iPad News
August 19th, 2011 at 10:01 AM EST | by Oliver VanDervoort
Rumors of the iPad 3 continue to be churned out on an almost daily basis, but the rumors that are floating out there today don’t seem to be all that rosy for those expecting the next generation iPad to be available later this year.
While it has long been mentioned that Apple would like to be able to provide a “Retina” display on the iPad 3, producers of the components the iPad 3 will use are having a problem getting up to snuff. Producing a screen that has actual Retina display capabilities is proving so difficult that at least one company has actually been decertified as producers of the LCD for the next generation of iPads. Chimei Innolux (CMI) is thought to be one of the producers of LCD screens for the current iPad 3 but the increased resolution demands of the iPad 3.
It appears to be that the design problems that are floating around Apple wanting to put out a screen that has 2048×1536 resolution might be the final straw on the camel’s back when it comes to being able to meet the rumored launch date of October of this year. The Wall Street Journal has now put out a report that seems to back up the rumors that the iPad 3 will indeed have the even more high definition Retina display, but because companies are having problems producing it, the newest device won’t be available to the masses until early in 2012.
However, the Wall Street Journal also seems to shed some light on just where all these rumors of the release being sooner, rather than later are coming from. According to that newspaper Apple is planning to release a limited “trial run” in October of 2011 that will allow the company to see just how the Retina display goes over with their consumers.
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August 17th, 2011 at 4:14 PM EST | by Oliver VanDervoort
If you’ve ever taken the time to see just how many different alarm clock apps there are actually available for the iPad, you might be surprised at the sheer volume. However I recently ran across one that makes a real effort to stand out from the crowd. The Smart Alarm Pro app works as a basic alarm clock in some ways but goes above and beyond what some of the other alarm clock apps can do in others. The app will first take a gauge of where you are located and in addition to the time will also give you the current weather as well as predicted high and low temps for the day (in both Celsius and Fahrenheit depending on your preference.)
The app also gives you the ability to set the color scheme, how you want the hour displayed and how you want to set the alarm but that’s not the cool thing about this app. The Alarm Pro app will allow you to set it so that it also displays 50 different positive quotations as well as any pictures you decide you want to pull from your iPad’s photo album. The alarm can also be set to play any song you have in your iTunes library should you decide you don’t want to use one of the many different noises the app provides. As a cherry on top, Smart Alarm Pro also offers the ability to have an RSS from Yahoo News brought directly to your app so that you can wake up in the morning and get a good start to the day’s news with very little effort. At just $0.99 the app is definitely worth the money.
App Store: $0.99
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August 17th, 2011 at 1:01 PM EST | by Oliver VanDervoort
While sadly, there are those that believe that video games and computers all started at or near where they are today, it was actually quite a long strange trip to get to the iPad or the Wii or the Chrome Book. Now there is a new app, called simply Retro Computers that takes you on a visual walk down memory lane of what computers, computer components and even what a video game system here or there looked like back in the day.
The app is very simple to use and yet I have to say I was blown away just looking at the different photos of computers and game systems I actually used and had completely forgotten about. The app is filled with over 160 different computers, game systems and main frames that were all produced during the “computer golden age” of the 1970’s through the 1990’s. There are even some pictures of gaming systems and computers that weren’t even seen in my neck of the world because they were only released in whatever country produced them.
The interface is extremely simple. Open the app and at the main menu you will be asked to select from Acorn, Amstrad, Apple, Atari, Commodore, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Nintendo, Philips, Sega, Sharp, Sinclair, Tandy, Radio Shack and more. Once you select a category an album of photos of different computers that were produced by those companies will be presented and you can play with the pics a little bit to get a better look.
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August 16th, 2011 at 1:36 PM EST | by Oliver VanDervoort
Perhaps just in time for the ramp up to the shopping season, Google has released an app that could end up making life much easier for your mailman. The Google Catalogs app does exactly what you think it should do by providing iPad users the ability to browser through several different store catalogs in order to find the perfect gift for that special someone. The app is basically a digital version of the paper catalogs, featuring everything the hard copy would show you meaning you will no longer have to get these kinds of catalogs sent to you through snail mail.
Among the stores that included in this app are, Anthropologie, Bergdorf’s, Neiman Marcus, Williams-Sonoma, Urban Outfitters and many, many more. Of course the app wouldn’t be that cool if they only thing you could do is look through it and order products like a regular old paper catalog. Google Catalogs also allows you to pinch the screen in order to zoom in on a certain offering and while you can order the product through the app, Google Catalogs will also tell you where the closest store is located and whether that store carries the item you are looking for.
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August 16th, 2011 at 9:35 AM EST | by Oliver VanDervoort
While the iPad has been a rather ground breaking device for mobile computing fans, there is one area where the device has fallen short in helping those who might find it hard to fully enjoy the iPad in all its glory. While the text to speech functions offered on the iPad help the visually impaired to some degree it still doesn’t make the iPad all that visually impaired friendly.
One new iPad case is taking the next step in making the device much more accessible to those who have problems working with the more traditional setup. Perhaps the best part of this new Omnifier iPad case is that the three folding panels make it possible to use it like a regular case when you don’t need the extra features and then easily transfer it into the special visually impaired version.
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August 15th, 2011 at 11:29 AM EST | by Oliver VanDervoort
Being both an avid sports fan and an iPad geek it is hard for me to figure out what has gotten me more revved up as the summer winds down. On the one hand there was the almost hourly rumors flying around about who would be moved and where in the run up of the Major League Baseball trade deadline. On the other hand is the daily whispers that continue to come about when the next iPad and iPhone will be hitting the market.
While there have been a ton of rumors about the fact that the iPad 3 is going to be coming out this fall along with what is commonly referred to as the iPhone 4S, the newest rumblings seem to not only be backing up a fall of 2011 release but also the month it will be hitting shelves. According to several reports, both the iPhone 5 or 4S and the iPad 3 will go into full production in the first week of September and will start being offered to consumers in October.
Here’s where the story gets a bit interesting though. Reports have been circulating for months now that we can expect the iPad 3 to be hitting shelves this fall, but many industry analysts are also now claiming that the iPad 3 will need the new A6 chip in order to run properly and to the height of its possibilities. The hitch here is that rumors don’t have this new A6 chip being produced until early 2012. The chip of course will lead to faster processors and has long been thought to be getting released in time for the iPhone 6 so that device will blow away other smart phones. But if this particular chip is also slated to be put into the iPad 3 then something is clearly just not adding up. The news of this particular chip is also interesting because TSMC is supposedly the company that will contracted to make the new chip, replacing long time Apple partner Samsung who has been producing the A4 and A5 chips for years now.
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