Archive for August, 2010

After iPad's appearance in late April many Apple's competitors decided to release their own tablets. Almost four months had passed since that moment and now we decided to study the market of iPad's rivals and write down every one that worth attention.

But before we start the list it is important to note that we chose the tablet devices that satisfied next criteria:

1. No physical keyboard;
2. Availability for purchase;
3. The screen must be at least 5''.

Let's go!

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Do you remember the robot called T-1000 Skynet made of liquid metal in the film Terminator 2? It seems that Steve Jobs decided to create devices of next generation using Liquidmetal Technologies, a California company from which Apple has recently acquired the exclusive rights for creation of liquid metal alloy products.

One of the best and most distinctive factors in all Apple products is how this company produces its own devices, the quality of production, as well as the materials used, which, undoubtedly, have first-class quality.

Now that Apple has the exclusive rights to create products of the liquid metal, we can assume that it has no plans to create a robot for the next Terminator movie, but probably will use it for such devices as iMac, iPad and iPhone of the next generation in order to be one step ahead of its competitors.

Coconut Island Studio has introduced a new game called Finger Balance. This application has taken the lead in many rankings and is now ready to please everyone. Finger Balance received the title of "New and interesting" and "What's New" in the world of Apple App Store. To celebrate the success of the application and show gratitude to all the users who appreciate it, Coconut Island Studio decided to present a free iPhone 4 and, as a bonus, give a classic game iDragPaper this weekend.

Everyone can take part in the raffle. To do this, just buy Finger Balance and pass levels 4-N, N 7-and 10-N. Then, at each level you will see a button. Click on it, enter your email address, confirm it, and you are registered in the raffle! Now Coconut Island Studio will give a winner 10 iTunes gift certificates at $ 15 each.

Raffle ends at midnight on August 22, 2010. The winners will be contacted by e-mail. So do not waste time, play!

New iPad TV commercial just launched by Apple introduce some 3rd party apps for iPad like Fruit Ninja HD, Twitter.com, Flipboard and others. The idea is obviously to show that iPad with apps from the App Store and Web can do nearly everything. Let's watch:

Chinese-language newspaper Economic Daily News reported Tuesday that Apple plans to launch a second-generation iPad with a 7-inch screen by Christmas of this year.. The report claimed that the original, 9.7-inch iPad is too big and heavy for many consumers, and the new model will cut weight down from 700 grams to 500 grams.

The newspaper suggested that the new iPad will have a Cortex-A9 processor and 7-inch LCD screen with resolution of 1,024-by-768 pixels.

On Monday, it was alleged that indications of a next-generation iPad are currently found within the source code of iOS 4. The relevant code allows devices carrying the designations of iPhone3,2, iPhone3,3, and iProd2,1 to “auto-activate”, a process said to allow carriers to test the devices without requiring manual activation through iTunes.

As you may know, iOS4 has new features that allow parents or even companies to limit an access to the system for their children or employees respectively.  Currently an access to Safari, YouTube, camera controls, location services and iTunes content including music, TV, movies, software and podcasts (that satisfy given rating threshold) may be blocked.

But the latest developer builds of iOS 4.1, which in turn must appear in a couple of months, include new restrictions related to the Game Center. The latter will allow players to find other players or teams for group play and track their game scores and in-game achievements, but new restrictions will make it possible for parents to prohibit their children from playing against any other user without supervision.

Screenshots that reveal these options are posted above.

A global supply manager for Apple  - the 37-year-old Paul Devine has worked for the company since 2005 -  was faced a civil suit from Apple, which alleges that he received more than $1 million bribes and payments for his assistance to six overseas suppliers. But on Monday he pleaded not guilty in a federal court.

Pegatron, the parent company of Kaedar Electronics, admitted Monday that it did pay brokerage commission to an intermediate trading company between 2005 and 2008. The incident occurred before Pegatron acquired Kaedar, which has supplied iPod packing boxes to Apple since 2005.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Pegatron said Kaedar's business arrangement with Apple was introduced by the same intermediary company that accepted the commission. A spokesperson said that no money was every paid to an individual.

A source has revealed code in iOS 4 showing that new iPhone and iPad models may be set to begin field testing. The relevant code allows devices carrying the designations of iPhone3,2, iPhone3,3, and iProd2,1 to "auto-activate", a process said to allow carriers to test the devices without requiring manual activation through iTunes.

Software evidence of Apple's future devices tends to appear rather early in the development process, as evidenced by iPhone3,1 appearing in iPhone OS configuration files in March 2009. That device turned out to be the iPhone 4, released 15 months later. Evidence of field testing of the iPhone 4 appeared by late November 2009, more than six months before its public launch. The fact that the new iPhone models carry the iPhone3,2 and iPhone3,3 designations rather than "iPhone4,1" suggests that the hardware is a relatively minor revision to the existing iPhone 4, although it is unclear why there are two new iPhone models in testing.

NearFieldCommunications World reports that Apple has recently hired Benjamin Vigier as its new product manager for mobile commerce. Vigier is described as an expert in near field communications (NFC) having been in the field since 2004. Apple also has published a number of patent applications related to NFC technology. That means, that Apple’s mobile devises can be used as an electronic wallet and payment system.

Near Field Communications is short range wireless communication technology (~4 inches) that is used in mobile phones for a variety of applications including mobile ticketing, mobile payments, interactive advertising and more. The same site had previously reported that Apple has had prototype devices already outfitted with the required radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips.

Vigier joined Apple in July 2010. And now he is a product manager for mobile commerce.

Now you can find a lot of accessories for iPhone 4, some of them offer high functionality, while others make it even more attractive! Most of you probably have already seen accessory Xtand for iPhone 3GS, 3G and iPod touch, which enjoys wide popularity. Its main advantage is that it allows you to turn your iPhone into "the smallest desktop in the world." Xtand accessory is fully compatible to work with iPhone 4, but most important is the fact that now everyone can make his or her favorite iPhone 4 in the “mini” iMac, to give it a presentable appearance. Do you still doubt? Then look at the image above.

Accessory Xtand is a perfect complement to the existing list of accessories for iPhone 4 and it is without a doubt, the best way to show off your iPhone 4 all around. It can be ordered from the Apple Store for $ 24.95.

Last week, SFWeekly has published reports about how the iPad is helping children of autism. The publication visited the family of Leo Rosa, a nine-year old that suffers from autism. Despite his limitations, Leo is learning to communicate better with his family thanks to a new iPad.

Since the iPad’s unveiling in April, autism experts and parents have brought it into countless homes and classrooms around the world. Developers have begun pumping out applications specifically designed for users with special needs. Through the devices, some of these children have been able to communicate their thoughts to adults for the first time. Others have learned life skills.

For Leo, the introduction of the iPad into the family home has been life-changing. Leo’s mother won the iPad in a school raffle for $5. She stated:“With the iPad, Leo electrifies the air around him with independence and daily new skills”.

New report published in the San Jose Mercury News reveals that recently Apple’s global supply manager Paul Shin Devine was accused by the US Internal Revenue Service and Federal Bureau of Investigation in a fraud scheme. It is claimed that Devine was using his security clearance to obtain confidential information about Apple’s upcoming products and provide it to the company’s suppliers. The latter then used the info to make favorable deals with Apple and after that paid Devine kickbacks. One of the suppliers was Andrew Ang from Singapore, who is also named in the indictment as an accomplice, as Devine was sharing his kickbacks with him.

To receive payments Devine held a series of accounts inside and outside the US. Payments were marked as “samples” so no attention was attracted. Bank accounts were registered under his and his wife’s names. It is reported that sometimes Devine received bribes on the meetings with suppliers in Asia.

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Here is the story of a 16-year-old boy whose name is Christian Owens. Being so young, he managed to make $1,000,000, following the steps of his mentor Steve Jobs who is Apple’s CEO.

Being an unusual boy, he achieved this result after 2 years of work in the Internet. Read how he did it: “The British teenager living in Corby, Northamptonshire got his first computer at 7. Three years later, he got a Mac and started studying the principles of web design. In 2008 when he was 14, he founded his first company. It was a simple website that some people may know: Mac Bundle Box. The website was pretty good and corresponded to the principles of design and style oа Apple.”

The website offered software at incredibly low prices, for example, an application that costs $ 400, here its price was just $ 50. This business has been developing and for the first two years of its work the website Mac Bundle Box has brought its owner $ 1,000,000. But he didn’t stop and created another 17 websites for the iPhone and Android applications, and new company called Branchr ...

Recently iStorytime has announced a new application for reading texts with children called Danny the Dragon. It's not the content of the selected stories, which we admire. This application for the iPhone and iPad devices is one of the first that includes video stories being read in a beautiful and understandable language.

Well, if you are waiting for something extraordinary or high tech, you have come to the wrong place. This application includes simple video narrations being read by the woman. Nevertheless, it is quite useful and necessary application for each family that has a child and has no time to go shopping in search of paper books.

As you may know, few days ago Apple had released a new version of iOS for all its mobile devices except first-generation iPhone and iPod touch, so owners of the latter are still not protected from a security flaw that allows hackers to obtain a remote control of their handsets. In fact, the latest compatible version for them is currently iOS 3.1.3.

But Saurik (who is known as a developer of Cydia) recently announced on the Dev-Team blog that he released a PDF patch that is compatible with any iOS version down to 2.x. It can be found in Cydia if you'll search for "PDF Patch". After installing it you can check if the patch is working properly with visiting jailbreakme.com page. After sliding the box to jailbreak you should only see the star background (and not a dialog box), which means you are no longer vulnerable.

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