Everything News
Instacast 2.0 is a significant update to one of the most popular iPhone podcast clients. It changes the user interface and user experience while lowering the entry price and adding an in-app purchase for additional functionality. Both of those things have caused some controversy. Our own Seth Clifford, co-host of iPhone & iPad Live and Iterate is clearly on the "ticked off" side of this particular equation. And he's clearly got his Hulk pants on for this one.
Apple appears to be in the early -- yet strangely public -- stages of testing Notification Center-style banner alerts on iCloud.com, the web portal they provide for remote email, calendar, and contact access.
Apple's new iPad will be launching in 30 additional regions on May 11 and 12, according to an update to localized versions of Apple's website.
Refurbished iPad 2 and original iPad models sold through Apple have had their prices cut by between $20 and $50 recently. For the cost of a brand-spanking-new Retina iPad, you could get a gently-loved iPad 2 with four times the storage and possibly a lot more battery life.
AT&T Mobility's CEO Ralph de la Vega recently confirmed that he's "very comfortable" with a family data plan they're readying. This would allow multiple devices and accounts to share the same data bucket, much like existing family plans for voice minutes.
T-Mobile recently announced the details their plans to upgrade to LTE in 2013 thanks to a chunk of the 1900 MHz spectrum they earned through the busted-up AT&T deal. Those upgrades will also include enhancements on HSPA+, which should -- finally -- support the iPhone.
Apple has released information on the security updates that were covered in the recent release of iOS 5.1.1. When it was originally released yesterday, all that we knew was that there were various bug fixes. This update actually covers some important security fixes too for Mobile Safari and WebKit based browsers in general.
Apple is supposedly looking into developing a way for multiple users to access one iPad with separate accounts and home screens. In response to an emailed suggestion for the feature to be added, Apple said that it was a known issue being investigated by engineering.
It's finally happened. If the latest numbers can be believed, smartphone adoption now rests at 50.4% of the overall mobile market, which is up from 47.8% in December. That means more people in the U.S. now own smartphones than feature phones. The tide has turned. The paradigm has shifted. We're the majority.
Most players on iPhone and iPad tend to spend more money than those playing on an Android device -- five times more, to be exact. This according to a Newzoo study that examined the growth of mobile gaming in Europe and North America. It showed that there are now 101 million American mobile gamers, 69% of which are playing on smartphones and 21% play on tablets. Of them, iPhone claimed 19 million gamers, which is 28% of everyone that plays games on a smartphone. Surprisingly, the iPod touch managed to snag nearly as many with 18 million players. As you might expect, the iPad rocks the tablet gaming world with 12.7 million gamers (a 60% slice of the whole tablet pie).
