Iphone Updates

At AllThingsD, tech columnist Walt Mossberg compiles a comprehensive list of apps for watching network and cable TV shows on iPad, including iTunes, Netflix, Hulu Plus, HBO GO, MLB.com At Bat, ABC Player, XFINITY TV, and WatchESPN. Mossberg notes that iPad’s many viewing app options — along with its thin and light design, immersive interface, large screen, and strong battery performance — make it “by far the best tablet for TV watching now.”

CNET makes the new 27-inch iMac an Editors’ Choice (4/5 stars), writing that it “offers the best performance among current all-in-ones, along with the largest display, the best design, and exciting potential from its Thunderbolt ports.” Citing iMac’s competitive performance and price, CNET concludes that “for digital media professionals, or others in need of a fast, serious-minded all-in-one with a large display, we can make no other recommendation.”

With its “souped-up” CPU and graphics performance, beautiful design, and best-in-class display, the 27-inch iMac earns a 9/10 rating and an Editors’ Choice award from Computer Shopper. Noting iMac’s strong productivity performance and excellent gaming capabilities, reviewer Jonathan Rougeout concludes: “In almost every way, this top-of-the-line model beats every other all-in-one on the market.”

Apple today released a developer preview of
Mac OS X Lion, which takes some of the best ideas from iPad and brings them back to the Mac for the eighth major release of the world’s most advanced operating system. Lion features Mission Control, an innovative new view of everything running on your Mac; Launchpad, a new home for all your Mac apps; full-screen apps that use the entire Mac display; and new Multi-Touch gestures. Lion also includes the Mac App Store, the best place to discover, install, and automatically update Mac apps. The Lion preview is available to Mac Developer Program members through the Mac App Store today, and the final version of Lion will ship to customers this summer.

Apple today updated the industry-leading MacBook Pro family with next-generation processors and graphics, high-speed Thunderbolt I/O technology, and a new FaceTime HD camera. Featuring the very latest dual-core and quad-core Intel Core processors, the entire MacBook Pro line is up to twice as fast as the previous generation. The new 13-inch MacBook Pro, 15-inch MacBook Pro, and 17-inch MacBook Pro are available now on the Apple Online Store and at your favorite Apple Retail Store.

At the 83rd Annual Academy Awards, Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter received the Oscar for film editing for their work on “The Social Network.” Wall and Baxter recently spoke to Vanity Fair’s John Lopez about the digital revolution in filmmaking and how they use Final Cut Pro to craft a perfect scene from dozens of takes. Says Wall: “When I switched to Final Cut, it made me rethink how I work….I love it because it’s so flexible. It doesn’t force you into a way of thinking about editing.”

Apple today announced that Random House, Inc., the largest trade book publisher in the US, has made its full catalog of 17,000 ebooks available on Apple’s iBookstore, including bestsellers by Stieg Larsson, John Grisham, Dan Brown, Danielle Steel, Laura Hillenbrand, Cormac McCarthy, Lee Child, and many more of the world’s preeminent authors. With the addition of Random House, the iBookstore now offers ebooks from all six major trade publishers and thousands of independent publishers.

Apple today introduced iOS 4.3, the latest version of the world’s most advanced mobile operating system. New features in iOS 4.3 include faster Safari mobile browsing performance with the Nitro JavaScript engine; iTunes Home Sharing; enhancements to AirPlay; the choice of using the iPad side switch to either lock the screen rotation or mute the audio; and the Personal Hotspot feature for sharing an iPhone 4 cellular data connection over Wi-Fi.

Apple today introduced iPad 2, featuring an entirely new design that is 33 percent thinner and up to 15 percent lighter than the original iPad while maintaining the same 9.7-inch LED-backlit LCD screen and up to 10 hours of battery life. iPad 2 also features Apple’s new dual-core A5 processor for blazing-fast performance and stunning graphics and now includes two cameras — a front-facing VGA camera for FaceTime and Photo Booth and a rear-facing camera that captures 720p HD video. iPad 2 is available in black or white, features models that run on AT&T’s and Verizon’s 3G networks, and introduces the innovative iPad 2 Smart Cover in a range of colors. iPad 2 will be available on March 11 in the US through the Apple Online Store, Apple Retail Stores, and select Apple Authorized Resellers.

Computer Shopper gives the new 13-inch MacBook Pro a score of 9.3/10 and makes it their Editors’ Choice. Reviewer Jonathan Rougeot writes that MacBook Pro “continued to trounce its competition in our battery test” and notes that the processor performance “far exceeded expectations.” He concludes: “…once again, Apple takes a notebook that we already loved and makes it even better.”

PC Magazine reviewer Cisco Cheng calls the new 15-inch MacBook Pro “the fastest, most technologically advanced laptop to grace our Lab’s benches.” Highlighting standout features like its “mind-blowingly fast” performance, improved battery life, ultrafast Thunderbolt input/output connection, and new FaceTime HD camera, Cheng calls MacBook Pro a “technological tour de force.”

CNET reviewer Scott Stein writes that “the new 13-inch MacBook Pro’s significant CPU updates and fantastic battery life make it one of the top laptops we’ve reviewed.” Stein likes the device’s “excellent” ergonomics, keyboard, and large Multi-Touch trackpad, as well as its seamless metal body, which “compared with other flexy laptops…feels like modern art.” He adds: “…for the price and the size, it’s hard to beat what the 13-inch MacBook Pro offers.”

To make a critical Christmas 2010 release date for their Oscar-nominated film, “True Grit,” the Coens negotiated several tight turns in post-production with a custom Final Cut Pro editing workflow honed over the course of their last several features. Says Joel Coen: “We had to get the movie done in a very short period of time. Final Cut Pro, because of its efficiencies and speed, enabled us to meet that deadline.”

iLife ‘11 is Barron’s Gadget of the Week, and reviewer Tiernan Ray gives it all 5 stars, saying iLife “makes it a breeze to polish and present photos, movies and music.” Ray particularly likes the “handsome coffee-table book” he created from his vacation photos using iPhoto, and he also highlights iMovie trailers and GarageBand Groove Matching.

Apple today announced that it expects sales of its new Apple TV to top one million units later this week. The new Apple TV offers the simplest way to watch your favorite HD movies and TV shows and stream content from Netflix, YouTube, Flickr, and MobileMe — all on your HD TV, for the breakthrough price of just $99. iTunes users are now renting and purchasing over 400,000 TV episodes and over 150,000 movies per day.

Apple today announced that the Mac App Store is now open for business with more than a thousand free and paid apps. The Mac App Store brings the revolutionary App Store experience to the Mac, so you can find great new apps, buy them using your iTunes account, and download and install them in just one step. The Mac App Store is available for Snow Leopard users through Software Update as part of Mac OS X v10.6.6.

Apple announced today that over one million apps have been downloaded from the Mac App Store in the first day. “We’re amazed at the incredible response the Mac App Store is getting,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Developers have done a great job bringing apps to the store and users are loving how easy and fun the Mac App Store is.”

New York Times columnist David Carr writes that iPad “renews the romance of reading,” citing media apps like BBC News, New York Post, and Reuters for their effective treatment of content. Carr also commends the Instapaper app for its ability “to archive Web pages for offline reading in an iPad optimized format that makes reading long-form content a pleasure.”

At the Digits blog in The Wall Street Journal, Ian Sherr reports that the technology behind Epic Games hits like “Batman: Arkham Asylum” and “Gears of War 3? is coming to iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad game developers this week “in another sign that mobile gaming is booming on Apple’s platforms.” Sherr quotes Epic co-founder Mark Rein, who calls the App Store “the most vibrant market for mobile gaming.”

The San Jose Mercury News reports on a unique musical workshop led by Smule co-founder Ge Wang for ten music students from the Community School of Music and Arts in Mountain View, CA. The students got a group lesson in playing digital violin on iPads — held against their shoulders, like actual violins — running Smule’s new Magic Fiddle app. Said student Kevin Murray, 10, who plays drums and saxophone: “I don’t play anything like the fiddle. It’s cool. It’s a great idea.”

Apple announced that the Mac App Store will open for business on Thursday, January 6. By bringing the revolutionary App Store experience to Mac OS X, the Mac App Store makes discovering, installing, and updating Mac apps easier than ever. The Mac App Store will be available in 90 countries at launch and will feature paid and free apps in categories like Education, Games, Graphics and Design, Lifestyle, Productivity, and Utilities.

Apple today announced that iOS 4.2, the latest version of the world’s most advanced mobile operating system, is available today for download for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. iOS 4.2 brings over 100 new features from iOS 4.0, 4.1, and 4.2 to iPad, including Multitasking, Folders, Unified Inbox, Game Center, AirPlay, and AirPrint. “iOS 4.2 makes the iPad a completely new product, just in time for the holiday season,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Once again, the iPad with iOS 4.2 will define the target that other tablets will aspire to, but very few, if any, will ever be able to hit.”

Macworld reviewer Jason Snell writes that with “the new 11- and 13-inch laptops, the MacBook Air product line has finally come of age.” Snell praises the notebook’s all-flash storage, full-size keyboard, Multi-Touch trackpad, and high-resolution display. He concludes: “…those who value smallness and lightness above all else will find the 13-inch model more tempting than ever. And that 11-inch dynamo, the smallest and lightest laptop in Apple history, the one with the $999 price tag? It’s quite possibly the most desirable laptop Apple has ever made.”

Apple today introduced the Apple Store in China, the easiest way to shop online for Apple products including the revolutionary iPhone 4 and the magical iPad. Apple’s online store in China features free shipping, free personalized engraving on any iPod or iPad, and the ability to custom configure any Mac with just a few clicks. The online Apple Store also offers a wide selection of third-party products and is the only place online to buy the iPod nano (PRODUCT) RED.

Walt Mossberg at AllThingsD.com reviews both the 11- and 13-inch models of the MacBook Air and writes that the “gorgeous, very thin and light, but very sturdy” computers “really do offer the different, more iPad-like experience Apple claims they do.” Noting their efficient flash storage, high screen resolution, strong battery life, near-instant wake from standby, and full-size keyboard, Mossberg concludes: “Overall, Apple has done a nice job in making these new MacBook Airs feel more like iPads and iPhones without sacrificing their ability to work like regular computers.”

iPad is available today at over 2000 Verizon Wireless Stores nationwide. Verizon Wireless is offering three bundles — all featuring an iPad Wi-Fi model and a Verizon MiFi 2200 Intelligent Mobile Hotspot — for a suggested retail price of $629.99 for a 16GB iPad with Wi-Fi and MiFi, $729.99 for a 32GB iPad with Wi-Fi and MiFi, and $829.99 for a 64GB iPad with Wi-Fi and MiFi. Verizon Wireless is offering a monthly access plan to iPad customers of up to 1GB of data for just $20 a month.

All three iPad Wi-Fi + 3G models are available today at more than 2200 AT&T Stores. AT&T will offer customers 3G pre-paid data plans for iPad, complete with Apple’s easy on-device activation and management. All iPad data plans are available without a term contract and include unlimited access to AT&T’s more than 23,000 domestic Wi-Fi Hot Spots.

The New York Times reports that iPad is helping people like 7-year-old Owen Cain, who has a debilitating motor-neuron disease, to communicate with friends, parents, and caregivers. That’s thanks in part to the iPad’s built-in accessibility features, as well as its intuitive Multi-Touch interface. An advocate for providing mobile devices to people with disabilities, Massachusetts Representative Edward J. Markey says “Apple is an outlier when it comes to devices that are accessible right out of the box.”

The Bento 3 Event Planner — now available for download — is a fast, free, and easy way to plan your events on Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Perfect for planning meetings, conferences, weddings, and parties, the Bento 3 Event Planner lets you track contacts, vendors, tasks, expenses, locations, and more — and link them to any event. This download includes a free trial of Bento 3 for Mac. Bento for iPhone and Bento for iPad are both sold separately.

Popular Science reviews both the 11- and 13-inch MacBook Air models, noting that “after using one of the new MacBook Airs for an extended period of time, you go back to your old laptop. And it feels like it has suddenly contracted elephantiasis.” Reviewer John Mahoney also mentions that the MacBook Air handles most everyday tasks with “effortless speed,” and says that it’s “the perfect size.” Of the 13-inch model, Reviewer Mike Haney writes that “once you use it — on your lap, in your bag — it just feels like the way a computer should be.”

Apple Corps, EMI, and Apple today announced that the Beatles, the most influential and beloved rock band in history, is now available for the first time on the iTunes Store. Starting today, the group’s 13 legendary remastered studio albums are available for purchase and download on iTunes worldwide, either as albums or as individual songs. Said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO, “We love the Beatles and are honored and thrilled to welcome them to iTunes.” He added, “we are now realizing a dream we’ve had since we launched iTunes ten years ago.”

Apple has garnered yet another win in a customer satisfaction survey — this time it’s PC World conferring the honors onto Cupertino, as Apple has topped both the laptop and desktop categories for most reliable and well-supported computer products. PC World says that Apple also did well in its smartphone category (with, of course, the iPhone), but that the antenna issues and a few other problems with the iPhone kept it from being listed at the top of the category. Still, PC World has nothing but praise for Apple, which is well-known both for solid, perfectly built hardware and a software experience that rules out as many questions as possible.

This, of course, fits everything we’ve heard anecdotally about Apple in the past — while there are sometimes issues from computer to computer or in certain experiences at the Apple Store, most of Apple’s products are extremely reliable. Even when they’re not, 9 times out of 10 we’ll hear about Apple just outright replacing them for customers, under warranty or otherwise.

ASUS also joined Apple at the top of the survey for both desktops and notebooks, and down at the bottom, PC World says that Dell and HP both show “troubling” figures for customer support. Both of those companies still saw increased earnings this past year, but problems in their customer support departments and cheaply made hardware have earned them reputations for trouble.

Apple, ASUS top PC World satisfaction survey originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 29 Nov 2010 15:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple today announced that iOS 4.2, the latest version of the world’s most advanced mobile operating system, is available today for download for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. iOS 4.2 brings over 100 new features from iOS 4.0, 4.1, and 4.2 to iPad, including Multitasking, Folders, Unified Inbox, Game Center, AirPlay, and AirPrint. “iOS 4.2 makes the iPad a completely new product, just in time for the holiday season,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Once again, the iPad with iOS 4.2 will define the target that other tablets will aspire to, but very few, if any, will ever be able to hit.”

When Apple teased “Tomorrow is just another day. That you’ll never forget” on their home page yesterday I hoped it was going to be something really cool — like cloud-based iTunes or a subscription iTunes service. When the news began to leak out that the event was the Beatles coming to iTunes finally it was cool, but a day I’ll never forget? Nope.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to finally have the Beatles on iTunes, but Apple, lets keep this in check. For $149 and the click of a button it’s nice to get all of the Beatles tracks from iTunes if I want them, but most Beatles fans had the band’s entire discography ripped when MP3s started going mainstream back in 2001. Heck, hardcore fans probably had their tracks encoded at such high levels in Ogg Vorbis or FLAC that they needed a separate hard drive just to contain their Beatles tunes (and if they don’t yet, Amazon will help them out — today they lowered their Beatles Stereo Box Set to only $129).

Seven years ago a Beatles/iTunes announcement might have earned the “never forget” slogan, but not today in 2010. And while it’s only been three hours since the release, the iTunes Store music charts confirms that this isn’t the earth-shattering news it was made out to be. Not one Beatles song has cracked the Top 10 list yet, while a new song from Katy Perry or the Black Eyed Peas usually shoots up the charts within minutes of being released — and without taking up 40% of the real estate on the iTunes Music Store homepage or the front page of Apple.com like the Fab Four has.

I also want to point out that for all the hoopla over today’s “event” one thing that could have made it somewhat memorable is a Beatles-branded iPod touch. If a band-branded iPod is good enough for some guys from Dublin, surely a group of four lads from Liverpool deserve one too.

Beatles: glad to have you on iTunes. Apple: I’ve already forgotten something you said I wouldn’t. Wish I could remember what it was…

Today is just another day I will forget originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Turns out, when Apple announced it was a day you’d never forget, maybe it wasn’t talking about The Beatles. Last we heard, Google Voice was expected on the App Store “soon” … and now here it is. Apple has relented in the battle to allow Google Voice functionality on the iPhone, leaving Google open to release its own official app for the service.

It looks just as good as you’d expect — you can sign into the service from anywhere, access your voicemail or even send text messages or Google Voice calls, and get push notifications when you’ve got a new message incoming.

Obviously, you’ll need a Google Voice account to use the app, but those are free and easy enough to set up. The app is only available in the United States, according to its description, so those of you outside the country are out of luck (for now). It’s also probably not compatible with the iPad — the listing only says it’s available for the iPhone so far.

Our own Mike Rose & TJ Luoma [TJ comments below that he objects to the iPhone-only restriction on the app, as he would like to use it to send and receive SMS on the iPad or iPod touch] are jumping for joy on this one — we’ve got a lot of TUAW Google Voice fans, and having this functionality available on the iPhone is a very nice bonus even with the third-party apps already on the market. What are you waiting for? It’s here — go download!

Google Voice for iPhone is finally out on the App Store originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 14:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As you probably know, Apple has secured exclusive digital rights to The Beatles’ catalog. But for how long? According to All Things Digital, the deal extends into 2011.

EMI Music spokesman Dylan Jones told All Things D that Apple’s deal reaches into 2011 and beyond January 1st. He did confirm that the exclusivity will eventually end, but he didn’t say when. For the time being, distributors like Amazon, Spotify, Rhapsody and the Zune will just have to wait.

Writing for All Things D, Peter Kafka wonders if the band will renew the exclusivity deal or even walk away from digital entirely when it expires. The latter seems crazy to us. Paul, Ringo et al apparently got serious about digital when Rock Band: The Beatles came out. We’re betting the group has joined the digital revolution for good.

Apple’s exclusive digital rights to The Beatles extend into 2011 originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Business Insider recently surveyed 500 iPad users about their habits with some interesting results. Among the most interesting is that nearly 80 percent of respondents (77.6) said they use their iPads more often now than they did when they first got them, suggesting that, after the novelty had worn off, customers continued to use their iPads. Even more so, in fact.

The study also found that 71 percent of participants use their iPads between one and five hours per day. Additionally, 28.9 percent said that their iPad has become their primary computer. Personally, I use mine as a supplement, but my wife hasn’t touched our MacBook Pro since the iPad came home.

Most participants reported spending the bulk of their iPad time browsing the Web (37.7 percent) while 39.4 percent claim to have downloaded between 20 and 50 apps (most people paid for about 10 apps).

There’s more, of course, which you can read here. It’s an interesting study with a decent-sized sample.

iPad owners’ usage increasing over time originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 15 Nov 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple Corps, EMI, and Apple today announced that the Beatles, the most influential and beloved rock band in history, is now available for the first time on the iTunes Store. Starting today, the group’s 13 legendary remastered studio albums are available for purchase and download on iTunes worldwide, either as albums or as individual songs. Said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO, “We love the Beatles and are honored and thrilled to welcome them to iTunes.” He added, “we are now realizing a dream we’ve had since we launched iTunes ten years ago.”

Popular Science reviews both the 11- and 13-inch MacBook Air models, noting that “after using one of the new MacBook Airs for an extended period of time, you go back to your old laptop. And it feels like it has suddenly contracted elephantiasis.” Reviewer John Mahoney also mentions that the MacBook Air handles most everyday tasks with “effortless speed,” and says that it’s “the perfect size.” Of the 13-inch model, Reviewer Mike Haney writes that “once you use it — on your lap, in your bag — it just feels like the way a computer should be.”

Reiner Knizia’s classic Egyptian-themed auction and tile-collecting game Ra is not an easy one to figure out. When playing around a table, you need to collect the right tiles, look over to see what other people are collecting, keep an eye on the status of the sun/bid tiles and, in general, process a lot of changing information. If you enjoy this gameplay but don’t like setting up the game or dealing with scorekeeping, the new universal Ra app is sure to please, especially at US$4.99 (it debuted at $6.99, but quickly came down).

Ra for iOS was designed by Sage Board Games, the same people who brought us the excellent Medici and have a lot of wonderful board games in their “convert to app” sights. Because it’s such a popular game in the Eurogame community, a lot of people have been waiting for Ra, and it kind of feels like this is an important app for the developers. If it’s a success, then we expect more board game apps to come. If not, then what happens? We have no inside information on the company’s finances or strategic plan, but it’s probably not cheap to produce an app like this, and no one wants to lose money — even if they’re making things they love.

Does Ra make the grade? We think so, but read on to see what its like to get a bit of desert auction sand in your iPad or iPhone.

Continue reading App Review: Reiner Knizia’s Ra

App Review: Reiner Knizia’s Ra originally appeared on TUAW on Sat, 13 Nov 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Wall Street Journal is reporting on an interesting effect of Apple’s iAd platform — it seems to be helping the competition.

Just a few months after being announced, iAds began appearing in the U.S., and a global launch began earlier this month. Meanwhile, Apple and the Denstu Group signed a deal to bring iAds to Japan. All of this activity has garnered a lot of attention for the mobile advertising space in general, and several providers are seeing greater sales.

“…ad executives say Apple’s entry into the market is giving them a boost,” the Journal reports. “That’s because iAds has gotten big marketers to pay attention to mobile advertising in the first place.”

Of course, the only evidence of a correlation is anecdotal. It’s quite likely that Apple’s high-profile entry into the space has generated interest, but we haven’t seen empirical data to support that theory. Still, Apple does bring a bit of cachet and sexy to mobile marketing. The true test will be to see who’s still standing in 5 years.

[Via AppleInsider]

iAds helping all mobile advertising take off? originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 12 Nov 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Following today’s Ping Twitter integration, many on Twitter started blasting the overly long Ping URLs. Now, MacRumors points out that one of their readers speculates that Apple could use its own iTun.es link shortener to help fit Ping links into Twitter’s character limitation.

The www.itun.es web domain currently forwards to Apple.com. MacRumors did some digging and found out that Apple has been the owner of itun.es since December 2006 when it was registered by MarkMonitor, the brand management firm Apple uses to register all of its domains. MacRumors notes that since Apple has owned the domain for almost four years it is unlikly they bought it specifically for a link shortener purpose, but with today’s Ping Twitter integration it would allow the company to put the domain to good use.

Apple could use ‘iTun.es’ domain as link shortener originally appeared on TUAW on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apparently there is a market for Flash on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch, judging by the success that the third party browser Skyfire (US$2.99) had in its first weekend in the App Store. The Skyfire browser enables Flash video playback by converting Flash content to HTML5, which is playable on the iPhone. Using adaptive streaming technology, users can view full Flash pages on their phones, and have up to eight different browser windows open at the same time. While it sold so quickly at first that they couldn’t keep their servers running smoothly, Skyfire ended up selling more than 300,000 copies of the browser in the first weekend alone, grossing over a million dollars. After Apple takes their cut of the sales, that leaves them with somewhere in the neighborhood of $630,000, quickly quieting those who asked how they would make any money with the new browser.

With HTML5 here to stay (for a while, at least) and Flash currently a non-player in the iPhone market, it looks like the Skyfire browser found a rather large piece of its target market during the first weekend alone. After all the animosity between Adobe and Apple, though, it’s hard to think that even a number like this will help them find common ground. You can watch a video of Skyfire in action after the break.

Continue reading Skyfire browser earns $1 million in first weekend

Skyfire browser earns $1 million in first weekend originally appeared on TUAW on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The iPad is rapidly moving beyond its role as consumer device and infiltrating the enterprise. A new survey conducted by BoxTone Mobile Service Management indicates that three-quarters of corporations will deploy the Apple tablet in the next year. Twenty-five percent are deploying the slates already.

IT professionals and executives at 800 companies were interviewed for the survey. The combination of the iPad’s hardware execution with its highly readable capacitive touchscreen, which doesn’t require a stylus, enables a more natural and intuitive user interface than previous attempts at tablet computers. Just as it did with the original iPod, Apple has kept the system deliberately limited and focused rather than trying to stuff every possible piece of functionality into it. While this frustrates some of the geekier folks among us, it helps to ensure that the parts that are included work better.

On top of this portable, wireless platform, Apple has created a highly touch optimized interface that allows software developers to produce applications that enable smoother interactivity and collaboration.

Survey respondents also cited the new management features in the imminent iOS 4.2 release that allow for improved enterprise security. All of this allows staff to work amongst themselves and with customers to see new possibilities in the information. Of course, all of this depends on developers coming up with excellent software. By all accounts, Apple has provided an excellent development platform and tools for doing this even if its approval policies for distribution have been a bit wonky. The end result seems to be that IT departments are more willing to allow this new device into their ecosystems than any previous consumer oriented platform.

iPad adoption increasing among corporations originally appeared on TUAW on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cloud memory service Evernote has reached 5 million users and continues to grow, according to an official statement on the company’s blog. The service is gaining tens of thousands of new users per day and has recently seen its highest daily revenue from premium users, plus big jumps off of Apple platforms, on Windows, Android, and BlackBerry. The five millionth user also marks the fastest million users the company has earned, as you can see from the blocked-off sections in the chart above. That’s pretty phenomenal growth; it’s on an exponential scale, too, so there’s probably more where that came from.

Meanwhile, Evernote also promises updates are coming on the Mac, iPhone, and iPad side of things. Just a few weeks ago, the company raised a round of US$20 million from some venture funding. 2010 has been a good year for Evernote — we’ll have to see what happens in 2011.

[via TechCrunch]

Evernote hits 5 million users originally appeared on TUAW on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Bento 3 Event Planner — now available for download — is a fast, free, and easy way to plan your events on Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Perfect for planning meetings, conferences, weddings, and parties, the Bento 3 Event Planner lets you track contacts, vendors, tasks, expenses, locations, and more — and link them to any event. This download includes a free trial of Bento 3 for Mac. Bento for iPhone and Bento for iPad are both sold separately.

I’ve been using the Washington Post for iPad app since it was released earlier this week. It’s nice to see the Post jump into the dedicated iPad app competition, but while there are some things to like about the app, there is also a lot I find extremely disappointing.

The good first. Most, but not all of the Post is here. The reporters, bloggers, and columnists are in full force. The app content updates frequently, and there is an excellent multimedia section with both images and video. The Post has embraced social media, and you can see what people on Twitter and Facebook are saying about the big stories. When you bring up a story, you can also see stories from other media, like NPR and the Christian Science Monitor. That’s a good idea, and lets you see a range of coverage on a subject. The Post calls this Live Topic and it’s a clever innovation.

Now, ahem, on to the bad. This app has the ugliest, most confusing layout I have ever seen. The screens are very busy. Nothing is intuitive, and there is no help or video explaining how to navigate. The designers of this app appear to have decided to invent their own GUI, throwing away just about every convention ever invented to make navigation easy. It’s impossible to read a story full screen without other elements intruding, either ads or Twitter feeds or who knows what. Comments about this design on the app store are overwhelmingly negative.

Continue reading Washington Post for iPad is a bit hard on the eyes

Washington Post for iPad is a bit hard on the eyes originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 10 Nov 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple has inked a deal with the Dentsu Group that will bring iAd to Japan. Dentsu subsidiary cyber communications, inc. (cci) will take over the selling and “creative execution” of iAds in Japan, with a premiere date set for “early 2011.” Under this arrangement, Apple will be limited to hosting and delivery. That’s a huge change, as Apple has maintained tight control on U.S. iAd spots, occasionally to the peril of some huge deals.

It was only recently that iAds began to roll out globally. Meahwhile, Apple has begun building a new office space for iAd team members in New York City.

Congratulations and good luck to both Apple and Dentsu Group.

Dentsu Group and Apple bring iAd to Japan originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 10 Nov 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Today on TUAW TV Live, I’ll be talking about one topic that should be very timely — iOS 4.2. Many of us in the Apple blogging biz are hearing that 4.2 might be released on Friday morning, bringing such features as multitasking, GameCenter, AirPrint wireless printing (see post about the crippling of that feature), and AirPlay to the iPad, and a ton of changes to the iPhone and iPod touch.

You can join in on the discussion of the newest update to iOS (and the first major software update for iPad since its introduction) today on TUAW TV Live. Just come back to TUAW.com at about 5 PM ET (2 PM PT) for complete instructions on how to join the chat and livestream.

TUAW TV Live at 5 PM ET: The iOS 4.2 preview show originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 10 Nov 2010 13:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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For corporations who want to make sure that employees are following Acceptable Use Policies or parents who want to make sure that their kids aren’t texting while driving, there’s now a solution. Florida-based Retina-X Studios has announced Mobile Spy for iPhone 4, a combination of an iPhone app and a service that allow anxious parents and business owners to track usage of the phone without the user’s knowledge.

According to Retina-X, you install the Mobile Spy app onto the phone you wish to track. It reloads at every restart, and has no icon or screen — it’s running completely in background. While it’s running, Mobile Spy captures call activity, SMS text messages, the location of the user (updated every 30 minutes), contacts stored and added to the phone, all inbound and outbound email activity, all websites visited, and all photos and videos taken by the phone. All of that information is then uploaded stealthily to the Mobile Spy servers. The customer can log in and view the activities in almost real time.

Continue reading iPhone 4 Mobile Spy lets you keep an eye on employee iPhone usage

iPhone 4 Mobile Spy lets you keep an eye on employee iPhone usage originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 09 Nov 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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