I’ve managed to snag some pretty sweet geek toys since I’ve moved down to the US.  One of the nice perks of living in Silicon Valley is you’ve got access to lots of new technologies and also some great competition from wireless providers.

Two new gadgets that I’ve picked up down here are the HTC Incredible and the Apple iPad.

HTC Incredible

As mentioned in one of my previous posts, I’ve recently made the switch from the iPhone to an Android-based device.  This was a tough call for me as I absolutely loved my iPhone 3G… so much so that I was one of the first in line at the Fido store when it was released in Canada a few years ago.  That being said I was eager to pickup a phone here in the US and knowing that there would be a long list of people wanting to get the iPhone 4, I bit the bullet and picked up the HTC Incredible from Verizon.

The phone itself is a beautiful device feels less like an iPod and more like a cell phone, which took a bit of getting used to at first.  One feature I really like is the vibration feedback the phone gives when typing, unlocking and using other functions.  HTC Sense is a nice addition to the phone as well which gives it multiple screens in a fashion that resembles Spaces/Expose on OS X.

The HTC Incredible’s screen isn’t as wide as the iPhone’s screen, which I’ve found to take a bit of getting used to especially with fat thumbs.  However, the OLED screen is a huge improvement from that of the iPhone 3G.  Images are very crisp and the user experience is very snappy and responsive.  It comes packed with a 8 megapixel camera with flash (a huge jump from older iPhone versions).

The only downside I see with the hardware is the battery life.  This is a known issue with the HTC Incredible and has been reported by multiple users.  That being said I regularly charge my phone every night and I’ve never had a problem.

The phone is currently running Android 2.1 which I believe to be a MUCH better phone operating system than iOS.  The fact that it’s open source is a big win for me, I’ve been able to install apps that are outside of the Android Marketplace which is more that can be said about the iPhone.  All this without having to jailbreak (or rooting) the phone.  Widgets are a neat tool as well and allow you to customize the UI of the phone by adding photos, application links and other neat functionality without having to launch an app.

Speaking of apps, some of my favorites on Android include:

• Google Voice - Integrates perfectly with the phone.  Free calls and text messages to Canada is an added benefit.
• Mint - View your bank accounts and access your budget items.  Widget support is awesome as well.
• Dropbox - Access your files on the go, plain and simple.
• RunKeeper - This was a requirement for me before moving to Android.  I use RunKeeper almost every day.  The Android version has less features than that of the iPhone but I’m guessing this will change in the future.
• RememberTheMilk - For managing tasks on the go.  I like the Android version much better than the iPhone.
• OurGroceries - Excellent app for tracking your shopping lists.
• BART Rider - Up-to-date BART schedules.

The only downside I see with this phone is the music player.  It’s sufficient, but it’s obviously not as smooth as the iPhone’s iPod interface.

All in all, I’m really happy that I’ve made the switch from the iPhone to HTC Incredible.  The biggest feature for me has been the Google Voice integration.  I may have jumped ship on the iPhone, but I am still an Apple fanboy at heart…

Apple iPad

I finally gave into the hype and picked up an iPad this week.  Not surprisingly, it was ridiculously hard to find one of these in San Francisco.  Apple stores sell out of these by lunch time and Best Buy only gets a new shipments in a few times a week and sell out quickly.

My initial questions around purchasing an iPad were around WiFi vs. 3G and what size to pickup.  In the end, I ended up going with the 16GB WiFi version, for a number of reasons:

• I primarily plan on using the iPad at home and at the office, both obviously have available WiFi connections.
• In the odd time that I need to get it connected when I’m out and about, I plan on rooting my Incredible and setting it up as a WiFi hotspot.
• I don’t plan on storing a lot of content on the device, so 16GB should be plenty for Apps and a few videos at a time.

The iPad is truly a slick device.  I had played with one briefly in the past but it’s not until I had a few evenings with it and being able to customize it that I realized how impressive it really is.  It’s blazingly fast, which is a nice improvement over the slowness I was having with my old iPhone.  The display is amazingly crisp and is awesome for viewing videos and photos.

Another thing I was really impressed with was the battery life of the iPad.  I’ve been using it extensively over the past few days and I haven’t seen it drop below 50%.

I’ve only had the device for less than a week, but a few of my favorite apps so far include (all are free by the way):

• iBooks - Awesome for downloading e-books.  Text looks crisp and is easy to read.
• Twitterrific - Awesome Twitter client for the iPad, crashes less than TweetDeck.
• IM+ Lite - Great application for connecting to your IM services.  Has Twitter integration built in as well and allows you to browse while staying connected.
• FeeddlerRSS - Great app for syncing with your Google Reader account.
• Dropbox - What can I say, access all your files from your iPad.

I also picked up a Griffin Jumper neoprene sleeve for my iPad, which I’m really happy with.  It provides 100% coverage of the device and is also sturdy enough if I drop it from a few feet.

The only downside I can see with the device at this point is lack of multitasking (which should be coming in the Fall), and no Flash support (lame!).

Conclusion

All in all I’m really happy to have the best of both worlds here.  I’m stoked to be using an Android phone and I’m excited to try Android 2.2 (Froyo).  As well, I’m glad that I’m totally not ditching my Apple roots and have a cool Apple toy to play with.

How about you, do you have an iPad or Android device?  Any cool apps that I should try out?  Let’s hear ‘em!

Dylan

Wow, what a party!

One of the most exciting parts of my moving to San Francisco was my ability to take part in Atlassian Summit 2010.  Last year I attended as a customer and this year I was absolutely honoured to attend this year as an Atlassian employee.

This years event was a total success.  Over 550 customers, partners and Atlassian attended this year which was almost double the number of last years event.  It was held on 3 floors of the beautiful Intercontinental Hotel in downtown San Francisco.  There were countless presentations, talks, product demos and interactions with customers.

Prior to the event some of the Atlassian staff from the US, Europe, Australia and Brazil gathered at Ocean Beach for an amazing bonfire by sunset.  The weather quickly turned cold and I was the only guy wearing shorts and sandals, guess you can tell I’m Canadian!

Wednesday started off with Atlassian Starter Day which I was able to watch the entirety of.  It was an opportunity for customers to watch presentations by Michael Arrington of TechCrunch, Glenn Kelman of Redfin, Steve Ginsberg of Pandora and many others.  The day was packed with great talks and really resonated with me considering I’ve spent pretty much all of my professional career working at start-up companies.

In the evening was the Summit Reception, where customers are partners would register and meet over free drinks and browse the partner pavilion.  It was a great introduction to the event and also an awesome opportunity to interact with customers from across the globe.  I was able to meet people from Australia, Norway, the UK and even Canada!

That night was the second incarnation of the infamous Firewater Party.  Last year the guys from Appfire threw an amazing party and this year they totally outdid themselves.  They managed to score the Presidential Suite in the hotel, which was fully decked with snacks, booze, entertainment and wicked good times.  Big props to them putting on another great event!

During the next evening was the Atlassian Summit Bash, held at Jillian’s Pub.  Atlassian rented the whole bar and supplied all you can eat burgers, fries and fajitas!  Of course there was an open bar, in addition to billiards, poker and a Rock Band tournament.  This was a great opportunity to meet customers and partners in a casual environment.  Needless to say there were some ill people at the office the next day!

On Thursday I had the opportunity to staff the AtlasBar.  This was Atlassian’s homage to Apple’s Genius Bar, which provides the opportunity for customers to ask questions to the experts on our various products.  It was cool to get feedback from real customers and help solve their problems.  I remember asking questions as a customer last year, so it was great to be on the other side!

There’s a pile of photos online from the 3 days, just take a look on Flickr for the #atlassian tag.

For those who may have missed it, we have posted every single presentation online for your viewing pleasure.  I highly recommend checking out the Keynote embedded below to get an idea of what’s in store for Atlassian in the coming year:

Looking forward to seeing you at Atlassian Summit 2011!

Dylan

Phew, and what a crazy month it has been!  My initial plan to post every week was obviously not followed.  But now that my beloved Canucks are out of the playoffs, and the greatest TV show ever has finally come to a close, I’m hoping to have more time to provide updates via blogging.

Moving In

Not long after I arrived in SF, I was lucky enough to snag an awesome apartment in the Glen Park area.  This is a tad south of the city, but close enough to make it to the center of San Francisco in about 30 minutes by walking/BART.  The area is rich in culture, a blend of Hispanic and Chinese really shows the diversity of this city.  The apartment itself is not far from Mission Street, which has an amazing array of food markets, restaurants and bars.  I’m about a 10 minute walk from the grocery store which is really handy, and there are plenty of shops within 2-5 minutes that will sell a cold case of beer for cheap.

Over the weekend I came across the Broken Record, which is a local pub about 15 minutes away.  While it does seem like a dive (heck, the Yelp listing names it as a dive bar), the people were very friendly and the food was delicious.  This is a whiskey bar, and while I’m not a big whiskey drinker the locals told me I will be shortly.  Pretty cool stuff!

Transportation

As mentioned above my new place is quite close to the Glen Park BART station, which makes it easy to explore the city.  However, my main mode of transport these days is by bicycle.  I invested a few hundred dollars in some commuter bike gear (portable pump, night lights, bag, etc.) and so long as you stay away from the hills, San Francisco is an easy city to navigate.  I can usually get to work in about 15 minutes.  In addition, over the weekend I did a bike ride to Golden Gate Park in about 45 minutes.  From there it’s an amazing ride back home long Ocean Beach on the west coast of the city, following the Pacific Ocean.

There are times that a vehicle would be handy though, like making a trip out to IKEA in Oakland to load up on some funiture.  Enter Zipcar!  Zipcar is an awesome car-sharing program with many locations in San Francisco.  Basically, you go online to reserve a vehicle for a set amount of time, and pay about $9/hour.  This covers the car rental, gas and insurance.  I paid about $25 total to rent a car for a few hours, head out to IKEA, load it up and bring it back.  I don’t plan to use the service that often but it’s really handy to have in case you need to drive somewhere.

Life @ Atlassian

It’s been a busy first month working for Atlassian and getting ramped up with the team.  I love our office located in the Mission District, it’s easy to get to and there’s an unlimited supply of restaurants to check out during lunch time.  The team has been amazingly supportive and it’s been exciting to meet new people and hear their stories.

We’ve also had some amazing events, from Kayaking in Sausalito to a company picnic on Dolores Park.  Too much fun I tell ya!

June is going to be a busy month for us, as the 2nd Annual Atlassian Summit will be taking place on June 9 - June 11.  Last year I attended as a customer, this year I’ll be attending as an employee.  I’m booked to work Starter Day, as well as the AtlasBar which will be an awesome experience.  What more, there will be lots of good times had with the Welcome Reception, Firewater After-party and Summit Bash.  And the best news of all is that this years event is sold-out.  I’m excited to have a blast with our awesome customers and get a better understanding of how they use our products!

Events

Of course there’s lots of do in San Francisco.  As mentioned in my previous post I’m a big concert fan so I’ve been trying to get to as many live events as I could.  A quick recap of what I’ve seen so far:

• Jakob Dylan at the Regency Ballroom - An amazing venue with some awesome tunes.
• Jeff Garlin at Cobb’s Comedy Club - My first real comedy show, Jeff was hilarious!
• San Francisco Giants vs. Arizona Diamond Backs - Explored AT&T Park and got to see the Giants come out with a win!
• Mardi Gras - An awesome display of culture in the Mission District with food, music and dancing

Next up on the plate is Thrice this week back at the Regency Ballroom.  I’ve also got The Black Keys lined up for the fall, as well I’ll be heading back to Cobb’s to see Tracy Morgan later in the summer.

That’s all for now!

Dylan