Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on March 16, 2011
Apple Releases iOS 4.3 for AT&T iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad
iOS 4.3 adds a wireless hotspot option for the AT&T iPhone. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com
Apple this morning released a software update for its mobile operating system, introducing a wireless hotspot feature for AT&T iPhones, a faster Safari browser and expanded AirPlay video streaming, among other features. Read More…
Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on March 9, 2011
Skyfire Porn Browser Heading to iPad
Skyfire, a web browser that I recently concluded was primarily a porn browser for iPhone, is heading to the iPad soon.
Demonstrated in the video above, the Skyfire iPad app will carry some new features in addition to its core functionality. Like the iPhone version, Skyfire automatically transcodes Flash video into HTML5 so it’s playable on Apple’s iOS, which doesn’t normally support Flash.
The iPad version of Skyfire adds the ability to view your Facebook, Twitter and Google Reader feeds though I’m not sure why you’d want to. As I’ve argued before, most people are going to download this app to watch naked people do naughty things to each other, because otherwise there isn’t much other compelling video out there that’s still encoded in Flash.
A Skyfire spokesman said the iPad app should be arriving “hopefully before Christmas” and will probably cost $5.
Brian is a Wired.com technology reporter focusing on Apple and Microsoft. He’s also writing a book about the always-connected mobile future called Always On (publishing April 2011 by Da Capo).
Follow @bxchen and @gadgetlab on Twitter.
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Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on December 17, 2010
PlayBook Smokes iPad Browser in Blackberry Speed-Test Video
RIM has released a video pitching the upcoming PlayBook tablet against the current iPad, and it’s pretty impressive. Clearly the tests were chosen to favor RIM’s own device, but even so, it beats the iPad handily in each one.
Loading a regular webpage, for example, sees the PlayBook finished with everything, rendering and all, while the iPad still ticks along. Next, it’s on to Flash, which the iPad doesn’t do at all. Smartly, RIM chose to use a non-video serving site (in this case Adidas) as most video providers offer iPad-compatible streams as an alternative to Adobe’s proprietary plugin. Even so, the animation on the Flash site stutters noticeably (this is probably Flash’s fault, not the PlayBook’s).
Then we move to Javascript and HTML5, and while the example shown clearly favors the PlayBook, there are plenty of sites where the iPad works great.
Still, the raw rendering speed of the PlayBook’s browser is obvious, and the Flash support will make it useful for browsing restaurant websites on the go (why do all restaurant sites use Flash?). RIM must be proud. It must also be aware that the PlayBook won’t be out until next year, when it will be up against the iPad 2, not the current iPad.
BlackBerry PlayBook and iPad Comparison: Web Fidelity [Blackberry YouTube Channel]
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Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on November 17, 2010
Apple Upgrade Slows Older iPhones, Lawsuit Claims
Software upgrades are supposed to fix things, but sometimes they do the opposite.
Disgruntled about the effects of an operating system update on her iPhone, a customer wants to battle Apple in court with a class-action suit.
San Diego resident Bianca Wofford last week filed a lawsuit seeking class-action status, alleging that Apple committed false advertising and unfair and deceptive business practices by encouraging iPhone 3G users to download iOS 4, the latest version of Apple’s mobile OS. Wofford claims that even though the iOS upgrade promises fixes and improvements, it made her second-generation iPhone unusable.
“The true fact of the matter … is that the iOS 4 is a substantial ‘downgrade’ for earlier iPhone devices and renders many of them virtually useless iBricks,” Wofford’s lawyers wrote in thecomplaint [pdf].
Apple did not respond to a request for comment.
Apple’s iOS operating system has received a major upgrade once a year, and the company has disclosed that some new features do not work with older handsets because they carry less memory or slower processors. When Apple announced iOS 4, it said that multitasking would not work on the second-generation iPhone, for example, but it would be supported on newer handsets. Also, Apple said iOS 4 was not compatible with the original iPhone at all — but it was supposed to work with the more recent iPhone 3G.
However, when iOS 4 shipped in the summer, some iPhone 3G customers complained that the update caused performance to become very sluggish. Months later at Apple’s Apple TV press conference, Steve Jobs said iOS 4.1 would address performance issues on the iPhone 3G. Some tests showed that iOS 4.1 improved the iPhone 3G’s performance only slightly.
In her complaint, Wofford claims that Apple was aware that iOS 4 would cause degraded performance on older iPhones, and she accused Apple of purposely creating an incentive for customers to purchase newer iPhones.
“Apple has falsely, intentionally and repeatedly represented to owners and consumers of the iPhone 3G that its new operating system for the device, iOS4, was of a nature, quality, and a significant upgrade for the functionality of all iPhone devices, when in fact, the installation and use of the iOS4 on iPhone 3G resulted in the opposite a device with little more use than that of a paper weight,” the complaint read.
Wofford’s suit, filed in the judicial district of the county of San Diego, requires approval from a judge to gain class-action status. If it became a class-action suit and won, Apple would likely be forced to pay damages to iPhone 3G customers.
Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com
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Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on November 3, 2010
Browser App to Deliver Flash to iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch
Steve Jobs has successfully prevented Adobe Flash from getting on the iPhone for years, but a new iOS app promises to bring Flash video to the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch without upsetting the CEO.
Demonstrated below, Skyfire is a web browser that automatically transcodes Flash video into HTML5 so that it can be displayed on your iDevice (instead of the blue LEGO block symbolizing a lack of Flash support).
To our knowledge, Skyfire will be the first app of its kind to offer a roundabout method for watching Flash videos, when it goes live in the App Store this week.
Apple has prohibited Flash from running on iOS devices ever since the original iPhone launched in 2007. In an open letter published April, Jobs said that Flash was the No. 1 reason Macs crash, and he didn’t wish to reduce reliability on iOS products.In the same letter, Jobs vocalized his support for HTML5, a new web standard that does not rely on plug-ins.
“New open standards created in the mobile era, such as HTML5, will win on mobile devices (and PCs too),” Jobs said.
The Skyfire app only transcodes Flash videos into HTML5 not games. A Skyfire spokesman said the Skyfire app was developed with oversight and feedback from Apple.
“It adheres to every guideline put forth by Apple regarding HTML5 video playback for iOS,” the spokesman said. “Skyfire will allow consumers to play millions of Flash videos on Apple devices without the technical problems for which Jobs banned Flash.”
The app was submitted late August, and it will go live in the App Store on Thursday.
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Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on November 2, 2010
Tiny Dock-Dongle Adds GPS to iPad, iPod Touch
There’s not much to say about the Bad Elf GPS, and that’s a good thing. The tiny, plain plastic unit, about the size of a box of matches, plugs into the 30-pin connector of any iOS device and magically adds GPS capability. It has a green LED to tell you it is working and a MicroUSB port for pass-through charging/syncing of the host iDevice. It costs $99, $10 more than the TomTom car-kit for the iPod Touch, and half the price of the Dual iPod cradle which also adds a battery.
The Bad Elf won’t turn your iPad into a Google Maps machine – you still need an internet connection to use GPS with online services. If you have an iPod Touch or iPad partnered with a MiFi device, or you use apps that store their maps locally, then you’re good to go – just plug the dongle into the port, wait for a lock and your apps will believe they’re running on a GPS-equipped machine.
This little box is probably more useful with the iPad than the smaller iPod, if only because the iPad had a battery beefy enough to sustain a notoriously power-hungry GPS radio. If you’re planning on adding GPS to your iPod, then you should probably pick the Dual for its extra battery.
If you really want GPS, though, buy the 3G iPad. It’s just $130 more than the Wi-Fi-only model, and you have a SIM-slot so you can always choose to add a data-plan later.
Bad Elf GPS [Bad El. Thanks, Brett!]
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Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on October 18, 2010
VLC Media Player Coming to iPhone and iPod Touch
Applidium, the software company who ported media player VLC to the iPad, has announced that a universal iOS version was under review by Apple and that they expect it to be quickly approved. Since Apple approved the iPad version for the App Store last month, it’s overwhelmingly likely that iPhone and iPod touch users will soon be able to download VLC as well.
VLC Media Player brings support for a tremendous number of popular media file formats to iOS devices, particularly movie and audio files that QuickTime can’t play. Demand for VLC from iPhone users was strong enough that an unofficial port was available for jailbroken phones more than two years ago.
Wired.com’s Charlie Sorrel got an early hands-on with VLC for iPad, and called it simpler and prettier than the desktop app, while remaining just as versatile. Now that some bugs have been fixed and features have been added, iPhone and iPod Touch users will get to see an even better iteration.
Unfortunately, it looks like users of older iPhones and iPod Touches will be left behind. Only the iPhone 4 and 3GS and their same-generation iPod touch counterparts will be officially supported. According to Applidium, the iPhone 3G and earlier models don’t have the processing power to do the on-the-fly decoding VLC requires.
Other changes include support for opening media files from Mail or Safari directly in VLC, bug fixes and some speed improvements.
VLC pour iPhone et iPod bientt disponible sur l’AppStore [Applidium]
Image by Applidium
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Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on October 12, 2010
First Look: iOS 4.2 Imbues iPad With Multitasking, Printing
Poor iPad customers. It feels like it’s been an eternity since the iPhone and iPod Touch gained multitasking with iOS 4, released in June, while owners of the tablet have been frozen in time with boring old iOS 3.Fortunately, iOS 4.2 is due for launch November, which will bring the iPad up to speed.
And based on our hands-on testing with an early beta release of iOS 4.2, there’s plenty to look forward to. Multitasking is even better on the media-rich tablet than on its smaller siblings, grouping apps into folders makes the entire tablet experience feel less inundating, and finally, the iPad will get a highly demanded feature: wireless printing.
We couldn’t test all the new features due to the unavailability of some necessary hardware, but here’s a quick first look of what you’ll get with iOS 4.2 in a few months.
Multitasking
Multitasking on the iPad works the same as it does on the iPhone or iPod Touch: Hit the Home button twice and an app drawer pops up at the bottom of the screen. In the drawer, the iPad displays apps running in the background, and you tap an app to switch to it immediately with a feature called Fast App Switching. (See our explainer on mobile multitasking if you’re curious.) When switching between apps, the iPad is noticeably faster than the iPhone or iPod Touch, and boy is it buttery smooth. It’s not a brand new feature to iOS 4, but it’s the most important addition that iPad customers should anticipate.
AirPrint
If you’re still into killing trees and wasting ink, iOS 4.2 will introduce wireless printing to the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. Apple claims that when this feature is fully working, you’ll be able to connect to a Wi-Fi network and wirelessly print from your device without installing any drivers. (Having wrestled with dozens of printers at my previous job, I am pessimistic about printing ever becoming this easy.) One major caveat: The printers have to be configured on your Mac or PC to share over a network, or the printer has to be compatible with AirPlay. Only HP so far has partnered with Apple to offer AirPrint-ready printers.
We weren’t able to test AirPrint because it requires a yet-to-be-released version of Mac OS X (10.6.5), and we don’t have one of those new HP printers. But we’ll keep you posted once we get a chance to try it out.
AirPlay
Perhaps the most intriguing new feature in iOS 4.2 will be AirPlay, a feature that allows you wirelessly stream media from your iOS device to an Apple TV or an AirPort Express. Picture this scenario: You’re watching Inlglourious Basterds on your iPad during your commute on the train, and mid-way through the movie you hop off and walk home. You want to finish the movie while you eat dinner, so you take your iPad, launch the movie, hit the AirPlay button and boom you can stream it straight to your Apple TV and watch it on your big screen.
You can do the same with music and photos, so AirPlay basically turns your iOS device into a fancy multimedia remote. This feature has a lot of potential to become even more interesting if Apple eventually opens AirPlay to stream third-party content to your television. (Hulu or Pandora on my TV without adding more cables? Yes, please.)
Again, the new Apple TV ain’t out yet, so we can’t give you a hands-on verdict yet, but we will as soon as we get that gear.
Source:wired.com
Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on September 16, 2010
Apple Answers Questions About App Rejections, Raises Others
Apple on Thursday published a set of rules about the types of content that aren’t allowed in the iOS App Store, answering questions that have been bugging software developers and customers for years while introducing some new ambiguities.
Still, it’s an important step. By publishing the guidelines, Apple mobile customers will be able to know what they can and can’t get on an iOS device versus, say, an Android phone. Also, third-party programmers will have a clearer sense of whether or not to invest in developing an app, whereas before they were subject to rejection without knowing what they weren’t allowed to do. However, some developers think parts of the guidelines could be more clear.
“By no means is what they put out today perfect,” said Justin Williams, developer of Second Gear software, who quit iPhone development last year. “There are some vague areas. Butcompared to where we were yesterday, it’s a big improvement.”
Apple CEO Steve Jobs has described the App Store as a “curated platform” that is regulated to ensure a high quality, secure experience for customers. iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch get third-party applications through the App Store, and Apple must approve any software before it can be sold through the store. Unless you hack your iOS device, the App Store is the only way to get additional native software.
The regulated App Store model deviates from the traditional experience of owning a PC, where customers can typically purchase and install any software that’s compatible with their computers. Critics have argued that by curating the iOS platform, Apple tightly controls the mobile devices that customers own as well as the developers who create software for them.
Additionally, by not publishing the guidelines on its iOS app review policy, programmers were left guessing as to what they were allowed to create, potentially putting a bottleneck on their innovation. Publishing the list of app review guidelines a step that Wired.com called for Apple to take in a previous editorial addresses this potential problem of self-censorship.
“Hopefully it will give developers increased confidence when starting projects,” said Jamie Montgomerie, developer of theEucalyptus book-reading app, which was approved by Apple after its controversial rejection. “I suspect there are a lot of interesting apps that were never made because people were scared of the approval process.”
Apple’s seven-page list of guidelines splits reasons for app rejections into 11 categories. Reasons for rejection range from technical to editorial offenses: Apps that crash will be rejected, for example, and apps that defame people in a mean-spirited way are rejected, with the exception of political satirists and humorists.
“We hope they will help you steer clear of issues as you develop your app, so that it speeds through the approval process when you submit it,” Apple said in a statement Thursday about the app guidelines.
The publication of the guidelines is a major step toward transparency for a company as opaque as Apple. Since the App Store opened in 2008, critics scrutinized the App Store for its undisclosed editorial guidelines, which resulted in seemingly arbitrary rejections of a wide variety of applications.
For example, Apple in 2009 rejected an app called Me So Holy, which enabled iPhone users to edit their self-portraits to look like Jesus Christ. However, Apple that year approved Baby Shaker, a game that involved shaking a baby to death. Apple later pulled Baby Shaker, admitting its approval was a mistake.
Because of its unclear app approval system, some developers gave up on making content for the App Store because they couldn’t be sure that an app would be a wise investment of their time and money. Second Gear developer Williams said he quit iPhone development last year because Apple didn’t disclose its policies.
“One of the big reasons I got frustrated was I didn’t like the black box review system, which is basically you’re submitting your apps to the review process and you have no idea what the review process is,” Williams said. “I think [Apple publishing guidelines] is a good step towards being more up front and honest about what the criteria is.”
However, Williams noted that there was still room for improvement, as several parts of the guidelines are still unclear. For example, one clause in the guidelines reads apps will be rejected if they duplicate functionality of other apps, “particularly if there are too many of them.” Williams said it was unclear how many is “too many,” and such vagueness could discourage developers from competing with other apps in the App Store.
It also remains a question as to whether Apple’s App Store is now allowing Adobe to join the iOS scene. In addition to publishing guidelines, Apple said in a press release that it was “relaxing all restrictions on the development tools used to crease iOS apps, so long as the resulting apps do not download any code. This change was not detailed in Apple’s guidelines, but some are speculating that Adobe’s iPhone Packager,a tool to automatically convert Flash software into native iPhone apps, will be allowed — whereas before third-party app creation tools were banned. Wired.com’s Epicenter will have more to report soon on that aspect of Apple’s App Store revisions.
Brian X. Chen is author of an upcoming book about the always-connected mobile future titled Always On, due for publication Spring 2011. To keep up with his coverage in real time, follow @bxchen or @gadgetlab on Twitter.
Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com
Source:wired.com
Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on September 9, 2010
New iPod Touch Easiest to Open Yet, Says iFixit
With a blast from a heat gun and a quick twist of a plastic spudger, the iFixit team found themselves inside the new, slim iPod Touch. First, the question you’re all asking: how much RAM does it have? The new Touch has just 256MB, the same as the iPad and half that of the iPhone’s 512MB. That means a lot less can be held in memory at once, which in turn means that any apps running in the background will wink out of life much quicker.
The super-slim body is the reason the Touch has such a crappy camera: the iPhone’s 5MP cam is just too big to fit. There are some additions to the case, though: the Touch now has a real speaker-grill, presumably to make FaceTime calling possible, and it loses the little plastic RF window on the back which used to let the Wi-Fi in and out. Now the antenna is near the glass panel.
The vibrator, which was revealed in FCC photographs and also pimped as a FaceTime alert on Apple’s own site, has disappeared like an out-of-favor politician from a Stalin-era photo. My guess is that it was pulled to keep the price down to $229 in the base model.
The other big change is of course the retina-display, which quadruples the number of pixels on the screen. Right now it is unknown whether it shares IPS (in-plane-switching) tech with the other iDevices and recent iMacs. IPS is what gives a screen an almost 180-degree viewing-angle.
It looks like Apple has squeezed a lot inside, while simultaneously boosting battery-life and making the sliver of a iPod even thinner. I have a perfectly good last-gen Touch but, dammit, now I want one of these.
iPod Touch 4th Generation Teardown [iFixit]
Follow us for real-time tech news: Charlie Sorrel and Gadget Lab on Twitter.
Source:wired.com
Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on September 9, 2010
Apple Rolls Out iOS 4.1 Update for iPhone, iPod Touch
Apple on Wednesday morning released a minor update for its mobile operating system iOS 4, which includes bug fixes and a new photography mode.
Apple last week said iOS 4.1 would address a proximity-sensor issue in the iPhone 4 and sluggish performance on the iPhone 3G, among other flaws.
In terms of features, iOS 4.1 introduces Game Center, a social network for iOS gamers, as well as high dynamic range (HDR) photo processing, which Wired.com demonstrated last week.
The update is compatible with the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4, as well as every iPod touch except for the first-generation model. A few iOS 4.1 features are not available on some of the older devices.
To download iOS 4.1, connect your iOS device to your computer’s USB port, then launch iTunes. Under the device menu, select your iPhone or iPod Touch and click “Check for Update” and follow the on-screen instructions to install the update. Make sure to back up your data first!
In the mean time, iPad owners can’t get iOS 4 just yet. Apple said it would release iOS 4.2 in November for the iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone, unifying the devices into one tidy OS.
Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com
Source:wired.com
Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on September 8, 2010
Report: iPod Touch Makes Up Nearly 40 Percent of iOS Sales
The iPhone gets all the hype, but the iPod Touch is Apple’s second weapon of mass consumption constituting nearly 40 percent of the company’s mobile device sales, according to a report.
Apple has sold 45 million units of the iPod Touch over its lifetime out of the 120 million iOS devices shipped overall, according to estimates by market research firm Asymco. That’s a hefty number relative to the 60 million iPhones Apple sold through June and the 3.2 million iPads sold to date.
When Steve Jobs introduced the iPod Touch, he called it “training wheels for the iPhone.” The phoneless, contract-free device has easily found an audience: younger people who likely can’t afford hefty smartphone plans but still crave the iOS experience. A study in 2009 found that 69 percent of iPod Touch users are between 13 to 24 years old, whereas 74 percent of iPhone owners are older than 25. The study also found that iPhone owners were generally wealthier than iPod Touch customers.
In a separate post, research firm Asymco questioned why other manufacturers haven’t produced “clones” of the iPod Touch to compete with Apple like they have with the iPhone and the iPad.
“If cloners are rushing to copy the iPad, why not its smaller incarnation?” the company asked.
It’s a worthwhile question. In terms of features and price, the closest competitor to the Touch so far has been the Zune HD, which some observers criticized for having a poorly executed launch. When Microsoft released the Zune HD in September 2009, the device included a few applications handpicked by Microsoft staff, but the platform was not open to third-party developers to offer additional software. In other words, there was no app store to compete with Apple’s gigantic iOS ecosystem. Other than music and video playback capabilities, it was unclear on day one what else the Zune HD could do.
Meanwhile, there are rumors that the Zune HD will be overhauled with Microsoft’s upcoming Windows Phone 7 operating system, which will launch with an app store. Perhaps then the Zune HD might rise as a serious contender to the Touch.
Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com
Source:wired.com
Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on September 7, 2010
Gadget Lab Podcast: iPods, Tablets, and Wireless Remedies
The Gadget Lab crew kicks off this week’s podcast with a look at Dylan Tweney’s ugly new kicks, a pair of surf shoes made of recycled soda bottles. They cost $70. Seriously.
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Moving on from cheesy hippy apparel, Brian X. Chen shares the news of an upcoming Apple press conference, where we can expect new iPods, a major iTunes upgrade (streaming!) and maybe a do-over of the Apple TV.
Apple’s competitors haven’t been so quiet, either. A “leaked” video emerged this week demonstrating Samsung’s Galaxy Tab, a 7-inch, Android-powered touchscreen tablet that looks to be a worthy rival to Apple’s iPad.
Speaking of the iPad Tweney shares a hack for his iPad to gain 3G service at no additional cost with the help of his iPhone. If you jailbreak your iPhone at the site JailbreakMe.com, you can download an app called MyWi to turn the iPhone into a wireless hot spot. Select the hot spot on your iPad et voila 3G-surfing privileges on the tablet without any monthly bills. That’s sweet.
Still, it’s too bad 3G coverage in general is spotty at best (especially here in San Francisco). Dissatisfied customers are in luck: We’ve heard Sprint may give you a free femtocell to boost your service if it’s proving unreliable. Also, an unhappy AT&T customer on Wired.com staff complained loudly enough to score a free femtocell to fix the crappy reception on his iPhone. Who said whining doesn’t pay off?
Like the show? You can also get theGadget Lab video podcast via iTunes, or if you dont want to be distracted by our smiling faces, check out theGadget Lab audio podcast. Prefer RSS? You can subscribe to the Gadget Labvideo oraudio podcast feeds
Or listen to the audio here:
Gadget Lab audio podcast #86
Source:wired.com
Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on August 27, 2010
Rumor: iPod, Apple TV Event Scheduled for Sept. 7
Apple is preparing to announce a major revamp for the Apple TV and upgrades for the popular iPod Touch in an event scheduled for early September, according to a report.
Citing two anonymous sources, Bloomberg claims that Apple will hold a special press event on Sept. 7 in San Francisco to introduce the new products along with a new iTunes rental service for TV programs, as Wired.com’s Epicenter reported Tuesday.
Repeating previous rumors about Apple TV, Bloomberg said a new version of the device would cost $100 and include a smaller hard drive, as it will be designed primarily for streaming content from iTunes. Other reports have claimed Apple would rebrand the device iTV and ship it with its mobile operating system iOS, which could potentially mean the television device will have an app store to enhance its functionality.
Bloomberg’s report also claims Apple will announce an upgraded iPod Touch, sporting a high-resolution display like the iPhone 4. Previous rumors add that like the iPhone 4, the next iPod Touch will include dual cameras.
For several years, Apple has held an annual September event devoted to iTunes and iPods. It would make sense for Apple to unveil a new Apple TV at this year’s event, because a TV-streaming media service would likely be accompanied by a new version of iTunes capable of online storage.
It’s also likely that Apple will release a software update for iPad customers, iOS 4, which will bring multitasking capability, among other features, to the popular tablet.
Photo of Steve Jobs introducing the iPhone 4 at WWDC 2010: Jon Snyder/Wired.com
Source:wired.com
Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on August 25, 2010
Apple May Be Internally Testing Next-Gen iPod Touch, iPad
Apple appears to be internally testing the next-gen iPod Touch and iPad, along with an unknown mystery device, according to configuration files buried deep inside the latest iOS beta.
Apple blog AppleInsider received purported configuration files of the next iOS beta, iOS 4.1., due to ship in “the coming weeks,” showing strings of code referencing “iPod 4,1″ an identifier that denotes a fourth-generation device. (A revision of the current third-gen iPod model would be labeled “iPod 3,2.”)
The configuration files also reveal an identifier for “iProd 2,1″ most likely the second-generation iPad, since the records showed the current iPad was registered as “iPod 1,1.” Most interesting is an identifier for “unknownHardware.” Perhaps this could be the rumored Apple TV upgrade based on the iOS-operating system, as New York Times reported previously.
Apple is expected to hold its annual iPod event in the coming weeks, where we’d likely see the next-generation iPod Touch, which is rumored to sport the same specifications of the iPhone 4 (minus the phone, of course): two cameras, a high-resolution display, an A4 processor and so on. Stay tuned this September.
Photo: JoeBaynham/Flickr
Source:wired.com
Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on August 21, 2010
Rumor: Sprint Testing Wi-Fi Case for iPod Touch
It looks like Sprint is hell-bent on bringing at least some kind of iPhone to its network. An FCC filing shows a MiFi like device which not only creates a personal Wi-Fi hotspot but also acts as a cradle for the iPod Touch. It effectively turns the iPod into an iPhone, only without the actual phone part, nor the cameras, nor the GPS. But you sort of see the point.
The “Peel”, as it looks to be called, is an interesting idea, and isn’t outside the scope of Sprint’s iAmbition: remember the free iPad case which would also hold Sprint’s own 4G wireless router? This one would run on the slower but more pervasive 3G network, and use its own battery. It would also do away with the issue of tethering, as you could connect several devices to the hotspot.
If it escapes the FCC’s clutches, we’d expect to see this soon enough. And who knows? Maybe you could also wrap it around the iPhone thus avoiding both pesky dropped calls and AT&T’s flaky data network. Win win!
FCC Reveals ZTE Peel On Sprint, For Apples Perhaps [Phone Scoop via Cult of Mac's John Brownlee]
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Source:wired.com
Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on July 29, 2010
iPhone 3G Users Complain of Slowdown on Uprade to iOS4
Some Apple 3G phone owners who upgraded to the new iOS4 operating system are facing buyer’s remorse. The upgrade has left their devices slow and struggling for breath, according to complaints on Apple’s users forum.
“My iPhone 8Gb 3G is soooo slow after ‘upgrading’ to OS4,” says a user registered as George Stark on the Apple forum. “Unlocking the phone sometimes takes 5-10 seconds and the home screen icons literally stop converging halfway through and then 2 seconds later, finish off. Other things are ridiculously slow, such as opening and replying to texts. Good one Apple, maybe you want us all to upgrade to the iPhone 4 so that OS4 actually runs at a manageable speed?”
Apple is looking into the complaints.
“We are aware of these reports and we are investigating,” a company spokeswoman told Wired.com
Apple rolled out iOS4 in June as a new version of the operating system that would introduce features such as multitasking, a unified inbox for e-mail and the ability to group apps into folders. iPhone users who had bough their devices in 2007, when the phone was first introduced, cannot run iOS 4 at all. But iPhone 3G users can upgrade to iOS4 though multitasking is not supported for these devices. iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 are completely compatible with iOS 4.
But Apple’s decision to make older iPhone models seems to have backfired. When Apple moved from iPhone 3G to iPhone 3GS, it introduced a faster processor in the latter. Remember all those company statement saying the ‘S’ in the 3GS stands for ’speed.’
The iPhone 3G has a 412 MHz ARM 11 chip, while the 3GS model uses a 600MHz ARM 11 processor. Clearly, the difference computing power seems to have an impact on how well the device can handle iOS4. The thread relating to iPhone 3G’s slow performance on the iOS4 is 38 pages now and has more than 560 messages.
Those stuck with iPhone 3Gs running at glacial speeds, downgrading the OS to the iOS 3.1.3 may be an option. But as this tutorial shows it’s not an easy process. The alternative is to do a factory reset on the device.
For Apple, the iOS4 woes on the iPhone 3G comes on the heel of ‘Antennagate‘–a widely publicized problem with the iPhone 4. Many iPhone 4 users have noticed that the device loses signal strength when gripped at a specific spot at the bottom left of the phone. Apple has responded to those complaints by offering its iPhone 4 users a free case.
Photo: (twenty5pics/Flickr)
Source:wired.com
Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by Journalist on July 29, 2010
Retro Music Stylophone Coming to iPhone
UK software company, the “Very Cool Software Company”, sadly missed a trick when naming its forthcoming iPhone version of the Stylophone. The application is called the “Dubreq iStylophone”, but it should clearly be named the Style-i-Phone.
It will, of course, be touch controlled, obviating the rather satisfying need to press a stylus onto the metal contacts. The application, to be released on December 1st, appears here on a first-gen, speaker-less iPod Touch. This is great news for anyone who remembers the original — fun to play, but so intensely annoying to listen to that you’d begin harbouring murderous thoughts towards the musician after mere moments.
It’ll be $6. You could buy a real one for $26.
Crave]
Posted under Gadget Reviews
This post was written by admin on October 15, 2008
