This Week's Sponsor:

Turbulence Forecast

Know before you go. Get detailed turbulence forecasts for your exact route, now available 5 days in advance.

Posts tagged with "iPad"

Apple Posts New iPad Ad To Showcase iOS 4.2 Features

A few minutes ago Apple posted a new iPad commercial on its website called “iPad is amazing”, aimed at showcasing the new features of iOS 4.2. Everything’s in there: AirPlay, AirPrint (although limited to some HP printers), multitasking and the usual selection of apps.

Surprisingly enough, no folders are shown in the video. As for the apps that made an appearance in the commercial, it’s nice to see the official TED app developed by Matt Drance in there.

We’re working on getting a Youtube version up as quickly as possible. In the meantime, check out the video here.

Update: Youtube embed below.

Attention, RIM: JPMorgan Deploys iPads

Apple CEO Steve Jobs said months ago they didn’t see RIM catching up with Cupertino’s extraordinary success in the “foreseeable future”, and everyone’s been talking about the fast growth of Apple devices such as the iPhone and iPad in the business market (and enterprise). Businesses were already “jumping on the iPad” back in August (and July too, we recall), now the deployment of iOS devices continues with JPMorgan Chase & Co giving iPads to investment bankers.

Bankers will be able to use the iPad for both business and personal use, they’ll be able to download personal apps on the tablet while keeping tabs on their tasks using business apps sold in the App Store or developed internally. Of course the Wall Street folks will have the ability to access their emails, calendars and meeting notes on the iPad. Read more

Richard Branson Talks Project Mag for iPad, The Daily, Dinner with Jobs

So the Project for iPad came out this morning and we weren’t really impressed with it. The app surely looks good, but in my opinion it fails at delivering a more innovative experience then, for instance, the one seen in the Wired app months ago.

It is no surprise, anyway, that Project has quickly become the top free app in the iPad App Store. In the following video, you can listen to Sir Branson talking about the iPad as the platform of choice to launch Project, the plans for future versions on multiple devices, and a dinner with el Jobso. [via 9to5]

Read more

Dutch Newspaper Gifting iPads with New Subscriptions

The Dutch newspaper ‘nrc•next’ is giving free iPads to people who sign up to receive their printed subscription for two years and it also includes their daily digital iPad App version.

This is a great idea to grow your readership but they underestimated the response to their subscription promotion. Now they have posted a page on their blog “Zeg, waar blijft die iPad?” which translates to “Say, where is my iPad?” It’s basically a Q & A for people who signed up for their promotion and have yet to receive their new iPads.

Read more

How The Internet Can Fix Paul Thurrott in 2010→

How The Internet Can Fix Paul Thurrott in 2010

Let’s take a look at Thurrot’s latest piece, “How Apple Can Fix the iPad in 2011”.

The one major change Apple will institute in the existing iPad models is the price, which is far too high for a device that is essentially a large-screen iPod touch.

Considering that current competitors are in the same price range of the iPad, and sometimes way above it, I don’t think pricing is a problem to fix in 2011.

Granted, not everyone is going to want a 7-inch iPad. But this model, positioned squarely between the iPod touch and currently 10-inch iPad, would provide a perfect middle ground, especially for those who will continue to use the iPad for consumption purposes only. (As is the case with virtually all iPad owners today, by the way.)

Same old story all over again. He says Apple needs a smaller iPad, but that won’t change the fact that the iPad is a consumption-only device. Either someone didn’t get the memo, or I haven’t been briefed on the incredible content creation capabilities of the Galaxy Tab.

The iPad’s currently storage allotments are simply too small. Apple should use its iPod touch as a guide and offer 32 GB, 64 GB, and even 128 GB versions of the device.

There’s no 128GB iPod touch.

While Apple clearly intended to include dual cameras in the current iPad–there is a hole designed for this purpose inside the case–it didn’t, and now there’s no way to add one.

That hole is there to make the ambient-light sensor work.

The current iPad’s screen is far too glossy and reflective to be used in many situations, making it less than ideal for eBook reading, movie watching, and other activities where you can more clearly see your own reflection than the onscreen content.

I thought glossy was meant to make movies look better?

Apple currently sells 6 different iPads, three with Wi-Fi only and three with 3G wireless networking as well. Since Apple likely pays something like $6 for a 3G radio, my advice is to simplify the lineup to 2 or 3 models only, differentiated only by storage capacities.

This is the best part. First he says Apple’s selling too many different models, then he goes on to suggest Apple should make a smaller version available as well, with different screen and storage options.

Someone’s confused here.

Permalink

Jailbroken iPad Gets Android-like Animated Wallpaper [Video]

One of the neat features of Android devices is the possibility to install custom “animated” wallpapers that will display moving elements behind or through icons. The effect’s pretty cool and some of those wallpapers are simply crazy.

It turns out, people have found a way to achieve a similar setup on the iPad. Thanks to a tweak called vWallpaper and a video specifically resized for the iPad’s screen, it is possible to set an animated background and keep swiping on the homescreen.

Check out the (brief) demo video below, and go download the butterfly video wallpaper here. Read more

Review: Cloud Calendar, Google Calendar Client for iPad

While searching for interesting alternatives to Apple’s own calendar application for iPhone and iPad, I stumbled upon Cloud Calendar by Clean Cut Code. Cloud Calendar is a new calendar app for iPad that’s specifically meant to work with Google Calendar – and being Google’s calendar solution part of my workflow already, I decided to give it a try.

Cloud Calendar is undoubtedly a very good app to manage your calendars on the iPad, it comes with an elegant interface design and it’s intuitive enough to let you add new events with one tap. It still needs some additional customization options though, the ones that could probably break the app for “calendar power users” that can’t live without edit mode in shared calendars. It’s a very good app overall, so read on past the break for all the details. Read more

Read It Later 2.3: New Article Parser, Better Attribution

Before falling in love with Instapaper, I was a loyal Read It Later user. I used the service for months and couldn’t be happier with it. So what made me switch to Instapaper? The fact that Marco Arment’s software had a better text parser – that little magic that takes content from the cluttered web and presents it in a beautiful, readable and uncluttered fashion.

Read It Later introduced a few minutes ago a new “insane” article parser, which doesn’t stop at text but extends the service’s capabilities to images and embedded videos. Plus, developer Nate Weiner has refined the whole text parsing process to make RIL smarter and faster at fetching articles.

Am I going to ditch Instapaper and jump on the Read It Later bandwagon all over again? No, but I’m going to give this a deep week-long second try. Read more