under one hour long).

You can see a full-size model of the as-yet unavailable iPhone 5 that Emil created with a 3D printer in white in the photo to the left. An actual iPhone 4 is in front of it to provide a size comparison. You can learn more about Emil’s company’s 3D modeling and printing services on their website linked below.

Rapid Technology

You can find and subscribe to the MobileViews Podcast on iTunes or listen to it right now using the embedded player below.

Samsung does not have a great track for providing platform upgrades for Android or Windows Phone devices. However, I had a slim glimmer of hope that my Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 tablet might get Jelly Bean when I saw this update screen appear a few days ago. Alas, it was only some kind of minor stability update from Samsung.

So, I tweeted a question to @SamsungMobileUS asking them about an update. You can see their response to me in the screenshot below: @toddogasawara We don’t have any information on this update just yet, but stay tuned for news!

The new T-Mobile unlimited 4G data plan that starts on September 5 appears like a great deal for $20 or $30 a month when paired with a matching voice plan.

However, if you want to tether a WiFi device to your T-Mobile 4G phone, you should be aware that the new unlimited plan does not include tethering. In fact, you need to fall back to one of the existing 3G/4G plans if you plan to tether. The good news is that tethering is available at no extra cost with the current limited 3G/4G plans. Here’s what T-Mobile USA’s public relations firm told me when I asked about tethering and the new unlimited plan.

No, the Unlimited Nationwide 4G plans don’t allow tethering. Customers who want to connect multiple devices to one data plan can opt for one of T-Mobile’s existing 5GB or 10GB Classic or Value plans, which include the Smartphone Mobile HotSpot (tethering) feature at no additional charge.

Forty-eight (48) apps were updated for my iPhone or iPad in the past week. Here’s a summary of the updates I found interesting.
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