Kickstarter: Turn Your iPad Into An Etch-A-Sketch
Looking to relive your childhood or turn your iPad into a hackneyed political pun? You’d best get over to Ari Krupnik’s Kickstarter project. For $60 you get a red or blue case that simulates the actual Etch-A-Sketch knobs, allowing you to perform all of the deft maneuvers to which you’re accustomed. Stair steps? Easy. Long curve? Go for it. Horrible script writing? Bingo. Read more...
Apple updates iOS, mum on Wi-Fi, battery fixes
Apple has released an update to its iOS mobile operating system, version 5.1.1, which it claims remove some bugs and improves reliability of some options, but which does not address the wireless connectivity problems – well, at least not overtly – that have had some fanbois fuming.
The update, released Monday, is for the iPhone 3GS and later, the third and fourth-generation iPod touch, and the iPad and iPad 2 – presumably by "iPad", Apple means both the original iPad and the third-generation iPad, aka "The new iPad". Read more...
Logitech launches the Solar Keyboard Folio, protecting your iPad and charging whilst you work
Logitech today unveiled the latest in its solar-powered accessory range, launching the Solar Keyboard Folio to provide new iPad and iPad 2 owners with a slim and robust Bluetooth keyboard that draws its power from light, but also doubles as a protective case.
The Solar Keyboard Folio has been adapted from Logitech’s Mac and PC solar keyboards to operate seamlessly with second and third-generation iPads, utilising on-board solar cells to charge the Bluetooth keyboard in any light. Read more...
Does the iPad cannibalize Apple’s laptops?
Is Apple cutting the MacBook's throat with the iPad?
The question -- whether the company's tablet cannibalizes sales of its own portable computing line -- is ultimately impossible to answer, or at least quantify: One can't look into a counter-factual crystal ball to view an alternate universe without the iPad.
But Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, believes that the iPad does block sales of at least some Apple personal computers.
"I think there was some cannibalization from iPad," Cook acknowledged earlier this week during his company's quarterly earnings call with Wall Street. Read more...
Appvetica turns the iPhone and iPod Touch into a controller for Wii-like iPad gaming
While there’s no doubt that tablets are becoming a huge market for gaming, the touch screen interface provides a number issues for both gamers, who want a quality experience, and developers who have to adapt to a control-pad-free environment.
However, one Polish startup is giving developers the tools to provide a more functional gaming experience and free your thumbs. Read more...
Apple further eases new iPad availability, orders now showing 5-7 day deliveries
Apple has taken steps to ease constraints on the availability of its new iPad after it cut delivery times by a week, with delivery times now showing availability of between 5-7 days on its US online store.
Previously, the US store showed delivery times of between 1-2 weeks, but today it has been slashed. Other regional markets are also showing the shortened customer waiting times, including Korea and Malaysia, where the device launched today, which shows that the company is working to provide the new iPad faster than ever as it is introduced to new markets. Read more...
7 smart toys for today’s connected kids
The price of admission to this year's hottest toys list is a touch of tech. Not that old double-A battery and an on-switch kind — today's toys come equipped with capacitive screens, augmented reality, and the assumption that you already have an iPad, an iPod touch, or an iPhone in the family. You know what that means? There's a good chance our youngsters are (or will soon be) more tech-savvy than we are.
The good news? Many of these toys will do more than just suck those little brains in and get them glued to yet another screen. Choose right, and their favorite new tech toy could help teach them about math, science, physics, digital photography, computer programming, or even motivate them to go outside and learn more about good ol' Mother Nature. Here are some of the best teaching toys that I've seen and tested so far this year. Read more...
iPad Wi-Fi issues may be linked to power management
The Wi-Fi reliability problems reported by iPad owners can probably be solved with a software update, a hardware expert said Friday.
"It's unlikely that hardware is the primary cause of the [problem]," said Aaron Vronko, CEO of Michigan-based Rapid Repair, a repair shop and do-it-yourself parts supplier for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. "This is probably a software problem, or a hardware quirk that software must negotiate." Read more...
Complaints about iPad Wi-Fi problems continue to climb
Complaints from owners of Apple's newest iPad that their device has trouble connecting to wireless networks continue to mount.
One Apple support thread on the subject has collected over 770 messages, and has been viewed more than 65,000 times, both very large numbers by the support forum's standards.
Apple started selling the third-generation iPad on March 16, and gripes about its wireless performance appeared almost immediately.
Most complaints have been filed by Wi-Fi model owners, but some have been posted by people with the more expensive 4G-enabled iPad. Read more...
Hungry Hungry Hippos for The iPad: An April Fools’ gag that everybody wants to be real
Every year, ThinkGeek comes up with some of the most far-out (fake) products for April Fools' Day. In the past, several of these fictional items would be met with great enthusiasm by the masses that the retailer of odd devices would actually make them. And that's what a lot of people hope to happen with this year's runaway favorite April Fools' product: the iPad version of Hungry Hungry Hippos. Read more...
Apple confirms imprecise iPad battery meter, says it’s by design
Apple today reacted to reports that the new iPad under-reports its battery status, saying a researcher's analysis was essentially correct but that that's how the tablet and its iOS software were designed.
Apple executive Michael Tchao told the AllThingsD blog -- operated by Dow Jones, the same firm that publishes the Wall Street Journal -- that the new iPad, like all devices powered by iOS, reports a fully-charged battery before it actually reaches 100%.
According to Tchao, Apple's vice president of marketing, the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch all display "100%" on their battery indicators before they are completely charged. Read more...
New iPad shortchanges users on battery life, says expert
Apple is shortchanging new iPad owners on battery power, an analyst said today.
"If you stop charging the iPad when the battery indicator says 100% you won't get the maximum running time," said Ray Soneira, president of DisplayMate Technologies, in an updated paper on the new tablet.
According to Soneira, when the iPad's battery meter first shows 100%, the tablet is actually charged only to 90% capacity, shorting users by more than an hour on the device.
That may jeopardize Apple's claim that the iPad can keep going for over 10 hours, said Soneira. Read more...
LTE option poses data dilemma for iPad, smartphone users
The new iPad's LTE option, which allows access to fast 4G networks, has also shocked some customers who found they can eat up an entire month's worth of data watching just a couple hours of streaming video.
For a long time, analysts and even carriers have urged customers to download videos and other large files over Wi-Fi to avoid the high price of using a cellular connection.
But that hasn't stopped owners of the new iPad and some recent LTE Android-based smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy Nexus from leveling renewed criticism at carriers like AT&T and Verizon Wireless for imposing high data fees. Read more...
Finally: A truly magical iPad
Everybody's excited about the new Apple iPad's high-resolution screen. But ultimately, the Retina display is just a pretty face. It can't do anything that the screens on previous models couldn't do.
In fact, just about all of the features that are considered "new" in the new iPad are really just bigger helpings of the old capabilities: More pixels on the screen. More graphics performance. More megapixels in the camera. More megabits per second with the mobile broadband connection. There's more of everything. But what's fundamentally different?
One of the least appreciated new features is one that truly brings entirely new capabilities to the iPad. That feature is Bluetooth 4.0 support. Read more...