Posts tagged with "iPad"

“My Next iPad Won’t Be A 7-incher”→

“My Next iPad Won’t Be A 7-incher”

My biggest problem with the iPad is its shortcomings as an e-reader. First off, it’s heavy. Josh noticed it in his review, and it hasn’t gotten any lighter over time, no matter how many iPad-curl reps I do. Next up, it’s just a little large for curling up with like you do with a book. Combining the curl-up-incompatibility and the weight and I’ve actually managed to hit myself in the face numerous times with the iPad while attempting to recline with it. Third, the screen’s resolution is inferior to many e-ink displays, along with the high-res LCDs being used on the 7-inch Tab and Nook Color and PlayBook. Finally, the glass front might look classy, but it’s terrible for glare, particularly when it’s outside.

Paul Miller makes some good points, but I wonder how many of his complaints about the current generation iPad will be fixed in the second generation one. With a thinner and lighter form factor, a somehow higher resolution and a better behavior when outside, the “iPad 2” won’t surely  be a 7-incher or become a dedicated ebook – but you can stay assured it’ll be better at things it already does, reading included.

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Orange UK Reveals iPad Subsidies: 3G iPad At £199.00, 2-Year Contract

You may have heard a few UK carriers have been thinking about the possibility to offer subsidized iPads in the WiFi + 3G flavor to combine them with a monthly data plan. A few minutes ago Orange UK announced its plans, with pre-orders starting later today.

As for the iPads, the prices are:

  • iPad 16GB £199.00
  • iPad 32GB £249.00
  • iPad 64GB £349.00

Which, approximately, are $310 for the 16GB model, $390 for the 32GB one, $620 for the 64GB model. You’ll have to subscribe to a 2-year contract, though, that, at £27 ($42) per month, gives you 1GB anytime data usage, 1GB quiet time data (midnight to 4PM according to Orange) and 3GB BT Openzone WiFi.

The plans are available here. Expect T-Mobile and Three to follow in the next weeks with their iPad offers.

MacStories Weekly Game: ChuChu Rocket! HD

I never had the chance to play the original ChuChu Rocket! 10 years ago on the SEGA Dreamcast. I didn’t have a Dreamcast back then. In fact, I think I was playing with the PSX back in 2000, and I’m sure I had a Game Boy Color. A few years later I bought the GBA, a Game Cube and a PS2 – but I never bothered grabbing a Dreamcast to check out the gems released by SEGA and other 3rd party developers. I regret that, mostly because I’m still lacking knowledge in true masterpieces such as Shenmue (although this one’s been re-released on the Xbox) or Jet Set Radio.

Luckily enough for me, looks like iOS devices are somehow here to save the day and allow us to re-enjoy games first appeared years ago and now ready to come to life again under the power of multi-touch. That’s exactly what’s happening with ChuChu Rocket! HD for iPad: released a decade ago and subsequently redesigned to appear on the Game Boy Advance, the game’s now running on the iPad taking advantage of its larger screen and touch controls.

So why is this a Weekly Game anyway? Because it’s as genius as it was 10 years ago, and it’s a truly addictive puzzle game. Read more

Overboard Now iOS 4.2.1 Compatible, Looks Great On iPad | Cydia Store

Overboard, the useful tweak by Ryan Petrich which allows you to easily switch between your Springboard pages with a nice overlay interface, has been updated to work with all devices running iOS 4.2.1. This means the tweak not only works great on the iPhone and iPod Touch, it also runs smoothly on iPads jailbroken using redsn0w.

You can assign a custom activation method to Overboard (with Activator) or simply call it using the icon on the Springboard. I’m using a pinch gesture and it works really well. In the tweak’s settings you can adjust the way it displays pages and icons, choosing from different column layouts, backgrounds and visible dock. If you’re really that convinced Overboard will become your most used app, you cam make it your homescreen.

Overboard is available at $1.99 in the Cydia Store.

Times for iPad Updated: Meet Pulp, “Magical” News Reader

Times, a popular RSS app for the Mac developed by Acrylic Apps, made its way to the iPad with a beautiful mobile version known as Times for iPad which was a complete re-imagination and rewrite of the original desktop app, geared towards the new audience of “couch news readers” first discovered by the iPad itself. We reviewed Times for iPad when it came out:

Times is different from Flipboard. They’re different experiences with different goals. Times really is the ultimate visual newsreader for iPad and with Mac sync coming in Times for Mac 2.0 it’s going to be hard for all those other competitors to catch up. Once you see Times for iPad, you’ll understand that you don’t mess with an experienced OS X / iOS developer. Times is cleverly and beautifully crafted, it has its quirks and could use some additional online integrations – but it puts every similar app to shame.

Times for iPad was updated a few minutes ago, and it’s no longer known as Times. To stop dealing with media giants claiming the “Times” name was a no-no, Acrylic Apps changed it to “Pulp for iPad”. I’ve been beta testing the update for a while and it’s really good: most of all, because it brings a feature called “Magic Reader” which with the tap of a button will pull content from truncated RSS feeds and display it in-app. It’s fast (faster than web view), useful for 3G users and will piss off a lot of publishers. That’s what I call a great feature. Read more

WiFi Connection Issues Still Affecting iOS 4.2.1 for iPad?

On November 12th we reported Apple was planning to “delay” the release of iOS 4.2 due to the WiFi connection issues reported by several users running the GM build seeded to developers on November 1st. Indeed, the plan was to release iOS 4.2 on November 12th but Apple decided to release a second GM build for iPad to address the WiFi issues instead.

Eventually Apple released another GM build of iOS 4.2 to address other minor issues, which is the iOS 4.2.1 version that’s currently shipping to users – even if Apple simply calls it “iOS 4.2”. We did a little research on Apple’s discussion boards and MacRumors forums though, and we found out that, actually, WiFi issues are still being widely reported by users who have recently upgraded to iOS 4.2.1. Read more

DisplayOut and FullForce Now iOS 4.2.1 Compatible | Cydia

As tweeted by developer Ryan Petrich a few hours ago, popular Cydia tweaks FullForce (which allows you to scale iPhone apps for the iPad’s larger screen, something we covered when the first iPad jailbreak came out) and DisplayOut (which mirrors the iPhone’s screen on a TV using a VGA cable) have been updated to support iOS 4.2.1.

DisplayOut is available at $2.99 in the Cydia Store. We highly recommend it as it’s the best tweak currently available to, say, show off an iPhone app on a bigger screen or external monitor.

iPad Snow Globe Makes An Appearance At Apple Stores

Apple is getting ready for the holiday season and, Black Friday sale aside, they have started decorating Apple Stores with  giant iPad snow globes. Oh, and some Beatles stuff, too.

As spotted by TiPB, the giant iPad is set to play a video containing iBooks and the Gourmet Live app for the holidays – which undoubtedly is a good move to tout the tablet as the go-to device for people looking to enrich their cooking skills with some geek love this year. As for the Beatles, we’re not really surprised. They’re part of a huge marketing campaign from Apple aimed at promoting both iTunes and the band, so putting some promo material in Apple stores was the most logical step.

Check out the iPad snow globe video below. Read more

Three UK Teases Subsidized iPad Plans

With a brief post on the company’s blog this morning, Three UK confirmed that they’ll be offering subsidized iPads “in the coming months”. The plan is to offer new purchase options for the WiFi + 3G model when combined with a data plan.

Three today announced it will offer new purchase options for iPad users, including more affordable prices when purchased with a data service plan, for iPad with Wi-Fi + 3G models in the coming months. iPad allows users to connect with their apps and content in a more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before.

Carrier Orange UK confirmed rumors of subsidized iPads just three days ago. Three’s current Micro-SIM data plans are available here.