judgecorp writes “Steady progress on inductive wireless charging. There are now certified prototypes of chargers for Blackberry and iPhone devices that meet the Qi specification of the Wireless Power Consortium, which was announced last year. The spec has advanced from version 0.95 to 1.0, too.”
Hugh Pickens writes “Ryan Lawler writes on GigaOm that although many have touted the availability of Flash on Android devices as a competitive advantage over Apple’s mobile devices, while trying to watch videos from ABC.com, Fox.com and Metacafe using Flash 10.1 on a Nexus One over a local Wi-Fi network connected to a 25-Mbps Verizon FiOS broadband connection, mobile expert Kevin Tofel found that videos were slow to load, if they loaded at all, leading to an overall very inconsistent experience while using his Android device for video. “While in theory Flash video might be a competitive advantage for Android users, in practice it’s difficult to imagine anyone actually trying to watch non-optimized web video on an Android handset,” writes Lawler. “All of which makes one believe that maybe Steve Jobs was right to eschew Flash in lieu of HTML5 on the iPhone and iPad.”"
Twitter has finally released the Universal version of their application, which is designed for both the iPhone and iPad.
If you like Twitter for iPhone, you should definitely checkout Twitter for iPad, it comes with an amazing user interface.
Until now, Twitter’s application was designed only for the iPhone and iPad users had to use the iPhone app using the pixel-doubling feature or other third party Twitter apps for iPad.
Twitter has announced the launch of their iPad app on their blog:
Today we are bringing Tweets to a device that really lets content shine – the iPad. Twitter for iPad takes advantage of the iPad’s fluid touch interface, letting you move lots of information around smoothly and quickly – without needing to open and close windows or click buttons. There are a few things we want to point out that make this app a really fast and fun way to read real-time content.
The coolest feature of the Twitter app for iPad is the implementation of the Panes feature and the multitouch gestures.
What Twitter has done is create an amazing user experience for reading information. This is thanks to an intuitive user interface that layers on top of itself. So, for example, if I click on a link in my tweet stream, I’ll have a new layer that rolls over to show that webpage in a customized browser window. If you’ve used Flipboard, it’s somewhat similar, but better because it’s much easier to go back to where ever you previously were before you clicked the link. You simply swipe something to the side to move it temporarily or swipe it again to get it off the screen (in portrait mode anyway, where there’s less space).
You can use the following gestures in Twitter for iPad:
You can pinch on a Tweet to quickly view details about the author and to take actions on a Tweet, such as reply or retweet.
Put two fingers together and pull down on a Tweet to peek at the replies, showing the entire conversation leading to that Tweet.
Here are some screenshots of the iPad app:
You can checkout the demo video of Twitter’s impressive iPad app:
If you’ve not already downloaded it, you can use this iTunes link to download it from the App Store.
Please let us know your thoughts on Twitter’s iPad app in the comments section below.
Steve Jobs unveiled the fourth generation iPod Touch at today’s special event.
The new iPod Touch comes with a Retina Display, front facing camera, rear camera, and A4 processor just like iPhone 4.
The front facing camera brings Apple’s FaceTime video calling feature to the iPod Touch. iPod Touch users will be able to make FaceTime calls with other iPod Touch users, as we well as iPhone 4 users.
Here are some of the major features of the iPod Touch 4:
FaceTime: FaceTime on iPod touch will allow users to make video calls to new iPod touch users or iPhone 4 user over Wi-Fi.
Retina Display: The new iPod Touch gets iPhone 4’s Retina display, which has been one of the most popular features of the new iPhone. The resolution of the new iPod Touch is four times the pixel count of previous iPod Touch models. It’s a gorgeous screen.
HD Video Recording and Editing: You can now do HD video recording and editing on the new iPod Touch thanks to its new rear facing camera. However, you can take still photos of only one megapixel with the rear camera unlike iPhone 4’s 5MP rear camera. It looks like Apple had to go for the lower resolution camera to fit it into the new iPod Touch, which is thinner than iPhone 4. Steve Jobs has also mentioned that the iMovie app is compatible with the new iPod Touch.
A4 processor: The A4 processor is powering the new iPod Touch, which is very powerful and power-efficient mobile processor.
Gyroscope: It now includes a built-in three-axis gyroscope. When paired with the accelerometer, the gyroscope makes iPod touch capable of advanced motion sensing such as user acceleration, full 3D attitude, and rotation rate, which will make it a better portable gaming device.
The new iPod Touch will come pre-installed with iOS 4.1.
The 8GB iPod Touch model costs $229, 32GB model costs $299, and the 64GB model costs $399. The new iPod Touch will be available next week.
Apple has also released the commercial of the new iPod Touch:
Let us know your thoughts about the new iPod Touch in the comments section below.
Apple has seeded iOS 4.1 Golden Master and iOS SDK 4.1 GM to developers of its iOS Developer program.
The Golden Master version means that it is the shipping version of the software that developers must use to develop and submit iPhone apps that are compatible with iOS 4.1.
iOS 4.1 includes the following fixes and enhancements:
It will include a fix for the proximity sensor and Bluetooth problems reported by iPhone 4 users
It will also fix the performance issue observed by iPhone 3G users after upgrading to iOS 4
High Dynamic Range (HDR) photos
HD video upload over Wi-Fi
TV show rentals
Game Center, Apple’s social gaming network
iTunes Ping, Apple’s social music network, which allows you to follow your friends and favorite artists
iPad users will have to wait for iOS 4.2, which will finally bring iOS 4 features such as multitasking, folders to the iPad.
Steve Jobs game a glimpse of some of the new features that will be available in iOS 4.2:
iOS 4 features such as multitasking, folders, Game Centre for iPad users.
Wirelessly printing
It will also bring the AirPlay feature to iDevices, which will allow you to stream video, music, and photos over Wi-Fi especially useful if you have the second generation Apple TV.
Unfortunately, iPad users will have to wait until November for iOS 4.2 to get all these features.
iOS 4.2 will also be released for iPhone and iPod Touch users.
It will include a fix for the proximity sensor and Bluetooth problems for iPhone 4 users.
It will also fix the performance issue observed by iPhone 3G users after upgrading to iOS 4.
iOS 4.1 will also include the following new features:
High Dynamic Range (HDR) photos
HD video upload over Wi-Fi
TV show rentals
Game Center, Apple’s social gaming network.
Steve Jobs explained that HDR photos are created using 3 photos taken in rapid succession: one normal, one under exposed, and one under exposed. The photos are then combined using some pretty sophisticated algorithms to create an enhanced composite photo.
Steve Jobs showed some HDR photos taken using iPhone 4 and they looked pretty good.
iOS 4.1 will be available next week for iPhone and iPod touch.
Over the past few days, we have been audience to a number of rumors and speculations about Apple's upcoming product announcements.
With the Apple media event set to get underway at the Yerba Buena Center for Arts in San Francisco in less than a few hours from now, here is a recap of all the possible announcements that may be in store for us.
A new high resolution display is on the cards. Apple is expected to bring the new iPhone's popular 960×640 pixel resolution retina display to the upcoming version of iPod Touch.
Apple could launch a new $0.99 TV show subscription service. Speculations are rife that this monthly subscription could give users unlimited access to any particular TV show. Update: We are hearing a last minute rumor that Apple will introduce Debut $0.99 iTunes TV Show Rentals from Fox and ABC.
The rumored cloud-based iTunes system may not be unveiled. However, Apple is likely to enhance the web-based iTunes service with new social features that will make it easy for users to share their music tastes with their friends on Facebook and Twitter.
The form factor of iPod nano could be modified significantly to include a more squared design measuring 3 cm x 3 cm with touch screen display and could do away with the familiar clickwheel.
This is the first time after many years Apple will be live streaming a media event.
Apple is using HTTP Live Streaming to stream the event, which means that you will be able to watch the event live not only on your computer but also on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch.
Apple announced:
Apple® will broadcast its September 1 event online using Apple’s industry-leading HTTP Live Streaming, which is based on open standards. Viewing requires either a Mac® running Safari® on Mac OS® X version 10.6 Snow Leopard®, an iPhone® or iPod touch® running iOS 3.0 or higher, or an iPad™. The live broadcast will begin at 10:00 a.m. PDT on September 1, 2010 at www.apple.com.
We will provide coverage of the event so please don’t forget to visit iPhone Hacks.
As you can see in the video below, someone from iPod.dj first shows off a white and black iPhone 4 and then reveals the small touch screen of the next generation iPod Touch.
In the second video, he shows off the digitizer of the next generation iPod Touch. As you can seen, the digitizer has a hole at the top centre, which could be for the front facing camera to support FaceTime.
It will be interesting to see if the touch screen iPod nano will run a version of iOS.
We can’t wait for September to find out what Apple has in store for us tomorrow. How about you?
Recent Comments