iOS Devices

The new Apple TV runs a ‘Front Row’ like software called ‘Lowtide.’ This software has multi-device support and this means it can technically work on any iOS device. Developer, Dustin Howett got it running on his iPod touch, which he doesn’t recommend others to try.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTJ5yG2LyX8&w=640&h=385]

via TUAW

Now that the new Apple TV is finally shipping/arriving to customers homes and Apple stores across the nation, Apple has uploaded the new manuals to their support website.

You can grab the fun setup guide here and the boring product information guide here.

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For those who are still hoping for another Safari alternative on iOS, this one’s a heart breaker. Mozilla today announced in a blog post that they have no plans to bring a Firefox browsing experience to iOS.

We are working to bring as much of your Firefox experience as possible to Firefox Home. People have asked about adding more browser-like features to Firefox Home, but there are technical and logistical restrictions that make it difficult, if not impossible, to build the full Firefox browser for the iPhone. We are focused on building Firefox Home as a rich, cloud-based application and making it a valuable product that people will continue to love and use.

Mozilla currently offers their ‘Firefox Home’ application for iPhone which wirelessly transfers users bookmarks, history, and all sorts of things to their iPhone. Firefox said back in 2008 that they wouldn’t be making an iOS version of Firefox due to Apple’s app review process, for those keeping track.

Image Credit: TiPb

COMPUTERWORLD: All reports now suggest Apple will introduce its second-generation iPad in the second quarter of 2011. The device will hit a far more competitive market than it faced in its first iteration, with tablets coming from all directions. Will features be enough to prevail in the growing tablet industry? I think it will be developers who determine who succeeds in 2011’s tablet wars.

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Developers and jailbreakers alike are already pouring through the secrets within the new Apple TV firmware.

FaceTime coming to Apple TV?

We think this may be some left over code from iOS 4.1 for the iPhone/new iPod touch. We never know though… New iSight for TV’s?!

DVD Support?

We’re seeing some Bluetooth code as well.  Oh, and here are the Flickr accounts Apple uses in their promotional kit:

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Version 2 just hit the App Store with some new features:

The new Remote.app also gets updated to Retina on the iPhone 4 and better takes advantage of the real estate of the iPad.  The shared libraries feature should also make playing video much easier (rather than having to open the video and click the AirPlay button).

If you look at the new iPad version, the interface is almost like the iTunes desktop interface!

And don’t forget that new icon!

Lots of new screenshots below:

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The first we’ve seen is from Clayton Morris at FoxNews, but more are likely in the pipeline as the embargo is lifted.  You aren’t going to learn much if you’ve already seen the One More Thing keynote, but as we’ve talked about, AirPlay is the differentiator:

AirPlay is the new feature I’m most excited about. It lets you share your movies, music and photos across all of your Apple devices. This feature won’t be entirely ready when Apple TV launches, but Tuesday Apple will release a new version of the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad remote app that’ll let users AirPlay music back and forth.So here’s how it works. Let’s say I’m out watching an episode of Star Trek on my iPad. When I walk in my front door I can continue watching that same episode on my ginormous HDTV with the flick of a finger, and vice versa. How handy is that? Apple told me the company has opened this feature to third-party developers, and that’s where my imagination runs wild. Think of the possibilities! Imagine the apps you could be flicking back and forth across all of your iDevices: NPR, Netflix, YouTube, MLB, Hulu, Internet Radio, Pandora, the list goes on. AirPlay could be the most important Apple announcement in years.

AirPlay is what turns hobbies into products.
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Just in case you haven’t guessed already, the analysts over at Goldman Sachs are speculating the next-generation iPad will appear next year, in the second quarter, to be exact.

They anticipate the new Apple (AAPL) tablet will host a 9.7-inch display and will be thinner and lighter than before. We’re also going to see a built-in camera and a mini USB connection – perhaps in anticipation of upcoming European standardization on the interface.
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We’re looking at Amazon’s new Web-based Kindle book samples here, folks, offering you the chance to read the first chapter of a host of books in a format you can host on your Facebook page, website or by email. All very nice, particularly as rumors of an Android-powered Amazon iPad competitor continue to gather steam.
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Millennial Media has released their August 2010 ad impressions report and the results are quite phenomenal for iOS. iOS led the pack with 48% of total advertisement impressions in August. This 48% includes all iOS devices, not just the iPhone, such as the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

Android comes in number two with 26% of ad impressions just 7% of Research in Motion’s (BlackBerry etc.) 19%. Getting into actual phones (not including non-phone communicators such as iPad, iPod touch, PSP, Kindle etc.) Apple still leads August impressions with 28.32%.
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Apple new sixth-generation iPod nano costs from $43.73, according to iSuppli’s latest tear-down analysis of the same.

The 8GB version of the latest iPod carries an estimated BOM of $43.73, the second-lowest BOM of all members of the iPod line —  only the fourth generation product was less expensive to manufacture at $40.80.
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Apple has given its approval to the Google Voice App for iPhone, which should be available at the App Store “soon”. Some changes were required to make the app work the iPhone 4 and iOS’s multitasking capabilities. The move follows Apple’s move to block the app last July of last year and its subsequent decision to relax its app guidelines for App development in September.
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If you still had any doubt that the new Apple TV runs iOS, this will surely make you a believer. Apple has already placed iOS 4.1 for the 2nd-gen Apple TV on their servers and yeah… get downloading! (This won’t actually do any good for you until you need to restore or something like that)

Thanks, Ryan!

Giz has put together a pretty good chart which outlines the iPad’s competition. We still aren’t certain on the pricing for the BB PlayBook (Business = Play?!), HP Slate, or the Galaxy Tab but there are many other factors to look at. The chart says it all, folks:

…unless you consider which devices are actually shipping (iPad).  The PlayBook likely won’t ship until iPad 2 rears its head.
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The New Yorker iPad app, strategically priced at $4.95/issue – about five times the subscription to the paper version – goes on sale today.  Also, just to prove that they ‘get’ online, the post about the app and the accompanying story from the New Yorker don’t contain a link to the actual app (there’s a freebie).  Also the entertaining intro video is in Flash (with that dude from Rushmore) which is also not so iPad friendly.

http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f8/1827871374

Don’t get me wrong, I love the New Yorker. I just wish as a current subscriber, I could have it on my iPad as well without paying five times as much as I’ve already paid.
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COMPUTERWORLD: The iPhone 4 is the best iPhone yet if held correctly, but don’t let that stop you wishing for more. What improvements would you like to see Apple make in the next-generation iPhone?

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OK, the Apple TV is shipping. Some people are getting them tomorrow, some people are getting them October 1st, and some will be lost in the mail like my iPhone 4.  And some dude got his already.

Yahoo’s CEO Carol Bartz warned last month that Apple’s iAds would fall apart. So far, here’s how iAds are doing in booking mobile app ads for December vs. Yahoo and the rest according to Bloomberg:

thanks for the graphic

Also interesting that Apple has matched Google in its first December.
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A UK university is offering free iPhone loans to its fourth and fifth year medical students,  report claims.
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This could be a big deal: demand for the iPhone 4 is already outstrippign supply in China, where local carriwer China Unicom received over 200,000 preorders for the device by Saturday.

The iPhone went on sale in China last week, and the local carrier there intends building up supply as fast as possible.
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According to TUAW, iOS 4.1 has a little bug which wakes up those New Zealand folks an hour early each morning via clock.app. The cause of the bug is related to daylight savings time in the Southern Hemisphere and other than that this is goes into the meh category (OK it’s not meh).

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