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AT&T iPhone download speeds beat Verizon
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Wireless / WiFi,
When it comes to data speeds, one research group claims that the AT&T iPhone 4 is a nosehair faster than Verizon's iPhone.
Downloading data with the AT&T iPhone, which runs on a 3G HSPDA network, is twice as fast as downloads with the Verizon iPhone, which runs on EVDO, according to mobile research firm Metrico Wireless. But the average load time for an "average Web page" is the same on both devices.
When the iPhone user is on the move, AT&T's iPhone completed "around 10 percent more data download sessions than the Verizon iPhone. The opposite was true when the iPhone was stationary," Metrico found.
"There are many factors that determine Web performance. Speed isn't the only one," a Metrico spokeswoman said. "There's also OS trends, rendering time, latency on the network, etc. This report's findings are based on a standardized average Web page. Larger Web pages may offer different results."
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Target will sell iPad 2 on March 11
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Corporate News, Handhelds,
The Apple iPad 2 will be sold in Target stores starting March 11, according to the retailer's Twitter account and an ad on Target.com.
"The #iPad2 is coming to @Target stores! Get yours on launch day - 3/11/11" wrote @Target. An ad on Target's web site also said the tablets would be available in-store starting Friday.
A Target spokeswoman did not have any more details at press time.
Last Thursday Best Buy also announced that it will start selling the iPad 2 on March 11; there are also rumors that the reseller is giving free iPad 2s to all its sales associates.
Click to continue reading Target will sell iPad 2 on March 11
iPhone 5 to pick up metal back, new antenna?
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Handhelds, Rumors,
Now that Apple has announced the iPad 2, you can count on months of rumors leading up to a probable summer release of a fifth-generation iPhone. The most recent tidbits suggest that the next version of the device will replace the glass back with an aluminum that is similar to the original iPhone.
Macotakara translated a story that first appeared in Taiwan's Economic Daily News which said complaints of scratching and difficulty painting the glass back prompted Apple to make this change. Additionally, the report said that the weight of the glass added to Apple's rethinking of the back design.
Apple will also abandon the external steel frame that works as the iPhone 4's antenna, according to the report. The external antenna led to a wealth of bad press for Apple when it was revealed that holding the phone in way that covers the anetnna, dubbed the "death grip," could interfere with wireless signals.
Click to continue reading iPhone 5 to pick up metal back, new antenna?
10 iPad 2 questions answered
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Features, Handhelds,
You have to hand it to Apple CEO Steve Jobs. No matter how ill he may be, his showmanship and stage presence remain undimmed. So much so that it took, as it often does, days for the euphoria of the iPad 2 unveiling to wear off. As that happened, though, I, like others, started to have these little, "Hey, wait a minute…" moments. And from there, the inevitable questions about the latest magical device from Apple started piling up. Here are the ones I've been considering or hearing from others. Fortunately, I think we have answers for virtually all of them.
Why No Memory Specs?
Apple's busy touting the iPad 2's huge performance increase (over the original), which comes courtesy of the A5 chip. That makes sense, a dual-core processor should beat the pants off a single core CPU. However, as with any computer, the CPU is only part of the performance story. What's the easiest way to increase system performance? Add memory. We know that the first-generation iPad has 256MB of RAM, but Apple isn't saying how much is in the iPad 2. "More" seems like a reasonable guess.
Why No 4G?
Apple's new best friend, Verizon, has a brand-new LTE network, but you won't find 4G on the new Verizon iPhone 4 or the latest-gen iPad. Why is that? Price is one reason: Adding a 4G radio would certainly have increased the price on the top-of-the line iPad 2. Also, Apple pays pretty close attention to the market and early market research indicated that almost 50 percent of potential iPad buyers were picking up a Wi-Fi-only model (Apple does not break out Wi-Fi-only iPad sales figures). I have a 3G-ready iPad, but I've never activated the service (I find ample Wi-Fi access almost everywhere I use my iPad). I suspect that's a common scenario. If a good percentage of iPad owners aren't using 3G—even when they have it—why would Apple jump to introduce 4G?
Click to continue reading 10 iPad 2 questions answered
5 reasons not to buy the iPad 2
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Features, Handhelds,
Apple has a new iPad on the way, but you've probably gotten pretty chummy with your original model. For a first-generation product, the Apple iPad is a fine tablet that can do tons of different things and hasn't lost any of its functionality in the last few days. Sure, the newer iPad 2 is more compact, faster, and adds cameras, but besides that, there's not much more in the way of upgrades. So, should you make the move to the iPad 2?
Well, the new one has a camera, so you can use FaceTime, Photo Booth, and other fun iLife apps that focus on taking photos or videos. If your best friend or favorite relative has an iPhone, iPod touch, or a Mac, this would be the perfect way to get some video calls going without getting a new cell phone. And its faster CPU and graphics processor means it's better suited for the apps and games of the future. Still, there are several good reasons why you shouldn't ditch your old iPad just yet. Here are five of them:
It's as good a media player as the iPad 2
The iPad 2 doesn't increase the resolution or improve the brightness or colors of its display over the first iPad, so as a plain movie viewer, there's no compelling reason to replace your iPad. There are no movies you can watch or songs you can listen to on the iPad 2 that you can't on the original iPad.
Click to continue reading 5 reasons not to buy the iPad 2
Conan O’Brien pokes fun at Apple’s iPad 2
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Handhelds, Videos,
On Thursday night's show, O'Brien claimed that Apple and its team of engineering wizards was "getting a little cocky". Team Coco then proceeded to spoof the iPad's desktop, thinness, "a pair of cheap cameras," and how we Americans seem to take everything said with an accent and lend it more credence than it actually deserves.
O'Brien, whose humor is perhaps more warm-hearted than his late-night rivals, completely leaves Steve Jobs or a parody of Jobs out of the fake launch video, almost certainly because of Jobs' struggle with cancer. The omission allows the humor to fall where it should: on Apple's iconic status, and how the iPad 2 might be considered a bit more like an iPad 1.5.
Click to continue reading Conan O’Brien pokes fun at Apple’s iPad 2
Mac App Store pins silly 17+ rating on Opera browser
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Internet, Software,
Opera, the least popular of the full Web browsers, became the first non-native browser to be included in Apple's Mac App Store on Thursday. But as per Apple's tradition with rating browsers, it has been slapped with a 17+ rating.
To download Opera from the Mac App Store, users will be prompted to verify that he or she is at least 17 years old.
"I'm very concerned," Jan Standal, vice president of Desktop Products for Opera Software, joked in a statement. "Seventeen is very young, and I am not sure if, at that age, people are ready to use such an application. It's very fast, you know, and it has a lot of features. I think the download requirement should be at least 18."
When it comes to rating browsers, Apple treats the entire Internet as its content and thus always gives the highest rating to browsers, as apps in the App Store demonstrate.
Click to continue reading Mac App Store pins silly 17+ rating on Opera browser
iOS 4.3 GM seed now available to developers
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Handhelds, Software,
Apple has just made the final version of iOS 4.3 available to anyone with a developer account. You can grab the downloads for build 8F190 for iPhone 4 and 3GS, iPad, and iPod touch 3rd and 4th generation now. The iOS 4.3 SDK is also at GM status with build 10M2518, and you can grab that as well. All the rest of you, expect iOS 4.3 to launch alongside iPad 2 on March 11.
Apple iPad 2 hands-on
No, the Apple iPad 2 is not a game changer. Instead it simply, firmly establishes Apple once again as the front-runner in the tablet wars. Apple and chief executive Steve Jobs (who made an appearance and received a standing ovation) focused on all the right areas to ensure that the Apple iPad will remain the tablet you have to rule out before you buy any others.
As I predicted, Apple added not one, but two cameras. This makes perfect sense, though I was not particularly happy to hear an Apple exec say on stage that the iPad is perfectly suited for these cameras and FaceTime. Why couldn't the first-generation iPad, which I own, also have been considered perfect for at least one camera? Apple didn't say anything about the resolution on the cameras, though we know the rear one can capture 720P, more or less - the Apple definition for "High Definition." Please, no one tell Steve Jobs that someone on the iPad team sneaked by an accessory that outputs full 1080p from the device (more on that later).
Click to continue reading Apple iPad 2 hands-on
The iPad 2 Smart Cover: Apple rethinks the case
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Apple, Handhelds,
At today's Apple event, where the world was first introduced to the iPad 2, one thing stood out to me above everything else. Many of the new features and specs had been leaked, or correctly guessed, months ago, but no one knew that Apple would pour its innovative energies into a case for the new device. But they did, and the new Smart Cover might be the best case I've ever seen for a mobile device.
The Smart Cover is a single sheet, made of either polyurethane or leather and either pink, orange, green, blue, several shades of gray, black, cream or red. It snaps magnetically onto the side of the iPad, and closes over top of the screen. It protects the parts of the iPad that need protecting—the screen—and leaves the parts that don't—the rugged, aluminum back and sides—to the elements. It makes the case thin, the iPad lighter, and best of all makes the case and iPad extremely easy to separate. The magnetic system should work like the MagSafe adapters on Mac computers, which are a popular feature.
Click to continue reading The iPad 2 Smart Cover: Apple rethinks the case
