After briefly being seen as an ally of Apple’s goal towards crushing Android, Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet is back to threatening iPad sales. A Wall Street analyst now says 26 percent of people considering buying the Fire are putting on hold purchasing the Cupertino, Calif. tech giant’s tablet. What’s more, consumers are more likely to buy the Amazon tablet than the iPad.
So iCloud is finally here, and MobileMe is going away. This is generally a good thing, but vestiges of the old remain with the new. One reader is wondering how he can make a clean break:
I’ve successfully upgraded to Lion, to iOS 5 on my iPhone 4, and migrated from MobileMe to iCloud. BUT, I still see the MobileMe icon in my system preferences, how do I remove it?
Mark
Apple retail employees are reportedly holding an overnight tonight which will be used to construct express lanes that will make shopping easier during the busy holiday period. The lanes provide customers with quick and easy access to popular products and accessories, and are staffed by several Apple Specialists.
Siri is undoubtedly one of the biggest selling points for Apple’s new iPhone 4S, so it’s understandable every iOS user wants to see it on their older devices. But despite a report that claimed the Cupertino company is working on Siri for the iPhone 4, it has confirmed it currently has no plans to bring Siri to older devices.
I went down to the local Apple store this evening with my son Lyle. The store is usually packed, and paying for something isn’t always easy.
That’s what Apple has developed EasyPay, a new system for scanning and paying for goods yourself using your own iPhone. You just scan the barcode and hit “Pay.” It’s so easy, Apple staffers joke it should be called “EasyTheft.” But it’s a pretty radical new way to go shopping.
Here’s a short video of us buying some goods, showing how quick and easy it is to use:
I’ve seen a lot of weird videos on the internet over the years, but ‘iMac Believer’, a video tribute to Steve Jobs takes the cake. It’s probably the most bizarre video tribute I’ve ever seen.
Steve Jobs is the leading contender for Time‘s annual Person of the Year award, even though it’s not usually awarded to someone who is no longer alive.
“The smartphone has changed the world as much as the Bible has,” said celebrity chef Mario Batali, who was pro-Jobs at Time‘s annual POY panel debate in New York.
Apple has released an update for Java on Mac OS X 10.6 and 10.7 the updates are available now via Software Update on your Mac.
Check out all the exciting details about these updates after the break.
This is the Incase Origami Workstation ($30), a case for your Apple Wireless keyboard.
Yes, you read that right: this is not an iPad case. It’s a keyboard case. But it’s awesome. Here’s why.
According to a new report by Chitika Insights, nearly 40% of iPhones are currently running iOS 5. Apple released its latest mobile operating system to the public on October 12th, and users are continuing to install the new OS at a rapid pace.
Nearly one month has now passed since the release, and iOS 5 can be found on 38% of iPhones, 30% of iPads, and only 12% of iPod touch devices.
The Criterion Collection consists of the “important classic and contemporary films” from around the world. 46 of its films from throughout the years have been made available in iTunes for film aficionados to download.
The films in the collection are considered to be titles that have made a significant impact on the world of cinema. Many titles have been remastered and released in the highest quality possible for iTunes distribution.
Microsoft allegedly aborted a deal with a Swedish mobile blogger because he uses an iPhone.
Toni Johansson, at the helm of site winMobile.se, said that responding to an email with the “sent from my iPhone” signature cost him a funding deal from Microsoft. As a result, he’s closing the site.
We recently told you about the hidden panorama mode in the iOS 5 Camera app that could be enabled by editing a .plist file. Since then, a jailbreak tweak called “Firebreak” has been released that automatically enables the feature on any jailbroken iOS 5 device.
Panorama mode in the iOS Camera actually works, and you can get it on your own device right now without jailbreaking.
Pilots use them. Maintenance crews use them. Now you can rent an iPad to boost your entertainment options in flight.
The much-touted iPad entertainment system has finally take off at Jetstar, a subsidiary of Australian airlines Qantas. They will keep the minds of passengers off priority boarding irks and missed upgrades on a Nov. 9 flight from Melbourne to Auckland and will be on board for all flights over two hours.
Has your Mac’s MagSafe adapter been worn down to the wires? Apparently, many people have experienced problems with MagSafe power adapters damaging where the cord and connector meet. So much so, in fact, that Apple had to redesign the MagSafe adapters to the L-shaped ones we know and love today just to try to resolve the problem, but to no avail.
No worries, though. Apple has launched an official Adapter Replacement Program for customers with damaged cables and broken hearts. There are now steps in place for getting your MagSafe adapter replaced and your money refunded.
Apple has hidden a field test app in iOS, which will allow you to quickly check the quality of your cellular signal by simply dialing a special code on your iPhone.
The iPhone 4S’s mysterious battery drain issues under iOS 5 are notorious, and now Apple is seeding a beta version of iOS 5.0.1 to customers who have complained about battery life as part of its AppleSeed program.
In addition, Apple has also told its Genius Bar employees that any customers who come in reporting battery life issues should be told to wait patiently until iOS 5.0.1 is released in a “few weeks” if no hardware issues are found.
“A few weeks” sounds like an official iOS 5.0.1 release time table to me, but “suck it up and wait” is still pretty hard guidance to hear for the many people with new iPhones that bleed out their full charge every few hours.
If you’re still rocking the red panda as your default browser, great news. Following the new rapid release cycle that saw Firefox leap from version 4 to version 7 in just six months, Firefox has made another evolutionary leap today with the official release of Firefox 8.
An Australian retailer is playing a bit of ‘cat-and-mouse’ with Apple and a recent court ruling blocking sales of Samasung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1. Any hope of staying off Apple’s radar, however, vanished with a taunting online note and offshore servers melting under the crush of demand.
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs could get a little ticked-off when speaking about Android. At one point, Jobs told biographer Walter Isaacson: “I’m going to destroy Android, because it’s a stolen product. I’m willing to go thermonuclear war on this.” Well, Google certainly knows how to push Steve’s buttons. The latest example: Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of the Mountain View, Calif. company, says Android was way out ahead of the iPhone – sort of. Kind of. Well, pretty close, okay?
Infrared light. We can’t see it, but it surrounds us, permeating everything… especially our digital camera sensors, leading to images filled with off, unnatural colors.
With the iPhone 4S, Apple introduced an infrared filter to improve color quality in the images. But what are the practical effects of this filter? Much more accurate color and the elimination of the reddish tint that plagues so many iPhone photos.
If you’ve ever wanted to use Siri on your Mac, we’ve got the next best thing: how about using Siri on your iPhone 4S to pass along commands to your OS X desktop, launching apps just by giving your command out loud? Now you can, thanks to the latest update to the popular iTeleport VNC app.
A good report by Horace Dediu over at Asymco shows that about every quarter, about 56% of all new iPhones are replacing old models that have been discarded.
That’s interesting, but it doesn’t necessarily paint a good picture for AT&T, which seems to be growing new iPhone customers at a much slower rate than they once did.
Cue up the Norma Rae theme music. Apple is about to go up against the unions. Well, not quite. The tech giant is starting mandatory training for retail store managers that includes the “legal do’s and don’t of dealing with unions.” The training comes as Apple marks the 10th anniversary of its retail stores, now numbering 357 worldwide.
The new Doctor Who Encyclopedia for iOS claims to offer everything a Who fan might need to know about the three most recent incarnations of TV’s best-known time traveller. But this is one app that could do with a zap from a sonic screwdriver: although it’s stuffed full of facts, the presentation could be improved.