iPad (2021)

BGR reports that the iPhone 5, slated to be released in the fall of 2012, would have a number of differences to the current 4/4S models.  The back will be aluminum and it will likely be surrounded by a plastic or rubberized bezel according to the report.

It will join the glass iPhone face with a new aluminum back plate. It will also cover a redesigned antenna system that surrounds the device, allowing Apple to build the rear case out of aluminum without having to use a large plastic insert above the antennas as the company does on its iPad 2 Wi-Fi + 3G.

The last we had heard from our contacts at Foxconn was that the iPhone 5 would be delivered in the summer of 2012 along with a slightly bigger screen at the same resolution, faster processor and redesigned form factor.

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The above image is a comparison of an iPad 2 home button and an iPad 3 home button. At the surface, not much as changed, but the prospects of some minor structural tweaks do hint at something greater. The iPad 3 home button, which has been handled in both black and white flavors, looks almost identical to the iPad 2 home button. However, the gray glyph representing the frame of a home screen application icon is slightly thicker. This, obviously, is not all the interesting…but we do learn a few things:

– The iPad 3 will likely come in both black and white-just like the iPad 2-if these iPad 3 home buttons pan out to be the ones used in the final.

– The buttons floating around right now-in large quantities-signal that the iPad 3 is either in production or close to the production stage

– The iPad 3 will not lose the home button (iOS devices have been rumored to soon be losing the home button).

Perhaps the most interesting part about the iPad 3 home button is that its internal structuring is smaller than the iPad 2’s connector (easy to tell in the comparison image above). Apple tweaking the home button structural design and making its size smaller may indicate that Apple is trying to make room for something else. The iPad 3 is already rumored to be nearly 1 mm thicker to accommodate a more pixel-dense Retina Display. Perhaps this slightly smaller home button is one method Apple is using to keep the extra thickness required to a minimum.

Power and volume rockers with a similar design to their iPad 2 counterparts are also floating around, perhaps hinting a minimal design changes. Stay tuned for more.

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Apply a healthy dose of skepticism to this report rather than take it at face value. According to Focus Taiwan, that also cited a local report in the Chinese Economic Times newspaper, Apple is shooting to launch iPad 3 on Steve Jobs’ birthday anniversary Feb. 24.

The newspaper based their report on sources close to Taiwanese makers in Apple’s supply chain:

After the iPhone 4S successfully took the tech market by storm, the iPad3 is widely expected to be Apple’s first hit product to be released next year. Industry sources said the first shipment of the iPad3 could exceed 4 million units. Because it is a new gadget, it is taking time for makers in the supply chain to raise their yield rates. The sources said all OEM and ODM makers have exercised great caution in ensuring the smooth operations of their production lines.

The original iPad was introduced Jan. 27, 2010 by Apple’s then-CEO Steve Jobs. In order to meet the deadline, the report noted, Asian component makers and contract manufacturers are demanding that employees work during the Lunar New Year holiday. This February 24 “launch” date should be referring to an availbility versus an introduction date as Feb. 24 is a Friday and Apple typically releases their major products like iPhones and iPads on Fridays.

Specifically…

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Perhaps in what might be read as a wake-up call for Apple, the Cupertino, Calif., gadget powerhouse was just served a dose of reality before a Dusseldorf court in Germany. A quick recap: Apple secured a sales ban on Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 in September on the grounds of too many similarities and patent infringement.

Samsung then re-engineered its device and re-introduced it under the Galaxy Tab 10.1N moniker, but Apple pushed for an injunction of that model, too. Today at the Dusseldorf court, presiding judge Johanna Brueckner-Hofmann made it known that Apple was pushing its luck with a request for an injunction.

According to Bloomberg, she said:

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Evernote acquired Skitch in mid-August and re-launched it as a free download on the Mac App Store. Yesterday, the company made good on its promise to release an iOS version of the program. Skitch for iPad is here, allowing users to take notes, annotate, edit screenshots and more on the 9.7-inch Apple tablet.

The app lets users annotate and draw anything, just by using their fingers. It works with photos, web pages, screenshots, maps, or users can start a new blank canvas. Projects can be shared on Twitter, sent through email, saved to Evernote and beamed wirelessly onto Apple TV with AirPlay.

The drawing tools include your finger, pencil, arrows, text, shapes, crop, color and thickness and more. Evernote also noted in a blog post that Skitch for iPhone is in the works. Skitch for iPad is a free download from the App Store. Full release notes and nice screen shots are below.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0KQbLOPDvc]

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Adobe just -the No. 1 e-signature service used by over four millions users- for both iPhone and iPad as a free universal iOS application. The new app is available now, and it allows users to send documents and have them signed with a legally binding e-signature on the iPad or iPhone.

Users will access their EchoSign account, search and send from the EchoSign library, or send documents from their photo album, an email attachment, or apps like Box.net and Dropbox. There is also built-in, real-time status tracking, and the ability to quickly view signed agreements in an EchoSign account. Adobe promised the signing process within the app includes all of EchoSign’s “key authentication and privacy, fraud protection, and consumer disclosure”.

Out of EchoSign’s four million users, some of the estimated 50,000 paid subscribers include Twitter, Google, Facebook, VMware, Dell, and Groupon. Jason Lemkin started the company in 2006, and it was eventually acquired by Adobe in July of 2011 when the company had around 35,000 paid subscribers.

You can grab the app for free from the App Store now (iTunes link). Apple iPad screenshots are below:

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFsmyTIEz0c]

Amazon issued an update yesterday to the $199 Kindle Fire that is supposed to fix some of the mainstream problems, but we are still a fan of the Kindle-as-iPad-app that also got an update this morning.

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The Kindle iPhone and iPad app were given a significant update, bringing it up to version 2.9 and introducing many new and highly requested features.

First up are a few iPad specific changes, such as a new user interface for magazines on the larger screen, and you now have the ability to “read print replica textbooks” with support for layout and rich formatting of the print editions, notes, zoom and pan, and table of contents.

When it comes to updates that apply to the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, you can now email documents to your “Send-to-Kindle” address to store in Amazon Cloud, open PDFs from within Safari or Mail by sending them to your Send-to-Kindle address. Moreover, a new library organization view lets you manage content from Newsstand, Docs, and Kindle Books.

You can grab the Kindle iOS app as a universal download from the App Store (iTunes link). Check out a full list of changes below:

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As we close out the year and approach Christmas, here is a quick review of some stellar items we have reviewed over the past few months.

Audyssey Lower East Side Speakers.  Truth be told, we were interested in the Airplay-enabled Lower East Side Audio Dock Air that seems to have been struck by production delays.  In the meantime, we are in love with the standalone LES powered speakers (right).  Very simple I/Os and almost perfect desktop-level sound makes these incredibly good for the small room or workspace.  Sure, they will fill up a medium sized room, but you will find much larger/expensive setups for that.  $199 Amazon. Bonus: If you want Airplay functionality, throw in a $95 Apple TV and an Optical cable.

Doxie Go Wireless scanner: The magic is putting an Eye-Fi card in the SD card slot that allows automatic Evernote/flickr Cloud synchronizing.  I use this at the front of my house without a computer where mail comes in.  Important stuff is run through the scanner and sent to the Cloud before it hits recycling.  Standalone Cloud scanners are the future.  It also does traditional Desktop scanning via USB. ($150-200 at Amazon.)

Atari Arcade. This little plastic iPad “dock” (does not work with iPhone 4) adds a joystick to the 100 Atari applications for $15 app (at present no other games support this – but more are planned). The quality is good and the gaming is certainly nostalgic.  It was fun to teach my kid the games I played when I was his age (which is probably why this thing is such a hit).  It would have been much better with a pass thru charger and landscape options.  Still, fun. ($59.99 Amazon) iCade is a more expensive option.

iHelicopter.net sent us a review unit after we showed their latest preview of their missile-shooting iHelocopter. After a few weeks of playing with this iOS device controlled (through an earphone dongle) helicopter, I can say it works as expected.  I have only used it inside but it has survived a lot of hard “landings” as well as direct hits on the ceiling and walls. The reason this one is so notable is that it shoots missiles through a spring-loaded system.  Yes, this works and with the gyroscope going, it is easy to hit your target.  ($69 shipped free globally.)

Logitech Tablet speaker.  Initially we were down on this little gadget because, let us face it, it is not a “looker”.  However, after playing with our review unit for a number of weeks, it has come in handy on a number of occasions and it produces impressive sound considering its size and portability. It clips to your iPad, is charged via USB and plugs into the headphone jack. The rechargeable batteries last for 8 hours. (Amazon – as low as $22)

Western Digital TV Live. Sure Apple TV does 90% of what this thing does, but if you want stuff like Hulu Plus, Spotify, Facebook or compatibility with DLNA and non- iOS compatible videos, this little $90 1080P TV works great. It also has a full sized USB port for hooking directly into USB Sticks, wireless keyboards, and hard drives.  ($89.99 – Amazon.) Also, consider Roku devices that start at $45.

Related articles

• The first Atari Joystick I’ve wanted in 20 years… (9to5mac.com)

Analyst Andy Zaky overestimated Apple earnings by 20 percent last quarter.

Here’s his take right after: Why Apple’s big miss doesn’t matter. This miss is just a minor blip due to analysts getting overzealous with their estimates.

Today, he wrote: Apple Fiscal Q1 2012: The Biggest Earnings Blowout in History

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Last time we checked with research firm IDC, they listed Apple at 68.3-percent of the worldwide tablet market with approximately 9.3 million units of the iPad 2 shipped in quarter two of 2011. While the firm’s estimates for Q3 saw a drop to 61.5-percent of the market, Apple still leads the market and increased shipments from the 9.3 million in Q2 to approximately 11.1 million units in Q3.

To put that in perspective, Apple’s closest competitor, Samsung, is over 10 times behind with just 5.6-percent of the market. The overall tablet market increased 23.9-percent to approximately 18.1 million units, representing a 264.5-percent increase from the year-ago quarter.

As for where Apple stands in comparison to the overall Android tablet market, IDC expects Android tablet market share to increase rapidly in Q4 from just 33.2-percent in Q3 to 40.3-percent. It’s important to note that IDC recently included “media tablets,” such as Amazon’s Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble’s Nook Tablet, in their worldwide tablet market estimates. These additions will more than likely account for much of the increase.

This morning, Morgan Stanley significantly raised its forecasts for 2012, predicting Apple could possibly sell 90 million iPads during the year (in addition to 190 million iPhones). The analysts apparently have high hopes for Android 4.0’s ability to offer a competitive alternative to iPad going forward:

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A new hack by a Chinese manufacturer will allow a user to make an iPhone 4/4S’s Apple logo glow. Much like the MacBook’s, the logo will glow once you turn the device on.

K.O. Gadget, the maker of this mod, said it can be done at home in less than five minutes. For $42, K.O. Gadget will send you the kit to perform this hack, but it would void an iPhone’s warranty.

The mod is easy because all you’re doing is replacing the back panel on the iPhone. The backpanel has a transparent Apple logo that allows light to pass through, but the key is the “light strip” that is added in. You can see the addition in the video below.

The light strip and custom backing doesn’t add any thickness to the device, because it uses the same glass material that Apple uses. K.O. Gadget also said there isn’t any over heating issues or battery life issues.

If you’re the adventurous type, this is something definitely worth checking out. Check out the install process below:

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As originally reported on our sister blog, the search Goliath has published its annual list of top search queries, a tradition that started eleven years ago. It comes as little surprise that ‘iPad 3’ and ‘iPhone 5’ were among the fastest-growing search terms of the past year. More specifically, ‘iPhone 5’ was the sixth fastest-growing search term on Google.com in 2011, while ‘iPad 3’ ranked tenth.

Feverish iPhone 5 speculation hit its highest point in search the week of September 25, just a week ahead of the October 4 iPhone 4S presser. Searches for ‘iPhone 5’ rose 1,658 percent between 2010 and 2011, easily outnumbering those for the iPhone 4S, as seen in the above chart from the Zeitgeist site. Searches for ‘Steve Jobs’ grew 982 percent in 2011, enough to score the ninth spot.

Called Zeitgeist, the project “sorts billions of Google searches to capture the year’s ten fastest-rising global queries and the rest of the spirit of 2011″, per the official Google blog post. In a testament to the popularity of the Kindle Fire, positioned as an inexpensive iPad alternative, Amazon’s tablet placed ahead of Apple’s new phone, the iPhone 4S, which ranked second in the fastest-rising consumer electronics category, followed by the HTC Sensation, the Samsung Nexus Prime, Sony NPG and the yet-to-be-released iPad 3 (#9).

Two unreleased products piquing such a commanding interest – the cell phone that never materialized and the forthcoming tablet – wow, talk about the power of the Apple hype machine. More below the fold.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAIEamakLoY]

Apple’s late co-founder Steve Jobs made the list (mark 1:50) was the ninth fastest-growing search term on Google.com in 2011.

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Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty wrote in a note to clients issued yesterday (via Fortune) that U.S. consumers are expect to buy more iPhones in the first calendar quarter of 2012 than even the holiday quarter this year. This is noteworthy as the holiday quarter has traditionally been Apple’s strongest three-month sales period.

Not even the two recent Samsung television commercials (here and here) that poke fun of line waiters seem to be slowing the iPhone momentum (unless you believe a YouGov survey, chart included below the fold). Huberty is now projecting CQ4 iPhone sales anywhere from 31 to 36 million iPhones versus the previous model calling for 30 million units (Wall Street: 28 million). For the first quarter of the next year, Huberty is projecting an astounding 41 million units based on last week’s comments from AT&T and an Alphawise survey conducted for Morgan Stanley the week after Thanksgiving.

That’s a 46 percent increase over her previous 28 million estimate (Wall Street: 26 million). In all, Huberty wrote, Apple should sell 190 million iPhones during the calendar year 2012. As for iPad…

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Last week Samsung got to breathe a sigh of relief as an Australian court ruled they didn’t “slavishly copy” the iPad with the Galaxy Tab 10.1, as Apple has been insisted from the onset in court documents. Yesterday, the South Korean company told the Sydney Morning Herald that the court cases have helped make their device a “household name” and today we are seeing the Galaxy Tab maker taking advantage of the media spotlight and the fact that it’s been in the headlines thanks to lawsuits and those cheesy commercials.

As tweeted by Martin Aungle, an Australian corporate and marketing communications professional, Samsung is now pitching its device as “the tablet Apple tried to stop”. The above advert ran in the Sun-Herald newspaper this week. Samsung has obviously decided to up the stakes in this game considering they resisted up until now mentioning Apple by name in their marketing communication. We’ll see, of course, whether publicly celebrating its courtroom victory at Apple’s expense will have any effect on sales.

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[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtbUORusNvo”]

Rockstar games has just released Grand Theft Auto 3 for both the iPhone and iPad late this evening. This release  marks the 10th anniversary of the game, which was originally released for the PS2. Grand Theft Auto 3 is available for $4.99 on the iTunes App Store.

Rockstar Games celebrates the 10th anniversary of one of the most influential games of all time. The critically acclaimed blockbuster Grand Theft Auto III comes to mobile devices, bringing to life the dark and seedy underworld of Liberty City. With a massive and diverse open world, a wild cast of characters from every walk of life and the freedom to explore at will, Grand Theft Auto III puts the dark, intriguing and ruthless world of crime at your fingertips.

Check out some gameplay after the break:

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Google has just started rolling out an update to the Gmail app for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch with a few new welcomed features. First off, users now have the ability to set a custom signature for messages as well as a vacation responder. Both of those new features will be available via the gear icon at the top of the app’s new menu. The update also includes support for nested labels and the usual “bug fixes and UI improvements”.

A new Scribbles feature allows you to open a canvas, draw a picture or sketch with multiple colors, brush sizes and line elements, and attach it to a message within Gmail. Scribbles is available now in both the Gmail iOS app and Gmail mobile web app. Another notable and highly requested change is a new notification sound on iOS 5, making it easier to tell when you’ve received an email

Google also mentioned in their blog post that they are continuing to work on some of the most requested features from users including multiple login support, banner notifications, and a “send as” feature to send mail from multiple accounts within the app.

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Netflix has just updated its iOS app with a nicer user interface following an overhauled Android app from a month ago. Netflix version 2.0 with a prettified appearance is now available in all regions, Netflix said, including the United States, Canada and Latin America. The new interface provides access to twice as many television shows and movies available for streaming.

Interestingly, the app is now available in Latin America for both the iPhone and iPad just as Apple announced the arrival of both the iTunes Store with iTunes Match in Latin America and Apple TV in Brazil. Netflix for iOS is a free download (a Netflix subscription is required). Video out is supported on the iPad, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S and fourth-generation iPod Touch 4G. Full release notes after the break.

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUa4IAQetTk]

Here’s a fun iPad game for the whole (Partridge) family.

Rockmate turns your iPad into a complete music studio easy and super fun to use. You can compose, record and play songs with up to 4 Rock players on one single iPad. Rockmate is easy to play with smart chords progressions, sounds great with separated guitar effects and in-house produced audio samples and is also fully customizable with multiple drums and keyboard styles.

Rockmate is ready to rock ! Your guitars are always well tuned, no need to carry your drum kit or to patch your keyboard. A smart metronome and a real-time looper will assist you in composing and recording your songs. That you can share by email or in your iTunes sharing folder.

We want as many people as possible to experience Rockmate. So we have decided to make Rockmate available for one week (From 14 to 21 december 2011) at the introductory price of $0.99. Regular price $3.99.

(iTunes $.99)

For those who are after something in the professional realm, a new App called Shredder was released today…
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The novelty of smartphone apps may have worn off since the original iPhone but every now and then an app comes along that captures our imagination. Woodcraft for iPad  ($9.99 iTunes) by software artisans at Fasterre is interesting for its novel idea and professional execution. Say you’re an amateur or pro woodworker and you want to design your next deck, bench, furniture or backyard shed on your iPad.

Niche apps like that are few and far between and Woodcraft arrives to fill the gap. It’s no toy: The program features the fully automated bill of materials, seamless switches between 2D or 3D and lets you measure distances with up to 1/64th of an inch precision.

Watching their promo clip (nice editing work, BTW) makes me wanna explore my carpenter genes (my grandpa was an adept woodworker). Woodcraft is a universal binary that supports both iPad and iPhone/iPod touch and is available in exchange for ten bucks during the launch period. Release notes right after the break.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xStZZsx6A4]

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DigiTimes reports, based on “sources in the upstream supply chain”, that a next-generation MacBook Pro with a Retina-capable display sporting a 2880-by-1800 resolution could arrive in the second quarter of 2012:

While the prevailing MacBook models have displays with resolutions ranging from 1680 by 1050 to 1280 by 800, the ultra-high resolution for the new MacBook Pro will further differentiate Apple’s products from other brands, commented the sources.

The report continues asserting that Acer and Asustek Computer also plan to launch high-end Ultrabook models sporting  the 1920-by-1080 pixel resolution displays versus the 1366-by-768 displays typically found on today’s Ultrabooks. The rumor might make sense as Intel’s upcoming Ivy Bridge platform natively supports displays with up to a 4096-by-4096 pixel resolution and is capable of decoding multiple 4K video streams at once. Lion also added support for 3200-by-2000 wallpapers, doubling icon resolution to 1024-by-1024 pixels and enabling HiDPI display modes.

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