Instacast, undoubtedly the best podcast manager for iOS, got a great update this week that deserves a place in our must-have apps roundup. We’ve also got an impressive voice translation tool that you just have to try, a social weather app that’s more reliable than the weatherman, plus major updates for Pocket and Google+.
Apple has made a change to how it markets the new third-generation iPad around the world following complaints from an Australian competition regulator. The ACCC took Apple to court in the land down under over the latest iPad’s “4G” branding. Apple marketed the tablet in Australia as being capable of 4G data speeds despite the fact that the new iPad cannot currently use a 4G network in the country.
Without any public statement or announcement Apple has quietly changed the new iPad’s “Wi-Fi + 4G” label to “WiFi + Cellular.”
Have you ever thought about what it’s like to own the new iPad? Well, thanks to Cult of Mac Deals and Snapheal…now’s you chance!
What’s Snapheal? It is a Mac app that acts as an image editor — letting you easily remove unwanted objects, fix skin imperfections, erase text and perform complex image edits in a matter of clicks…and seconds.
But let’s get the really good part….how do you win the new iPad? Well, you just need to follow these three simple steps to enter to win:
Our source within Apple has seen their secret new HDTV, and my friends, you are in for a treat. In this episode of The CultCast, we’re going to tell you every juicy bit of info our source told us.
Plus, AT&T will soon be offering you family data plans, we’ll tell you what we know.
And three apps enter, but only one can rule them all — don’t miss our favorite apps of the week!
Subscribe to the CultCast now on iTunes, and read on for our show notes!
This has been a terrific week for gaming for those with an iOS device. Gameloft’s hugely impressive N.O.V.A. 3 leads our roundup having set an incredible standard of mobile FPS games, with stunning visuals and terrific gameplay. We’ve also got a wonderful sequel to Frontier Developments’ LostWinds, an original skateboarding game from Penny Skateboards, and lots more.
May is Mobile Management Month at Cult of Mac,
JAMF specializes in Apple management technologies. The company Casper Suite is a full featured Mac client management solution as well as an iOS device management product. Being devoted specifically to Apple technologies, JAMF is able to include features not found in other products at this time including the ability to integrate with Apple’s enterprise sales and warranty system known as GSX, the ability to distribute ebooks to iOS devices, and deployment workflows that integrate with Apple Configurator.
While Casper Suite is an excellent option for organizations that are predominantly or completely Apple-based, organizations with a mix of desktop and mobile platforms may find the product somewhat limiting. In addition to Casper Suite for Mac and iOS management, JAMF also offers Mac enterprise deployment and asset management tools. Finally, it’s worth noting that JAMF offers significant licensing discounts for education institutions implementing Casper Suite.
Most companies grappling with the BYOD trend think in terms of allowing personal iPhones, iPad, and Android devices. Virtualization heavyweight VMWare looked at the situation quite a bit differently. Instead of allowing personal devices, VMWare’s CIO Mark Egan decided to require employees to use their personal smartphones in the office.
The move, unorthodox to say the least, seemed to Egan the best option when he found himself sandwiched between the rock of corporate-owned smartphone expenses and the hard place of users clamoring for the choices of BYOD.
As a rule, I don’t like thick folio-style iPad cases, and especially not ones that zip closed. So when I spied the Spigen Zipack in a consignment of cases that arrived some weeks ago, I put it on the bottom of the “to review” pile and ignored it.
However, it turns out that the Zipack’s combination of weird features, featherlight weight and decent amount of protection is a winning one. As there will likely be many folio-haters like me out there who would pass over this case on principal, I thought I’d give it a chance to be seen.
The official Etch A Sketch iPad case might be the coolest thing, like, ever, but does it actually turn your iPad into a working Etch-A-Sketch? No, it doesn’t. But the Etcher does, which somehow makes it even cooler.
The iPad currently dominates the business tablet market so thoroughly that you can pretty much call it the entire market. A big point of debate in many business and IT circles is how long Apple will be able maintain such a position. One research firm reframed that debate by simplifying the question.
Which operating system do you think will become the preferred business tablet option over the next 12 months?
50% of respondents said that they expect the iPad to maintain its lead in business environments.
There are a few ways to make in iPad easier to hold, and it seems that these methods are getting weirder and weirder. The most obvious answer, employed by almost everyone, is to put the tablet into a case. It’s convenient, protective and — most importantly — it doesn’t change the basic shape of the iPad within.
Another way would be to stick a handle on the thing, making it hard to put into a bag, not to mention making the user — you, in other words — look stupid. And you don’t like to look stupid, do you?
A great example of this second school of thought is Octa’s Tablet Tail, a ridiculous concoction which puts a plastic whale tail on the back of the iPad. Seriously.
Earlier this week, one iPhone Dev-Team member teased a new version of Redsn0w that would allow users to downgrade their A5-powered devices — including the iPhone 4S, the iPad, and the new iPad — to iOS 5.0.1 and above for jailbreaking.
That update is now out and available to download.
Following Apple’s acquisition of several mapping companies over the years, it has always seemed inevitable that the company would one day wave goodbye to Google Maps in iOS in favor of its own, in-house service. That’s exactly what will happen when iOS 6 makes its debut later this year, according to one report.
Apple is expected to launch its own maps service, which offers an innovative 3D view mode, allowing you to view city stunning cityscapes in all their glory.
Photoshop Touch aka the iPad Photoshop has just seen an update, and while it isn’t a full-on retina-ready rewrite, it does up the maximum of images to 2048 x 2048, making it a much better fit for the new iPad’s high-res screen.
With each new day we’re getting closer and closer to a new jailbreak release, but things are still not quite ready. Good news is that infamous Chronic Dev hacker pod2g has successfully jailbroken his third-gen iPad on iOS 5.1. The news follows the previous announcement that he had gotten an untethered jailbreak fully functional on his iPhone 4 running iOS 5.1.
Pod2g still has to work on stabilizing his jailbreak and packaging it for public distribution, but his exploits will work on all iOS devices, including the iPhone 4S.
Over the past two years, we’ve seen the iPad integrated into a number of different workplaces. While most iPad in business stories focus on the freedom that the iPad offers, the story of the iPad and iPod touch in one Brooklyn restaurant illustrates that in addition to freedom and flexibility, adopting Apple’s mobile platform can save you a lot of cold hard cash.
Rumors saying Apple is planning a smaller version of the iPad won’t die, and a new report sheds more light on the rumored product. Fueling past rumors that Apple is interested in creating a 7-inch iPad at a cheaper price point, iMore claims that the company is planning a 7-inch iPad for release this October alongside the next-gen iPhone.
But that’s not all! The most interesting claim is that the upcoming 7-inch iPad will be priced between $200-$250. Also, the tablet will feature a Retina display like the third-gen iPad, keeping the same 2048×1536 resolution, according to the report.
UPDATE: OK, OK, I get it. I was thinking of the iPhone Stock app. It happens! Still, it’s a nice clock app for the iPad, right? I also promise to double check what I already “know” in my head in the future. Thanks for the funny comments!
It’s funny how Apple put a stock app on my iPad, but not a calculator or a clock. Seems to me that far more people could use a calculator or clock than could use the stock app, but maybe I’m not the typical iPad buyer. Perhaps anyone (besides me) who can afford an iPad is a player in the stock market, so that just makes more sense to include it.
If you are more like me, though, you might want more typical apps like a calculator, which we suggested in a past tip, or a clock, which we will suggest in this tip.
Businesses and individuals thinking that they have mobile security covered, may need to think again. That’s the message from a new report on mobile security shows that nearly half of people using a personal device like an iPhone, iPad, or Android device are doing so without their company’s knowledge or permission. The same report showed that users frequently access sensitive or confidential data from mobile devices but would stop after a security breach.
Adding to concerns around personal mobile devices and BYOD programs, one third of IT professionals in the survey said that their company has already experienced a mobile-related security incident.
How important are iPads and other tablets to mobile carriers worldwide compared to mobile broadband devices? According to a new study, they’re becoming a critical part of the mobile business. That’s pretty impressive when you consider that before the iPad’s launch two years ago, tablets were a rarity in mobile carrier stores. Today, thanks largely to the iPad, tablets make up 40% of mobile broadband offerings.
Proview has long been battling with Apple over its use of the “iPad” trademark in China, but the Cupertino company has moved to put an end to the dispute by offering a settlement figure of ¥100 million (around $16 million). The problem is, that sum covers very little of Proview’s massive debt, and the company is demanding a $400 million payout instead.
AT&T is looking forward to a future when all devices, including iPads are sold with 3G or LTE built-in. That was the message that the carrier’s Glenn Lurie, president of emerging devices, told reporters at this week’s CTIA conference in New Orleans. That approach would be somewhat similar to many smart TV devices that include support for a range of features that users may or may not use – Netflix or Flickr on the Apple TV, for example.
Lurie described the current range of tablet options where devices, including the iPad, come in separate Wi-Fi and 3G/4G models as being “a little out of balance” – a situation he ascribed to the cost difference that 3G and LTE versions of a device compared to its Wi-Fi-only counterparts.
Foxconn chief executive Terry Gou has confirmed that Apple will use some of its cash to help improve the labor conditions for more than 1 million workers in Foxconn’s Chinese factories, where devices like the iPhone, iPad, and iPod are assembled.
Gameloft has blown us away with its N.O.V.A. 3 teaser trailers over the past few weeks, and today one of the most anticipated iOS games so far this year makes its App Store debut. The series has always been up there with the best first-person shooters for iPhone and iPad, but this release promises to deliver a new benchmark for graphics and gameplay on iOS.
N.O.V.A. 3 could be the best $7 you’ve spent on mobile gaming to date.
Instapaper 4.2 has just hit the App Store, and it’s a pretty big update. The headline feature is a new iBooks-style page-turn animation, but there is a lot more in there besides.