iOS Devices

When the original iPad debuted last April, lengthy shipping delays indicated high initial demand for the device. Today’s news that the online Apple Store already has a 2-3 week shipping estimate on iPad 2 is a tell-tale sign of it quite possibly outselling its predecessor at launch. The original iPad shipments were similarly delayed to 2-3 weeks at launch, as noted by the iPad Jailbreak site. This time around, however, iPad 2 benefits from a much larger distribution footprint, with both WiFi and 3G units going on sale simultaneously in the US at Apple, Verizon and AT&T stores, in addition to Best Buy, Target and authorized Apple resellers.

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Apple has been the leader in miniaturization since the original iPod’s debut, which marked their entry into the ultra-portable gadget market. Fast forward ten years later and we have iPad 2 and iPhone 4 that are just 8.8 and 9.3 millimeter thick, respectively. Matter of fact, iPad 2 is actually thinner than your shiny iPhone 4. Even though Apple has come a long way in a short while with such ultra-portable devices, they might hit a  roadblock soon, which is your regular 3.5 millimeter audio jack. Needles to say, there’s a patent for that.

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Just in time for the iPad 2 launch today, first triple-A iPad games have received timely updates designed to take advantage of the gizmo’s advertised nine times graphics performance increase. Enhanced versions of both medieval sword fighting Infinity Blade by Chair and Electronic Arts’ Dead Space for iPad just went live on the App Store, proudly advertising prettier and more complex graphics made possible by the A5 chip inside iPad 2.

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After an early start, Apple has begun iPad sales and in the last hour has moved shipping lead times from 3-5 days to 5-7 business days – which translates to a little over a week.  Remember, Apple likes to manage expectations and you could still receive your iPad in less time…or you could go get on line at one of the other distribution points.

Update: They are going fast – now 2-3 weeks.

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As promised Apple opened its virtual doors around 1 AM this morning and the iPad 2 is available for order on the Apple Online Store. All 18 models, yes 18, are available for order and they all ship in 3-5 business days.

Apple’s iPad 2 Smart Cover is available as well, shipping in 1-2 business days, in 10 colors with either a leather ($69) or Polyurethane ($39) option (5 colors per material). Apple is also selling a dock specific to the new, thinner device – it’s shipping in 1-3 weeks and costs $29.

In addition, Apple is selling an HDMI cable ($39) for the iPad 2 that allows for full video mirroring to a television. The cable even has a slot to charge the device simultaneously.

Those who do not want to order their iPad 2 online can purchase one at an Apple retail, AT$T, Target, Verizon, Best Buy, Walmart, or Sam’s Club store starting March 11th at 5 PM local time.

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Bloomberg reports that multiple industry analysts are expecting Apple to cross the 600,000 sales mark for the iPad 2 during this launch weekend. This compares to the 300,000 WiFi-only original iPads sold on launch day on April 3, 2010.

Brian Marshall, an analyst at Gleacher & Co expects Apple’s second generation iPad to “outpace” the original model. Tim Bajarin, an analyst at Creative Strategies Inc. and Rodman & Renshaw LLC and Piper Jaffray & Co. concur.

Apple has such a huge lead,” said Bajarin, who has covered the industry for more than 20 years and works as a technology consultant. He projects 500,000 units in two days. “Competitors are going to be chasing Apple for many years.

The two leading reasons for more iPad 2 sales have to do with more stores selling the device on opening day and the addition of the white model.

Apple’s new tablet also will be sold at more than 10,000 stores of AT&T Inc., Verizon Wireless, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Best Buy Co. and Target Corp., according to Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster.

Firemint has just released the HD version (iPad) of their wildly popular racing game, Real Racing 2. The new game takes full advantage of the iPad and iPad 2s unique features like faster processors and larger displays and specifically takes advantage of the iPad 2s superior graphics hardware and dual-core processor.

The game also includes “cutting-edge” 3D graphics, precision controls (with gyroscope support!), and over 10 hours of game play. A career mode is also available with 16 player online gaming with Game Center support. Another cool feature is the ability to sync your progress between the iPad and iPhone versions of the game.

Real Racing 2 HD comes with all the features and content of Real Racing 2: authentic pack-racing with up to 16 players; 30 licensed cars from real-life manufacturers, including the 2010 Ford Shelby Mustang GT500, 2010 Nissan GT-R (R35) and 2012 McLaren MP4-12C; competitive online leaderboards and frenetic 16-player online multiplayer – all powered by Firemint’s own iOS-optimized Mint3D™ engine.

The game is available on the App Store for $9.99.

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Sticking close to their purported iPhone 5 digitizer, showing a larger display and a thinner bezel, iDealsChina has now posted several “mold engineering drawings” for the fifth-generation iPhone.

We just got what appears to be mold engineering drawings for iPhone 5. These would be used by case designers to create plastic, TPU, aluminum, silicone and leather cases. A while back we hear rumors that iPhone 5 would have a curved back but these images show iPhone 5 with the same form factor as iPhone 4 but with an edge to edge screen.

Interestingly enough, these images depict an iPhone 4-like design – with the same wrap-around antenna – but with a larger display and a thinner bezel. This larger display and thinner bezel goes hand in hand with reports from Digitimes and the Wall Street Journal, respectively.

The images (above and after after the break) do not show much else but the interesting part from their description is that these images are said to be case mold drawings. The last case mold drawings we saw were for the iPad 2 and they seem to have been almost, if not, 100% accurate.

Apple’s iPhone 5 will also include a dual-core A5 processor, according to code in the latest iOS builds, in addition to enhanced voice control and iOS 5. The iPhone 5 is expected to be revealed at WWDC 2011 with a launch date in either June or July. (via MacRumors)

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Besides Apple stores, Best Buy, Target, Walmart, AT&T, and Verizon stores, the folks at Sam’s Club will, too, be carrying the iPad 2. Doors open at 5 PM local time and wait for it.. only 10 “clubs” (locations) will have iPad 2s in stock tomorrow.

Those of you who live in the areas listed below and don’t want to buy their iPad 2 with visitors of the above retailers are in luck. Sam’s Club has been selling the first generation iPad since November 2010.

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iPad 2s have been spotted in Walmart display cases today, a day before sales begin, according to eagle-eyed Walmart shoppers. The image comes via RazorianFly and according to another customer who spotted an iPad 2 at their Walmart, the purchase would not go through… bummer.

Stopped by electronics section while picking up some coffee for the wife this afternoon. Of course, they had the 1st gen iPads available at the $100 markdown price, but I was surprised to find the new models on the same shelf. Black only (at my rural walmart.) I didn’t check to see all the models available, but they definitely had the 16 and 32g in both Wifi and 3G varieties. They may have had more. They only had a few out. Sorry, I didn’t count them.

I asked to buy one. The nice lady behind the electronics counter opened the case, pulled the 16gWifi out for me, and began to ring me up. I was really excited. BUT, the system notified her that she couldn’t sell them yet. She (mis)informed me that if I came back after midnight tonight I could get one. We’ll see.

Perhaps it is time to go to Walmart and report back with your new iPad2?
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The Wall Street Journal announced that they have added added 200,000 subscribers from mobile devices like the Apple iPad. Even more interesting is that the Journal added 150,000 mobile subscribers in the last year – the iPad was just released around a year ago.

Les Hinton, head of the newspaper’s publisher, Dow Jones & Co., which is owned by News Corp., said Thursday that about 150,000 of the new subscribers were added in the last 12 months. Subscribers pay about $4 a week to read the Journal on their iPad.

The Wall Street Journal is owned by News Corp., the creator of the Daily, but that 200,000 user figure does not cover subscribers of the Daily. This fairly substantial number represents how iPads are truly changing the news industry

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iOS 4.3 was just released yesterday and the jailbreak community has already been hard at work exploiting the new software. An untethered jailbreak for the new Apple TV update is now available with Seas0nPass and an untethered jailbreak for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch is currently in alpha stage.

The Seas0nPass jailbreak comes from the folks at Firecore and all you need to do is download the jailbreak here, get a micro USB cable, and run the installer. Seas0nPass also includes some fun extras like NitoTV. The latest Apple TV update adds MLB and NBA TV integration and other new features, too.

iOS 4.3 for mobile iOS devices is now alpha stage, with no scheduled release date. Check out a video of that above.

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Even though the original iPad is able to run the latest version of iMovie for iOS, Apple has decided to not allow original iPad users to install iMovie directly through the App Store. This decision has to do with the original iPad’s lack of cameras, slower processor, and less RAM.

Original iPad users who want to run iMovie on their original iPad shouldn’t fear as iMovie can work on their iPads… without a jailbreak.
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In addition to a few big features, yesterday’s release of iOS 4.3 brought several nice-to-haves such as password reentry for in-app purchases and the ability to comment on songs or like them directly in iPad’s built-in iPod application (no, not “like” as in “Facebook like”). The feature requires you to sign up for an account with Ping, Apple’s social network for music. Furthermore, it appears to work only with songs purchased through the iTunes Store, reports MacStories.net.

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Smart parents needn’t worry anymore about in-app purchases in iOS games, they only need to update to iOS 4.3. You’ve probably heard about horror stories involving kids draining their parent’s bank accounts unintentionally because they were lured into buying stuff inside games without even realizing it.  Smurf Villiage is #7 ranked in gross earnings in the App Store and has been seen as one of the biggest offenders.

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Best Buy has announced that the iPad 2 will be available at normal Best Buy stores in addition to Best Buy Mobile stores starting tomorrow. Sales will begin at 5 PM and Best Buy will hand out purchase vouchers on a first come, first serve basis at 4:30 PM local time.

Best Buy will begin taking in-store-pickup reservations on March 12th. Customers will be able to reserve the iPad 2 unit they wish to purchase and must place a $100 deposit on the device. The deposit is fully refundable should you choose to wait for a Playbook or get a Xoom.

Apple announced this morning that the Apple online store will begin taking iPad 2 orders at 1 AM PST and 4 AM EST on March 11th. Apple retail stores, Target, Walmart, Verizon, and AT&T retail locations will also begin selling Apple’s iPad 2 tomorrow at 5 PM local time.

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The debate about Flash on iOS devices rarely makes headlines these days, but it’s far from being over. You can see it in an increasing number of apps from third-parties that aim to solve this nasty issue once and for all. While the vast majority of solutions only tackle Flash videos, only a few iOS apps are capable of rendering other content types delivered through Flash, like games and interactive apps.

Enter iSwifter, a new iPad app that claims to stream any Flash content.

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Interesting note from a Wired UK story on Rovio: The company was almost in bankruptcy prior to releasing their Angry Birds app in the App Store. They had been making meager earnings selling apps through the mobile carriers and for other companies.  One App for app store and now they are $50 million in the black with a lucrative franchise on their hands.

Wired.co.uk via SAI
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Apple has updated their iMovie iOS application to work on the iPad 2. The update also brings some features from the iPad 2 version down to the iPhone and iPod touch version.

(update: GarageBand too. – both work on iPad 1 as well)

Here are the new features:
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The new St. Patrick’s Day update to the blockbuster puzzler has gone live today for iOS and Android devices, with Palm and Nokia following soon. It is bound to spoil you with an entirely new level pack containing brand spanking new puzzles to solve, bonus content and the unmistakable, charming humor that turned Angry Birds into such a high-grossing entertainment franchise (video below). Also, Angry Birds Rio is coming later this month.

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The popular social magazine application for iPad called Flipboard received a pretty substantial update tonight. The update includes full Instagram integration with photos displayed just like your Facebook, Twitter, and RSS content is displayed.

Flipboard is now said to function up to twice as fast, which is great, and includes some unique new search functions. The new function is called “Social Search” and this “first of its kind” search feature lets you hunt through RSS/blogs content in addition to content from your social networking accounts.

Flipboard 1.2 includes new featured sections curated by the folks at Flipboard in addition to better Google Reader and table of contents support. The update is available for free on the iTunes App Store.

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