The last few weeks have been a bit rocky for Apple and its new CEO Tim Cook, but that hasn’t stopped it from enjoying record breaking successes thanks to the iPhone 5 and iPad.
Every year the people at Fierce Wireless rank the top 25 most powerful people in the U.S. wireless industry, and for their rankings this year Tim Cook managed to grab the number one spot.
The iPad mini is the cheapest tablet Apple’s ever made. At $329 we think it’s an alright deal even though it needs a Retina display. But if you’re put off by the cheap price tag and demand something a bit more extravagant, you can always dip your iPad mini in 24kt gold.
Gold & Co. have plated the iPad mini in both gold and rose gold and will probably sell a limited number of the blinged out iPad minis to any dufus who wants their iPad mini to scream “1%.”
Apple’s new Maps app leaves a lot to be desired, and while there are some decent alternatives out there, the only worthy replacement for Apple Maps is either Google Maps or Nokia’s Maps. Neither company has an iOS app ready to go just yet, but Nokia is planning to change all that.
In a few weeks Nokia plans to release a maps app for iOS called Here. The app will be free for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch owners, and Nokia is hoping that it will persuade some iOS users to try out their smartphones as well.
Despite losing some of the tablet marketshare to Android tablets this year, the iPad and iPhone are still the two most popular non-PC devices to watch video on. A new study on video monetization conducted by FreeWheel found that Apple iOS devices make up more than 60% of all non-PC/Mac video viewing.
Even though Android tablets and smartphones have seen major gains, they’re still a work in progress and their users don’t consume media as heavily as iOS users.
There are plenty of USB-capable guitars. But there aren’t many $200 USB guitars. Now, you can not only get a USB Stratocaster for the price of a terrible Android tablet, but it actually comes from Fender — albeit under the Squier diffusion brand. But whatever, right? It’s a Strat, and you can hook it straight up to GarageBand and play it through some of the sweet (not Fender either) amps.
Call of Duty: Black Ops II launched today, and with it comes a new update to the Call of Duty Elite app for iOS. In addition to support for the latest game, the app brings an “all-new iPad experience,” which includes a new feature called Elite TV that allows you to live-stream Black Ops II gameplay and multiplayer guides.
Shortly before Microsoft began shipping the Surface RT tablet, the company claimed its ClearType display was superior to the third-generation iPad’s Retina display. We had our doubts, and now Dr. Raymond Soneira of DisplayMate Technologies has confirmed we were right to dismiss Microsoft’s claims.
In a display comparison between the third-generation iPad, the Surface RT, and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1, Soneira found that Apple’s device offers significantly better color saturation and color accuracy, and sharper text.
A study was presented at the 116th annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology yesterday that shows the benefit of backlit tablet computers like the iPad help patients with vision loss due to eye diseases read at a comfortable level again.
The study looked at all backlit tablets, scoring the iPad highest in terms of helping readers with low vision due to conditions like macular degeneration or diabetic retinopathy read at their previously higher and more comfortable reading level.
At a Techonomy conference today, two of the four panelists called out Apple as “most likely to succeed” at a session discussing how advertising could affect existing media companies.
While the session itself didn’t spend a lot of time on Apple, according to Techcrunch, the panel ended with an answer to moderator Dave Morgan’s question on predictiong the world’s most powerful media company in 2020. Digital agency AKQA’s Tom Bedecarre said that Apple would take the top spot, due to the several media delivery platforms that it owns or controls.
Another panelist and CEO of SocialFlow, Frank Speiser, agreed, adding that the time was ripe for a company like Facebook or Twitter to team up with Apple to help improve discovery, thus giving the partnering company a leg up in the media landscape.
It sure would be nice to change the order of the many calendars on the iPhone. Sadly, iOS 6 only lets you show or hide specific calendars with a tap on the calendar in question from within the Calendar app on the iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.
You can, however, reorder the different calendars on your iPhone, just in a different way. Here’s how.
The Protex iPad from Higher Ground cover looks to be just about ideal. It’s a regular-looking TPU rubbery rear skin, but it packs a bunch of features to a) stop you from dropping it and b) protect it when you do. And as a bonus, it also has the best, most minimal demo video ever.
Writing Kit, the app with which I write each and every Cult of Mac post for your daily enjoyment, has received an update. And it’s a big one. If you never use the app much, it might at first appear to have changed very little. But if you’re a regular writer, then the changes are huge.
Samsung has dealt Apple a nasty blow by increasing the price of its mobile processors — the ones built into every iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch — by 20%. According to a person familiar with negotiations between the two companies, Apple initially disapproved the price hike, but was forced to accept it with no replacement supplier available.
With the absence of Steve Jobs looming in the background, Tim Cook and his team faced a mountain of questions as they marched into 2012. Who would be the visionary now? Would the iPhone continue to be successful? What’s going to happen to the Mac now that the iPad has become a beast of its own?
The most important question Apple faced going into 2012 was whether they could maintain their supremacy. With competitors closing the gap, Apple doesn’t have Steve Jobs’s vision, charisma, or negotiating prowess anymore, and 2012 has been the year to prove that Apple can endure. The challenges and adversaries Apple is facing in 2012 has made this single year the most important one ever for Apple, and yet they’ve been able to come through in the clutch and blow us away with an army of incredible products and strategic moves.
Microsoft’s awesome Xbox app for iOS got a major update this week, and it’s kicking off this week’s must-have apps roundup. It’s accompanied by another great update to Clear, a terrific list-management tool; plus a nifty counting app for iPhone, and a new photography app that lets you apply awesome effects to your photos.
Apple’s current “hobby” — also known as Apple TV — doesn’t tell us much about Apple’s future plans for the living room.
It’s a good product under the right circumstances. But five years from now, living rooms are going to be transformed by all-encompassing systems that turn TVs into video phones, gaming systems, home automation control centers and artificial intelligence assistants.
Does Apple have what it takes to compete in the living room?
Lucky Frame made one of my favorite games on iOS ever, Pugs Luv Beats. It’s no surprise, given the game’s focus on my favorite dogs of all time and a wicked-cool beat-making mechanic, adorable graphics, and a spin-off app, Pug Synth. They put out Bad Hotel, next, a quirky and innovative take on the castle defense genre that has the games studio’s signature graphic style and musical theme.
Now they’re taking a similar electronica vibe and marrying it with a two-button, arcade-style side-scrolling game on iOS called Wave Trip. And it looks a beaut.
Mike Schramm writes about technology and games for Joystiq and TUAW during the week. He’s also a pretty decent guy. He also finds it fun to code on the weekends. I know, it makes no sense to me, either.
Schramm has just released his second iOS game to the iTunes app store, and it’s called Benediction. Actually, the full name is Benediction – a game by Mike Schramm, a name most likely necessitated by the many other apps out there with a version of the word ‘benediction’ in the title.
Benediction has three things going for it. Those three things got me to download the game, then play the game, then continue playing the game until I was forced to set my iPhone down and actually do some work. This is a great game, and you’ll be sad if you don’t check it out for yourself.
Advertisements are a vital part of what makes the Internet tick. Even though a lot of them are annoying and intrusive and ugly as hell, they provide websites (like us) with the cash flow needed to give you all the infotainment you can eat for free.
Sometimes those ads are just freaking horrific, and solutions like AdBlock make the web a better, more visually appealing place. Now you can get the hardware equivalent of ad-blocking software in a super portable box called AdTrap.
The Ballistic Tough Jacket is the clearest case of overkill I have seen in a while. If you need protection at the cost of size, weight and style, then you should probably buy one now. Otherwise, read on. The case is actually pretty useful.
What is it with Thailand, Apple and Buddhist temples lately? First, an abbott of the Wat Phra Dhammakaya said that Steve Jobs was kickin’ it in the afterlife as a mid-level angel with his own celestial palace. Now, a temple in Thailand’s Chom Phra district has decided that Buddha carries around an iPad with him wherever he goes.
Anytime you think you’re scoring a super hot deal on Apple’s latest amazing device, you really should make sure everything’s 100% legit before forking over $200 to some shady dude at a gas station. That’s the lesson Jalonta Freeman learned when she found out the “$800 iPad” she purchased was really just a mirror.
Freeman was fueling her car at a gas station when a man pulled up beside her saying he had a bunch of gadgets he was selling for cheap. Thinking it would make a great Christmas present, Jalonta decided to purchase the man’s “brand new” iPad that he claimed was worth $800. He sold it to Freeman for $200 and quickly drove away.
Apple’s new 4-inch iOS devices — namely the iPhone 5 and the fifth-generation iPod touch — appear to be suffering from a strange glitch that means they struggle to keep up with rapid touch inputs, particularly when scrolling at a 45-degree angle. The problem, which isn’t present on older iOS device like the iPhone 4S, is demonstrated in the two-minute clip below.
Have you ever purchased an iPad from Walmart, then got it home and found its box was battered, or worse, the device itself was smashed? It probably happens a lot in Pikeville, Kentucky, where employees at one Walmart store have fun with Apple’s latest tablet by throwing new units around the stock room.
And if that wasn’t stupid enough, they also recorded themselves doing it for a video that explains “why you don’t buy an iPad from Walmart.”
Following its change in policy regarding FaceTime over cellular, AT&T has announced a new holiday promotion for tablets, including the iPad. Beginning this Friday, November 9th, AT&T will discount any tablet by $100 with the purchase of a two-year Mobile Share or tiered data plan.
Any tablet purchased at an AT&T retail location or through the carrier’s online store will receive the discount if a two-year plan is also purchased.