In March Chris Pirillo showed us what happens when you put Windows 8 in the hands of someone who lacks a lot of computer savvy. Windows 8 utterly defeated his dad. Now that Windows 8 is close to launch, Pirillo hit the streets to see how other people respond to Microsoft’s new operating system, and the results weren’t pretty.
People were mystified by the new interface and said they’d need some training on how to use it, which is never what you want from your computer, you just want it to work.
By the time the new iPad Mini is announced next week I’m sure someone is going to be able to almost assemble a complete model with leaked components and supplier parts, just like they did with the iPhone 5. The latest leak to hit the Internet claims to show the screen that will be used for the iPad Mini.
Some assumed that the iPad Mini would take after the iPhone 5 and use a 16:9 ratio, but the leaked iPad Mini LCD has a 4:3 ratio and is running on a 16.7Whr battery. Here’s a peak at the screen:
Each time Apple’s made a significant update to a device this year it’s received a significantly larger screen size or resolution. First the iPad came out with a Retina display along with the MacBook Pro, and now the iPhone 5 has a bigger display as well.
That’s great for your eyeballs, but it also means that the average size of apps is growing too, which may end up costing you more in data fees in the long run.
To vastly simplify matters, every LCD screen is made up of a bunch of pixels connected to each other with a mesh of tiny little wires. These pixels don’t actually emit light themselves, but simply regulate the color of the light being displayed in that pixel. Behind this mesh is a lamp, and before a pixel can light up on your screen, the light from this lamp needs to shine through this mesh of wires. Because this mesh is so densely packed, though, the lamp needs to shine very, very brightly to get through… and the brighter an LED light shines, the more power it soaks up.
This is why the new iPad needs such a massive battery. The Retina display has over 3 million pixels in in a tiny area, which means the mesh behind the display is even thicker and more densely packed. To compensate, Apple needs to use a very bright light to shine through this extremely dense mesh, which results in worse battery performance over all.
What if there was a way to make the mesh of wires behind every pixel a lot less dense? That’s the idea behind Sharp’s IGZO technology, and the reason why we’ve been excited about it finally coming to Apple products since at least the beginning of the year. Now it looks possible that, with the iPad mini, we could finally get our wish, as Sharp is now announcing that their IGZO tech comes in 7-inch varieties… and they are releasing a tablet to prove it.
Plain text geeks, prepare for nerdgasm: Jesse Grosjean’s Folding Text app is out of beta and in the Mac App Store. Folding Text, as you may remember, is a Markdown-compatible plain text editor with special superpowers.
The violent driving sensation that is Carmageddon makes its debut on iOS today, 15 years after it was first released — and subsequently banned for its twisted mix of automotive killing machines — on Mac and PC. It’s available to download right away from the App Store, and it’s free for today only — so grab it quick.
Invites to Apple’s iPad mini announcement went out yesterday, so it’s time speculation turned its focus to when the much-anticipated device will actually go on sale. One source claims that you’ll be able to pick it up in shops on November 2, with pre-orders starting a week earlier — on October 26 — via the Apple Online Store.
Sega has turned its hand to vertical jumping games with a brand new title called Sonic Jump that’s coming to the App Store tomorrow. The title looks a lot like Doodle Jump, only it features Sega’s beloved blue hedgehog instead, and rather than being just an endless jumper, you’ll have to beat new and familiar stages in pursuit of the infamous Dr. Eggman.
IMore’s Apple supremo Rene Ritchie has rustled up this rather stunning wallpaper featuring the artwork for Apple’s just-announced iPad mini event. And not only is it rendered text-free for distraction-free backdropping purposes, but it’s retina-ized for your hi-res iPad pleasure.
Just Mobile is one of my favorite third-party accessory makers for Apple products. They make beautifully minimal stands, chargers, styluses, and other random accessories for iPhone, iPad and Mac. What makes Just Mobile’s stuff great is that most of their products look like they were designed by Apple itself, and that’s no exaggeration—just take a look at their catalog. It’s all great.
A couple of the newest products to be announced by Just Mobile include the AluBase and AluRack MacBook mounts.