This is shaping up to be a big holiday season for iPads. Apple’s selection of tablets has improved dramatically with this Fall’s offerings, and that means that your giftees will be looking for accessories to make their iPads more enjoyable. Two outstanding products have crossed my radar recently that each improve your tablet experience, but in very different ways.
这正在变成iPad的盛大购物节。随着今年秋季发布新品，苹果（Apple）提供的平板电脑选择大幅增加。这意味着，你的送礼对象将去寻找各种配件，以让他们的iPad更加多彩。最近，两款优秀的产品进入了我的视野，它们都能提升你的平板电脑使用体验，但方法大相径庭。
Among other things, the iPad is a great device for consuming content. Whether ebooks, movies or web content, the scale and hand-appeal of the iPads makes the reading and viewing experience more intimate and personal. But holding an iPad in an optimal position for reading or viewing for a sustained period of time is not so easy. So here we have this sleek, modern appliance that we prop up on our laps in haphazard ways. Enter Flote, the fully adjustable, ergonometric iPad stand. Flote started as a Kickstarter campaign and offers a desktop stand ($219.99) and an M2 floor stand ($299.99.) I have not used the desktop stand, but I have been demoing the floor stand for the last couple of weeks and I can report that it makes the reading process incredibly enjoyable. The responsiveness that you feel in terms of being able to adjust the exact position and angle is appropriate to the responsiveness of the iPad itself. It is also an attractive and modern accessory that fits well with most decor. It is extremely sturdy to the point of feeling a bit overbuilt for the weight of the device suspended, but the overall user experience is of well-built solidity and graceful movement.
我还没用过桌面的那款，但在过去数周一直在使用落地支架，我可以报告说，它让阅读过程变得非常愉快。在将支架调节到自己期望的位置和角度方面，Flote带给你的响应性跟iPad本身的响应性相得益彰。它同样是一款具有吸引力的现代化配件，能够很好地跟大多数家居装饰进行搭配。Flote非常坚固，以至于让人觉得这款装置相对于其支撑的设备的重量来说显得用力过度，但整体的使用体验很好，精致可靠，而且能够顺畅地移动。
Since the iPad’s other great ability is as a device for creating content, I can report that the Flote is also very useful as an iPad camera stand. I really enjoy the resemblance of the iPad to the ground glass of a traditional view camera and like to use it to shoot still life objects. The Flote has a little wobble, and is a little heavy to move about, but allows very spontaneous camera adjustment. The virtue of the iPad as a camera is that you have such detailed feedback of what your actual image looks like, and being super-responsive about the position while avoiding the camera shake potential of hand held is a big plus. One word of warning for using the Flote for the iPad in portrait orientation while perpendicular to the floor: the spring-mounted clamp that holds the device holds it from the longer sides, so there is some danger of slippage in that precise position. Best to remove the iPad between uses or merely turn it parallel to the floor.
iPad的另一大功能是作为一款内容创作设备，基于这一点，我可以报告说，Flote同样也是一款非常实用的iPad相机支架。iPad跟传统大画幅相机的取景屏很相似，我真的很欣赏这一点，并喜欢用它来拍摄静物。Flote移动的时候有一点摇晃，而且还有点重，但可让你很轻松地对相机进行调整。作为相机，iPad的优点在于，你可以看到实际图像的详尽细节，而且响应性超好，同时避免了手持相机的抖动。对于纵向垂直于地面使用iPad的情况，这里有一个警告：Flote的弹簧夹夹住的是较长的两侧，因此这种位置的iPad可能会有滑落的危险。不使用的时候，最好把iPad从Flote上拿下来，或是将iPad与地面平行放置。
Update: In response to my concern about the possible slippage, Flote founder David Cutler tells me that “we are also designing a new piece to replace the four cushions, which tend to slide over time due to the adhesive. These will be little rubber tips that will slide over the Cradle’s ‘finger’, also giving the Cradle a more secure grip even on the Air. Once manufactured, we’ll be sending them out to all of our existing customers as well.”
更新：我谈到了iPad可能从Flote上滑落的问题，作为回应，该公司创始人大卫·卡特勒（David Cutler）告诉我：“我们也在设计研发新产品，以替换那4个弹性衬垫，因为黏合剂的关系，它们会随着时间的推移而松脱。新产品将采用小巧的橡胶头，它们可以在夹具的“指头”上滑动，让夹具更稳固地夹住iPad，甚至是iPad Air。一旦生产出来，我们将把它们寄送给所有的现有客户。”
And speaking of the iPad as a content creation tool, 53, the maker of the amazing Paper drawing app for the iPad has just come out with Pencil, the companion stylus for Paper. Pencil comes in Walnut ($59.95) and a Graphite colored brushed aluminum ($49.95) and gives you even more control of your line with Paper. When paired via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) with your iPad and used with Paper you get the added features of palm rejection (which allows you to rest your hand on the screen without it making a mark), erasing, and blending. It also makes a useful, non-connected stylus for any other iPad application. Pencil is a pleasure to use and is at the forefront of this missing link in the tablet ecosystem. Just because we don’t need a stylus to interact with a tablet doesn’t mean that it’s not really useful in certain circumstances. I’m expecting more such devices in the coming year, including a cloud-connected stylus from Adobe’s Project Mighty that will have the virtue of being able to interact with a wider variety of apps while managing settings and content between applications. In the meantime, I will happily use Pencil to doodle in Paper, and hopefully start using it to make drawings for my blog posts.
我期待在新的一年中看到更多这样的配件，其中包括奥多比公司（Adobe）Project Mighty项目的云连接手写笔，它将能够跟更多的应用进行交互，同时在应用间管理设置和内容。在此期间，我将很高兴地使用Pencil手写笔在Paper应用中涂鸦，并希望能够从为自己的博客文章画插图开始。