Popular video service Vimeo has updated its iOS app with full support for the iPad. Previewed at CES earlier this year, version 2.0 of the app includes a native iPad UI and updated iPhone layout. You can shoot, edit and share videos from your iPad and browse content in a gorgeous interface.
A recent study of finance chiefs at over 200 companies revealed that one in six expect the job of CIO to be gone within five years. More than twice that many (40%) expected that IT will eventually be folded into the finance department. This highlights the impact of trends like BYOD, the consumerization of IT, and the growing importance of cloud services.
As IT departments struggle to deal with an ever-increasing influx of iPhones, iPads, Android devices, and other “consumer” technologies, this raises big questions. Would handing management of IT over to a CFO with limited technical experience help or hinder Apple’s position as a business vendor? Would that drive BYOD programs or inhibit them? Would this ultimately be beneficial to most employees at a company?
Continuing the trend of luxury cars integrating with luxury smartphones, Mercedes-Benz is set to unveil its new A-Class at the Geneva Motor Show next month. While it’s certainly not the German automaker’s most expensive option (priced at £16,045, or $21,453), the A-Class will be the first to let you use Siri from the comfort of your steering wheel.
The vehicle’s updated COMAND ‘infotainment’ system will revolve around the iPhone 4S and Siri. Wunderbar!
It’s been rumored that Apple is looking to rid future iPhones of their traditional 30-Pin connector in a move to save space, but we have no idea what Apple would replace it with to handle the charging and syncing of iOS devices. iCloud has given us the ability to completely cut the cord for syncing, but recharging the device would still require a cable. Or would it? Thanks to some newly invented hi-tech fabric, it looks like future iPhones may possibly be charged using body heat in the not too distant future.
The iPhone is ranked as the top smartphone in the United States, and with sales on the upward trend worldwide, one would think that there’s no stopping Apple’s magical handset. As it turns out, the iPhone has a “crutch” that’s key to its success: carrier subsidies.
It’s common practice for U.S. carriers to subsidize a phone to make it more affordable for the average consumer. The trick is that customers get locked into a two-year contract. While Apple profits and carriers take an initial hit off the subsidized model in countries like the U.S. and U.K., less expensive Android devices are dominating markets where consumers pay full price for their new phones.
I’m so hungry for a new Mac that I’m starting to get tech scurvy. I need some new delicious Mac goodness all up in my desk area, and I’ve been impatiently waiting over 300 days for Apple to announce a new iMac so I can hand them my money in exchange for a new computer. Unfortunately, it looks like I’ll have to starve a bit longer, because new information is showing that Intel’s next-generation Ivy Bridge processors expected to appear in the Mac lineup will be available 8-10 weeks later than originally planned, according to one company official.
Although Android has an overall lead over iOS in smartphone marketshare, there are IT departments that remain hesitant on the platform. Unlike the iPad and iPhone, which are beginning to be seen to be as business tools rather than consumer-oriented entertainment devices, most Android phones have yet to prove that they offer a business feature that can’t be found on other platforms. Samsung’s newly announced Galaxy Beam smartphone may be the first Android phone to solidly offer something powerful and unique for business users.
The Galaxy Beam is Samsung’s new handset that includes a 15-lumen pico projector. Although Samsung’s press release for the phone offering a lot of personal entertainment uses, this is a device that has clear business potential.
Popular web reading platform Readability has confirmed that it will finally be launching its native iOS app in the App Store on Thursday, March 1st. The release comes after Readability was rejected by Apple for not complying with the App Store’s in-app purchase guidelines.
When the iPhone and iPad app becomes available to the public later this week, users will be able to read and share web articles that have been beautifully reformatted for a mobile reading experience.
The iPad 3 is about to drop any day day now, and to make room on their shelves for Apple’s next great tablet Best Buy is slashing prices on the iPad 2. Customers can now buy the iPad 2 with Wi-Fi – 16GB for $449.99, with free shipping anywhere in the USA. Rumors have been running rampant the last few weeks regarding the impending release of the iPad 3, so it looks like Best Buy is trying to get rid of their old units as quickly as possible. But with the iPad 3 so close on the horizon, will $50 off be enough to lure in customers?
BARCELONA, MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS 2012 — There’s a curious flipside to Microsoft’s iron-grip on the minimum specs for Windows 7 phones: They’re pretty much all alike. This is clearly to Microsoft’s advantage — who cares what brand is on the box as longs as it runs Windows? But it makes it hard to write much about new handsets unless they have great style (Nokia) or, say, a fancy camera. And so there is almost nothing to say about the ZTE Orbit.
BARCELONA, MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS 2012 — Although Cupertino currently uses their own custom-baked ARM chips inside the iPhone and iPad, Intel’s gunning for their business. Caught with their pants down in the mobile market, Intel thinks they have finally gotten their silicon caught up to ARM when it comes to power management.
Their new mobile platform is called Medfield, and while it’s only for Android now, you should take Intel’s entry into the mobile market seriously: this could very well be the first-generation of the chip that won’t just power future iPhones and iPads, but run OS X on them as well. We got a hands-on.
BARCELONA, MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS 2012 — Samsung seems to be obsessed with adding easy-to-break, easy-to-lose accessories to its “phones” and tablets. The two Notes come with tiny, disappearing styluses, and this monstrosity — the five-inch Wi-Fi-only Galaxy S — has an antenna. Yes, heft this slab in your palm and you’ll be whisked back to the early 1990s, when phones were the size of bricks, and you pulled the antenna out to make and receive calls.
BARCELONA, MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS 2012 — Samsung continues to chip away at the iPod Touch market with a newer, bigger version of its Wi-Fi-only Galaxy S Wi-Fi 4.2. It’s a Gingerbread device, running on a 1GHz processor, and — surprisingly — it has a 4.2-inch screen. Obviously Samsung saw lucrative a gap in the market between the 4-inch and 4.5-inch sizes.
BARCELONA, MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS 2012 — Samsung’s showing at this year’s Mobile World Congress is light compared to the scattering of new products companies like ZTE have vomited onto the market today, but it is curiously strong, despite being hampered by the still-sluggish Android OS. First up is the Note 10.1, a proper iPad-sized version of the ridiculous five-inch Note. It’s not much different from the Tab 10.1, but for the skinny Wacom-based stylus.
BARCELONA, MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS 2012 — As a company, Nokia has embraced Windows Phone as their long-term smartphone strategy, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some Symbian execs rattling around inside the company, and today, they’ve given us the PureView 808, a Symbian-driven smartphone with a laugh-out-loud claim: a 41 megapixel camera.
Does it really have that many megapixels? It seems so. Does it take nice pictures? Absolutely. But there’s a lot more going on here than just megapixels, and it’s doubtful anyone with an iPhone 4S will be clamoring for one.
With the announcement of the iPad 3 lurking in the shadows, the web has been buzzing with rumors and leaked parts as everyone tries to solve the puzzle of what the next iPad 3 will look like, and what new hardware it might have. Some have claimed the iPad 3 will sport a new quad-core A6 processor, while others claim it will merely get an improved A5 dual-core chip. It appears the confusion over which processor will actually be included in the iPad 3 stems from the fact that Apple is working on BOTH processors at the same time.
Following an accidental and brief appearance in the App Store on Saturday, Adobe has officially unveiled its new photo editing app for the iPad 2. Photoshop Touch is available now in the App Store for $9.99.
The app was recently introduced for Android, and Adobe has now brought image editing tools to the iPad 2 that users of Photoshop on the desktop will recognize. The interface looks a whole lot like an Android app, but Adobe has packed some great features that make a compelling product.
Apple has aired a new commercial for the iPhone 4S. Simply called “iCloud Harmony,” the 30-second TV spot highlights iCloud’s ability to sync your media and apps between devices. “Automatic. Everywhere. iCloud.“
BARCELONA, MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS 2012 — One of the things that first inspired me to be a professional writer was sharing my early fiction experiments as a 10 year old on the discussion boards of the old dial-up service, Prodigy. The instantaneous feedback, the helpful advice, the suggestions from other people about what should happen next to my character (a monster-killing, Nazi-loathing private dick named Dr. Crypt, a name which I still use as my Twitter handle): all of this was a formative experience for me, and without it, I never would have dared to dream that someday, I would make my living putting words down on paper.
Prodigy’s bulletin boards aren’t around anymore, but a new start up is trying to encourage kids and teenagers to write the same way. The company’s called Movellas, and it’s taking the concepts of Twitter, LiveJournal, Kickstarter and the Kindle self-publishing platform to help identify and nurture the next Stephanie Mayer or Stephen King when he or she is still a kid. And, of course, they have an app for that.
BARCELONA, MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS 2012 — Forget a bigger screen or LTE. Ask anybody who has ever dropped their iPhone in a sink, puddle or toilet what they want from the iPhone 5 and waterproofing is number one on the list.
The good news is that there are now a number of companies who are bringing to market superhydrophobic technologies that will help make the soggy iPhone or iPad a thing of the past. Don’t expect a waterproof iPad 3, but an iPhone 5 by the end of the year isn’t just possible, it’s probable.
Our new podcast has been on iTunes for barely more than 24 hours, but The CultCast has already skyrocketed up the charts and is now the #1 Technology Podcast on iTunes. We’re blown away with how successful the podcast has been and we owe it all to our incredible fans who have been downloading it like crazy. Being on the same page as shows like TWiT, 5by5, NPR and Lifehacker is very flattering, and to be at the top of that list is ridiculously exciting. Thanks a bunch, guys!
We’ll be coming out with an new episode every Thursday, but if you haven’t checked out our first 30 minute episode of The CultCast you can subscribe to it right here. Give it a listen. Tell us what you think. And if you have time to give us a rating on iTunes as well, that’d be awesome.
Spectacular and a little spooky; Ban.jo, an iOS/Android app that launched last summer, is startling in what it’s able to give the user: the realtime whereabouts of any friends who have location services active for any of (now five) different social media platforms.
We’re starting a new series called Wallpaper Weekends. We’ll be bringing you a fresh new wallpaper for your iPhone, iPad and Mac. Here’s what we’ve got this week.
Have you ever wished you could use Siri to control Spotify instead of Apple’s Music app on your iPhone? How about using Siri to get directions with your favorite GPS app?
A really cool jailbreak tweak called AssistantLove was released today in Cydia that lets you do those things and more.
We’re huge fans of the simplistic to-do app called Clear here at Cult of Mac. We’ve been captivated by its entrancing gestures and sexy design ever since we saw it at Macworld last month.
Following the highly-anticpated release of Clear in the App Store, Realmac Software has confirmed that the app has moved a staggering 350,000 copies since its launch on February 14th. Nice!