Before and after. Instagram's Lux fixes shadows and adds contrast. Photo Charlie Sorrel
Instagram 2.1, which launched at the end of last week, has fixed up the frankly horrible interface of v2.0, and added in some significant new features. Other things — like the proliferation of scantily-clad ladies and (normally-clad) pets in the “popular” section — remain just the same.
U.S. retailer Meijer has begun slashing the price of Apple’s iPad 2 as rumors continue to claim that its successor will be unveiled early next month. The 16GB Wi-Fi only model is now available for $429, with $70 off its original price, and that price will run until the retailer shifts its remaining stock.
Retailers in Shijiazhuang, China, have halted sales of Apple’s iPad after it was claimed that the Cupertino company does not have the rights to the iPad trademark in the country. Proview Technology, which believed it still owns the iPad name, is seeking $38 million in compensation from Apple and seems to have secured a ban in at least one city as Chinese authorities begin confiscating the device.
A “credible” Target employee who is “intimately acquainted with the retail giant’s web presence” has confirmed that Apple’s iPad 3 will launch in early March.
The 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards will be held tonight at 8:00 PM at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. You can stream the event live, including the pre-show this afternoon, for free on your mobile devices.
Thanks to the free GRAMMY Live app in the App Store, you can stream today’s festivities to your iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.
Samsung is going all-out to promote the Galaxy Note as the company’s new iPhone killer.
The now-famous Superbowl ad imagines a scenario in which iPhone fans waiting in line outside Apple stores for the next phone see a guy using a Galaxy Note with a pen. They’re stunned as they realize that he can draw on maps and pictures using the phone’s stylus. So overwhelmed with the revelation that one might use a pen with a phone, than they bust out of the line and erupt in a display of unbridled enthusiasm all over the city.
According to a new report, iOS web traffic has surpassed Mac OS X for the first time in history. iOS market share has grown nearly 50% over the last 6 months, and Apple’s mobile products are now driving more web traffic while the Mac’s traffic share has declined.
One of the best things about Apple’s iPod nano is its radio app that allows you to listen to live radio anytime, anywhere. Unfortunately, we don’t get that feature with the iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad… unless we use third-party apps.
TuneIn Radio allows you to listen live to over 50,000 stations around the world, pause and rewind your favorite shows, share stations and songs on social networks, and a whole lot more. Here’s how to get started.
Apple has added another profile to its iPad in Business site. This one covers a company called Theatre Consultants Collaborative. Like all the iPad in Business videos and profiles, it illustrates the flexibility that the iPad offers and how it can be used as a professional tool across a wide range of industries.
How would a smaller iPad fit into Apple's iOS product lineup?
Rumors of an iPad mini have been revived once again today after a Technology Business Research analyst said Apple will launch two new products at its upcoming iPad event. And when we say “new,” we don’t mean a next-generation refresh — we mean something brandnew.
Those products are expected to be a new case accessory that features an integrated keyboard (about time!), and a smaller 7-inch iPad.
Microsoft released a number of important details about its plans for Windows 8 on Arm (WOA) tablets. WOA tablets will focus on having a long battery life as well as being light, thin, and inxpensive. They will feature some traditional Windows elements but have a focus on the Metro interface pioneered on Windows Phone and included as the default on all Windows 8 machines. They can be thought of as Microsoft’s response to the iPad, which will certainly be their biggest competition.
Not surprisingly, many of the first pieces discussing the announcements to hit the media have struck on the “Apple should be worried” theme and have used the fact that WOA tablets will include the major Microsoft Office apps to backup that assumption.
AT&T has begun replacing its existing micro-SIMs with a new card capable of connecting to its LTE network. While you won’t need to replace the micro-SIM you’ve already got in your iPhone, you may need one for your iPad 3 next month.
Microsoft has launched another version of its MSN app for the iPad to cater for U.S. customers, following its debut in Canada, Germany, France, and the U.K. late last month.
There’s no doubt that iCloud offers some great value to Mac and iOS users. It even has some potential as a business tool. Unfortunately, like many other personal cloud services, iCloud presents some major securtiy concerns when it comes into the workplace – either on a user’s iOS device or on a business Mac or PC. Those concerns stem from the ability to sync business data to outside devices and computers as well as its capacity to archive some of that data on Apple’s iCloud servers.
Unlike most personal cloud products, which can be difficult to effectively disable in corporate or business settings, iCloud use can be restricted or blocked. That leaves IT departments with the question of whether or not iCloud access should be managed or disabled. It’s a tricky question, particularly in BYOD settings where the device belongs to a user and not the company. It’s made even trickier because the choices involved in managing iCloud are rather blunt in approach and don’t offer much in the way of fine tuning to specific needs.
Isn’t it frustrating when you’re playing a game on your iPad and your hands keep spoiling the view? That’s the problem with virtual controls on touchscreen devices, but there is a way around this.
Joypad allows you to control a selection of iPad games using your iPhone, so you can enjoy your favorite titles without your hands blocking the view. It features a selection of control pad layouts that are individually tailored to certain games, and you can customize things like the touch radius for each button.
Today BYOD and the consumerization of IT aren’t just buzzwords on the horizon, they’re fact of business life and have begun transforming the workplace for millions of professionals. Many solutions exist to deal with managing user-owned mobile devices and integrating them to varying degrees with corporate resources and shared data – something that the explosion of cloud products is helping to drive. Many enterprise cloud solutions (public and private) exist to meet these demands while ensuring data management and security.
Unfortauntely, cloud solutions aren’t limited to the workplace and consumer cloud products including Apple’s iCloud, Dropbox, Box.net, Google Docs and many others have become staple parts of our daily lives. That’s great news for all of as consumers. It gives us access to our files and data anywhere at anytime on almost any device. But consumer cloud technologies pose a big headache for IT professionals who are responsible with keeping business and workplace data both readily available and appropriately secured.
Your brand new car starts losing value the second you drive it off the dealer’s lot – that an old (and very true) addage. Like a new, a new piece of technology begins to lose value or depreciate as soon as you leave the store. With cars and with major tech purchases like a new iMac, this isn’t an immediate source of pain or dismay since you’ll be using them for at least a few years.
When it comes to smartphones and other mobile devices like our iPhones and iPads, depreceiation and loss of dollar value is equally true. The big difference is that most of us don’t hold to them for nearly as long.
If you’re in the habit of passing your iPhone or other mobile device onto friends or family members, that may not matter too much. But what if you’re looking to recoup some your investment?
Apple is set to announce its much-anticipated iPad 3 during the first week of March, according to sources for All Things D. It’s unclear when the device will actually launch, but it is said be “pretty much what we’ve been led to expect by the innumerable reports leading up to its release.”
Whether Samsung’s blatant Apple bashing adverts are actually convincing customers to buy its products is unclear, but they are at least inspiring other companies to mock Apple’s gadgets in their own ads.
Amazion is the latest, with a new Kindle ad that takes aim at the iPad for its poor reading conditions in direct sunlight, and its heavy price tag.
RepairLabs has gotten its hands on what is reportedly a back panel for the upcoming iPad 3. While the new housing remains largely identical to its predecessor, this leaked rear panel does suggest several changes to Apple’s third-generation tablet.
The iPad 3 will reportedly feature a bigger battery, updated camera, and hi-res, Retina-like display. Rumors have suggested that Apple is set to introduce a Retina display, super-powered iPad as early as next month.
Apple’s concept of the App Store works well for consumers. Search for whatever apps you want or need and buy or download them with one-click shopping in iTunes of the App Store app on an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. That system starts to break down when it comes to iOS devices in the workplace, particularly for companies that create internal apps that need to be rolled out to a large number of users. It can become even more complicated when dealing with employee-owned devices because IT may never see the iPhone or iPads that are being used and therefore need a specific set of apps.
The best option for addressing this need is the concept of an enterprise app store – an app that users can install from a central location on their corporate network that will allow them to peruse a selection of apps developed by their company’s IT department as well as business apps from Apple’s App Store.
All the features Tweetbot for iPhone users have come to appreciate are present in the new iPad app, and Tapbots has created a very compelling experience that takes advantage of smart gestures, intuitive design elements, and robust third-party service integration.
Apple’s decision to shun Flash Player for its iOS devices has been well documented over the years. But with the iPhone nearly five years old now, it’s no surprise third-party developers are offering up their own solutions for accessing Flash on our iPhones, iPod touches, and iPads.
One of those developers is Skyfire Labs, which is behind Skyfire for iOS — a web browser that allows you to watch Flash videos without unauthorized jailbreak tweaks. Here’s how to get started with Skyfire.
It’s pretty much impossible to argue that Apple didn’t revolutionize and reshape the mobile intdustry in the U.S. and around the world. The iPhone changed the concept of what a smartphone could be in 2007. The App Store reimagined smartphone apps and how they could be sold in 2008. And the iPad revolutionized the face of tablet computing in 2010. Those are pretty significant accomplishments technically and culturally.
Now, we also know how Apple reshaped and grew mobile industry financially… and how all of that growth is pocketed in the process.
Often the first and biggest question that confronts any company developing a new mobile presence (or revamping an existing one) is whether to focus on developing a native app or a mobile web site. While each approach has its pros and cons, one way to decide may be to look at how users are accessing content on their mobile devices like the iPhone and iPad.
Unfortunately, the latest news from comScore is that users are evenly split between using a dedicated native app or using a mobile web browser to access content – making that criteria alone useless when it comes to developing a mobile strategy.