News - page 2064

A number of users are reporting problems with Wi-Fi or 3G data connections after upgrading their iPhones to iOS 4.3.3. I’ve encountered the problem myself on 3G and a friend called me the other day to complain to me about the problem on both Wi-Fi and 3G. He was pretty frustrated about it and I cannot blame him since it seemed to come and go for him.

You’ll notice the problem manifest itself whenever you try to access a network resource and the busy indicator to the right of the carrier signal label seems to get stuck and nothing happens – mail isn’t downloaded, a web page doesn’t load, etc. I haven’t noticed the problem on my iPad 2 nor have I seen people complain about it happening on their iPads.

The SyncMate 3 program from Eltima Software has been providing Android users with a way of seamlessly syncing their phones with their Mac for some time, but the latest update integrates support for Android powered tablets as well.

Twitter mate of mine Giles Booth posted this on Flickr the other day, and it had me doing a double-take for a moment.

No, it isn’t actually running Newton OS. It’s displaying a picture. Just like this other image of a Kindle “running” Macintosh System 1.

You can put custom pictures on your Kindle if you like – try using these instructions. See what other classic Apple software you can “run” on your Kindle. Clarisworks? Eudora? Hypercard? Ahh, memories…

(Photo by Giles Booth, re-published with permission)

As jailbreak tweaks go, this one is probably the most simple, but it’s also rather handy. It’s never a good idea to continue to charge a battery way beyond its full charge, and this tweak ensures it doesn’t happen by alerting you when your device’s battery is full.

Mac Pros released in early 2009 can now support six-core Xeon CPUs and faster 1,333MHz RAM thanks to a new firmware hack. By installing an EFI firmware update, users can convert their machine into a mid 2010 model Mac Pro.

Twitter announced on its blog yesterday that the company is finally rolling out an update to its mobile web application which will integrate HTML5 and introduce some nice new features, meaning it will no longer suck so much under mobile Safari.

Sick of iPhoto ’11 splitting all your events into fragments when you import your iPhone photos? Version 9.1.3 is here, and should set you right.

Expect as much as twice as much storage to be stuffed into 2012’s MacBook Airs. Industry market research firm Gartner says that the price of solid state drives will drop below a buck per gigabyte by the second half of 2012.

The popular IM+: Instant Messaging application from Shape Services has just been updated to introduce an innovative new feature called ‘Neighbors’, which offers users the ability to find new friends in their vicinity who share the same common interests.

When users are signed into the Neighbors service, they will be greeted by a map that allows them to locate and chat with friends in their area, post and view local announcements, and initiate conversations with other people nearby.

Got a second-generation Apple TV? Get it while it’s hot: a new update has just hit Apple’s update servers.

And they say iOS isn’t customizable… Fortunately for jailbreakers, it certainly is! DreamBoard, a $2.99 tweak that’s available in Cydia, will completely reinvent the way your home screens look. It’s very easy to use, and there are a number of different themes available. Check them out below!

When Google and Amazon launched their cloud music services, they did so without signing deals with the four major music labels. Apple will not be following suit, and according to music industry insiders, having all the contracts signed is what’s going to let Cupertino kick the competition’s teeth in.

Wow. Is developer GhostBird really shoe-horning this much functionality into the second iteration of their legendary photo-editing app, PhotoForge? Looks like they’ve crammed practically every post-processing tool and feature on the planet into what will probably amount to an under-$5 app: curves, real layer support (including masking), ability to edit raw files (and images up to 20MB), editing timeline and a big pile of sharing options.

Add to that a smorgasbord of filters that simulate papers, processes, cameras and you’ve got the makings of what looks like the killer photo app. GhostBird also claims fast processing times — how they’re able to pull this one off, and just how fast it’ll clock on the slower processors of the 3G/s is the big question, though; we’ll know in a couple of weeks, the timeframe the developer has suggested for the app’s release.

Will Apple, as rumored, shift the MacBook line over to an ARM processor this year, starting with the MacBook Air? If you answered yes to that question, one analyst has some compelling reasons why you might just be huffing fumes.

Would it surprise you to know that the iPad 2 suffers from a bug that causes universal color gamma issues during video playback, resulting in low contrast and washed out blacks?

A Chinese gadget maker of dubious distinction, vowing to directly clone a popular, in-demand Apple product? Is this even real life????

The one-two punch of the iPad and the new 11.6-inch MacBook Air have basically killed netbooks off, but Google doesn’t seem to be paying attention: they’ve just announced the first two commercial netbooks running the new Chrome OS. Christened ‘Chromebooks,’ they’re like little MacBook Welfares.

I just don’t get this Kickstarter project. Called the iKeyboard, the idea is to make the iPad easier to touch type on without adding bulk to either your iPad or your gadget bag.

But as a guy who does a lot of touch typing throughout the day, I’ve got to say, I’m a bit mystified by how exactly trying to type through a bunch of rectangular holes is going to make iPad writing easier for me.

Google Music Beta launched yesterday, beating iTunes into the cloud by at least a couple months, but with one big drawback: it wasn’t supposed to work on iOS devices, but just one day later and Google Music is already up and running on iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

Here’s how to use Google Music on your iDevice.

It sounds like the poster boy (or product) for “have your cake and eat it too”: Third Rail Mobility‘s new backpack-battery system is a slim case (callled the Slim Case, just to be confusing) that allows their removable 1250 mAh Smart Battery to snap on. Smart? Heck, the battery sounds like a genius: Besides being able to power other electronic devices off its micro USB port, “stacked Smart Batteries will automatically and seamlessly transfer power to create as many fully-charged batteries as possible,” says the press release.

The whole kit runs $90, or the case and battery can be bought individually for $40 and $60, respectively. And right now, it’s only available for the iPhone 4 (Android flavors coming soon).

If you’re read this expecting to see Linus Torvalds and Steve Jobs exchange body blows in court, read the headline again: that homophone can be confusing, the ‘e’ matters and the company we’re talking about here is Linex, a Florida company that licenses wireless technology.

Even so, Linex and Apple are revving up to go to court, and if Linex has its way, the import of all MacBooks will be banned, along with Apple’s Airport Extreme and Time Capsule products.

Are Apple sales cooling off? That’s the belief of one Wall Street analyst who tells investors Wednesday the Cupertino, Calif. firm may have seen a 7 percent drop in April sales, compared to a historical increase of nearly 5 percent increase for the third quarter. But when we’re talking about Apple, a “slowdown” needs to be put in some context.

When it comes to the iPad, you’re either a cheapskate or a sheik. That’s the message coming out of new data published by Context, which says that most people either buy the cheapest iPad or the most expensive one.

This is the latest smash-and-grab theft to hit an Apple store in the US. The security cam shows head-to-toe black clad thieves who broke into the store in Crocker Park, Ohio at 4:30 am.

They move like pros — unlike earlier smash and grabs, where you can see the idea was just to break in and load up with Apple goodness — each one runs to a specific area for loot.

In about 30 seconds, they have loaded up large black duffel bags with stolen goods and are out of the store. Police say they snatched 24 laptops and an iPod.

Breaking those trademark Apple retail glass storefronts has become such an epidemic that the FBI is investigating whether there are professional gangs.