If you are a Dr. Bott reseller, surely you’ve heard of the Pogo Stylus and Pogo Sketch for iPhone and iPod Touch.

Once upon a time the stylus may have been associated only with the business man and his conservatively boring Palm device. But ever since Pogo hit the scene, stylusing got a whole lot more hipster.

And, if rocking a sleek aluminum pogo sketch on your iPhone or iPod touch wasn’t hot enough for you, try taking that little time machine of yours to March 2010 and giving the Pogo Sketch a spin it’ll remember on the all new iPad.

Think of it – stuck in traffic on the way to your next sales call and you just got your nails done super fancy. Fingertips are great, but won’t cut it with nails if you want to use iPad to review that spreadsheet for the meeting, and maybe flip through the first chapter of “How to Win Friends and Influence People” really quick.

Or, what if you’re about to shred repis on the nar nar rad up at the mountain? (You’re about to go snowboarding). Maybe you want to review some sports coverage in the lodge before you head back up but you really would rather keep the gloves on. Pogo Sketch comes in quite handy.

Heck, with Brushes app for iPad you could even paint the sunset you see from the car or the lodge, and have a lot more precision in doing so when using Sketch.

All I’m saying is, I’d stock up now on this product and be ready for the rush.

It has now been a few days since Apple’s event and the dust is settling. Numerous articles have poured in and everybody is buzzing talking about the product we’re all expecting in just under two months time. The overall reaction is that the iPad is going to be a great device altogether.

All of the press contacts that got a chance to handle the iPad models after the announcement had only great things to say about the speed of the device, noting that it was plenty fast at any task that could be performed. Apple’s mysterious A4 chip is powering the device, and has also been heavily under the magnifying glass.

The proposed battery life makes this a great option for hanging out in your living room or sitting through a long meeting. Some sources have been skeptical about the battery life, but many have been digging into comparisons with other similar (and not-so-similar hardware) and the verdict is that 10 hours is very possible. The beautiful IPS display will definitely be sucking up most of the juice (which is why it has such an incredible standby time), but some have also researched a newer version of IPS displays that are considerably less power-hungry, which helps support the feasibility of the awesome battery life.

There are many claims to what the iPad will do and what it won’t do, there are definitely many people on both sides of the fence, but there is one thing that we can be sure of before the iPad gets released: Apple enters new markets carefully, but it does truly great things where it does.

An audio feed from Ustream coming loud through our big old Toshiba plasma screen. Laptops constantly updating the live feeds and rumor sites, bets being placed on it’s name, price points, and possible features. Somebody yells “MacTouch!” and another answers “No, I think iSlate!” Someone else quietly says “No, iPad.”

When Steve enters any building in downtown SF and has announced that he will do so, we here at Dr. Bott poise for action. So, as soon as Jan 26th was on the calendar, we started working with a number of our vendors to brace for a product that could revolutionize the way we all do life. Typically, we are not disappointed and today is no different.

The iPad brings with it the possibility of giving ease and innovation to many industries and parts of society. For instance, teachers are already using iPod Touch in the classroom, and iPad will bring with it even more ways for students to interact with information. Doctors could benefit from such a sleek and futuristic little “clipboard”, and the construction foreman could do his planning in the office, and then head straight to the job site using the iPad to show his team visually what needs to happen next.

While the applications are endless, it’s the most fun for us geeks to get down to the nitty gritty technical specifications.

Here’s what I know; let’s start with speed. Although this is no i7, Apple’s 1GHz A4 chip is pretty speedy compared to the processors in comparable devices (if such devices exist).

Storage is 16, 32, or 64GB of flash memory. No word on how much RAM this baby has, but probably a bit more than the iPhone.

The form factor is of course sexy and sleek in typical Apple fashion, with a top of the line IPS LCD Screen 8” wide screen. It’s a tiny .5” thick, weighs only 1.5 lbs, and has 10 hrs battery life, with about a month of stand by time.

All I can say is I can’t wait to be on my yacht, reading Moby Dick, listening to Moby Dick by Led Zeppelin, and editing some sweet spreadsheets on Numbers ALL AT THE SAME TIME. 2010 is going to be rad. As Miley says, “Party in the USA!”

Tuesday, January 27th 2010 marks a day when Apple has once again released a product with the potential to change the daily lifestyle of millions of people. The way we communicate, manage our time, enjoy entertainment, and read our morning newspaper or best-selling novel has all been combined into one device; the iPad.

Using the same OS and multi-touch technology we have all learned to love, the iPad is essentially an iPod touch on steroids. It’s 9.7″ screen opens up an entirely new set of functions that simply haven’t been logical or enjoyable on the iPhone or iPod touch.

Instead of walking to the end of your driveway or heading down to your local grocery store to pick up your local newspaper, you will now be able to catch up on the latest news on the same device that you schedule your morning meetings with. True, this has already been possible with smartphones and the netbooks, but the experience has never felt this close to reading a real book or magazine.

With a 9.7″ multi-touch screen, wifi, optional 3G connectivity and all the features we’ve come to expect from an iPod touch, the iPad has now entered the market and will change the way we live our daily lives from this point on.

Amongst the host of Apple products that got updates Tuesday, was the pleasant surprise of a new and improved Mac Mini. With a speed bump on the processor to a 2.6GHz Core 2 Duo CPU (up from 2Ghz), 2GB RAM (up from 1GB), and a 160GB hard drive (up from 120GB), the Mac Mini is a whole lot of computer for just $599.

For $799 you get a 2.53GHz Core 2 Duo, 4GB of memory (up from 2GB), and a 320GB hard drive. Both machines still employ the GeForce 9400M GPU and 8x SuperDrive.

But probably the coolest development of all is the Mac Mini server. Within the same form factor, Apple takes out the optical drive leaving room for an additional hard drive. For $999 you get two 500GB HDDs, Snow Leopard Server (unlimited clients), 4GB of RAM, and a GeForce 9400M GPU.

Here at Dr. Bott, we employ a number of Mac Minis in the server room. Our IT Manager, Chris Irvine, speaks highly of the Mini as a server.

“It turns out to be an excellent alternative for servers that don’t require ‘big iron’ features…saving on space, electricity, and heat output, all things that come at a premium in the data center” said Irvine.

Also, if you’re looking for a convenient and cool way to show off your new bundle of joy (the Mini), you may want to check out the Mini Mount by H-Squared and the StackAMini by Dr. Bott. The Mini Mount is a high-quality acrylic mount that lets you mount the computer vertically or horizontally, while the StackAMini allows you to easily stack multiple Minis.

The Apple online store was down yesterday morning as Mac fans waited in anticipation to see what shiny, new products Apple would reveal. In addition to a refresh of the white MacBook, Mac mini, and a few other products, Apple announced two new models in their beloved line of iMac computers. The entry level machine sports a 21.5-inch display while the more powerful version has a 27-inch display.

As expected, both new iMacs feature an updated design, and faster processors. But with the new design, it seems Apple is getting serious about wanting users to make the iMac the center of the video watching experience. Both models feature a 16:9 display which Apple says are “perfect for HD video.” The larger 27-inch model even supports video input capability, allowing users to connect other media devices to play on their iMac’s display.

Add a USB TV receiver, like elgato’s EyeTV or TubeStick from equinux, and suddenly you have an iMac with TV tuning and DVR capabilities. Or, get your content online from iTunes or Hulu. Either way, it may be time to post your old TV on Craigslist.

Yesterday Apple brought several new products to the table, one of which is a refresh for the $999 MacBook. The white MacBook of last week had certainly been dated, having initially been introduced in 2006.

The models arrived at the stores before the announcement, so that in Apple fashion, they could be purchased the moment they were released. After a little snag yesterday with the UPC being so new that it wasn’t setup in their system, I’m sitting here typing this blog article on it. Right off the bat I can tell the construction of the polycarbonate unibody helps it feel stronger and more sturdy.

As a comparison to the base model 13″ MacBook Pro (aluminum) which is $200 more, it has closed the gap considerably. The only differentiating factors now are the missing FireWire 800 port and SD card slot. The white MacBook actually comes with a larger hard drive standard (250gb vs. 160gb). It has gained quite a few features such as the faster 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo processor, faster DDR3 RAM, LED backlit screen, and the glass multi-touch trackpad.

The new, more-rounded edges certainly give it a chubbier feel, but it also somehow looks much sleeker than the previous version. It attracts fingerprints (as can be expected), but that isn’t anything a little iKlear couldn’t solve.

Due to the gap being so small between this MacBook and the aluminum model, it seems like Apple will bring some new features to the Pro line soon. Either way, the added improvements really make the white MacBook a great value for casual users, college kids, or anybody looking for a decently powerful Mac laptop on a budget.

Over the coming days, we’ll be filling our MacBook category with products like cases, sleeves, keyboard covers, and cleaning solutions that are tested and verified to work with the newest model.

At a special media event last week, Apple announced updates to their line of iPod products. Even though there were minor updates to the iPod touch, classic, and shuffle, the real star of the show was the iPod nano.

In addition to some shiny new colors and a larger storage capacity, the new 5th generation iPod nano comes with a built-in FM radio, pedometer, and even a video camera.

Dr. Bott is pleased to announce that we have nearly 50 iPod nano 5G cases ready for you to order from great vendors like, Griffin Technology, Belkin, Scosche, Marware, Speck, and Nextware.

New products for the iPod nano 5G are being added to our website often, so please check these new product categories for the very latest we have to offer:

iPod nano 5G
iPod nano 5G Cases
iPod nano 5G Accessories

After much anticipation Apple’s next generation operating system, Snow Leopard, is now available. This update brings about many “under the hood” changes that focus on improving the system’s overall stability and speed. Snow Leopard features several next-generation technologies including a 64-Bit computing environment, Grand Central Dispatch, OpenCL, and Quicktime X.

Perhaps one of the most astounding things about Snow Leopard is it’s price. At just $29, Apple has opened the door for nearly anyone to upgrade. However, Snow Leopard does require your Mac to have an Intel processor, but the rest of the specs are very reasonable. If your Mac is running Leopard, has at least 1GB of RAM, 5GB of hard drive space, and a DVD drive, you can upgrade right away.

Snow Leopard is available at Apple’s online store, Apple’s retail stores or any Apple authorized reseller. To find your local Dr. Bott Reseller, click here.

Each year my family and I go camping with a group of friends and their families to the Oregon coast. Although I usually bring along my iPhone, it generally doesn’t get much use. The speaker is too weak to play music outside and there isn’t a great place to put the iPhone when my kids want to watch a movie together.

This year I decided to bring along the soundSCREEN by Scosche. Although it’s not the loudest or best sounding portable speaker system I’ve used, it is by far the most versatile and convenient. soundSCREEN, creates a sort of “picture frame” around your iPod making all seem like one device. On the back there is a cleaver stand that pivots 90 degrees and allows you to view your device’s screen either vertically or horizontally.

I used soundSCREEN to listen to music while we played card games and sat around the campfire, and the kids watched a video together. My friend Bruce and I even used the soundSCREEN while we played the iPhone app “Pocket Tanks” together.

Although I used soundSCREEN with an iPhone, it was originally designed to work with iPod touch 1G/2G, iPod nano 3G/4G, and iPod classic.

Whether you’re looking for a versatile, compact, portable audio system to take along with you on the road or an attractive audio source that sits on your desk or kitchen counter, you can’t go wrong with soundSCREEN.