We’ve seen a lot of parts allegedly pertaining to the mythical white iPhone 4 leaked by third-party service technicians and parts makers, but never from Apple. According to our reader Aaron who sent this in, he was greeted with the white iPhone 4 graphics when checking the status of his DIY repair request on Apple’s support website. He writes:
Apple has updated Remote earlier today, its free iOS app for controlling desktop iTunes from your iDevice. Release notes accompanying the universal binary download cite a pair of under-the-hood tweaks and the addition of a “skip back” button when playing video. However, Apple’s technical writers have forgotten to include in the description an overlooked new feature, the ability to control the iTunes visualizer.
Now, here’s an app worth five minutes of your time. If you’re overwhelmed with information (hands up who isn’t – thought so), Voice Brief will capture your precious feeds from many different places and read them aloud for you. Staying on top of things is a breeze with this nifty app, but you must act fast because it’s free only for a couple of hours.
As if yellow tinting wasn’t enough, some early adopters are reporting dead pixels on their brand new iPad 2 and other spooky stories. Matt is our north Texas reader and he sent this in:
Following up on the previous report that Apple stores might open an hour early today, we’re receiving the news about a limited number of Apple stores receiving fresh iPad 2 shipments this morning. AppleBitch reports about “extremely limited numbers of iPad 2 devices” being distributed to at least one local Apple store. The publication was able to confirm that this retail spot did in fact receive new deliveries.
Our reader Zaid Khraibut tipped us on a similar re-stocking taking place at Apple’s Buffalo store at The Walden Galleria in New York. Apple employees allegedly told him that a new batch of devices is en route on Wednesday:
“This year’s Zune hardware is Windows Phone 7”, says the Zune head.
The Zune team head debunked yesterday’s report about the Zune’s demise. Dave McLauchlan, senior business development manager for Zune, insisted that the iPod didn’t kill the Zune in a semi-official statement posted to the AnythingButiPod forums. He reminded that “all consumer electronics products have a lifespan, and the Zune HD is 18 months old” while promising new apps and games.
“This year’s Zune hardware is Windows Phone 7,” he said. McLauchlan wouldn’t confirm whether new standalone Zunes are in the works. The writing has been on the wall for a long time. But even if Microsoft kills off the Zune, the brand will be alive and kicking and here’s why.
DWCable TV (left) and Dish Remote Access (right)
Time Warner Cable just posted their free live TV streaming app for iPad. Dubbed TWCable TV, it lets their subscribers stream live cable television programming via a high-speed WiFi connection to an iPad, the stuff like Bravo, Food Network, CNBC news and other selected live cable TV channels. The announcement has agitated spirits, prompting rival Dish Network to argue its Dish Remote Access app was first with live television streaming, even issuing a press release to back the claim.
Djay for iPad was the closest thing to having a real turntable. With its realistic, low-latency turntable interface, BPM syncing, pre-cueing, cue point trigger, beat-synchronized scrubbing and a bunch of other features, it’s one of the best iPad apps available. Heck, this piece of software is more than capable of replacing the entire DJ setup (especially racks of components and piles of CDs) with an ultrathin sexy slab of tablet computing. Read on…
Floorplan comparison: Apple’s A4 chip (left) and the latest A5 processor (right)
Reverse engineering wizards over at Chipworks put the A5 chip under a microscope. Yes, it’s a Samsung – confirming our hunch. The experts came to this conclusion by putting the chip under a microscope and examining dielectric layers and the shape of the transistor gates. The teardown analysis also revealed a die almost twice the size of the A4 chip from the previous-generation iPad and iPhone 4, the 45-nanometer manufacturing process and other interesting tidbits.
iOS is throttling web apps that are saved and executed from home screen, according to an exclusive report by The Register. The publication found out that such home screen web apps run “roughly two to two and a half times slower” as opposed to executing them directly from the Safari browser. The issue was discovered in the recently released iOS 4.3 software which updated Safari with a speedy JavaScript engine dubbed Nitro.
After years of trying to keep up with Apple’s iPod line, Bloomberg is reporting that Microsoft will finally stop introducing new versions of their not-so-popular Zune music player. They will however continue to sell existing versions of the Zune.
Microsoft tried to give the Zune a revival in 2009, introducing the Zune HD to compete with Apple’s iPod Touch, however the Zune HD never caught on with consumers. The Zune did not even manage to rank among the Top 5 music players, according to data compiled by NPD Group. The iPod, however, almost completely controls the music player market with a huge 77% market share.
The reason behind Microsoft abandoning the Zune likely is related to moving to Windows Phone 7 on devices.
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With iPad 2 now in the picture (no pun intended), exhaustive camera benchmarks from numerous publications paint a pretty bleak picture for Apple’s magical device. Like it or not, iPad 2 cameras mostly earn lower scores when pitted against Motorola’s Xoom, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab and even Apple’s own iPod touch. The empirical testing backed by real-life footage proves what we’ve been suspecting all along, that iPad 2 takes substandard stills and grainier video than most tablets.
What, you haven’t heard of Frenzy, a private social network for your Mac built atop Dropbox cloud storage? Now’s the time to give it a try as developer Aptonic Software announced the first public beta of Frenzy for Mac. You will need either a paid or free 2GB Dropbox account because Frenzy uses hidden Dropbox folders to let you share files, links and messages and track real-time updates via a Twitter-like stream of feed items. It’s a simple, elegant, lightweight and – above all – efficient way of collaborative sharing and commenting that works like a charm.
Image credit: John Ferguson
Many Apple fans will disagree with such a strong statement about the charismatic CEO who has single-handedly shifted the balance of power in the music industry and persuaded youngsters that stealing music is bad for their karma. That’s exactly what Jon Bon Jovi said responding to a reporter’s question about the state of music today. Read on…
In a strange turn of fate, California-based Apple is moving to trademark the famed fruity logos once used by the Beatles, following a 23-year legal dispute between the two companies. Furthermore, Apple makes specific mention of a social network in the fourteen international classifications that cover possible uses for the two logos. How can Apple, Inc. claim ownership of the Beatles’ logos in the first place, you ask.
iPad 2 is flying off the shelves due to higher than expected demand. If you waited in line for hours only to be instructed to visit the store another day, you should mark your calendar tomorrow as Apple is rumored to be opening its retail stores one hour early tomorrow for iPad sales. Tipsters told Apple Bitch that the stores are re-stocking today with new iPad 2 shipments as the company prepares for dedicated iPad 2 sales tomorrow.
AirPlay is a great new feature of iOS 4 that lets you wirelessly stream photos, video and music from an iOS device to your television via Apple TV. Like any new tech, AirPlay has its share of teething problems as it doesn’t work two-way between any iOS device, as originally planned. Apple fixed some of the concerns with iOS 4.3 and AirPlay can now stream video from the Photos app, web sites and Air Play-enabled apps that are now listed in a brand new section on the App Store.
While we’re awaiting for a press release announcing a millionth iPad 2 sold, Fortune’s Philip Elmer-DeWitt has put together a nice summary of analysts’ estimates concerning iPad 2 weekend sales. The number range from 500,000 to one million units sold this past weekend, but Apple could easily blow conservative analysts out of the water with higher-than-expected sales as Apple’s spokeswoman calls iPad 2 demand “amazing”.
Electronics experts over at iFixIt tore apart Apple’s Smart Cover “case” for iPad 2 and found out there’s much more to it than meets the eye. We’ve known that Smart Cover owes its magic to the use of magnets. What we haven’t been aware of is that each Smart Cover utilizes a whooping 21 magnets hidden inside its fabric that serve multiple purposes. The magical snapping and auto-aligning of the cover? That’s courtesy of 21 magnets inside the cover that interact with ten more magnets contained in the tablet itself. But how does the cover turn the iPad 2 on and off?
The new A5 chip, cameras and high demand that caught touch screen panel makers on the wrong foot are all blamed for an increase in iPad 2 bill of materials compared to the last year’s model. On the flip side, comparable flagship devices cost more to manufacture as their vendors are having trouble matching the iPad’s popularity, Apple’s vast cash horde and its buying power enabling the company to squeeze the best deals out of Asian suppliers. Still, iPad 2’s touch screen costs $33 more and the new dual-core A5 processor is 75 percent pricier than the previous generation, or $14 per unit.
Twitter has been abuzz with many iPhone users claiming that their phone either went an hour ahead or an hour behind last night, incorrectly compensating for the daylight savings change. We’ve been getting tips from all over the world.
From personal experience, my iPhone went back an hour back in Arizona even though the state does not observe daylight savings.
Some Arizona iPhone users found their iPhone clocks to be an hour ahead of the correct time. We also received a tip from a Canadian reader on the Rogers network who said that his iPhone’s clock went an hour ahead at 2 AM then went an hour back at 11 AM.
How about your iPhone? Did you wake up on time? Or did you wake up early?
Update: A temporary solution for this error is to go into Settings > General > Date & Time then manually set the time zone. Some automatically set clocks seem to be working now.
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Glass cube at NYC’s Fifth Avenue is Apple’s most-trafficked retail spot. Here’s a gorgeous shot of iPad 2 customers gathered outside and store employees lined up and ready for the launch. Thanks, Adam!
Enough said… Thanks, Kyle T! And Derek Baker sent the below shot of Best Buy in Charlotte, NC.
