iOS Devices

At CES today, Pioneer announced a new accessory for the iPhone which is meant for your car. It boosts the GPS signal (perfect for navigation apps), has a speakerphone with mic, and charges your device. The accessory is also very safety conscious as it blocks your iPhone’s app features from working unless you are fully parked. The Pioneer SmartCradle’s pricing and availability will be announced at a later date and the press release is after the break. (via Engadget)

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1BI8czhL1w&w=640&h=385]

SmartPhone Medic has posted some pictures (below) of what they are claiming to be the frame of the rumored Verizon iPhone 4 or of the fifth generation iPhone. The difference between this purported frame and the current iPhone 4 frame is the top cut in the band is missing and a new cut is present towards the top-side of the phone. The controversial cut on the iPhone 4 is still present but they may be moving that function to the new band on the upper side to avoid people causing reception issues while holding their iPhone. Above is a video from another repair shop of a hands on of the frame and internal parts.

FireCore has just announced an update to the Remote HD application for iOS devices on the App Store and a new application available through an Apple TV jailbreak extras menu. The two applications work together to allow you to stream video from your iPhone, video from iTunes, and video from YouTube and supported 3rd party apps to the original Apple TV. You need to install the AppleTV jailbreak we previously reported on and the Remote HD application for iOS costs $3.99. Oh, and audio streaming doesn’t work yet, just video.

Instructions from FireCore:

1. If you don’t already have Remote HD purchase it here [iTunes link].
2. Install Remote HD on your AppleTV through the Maintenance –> Install Extras menu.
3. Restart your AppleTV.
4. Connect to your AppleTV with Remote HD – the AppleTV will now be recognized in all AirPlay compatible applications.
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COMPUTERWORLD: This is not the year the iPad meets its match. Analyst Michael Gartenberg doesn’t see anything to threaten Apple, even as AAPL moves beyond dominance of the tablet market — as its mind-share grows, iPad is making like the iPod and defining the tablet market.

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You like movies? We like movies. We all like movies and now it seems Comcast has a super plan which means you’ll be watching huge amounts of video content on your iPad. Hooray!
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Interesting: it seems the first big deal component Apple may manufacture with its newly-licensed LiquidMetal alloys (beyond that SIM card remover shipped with iPhone before) isn’t the body or the antenna — it’s the battery!
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We’re all agog waiting on the introduction of the Mac App Store tomorrow (Jan 6). It seems likely to eclipse the CES clamor. Now we have this tiny nugget to share: You’ll be able to review Mac Apps just like you review iOS apps.

Sure, we know this isn’t a massive surprise: stop and think about it and it makes perfect sense that you’ll be able to put virtual pen to paper to leave others with your impressions of those Mac Apps you love or loathe.
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The iPad is taking a lesson from the iPod and beginning to seize a place in US schools, some of which are beginning trials to test the efficacy of providing the Apple tablets to kids, even while New York City orders thousands of iPads for its schools.
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That’s the conclusion from Forrester Research in their latest research which predicts US tablet sales will double this year.

They now anticipate tablet sales last year of (a deeply conservative) 10.3 million units, thanks to stronger than expected iPad sales. And they think iPad will take the ‘lion’s share’ of a market they expect will double in size (to 24.1 million units) this year, despite all those new CES-introduced ‘competitors’.
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iPad 2 cases have been popping up everywhere lately and today Engadget found an iPad 2 case with a little surprise from Dexim at CES. The surprise is a real-life, physical mockup of the iPad 2 and re-affirms our drawings showing a thinner, tapered design with dual cameras. The tapers look very similar to the ones found on the Apple’s latest iPod touch line and that larger port is still present on the bottom left of the device’s back. Check out more pictures of the physical iPad 2 mockup after the break.

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The iPhone alarm clock issue was supposed to auto-fix for all on January 3rd but that simply didn’t happen for everyone. The still-existing issue has apparently cost someone their job and today ESPN reports the glitch made three Lakers late to their pre-game shoot around. NBA all-star Pau Gasol claimed he missed the practice because he overslept due to the iPhone alarm clock issue. Gasol also was “sleep-walking” through most of the game and the Lakers ended up losing. How dare you make my Lakers lose, Apple. Luke Walton (meh) was the second Lakers affected by the iPhone alarm clock glitch with the third player staying unknown.

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Eye-Fi today announced they will updating their X2 wireless memory cards in 2011 with a new ‘Direct Mode’ feature. This new mode sounds pretty neat and helpful and it uses resources from the wireless memory card technology and the mobile Eye-Fi apps. Basically, the mode lets you instantly, wirelessly transfer pictures you take on your camera to your phone, tablet, or devices with supported Eye-Fi apps (App Store).

Eye-Fi also announced a new feature that allows users to wireless backup videos and pictures saved to the wireless Eye-Fi x2 card to their online Eye-Fi accounts. This will really help out folks who need to quickly get pictures onto their computers and mobile devices and will also eliminate the need for constantly transferring photos of SD cards. Look out for the backup feature starting today and the free direct mode upgrade later this year. If you’re at CES, Direct Mode is being previewed there.

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Logitech has a pretty solid little cross platform video chat application called Vid HD but unfortunately, their 1080P Cameras haven’t had reliable Mac drivers for HD video chatting both ways (Vid HD can use Apple’s built in cameras as well).

Today that changes.  Their HD Pro C910 USB camera ($80 at Amazon) now also works in HD for 10 megapixel stills or 1080P Video recording.  Most impressive is HD video conferencing with Vid HD, Skype, Google Talk and others. (iChat is hard set at SD).

Logitech webcam software for Mac is our newest webcam release, with support specifically for the HD Pro C910. Now you can create, capture and share in Full 1080p with your C910 and Mac-based computer (running 10.5 or higher). Record in 720p, 1080p and capture great 10 megapixel photos, and sharing your memories on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter is drag and drop simple.

The software includes Logitech Vid™ HD, the free, fast, and easy way to make video calls with your Logitech webcam. Now you can make 720p video calls from a Mac, and connect in HD to friends and family on a Mac, PC or TV with the Logitech Revue and TV Cam.

Vid HD is included with your Logitech webcam software, so that your webcam, microphone, and speakers will just work and be ready to make video calls.

You can download the new Video camera software here. The Vid HD for Mac software is here.
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J89M9UewvGE&w=640&h=385]

Looks like a pretty good idea. Anyone tried this yet?
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COMPUTERWORLD: Smart investors are paying attention to Apple’s [AAPL] rapidly expanding iOS value chain, taking strategic holdings in Apple’s component supply partners, and this last few days has seen markets whisper one name, Skyworks Solutions [SWKS] — will that company drive LTE support to iPhone and iPad 2.0?

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Price conscious UK consumers are already grappling with declining public services and public sector jobs and a huge climb in VAT — perhaps that’s why Orange sold just 1,000 iPads in the first week the products went on sale via the carrier in the UK.

As has been widely-reported, Orange is one of the first UK networks to offer the 3G/Wi-Fi iPad at a subsidized price in the UK to customers signing-up for a 24-month service contract. The subsidy means you can get an iPad for just £199, so long as consumers agree to a £25/month contract.
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Apple isn’t at CES once again this year and as per usual Cupertino’s shadow looms above the giant US trade show, where it seems competitors, including Microsoft, intend introducing their own iPad competitors, even as we learn that existing Android tablets may never get a software upgrade. Some highlights:
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Iomega is using CES to introduce Iomega SuperHero, a new combined iPhone docking station that’s also equipped with the capacity to record an iPhone data back-up when the device is inserted into the slot.

Some may argue that this duplicates what Apple’s iTunes does on its own — the media management software takes frequent back-ups of phone data. However, this doesn’t always mean the data you most need is backed-up in time.
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Apple’s battle with Android continues with the latest Nielsen market share data revealing iOS remains the dominant smartphone OS, at least right now.

Android is picking up users: according to November data from The Nielsen Company, the popularity of the Android OS among those who purchased a smartphone in the last six months (40%) makes it the leading OS among recent acquirers.
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Apple remains the world’s most valuable company (after Exxon) with a market cap that this morning exceeded $300 billion, reports declare. On active trade on the Dow Apple (AAPL) rose $7 to hit a new record intraday high this morning — right now Apple stock sits near $330 per share for a market cap of over $302 billion.
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CES news is beginning to trickle through now, and we anticipate at least some AirPlay-enabled systems from the big audio dynamos will be waiting in the wings; meanwhile, WallWizard will be at the show to demonstrate its range of motorised iPhone/iPad-controlled HDTV mounts.
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