iPad News, Updates, App and Accessory Reviews
It’s time for your daily iPad 3 rumor/news, this time from 9to5mac.com. Apple has long been rumored to be awarding the chip making for the iPad 3 to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and those rumors have now been all but confirmed by TSMC itself. The Taiwanese manufacturer will be mass producing the A6 chip some expect to be running the iPad 3’s processor. This A6 chip will be produced using the TSMC 28-nanometer process and are set to begin mass production early next year. According to the company’s head of research and development, production of these chips will have the plant working at full capacity.
TSMC also appears to be hoping to keep a relationship with Apple well beyond 2012. Chiang also said that his company was soon going to begin working on coming up with a 14-nanometer chip process in the near future. The 14-nanometer nodes are expected to begin production in 2015. TSMC and other component suppliers are recognizing a rift between Apple and Samsung, which has been the chip supplier for almost all Apple products for the last few years. The fact that by all accounts they won’t be working on the chip for the iPad 3 speaks volumes on how much that relationship has deteriorated.
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September 8th, 2011 at 10:35 AM EST
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inu846W
While there are plenty of iPad apps that are made to feel as though you are playing a television game show of one kind or another. There are plenty of iPad apps that are built to have you running through dark hallways and dank tunnels, blasting away at all sorts of creepy crawlies. There are very few iPad apps that have you doing both at the same time. Rage HD for iPad is one of those games that does that and more. Because of this, it’s one of the funnest games out there right now.
Part of the reason that Rage HD for iPad is so entertaining is because unlike a lot of the other Zombie shooting games you don’t have to worry about moving around in this one. The computer will have you zooming through the map automatically. Your only responsibility is to shoot as many circus freak looking villains as you can. Where exactly does the game show come into play you ask? Rage HD is supposed to be taking place in a futuristic wasteland where you are a game show contestant. The point of the game is to shoot as many as the enemy as possible, while ALSO shooting bags of money and bulls-eyes placed surreptitiously throughout the map.
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iPad 2 battery image from iFixit
There have been a ton of rumors surrounding the iPad 3 over the last few weeks and months. When the device would get released, who would be helping Apple put the device together; and what kind of components it would have are all topics that had rumors flying. While the screen and processor have been the two components that have gotten the most discussion, there is a new component getting a boost that could make iPad 3 users very happy.
Taiwanese news sources are reporting that Apple is contracting with Simplo and Dynapack to put together batteries that would be significantly lighter and thinner and longer lasting than its predecessors. This thinner battery either means the iPad 3 overall will be thinner, or that the company is making room for a thicker screen. A thicker screen could be the way Apple has found to make Retina display quality possible after several false starts in that area.
With the upcoming iPad 3 to feature a thinner, lighter battery module that is widely believed to be priced 20-30% higher than iPad 2’s, Simplo Technology Co. and Dynapack International Technology Corp., both Apple Inc.’s contract suppliers of iPad and Macbook battery packs, will hence secure a surefire profit drive for the near future.
Institutional investors pointed out that the battery pack for iPad 3, scheduled to be massively produced in the first quarter of next year, has been redesigned to be thinner and lighter with a longer service life than iPad 2 edition’s.
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September 7th, 2011 at 10:13 AM EST
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inu846W
One of the ways the iPad and the iPod have built their demand is that they have only been offered at specific stores. Of course, the iPad and other iOS devices also want to make sure that their customers are well aware that the devices can be used for all sorts of fun games. It appears that this was the rationale to the company announcing that very soon, the iPad the iPod Touch and possibly even the iPhone would be made available at GameStop locations. To Apple’s credit, the company has done a great job of offering their products in additional retail outlets at a slow trickle. Originally the iPad was only made available at Apple stores as well as Best Buy. In the following years Walmart and Target joined the ranks of stores that offer the device as well as other iOS devices.
Of course, one of truly big bonuses for those who enjoy the iOS devices is that GameStop will continue to offer a trade-in program. This means that now if someone has an iPad but wants to upgrade to an iPad 2 they can take their original device into a GameStop and get store credit towards the newer device. Even better, if you have an Xbox 360 you never play anymore, you can trade that in for the iPad 2 and keep that iPad as well. In fact, according to reports, GameStop would prefer trade-ins of iOS products before it starts offering up the new stuff.
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September 6th, 2011 at 2:15 PM EST
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inu846W
One signature of quite a few iPad games has been that there are several games that incorporate real physics into their games. Demolition Master 3D HD for the iPad is no different, though the graphics and what you have to do are original enough that the app is worth picking up if you are on the lookout for another app. Demolition Master 3D is a game where you actually set different kind of explosive charges on wooden and metal posts and try and get the constructions to explode to the point where the materials drop below a certain level.
This is actually a combination of two different kinds of games that are fairly well represented on the iPad. Still Demolition Master 3D offers these familiar genres with a new look and a game that is actually quite addicting once you really start playing it. There are basically three different kind of charges and an almost infinite way you can plant them in order to get the reaction you are looking for. There are numerous differnet kinds of constructions you can eventually blow up with the constructs getting harder and harder as you go through the levels. There are also parts that you are not trying to destroy or that will cause you to lose should they explode.
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While there are quite a few first person shooter apps on the iPad, few have the sort of horror movie feel that Dead Space can bring to the tablet. If the name of this particular game sounds familiar, it should as it was one of the most popular console horror/shooter games in history. Dead Space was actually so popular and so spooky that there have been a couple of different animated movies made in an attempt to tell more of the back story.
What makes the Dead Space app for the iPad so good is that there doesn’t seem to be much left out of the iPad version that was in the original. The graphics on the Dead Space for iPad app are almost as good as what you would see on the Xbox360 or the PlayStation 3, though obviously miniaturized a little for the screen. The basic premise is almost identical in that you arrive aboard a space station only to find it deserted … or at least MOSTLY deserted. After wandering around the station trying to get your bearings and learning how to play the game you eventually run into some truly evil creatures who seem intent on tearing out your throat.
The controls for running through the station are fairly easily, swiping along the left side of the screen will actually have you moving in whatever direction you would like to go. Swiping along the right side of the screen will allow you to look around, hopefully seeing the evil that is coming your way before it gets to you. While some people are certainly going to want to play the story mode, that goes along with the console game the iPad version does bring some different options.
Dead Space for the iPad also allows you to select the “Endless” feature which is pretty much what you would expect. There’s no health regeneration and no time limit, simply kill as many bad guys as possible. The “5 Minutes to Kill” game is like endless except you are trying to kill as many as possible before the timer goes to zero. Each kill will tack on a little extra time.
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