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News tagged ‘Keyboard’
Suppliers gearing up for Apple's launch of new MacBook Air models
MacBook Air lineup was last updated in July of 2011, when Apple added high-speed Thunderbolt ports and backlit keyboards to both the 11.6- and 13.3-inch models, and now sources from Apple's supply chain are waiting for the refreshed notebooks.
The anticipated MacBook Air update was mentioned on Tuesday by DigiTimes, which said that assembler Quanta Computer is expected to see its revenues grow thanks to the new product launch. It was said that Apple is "set to launch a new MacBook Air model," but a specific timeline for its release was not given.
iOS Accessories At CES 2012: Wireless HDMI, Multi-docks, iNotebook, Kiosk
There are tons of accessories showed off at CES 2012, many of which were designed for iOS devices. Among the most interesting are multi-docs which offer various ways of charging several iOS devices simultaneously.
Apple is working on Siri Dictation for the iPad, iOS 5.1 beta reveals
9to5Mac has reported a couple of hours ago that has discovered something potentially major: Siri Dictation references inside the iOS 5.1 beta 3 released today. Sonny Dickson (9to5Mac’s tipster) was looking through the iOS 5.1 beta 3 settings application on the iPad and discovered a new section in the keyboard menu called “About Privacy and Dictation.” When he opened it, as shown above, the iPad provides the user with the standard legal literature and feature information for Siri Dictation.
Dictation is not actually functional on the iPad 2 running iOS 5.1 beta 3, so perhaps this will be an iOS 5.1 launch feature for the iPad, or it may be an iPad 3-exclusive feature; a similar process to the iPhone 4S exclusively gaining Siri and Siri Dictation support in iOS 5.0. We’re also hearing this link/document is also appearing on retina iPod touches as well.
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60beat Offers Dual Analog Joystic GamePad For iOS Devices
There have been a few attempts at releasing a physical game contrloller for Apple’s smartphone. has apparently been the most successful among them.
This is What a 7.85-Inch iPad May Look and Feel Like
The recent rumors claim that Apple may launch a smaller 7.85" iPad sometime in 2012 to compete against the new 7" Kindle Fire tablet from Amazon. Though Apple has never tried to compete spec for spec against their competitors. For example, the iPhone has kept the same basic form factor across 5 different generations.
The supply chain has actually been very specific about the screen size of this rumored iPad. According to Chinese manufacturers, Apple is buying up 7.85" screens for this upcoming mini iPad. So, we asked our friends at CiccareseDesign to put together these mockups of what a 7.85" iPad would look like in comparison to the existing 9.7" iPad.
The 7.85" iPad is actually a lot smaller than the existing iPad. Icons are smaller than the 9.7" iPad, of course, but still bigger than the icons found on the iPhone. The on screen keyboard also seems quite usable at this size.
Apple Planning to Add Bluetooth Support for AirPlay
According to Japanese blog Macotakara, Apple held a MFI Conference for iPod / iPhone / iPad for accessory manufacturers in Shenzen, China this past week. During the conference Apple reported that the company was going to introduce a new chip for MFI program ("MFI" means Apple's Made iPod / iPhone / iPad certification program) in order to encourage manufactures to produce more iOS-compatible accessories. The rumored chip will provide access to devices running iOS via AirPlay, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. The current program for iOS devices is limited to physical dock accessories.
TouchArcade has confirmed these rumors by its recent article telling us about iOS gaming accessories. TouchArcade explains that the reason why all the current gaming accessories rely on Bluetooth keyboard emulation is due to the restrictions Apple has placed over bluetooth connections and with the new chip such restrictions seems to be loosed opening the way to analog control sticks for iOS devices.
Moreover, Apple has recently revealed that the company would be adding support for AirPlay over Bluetooth. It is unclear what advantages this will offer.
1,000 workers strike at Apple keyboard supplier over long hours
1,000 workers at a factory in southern China that provides IBM and Apple with components, including keyboards, went on strike this week complaining of overtime requirements. The employees blocked the local highway during the strike to attract public attention to nightly overtime demands, common workplace injuries, layoffs of older workers, lack of benefits and verbal abuse by managers. The strike was halted after the company officials agreed to reduce overtime at the plant.
In a statement regarding the issue, the rights group called on Apple to "take responsibility, as there are more than 300 workers working on the Apple keyboard assembly line."
Nuance Releases Voice Recognition App Dragon Express On Mac App Store
Nuance has a new Dragon dictation app called in Mac App Store. This is a cheaper (introductory price $49), scaled-back version of Nuance’s program. The new version can be accessed from the Lion’s menubar and will not require a network connection. You can open the Dragon Express window with a mouse click or keyboard shortcut and instantly begin dictate into the window via USB headset microphone or internal Mac microphone. The transcribed text will immediately appear in the dictate window and from there you can copy, email the text, start a web search with it or share it with your social networking contacts.
Apple Pushed Implementation Of Sandboxing Requirement In Mac App Store To March
Among the user-interface changes in OS X 10.7 (Lion), Apple also included a number of changes in the security model that may affect customers of Mac App Store in the near future. One of them is a sandboxing system which can prevent third-party apps from causing damage.
iPhone 4S First Impressions Focus on Speed Improvements
Yesterday during the expected media event Apple announced the new iPhone 4S, an upgrade to the existing iPhone 4 with improved A5 processor, new 8 MP camera with better optics, faster download speed on 3G, Bluetooth 4.0, and more. Media members who attended Apple's iPhone 4S event had the opportunity to spend some time with the new hardware following the presentation, and immediately started posting their first impressions about the iPhone 4S.
Engadget highlights the improved internal specifications of the new iPhone 4S, noting that it is faster than the previous model, with faster navigating between pages and opening the camera application. Engadget was also able to test the new voice assistant, Siri:
The most impressive part was the demo of Siri, the new assistant that lets you do just about anything you can do on your phone — but with your voice. We tried to psych it out with a bunch of random requests... Siri never faltered, never missed a beat… There’s nothing better to say than that. We even sent ourselves a few text messages, which Siri transcribed to a T. Of course, the lady on the other end still sounds eerily robotic, but we’re hoping for smoother responses from the alien within in a future update.
Jim Dalrymple at The Loop covers the differences in antenna design:
The current model has three bands — one on each side on the bottom, and one on the top. The iPhone 4S has four bands — two on the top and two on the bottom. The bands are where Apple houses the antennas for the device. The Wi-Fi, wireless and Bluetooth technologies use these areas. It’s not clear at this point if Apple moved any antennas or what they added the extra band.
Apple's 'Let's Talk iPhone' Keynote Live Blog!
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Apple’s New Patent Describes 3D Display & Imaging System
As Patently Apple , US Patent and Trademark Office published a patent granted to Apple, which covers 3D display and imaging technologies. This invention could lead to Kinect-like navigation by manipulating holographic images and performing gestures within a virtual 3D system.
Mobee’s Accessory Turns Magic Trackpad Into A Full-featured Numpad
Magic Numpad is an original invention from Mobee and it represents an accessory that can transform your Magic Trackpad into a full-featured numpad by using a thin plastic film with a printed numpad. This numpad is very similar to the numeric keypad of the wired Apple Keyboard. Certainly, this accessory shipped with accompanying app for Mac OS X that determine where you pressed the trackpad and converts your input into key commands of Mac OS X.
LiquidKeyboard Can Improve Typing Experience On Tablets
As it is known typing on an iPad is not as comfortable as on traditional keyboards. However, in time frustrations goes away as users adapt to new way of typing. If you were to work with iPad’s onscreen keyboard like with traditional keyboard, you would definitely make accidental key presses. This considerable lowers the speed of typing, so users have to not rest their fingers on keys.
Apple Releases iTunes 10.4.1 with Assorted Bug Fixes
Yesterday Apple released iTunes 10.4.1 with bugs fixed, including media keys on third-party keyboards, artwork addition, movie purchasing, responsiveness, and VoiceOver.
iTunes 10.4.1 provides a number of improvements, including:
- Fixes a problem where the media keys on some third-party keyboards work inconsistently with iTunes
- Addresses issues with adding artwork to songs and videos
- Resolves an issue which may cause iTunes to become unresponsive when purchasing an HD movie
- Fixes a problem where iTunes may take longer than expected to open after waking your Mac from sleep
- Addresses issues with VoiceOver support