We reach midweek with another round of Mac-related deals. First up is a number of bargains on Apple iPods, starting with a fourth-gen 8GB iPod nano for $99. We also check into a new batch of App Store freebies, including “BaseBrawl,” touted as a violent baseball game. The iTunes store has released another freebie: Juliet Venegas’ “Bien o Mal.”
Along the way, we check out some new apps for the iPad and iPhone, as well as some interesting hardware. Details on these and many other items are available at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.
The second-generation iPad may include a camera, an analyst told investors Wednesday. Omnivision, which makes sensors for digital cameras is “well-positioned” to be a supplier to Apple’s iPad, as well as the iPhone, according to J.P. Morgan analyst Paul Coster.
In a related note, RBC Capital analyst Mike Abramsky said Tuesday most consumers interested in buying an iPad are waiting until the second-generation tablet device is released before pulling the trigger and purchasing the gadget. Abramsky speculates 60 percent of interested consumers held back from the April 3 launch, perhaps explaining why analyst forecasts were far higher than the 300,000 sales Apple reported Monday. A second-generation iPad would likely address items such as a camera, Flash and USB ports missing from the first iPads released.
You won’t see this on the App Store anytime soon, since Nintendo would pretty much throw a conniption fit, but here’s Super Mario Kart running gorgeously on the iPad through the glories of emulation.
The emulator’s from ZodTTD, who has previously done iPhone’s SNES and N64 emulators. All we need to do now is just wait for the iPad jailbreak to mosey along and we’ll be racing Yoshi and fighting Gannon with the rest of the non-Apple tablet world.
The iPad, as we all know, does not have a camera. But one developer has come up with an ingenious way of getting round that minor inconvenience, and turning the iPad into a photography device.
As a Douglas Adams fan, I’ve always envisioned Apple, and not the great publishing companies of Ursa Minor, as the most likely creators of one of the most remarkable books in the universe, and I was hoping Gelaskins would already have a skin up transforming my iPad into the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by emblazoning it with the large and calming words: “DON’T PANIC.”
Unfortunately, they don’t, but in the meantime, I think this “Keep Calm and Carry On” skin might do the trick.
Check out Gelaskins for more ways to temporarily tattoo your tablet.
Apple is notorious about low-balling its revenue guidance, setting up Wall Street for numbers that blow the doors off resulting expectations; has it done something similar about its iPad sales figures for the opening day? While some analysts had egg on their face over exuberant sales predictions, one voice Monday raised some interesting questions about Apple’s announcement of 300,000 iPads sold April 3.
Wedge Partners analyst Brian Blair told investors Apple’s figure does not include any orders for 3G iPads ordered. Although orders are being accepted, the 3G units won’t be landing on consumers’ doorsteps until later this month.
Another curious omission: A week of pre-sales which happened after Apple announced online orders would be delivered April 12, rather than April 3.
Finally, Apple’s 300,000 number counts only Saturday. Although the Easter weekend closed some retailers, not every store was shuttered. Plus, what about Monday, when the U.S. retail engine returned to full power, Blair asked. The real figure for iPad sales to date is more like 600,000, the analyst said.
So, in effect, Apple’s 300,000 iPad sales figure marks a day when people are more interested in chocolate bunnies and travelling than standing in lines; the figure doesn’t include a week of online sales nor sales of 3G iPads. Did Apple’s publicity machine work too well and drive the hype so high that Cupertino had to find a way to lower expectations?
One of these days, some fraudulent soothsayer’s bound to be right, but until then, it’s just as much our obligation to report the rumors of an imminent MacBook refresh as it is yours to digest them with a nice, healthy lick of salt.
According to Taiwanese newspaper Apple Daily, a refresh of Apple’s MacBook, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models incorporating Intel’s new Core i3, i5 and i7 mobile processors is due later this month.
Other spec bumps include maximum hard drive configurations of 640GB and 8-hour battery life expectations across the board.
One of the most exciting things about Apple’s overall shift to touchscreen technology in the last few years is that it allows the iPhone and the iPad to replace much more expensive custom solutions for niche markets. Contrary to what you might have heard, these are actually democratizing forces.
Robert Rummel-Hudson is semi-famous on the Internet as the father of Schuyler, a girl born with BPP, a rare brain malformity that can cause all kinds of developmental problems. For Schuyler, most of the impact has been on her speech — she really can’t. She can, however, use a touchscreen device to select from lists of words to talk for her, what’s known as augmentive/alternative communication.
These devices are amazing — and very expensive. Under the hood, they’re basically like an iPad but with a lot less horsepower. And, crucially, only children with disabilities carry them. Imagine replacing a medical or therapeutic device with the coolest gadget on the planet — at a lower price. If these many custom hardware solutions are replaced by apps, children like Schuyler won’t be regarded as weird, they’ll be regarded as cool. Rob is calling on PRC, the developer of Unity, the program she uses to communicate, to make a high-priced but life-changing app for iPad. We second that request.
Andrea Nepori, head honcho at Italian-based TheAppleLounge.com, has alerted us to the fact that maybe Steve Jobs doesn’t have anything to wear.
Check out the worn-out pants and forlorn sneakers in the photo of Jobs, left, at Apple’s Stockton Street Palo Alto store in San Francisco on the iPad’s launch day; now sadly note the same fashion choices in the photo on the right, of El Jobso and Google CEO Eric Schmidt kicking back in Palo Alto, taken a week earlier.
So buy an iPad, and maybe Jobs can afford to pop for some new togs. Seriously, before The Gap starts marketing a replica version of his jeans called the iHole. Because we all know where his critics would take that one.
[Thanks to Andrea Nepori for the photo-illustration.]
