iOS Devices

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iPhone OS 4 beta 3 is now in the developer center.  Hopefully this version fixes the camera and file uploading issues that plagued beta 2.

Apple may be testing its iTravel solution in Canada, with an ad in a local Montreal newspaper tempting Patently Apple to suspect this to be the case.

Patently Apple revealed news of Apple

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Here’s something silly: An iPad built into a kitchen. Ideal for showing off, recipes and simple kitchen surfing, presumably.

The maker shows the simple wooden mount that he used to embed the iPad into a kitchen cabinet, which makes it easy to remove for use around the home and for the removal of kitchen grease. Also for confidential emails you don’t want the kids to see, conceivably. 

“My wife thought I was nuts – until she saw the results,” the creator told TUAW.

Here

US Nintendo boss, Reggie Fils-Aime has dismissed Apple

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Early in the morning and some time to waste? Then sit still and stare in wonder at the latest iPad destruction meme to show itself on YouTube – yes, sit back and watch the must-have Apple device get microwaved. No need to watch the whole clip – it is too long – skip forward to 3:30 for the microwaving and 6:30 for the, well, wait and see.
Below, just in case you missed it, is the last iPad desctruction meme – the iPad in a blender.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAl28d6tbko&w=560&h=340]

Via: Mashable

This morning we reported that ABC has submitted an update for their popular iPad ABC player so it will stream shows over 3G. Tonight, Apple has approved their update which will surely make iPad 3G owners happy. 

Release Notes:

Get it here.

Youwch!

Dropbox for iPad(free) is out and the reviews are pretty good.  Dropbox, if you don’t have it already, is 2.2GB of free space in the cloud that syncs with a folder in your Mac or PC’s Home directory.  Using Dropbox for iPhone/iPad/iPod touch allows you to view these files on your iProduct.  For instance, a Powerpoint in your dropbox folder can be opened in your iPad in Keynote. 

Also, when you favorite a file, it stores that file locally on your iPad.  The only flaws include lackluster PDF viewing and inability to zoom pictures.  We’re hoping to see those improved in the next version..

AT&T

Got to hand it to the technically-skilled and ever optimistic cloners and tech fakesters out there in China

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The Spirit Jailbreak for iPad has been released and from an early look, it’s pretty dead simple. Sprit is an untethered jailbreak which will hack any iProduct of yours on any 3.1.x or 3.2 release. The jailbreak is free and works instantly. You can download it for Mac or Windows here.

Before you proceed, read the warning notes on the official site. The video above is a full tutorial which explains everything and walks you though a complete Spirit Jailbreak on the iPad. 

Update: ABC is said to have submitted an HTTP Streaming version to the App Store that will be less bandwidth intensive and work over 3G

ABC’s iPad app might not work over 3G because it doesn’t use the HTTP Live Streaming protocol.  According to App Advice, video producers who don’t use this format aren’t allowed by Apple to stream the video over 3G.

Here are some bits from Apple

T-Mobile full-sized SIMs require some trimming but they do work in the iPad and will get you an EDGE (not 3G — different radios) data signal if you are so inclined.  You probably won’t find a deal as good as AT&T’s, however.  Instructions can be found here.

Bonus: If you jailbreak, you can send SMS’s from Tmobile  (video below!), where on AT&T, the functionality is disabled. via MuscleNerd

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1P7Cya9wmM&w=640&h=385]

Many may be wondering why Apple chose the H.264 standard for Safari’s HTML5 video over Ogg Theora, which Firefox and Opera support in their HTML5 video implementations (Google’s Chrome supports both).  Ogg Theora is royalty free while H.264 requires licensing which could come at a price.  Wikipedia also uses Ogg Theora.

But for Apple and CEO Steve Jobs, the answer isn’t that simple.  According to an email reply published last night, Jobs believes that Theora may infringe on other’s patents and those patent holders may soon be going after Theora:

As per usual, the answers are probably much more complicated than they appear on the surface. 

As for marketshare, the graphic below from Encoding.com shows that H.264 adoption is outpacing Theora, while Flash encoding is dropping significantly.

image via Techcrunch

Shipping part (left) vs. FCC part (right)

iFixit did a teardown of the 3G iPad and found that it is mostly the same as the FCC submission Apple provided a month ago.  The only difference is that Apple has unlabeled some of the Infineon chips in the 3G module as you can see in the image above.

Some additional remarks from iFixit:

1. The immediate visible difference is the inclusion of a black plastic RF window on top of the iPad for better antenna reception.
2. The black RF window significantly changes the opening procedure. You cannot start separating the display using the notches on the top (
   

iPad 3G owners who were expecting to be able to watch ABC TV shows while on the move or expected to see SD movie trailers on 3G aren’t going to be happy with this news from iLounge.

It appears that Apple/AT&T are blocking some video apps like ABC entirely, while downscaling other videos, like Apple trailers significantly.  It isn’t certain yet whether this is a result of their HTTP Streaming going over smaller pipes or an intentional effort because of licensing restrictions. (3G could be considered broadcast)

What immediately grabs me is the opportunity of some hackers to secure and unlimited 3G data plan from AT&T ($30/month) and share it with their other devices.  That might be too much for some to pass up.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFmy1rolqpw&w=700&h=400]

MuscleNerd via Redmond Pie

Some people like the unboxings…here you are. We liked the 3G maps usage at the end.  Thanks Yaliutube.

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