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Tag: ipad

  • Apple Releases iOS 5.1.1 With Bug Fixes

    Apple Releases iOS 5.1.1 With Bug Fixes

    Apple has released an update to their iOS software for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. This update, iOS 5.1.1, is focused mainly on fixing bugs that have been discovered in the two months since iOS 5.1 was released.

    Released on the same day as the new iPad was announced, iOS 5.1 brought a handful of new features, including an improved camera shortcut on the lock screen. Now, instead of double-tapping the home button to bring up the camera shortcut (a feature introduced with iOS 5), the shortcut appears automatically, and you swipe up on it to open the camera. Unfortunately, this shortcut introduced a bug for how the camera handles high dynamic range (HDR) photos. The latest update fixes that bug. It also deals with problems the new iPad was having in switching between 2G and 3G data networks. Bugs related to AirPlay playback, Safari syncing, and an iTunes Store error message have also been dealt with.

    iOS 5.1.1 Change Log

    You can download and install the newest update through iTunes or from the Settings app on your device. To download the app over the air (i.e., via the Settings app) you’ll have to be connected to a wi-fi network, and you may want to have your device hooked up to a power source, especially if your iPad’s battery is low, or you have an iPhone 4S.

    It should probably go without saying, but if you have a jailbroken device that you would like to keep jailbroken, do not download or install this update. Though it’s getting closer, there still isn’t an untethered jailbreak available for iOS 5.1. If you update your jailbroken device to iOS 5.1.1, you’ll lose your jailbreak and be stuck waiting for the jailbreak to be ready.

    That said, if your phone (or iPad) isn’t jailbroken, or you don’t care about losing your jailbreak, download iOS 5.1.1 and check it out. Then come back and let us know whether the bug fixes work like they’re supposed to in the comments.

  • Woman Purchases an iPad, Gets a Box Full of Notepads

    This story may sound like some sort of hilariously zany plotline you might find on a primetime television sitcom, but apparently it’s the real deal. And while I don’t think that notepads are as archaic as others might claim, I can understand one’s initial irritation upon receiving a stack of them in place of an Apple iPad.

    Such is the case of Ciera Billups, a woman who was in the market for such a handy little device to help her two-year old daughter with speech therapy. So she embarked on an adventure to a local Walmart, where she procured what she thought was an iPad 3. Unfortunately, when the box was opened and its contents revealed, Ciera was understandably horrified by what she found inside.

    Notepads. Stacks and stacks of ordinary, everyday notepads.

    You might be thinking to yourself, “This lady is shady. She probably just popped the box open and swapped the iPad for the notepads in the parking lot”. Ciera claims this isn’t the case. However, the manager on-duty at the Walmart where she purchased the device said she her story didn’t add up. The police seemed to feel the same way, which means that this poor woman ended up dropping an insane amount of money for an item she could have picked up at the local dollar store for next to nothing. Hey, at least it came in an Apple box, right?

    If this were an isolated incident, perhaps you’d be inclined to side with Walmart. After all, trusting people these days is rather difficult, to say the very least. Sadly, this isn’t the first time someone has purchased an iPad from the nation’s biggest retailer and ended up with nothing but paper and an increasingly throbbing headache to show for it. However, not all cases ended the way Ciera’s did. In fact, a woman in Roseville, Michigan experienced the exact same problem, except she managed to convince the store to issue her a complete refund.

    Over the years, others have claimed the same thing, except they didn’t get a box full of notepads for their troubles. They received a shredded phonebook. Another example is the poor sap who bought a new Nintendo DS and wound up with a small box packed with rocks. In most instances, a refund and an apology are issued, but not always.

    On a lesser note, I’ve purchased no less than three DVDs from Walmart, only to find that one or all of the discs in the case were missing. When I brought the issue to their attention, I was immediately treated like a criminal, one that was trying to pull some sort of elaborate scheme to acquire more copies of the same film. Who in their right mind wants two copies of the Bruce Willis/Damon Wayans flick “The Last Boy Scout”? Seriously?

    My advice: The next time you purchase an expensive electronic gadget from the likes of Walmart or its contemporaries, pop open the box and have a look at what’s inside. That way, if you end up with someone’s dirty laundry wrapped in old newspapers, they can’t claim you’re trying to pull a fast one. And for the record, I still don’t own a copy of “The Last Boy Scout” on DVD, and that makes me sad. Very sad, indeed.

  • iPad 2 Gets A Battery Boost From New Processor

    Last month we brought you a surprising story about the iPad 2. While most Apple products get a price reduction with the launch of their next-generation successor, one thing they don’t get is a hardware upgrade. It turned out, though, that with the launch of the new iPad the iPad 2 got a processor upgrade.

    The iPad 2’s new processor, which is the same as the processor found in the third-generation Apple TV, is effectively the same as the A5 chip that was originally in the iPad 2 (and iPhone 4S). The difference is that it has been “ported” to Samsung’s new 32nm HMKG manufacturing process. As such, the chip’s performance isn’t greatly effective. That is, the 32nm chip isn’t faster than the original version. The big difference is an increase in energy efficiency. At the time, there was speculation that iPad users might see an improvement in battery life.

    Now AnandTech has confirmed that that is the case. The updated iPad 2 does show an improvement in battery life. According to AnandTech’s tests, the updated iPad 2 performed better than both the original iPad 2 and the new iPad when playing a graphics- and power-intensive game – Infinity Blade II. While the new iPad lasted for 5.58 hours, the updated iPad 2 lasted nearly 8 hours.

    Updated iPad 2 battery life

    (A quick note on terminology: “iPad 2,4” is Apple’s official model designation for the updated iPad 2. The iPad 2,1 is the wi-fi only model of the original iPad 2. The iPad 2,2 and iPad 2,3 are the AT&T and Verizon 3G models, respectively.)

    The iPad 2,4 showed similar results during a lower-intensity game. They also tested video playback capabilities. To test the various iPads, they took a 720p High Profile H.264 video of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Removing the credits gave the movie a run time of exactly one hour and fifty-eight minutes. The movie was played in a loop until each tablet died. The iPad 2,4 beat the iPad 3 by over four hours, and the original iPad 2 by over two hours.

    Updated iPad 2 battery life

    The iPad 2,4 gets a performance boost in another area, too. You may recall a bit of controversy surrounding the new iPad shortly after its launch in mid-March. There were reports that the tablet got excessively hot, though that turned out to be a common tablet problem, not just an iPad problem. Well, it looks like the iPad 2,4 beats both its predecessor and successor in this department as well. After an hour of playing Infinity Blade II, the iPad 2,4 was a full degree (Celsius) cooler that the original iPad 2, and almost nine degrees cooler than the new iPad.

    iPad 2,4 Temperature

    With all the performance enhancements that come with the iPad 2,4’s updated processor, you might be inclined to go out and get one instead of a new iPad. The iPad 2, after all, starts at only $399. Unfortunately, it’s not quite as simple as walking into an Apple Store or any other retailer and just picking one of these up off the shelf. For one thing, there is no discernable difference between an iPad 2,4 and an iPad 2,1-3. From the outside the tablets themselves are identical, and the boxes are identical. Nor does there appear to be any difference in model number or any other feature you might be able to access before you buy one. In fact, the only way to be sure – apart from running one of these tests – is installing a utility like Geekbench and having it check for the actual model number of the device.

    What’s more, AnandTech made several attempts to get their hands on these new iPads, and only came up with the one they used for testing, which suggests that there aren’t all that many of these in circulation.

    Would you consider getting an iPad 2 instead of a new iPad if it meant you could get the enhanced processor?

  • iPad Mini: 52% Would Be Interested

    Most of the talk about Apple’s long-rumored iPad Mini has centered on the same sorts of things that other Apple rumors focus on. What would be be like? When will it release? How much will it cost? What features will it have? Will Apple release it at all? The one question that industry watchers have tended to ignore is whether people would actually buy it.

    While that might seem like a pretty big oversight, it actually makes a fair bit of sense: Apple’s other iOS products have been wildly popular, so if Apple releases an iPad Mini, there’s a pretty good chance that people will buy it just as greedily. That assumption, however, was not enough for PriceGrabber. During the last week of April, they conducted a survey to try and discover whether anybody would actually be willing to buy an iPad Mini, and the results are pretty interesting.

    The survey starts with a few basic assumptions about the tablet: a 7-inch display, a $249-300 price point, and a 2012 release date. With those basic specs, they polled 2,603 online shoppers about their interest. Over half of all respondents – 52% – said that they would consider purchasing an iPad Mini. The other 48% said that they would not. Of those who responded, 22% currently own a tablet. Of those who own tablets, 68% have either an iPad or iPad 2, while 10% have the Kindle Fire.

    Those respondents who expressed interest in an iPad Mini were asked to select the reasons why they would be interested. The top two features that interested people were the lower price point (64%) and the smaller size/increased portability (54%). Nearly a quarter – 24% – said that an iPad Mini would make a good gift, while one in five admitted that they just loved Apple products and would buy anything. Just over half of all respondents – 51% – said that they would consider buying an iPad Mini as a holiday gift.

    Rumors of the iPad Mini have been circulating almost since the launch of the original iPad in 2010. Steve Jobs’s famous declaration that 10 inches was the lower limit for a good tablet experience has often been used to put such rumors to rest. Since Jobs’s death last October, though, rumors have begun to increase again. A month ago Daring Fireball’s John Gruber claimed to have gotten some hands-on experience with a 7.85-inch prototype in Apple’s labs, though he expressed doubts as to whether it would ever actually be released. Numerous rumors before and since have placed the iPad Mini in the 7- to 7.85-inch range. A price point somewhere between $250 and $300 has also been widely rumored, along with a third-quarter release date.

    What do you think? Would you be interested in an iPad Mini? Why would you want one? Let us know in the comments.

  • LinkedIn Shares HTML5 Infinite Scrolling Tips

    LinkedIn debuted their iPad app, while getting attacked by Syrian hackers, last week to praise for its clean presentation while taking advantage of the iPad’s strengths. One of the major features of the iPad app is its infinite scrolling through the use of HTML5. The engineering team went through a lot of variations to reach the end product and are now sharing their journey with other developers.

    The main hook of the LinkedIn iPad app is its “stream” for infinite content scrolling. This will allow users to have an “engaging content consumption experience.” The only problem with this approach is that mobile devices are not exactly the best when it comes to memory which an infinite scrolling list requires a lot of.

    To circumvent the lack of large pools of memory, the team went the extra mile by building their own solution to this problem. They could have used Apple’s solution that would have allowed for infinite scrolling, but the LinkedIn team apparently wanted the challenge of building their own in HTML5 which currently lacked such a technology. In the end, they obviously succeeded, but they also helped HTML5 developers everywhere by proving it could be done.

    The first technique in streaming large images via HTML5 was to replace the src attribute of the img tag with a small image when it was moved off screen. This allowed the large images to be displayed on screen while saving memory when said images were moved off screen.

    It turns out that making the images small didn’t save enough memory in the long run. To combat this, they bagan to hide pages so that they wouldn’t take up memory as well. They did this by setting the CSS visibility property of a page to hidden. This allowed more memory to be freed up as well as the app running smoother because the browser didn’t have to keep the invisible pages up.

    Apparently those first two techniques helped sove 80 percent of crashes. To help solve crashes for the other 20 percent, the team started to remove pages altogether. They only removed pages that were not required and replaced them with an empty page of equal height and width called a “stub.”

    All of this led to them creating a stream that would have the current page loaded with all images visible with the previous and next pages being fully loaded as well. After that, the second previous and next would be loaded up but didn’t have any images. The next after that would be an invisible page. Once it had gone beyond that, the pages would removed. It’s an ingenious method of keeping infinite scrolling in place without having to sacrifice anything.

    LinkedIn HTML5 Infinite Scrolling

    Now that they had this method in place, they only had to start working on improving the performance of the app. They helped this along by adding in some HTML/CSS optimizations. The first is to avoid client side image scaling. To avoid that, simply specify the width and height attributes of an image in HTML tags. The second is to simply not use CSS box shadow as it has a negative effect on performance.

    All of this work helped keep the app running, but they were still running into crashes now and again. To keep it perfectly stable, they would have to keep the DOM nodes to a minimum. Remember those stub nodes that replaced far off pages in the stream? They were able to combine those stubs into a single dummy node to prevent the app from crashing.

    For those who learn better with visual examples, here’s a video of the LinkedIn team showing off how the DOM changes when a user moves through the stream. Check it out to see some awesome HTML5 magic.

  • The Daily Gets An iPhone App, Cheaper Subscriptions

    The Daily Gets An iPhone App, Cheaper Subscriptions

    Just over a year after its launch last February, news magazine app The Daily has finally made its way to the iPhone. The app went live in the iOS App Store today. The iPhone app has a separate, cheaper set of subscription options than the iPad version. You can pay monthly for $1.99 per month, or get a full year for $19.99. On the iPad version of the app, individual issues of the magazine are $0.99, and a full year’s subscription is $39.99.

    The app is not universal. That is to say, the iPhone app is separate from the iPad version. For those who have subscriptions in the iPad version, you get the content on the iPhone version for free. All you have to do is sign into the iPhone app with the same credentials you use in the iPad version.

    The Daily launched in February of 2011. It was the first iPad-only news magazine, and introduced in-app subscriptions to iOS apps. It has proven to be a fairly popular news magazine, and was even the first news organization to publish the name of one of the women who filed a sexual harassment complaint against former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain.

    The Daily for iPhone is available as a free download from the iOS App Store. Subscriptions are purchased from within the app.

    Are you a subscriber to The Daily? Are you excited to see the magazine making its way to the iPhone? Let us know what you think in the comments.

  • eBay Releases App v2.0 for iPad

    eBay Releases App v2.0 for iPad

    Internet auction giant eBay has just released it app for iPad version 2.0, presently available at the Apple iTunes store, allowing users to better sell, search, bid, buy, browse and pay in an interface built around the tablet.

    Below is a clip of eBay VP of Mobile Steve Yankovich showing off the new app:

    Key features include an updated, customizable design, ultra-high resolution item images via the iPad retina display, three ways to view search results, revisable listings, a back button, improved search and more eBay notifications. The app update also includes:

    – Stunning images A better shopping experience with rich, high quality images
    – Quick listings Create a listing in under a minute on your iPad
    – Photo upload Effortlessly upload photos from your iPad camera or photo library
    – Advanced search Target your results to listings that fit your budget and taste
    – Mobile Checkout Pay for items with PayPal, eBay gift cards, coupons and earn eBay Bucks where available
    – My eBay Stay on top of your bidding, buying, and selling activities from anywhere
    – Customer service on the go See how your items are performing, reply to questions promptly, and provide speedy response to Best Offers
    – Effortless navigation Buy and sell in My eBay without ever clicking away from your search screen-products are always in view
    – Alternate viewing Shop eBay in landscape or portrait views

    Interestingly, iPad trade-ins on eBay have been up ten-fold from last year, through eBay’s Instant Sale Program – though many of those who trade are just looking to upgrade to the latest model.

  • Apple Wants To Patent Haptic Touchscreen Technology

    If you paid much attention to the rumor mill prior to the launch of the new iPad, you may remember a last-second rumor that surfaced the morning before Apple’s announcement. The rumor went that Apple might be incorporating haptic feedback technology into the touchscreen of the new iPad.

    The rumor drew a lot of attention in the hours before Apple announced the new iPad in large part because of the source. Ville Mäkinen, senior vice president of Senseg, a company that specializes in haptic technology for touchscreen interfaces, said that his company was “currently working with a certain tablet maker based in Cupertino.” When pressed for comment, Senseg representatives said they wouldn’t be commenting until Apple’s announcement was over.

    As you no doubt know, the new iPad announcement came and went without a word being spoken about a haptic feedback touchscreen. The rumor was largely forgotten and life went on. Until today. A patent application uncovered by AppleInsider reveals that Apple really is investigating the possibility of incorporating haptic feedback into future touchscreen devices, and has been since at least 2010.

    In case you’re not familiar with it, haptics refers broadly to the use of tactile feedback to facilitate interaction with technology. A video game controller’s vibrations are an example of haptics. Your sense of touch is incorporated as a way to enrich the experience. With haptic touchscreens, there are a few possible methods to simulate tactile feedback. Senseg’s method is to incorporate electrodes (which they call “Tixels”) into a touchscreen. The electrodes send a very low-power charge into the user’s fingers to simulate texture.

    The haptic system Apple wants to patent, on the other hand, works a bit differently. In place of low-power electrodes, this system employs a dual-layer solution that would actually raise and lower a flexible OLED display to create actual on-screen textures to match what was being displayed on the screen. Beneath the display would be a three-tiered array of “shape change elements” that would raise and lower to simulate the texture of whatever was on the device’s screen.

    Apple Haptic Touchscreen

    As always, a patent application should be treated a bit cautiously. The fact that Apple has applied for the patent doesn’t mean the technology will ever actually see the light of day. It may prove too expensive, it may prove impractical, it may even prove unworkable. That said, the technology is pretty cool, and the thought of a touchscreen that actually allows you to feel what you’re seeing is exciting.

    You can read the full patent application here. Check it out and let us know what you think in the comments.

  • IPad Power Adapter Can be Used as a Bottle Opener

    (image)@EvaZebra
    Eva Giselle    Ladies and gentlemen, @jesselupini and I just discovered you can open beer with an iPad adapter. You’re welcome. http://t.co/Cicu4WyU(image) 12 hours ago via Tweetbot for iOS ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    Learning a new way to open a beer can can lead to a lot of publicity. Take it from Eva Giselle, who posted this tweet last night and is having featured in articles by 9to5mac, OSX Daily, and even BusinessInsider.

    We must admit, it is a pretty handy application. Apple hipsters everywhere will be busting it out in front of their friends.

    To which they will say “yeah, I saw that on 9to5mac, too.”

    Only problem is it might be a little difficult to explain to AppleCare how the prongs were somehow ripped from the device, when it inevitably happens. A cool trick, but not one I would try any time soon. Their are lots of cheaper alternatives.

    The best observation comes from Tamas on the OSX comments section. “Everything is a beer opener. If not, you are not thirsty enough.”

    The girl who tweeted the tweet is loving the attention she is getting…

    (image)

    And she has an Aperture tattoo…

    (image)

    Marry me?

  • FAA Reprimands Guy Who Filmed Bird Strike With iPad

    A couple of weeks ago, a Delta flight bound for Los Angeles had to make an emergency landing at JFK airport just moments after takeoff. The plane quickly lost its right engine after striking a flock of birds. The incident was big news, bolstered by the unlikely fact that Vice President Joe Biden’s plane also hit a flock of birds as it was landing on the same day.

    Amateur video of the event soon made its way to YouTube, as New York Times bestselling author Grant Cardone uploaded a short clip of the event. The video, which Cardone shot with his iPad from a window seat, clearly captures both the sight and sounds of the terrifying event.

    Check it out below:

    Now, the Federal Aviation Administration has sent Cardone a letter, scolding him for putting out his device and filming the scene during takeoff.

    Of course, the FAA demands that electronic devices be turned off during portions of any flight because they could interfere with with any number of the airplane’s critical systems. That’s the message they had for Cardone. Part of the letter reads:

    Your failure to comply during a critical phase of flight and an aircraft emergency could have affected the safe outcome of the flight.

    They went on to say…

    We have given consideration to all of the facts. In lieu of legal enforcement action (a civil penalty), we are issuing this letter which will be made a matter of record for a period of two years, after which, the record will be expunged.

    “It’s ridiculous,” says Cardone. “I’ve been on thousands, literally thousands of flights. I’ve flown over 3 million miles – a million of those miles with Delta. And to think that a device, a telephone, or this iPad can take down a plane – to think that…is ridiculous.”

    He also went after the FAA with this funny little jab on Twitter:

    @GrantCardone
    Grant Cardone    #FAA new ruling-Masturbation can crash planes and cause blindness. 17 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    While most airlines ban the use of such devices on flights, the jury is still out on the actual correlation between cellphones and interference. Studies do exist that have asserted a correlation between the two, but causation has been tough (to say the least) to confirm. Some aviation experts have supported the rule, adopting a “better safe than sorry” reasoning.

    I guess the lesson here is if you want to catch some exclusive on-flight video of a crazy aviation event, just be ready for the FAA to be a little pissed off about it.

  • Disney Parks Using IPads for ‘FastPass’ System

    Disney Parks Using IPads for ‘FastPass’ System

    Disney may soon be using iPads to supplement the parks re-introduced FastPass system. According to Inside The Magic, an unofficial Disney theme park blog, the iPads will utilize Radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology to identify FastPass patrons and get them to the front of the line more quickly.

    FastPass is program that allows park goers to bypass rides and attraction lines and go to the head of the queue. Right now, the reintroduction of FastPass is still in the beginning stages of trial at Disney, with patrons being specially selected to try out the new feature. Unfortunately their is no way to sign up for the program, you just have to be lucky enough to be selected.

    The guest books their ride in advance, and puts on an RFID band. They scan their information at a special post in the park. Their info is sent to a nearby Disney employee who carries an iPad with all the reservation information.

    Scanner Pole

    This system is currently being tested to see if it indeed makes things operate more smoothly, and may replace the old system of distributing fast pass tickets at a kiosk, which is basically just another line to stand in.

    The test is being featured on The Haunted Mansion ride, as it typically has short wait times to begin with. I guess the thinking here is to start small with the trial run to see if it is actually feasible. The new system may eliminate ride lines all together if everyone has a predetermined ride time. People can just sign up for a time, enjoy the other parks attractions and show up when it is their turn to ride.

    An unofficial Disney twitter account @DisneyProjects has been following the new system and posting tweets about how it’s working if you are interested in keeping up with it.

    @DisneyProjects
    Disney Projects    Lots of incorrect reporting by Apple fan sites regarding the RFID Fastpass system. 21 hours ago via Tweetbot for iOS ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    @DisneyProjects
    Disney Projects    Heading to the Magic Kingdom to check out the RFID testing. 1 day ago via Tweetbot for iOS ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    @DisneyProjects
    Disney Projects    Workers going around earlier were using iPads for RFID testing. 1 day ago via Tweetbot for iOS ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    @DisneyProjects
    Disney Projects    After guest scans card, the Cast Member uses a waterproof iPad to see the information from the card (including FP time & other Q&A). 1 day ago via Tweetbot for iOS ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

  • New iPad Now Ships In 3-5 Business Days

    New iPad Now Ships In 3-5 Business Days

    Apple’s new iPad has taken another step toward overnight shipping. Shipping times have now fallen to 3-5 business days for all iPad models. That’s right, you can now get your iPad in less than a week if you order it directly from Apple’s website.

    While most of Apple’s products are available for overnight shipping from their online store, a new product like the iPad often sees lengthy delays in online availability. When the new iPad was unveiled in early March, it was immediately available for pre-order. Those who moved quickly and pre-ordered their iPad in the first 48 hours or so were guaranteed to receive it by launch day, March 16th. Just a couple days after the unveiling, though, shipping times began to slip form March 16th to March 19th. When the iPad hit stores on the 16th, Apple’s physical retail stores had plenty in stock, but shipping times had slipped to 2-3 weeks.

    Just a few days later, availability improved and shipping times shrank to 1-2 weeks. Two weeks ago, Apple adjusted the shipping estimates again, down to 5-7 days. As of today, they’ve adjusted them again. If you order an iPad from Apple’s online store today, it should ship within 3-5 business days

    iPad Shipping Times Fall Again

    Though Tim Cook said during Apple’s latest earnings call that iPad supplies remain “constrained,” that appears to be improving fairly rapidly. It looks like the pace at which Apple lowers its shipping estimates is increasing, which suggests that supply is catching up with demand pretty quickly. With luck, the iPad will join the ranks of Apple products that ship overnight sooner rather than later.

  • Apple Rejects Apps That Use Dropbox

    Apple’s App Store has quite a storied history when it comes to which apps get rejected and which get accepted. For the first few years of the App Store’s existence, there often appeared to be no apparent rhyme or reason to which apps were allowed and which weren’t. Things got a bit better when Apple finally got around to publishing guidelines that were publicly available to developers in September of 2010, but some problems remain. Even with the guidelines in place the app review and approval process can seem a bit arbitrary at times.

    That’s the way it probably seems to the developers of several apps with Dropbox integration. It seems that since the release of Dropbox’s latest software development kit (SDK), the App Store’s reviewers have been hitting apps that use Dropbox with a ban-hammer as fast as devs can submit them. The problem first came to light over the weekend when developers started posting to a thread on Dropbox’s developer forums, saying that Apple was rejecting apps that used the new SDK. Multiple devs chimed in, saying that Apple was issuing rejection notices for both new apps and updates to old apps.

    So, why is Apple rejecting these apps? Are they somehow using Dropbox’s SDK to bring porn into the App Store (something Apple has always rejected)? Are they using it for some sort of scam? Nope. It turns out that the new Dropbox SDK is guilty of the grievous sin of sending users who don’t have Dropbox installed on their phones to a page on Dropbox’s website that includes a link they can click to pay for more storage space. That’s it.

    You see, there’s a section in Apple’s app submission guidelines that prohibits apps from providing “access to external mechanisms for purchases or subscriptions to be used in the app.” You see, Apple wants all purchases made for apps in the App Store to go through Apple, so they can have their 30% cut of the sales price. You may recall that Amazon and Barnes & Noble ran afoul of this particular rule last year. Their Kindle and NOOK apps provided links that sent the user to each company’s e-book store in Safari. That way users could purchase Kindle and NOOK books from their iPhone or iPad without requiring Amazon or Barnes & Noble to fork over 30% of the price of every book purchased.

    According to Apple’s reviewers, Dropbox’s new SDK violates this rule. As with many services – e.g., Twitter, Facebook, etc. – when you download an app with Dropbox integration, you have to authorize it to access your Dropbox account. Of course, not everyone who downloads such an app has a Dropbox account, and not everyone who has a Dropbox account has the Dropbox app on their phones. For those people, the SDK now directs users to Dropbox’s website in Safari, where they can either authorize the app to use their Dropbox account, or create an account if they don’t have one. On Dropbox’s account creation page, there’s a conveniently located link that you can click to pay for more than the 2GB of storage you get with a free Dropbox account. That link, it seems, counts as an “external mechanism for purchases or subscriptions.”

    In response to the problem, Dropbox posted an updated SDK that removed the link to the desktop version of the Dropbox site. The updated SDK, though, is intended to be a temporary workaround while a better solution can be found. In a statement to The Verge, Dropbox representatives said that “Apple is rejecting apps that use the Dropbox SDK because we allow users to create accounts,” and that Dropbox is “working with Apple to come up with a solution that still provides an elegant user experience.”

    It’s not clear whether apps using the upgraded SDK are starting to get into the App Store yet, nor what kind of solution Apple will find acceptable.

    What do you think? Is Apple’s rule reasonable, or is it ridiculous? Let us know in the comments.

  • Will Apple Become a Wireless Service Provider?

    How would a world look in which Apple not only manufactured iPhones and provided the iOS software platform for iPhones, but also provided wireless service for iPhones? If you are an Apple fan, that probably sounds like heaven. If you’re not an Apple fan, you are probably thinking that Apple couldn’t possibly be worse than current carriers. Regardless of which side you fall on, the question might not be completely hypothetical if one wireless industry strategist is correct.

    Boy Genius Report (BGR) is reporting that Whitney Bluestein, an industry strategist who has managed deals for carriers and manufacturers such as Apple and AT&T in the past, is stating that Apple will begin selling wireless service to iOS device users in the near future. BGR’s Zach Epstein quotes Bluestein in his article:

    “The battleground is set, but Apple will be the first mover,” Bluestein said while speaking at the Informa MVNO Industry Summit in Barcelona. “Google will have to scramble because it lacks retail distribution, experience with subscriber services and the iTunes ecosystem of content. iTunes and the iTunes Store provide Apple with one-click buying and customer care. Google can acquire most of these capabilities, as it has before, but it is not a core competency of the company.”

    I’m not really sure why Google would have to scramble. Google already makes 4 times more mobile revenue from iPhones than Android phones as it stands now. The goal behind Android was to provide a free platform for manufacturers to build upon and provide Apple with competition, not for Google to take over the market. No, this would be a problem for current carriers and for Samsung, HTC, Motorola, and other manufacturers who would be excluded from an Apple carrier network.

    Bluestein is citing Apple’s solid distribution channels, customer base, iTunes credit card records, and some network architecture patents filed in 2006 as proof that Apple has the means to become a carrier. It all sounds very speculative and incredible to me. I don’t see Apple heading in this direction, mostly because I don’t see the company making the huge upfront investment that setting up a nation-wide network infrastructure would require. Still, it is a juicy rumor that a small part of me hopes is true. After all, Apple as a carrier could frighten the complacent carriers we currently have into providing some decent, un-capped service at more reasonable prices.

    What do you think? Will Apple challenge AT&T and Verizon at their own game or is this all just attention-garnering hokum? Leave a comment below and let me know.

    (via BGR)

  • Blackline – An Online Magazine Utilizes HTML5 and iPad Features In Hilarious Ways

    There are plenty of satirical magazines out in the world, there are also plenty of HTML5 demoes showing off the technology, and there’s undoubtedly a large number of iPad apps. However, Blackline is an iPad magazine app that brings the complete package, providing not just funny and unique content, but displays how HTML5 is a wonderful creative outlet.

    The magazine app (appazine? no? ok…) is a collaborative effort of Christian Ugbode, Lerone D. Wilson, and Robert Pinderhuze, who had a comedy podcast before releasing their magazine. The same satirical and dry humor of the podcast works just as well in magazine form, and it also has a certain flair to it missing from other publications of the type.

    Upon loading up Blackline, you’re met with an editor’s note which sets the tone of the magazine really well, stating, “You don’t want to wake up in the morning and read the news at a computer and then read us making fun of it. You want us to be at your fingertips when you need us, whether you’re on the couch, on a bus, or at the airport. You paid for an iPad, and we consider it our personal duty to make sure you never wish you had gotten a Kindle Fire instead and saved a few dollars (Apologies to Kindle Fire users. It’s a good enough device but face it: you’re cheap)”

    Once you get into the meat of the content, you’ll be met with a wide variety of topics. Everything from Facebook, Netflix, Al Sharpton, Maya Angelou, and even Tetris. Nothing is too sacred in Blackline. My favorite article was about Bo Obama, the “first dog” at the White House. Which you can have a quick preview below, to get a feel for their article layout. It also features one of their many “faux ads” taking jabs at the political campaign season.

    Blackline Hillary Clinton ad

    The most impressive use of HTML5 is within the ‘Maya Angelou’s Ice-Box’ feature, which was highlighted by Mashable. It allows users to move around various words on an ice-box; creating your own custom-made Angelou verse(s). Again, something to do while you’re on the toilet.

    Along with the interactiveness of their HTML5 feature, the magazine has many embedded YouTube videos you can watch. One of which is an original Blackline exclusive which you can watch below.

    Instead of having traditional ads like you’d see in a magazine of this type, they want you to follow them on Facebook or Twitter. Which is evident by one of their calls to action, telling users to ‘pound it’. Good stuff.

    Blackline Facebook

    Along with HTML5, Blackline is utilizing the new iPad 3 retina display, as all of the articles and features you’ll see are stunning in quality and pushing all of the pixels to their fullest.

    If you’d like to follow Blackline, you can find them on Twitter and on Facebook. Seriously, pound it.

  • Apple’s Big Business In Perspective [INFOGRAPHIC]

    If you’ve been paying even a little bit of attention to the goings-on in the tech world, you know that Apple is a pretty big deal. Once primarily a maker of computers – in which market they were a distant second to rival Microsoft – Apple has transformed itself in recent years into the leading maker of tablets, smartphones (maybe), and MP3 players in the world.

    In so doing, as you might expect, Apple has made kind of a lot of money. In the first quarter of their 2012 fiscal year (which ended in December) they reported a record $46.33 billion in revenue and $13.06 billion in profits. Their second quarter, which ended in March, netted a further $39.2 billion in revenue and $11.6 billion in profits.

    So yeah. A lot of money. Sometimes it can be a little difficult to fathom those kinds of numbers, though. Sometimes we need some help putting the kind of data released in an earnings report into perspective. To that end, BusinessDegree.net has put together a handy infrographic that breaks some of those numbers down and makes them a little more manageable (for example, did you know that Apple makes $7 million in profit per hour?).

    Check out the infographic below, then let us know what you think in the comments.

    Big Business of Apple
    Created by: BusinessDegree.net

  • Apple, Samsung Meet May 21-22 To Discuss Settlement

    Earlier this month we brought you news that Apple and Samsung had been instructed to meet to discuss a settlement for their ongoing patent lawsuit, which will soon be heading to trial in California. The meeting, ordered by U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh, was to be held within 90 days.

    Now, Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents is reporting that a date for the settlement meeting has been set. Apple CEO Tim Cook will meet with Samsung CEO Gee-Sung Choi, along with their respective general counsels, in San Francisco on May 21st and 22nd at 9:30 AM (Pacific time, naturally). The is to be mediated by U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph Spero, who has asked the companies to provide “a candid evaluation of the parties’ likelihood of prevailing on the claims and defense” by May 9th.

    Apple and Samsung have been engaged in this patent infringement battle since last April, when Apple filed suit in U.S. District Court. Apple’s suit alleged that Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Galaxy smartphones “slavishly” copied design elements of Apple’s iPhone and iPad. Samsung countersued in the U.S. and elsewhere. The current dispute now consists of roughly 20 separate suits in ten countries.

    The likelihood of this settlement meeting actually resolving the dispute and avoiding a trial is fairly low. Though Tim Cook may not share his predecessor’s ferocious anger over situations like this one, he has said that Apple will continue litigation unless he can be satisfied that companies like Samsung will stop infringing on Apple’s designs and make appropriate reparations. A similar settlement meeting between Oracle and Google concerning their current patent lawsuit was not able to avert a trial.

  • Quasar Jailbreak Tweak Brings Window-based Multitasking To iPad

    One of the most anticipated features of 2010’s iOS 4 (which launched alongside the iPhone 4) was multitasking. The feature was one of the few real advantages held over iOS by platforms like Palm’s webOS. As it turned out, though, what iOS users got with iOS 4 was not exactly multitasking – not the kind of multitasking they were used to on their desktop computers. Instead, when the user left an application, the OS saved that application’s state and suspended it, allowing a user to pick up where they left off rather than having to restart the app from scratch.

    While definitely a welcome change, iOS 4’s feature didn’t quite reach full multitasking. Now, those with jailbroken iPads can get true window-based multitasking. Quasar is a jailbreak tweak now available in the Cydia store. For those not up on the lingo, a tweak changes the behavior of the operating system, allowing you to do things like put five icons on your iPhone dock or turn off bluetooth and wifi from the Notification Center. While there are apps in the Cydia store, the bulk of Cydia’s content is actually tweaks of various kinds.

    Quasar puts your apps in windows, and allows you to put multiple windows on your iPad screen at once. You can easily switch between apps. You can also move and resize your windows, change their orientation, close them, or make them full-screen. You can also run iPhone-only apps on your iPad without having to either double their size or have large amounts of useless black space on your screen. Here’s a video of Quasar in action:

    Unlike the standard iOS multitasking, the apps you’re not using with Quasar don’t go into suspension, apparently. If you look closely about 30 seconds into the video, you can see the time on the iPad’s main clock click over to 11:55. The clock at the top of the Twitter app does the same thing at the same time.

    Quasar is available in the Cydia store for $9.99. If you’ve got a jailbroken iPad, go check it out and let us know what you think in the comments.

  • Apple, Target Sued Over iPad Smart Cover

    Apple, Target Sued Over iPad Smart Cover

    Another day, another patent suit, it seems. Apple and Target have been sued by Jerald A. Bovino of Colorado for patent infringement. Bovino owns a patent for a ribbed computer case, and claims that Apple and Target are infringing on his patent by selling the iPad Smart Cover.

    The patent, which can be read here, covers “a portable computer having an integral case that incorporates a resilient material to protect the portable computer from wear and tear encountered when transporting and/or using the portable computer. The integral case also includes a retractable strap means that can be utilized to facilitate the transporting of the portable computer.”

    Ribbed Computer Cover

    According to the complaint, which is embedded below, the alleged infringement centers on the ribs in the iPad Smart Cover. Interestingly, though, while the ribs in the smart cover are lines along with it is folded, the ribs in the patented computer cover are designed to reinforce the cover. Or, as the patent itself says, “to provide additional security and shock absorption for the computer in the case” (fourth page, near the end of the first paragraph of the left-hand column):

    iPad Cover Lawsuit Copy

    It’s not at all clear why Bovino has singled out Target as a co-defendant. The suit alleges that Target has participated in the infringement by selling the Smart Cover (which allegedly has “no substantial non-infringing use”), but Target is hardly the only retailer to do so.

    Bovino is asking the court for a declaration that the patent has been infringed, and that he be paid a “reasonable royalty for said infringement,” including interest. The suit also asks the court to declare Apple’s and Target’s judgment to be willful and increase damages accordingly, and to award him with legal fees.

    Interestingly, as Patently Apple reported earlier this week, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office just awarded Apple a series of patents related to several of its products. The newly awarded patents cover features of the iTunes Store, the Time Machine software, Apple Store display structures, and the Smart Cover. Bovino’s suit was filed just two days after Apple was awarded the Smart Cover patent.

    What do you think? Did Apple (or Target) infringe on the patent? Check out the patent and the lawsuit, then let us know what you think in the comments.

  • Brazilian Foxconn Workers Threaten Strike Over Working Conditions

    Workers in Foxconn’s factory in Jundiai, Brazil are threatening to strike over poor working conditions, according to recent reports. The workers claim that Foxconn has not made adequate adjustments to its infrastructure in light of the recent hiring of over a thousand new workers.

    According to Brazilian site Tech Guru (Google Translation), over 2,500 workers at the Jundiai plant are upset about working conditions. They say that buses into the factory are overcrowded, water supplies inside the factory are too limited, and the quality of the food in the cafeteria is bad.

    According to the labor union, the problems are a result of Foxconn’s recent hiring spree. They recently added 1,000 new workers, but made no efforts to improve the factory’s infrastructure. While the union claims to be confident that the situation can be resolved without a strike, they have given the company until May 3rd to respond. On that day, the union will meet with representatives of the company to determine if conditions have been resolved to the union’s satisfaction.