IHS released a report that describes some of the reasons why Apple has critical advantages in designing the iPad and why it may be able to keep those advantages in the foreseeable time.
The market research firm believes that Apple’s control over the entire platform, especially the software provides it with a unique opportunity to design tailored hardware that deliver cost and integration scenarios its rivals cannot achieve.
“Apple takes a vertically integrated approach to its products, from the operating system to the user interface, to the hardware design, down to the selection of individual parts used in the device,” said Wayne Lam, senior analyst, competitive analysis, at IHS. “For example, Apple even uses its own applications processor design in both the iPad and iPad 2. In contrast, Android tablet makers buy those capabilities from the likes of Nvidia, Texas Instruments and Qualcomm. This gives Apple greater control in multiple areas of product development.” Read more…
After some yo-yoing availability, Skype for iPad has finally been officially released.
Oh, what a night. Yesterday evening, Skype for iPad cropped up in the App Store and was available for download. However, not too long after, it was pulled. The official Skype Twitter account acknowledged that the app had been pushed live but said it was an accidental launch.
“To ensure your best Skype experience, we’ve temporarily removed Skype for iPad which went live prematurely today,” the company said at about midnight last night, adding, “We know you’ve been eagerly awaiting Skype for iPad and apologize for the inconvenience.”
Fortunately, for those of you not quick enough to nab the app during the short time it was live, Skype seems to have decided that the iPad app is ready for public consumption after all.
“Finally, Skype for iPad is now available,” the company tweeted this morning.
In a blog post published at the same time, Skype’s Rick Osterloh, Head of Product Management, said that two-way video calling, instant messaging, contacts, navigation and SMS-messaging had all been optimized for iPad. Users will also be able to switch between the iPad’s front-facing and rear-facing cameras depending on what they want the caller to see. The app is free and will work over both WiFi and 3G.
Having trouble selecting those tiny links with your big, fat, oily finger on that new tablet that you’ve just got? Don’t you worry, as Google’s just made some slate-friendly improvements to its bread and butter search site, and it’s available for iPad and Honeycomb 3.1+ users. On deck for this UI refresh is a much simplified search results page, larger-sized buttons and text, and a quick access button located below the search box that skips you off to “Images, Videos, Places, Shopping and more.” There have also been some visual tweaks made to its image search results, with enlarged previews, faster thumbnail loading and continuous scrolling. If you’re not seeing this overhauled layout just yet, sit tight as the updates are expected to roll out in the next few days.
Thanks to app stores and mobile games like Cut the Rope and Plants vs. Zombies, mobile gaming has become a huge market and it’s one that’s growing at an extremely fast pace. Even big name developers are taking mobile gaming seriously. In fact, EA says the iPad is its fastest growing platform.
Speaking during an interview with IndustryGamers, Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitello said that consoles currently only account for 40 percent of the games industry and that the iPad is the fastest growing platform. While discussing the regularity of console refreshes (in particular, whether or not Nintendo is ‘off-cycle’ with the rest of the industry because of the Wii U), Riccitello said the length and timing of these refresh cycles is no longer as relevant because consoles are not the dominant force in gaming.
“Consoles used to be 80 percent of the industry as recently as 2000,” he told IndustryGamers. “Consoles today are 40 percent of the game industry, so what do we really have? We have a new hardware platform and we’re putting out software every 90 days. Our fastest growing platform is the iPad right now and that didn’t exist 18 months ago,” he continued. “So the idea that we’re categorizing the industry as being [cyclical]… Nintendo is off cycle with what? I mean, the point of reference is gone.”
The advent of the iPad has led to an explosion for mobile gaming, for sure. The fact that Angry Birds’ publisher Rovio is collaborating with 20th Century Fox and has the capacity to push out updates for every major holiday and season is a testament to how lucrative and strong the market really is. To ignore mobile gaming completely would be a bad call, but is EA right to be putting so much stock in mobile gaming? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
Mark Zuckerberg ruffled some feathers when he said the iPad “isn’t mobile” enough to deserve a dedicated Facebook app. But now he’s probably having a second thought after Apple successfully selling millions of iPads all over the world.
TechCrunch just revealed that not only has Facebook created a fully-fledged iPad app, they’ve even released it — albeit in secret. The code lies buried in yesterday’s update to the iPhone app and it’s entirely executable on jailbroken tablets.
What’s the software like? Well, TechCrunch reckons the left-sided navigation system and use of overlay menus is “great,” as is the ability to chat with buddies while simultaneously doing other Facebook tasks in landscape mode. There’s also a ton of screen grabs at the source link which tell much of the story.
Want to share your iPad with your family members, but is concern over some privacy things that even your family members shouldn’t know? Don’t worry, as a new tweak is on its way to that other app store that should make your life a little easier: user profiles for iOS. The mod, dubbed iUsers, adds a user login button to the iPad’s lock screen. The tweak segregates application data and preferences between users, meaning that user A’s Angry Birds score won’t muddle and mix with User B’s perfect three-star rating. App installations, music, and video content are currently shared between users, but the tweak’s creators hope to remedy that in a future update. It’s a jailbreak only mod, of course, but still a neat feature we’d love to see implemented in future versions of iOS, as always. The iUsers tweak should be hitting Cydia soon, but folks who want an early peek can snag it now by following the instructions in the source link.
If you think Apple is hoping to send your iPhone back to the jail with iOS 4.3.4, then you’re probably wrong. Less than 12 hours after being available, and iOS 4.3.4 is already available for jailbreak using PwnageTool 4.3.3. The iPhone Dev-Team has updated its redsn0w tool, also based on existing exploits, for all your tethered jailbreaking needs. Of course, they still recommend you stick with iOS 4.3.3 for untethered convenience, so stay far away from the update button or modify your version number if nefarious PDFs are a friend and not an enemy to you.
We’ve heard that the next iteration of the iPad will be thinner, have a HD Retina Display, and will bring peace to the Middle East with its magical powder. Here’s a rumor that’s a little more mundane, and much more likely to be accurate though — Apple may be adding another manufacturer, alongside Foxconn, to produce its tablet. According to a DigiTimes source the explosion at the company’s Chengdu plant in May has created some serious supply issues. Additionally, tablet sales are expected to grow even higher this year, according to the IDC, and the Cupertino Crew already has trouble keeping up with demand. It seems there’s little choice but to bring on board the likes of Quanta Computers or Pegatron Technology, the two front runners for the orders.
Looking to get a more realistic feel from your Djay iOS app after having a blast at the club last Saturday night? Yeah, we had that moment too, and now Numark’s giving you the ability to boost your street cred while spinnin’ tracks in the club… or, you know, your mum’s living room. The company’s new iDJ Live accessory does its darndest to transform your iOS device (iPhone and iPod compatible, despite being obviously tailored for iPad) into a more legit deejay set-up. With George Strait / MC Hammer mash-ups just waiting to happen, the device guides you into the musical unknown with two “turntables,” a mixer (with crossfader), an iPad stand and connection capabilities for use with an external sound system. Already sold? She’s yours for a cool Benjamin, and if you’d rather use your existing stash of CoreMIDI-enabled DJ apps, be our guest. Shure SRH-750DJ not included thought.
Good news for jailbreakers who happen to have a legit (or not) developer account and want to jailbreak the latest iOS 5 beta 3 firmware released earlier today. According to a tweet from MuscleNerd, you can use RedSn0w to jailbreak iOS 5 beta 3. The Dev Team updated RedSn0w to version 0.9.8 beta 2. It is now safe to use RedSn0w to jailbreak iOS 5 beta 3.
In order to jailbreak your iDevice running iOS 5 beta 3, you will need to download the latest version of RedSn0w which was released about a month ago. All you need to do is point RedSnow to iOS 5 beta 1, instead of pointing it to beta 3…
If you aren’t sure about how to do that, please refer to the detailed RedSn0w guide provided by ‘iPhone Downloading Blog’. Make sure you are already running iOS 5 Beta 3 on your device, and during step 6 of the guide, point RedSn0w to iOS 5 beta 1.
Remember this is a tethered jailbreak, which means you will have to plug your iPhone or iPad in every time you reboot it in order to kickboot it. It’s not very convenient but it is the only way so far. Also, those of you who rely on an unlock should stay away from iOS 5 beta 3 for the time being as it will update your baseband and make it impossible to unlock your iPhone.
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