iPad - page 292

Apple will build future iPhone and other gadgets from Liquidmetal, says a former top researcher at Liquidmetal Technologies, whose technology Apple is licensing.

“I think they’re going to make the iPhone out of it,” said Dr. Jan Schroers, the former director of research at Liquidmetal Technologies, the first company to commercially develop the space-age technology. “It’s quite obvious from what Liquidmetal has done in the past and what the technology is capable of.”

Apple has signed an exclusive agreement to use the Liquidmetal Technologies’ IP in consumer electronic products. Liquidmetal is a high-strength metal that can be processed like plastic. NASA has says it is “poised to redefine materials science as we know it in the 21st century.”

Dr. Schroers is the second high-level executive from Liquidmetal to say Apple has ambitious plans for the revolutionary material. Last week, the alloy’s co-inventor, Atakan Peker, predicted that Apple may use Liquidmetal for a new antenna to replace the problematic part in the iPhone 4.

Speaking exclusively to CultofMac.com, Schroers said Apple could create very intricate and beautiful gadget cases by blow-molding melted alloy like glass. Schroers has created one-piece perfume jars from Liquidmetal using a blow mold (see the picture below).

The technology could also create permanent holographic logos that are etched right into the metal, or elaborate patterns that generate color effects.

“You can really do some novel things with metal that previously were impossible,” he said. “In two years, you could see something the world has never seen in metal.”

Just how difficult could it be to distribute brand new iPads to every single pupil in a school? More difficult than you might think.

Fraser Speirs – caped superhero and Mac developer by night, school IT manager by day – has taken on the task at the school he works for in Scotland, and has started documenting the whole process for the benefit of anyone else who might be thinking of doing the same.

The iPad version of a book featuring photos and recipes favored by Italy’s fascist dictator Benito Mussolini sits at the number two spot of the top paid apps in Italy’s iTunes store.

Titled “A Tavola con Il Duce” (literally: sitting at the table with Il Duce), the €0.79 ($0.99) book is currently available only in the Italian language but can be purchased in the US and other international iTunes stores.

Promising never-before published anecdotes and pictures from Mussolini’s daily life, it is the iPad version of the 2004 book written by Sophia Loren’s sister, Maria Scicolone, who was married to il Duce’s son Romano Mussolini.

Tech blogger Keith of Bit-101 just picked himself up a fancy new USB microscope, and as was his geeky wont, he immediately started aiming it at two gadgets just lying around on his desk.

On the left? The Kindle’s e-paper display, magnified 26x and 400x, respectively. On the right? The iPad’s. Thanks to the nature of e-ink, the Kindle display resolves amazingly well even blown up twenty six times, while the iPad must resort to software anti-aliasing to keep things smooth. Imagine how well that would look with a Retina Display, though.

It’s when you get to four hundred levels of magnification that things get really interesting, though, with the Kindle display breaking down into several strata of monochrome granularity, while the iPad ‘s pixels become a series of colorful bumpers of primary RGB dots. Neat!

[via Gadget Lav]

Tired of couch computing while holding your iPad with one hand?  Now you can rest your posterior in style with the iPad Chair from Elite Home Theater Seating:

With the Luxa2 H4 iPad holder firmly securing the remarkable device in its tight grasp with its 6 rubber pins, you can now wield the power of the iPad in total relaxation with both hands free. The holder slides into the existing cupholder of the Elite HTS chair, and can then swivel and pivot 360 degrees. In addition, the iPad can be rotated vertically or horizontally, and can even be positioned flat like a table.

Company founder and CEO Bobby Bala explains:

We wanted to enhance the iPad experience by increasing the comfort level of the user.  Our testing indicates this increases the level of interaction and escapism with the device.

Pricing for your very own captain’s chair (with dual-seat-cushion support and powered footrest) starts at only $2495 – a more affordable luxury for those who can’t swing $20k for the iPad Bed!

Thanks to Low End Mac for the tip.

With hundreds of thousands of applications and games already in the App Store, and more and more added daily, it’s often hard to notice some of the great apps that are available for your iOS device. That’s where Cult of Mac’s weekly must-have shortlist comes in: we’ll compile a list at the end of each week to showcase a few of our favorites and pick out the best of the bunch. Check out this week’s after the break!

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Jordan Hollender and Scott Harris have put together this fantastic cover version of Survivor’s seminal Rocky theme, “Eye of the Tiger,” created using only iPad apps like Pocket Drums, Babyscratch and Pianolo HD. A magnificent time waster for a lazy Friday afternoon.

[via TUAW]

Rising from the dead like a Newton running Mac OS 9, a new form of Mac Zombie is evolving in the wilds of Apple Geekdom: recycled old Macs being used as iPad stands.

One way for old computers to beat mortality is emulation: early Macs had Apple II emulators, PowerPC Macs running Mac OS X had Classic mode, even the venerable Lisa has an emulator.  Software emulation gives life to vintage machines long after the actual hardware ceases to function.

A new trend seems to be developing with the iPad: rather than running software within iOS, the iPad is making a home for itself inside the modified cases of old Macs!  We’ve covered these items before, but taken in aggregate a new form of Mac recycling seems to be evolving within the Cult of Apple.

Finally, carbon and silicon based entities can repose and recharge side by side!  FurnitureWorld brings us news of one of the Ultimate iPad Accessories, the iCon Bed, a luxury offering from Hollandia International and mattress brand Therapedic.  Dual adjustable mattresses pair with a high tech headboard for the ultimate in sleep workstations:

The iCon Bed’s upholstered headboard is in a class of its own with its sleek, modern look, along with four fully enclosed speakers, 250 watt amplifier and docking stations for two iPads built into the furniture. It is available in more than 200 fashionable colors and fabrics to complement any bedroom decor.

Like the iPad, the iCon Bed is more about a lifestyle choice than it is about a product, and caters to consumers who know how to balance work, rest and play, said Hollandia CEO Avi Barssessat.

This trendy staple will set you back a cool $20k. Perhaps an opportunity for creative DIY projects?

Miss being immersed in a blue cathode glow as you slumber in front of your staticky black-and-white television. Designer Jonas Damon did, so he built a dock in the style of an old cathode-ray television… complete with an Apple Dock Connector snaking like an electrical cord out of the back. Load up an MP4 of an old episode of Elvira’s Movie Macabre and you’ve got yourself a pixel-perfect recreation of a 1980s bachelor life.

Phone Disk, from Macroplant, is a utility for Mac OS X (and Windows) that runs quietly in the background on your computer until you plug-in an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad using a USB sync cable. Plugging in your favorite iDevice causes Phone Disk to seamlessly mount the iOS file system on that device to your computers file system. Once mounted you can directly access the files on that device using Finder (and Windows explorer) or any other program.

You’ll be interested in this application if you’re an IT Ninja looking for another good troubleshooting utility to carry around or you’re simply curious about the data that resides on your favorite iDevice.

In a surprise move, Apple has today approved CineXPlayer for the iPad, which is a free application that allows you to watch Xvid movies on your device.

Great news for those of you out there with a collection of Xvid video files you would previously have had to convert before you could watch on your iPad, but is this just another app that’s temporarily slipped through Apple’s net? Apple doesn’t normally approve apps of this kind for the App Store and famously stands by the MPEG-4 and H.264 formats, brushing other formats aside.

It could mean, of course, that in an attempt to deter us from jailbreaking our devices, Apple is beginning to loosen up on its strict control of the App Store approval process. Many applications have passed Apple’s approval process, however, only to be withdrawn from the App Store hours later. And I get the feeling CineXPlayer will be next on the list.

Only time will tell whether CineXPlayer remains in the App Store or whether it will soon be pulled, but I’d advise you get your hands on it quick just in case.

Osmos for iPad is a unique game for Apple’s new platform. It reminds me a little bit of Spore from Electronic Arts, but only a little. I got bored with Spore on my Mac and iPhone pretty quickly, but I cannot say the same about Osmos.

The app makes good use of the iPad’s graphic abilities, touchscreen interface, and audio hardware. The latter provides nice music and sound effects that make playing the game for long periods of time enjoyable. However, the rapidly changing game play, that made me feel immersed in a totally new gaming experience, was what really made me fall in love with this game.

Ever since the iPad’s debut, it has handily dominated the 10-inch tablet space… but that hasn’t stopped companies like Dell from trying to make a dent in the iPad’s sales with smaller 5- and 7-inch tablets.

According to iLounge, Apple might be looking to compete with the burgeoning 7-inch tablet market with an iPad Mini of their very own.

It’s plausible, I guess: the iPad is pretty big — sometimes it seems a skosh too big to me — and a 7-inch iPad wouldn’t sacrifice much in usability for an easy gain in slingability.

9to5Mac is confirming that they’ve also heard this rumor from their sources, adding that the iPad Mini would likely have a 1500×1920 Retina Display.

What do you think? Is Apple aiming to shrink the iPad? If they did, would you want one? Let us know in the comments.

At just four months old, the iPad is preparing to go off to college.

Apple’s “magical” device, which launched April 3, will be handed out during fall 2010 orientation to college students at a number of US campuses, though the tablet computer won’t be replacing old-fashioned notebooks or pencils any time soon.

Stanford is the most prestigious university to announce an iPad program so far. All first year medical students and Master of Medicine students will be provided with an iPad.

“The iPad allows students to view and annotate course content electronically, facilitating advance preparation as well as in-class note-taking in a highly portable, sharable and searchable format,” the Stanford University School of Medicine announced on its blog. “Students will be able to easily access high-quality information at any place, at any time…and replacing printed syllabi with PDF’s is in line with the Sustainable Stanford initiative, which aims to build sustainable practices into every aspect of campus life.”

This Olay skin cream commercial (in Hind-ish?) features two Bollywood actresses video chatting about beauty tips — the younger one asks the big star what potions she uses.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e16gkiRaGxk

Star Katrina Kaif doesn’t have use just any old computer to deliver her skin advice — about lightening cream, ugh! —  but converses with her pal Adah Sharma using video chat on an iPad.

Too bad the iPad doesn’t have a video chat feature, it could come in handy for everyone from porn services to far-away grandparents.

Via Sawf news

Guy Kawasaki’s seminal book The Macintosh Way is a classic for technology marketers (“evangelists”) and Apple geeks alike.  It is fondly remembered from the Golden 68k Macintosh Era, and is used to this day as reference material for startup businesses and college courses.

The book went out of print several years ago, and Guy has been working since to get the rights back.  He has finally succeeded, and is making the digitized eBook available free to everyone for the asking.

The Macintosh Way has seen Apple and the Mac through many changes over its twenty year lifetime; to celebrate the re-release, Guy has also released this video detailing the book’s transformation from printed page to computer screen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnjyrcozHyA

To get your free eBook, follow Guy on Twitter and sign up at freemacway.com
You can also read the book in the OfficeDrop iPad app.

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Added bonus for this old Mac geek (and full disclosure): my own Vintage Mac Museum was used to film the opening of the video.  For a few enjoyable hours this spring the production team and I relived the Macintosh Way!  For more on filming the spot, see Vintage Macs Live Again.  Anyone up for Snood?

The iPad may be magical, but do you want your taxes to pay for city councilors to have them?

That’s what citizens in Leicester, England wonder after the local council there drew up plans to provide all 54 city councilors with Apple’s tablet device.

Equipping all of the local politicos with iPads by May 2011 will cost around £40,000 or about $63,000 for the 64 gigabyte models, sparking critics who note that the council is spending for shiny gadgets when it has to cut some 1,000 jobs due to budget issues.

Last week the U.S. government surprised everyone by announcing that jailbreaking, root access, and carrier unlocking was a legal option for buyers of smartphones that want to access apps not sold by the manufacturer or to free the handset for use on the network of their choice.

After this decision it is likely that more people will be jailbreaking their iPhones, iPads, or iPod touches. There are over 100 million iOS devices in circulation and it is thought that a mere fraction of these are jailbroken.

Jailbreaking isn’t necessarily an easy thing to do, but there are many how-to’s (including our own below) that will explain to you how to do it. The problem with that is that you need to find the right one to fit your iOS device. That isn’t easy with the plethora of iOS versions and different iOS device models out there until now.

The Jailbreak Matrix solves that problem. The Matrix is a chart that will show you the details you need to jailbreak your specific iOS device and its version of iOS. It will even tell if you if a jailbreak doesn’t exist, provide download links for firmware and iTunes, and versioning information for firmware and baseband (if appropriate). The information provide is likely to help you to prevent bricking your device.

You can view the  Jailbreak Matrix and find the jailbreaking how-to suitable for your circumstances or you can check out Culf of Mac’s Jailbreak Superguide. Regardless of the option you choose you can jailbreak most iOS devices in no time at all.

Is your iOS device jailbroken or unlocked? What circumstances drove you to wanting to do that in the first place? Tell us all about it in the comments.

iOS hackers have released jailbreakme.com, a browser-based jailbreak utility for the Apple iPhone 4, 3GS, and 3G when running iOS 4 or 4.0.1. The jailbreak is reminiscent of one of the original jailbreaks for the original iPhone.

In addition to the above devices the jailbreak is compatible with an iPad running iOS 3.2 and 3.2.1 and an iPod touch 3G running iOS 4.0.

To celebrate their 3rd anniversary, Readdle have started a 48-hour sale from today which sees all of their iOS applications reduced to just $0.99. In addition to this massive sale, Readdle are also giving away an iPad to 3 lucky winners who retweet their anniversary message on Twitter.

To be in with a chance of winning, just follow these 3 simple steps:

For more information, visit the Readdle 3 years anniversary page. To get your hands on one of Readdle’s great applications, check out their App Store page.

The iPad is a fantastic kitchen computer, no question, but consider me skeptical of the FridgePad, a £49 magnet-backed aluminum iPad case meant to allow you to easily slap your Apple tablet to the side of your Fridgidaire.

You know how sometimes you’ll put something heavy under a weak fridge magnet and it’ll slowly slide down the door until it smacks onto the floor? Yeah, that, except with an easily splinterable 1.6 slab of glass.

The iPad can be a handy to have on your next vacation, whether you need to research flights for a quick escape from your cousin’s wedding, keep the kids entertained on the plane or figure out which road is the least congested in a strange city.

Here are five free iPad apps we wouldn’t leave home without.

Kayak Explore + Flight Search
Kayak is the Ferrari of cheap flight search info — and a lot of users (including me) think the search engine works better in the iPad version than it does online. One thing is certain: the roomy iPad screen makes it easy to search for your flight, drilling down results by airline, number of connections, airport, times and price.
And, in the latest version, if you’re trying to figure out just how many miles you can put between you and your ex with the cash wadded up in your pocket, there’s a handy budget/distance calculator that will tell you just that. The caveats: hotels and car rental info is provided through Safari and you can’t book flights directly from the app.

Bringing your iPad on the road and want more juice than its 10 hour spec? Battery maker Sanho have you covered: their new HyperMac Stand for iPad will add an additional 16 hours to your mobile time.

The HyperMac Stand is a rectangular block in which your iPad can be slotted at an 18 degree angle, perfect for typing. It contains an 1100mAH, 40Wh battery that will charge your iPad even when it’s away from an AC outlet, as well as pass-through charging and syncing.

The price? $130. That sounds a bit steep at first, but given the combined price of both a stand and an external battery, a moment’s reflection makes it a loss less hard to swallow.