News - page 1919

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?

While we’re all expecting Apple to introduce a quad-core A-something processor to its iOS devices at some point in the future, it appears there are already references to the devices in the company’s latest iOS 5.1 beta release. In addition to support for Apple’s latest dual-core A5 processor, the software also support quad-core processing, according to one report.

Do you live in an area too small to support an Apple Store but has a Target retail location? Apple reportedly will launch later this year “store-within-a-store” sites at 25 of the chain’s larger U.S. locations. The plan would expand the Cupertino, Calif. company’s retail reach already available at more than 600 Best Buy stores.

While Apple’s iPhone and iPad devices are susceptible to cracks and smashes — just like any other smartphone or tablet — you’ll be surprised by how strong the Gorilla Glass that’s used on each of these devices really is. And it’s about to get even stronger, with Corning set to announce Gorilla Glass 2 at CES in Las Vegas next week, which is said to be even lighter and stronger than its predecessor.

DigiTimes has revived speculation that Apple will release two new iPads this year, citing “industry sources in Taiwan” who claim we’ll see an iPad 3 complete with a Retina display in March, and a much improved iPad 4 with “killer applications” in October.

Antonio De Rosa, a designer for ADR Studios, has created a gorgeous next-generation iPhone concept that he’s calling the “iPhone SJ.” This work of beauty features an edge-to-edge capacitive touchscreen, 10 megapixel camera, A6 processor, and a polycarbonate body that’s about as light as you can imagine.

In De Rosa’s fictional world, the iPhone SJ would be the best smartphone on the planet. And based off his concept work, I would have to agree.

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.

What do we know about the iPad 3? It seems almost definite at this point that it will be slightly thicker than its predecessor, feature an A6 chip and a Retina Display when it is released in late March or April, but if iLounge‘s Jeremy Horwitz’s Twitter account is anything to go on, it might also be packing much better cameras.

I’m wearing a big shimmering wrap on my head with a jewel in the middle. There’s incense going, and I’m now ready to make these CES 2012 camera predictions: new pro DSLRs from Nikon and (possibly) Canon will reign supreme; it will be another good year for small mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras, like the new Nikon 1; and in-point-and-shoots, I see more of the same blah.

I also see this year’s PMA show (Photo Marketing Association) being combined into CES, bringing with it imaging accessories galore — but that’s not a prediction — it’s on PMA’s website.

Google’s button cute VP of Location and Local Services, Marissa Mayer, has long been a self-avowed Apple fan. Heck, she once nominated Steve Jobs as the 2010 Time Magazine Person of the Year, and now, she’s openly singing the praises of Apple’s Airport range of wireless routers on her Google+ account.

Adding contact information to your phone can be a tedious task, especially with devices like the iPhone, which allow you to add a whole lot more than just a name and a phone number. But there is one quick and easy way to add missing information to your address book without even touching your device’s virtual keyboard: Syncing your contacts with Facebook.

If you’re a Facebook user — and who isn’t these days? — and you have the official Facebook app installed on your device, you can add birthdays, URLs, and even photos to your address book in just a few taps.

Jeff Broderick, the designer behind the beautiful iOS Settings Home screens shortcuts we detailed weeks ago, has released a new web app for easily sharing a secured network with multiple users. QuickWiFi is a simple web interface that lets you distribute your network credentials with others via a verified WiFi profile.

With QuickWiFi, you no longer need to give everyone on your network a SSID and password. You can create a unique URL that others can use to gain access to your network — no password required. If you want to keep your network secure from the outside but also offer an easy way for your friends to join, this is the perfect tool.