Thanks to the inclusion of WebSocket support for the iPad’s Safari browser in iOS 4.2, the doorway for collaboration through the web between the iPad and assorted devices has been flung open.

One of the first apps to take advantage of the iPad’s new trick is $10 SyncPad, which presents users with a faux whiteboard to scrawl notes on, then lets other users of the app scribble on that same whiteboard over the Internet, with the results showing up in realtime (well, almost — the developer, Davide Di Cillo of development company 39 Inc., told us it updates a little slowly, but that the problem’s been fixed in the latest update, which is waiting for Apple’s approval).

There’s no limit to the amount of collaborators, although each has to have (of course) the app and an Internet connection; the iPad-less can view the whiteboard through a web browser for free, but have to make do without being able to add input for the time being — although Di Cillo says they’re working on a fee-based version that’ll allow collaboration via a browser as well. There’s also a view-only free version of the app for the iPad.

What will the CPU of your next MacBook look like? Well, it’ll almost definitely be one of Intel’s Sandy Bridge microprocessors, and if you want to see the future, you should peer into the entrails of the latest Windows notebooks.

Apple’s iPad is the first generation of what I hope will be a long line of magical tablets. Unfortunately,  it has one minor problem that will be more evident now that iOS 4.2.1 has been released.

That problem will be the made evident by the over zealous use of multitasking on a device that only has 256MB of memory in which to run applications. The iPhone 4 twice that or 512MB.  Users won’t be able to help themselves because multitasking is just to valuable to ignore or give up.

So the problem of having less memory to run apps will be frequent warnings that “your device is running low on memory. ” I’ve seen it happen to others and the image above is my own personal encounter with the problem. Apple had given the iPhone 4 pretty liberal amounts of application RAM, so I was  a bit taken aback that the iPad didn’t have at least 512MB to 1GB of RAM when it was released.

Fortunately, the work around is easy.

Apple notebooks continue to meteorically rise in popularity: according to component makers, Apple will soon be shipping over a million units per month, with MacBook Air orders already accounting for almost 25 percent of the volume.

Says Digitimes:

The sources cited IDC’s figures and pointed out that Apple’s combined shipments for the first three quarters of 2010 reached about 6.88 million units, and its global notebook market share rose from 3.7% in the first quarter to 5.2% in the third, while its market share in the US market surged from 6.7% to 12.6%.

The MacBook’s only going to get bigger from here.

[via 9to5Mac]

Apple’s second-gen iPad 2 is most likely coming down the pipeline in April, and now a Digitimes is reporting what to

FaceTime’s a given, of course. “Better mobility” probably just means a thinner design, which might be a touch trick, given the addition of at least one camera: it could also mean that a 7-inch model is forthcoming, but given how dismissive Steve Jobs was of the form factor, I don’t consider that likely.

The 3-Axis gyroscope is a pretty obvious new addition, given its presence in the iPhone 4. I don’t think a USB port is likely at all. As for a new display, I’m skeptical that Apple can afford a 9.7 inch retina display at the iPad’s current price, but perhaps we’ll be surprised.

For more thoughts on the report, check out Computerworld’s excellent analysis.

Better iBooks management is on the horizon, according to 9to5Mac, who say that both folders (similar to the way folders work on the iOS homescreen) and “Collections” will be coming to iBooks soon, as well as printing PDFs via AirPrint.

The Black Friday weekend means sales and discounts galore, and iOS developers are offering some crazy reductions on the some of the App Store’s best downloads.

We’ve compiled a list of some of the greatest apps on sale, such as Readdle’s Printer Pro & PDF Expert; the Quickoffice Mobile suites, AutoStitch Panorama, and many, many more.

Check out our extensive list of apps on sale after the break, and grab yourself a bargain for your iPad, iPhone & iPod Touch.

The Black Friday weekend means sales and discounts galore, and iOS developers are offering some crazy reductions on the some of the App Store’s best downloads.

We’ve compiled a list of some of the greatest games on sale, such as EA’s NCAA Football, Need for Speed & Madden NFL; and Gameloft’s Shrek Kart HD, Hero of Sparta 2 & Let’s Golf 2 HD.

Check out our extensive list of games on sale after the break, and grab yourself a bargain for your iPad, iPhone & iPod Touch.

Irritated as much as we are by Apple changing the orientation lock switch on the iPad to a mute switch in iOS 4.2? Jailbreak your tablet and install NoMute through the BigBoss repository on Cydia and make everything all right again.

Seriously, a mute switch, Apple? The iPad’s not a phone. Jeez.

What’s a holiday season without kids? (Quiet, for one thing). We’ve put together a mini list just for the mini ‘uns, to help keep them happy, and you sane.