LAS VEGAS, CES 2102 — The Consumer Electronics Show is kicking off with some sobering news. Smartphones and tablets are eating all other electronics alive, says the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), the organizer of the show.
“Smartphones and tablets are really sucking up most consumer spending,” said Steve Koenig, director of research at CEA, during a Sunday afternoon opening keynote outlining key trends for the industry this coming year.
The Consumer Electronics Show has officially kicked off here in Las Vegas, and if there’s one thing every Mac fan should go into CES knowing, it’s that the whole television industry is petrified of Apple entering it.
As CEA’s Chief Economist and Director of Research Shaun Dubrovik made clear in his introductory presentation on the trends they expect to see this year at CES 2012, the whole television industry is scrambling. They are all trying to anticipate just what the heck Apple is going to do when they unveil their long rumored television, the iTV.
What are TV makers betting that Apple has up its sleeves? A bezel-less, ultra high resolution TV that runs apps and is controlled by a mixture of gestures and voice control and effortlessly interact with tablets and smartphones.
No wonder they’re scared: no one is better positioned to roll out a next-gen television that does all of the above things than Apple.
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We’ve now added a sixth deal, our latest iOS Foundations Course, to the Holiday Giveaway which makes it worth over $950 worth of training courses. Happy New Year!**
Since launching Cult of Mac Deals this past fall, we’ve received a tremendous amount of support from our fans, and so this holiday season we wanted to give something back. We’ve compiled a fantastic giveaway including 6 of our top deals valued at over $950!
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The behemoth Consumer Electronics Show is upon us. By tomorrow, press-only showcases will already begin revealing this coming year’s tech magic (the show floor opens for everyone else on Tuesday).
We’ve been drawing aside the curtain as much as we were able in the form of previews throughout this past week. For those who missed them — and for the rest who want a quick recap as we plunge into the show — here’re the big highlights going in.
Epic Games, the makers of popular iOS title Infinity Blade, reported a staggering $10 million in revenue last summer from the sales of their original title in the App Store. After the release of the highly-anticpated Infinity Blade II last month, Epic Games has announced that it has now collected over $30 million in revenue.
Laaaaaaaaaaadies and Gentlemen, welcome to Friday Night Fights, a new series of weekly deathmatches between two no-mercy brawlers who will fight to the death — or at least agree to disagree — about which is better: Apple or Google, iOS or Android?
This week’s topic is one personal to both iOS and Android fans alike: is Samsung really copying Apple’s designs for its Galaxy series of Android smartphones and tablets? Samsung and Apple are brawling it out on pretty much every continent on Earth trying to get to the bottom of this issue, so it’s only fitting that we try to settle this one in the ring too.
In one corner, we have the 900 pound gorilla, Cult of Mac; in the opposite corner, wearing the green trunks, we have the plucky upstart, Cult of Android!
Place your bets, gentlemen! This is going be a bloody one.
An interesting Apple patent filing with the United States Patent and Trademark Office details how Thunderbolt could be headed to iOS devices. Apple has actually been filing many Thunderbolt-related trademarks as of late, despite the fact that Thunderbolt is also an Intel property.
In this recent patent, Apple details how the need for high-speed data connections between devices requires new cables. The traditional 30-pin connector isn’t cutting it anymore, and Thunderbolt is the future.
What’s this? Android news on Cult of Mac?! Who the hell cares?! Maybe you don’t, maybe you do. Point is: these are a few of the popular topics going on in the Android world today. Maybe you’d like to know what the competition is up to, or perhaps your aunt received a Kindle Fire she needs to update. Regardless of the reason, having a resource such as Cult of Android allows you to learn more about what’s going on in the ecosystem powered by the world’s leading mobile OS.
Pioneer Electronics has released two high-end audio players that come equipped with AirPlay functionality. This means that iTunes and iOS users can access music from a desktop computer or iOS device and stream it through their big speakers. Third-party apps like Pandora can also be used to stream music from an iOS device to Pioneer’s new players.
The N-30 ($500) and N-50 ($700) support AirPlay and DLNA wireless technologies. More manufacturers are starting to integrate AirPlay into their home theater and stereo systems. Expect to see much more from this trend in the near future.
Today Dijit has launched its official iPad app for interacting with your TV. In a world where we’re constantly tweeting and checking Facebook from the couch, Dijit has attempted to intertwine our online lives with our favorite TV shows.
The app works with Griffin’s Beacon peripheral or the Roku box to turn your iPad into a universal remote with internet capabilities. Not only can you browse your TV guide and control what you’re watching, but Dijit’s app gives you quick access to Twitter, Facebook, Wikipedia, YouTube, and your Netflix queue.
Today marks the one year milestone for the Mac App Store. In 2011, Apple unveiled the Mac App Store on January 6th, 2011 with over 1,000 apps available at launch. Just like this year, CES was starting to ramp up. Apple stole the early thunder by announcing its app distribution system for OS X.
Steve Jobs told the world that, “We think users are going to love this innovative new way to discover and buy their favorite apps.” As it turns out, he was right.
For years we’ve heard a lot of hype about SSDs and how they’re going to change computing, but their progress has been slow, and the masses have been getting impatient. Well CES 2012 will be the start of SSDs officially entering into mainstream use thanks to Apple Inc. The best purchase I made in 2011 was when I replaced my MacBook Pro with the new 11″ MacBook Air. Not only is the MacBook Air lighter than any laptop I’ve owned, it’s also powerful enough to do some really awesome things I’d never thought possible on a miniature computer (like playing graphic intensive games like Star Wars the Old Republic). Most of these technological marvels are all thanks to Apple’s inclusion on SSDs in the MacBook Air lineup. Of course, Apple didn’t invent the SSD, nor were they the first company to use them, but they’re responsible for bringing SSDs to the masses at an affordable price.
So by now you may have heard that Nikon’s flagship pro D-SLR, the D4, is real and will be on the floors of CES. The new features of this new drool-worthy machine are numerous, but one that immediately caught my eye was its ability to be controlled remotely by an iPhone or iPad — wow! I don’t think anyone saw that coming.
One of the nifty little features in Apple’s iOS operating system is the ability to “swipe to delete” certain items. You can use the gesture to remove songs, podcasts, videos, text messages, emails, and more from your device, but for some bizarre reason, not audiobooks.
Here’s how to delete audiobooks directly from your iOS device — without the need for a computer.
The world’s largest gadget showcase starts on Sunday in Las Vegas, and as we have in years past, Cult of Mac will be at Consumer Electronic Show 2012 from day one to report on the latest iOS and Apple news, the most important tech trends, the best accessories and gadgets, as well as rock out at the some of the most bitchin’ and downright bizarre parties Sin City has ever seen.
On our website, you’ll be able to access all of our CES coverage by visiting our dedicated CES 2012 page.
For this CES, Cult of Mac is rolling in with its deep bench deployed. Here’s who’ll be on the ground, along with their Twitter handles. Follow us for on-the-floor updates, or if you’re at CES and see one of us, make sure to say hi.
• Leander Kahney, Editor (Twitter: @lkahney)
• John Brownlee, News Editor (Twitter: @drcrypt)
• Eli Milchman, Reviews Editor (Twitter: @elimilchman)
• Buster Heine, Community Manager (Twitter: @bst3r)
• Erfon Elijah, Reporter (Twitter: @erfon)
• Traci Dauphin, Gallery Editor
Also, make sure to be following Cult of Mac’s official Twitter account at @cultofmac for exclusive news, first looks, notes from the showfloors and even give aways next week, all in real time. You’ll be glad you did.
See you guys next week for the most exciting week in tech!
South Korean smartphone maker Samsung learned a lesson about the pace of Italian justice Friday. A Mulan court rejected the company’s call for a preliminary injunction against sales of the iPhone 4S. This is Samsung’s second denial in Italy, a court refused to block the iPhone 4S in that nation back in October.
It’s hard living in a post-PC world, especially if you’re chip giant Intel. A Wall Street analyst downgraded the company from “Buy” to “Neutral” after key PC makers signaled plans to adopt rival ARM – not to mention the smartphones and tablets also throwing sand in Intel’s face.
Remember that Steve Jobs action figure from the other day that Apple is trying to force legally off the market, insinuating they own Steve Jobs’s likeness?
Turns out that it looks like in most states, Apple can’t really do squat to prevent the sale of DiD Corp’s Steve Jobs doll? As it turns out, even if Apple did own Steve Jobs’s likeness, that would only be valid in most states while Jobs was alive. Now that he’s dead, though, almost anyone can profit off of his likeness.
As a person who frequently hangs his iPad 2 by the Smart Cover from the fridge while I’m cooking, my vote was going to be “genius” until I thought of exactly how quickly it would take a subway thief to just snag the iPad 2 off the bar on their way out the door. What do you think?
[via MIC Gadget]
If, like me, you’re yearning for a physical controller that works well with iOS devices and games, then you’ll be pleased to hear Gametel’s wireless gamepad for smartphone and tablets now supports the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. The device connects via Bluetooth to devices running iOS 4.0 or later, and supports hundreds of arcade titles from the iCade suite, in addition to other selected iOS games like No Gravity and Super Crossfire HD.
The Magic Feet from Mobee looks set to become the perfect accompaniment to Apple’s wireless peripherals, by introducing an inductive charging system that wirelessly charges the batteries in your Bluetooth keyboard, Magic Mouse, and Magic Trackpad, without you having to remove them.
It charges three accessories simultaneously, with just 6 hours required for a full charge. It also introduces four more USB ports to your Mac.
If you’re a carrier scrambling for ways to make up dwindling voice and texting profits, Apple’s iPhone 4S is not just a product, but a dreamy pin-up, a new report on smartphone data usage finds. What’s more, Siri — the iPhone 4S’s hallmark feature — is a down-right wet dream.
For those who yearn for the glory days of the Classic Mac OS and Beige Boxes, Andrea Grell offers up an authentic and interactive working demo of System 7 running on a Performa 6116CD. From the startup chime to eWorld, this blast from the past is worthy viewing for all old Mac fans.
Are you just now coming out of your holidays hibernation and venturing back into the real world? Some of us are still struggling with that too, so we wanted to remind you guys about our Ultimate Designer Toolkit bundle that will be expiring in less than 16 hours. Head over to Deals.CultofMac.com to get it before it’s gone.
If you’re a creative looking to upgrade your ammo, we’ve found just the designer toolkit for you. For just a moment, try to imagine the capabilities you as a designer will have with over 60,000 premium design resources! Yeah, it gives us the butterflies too. Adding something like this to your designer quiver will just make you that much more dangerous out there in the designer world.
Think about the capabilities… we’re talking 27,000 Photoshop Gradients, 18,000 Photoshop Layer Styles, 2,986 Photoshop Brushes, 1,290 High Resolution Textures, 1,129 Vector Elements, 1,454Vector Illustrations, 1,105 Adobe Add-ons, 815 Photoshop patterns, 340 Seamless Vectors, and thousands of other cool designer toys all for only $49.
Imagine cruising along in your rocket at 100,000 feet when you open the door to let out a wasp and your iPad falls out into space. It’s a situation we can all relate to. But thanks to the Extreme Edge case from G-Form, you no longer have to worry about your device shattering into a million pieces when it lands back down on Earth. What a relief, right?