This week’s roundup must-have apps features the long-awaited Skype app for the iPad, a beautiful new music app from Rdio, the quickest and easiest way to sell your old gadgets through eBay Instant Sale, and a new digital magazine from AOL that’s tailored just for you.
If you’re in Indiana, you’re likely using an iPhone. However, in California — home of Silicon Valley — Android probably rules. Most Apple iPhone and iPad users are in the North U.S., while the majority of Android users are in the southern U.S. states, according to the findings of a survey tracking which tracked mobile ad clicking by device maker, all mapped by location.
The downside of the iPhone’s gargantuan success as a money maker for Apple is that it can also have an “outsized impact” on Apple profits. The iPhone contributes 49.2 percent of Apple stock value, one analyst warns. Wall Street also said the iPad has replaced the iPod as the tech giant’s halo product, buoying sales of other Apple products. Even so, at least one analyst thinks that Apple could go as high as $540 a share.
Apple’s stock Maps app for iOS is great at what it does, but there are a number of useful features that it’s lacking. Thankfully, Cydia boasts a plethora of jailbreak tweaks that allow us to add our own enhancements — the latest of which introduces a handy speedometer.
The drawback to success is you’re only as good as your last killer product. Perhaps that’s what Apple executives were thinking when they recently told a Wall Street analyst any rumored low-cost iPhone would have to be more than out-cheap Android, but be a ‘category-killer’ like the iPad and iP
hone.
The incredibly popular Infinity Blade from Epic Games was one of the first titles to be build using the Unreal engine. Famous for its eye-popping visuals, it’s so impressive that in just six months after its launch the game had achieved over $10 million in sales. If you haven’t already bought this game, now’s the best time, because it’s on sale for just $2.99. But you’ll have to be quick!
Lets’ face it — cycling is geeky enough with Lycra, weird cycling shoes and helmets so dorky they look like they were designed by population-control advocates — it doesn’t need the added panache of a Bluetooth speaker bungied to the handlebars.
Could this be the iPhone 5? The picture was posted to MacRumors’s forums, and was snapped at the office of a French cell phone company, according to the forum member who posted it.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXDCR41huhQ&feature=player_embedded#t=0s
Following this morning’s discovery of a new Apple patent for inductive charging, MacRumors points to a video from WiTricity, the company that develops magnetic resonance charging technology, which demonstrates a much better method for wirelessly charging our Apple gadgets using our Macs as a power source.
Apple’s intentions to introduce a wireless system to its iOS devices has been well documented over the past few months, but just exactly how it plans to do it remains to be seen. However, a new patent application published by the U.S. Patent & Trademarks Office today could reveal all.
Of all the things we expect to see from Apple’s iPhone 5 in the coming months, it isn’t super-speedy LTE capabilities. However, China Mobile says that it has struck a deal with Apple to bring the next-genearation iPhone to its 4G TD-LTE network.
Although its public release isn’t scheduled until this fall, Apple has already begun approving apps for its upcoming iOS 5 software for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch — suggesting the firmware could launch as early as next month alongside the iPhone 5.
Google’s Gmail web app for the iPhone delivers a nice new update this morning that makes it even more iPhone-friendly, introducing the iOS trademark pull to refresh function, and an enhanced interface.
Review by Jordan Trimas
The Arctic P311 Bluetooth headset ($40) is an excellent option for those desiring a pair of über-comfortable Bluetooth stereo headphones without having to hock a family heirloom to afford them. My first impression, naturally, was that I probably wouldn’t get a top-performer for $40, so expectations weren’t high. But it was love at first listen when the P311s emerged from their packaging.
The iPad is being trounced in the enterprise. Good news for Apple, the iPad’s rival is another Cupertino product: the iPhone. The competitors are single-digit cellar-dwellers, according to a new study of business-oriented mobile devices.
We’ve seen a lot of iPhone accessories here at Cult of Mac, but it’s rare that one leaves us absolutely speechless. Yet when I consider the Hand iPhone Case by Rakuten, my eyes bulge a little, my mouth goes dry, my tongue seems to swell and all I can do is mouth the consonants “W….T…..F……” to myself.
As you can see, the Hand iPhone Case is a disembodied hand… lopped off with an axe, cloned from latex and grafted onto the back of your iPhone, like a human ear growing on the back of a mouse. And hey, if that’s not utterly weird and creepy enough for you? You can pick up a version that pastes a child’s severed hand on the back of your iPhone instead of an adult’s, no additional charge!
Now that Lion on your Mac looks just like iOS on your mobile device, Apple is now considering dropping its desktop and laptop software in favor of a single OS platform based on apps and the cloud. The idea has so many advantages, an OS merger is likely to begin next year.
Fresh from its purchase of the Nortel patent cache, Apple is in the hunt to purchase mobile technology owned by InterDigital. Cupertino “frenemies” Google and Samsung are also bidding, hoping Apple won’t lay claim to another piece of technology that Android is dependent upon.
It’s increasingly beginning to look like that rumor claiming the iPhone 5 won’t launch until October was incorrect. Not only has Apple reportedly sent the fifth-generation device for carrier testing — a step taken only weeks before a scheduled launch — but according to DigiTimes, the company has ordered 10 million iPhone 5 units expected to begin shipping in September.
Apple just released two new commercial ads for the iPhone, and they both play off of the “If you don’t have an iPhone…” pitch we’ve been hearing for awhile.
The first add highlights the iPod + iTunes on the iPhone, while the second features the App Store.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8KVz0CKbwU&feature=player_embedded
iPhone 5 knock-offs are already available in China, even though the real thing doesn’t even have a solid ship-date yet. Even in white!
Don’t be in such a hurry to believe talk Apple will hold out until October to release its next-gen iPhone, one Wall Street analyst warns. Reading the tea leaves left by Asian suppliers, the expert gives three reasons why a new handset will appear earlier.
A document leaked from one Canadian carrier could confirm yesterday’s report that claims Apple’s iPhone 5 will be arriving in October, rather than September as months of speculation initially led us to believe.
While Apple’s tech support line isn’t the nightmare of most automated phone systems, it’s tarnishing the Cupertino, Calif. company’s sterling reputation with customers. That’s the finding of a study showing HP and Dell service calls are catching up with the tech giant.
Iomega has announced its latest external hard drive for Mac users today. Named the Mac Companion, the drives are available with either 2 or 3 terabytes of storage at 7,200 rpm and start at $195. But what’s great about this baby is it fits beautifully under your iMac and will also charge your iOS devices while you work.