News from category ‘Software’

Hugh Hefner, Playboy founder, announced on Twitter today that the full catalog of Playboy Magazine, from its very first issue in 1953 to its latest one, is coming to the iPad this March. Moreover it will be uncensored. The magazine delivery may be related to Apple's recent plans to open up subscription billing for magazine and newspaper content. Such debut also may mean that Apple has relaxed or removed their current restriction against nudity. Though, it’s doubtful that Apple allows mature content to overflow App Store. The company is likely to be testing a new section. There are no further details on the iPad version of the magazine.

Here is a quick iPhone 4 speed test. Guess which network is faster?

We have written about many new features of iOS 4.3 for iPhone and iPad. Below is a quick video walkthrough, where engadget specialist shows main iOS 4.3 news. Let's watch:

Some rumors claim that Apple is working to merge its iTunes application into its Safari browser later this year. As a result the company will create a single application for browsing web and media content. The move to merge Safari and iTunes into one software solution appears long in the works, which may arrive this fall at Apple's usual iPod special event. Оne reason for the push is to boost Safari's market share among Internet browsers, where Apple has yet to crack the 5% mark. Perhaps, Safari will be the only browser able to access iTunes, as iTunes is built into the browser itself. "Moving iTunes organizational side-bar into Safari isn't a monumental task" claimed a source, adding "Safari would skyrocket in use as a result of integrating the software titles together."

Google the new version of application called Google Places. It lets iPhones and iPads users to look for new places and review visited ones.

Google Places allows to look for locations and places nearby and mark visited places by posting individual ratings and reviews. There are default lists of places located nearby, but there is an option to customize this list by adding favorite places found with the help of Google Places. Google Places also provides “Hotspot” rating and review system in order to give an opportunity to rate favorite shop, restaurant or a night club via an iPhone.

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Research firm Asymco has published a new report that details the average number of apps that have been downloaded on every iOS device, including iPhone, iPod touch and iPad — but not the Apple TV. Asymco noticed that app downloads have been growing at a faster rate than song downloads from the iTunes Store in the past three years. By dividing the cumulative apps downloaded by the cumulative devices sold, Asymco noted each iOS device has downloaded 60 apps on average. In 2008, the apps were 10. At the end of his report, Asymco also concludes app consumption is increasing at a rate that will soon overtake PC software.

There's been a lot of talk about a "Retina" display for the next generation iPad. Based on Apple's marketing efforts for the original "Retina" display, it would suggest a DPI (dots per inch) greater than 300 to exceed the abilities of the human eye. Images accidentally left in iBooks 1.1 and 1.2 reveal that the iPad 2's resolution is likely double that of the current model. As shown above, the App's bookmark icon included versions for the iPad, the iPhone and the iPhone Retina Display (iPhonex2). It, however, also included one additional version labeled "iPadx2". Sure enough, this is exactly double the resolution version of the iPad icon and is distinct from the other versions. The most likely explanation for this added graphic is plans for a double-resolution iPad. Apple has since removed this extra artwork in subsequent versions of iBooks. The current iPad uses a 1024x768 resolution. Doubling this resolution would result in a 2048x1536 resolution at a 260 DPI.

On November 16, 2010 The Beatles came to iTunes. Two weeks after the initial release, Apple announced 2 million songs had been sold.  And recently Apple has informed The Loop that the iTunes Store exceeded 5 millions of Beatles songs and 1 million Beatles albums sold worldwide. "Abbey Road" is the current best-selling Beatles album in the U.S., while "Here Comes the Sun" is the currently best-selling Beatles song. The Beatles reportedly earn between 18 to 22.5 cents per track sold on iTunes. With five million individual tracks sold so far, that equates to a cool $900,000 to $1.125 million profit for The Beatles for just seven weeks of sales.

Jonny Evans from ComputerWorld has recently published another article where he suggests what features can reveal iOS 4.3 about the forthcoming Mac OS X Lion. We gained all his ideas into this short list:

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The iPhone Dev-Team has announced via Twitter that they will release new unlock only after release of iOS 4.2.5 or 4.3. It is a little bit surprising and of course disappointing for many but overall in the best interests of the community.

The statement claims: “Official iPhone unlock statement: no unlock will be released until after 4.2.5 or official 4.3 (whichever is last) is out.”

All those Apple products’ users who can’t imagine their lives without usage of such devices as iPad and iPhone and enjoy reading get a unique opportunity to gain an access to the rarest world’s books and masterpieces of literature thanks to the newest application “Treasures” which appeared due to the collaboration of the British Library and Apple developers.

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At the latest CES, InteraXon (a Canadian company) has announced and demonstrated a headset that can connect to iPhones and iPads and allows you to control apps and games with your mind. Technically, this custom EEG headset pairs with a thought-controlling framework that has been added to the popular iPad game Zen Bound 2 game, letting users control the wooden shapes on screen with their brainwaves. Now the real question is: are you willing to put a headset on to control stuff with your brain? Doesn’t it look a little bit, well, weird?

New driver has been found in the first beta SDK for iOS 4.3, which allows system to support Imagination Technologies' POWERVR SGX543 GPU. All the iOS devices starting from iPhone 3GS sport POWERVR SGX535 graphics processor that appears to be a predecessor of SGX543.

POWERVR SGX543 was introduced in January 2009 and only now has reached mobile devices. The benefits of the SGX543 were described by MacRumors:

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Yesterday Apple launched a new 10 Billion App Countdown promotion to celebrate the upcoming milestone. Nearly 10 billion apps have been downloaded from the App Store, which was launched in 2008. In January 2010, App Store downloads topped 3 billion; during Summer 2010, Apple reached the 5 billion milestone. Now, it’s time to get to the 10 billion figure. Apple will award the user who downloads the 10 billionth app a $10,000 iTunes gift card which is also valid for the Mac App Store. As noted in the official rules for the contest, users can make up to 25 contest entries per day; entrants have to be at least 13 years of age and resident in a country where the App Store is available.

This Friday Dutch website called deVolkskrant published a report, where it was revealed that Apple will soon bring in new rules for publishers. According to it they won't be able to offer free access via iPad for their paid print subscribers anymore. The changes will be made because in this way publishers currently avoid to pay Apple a 30% cut for an access through its device.

Another Dutch site nrc.nl also revealed the date when all the new restrictions will take effect - it will be after April 1.

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