Monthly Archive for April, 2010
Despite the thousands of disappointed fans all over the world, many are still eagerly awaiting the much delayed launch of the Apple iPad. In what seems to be the cruelest way to announce a major problem in keeping up with schedule, Apple declared that due to the large demand of the iPad in the US, the international release of the device has been delayed for a full month.
Of course, it is difficult for Apple not to antagonize their fans because of this announcement. After all, it obviously means that Apple will be catering to the US market exclusively for another month as they completely ignore the rest of the world. While it may be a wise move for the business, it certainly does nothing to make the wait easier to deal with.
The core of the problem here is that Apple failed to order a sufficient amount of iPad continuously. Maybe this means that the company did not believe that the device would sell so well in the first place. In any case, the bottom line here is that someone should have foreseen this little problem and pre-empted the situation before it even happened.
Anyway, mobile network operators have already declared the availability of the device by the end of May as well as announced that pre-orders would be available starting on the 10th of May. This is a little more comforting than Apple’s previous declaration that the device would be out by the end of April (if they delay even further at this point, they will risk antagonizing the operators and distributors as well).
The Apple iPad comes with a 10 inch rotating touch screen display and can be used to browse the internet, read eBooks, play videos and music as well as play various apps.
Tags: Apple, Apple-iPad, AppleiPhone
It seems that the Americans simply cannot get enough of the brand new Apple touch screen tablet.
The iPad was originally set to be launched all over the world at the same time but for some yet to be explained reason, the launch was moved to late April. The US launch pushed through last April 3, however, recent reports now state that instead of the rest of the world getting the Apple iPad late this month, the launch has been set to late May.
The reason for the launch delay has been acknowledged by Apple, it turns out that the company is unable to meet with the strong demands for the tablet and as such, is in the middle of trying to keep up with demand. Though some are saying that there is no real US-based demand as the increase in orders is due to people who are planning to have the iPad shipped outside of the US.
Still, if current reviews and reports about the tablet are to be based upon, it is apparent that
This tablet is going to be worth the wait. The user interface is reminiscent of the iPod Touch though it is a lot nicer to stare at. As a web browser, the device is able to deliver the internet experience in a way that no keyboard and mouse can. eBook readers are also praising the iPad for its well made reader application as well as its support for other eReaders such as the Kindle app which allows users to easily switch apps.
Aside from that, the iPad also has games, maps, apps, photos, media playback and more. Many consider it as the perfect tech gadget to have this year.
Read more about the delay in the launch of the Apple iPad at the Wall Street Journal.
Tags: Apple, Apple-iPad, AppleiPhone
It has been passed, but many still consider the bill as an exercise in futility –much like DRM.
DRM or digital rights management is a series of software and hardware gimmicks that software manufacturers practice in order to discourage pirates from spreading illegal copies of their programs. However, more often than not, DRM practices end up making it difficult for real consumers to use the software while a cracked pirated version of the same program will be enabled to run without DRM –making the pirated copy the preferred version for many.
Take into example the recently launched Assassin’s Creed 2 video game for the PC. This impressive little title places a player in a very interesting storyline of an ancient assassin that uses stealth and acrobatics in order to fulfill mission objectives. The game focuses on a single player storyline.
The DRM for Assassin’s Creed 2 requires a user to be continuously online in order for the manufacturer to keep track of the validity of the game copy. While there are many online games that require a constant connection to play, it is something that single player games do not need; and it is ultimately a cause of problems when users have no access to the internet or when the connection gets cut. The pirated version allows players to play without being online at all.
The new Digital Economy Bill also places a similar strain on the shoulders of real consumers that purchase official content. In the meanwhile, media pirates who continue to operate outside the limitations of the law will still thrive and flourish as they always have –and once again, the act against piracy ironically ends up encouraging it even further.
Read more about the Digital Economy Bill and how things will start changing at This is Money UK.
Tags: Digital-Economy-Bill, DRM, file-sharing, Piracy
According to Steve Jobs, HTML5 is the future of video on the internet. Though it is hard to determine right now if he is right, his decision to block out Adobe Flash support from Apple products is slowly taking its toll on the developer of the most famous digital image and video editing software in the world.
For many, the fact that the iPad, the iPhone and the iPod Touch lack Adobe Flash support is a problem for Apple and Apple users. In that sense, it is Apple that lacks the necessary content support needed by users. In application, this means that browsing many websites on the iPad touch screen tablet will result in many pages appearing with large empty gaps in spaces where Flash content should be.
Many are already resigned to the fact that Apple devices will not have Flash support; however, the recently released iPhone OS 4.0 SDK License Agreement is making a severe blow towards Adobe. According to the agreement, developers may no longer use third party software like the Flash compiler. This has rendered Flash Professional CS5 as unusable and in turn, has discouraged many developers from purchasing the software.
According to reports, Adobe’s shares have gone down by 3.6 percent.
Naturally, the folks at Adobe have plenty of work to do in order to keep Flash as the standard of web video and to meet the many demands of the internet. While many do not believe Steve Jobs’ claim that Flash is too slow, they still have to meet Steve Jobs’ requirements if Flash is ever to be supported by Apple.
Some people have stated that the reason for Jobs’ dislike of Adobe stems from the company’s decision to support Microsoft instead of Apple several years ago.
Read more about Adobe and Apple at Business Week.
Tags: Adobe-Flash, Apple, Apple-iPad, Apple-iPhone-OS-4, AppleiPhone
Foursquare, a social networking site tied to a mobile phone’s GPS feature lets people log where they are currently to determine which places are happening and which are not, has refined their techniques in verifying if a user is truly at the location he says he is at any given time.
Because the Foursquare system gives away “mayorships”, points as well as virtual badges for those who constantly visit specific places, there have been people abusing the system. An issue has been brought to the Foursquare team’s attention wherein people are getting awarded even if they are just logging in false locations without enabling the GPS feature.
The newest blog of the Foursquare team addressed this concern and is now going to improve their award system by checking the GPS information as well as by taking other measure in order to verify a location even if the mobile phone does not support GPS. What these measures are were not exactly detailed, but that is to prevent people to find another loop hole in the system.
Dubbed the “cheater code” the team verified that it took a while to implement such a system but they have been listening to client concerns.
The team will allow checking in and out of location but will not provide point for doing so. This makes sure that the location information supplied is current but still gives other users a fair chance of getting achievements by logging in where they currently are.
The people who have been cheated out of their virtual awards must have felt like completely giving up and stopped logging in. Now that the problem has a solution, at least the new mayors will be getting their titles in a legit way. So no more stealing, cheating and messing with Foursquare politics, people.
Head over to Geek for more about the Foursquare cheater code.
Tags: apps, Foursquare, GPS
The Apple iPad launched this April 3 in the United States. Despite the official worldwide release of the tablet not due until April 24, many Apple fans outside of the US have already ordered devices from America and have had it shipped.
Some local UK buyers of the iPad have found out that despite the impressive hardware on the iPad, making full use of its features is still limited as it is unable to access iTunes and app content. It seems like Apple has blocked out all iPads from their web services until the official launch of the tablet. While having a fake US account helps, users will still need a US based credit card to purchase apps.
Anyway, aside from the little region locking issue, Apple has more pressing matters to attend to in regards to dealing with iPad related issues.
The Cupertino based company has already addressed an issue that has been bothering many of the device’s early buyers –WiFi connectivity. It turns out that the iPad has problems connecting to routers that use dual band technology. While the situation can be fixed by changing the router settings, connecting to a public hotspot can prove to be more troublesome. The bottom line here is that Apple should come out with a patch.
A new issue regarding the device has also been recently brought up. This time, users are complaining about the iPad being prone to overheating. While the experiences of users are different, there are enough accounts of overheating problems to know that at least some units really do shut down even under normal use.
No word yet from Apple on when the first official patches and fixes will come out, but many iPad owners are already considering returning their devices dues to lack of usability.
Read more about the Apple iPad and its’ problems at Macworld UK.
Tags: Apple, Apple-iPad, AppleiPhone
With just a few days since the launch date, early owners of the Apple iPad have already identified key issues that need to be resolved.
The Apple iPad is an impressive device, it works as a web browser, an eBook reader, a gaming device and as a media player. Put in the map function and photo viewer and you have an all in one information and entertainment access gadget. The touch screen user interface and the slim build of the iPad are also major factors that make it one of the most accessible devices to own.
The device was launched in the US last April 3 and had enjoyed quite the sales performance. Estimates place the day one sales at 300,000 units and the running figures have grown to 700,000 –making the predictions of the possible 1 million sales figures by the end of the week quite plausible.
However, this does not mean that the iPad has had a smooth ride since its launch date. In fact, in a matter of days, issues regarding the device’s WiFi connectivity have been brought up by many owners. While the problem only seems to affect certain units, the volume of complaints is significant enough to warrant Apple’s attention.
Fortunately, Apple has been able to isolate the problem to some degree –it appears that the iPad has problem connecting to routers that use dual band technology. Some experts have suggested that owners change their router settings and split up the two bands. It is a good solution, but it will affect the settings of other devices connecting to the network. In any case, iPad owners are still waiting for Apple to come up with a universal patch that would set things straight for all users.
Find out more about the WiFi issues on the Apple iPad at Softpedia.
Tags: Apple, Apple-iPad, AppleiPhone
Considering the fact that Apple iPad does nothing new, it is still not surprising that thousands of Americans have lined up last April 3 to be among the first to purchase the touch screen tablet when it came out. Right now, estimates for the first day sales of the iPad in the United States hit somewhere around 300,000 units. That’s a lot, and as of the time of writing, the count for the current sales has been reported to have reached up to 700,000.
So why do people want the Apple iPad in the first place?
The reason is not because it does something new, but because it simplifies so many things we want. The features of the Apple iPad are pretty basic; it can browse websites, run apps, read eBooks, play media and even serve as a mini workstation. The only real advantage it has over smart phones, net books and desktop computers is the fact that it is a simple device to use.
The iPad is not trying to replace any exiting electronic gadget that we already use; instead, it serves as a standalone read-access device for checking the internet or viewing some media files. For editing and creating purposes however, users are better off turning on the computer.
Basically, the iPad is television for the internet. We can use the computer for viewing shows and movies, but the telly has not been phased out because it serves that purpose well. The iPad is also doing the same for digital media –it’s a one stop viewer.
Many believe that the iPad will be having the same success locally in the UK as it did in the US, and considering what the device offers, that is a pretty likely scenario. Estimates that the Apple iPad might hit over a million sales in the first quarter are not so far off –some even believe that the figures can reach that mark within the first week of sales alone.
Get to know more about the successful launch of the iPad at the Telegraph UK.
The SF Gate of the San Francisco Chronicle places a net book side by side with the newly launched Apple iPad. The comparative study goes in depth with breaking down the various functions of both devices but in the end, bring us all to the inevitable conclusion: that between net books and the iPad, neither is less important or less useful than the other.
Some would ask: how can that possibly be? The simple answer is that unlike the comparison of two computers or two mobile phones, the iPad is a standalone tablet while a netbook is a netbook.
These two are completely different devices that serve very different purposes. Though the two share some common elements in terms of functions, capabilities and even hardware, at the end of the day, they still have their own purposes. This is why both devices will continue to exist alongside each other.
One interesting point that the SF Chron brings up however, is that the iPad is “better” than the netbook in terms of games. For casual players, this is somewhat true. As games made specifically for iPads will play and perform optimally. For more hardcore players however, the netbook is a better choice.
The reason for this is that games for the iPad (including apps for the iPod and the iPhone as the tablet supports those too) are made specifically for casual players. While there are a handful of good hardcore titles for the Apple product, net books offer a greater range of games. The article goes on to cite that net books often have limited hardware capabilities –which places net books in general at a disadvantage. The better comparison would be placing the iPad up against a specific net book with similar specifications.
To read more about the original article which compares the iPad with net books in terms of function and performance, go the San Francisco Chronicle’s SF Gate.
Tags: Apple, Apple-iPad, AppleiPhone
It is pretty hard to be excited about the Apple iPad, but there are people who are obviously eager to get the touch screen tablet as soon as the stores open up in the US. According to various reports, people have already begun lining up in front of Best Buy and other similar retailers.
Whether this will also be the situation in the UK remains to be seen. So far, there is little interest overall in Apple’s tablet, and people have a right to not be so overly impressed. First off, the tablet’s foremost feature is its web browsing capability (and please do not say it’s the eBook reading function, the device is too expensive to be mainly for that). While the large resolution certainly helps, the fact that you cannot see Flash content will render plenty of website inaccessible.
Facebook users will certainly find it annoying that all Flash based applications will not be accessible on the device either. Explanations and rationalizations regarding the why Flash is missing ranges from the basic (Steve Jobs hates Adobe) to the odd (Flash slows down performance), and frankly, there really is no excuse to not having it.
As an eBook reader, a media viewer and a video game system, the iPad is pretty promising. It will even run a whole new range of applications aside from the apps for the iPhone and the iPod Touch. Apple says that there will be over 700 applications exclusively for the iPad available at launch date (which is just around the corner).
Despite its drawbacks, the Apple iPad is still a device worth having. It will certainly make going online significantly easier as you would no longer need to turn on your netbook, just pick up the iPad and you are ready to go.
Find out more about the upcoming Apple iPad at the Telegraph UK.
Tags: Apple, Apple-iPad, Apple-iPhone
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