Google’s new Chromebook? We called it the MacBook Welfare, but Forrester CEO George Colony has another term for it: “corporate idiocy.” Why? Because with iOS, Apple saw the future of computing, and that future’s not the web… it’s the app.
In the halls of power, you’re more likely to see an iPad or an iPhone, as U.S. federal agencies toss BlackBerries aside for Apple technology. Could President Obama get an iPhone next?
This morning’s press release from Apple clearly outlining the topics Steve Jobs would be covering in next week’s WWDC keynote make it crystal clear that the next iPhone is not officially on the conference’s agenda for the first time in three years. Instead, WWDC will focus on software: iOS, Lion and iCloud.
But could there be a “one more thing?” And could it be the iPhone 4S? That’s what a new rumor is suggesting… but take it with a grain of salt.
Where will you get the fastest streaming speeds once iCloud launches? Most likely at the new retail location Apple is opening up a stone’s throw from its North Carolina data super center.
Apple’s announcement that iCloud should appear June 6 couldn’t be better timed. Owners of iOS devices are heavy music and video users, streaming more media than Android or any mobile operating system… and with iCloud’s debut, it’s only going to get more lopsided.
At the University of Iowa, school administrators want students and visitors to quickly and easily learn what’s happening, get around and find campus resources. Their new iPhone app is a notable step towards that goal, including addressing that most pressing of all questions: is my laundry done yet?
With a number of applications running in the background while we’re hard at work, desperately vying for your attention, it’s easy to get distracted when one of them catches your eye. A solution to this problem is OmmWriter – an award-winning application that helps you block out the distractions that surround you at your desk and enables you to focus on your writing. The team behind this magnificent word processor have now brought OmmWriter to the iPad.
A new jailbreak tweak making its way into Cydia will enable users to delete home screen folders – and return all of the applications within them to the home screen – with a single tap.
Apple has launched a new replacement program for customers with white MacBooks who have seen their rubber base separate itself from the plastic casing and leave their notebooks with an exposed undercarriage.
A refresh to the MacBook Air lineup appears to be imminent this week as retail sources worldwide report that supplies and shipments of Apple’s ultraportable notebook are beginning to diminish.
Check out this Kickstarter project — it’s a really smart clear polycarbonate iPad 2 case (called the iLoqk — hey, we’ve heard worse) that comes with a removable clamp that doubles as a tripod mount, which is yours for a pledge of $40. An extra $20 will bag you the XShot, an extending arm that attaches to the tripod mount and comes with a wireless shutter release for the iPad’s camera. It’s a pretty nifty idea, and seems like it’d helpful in all sorts of situations.
“If something ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is a phrase Etymotic must have taken extremely seriously, judging by a look at their now-mythic, $99 ER-6i. The set has been around since their release in 2004, after which they quickly became the standard against which all other sub-$100 IEMs were tested. But seven years is an eon for a product to have remained essentially unchanged in the gadget world. Are they still as good now as they were then?
Illusion Labs – the team behind the hugely successful Touchgrind skateboarding game – have taken everything that made their first hit such a success and used it to create Touchgrind BMX. Put the skateboard to one side and become a BMX pro – performing spectacular tricks in beautifully crafted locations all over the world.
The Heist is currently famous for its overwhelming popularity that has helped it knock Angry Birds off the top spot of the App Store’s paid chart. Featuring a collection of mind-bending puzzles that you must solve in order to get your hands on the valuable prize inside the vault.
Siege Hero boasts gameplay similar to Angry Birds, in that you must destroy a group of enemies protected by glass, rocks and timber. However, instead of taking aim at a group of ugly pigs, vikings are your enemies, and rocks replace the birds as your ammo.
Find out more about the games above and check out the rest of the week’s must-haves – including Back to the Future: Episode 3 and To-Fu: The Trials of Chi – below!
We knew this was going to happen. Stung by a judge’s recent decision to allow Apple to look through Samsung’s upcoming phones to look for IP violations, Samsung has just asked a judge in their own patent infringement case against Apple to make Cupertino fork over the prototypes of the iPhone 5 and iPad 3.
Already famous for its excellent Pro Messenger IM application, eBuddy has taken real-time messaging to the next level with eBuddy XMS – a free, real-time messenger that enabled you to chat with text, pictures, emoticons and more. It features a highly-polished user interface and an experience guaranteed to give apps like WhatsApp and PingChat! some real competition.
In addition to the recent launch of ‘Apple Store 2.0′, the Apple Store application for iPhone also got a much-needed revamp. The latest version of the app works internationally and boasts some great new features.
Opera Mini has been the iPhone browser of choice for many since it launched, promising to be the fastest, most cost-efficient web-browsing experience for your iOS device today. Its recent update made it a universal application delivering all its Opera goodness to the iPad, which impressed Cult of Mac’s Giles Turnball in his recent review.
Find out more about the applications above and check out the rest of this week’s must-haves – including Contacts Journal and Aelios Weather – below!
While the iPad’s onscreen virtual keyboard is nice, it still doesn’t compare with a physical keyboard in usability. Fortunately, Apple includes some relatively hidden features which can greatly improve typing speed as well as usability on the iPad’s keyboard. In this video you’ll find out how to enable these features and use them to their full potential.
Seems like just yesterday that the Swoosh introduced its Nike+ iPod kit to the delight of iPod-toting runners everywhere. It wasn’t yesterday though, it was five years ago (and one week). To celebrate, Nike has been giving away free copies of its Nike+ app (regularly $2) at the App Store. The app uses the iPhone’s GPS and MotionX technology — the same tech found in Jawbone’s stunning new Era Bluetooth headset, btw — to track your run (the GPS works well outdoors, the MotionX tech takes over where GPS signals are weak). And then there’re all the great motivational features and post-run sharing options.
Better make a dash if you want a copy, though — it’ll probably revert back to $2 soon.
With the Arab Spring turning everyday citizens with cell phones into witnesses — sometimes the only witnesses — on tumultuous events, the time for the citizen journalism app has definitely arrived.
There are currently dozens of apps in iTunes available for people to submit news tips; some simply offer a way for people to send in local story ideas, others target specific networks and users can send pics and video directly to newsrooms.
Most are free — which speaks to how badly news organizations want no-cost, on-the-ground global coverage.
Like the brilliant Insight we reviewed a month or so ago, Belkin’s Conserve Valet comes form their new line of green-angled tools created with the idea of saving energy. Unlike the Insight, the Valet — a $40, four-port USB hub designed around the idea of smart organization and energy conservation — isn’t as well executed, and not nearly as effective.