Iphone Updates

Continue reading Nielsen: Android still top dog, but Q4 buyers preferred iPhone 4S

Nielsen: Android still top dog, but Q4 buyers preferred iPhone 4S originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jan 2012 07:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Nielsen: Android still top dog, but Q4 buyers preferred iPhone 4S

Nielsen: Android still top dog, but Q4 buyers preferred iPhone 4S originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jan 2012 07:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Leaked Sony 2012 smartphone roadmap reveals potentially birdy, minty flagships originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jan 2012 06:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Leaked Sony 2012 smartphone roadmap reveals potentially birdy, minty flagships originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jan 2012 06:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You might have thought being the first Honeycomb tablet, and offering a completely stock Android experience, would give the Motorola Xoom some sort of priority when it comes to updates to Android 4.0. Sadly and surprisingly for tablet early-adopters that was not the case, with the Transformer Prime first to hop the update train to Ice Cream Sandwich Town. A week later the Xoom is now catching up, with an OTA update percolating down from the cloud to users, but for the moment it appears only American Wi-Fi versions of the slate are receiving. International and LTE-equipped ones are going to have to wait at least a little longer.

US Wi-Fi Xooms now getting Ice Cream Sandwich OTA originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jan 2012 06:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You might have thought being the first Honeycomb tablet, and offering a completely stock Android experience, would give the Motorola Xoom some sort of priority when it comes to updates to Android 4.0. Sadly and surprisingly for tablet early-adopters that was not the case, with the Transformer Prime first to hop the update train to Ice Cream Sandwich Town. A week later the Xoom is now catching up, with an OTA update percolating down from the cloud to users, but for the moment it appears only American Wi-Fi versions of the slate are receiving. International and LTE-equipped ones are going to have to wait at least a little longer.

US Wi-Fi Xooms now getting Ice Cream Sandwich OTA originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jan 2012 06:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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So, you’ve always wanted to build a dollhouse out of ABS plastic? Well here’s your chance. MakerBot has announced the release of its “MakerBot Playsets,” a collection of free-to-download schematics used to create objects such as dolls, dollhouses and furnishings with the company’s 3D printer. The files are available in .stl and .dxf formats for use with CAD programs, and take away the guesswork involved in coming up with a uniform design for larger projects. Take a look at the current collection — including such objects as a Telescope, Moon Rover, Captain Kirk Chair, Treasure Chest and Suit of Armor — and see what you think. You’ll find the entire collection at the Thingverse link just below.

MakerBot releases free-to-download Playsets, will have you printing a Captain Kirk Chair in no time originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jan 2012 05:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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So, you’ve always wanted to build a dollhouse out of ABS plastic? Well here’s your chance. MakerBot has announced the release of its “MakerBot Playsets,” a collection of free-to-download schematics used to create objects such as dolls, dollhouses and furnishings with the company’s 3D printer. The files are available in .stl and .dxf formats for use with CAD programs, and take away the guesswork involved in coming up with a uniform design for larger projects. Take a look at the current collection — including such objects as a Telescope, Moon Rover, Captain Kirk Chair, Treasure Chest and Suit of Armor — and see what you think. You’ll find the entire collection at the Thingverse link just below.

MakerBot releases free-to-download Playsets, will have you printing a Captain Kirk Chair in no time originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jan 2012 05:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple today announced that iPhone 4S will be available in China and 21 additional countries on Friday, January 13. iPhone 4S features Apple’s dual-core A5 chip for fast performance and stunning graphics; an all-new 8-megapixel camera with advanced optics; full 1080p HD-resolution video recording; and Siri, an intelligent assistant that helps you get things done just by asking. “Customer response to our products in China has been off the charts,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “With the launch in China next week, iPhone 4S will be available in over 90 countries, making this our fastest iPhone rollout ever.”

Canon EOS 300 cinema cam gets pre-order status, ships at month’s end for $16,000 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jan 2012 04:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading pureSilicon announces Kage K1 SATA and USB SSDs, up for pre-order now

pureSilicon announces Kage K1 SATA and USB SSDs, up for pre-order now originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’d like to run Android 4.0 on your HP TouchPad in stead of watching videos of someone else doing it, your time is now, as an early Alpha 0 build of CyanogenMod 9 has just rolled out. Now, living on the bleeding edge will cause some discomfort when it comes to Market access, hardware accelerated video and using the slate’s camera, but fixes are expected as the project continues on. Also fresh for this release is the full source code, if you’d like to truly roll your own edition of Ice Cream Sandwich — if you’re wondering, a triple boot webOS / CM7 / CM9 configuration is reportedly possible, but not recommended. Hit the source link and head over to the RootzWiki forum thread for all the information and software necessary to make it happen, or check out another video preview embedded after the break.

[Thanks, Brandon]

Continue reading CyanogenMod 9 Alpha 0 brings Ice Cream Sandwich to HP TouchPads

CyanogenMod 9 Alpha 0 brings Ice Cream Sandwich to HP TouchPads originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jan 2012 02:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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At this point, SOPA needs no introduction. But if you’ve been diligently ignoring it up until this point, good luck getting through January 18th as an uninformed citizen. Google, Wikipedia and a host of other websites are either going dark or making huge, unmistakable statements on their homepages in protest. Google’s tagline? “End Piracy, Not Liberty.” Pretty much says it all, really. If you’ve spotted another site rebelling today, shout it out in comments below — and while you’re in the shouting mood, give your local officials a holler and let ‘em know just how much you disapprove.

P.S. – An amazing breakdown of this whole thing can be found here at reddit.

Google, Wikipedia and others protest SOPA / PIPA originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jan 2012 01:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Many HTC Sense users have experienced less than ideal conditions ever since their upgrade to Gingerbread. In an issue that’s likely tied to the operating system’s new memory management techniques, we’ve seen the launcher sporadically restart upon return to the home screen, and in rarer cases, cause Sense to revert entirely to its factory settings. While the glitch is hardly new, it’s rather well documented and the longstanding nature demands a proper (and expedient) update from HTC. Until that moment comes, we’ve included a few tips to help affected users get through the day.

First, the most straightforward solution involves using an alternate launcher, such as ADW, Go or LauncherPro. If you want to keep Sense and its goodies, you can try to keep widget use to a minimum, but if you’re willing to gain root access, the command “echo ro.HOME_APP_ADJ=1 >/data/local.prop” has also proven successful at holding Sense in memory. Of course, dropping Sense entirely and replacing it with an AOSP ROM is another solution. Regardless of which route you choose, we hope you’ll sound off in the comments and join us in the call for an update.

Months after Gingerbread’s arrival, HTC Sense remains fussy, users can’t get no satisfaction originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s always helpful when tech start-ups scheme new ways for you to burn through that bank account. Like YBUY, the membership-only site that charges a monthly fee in exchange for trying out the latest and greatest in gadgetry, like an iPad 2 or Xbox 360, sans shipping fees. The fresh-out-of-beta portal offers approved users the ability to return or purchase the pre-selected goods after a 30 day trial period, with that recurring charge going towards the full retail price if you choose to opt-in. Its co-founders claim to curate the ever-changing roster of high-end kit, taking into account the best product reviews (ahem) and even featuring certified refurbs. So, what’s the catch? Well, there doesn’t really appear to be any. It’s simply up to you to curb that tech enthusiasm and keep your credit card balance resting peacefully at zero.

YBUY allows impulse tech buyers to wonder, ‘Why not?’ originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 23:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We got to sit down for a quick chat with Smule’s own Dr. Ge Wang at CES in Las Vegas last week, and the result is the video below. Not only is the co-founder overseeing Smule’s musical experiences for mobile devices (and its recent merger with Khush, another musical developer), but he’s also an assistant professor at Stanford’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics.

And, as you can see, he’s a mean Magic Guitar player as well. Those gloves he’s wearing are Altec Lansing speakers sewn onto some gloves (with the fingertips cut off) for the Stanford Mobile Phone Orchestra. Wang was actually in Vegas to accept the Kids at Play Interactive’s Emerging Pioneer award, which is an impressive achievement as well.

Always good to see Smule’s co-founder out and about. He says Magic Guitar is selling well, the merger is moving along smoothly, and Smule continues to aim towards expanding its social connection features across apps in the new year. He couldn’t share specific plans, but we’ll wait and see. When he’s kind enough to strum a few virtual bars for us like this, who are we to argue?

Smule’s Ge Wang plays Magic Guitar for us at CES originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Everyone loves a winner, and when it comes to the top 12 finalists in the Original iPhone Film Festival (OIFF), the decision about who should get the golden trophy comes down to all of you. This year’s 12 finalists in the competition (co-hosted by video site Dailymotion) are facing off across four categories to see who’s got the best clip.

All of these entries are built from footage captured exclusively on iOS devices, and they’re a lovely showcase for what’s possible with the iPhone 4S’s new camera. The voting for winners continues through next Wednesday, and the final tally will be announced live at Macworld | iWorld on Thursday the 26th of January.

Best of luck to the finalists — now get out there and vote!

Last week of voting for Dailymotion/Original iPhone Film Festival finalists originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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According to a Bloomberg report, Apple filed a new lawsuit in Germany that targets ten of Samsung’s Android handsets. This new suit gives Apple a fresh start to argue for its EU design rights, which were recently called into question by Germany’s Dusseldorf Court. It also gives the company an opportunity to win an injunction halting the sales of popular handsets like the Galaxy SII and the Galaxy S Plus.

Apple also filed another German lawsuit that cites five Samsung tablet models. This suit supposedly relates to a German lawsuit Apple filed earlier this year against Samsung and its Galaxy Tab 10.1. This older suit led to the ban of Galaxy 10.1 tablet sales in the European country and the subsequent development of the Galaxy 10.1N tablet. This redesigned tablet meets the court’s criteria and will not be banned from retail shelves.

A Samsung spokesperson confirmed the company received the new phone and tablet lawsuits, but did not comment on them.

[Via AppleInsider]

Apple targets Galaxy S II, other Samsung phones in new German suit originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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One of our final meetings at CES last week was with Slacker Radio’s VP of Marketing, Jonathan Sasse, who sat down in a Las Vegas lobby restaurant to tell us what his company has been up to lately. Slacker Radio is one of the many streaming radio offerings that have apps available on the App Store (Pandora, Rdio, and Spotify are a few other examples), and Sasse says that after a few years of building up the service with content and technology and making sure it can be accessed almost anywhere, his main goal these days is just telling people why they should choose this service over all the others.

His first reason: Content. Sasse says Slacker Radio has more than ten times more music to play than Pandora does, which is a pretty impressive figure. Slacker’s been working hard to make content deals with record labels for quite a while, which means there’s a large library of different tunes to choose from. And in addition to all that music content, Sasse said Slacker has been making a big push for non-music to listen to as well. The service has already added in ESPN Radio and ABC News to listen to, and there’s streaming comedy stations to tune in on as well.

Additionally, while Pandora and other services also have their usual music selection systems for computer-generated radio stations, Slacker’s genre stations are actually curated by real DJs, which is a fact that Sasse said is often hard to get across to the public. Slacker’s hired former radio personalities, including Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Marco Collins, to actually choose, curate, and even narrate the music on its genre stations, which means that “he curates that station by hand,” Sasse said.

The company is also working on deals with partners to make sure that users can find and access it anywhere. Slacker already has a deal with Ford to show up in the company’s cars, and there are also deals being worked out with phone carriers for special data access, as well as other possible partnerships. Slacker’s plan, Sasse said, was to learn to monetize first and then grow, and it’s time for the company to really make a marketing push and grow that audience. “We’re kind of ready to step on the gas,” he said.

One of the biggest obstacles, so far, has been a boogeyman that we’ve heard a lot about during this year’s CES: Apple’s subscription rules. Slacker Radio also was originally bound by Apple’s rule that you can’t sell subscriptions on the App Store without paying a 30% cut — Slacker at first decided to not sell subscriptions through the app at all, which led to just a login screen being shown when users opened up the app. But the call of Apple’s audience was too much for the company, and Slacker is now able to sell its Radio Plus subscription (the cheaper of two offerings) via an in-app purchase. Users still can’t subscribe to the Premium Radio service through just the app, however. “That margin is still too high,” Sasse said.

In addition to a big marketing push later this year, Sasse said Slacker is still beefing up its library and trying to figure out ways to differentiate its offerings even further. One goal is to work with users to tag and respond to content while they’re listening to it, so the company can provide an even better experience. Already, users can customize ESPN Radio content with their favorite teams and shows, and Sasse wants to bring that kind of customization to other content as well, so listeners can hear exactly what they’re looking for. Slacker is also working on more original content, like band-curated radio stations, and maybe even podcasts, Sasse said.

Finally, Sasse said the last goal is to create a “unified, clean experience” across the entire platform, so that users see the same setup on the website as on the company’s various mobile apps and platforms. Slacker Radio has already done a lot of work on its service, and while the streaming radio market is already full (and growing even more crowded almost by the day), time will tell if the company can push itself in front of the other choices out there and really find a majority audience.

Slacker Radio tries to break through a flooded streaming music market originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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5th Cell is the developer behind the very popular Scribblenauts (which was released on iOS to great acclaim last year, and just had a new level pack update), and it recently brought a new title to the App Store called Run Roo Run. 2D platforming is a genre that’s almost as old as videogames themselves (Mario, who you may know, is the grandfather of jumping around on 2D platforms), and as far as I’m concerned, Run Roo Run is a master class in 2D platforming design.

It also has the added benefit of being a running title of sorts, and a puzzle game as well. The idea is that you, as Roo, a very cute Australian kangaroo, have lost a little blue buddy, and it’s your job to jump across the Aussie landscape, over and around various obstacles, to save your friend. But your run is broken up into a series of stages that consist of one screen each, and so the goal is to keep the constantly running Roo jumping at just the right times to make it to the end of the screen and onto the next one.

The action starts simple, but soon double jumps are added, and then the ability to slow Roo down or speed him up, and then you can swing on things, and just like Cut the Rope, a series of relatively simple elements can be combined into some very ingenious puzzles. Also like Cut the Rope, all of the action is crystal clear to see and understand, and the colorful graphics (especially on the iPad’s HD version) and very chill Aussie soundtrack make this one a pleasure to play through. It’s well polished, excellently designed, and for a 2D platforming fan like myself, every new stage is like another dish at an all-you-can-eat jumping buffet. And every level is timed and rewarded with gold, silver, or bronze medals, so there’s lots of drive, even once you’ve conquered a simple one, to go back and do it perfectly the first time around.

Run Roo Run is a great title, and shows that 5th Cell has really fallen in love with Apple’s platform (of course, the big sales from Scribblenauts probably didn’t hurt that emotion, either). It’s available for 99 cents on iPhone, or for $1.99 on the iPad, with over 420 levels included, more showing up every week, and the option to buy some extra power-ups or convenience items via in-app purchase. Don’t pass this one up, whatever you do.

Daily iPad App: Run Roo Run HD originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Electronista noticed this morning that shipping estimates for the iPhone 4S have dropped to three to five business days for all capacities.

This shows that the despite the ongoing rollout of the iPhone 4S in other countries, production has caught up to meet demand.

If you’ve been waiting to upgrade because of thin supplies since its release and the holiday season, now is a good time to consider ordering one.

iPhone 4S ship times drop to 3-5 days originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We often hear about iPhone sales during Apple’s quarterly earnings report, but we don’t talk about secondary sales very much. This is the market where used iPhones in various conditions are bought and sold. I’ve been an active participant in this exchange, often selling my old iPhone or iPad to get the current year’s model.

AllThingsD details a recent Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) report which reveals that 53 percent of iPhone 4S owners got rid their old handset to buy the new one. These re-purposed handsets were predominantly iPhones (49 percent), followed by BlackBerry (21 percent) and Android (15 percent) phones. Interestingly enough, a lot of the iPhones (31 percent) were gifted, and a smaller percentage (18 percent) were sold.

It’s not only advantageous for customers who can get an iPhone for less than retail (I sold my 16 GB iPhone 4 for $275), but carriers benefit, too. Over 89 percent of these gifted iPhones will likely be activated on a wireless carrier. Since the launch of the iPhone 4S, CIRP believes almost 11 percent of iPhone activations are second-hand phones.

CIRP co-founder Mike Levin says secondary sales of the iPhone is a mixed blessing for Apple. The company loses sales because people buy used instead of new phones. Apple, however, gets fresh new customers who will purchase content from the iTunes and the App Store. They may also stay iPhone customers and buy the next model when it’s released.

Secondary iPhone market is thriving originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While iMovie for iOS is a technological tour-de-force that somehow crams a complete video editor into the limited real estate of an iOS app, it does have its Achilles Heel — a less-than-stellar ability to work with audio. Macworld author, TidBits Editor, and all-around nice guy Jeff Carlson, who also just happens to have written The iMovie ’11 Project Book for Peachpit Press, has written a nice roundup of audio workarounds to help you with iMovie for iOS.

While I won’t spoil the three well-written tips by repeating them here, I will give you an idea of Jeff’s hints for getting the most out of audio in iMovie. The first addresses the fact that navigating the song list in iMovie’s Audio pane is incredibly tedious. To fix this, Carlson suggests creating Smart Playlists in iTunes that ignore those songs with DRM that can’t be used in iMovie videos.

Carlson also notes that iMovie for iOS has a limited number of sound effects. This can be remedied by finding audio files on your Mac that you wish to use in your movie (from iMovie sound effects or GarageBand), opening them in QuickTime Player, exporting them to your hard drive, and then adding the file to your iTunes library before syncing to your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad.

Jeff’s final tip deals with the iMovie for iOS problem of not being able to use a song track shorter than 60 seconds in length as a background song. If you’ve needed a workaround for this, check out the post on Macworld or consider buying his book.

Audio workarounds in iMovie for iOS originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here’s a basic Apple geek test. Spudger. If the word means nothing to you, move on to the next post.

Okay, just us now?

If the term spudger means something to you — and you know in your inner geek heart that it does because you’re still here reading — just wait ’til you hear what we have for you.

TidBITS reports that the folks at Newer Technologies have re-invented the spudger! The soft, thin, pliable manipulation tool has been reimagined as an ultra thin, stainless steel weapon of Mac destruction. It’s handmade in Italy of the finest rare Tuscan steel, so you can be assured of years of quality spudging (OK, I made up the “rare Tuscan steel” bit. So sue me.)

Retailing for US$9.99 (slighly less street price), the iSesamo (great name, yes?) is reportedly “ideal for pros and DIYers.” I haven’t had an opportunity to try one out, but the TidBITs write-up suggests that it easily surpasses the standard nylon units I have in my toolbox.

As a final note, a TUAW investigative team has discovered that CultOfSpudger.com, TUSpudgerW.com, 9to5Spudger.com, and SpudgerRumors.com are all available for anyone who wishes to create a dedicated spudger blog.

Reinventing the Spudger originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You’ll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what’s happening in the Apple world.

You can listen to today’s Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here.

No Flash? Click here to listen.

Daily Update for January 17, 2012 originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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