Microsoft has rolled out its popular MSN app to the USA and Canada. It was originally launched at the end of January as a UK only release. The MSN app brings you all of the latest news, sports, entertainment and much more form the Microsoft network in a beautiful magazine style layout on your iPad.

MSN is now available on your iPad – easily swipe to find your favorite news, sports entertainment, autos and money articles & videos in one place. Easily share what you find with your friends on Facebook,Twitter or e-mail a link to the article. Of course you can view articles, photos and videos in either portrait or landscape modes with MSN for iPad. Need to dig deeper on something you just read? We’ve built Bing right into the top of the app for easy searching.

Free – Download Now

Apple will announce the iPad 3 in the first week of March according to All Things D, which has a superb track record when it comes to the timing of Apple events. Apple typically holds these types of events on a Tuesday or Wednesday, making March 6 or 7 likely targets. Apple iPad launches have so far been on Fridays, so possibilities include March 16 and 23.

Sources say the company has chosen the first week in March to debut the successor to the iPad 2 and will do so at one of its trademark special events. The event will be held in San Francisco, presumably at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Apple’s preferred location for big announcements like these. No word yet on a street date for the iPad 3 (assuming that’s what it’s called), though my guess is retail availability will follow roughly the same schedule as that of the iPad 2: available for purchase a week or so after the event.

The iPad 3 is widely expected to have a similar form factor to the currently available iPad 2. The main differences are thought to be on the inside with a faster processor, improved graphics performance and the much sought after Retina display. That would give the iPad 3 a screen resolution of 2048 x 1536 at 9.7-inches.

Features like a quad-core processor and LTE networking have been the subject of conflicting rumors.

Come event day, what are you hoping to see?

Source: All Things D

Amazon has joined the trend set by Samsung in knocking Apple in its commercials. Amazon’s latest commercial for its range of Kindle devices goes all out to make the point that you can buy three Kindle devices for the cost of one iPad. That would be two Kindle Fire tablets and one Kindle which would come to a total cost of $477.

This is not the first time that Amazon has made comparisons with the iPad. In a previous Kindle commercial, Amazon made the point that the Kindle was easier to read in direct sunlight, is smaller, lighter and less expensive than Apple’s iPad too. This time it is purely about the price and no mention of feature comparisons.

The Kindle Fire does appear to be the closest competitor to the iPad so far. It is extremely cheap to buy at just $199 however it also lacks a lot of the main features that the iPad has to offer. It will be interesting to see how it is selling if Amazon ever reveals any figures.

Source: TNW

And queue the supposed case-leaks for the iPad 3, one of the traditional sings of impending Apple-pocalypse that every new device, real and imagined, has to go through before it gets announced, much less launched. These particular cases, when compared to an iPad 2 cases, seems to show some small, subtle differences between the two, as highlighted in the images above. We’ve also got some more rumors on both graphics power and chipset power — or lack thereof.

First up, that supposed iPad 3 case, picture above. Here’s what they have to say:

1. You can see here that the mounts for the logic board are very different, which means the logic board shape will be different allowing for . . . .

2. More battery. The width of where the logic board sits on the iPad 2 appears much larger than that of the i.Pad 3. We have long heard that the iPad 3 was going to provide longer battery life, and this back housing seems to support that.

3. The camera is different. It is hard to make a judgment just by looking at the casing, but what we can expect is a different camera on the iPad 3 than what we had on the 2.

4. LCD will be different than what we have had before. Whether or not it will be the super screen we have seen reported will have to wait. But the different mounting does mean that the LCD has been redesigned at the very least.

We’ve heard nothing but conflicting rumors about this, some saying it’s slightly thicker either to make extra room for LTE and more battery power, or to properly light that big 2048×1536 Retina display screen. Others say it’s the same thickness as the iPad 2, no difference at all.

The Verge is also weighing in on the iPad 3, saying it will be powered by upcoming Apple’s A6 chipset but that the A6 chipset would not be quad-core as previously rumored.

Instead, the iPad 3 will supposedly remain a dual-core device with a more powerful GPU inside. Given Apple’s tight control of both hardware and software, they’ve often been able to do more with less than other platforms, like Android, where the same software has to run on many different types of hardware. If Apple chooses to optimize for something specific, everything gets optimized for it. That’s part of the reason iOS devices, despite typically having less RAM and clock speed than competing Android devices, were still able t more than keep up and offer a smooth user experience. Don’t get us wrong, we’d love a couple gigs of RAM and a quad core, but Apple may not think it’s needed.

Once again, the only thing we know for certain is that none this is for certain but with the speculation of a March announcement gaining steam, we’ll hopefully soon find.

Sources: Repair Lab Blog, The Verge

Still waiting impatiently for iOS 5.1 to be released? Well, carrier profiles that were recently published by iPhone carriers in Japan, France, Greece, Finland, and Sweden indicate a March 9 release date for iOS 5.1.

Apple has been slowly trickling out betas for weeks and weeks now, more slowly and less regularly than is usual for an iOS beta cycle. In previous years, the new version of iOS would debut with the iPhone in June and the x.1 release with the iPod touch in September. This year, iOS 5 didn’t debut until October with the iPhone 4S, and there was no new iPod touch. So we’re in uncharted territory here.

Based on leaks from the beta, there also don’t seem to be many new features included in iOS 5.1. At least not yet. March 9 would put the iOS 5 release somewhere around the anticipated March release date for the iPad 3.

That starts to sound interesting. Apple has been known to hold back key features in the past, preferring to introduce them live on stage when unveiling a new device.

We’re hip deep in crazy rumor season right now, so it’s impossible to say what, if anything, carrier profile dates have to do with actual Apple plans. (Which can and have changed at the last moment anyway.) But things do look like they’re aligning nicely.

Source: Your Daily Mac

Hasbro has announced that its next release of Lazer Tag guns will use your iPhone or iPod touch to provide augmented reality and a heads up display. The Lazer Tag guns can accept an iPhone or iPod touch which is slotted into the gun in a purpose made holder. The user can then download an app from the App Store which can keep track of your gear, power levels and also setup multiplayer games with up to 23 other players.

To experience the LAZER TAG game, players download the free LAZER TAG app to their iPhone or iPod touch device, connect their device to their LAZER TAG blaster, and find themselves immersed in a world where video games and real life connect. Using either single or multi-player mode, players can engage in a LAZER TAG match featuring either real life worlds or virtual opponents. Each LAZER TAG blaster equipped with a device has a virtual firing range of over 250 feet and contains a ‘Heads Up Display’, or HUD, which allows players to keep track of their gear and remaining power, while also providing a view of the augmented reality targets and enemies in the area. A virtual leaderboard keeps track of each player’s profile and, with every successful mission, players will gain in-game access to upgradeable attacks, missions and gear. With LAZER TAG blasters, the stakes are high, the game is real. Don’t just play it, live it.

The Lazer Tag blasters will be available in August this year. A single gun will cost around $39.99. The app will be available as a few download.

Source: Engadget

The VooMoteZapper is a small accessory that clips into the dock connector of your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch and turns it into a universal infrared remote control for your TV and home theater components. Figuring out which remote controls which device, where to find batteries when they run dry, how to fix them when something goes wrong, or what to do when you can’t find them are just some of the problems we face. There are a lot of dedicated universal controls, from cheap dollar-store varieties to incredibly expensive, programable Harmony remotes already. All of them offer to make our lives simpler and easier by replacing the complexity of multiple remote controls with a single, simple solution. There are other iPhone remote adapters as well. But the VooMoteZapper looks to be one of the smallest and most elegant so far.

 Say goodbye to the days of switching from app to app or fumbling for the right remote.  The all-in-one VooMote Zapper software and hardware combine all you need for an entire home entertainment experience. With VooMote Zapper App, you don’t have to sacrifice customization for convenience. Consolidate all your remotes, TV Guide functionality (coming 2012), facebook and twitter (coming 2012) and still define custom remote layouts, programming and much more!

The VooMoteZapper can not only control single items of equipment but, like a Harmony remote, it also has the ability to be programmed with macro functions too. This enables you to program a string of commands under one function for example “Watch a movie”, this could then automatically turn on your TV, start your Blu-ray player and turn on your home theater surround sound system too.

Unlike the Harmony and other, dedicated, universal remotes, it harnesses the wonderful multitouch display of the iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad for its user interface, making it far more powerful and easier to use.

The downside of course is that you need to have an iOS 5-compatible device available in your living room all the time. If you have an extra iPod touch, it won’t be a problem. If you’re trying desperately to change channels and your spouse is talking on the iPhone or your child is playing on the iPad, it could be quite frustrating.

The VooMoteZapper is available online from the Apple Store for $69.95 and is available in a few different colors like red, green, blue, pink and gray.

$69.95 – Buy now

Via: 9to5 Mac

The Devium Dash Kickstarter project is a replacement stereo system for your car with one big difference. Its brain is your iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S. The unique Devium Dash is composed of two parts. The body sits in your car and provides 4 x 50w to power your speakers, two 2v Maxim preamps for front and rear/sub, as well as AUX-in and a video pass-through for an in-car display. The faceplate attaches magnetically to the body and docks your iPhone or iPod touch. This means that, for example, if Apple releases an iPhone 5 with a different form factor, you don’t need to replace the entire Devium Dash when you upgrade; you simply acquire a new faceplate adapter.

Once slotted into the Devium Dash, your iPhone or iPod is fully powered and you then have access to all your iTunes and streaming media, including services like Pandora and Netflix hands free Bluetooth calling, turn-by-turn navigation apps and, of course, Siri. Because the Devium Dash holds your device in landscape orientation, they are planning several custom apps such as a phone dialer and substitute “home screen” with app shortcuts to make the experience better. They’re also teasing a kit that will let your iPhone or iPod touch communicate with your car’s on-board computer.

Toss the CDs, chargers, and FM transmitters and show off your awesome piece of technology. Get your phone out of the cup holder, your pocket, or the unsightly windshield mount. Now there’s a place for everything. Dash, patent pending, is the convergence of the car stereo and your smartphone. Today’s smartphones provide a level of connectivity, accessibility, and usability that has not been possible in the car audio market Dash doesn’t require that you learn a new interface to use your stereo. You already know how to use your phone to access your music, your navigation app, your phone calls, and the incredible number of other apps in your phone’s marketplace.

Obviously the downside is that you have to remove your existing in-car entertainment system to fit the Devium Dash. They maintain this is no more difficult than installing a GPS unit, so if you are happy enough to do that, and the Devim Dash is compatible with your car model, then installation should be pretty simple.

Mobile devices like the iPhone and iPod touch are taking an increasingly important role in automotive technologies. Several prominent systems like Microsoft Sync and OnStar now interface with iOS apps, and electric cars like the Chevy Volt and Focus Electric provide for even higher levels of remote control. For people who have older cars, however, mobile device integration has been extremely limited. While focused on entertainment and travel assistance, products like the Devium Dash open the door to the next generation of driver experience.

The Kickstarter project has so far attracted pledges of over $20,000 which is just under the half way mark before it gets funded. It still has 45 days to run so we will keep a close eye on it to see if it makes it.

The Devium Dash is expected to ship in July, 2012.

Source: Kickstarter via @adora

Devium Dash – Daily-use Demo from Paul Lizer on Vimeo.

The rumors surrounding an Apple’s iTV television don’t seem to be slowing down, and now a report has come out suggesting that two of Canada’s top telecommunications companies, Rogers and Bell, are in talks to provide content for the still-unannounced, unreleased device.

“They’re not closed to doing it with one [company] or doing it with two,” said one source who is familiar with the talks. “They’re looking for a partner. They’re looking for someone with wireless and broadband capabilities.”

According to The Globe and Mail all three companies declined to comment on the matter, as expected. However, a second source claimed that both Rogers and Bell have the Apple television in their labs for testing.

The Globe and Mail also reported on iPhone and iPad based controls, Siri integration, and even Xbox Kinect-style remote gesture keyboards, though the sourcing of that information read more like analyst musings/wishful thinking than solid leaks.

Our living rooms are still a major battleground, with everyone from Apple to Google to Microsoft to Sony vying for the “third screen”, a connected television, to add to the desktop/laptop and phone/tablet experience. However, no one has yet taken a decisive lead.

Steve Jobs famously said in his biography that he “cracked the television interface”, and doing for television what the iPhone did for phones and the iPad for tablets would no doubt be welcome by many consumers who can’t find the shows they want, when they want, on who-knows which box and with what remote any more. However, providing content for an Apple television, especially network programming, sports, and live events, is a huge challenge in a industry run by a multitude of regional cable monopolies.

The iPad has overcome some of this via apps that function like channels — different television networks like ABC, studios like Sony, and sports leagues like MLB all have dedicated apps, some free, some requiring subscription, some requiring proof of existing cable service.

Apple’s current Apple TV set top box, instead of apps, has built-in partner channels including MLB, but no App Store and no way for users to pick and choose which ones they want.

If Apple is, in fact, working on content deals with the likes of Rogers, it sounds like that same partner channel approach might be where we’re headed for the Apple television. That’s great for content, but not for selection.

Source – The Globe and Mail

Kenisngton and Chelsea College in the UK is planning a new course which will be devoted entirely to taking photographs with the iPhone’s camera. The course in “iPhoneography” is thought to be the first ever course of its kind in the United Kingdom.

The college says many iPhone owners struggle to use the camera properly. Students will create images using the iPhone camera and a range of “apps”. Tutor, Richard Gray, said: “all you need is a passion for photography and a creative mind.” Students are required to have their own iPhone to do the course which will begin next month. “With the right apps and skills, the iPhone can be a powerful creative tool,” said Mr Gray. “It is a great levelling force within photography. No longer do you need expensive or complex equipment to produce great images,” he added.

Mr Gray is planning on teaching students the basic rules of composition, color and light as well as editing skills using various iOS apps. He sees the iPhone as revolutionising photography by the way it allows you to take a picture, edit it and post it online all within minutes; no matter where you are. Mr Gray will also be holding a free workshop at the Apple Store in Regent Street, London in the near future.

We’ve been saying that here at iMore for years, of course. We even have a dedicated iPhone photography forum available for you to discuss the subject, share tips, and start projects. With more to come!

Source: BBC

Apple is increasingly playing defense against lawsuits from Samsung and Motorola that seek to take iPhones and iPads off the shelves and out of stores. Apple is trying to do the same to their competitors, of course, but there’s a subtle difference — Samsung and Motorola are suing Apple over FRAND (Fair, Reasonable, And Non-Discriminatory) patents and are apparently seeking licensing that’s anything but fair and reasonable, and may in fact be discriminatory.

FRAND patents are typically typically pledged as part of a standard, which makes them essential to a technology, the organizations that govern those standards require them to be equitably licensed back to everyone. That’s the whole point of having standards. If you want your invention to become a standard, you let it be used as a standard.

FRAND vs. non-FRAND

Apple doesn’t play the FRAND game with the iPhone or iPad. They don’t want their multitouch patents to be a standard. They don’t want other companies using them. (Unlike Microsoft, they don’t want to make their competitors’ products more expensive, they want them to stop being Apple-like.)

Samsung and Motorola did play the FRAND game, however, and did want their wireless patents — covering core 3G technologies, among other things — to be standards. However, when Samsung and Motorola infringe on Apple’s non-FRAND patents, they then demand outrageous terms from Apple to license their FRAND patents — which Apple has to use for their products to work on existing networks — hoping Apple will cave and cross-license their non-FRAND patents as part of the deal.

Put another way, it’s like the owner of your local public pool refusing to let you swim there unless you let them swim in your private pool at home. Worse, it’s like the manager of your local public pool demanding you pay him $1,000,000 dollars to swim in a pool you’re supposed to have fair and equal access too, unless he gets to swim in your private pool at home. Worse still, it’s like the manager of your local pool has made agreements that force anyone who wants to swim anywhere to get a license from his pool first, then demands you pay him a fortune for it, and give him access to your private, home pool. (In one case, in a swim-suit that looks surprisingly like yours. Only bigger.)

What can Apple do?

According to Florian Mueller over at FOSS Patents, this means Apple has to be careful, and iterative in their defense.

Apple won’t get a deal that meets its needs unless Samsung and Motorola (or Google) are forced to recognize the fundamentally greater strategic and commercial value of Apple’s non-standards-related patents, which are the fruit of independent innovation and independent commercialization as opposed to a company’s ability to push its patented ideas into industry standards everyone is forced to implement after a collective of major industry players defines them.

Samsung and Motorola (or Google) would like all patents to be treated in more or less the same way. They give nothing more than lip service to their FRAND licensing obligations. They may hope that the law on this isn’t sufficiently settled in major jurisdictions. They look for loopholes in the rules — including certain opportunities in Germany, where the case law on this is more favorable to them than elsewhere. If they realize at some point that this strategy doesn’t work out because of a combination of court rulings, regulatory intervention and Apple’s determination to stand its ground, then — and only then — Apple will ultimately get the kind of deal it wants. Until then, Apple doesn’t even have much to talk about with Samsung and Motorola (or Google).

Sure, you can say Apple is being selfish by not licensing multitouch to one and all, but they never agreed to in the first place. (Are you being a selfish by not letting everyone who wants to come swim in your private home pool?) Samsung and Motorola did agree to let everyone use their patents under FRAND terms so those patents would be become essential to the standard.

Enter the European Union

Now Samsung and Motorola are certainly free to do and to sue what and who they want… up to a point. The European Union has already announced they’re investigating Samsung for FRAND abuse, and Motorola may not be far behind. With pressure from Apple on one side, and anti-trust action on the other, it puts them in a delicate position.

In the meantime, Apple can’t give in to Samsung and Motorola’s unfair, unreasonable, and discriminatory demands, and they can’t risk injunctions like the one that was temporarily in effect in Germany last week, becoming permanent before the EU sorts everything out.

Whether or not there will ultimately be a settlement, like the one they achieved with Nokia over similar FRAND patents, only time will tell. All Apple can do for now is continue the careful, iterative defense.

Mueller’s whole article, which delves into the patents and legal issues in great detail, is worth a read.

Source: FOSS Patents, x2

Best Buy is currently running an online survey asking for its customers views on a potential Apple HDTV. The survey suggests that the Apple iTV television could be available as a 42” 1080p LED Flat Panel set that will run iOS applications, stream movies and deliver other entertainment programs from the internet. The cost could be as much as $1499.00.

Apple finally reinvents what a TV can do,” saying that it’ll run iOS, support iCloud, be controllable from an iPhone or iPad, and have access to Netflix, YouTube, and Flickr — in other words, it’s an Apple TV wrapped in an actual television set, exactly as you’d expect.

Source: The Verge

Following up on the information iMore received yesterday on potential ZFS hooks in iOS 5.1, a reliable source let us know that Apple has been investing heavily in ZFS appliances from Oracle. (Whether or not this will be made public is unknown; it doesn’t seem to be right now.)

Also, several of our readers familiar with ZFS wrote in to speculate as to why Apple may be exploring ZFS for use on iPhone and iPad. Broadly, it may have something to do with ZFS’ snapshot technology. ZFS snapshots can be easily compressed and encrypted, de-duplicated, and can transfer delta (bit differential) updates between cloud and device. The snapshots can also work like Time Machine, easily and efficiently providing incremental backup and restore capability from an hour ago, a day ago, a week ago, or more, asynchronously and block by block. Here’s what Wikipedia says about ZFS snapshots:

An advantage of copy-on-write is that when ZFS writes new data, the blocks containing the old data can be retained, allowing a snapshot version of the file system to be maintained. ZFS snapshots are created very quickly, since all the data composing the snapshot is already stored; they are also space efficient, since any unchanged data is shared among the file system and its snapshots.

Writeable snapshots (“clones”) can also be created, resulting in two independent file systems that share a set of blocks. As changes are made to any of the clone file systems, new data blocks are created to reflect those changes, but any unchanged blocks continue to be shared, no matter how many clones exist. This is an implementation of the Copy-on-write principle.

Snapshots is only one of the features of ZFS (Zettabyte Files System), the advanced file system created by Sun, now owned by Oracle. Apple included a partial port of ZFS in earlier versions of Mac OS X but pulled it before the official release. It’s a file system particularly well suited for cloud environments and storage pools, which might be why Apple is looking at it again in the post iCloud.

Apple is an incredibly private company that works hard behind the scenes in order to present a beautifully packaged, highly polished product to consumers. No doubt there is a lot of really cool, really geeky technology at the core of iCloud, for example, but all most of us see are elegant interface elements in Settings.app that, when tapped, all but transparently backup and restore our iPhones or iPads.

If indeed Apple is planning on using ZFS to make iCloud backups and restores better, it will probably be invisible to end users. One day, iCloud will simply work better, faster, and even more reliably.

More: Wikipedia

As expected, Reckless Racing 2 is now available in the App Store. It is the sequel to the hugely popular racing game Reckless Racing which brought thrills and spills from the track as you slide you car around corners on dirt and tarmac.

Strap down and prepare for the ride of your life… Reckless Racing is back with more! Including a selection of 18 highly detailed cars, ranging from small dirt buggies to fast supercars, and 24 routes in a variety of flavors make this a racer for all tastes – both dirt and tarmac.Compete in the Career mode to earn money for new cars and car upgrades. Have a quick race in the Arcade mode with 40 pre-defined challenges. Compete against your friends on the leaderboards in Single Event mode – including Race, Hot Lap and Elimination events.Tune your car in the garage to match your driving style with a vast selection of parts and upgrades. Whether you are a reckless power slider or a slick race driver, make your car the way YOU want it.

• Probably the best power slides in the world
• Tune and tweak the performance, handling, tires, rims and colors of your cars
• Shader based game engine with normal maps, reflections, specularity, shadows, particles and more
• Improved and optimized shaders for iPad 2 and iPhone 4S
• Online leaderboards with downloadable ghost cars
• Online multiplayer over the Internet
• 17 characters, including your favorites from Reckless Racing 1
• 5 control layouts with customizable button positions
• Optional assists, such as race lines, mini map, chase camera and more

• App Store link

Apple reportedly has sought to source IGZO panels from Sharp for the production of iTVs as Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, which unveiled their 55-inch Super OLED and AMOLED TV models, respectively, at CES, both have regarded OLED TVs are their killer products for 2012, and therefore the two Korea-based companies are unlikely to share OLED panel production capacities with Apple.

Source: Digitimes

Avid Studio is a new app that lets you edit video, audio and photographs right on your iPad. And if you think Apple’s iPad version of iMovie has just gotten some real competition in the video editing space — you’re right.

Avid and Apple have been battling it out for years now in the professional space, with Avid’s high end movie editing kit seeing competition from Apple’s much lower priced Final Cut Studio. Several prominent directors switched from Avid to make high profile movies using Final Cut. Following Apple’s recent re-invention of the digital editing model with Final Cut X, they faced a lot of push back from unhappy editors who missed features or simply didn’t like the new software. Apple did, however, achieve some consistency across their editing software, with everything from iMovie on iPhone and iPad, to iMovie on Mac, to Final Cut Pro embracing similar user interface and design concepts.

Now Avid is bringing the battle back to Apple, and on Apple’s mobile turf for a change. We’ll have a full hands-on, and a side-by-side comparison with iMovie coming your ways soon. In the meantime, here are all the details on Avid Studio for iPad.

Big-screen moviemaking comes to the touchscreen with Avid® Studio for iPad. We’ve distilled the world’s leading film-editing technology into an easy-to-use app that enables you to edit video, audio, and photos at the speed of your creativity. Swiftly arrange your clips in the Storyboard, make precision edits using the Timeline, and add high-quality transitions, effects, and a soundtrack. Then share your movie directly to YouTube, Facebook, and more—or export your project to Avid Studio for the PC and continue editing with even more advanced tools.

Easily Access Your Media

• Work with any media on your device—video, audio, and photos
• Access media from external devices via an iPad Camera Connection Kit (sold separately)
• Capture video and photos from within the app
• See your media organized by Albums, Events, Faces, and more

• Get started quickly with how-to materials
• Easily navigate your project with intuitive gestures
• Swiftly arrange clips in the Storyboard
• Make precise edits and trim individual frames in the Precision Trimmer
• Use the Razor Blade tool to cut on the fly and delete or replace the second half of the clip
• Easily replace one clip with another

• Quickly create multi-layer 3D animations, transitions, and titles with included Montage templates
• Easily composite video tracks to create layered looks
• Add high-quality fades and dissolves to help your story flow
• Generate professional-looking motion titles and graphics with full control over text, font, color, size, position, and rotation
• Create amazing Picture-in-Picture effects with full control over position, size, and rotation
• Pan and zoom on your photos to create high-impact slideshows
• Enjoy full-screen playback

• Use your own audio or choose from the included sound effects
• Trim audio to any length, set levels, and fade audio in or out

• Easily share movies via YouTube, Facebook, email, and more
• Export projects to Avid Studio for the PC

• Created by Avid, the maker of the world’s leading film and music editing technology
• Easy enough for the hobbyist, powerful enough for the pro

• App Store link

Luckily for Sony, soon to be appointed CEO Kaz Hirai formed a User Experience Group and culled all but one of the projects. This lead to the development of Sony’s Tablet S hardware along with its Playstation suite integration.

The company had long had a reputation for creating ‘silos,’ or divisions that operated in isolation from each other. Aside from creating a disunited front, it sometimes led to segments being actively jealous of each other and refusing to collaborate. Walkman and home theater groups, for example, didn’t get the cooperation from Sony’s own music and movie groups to make digital media stores.

Source: WSJ via Electronista

Flipboard, the hugely popular iPhone and iPad social magazine app, has announced that it can now deliver customized content guides for four more countries, including UK, Ireland, Canada and Australia.

Anyone who has his or her iPad or iPhone region set to one of those countries automatically receive the local edition of their Content Guide when they tap on the red ribbon in the top right corner of Flipboard. To switch back to the “original” Content Guide, set your device’s country setting to United States.

The four new content areas are in addition to the other areas which are already supported. These are China, France, Taiwan, Hong Kong and of course the United States.

• Free – App Store link

Source: Inside Flipboard

SumOfUs has launched a petition to get Apple to create the iPhone 5 in a fully ethical manner, and has already garnered over 40,000 signatures. The petition is particularly critical of Apple’s use of n-hexane, a harmful glass cleaner which can cause neurological damage over long-term exposure. Inhumanely-long working hours are also called into question.

Apple CEO Tim Cook remains adamant that the company is doing its best to ensure the well-being of manufacturing employees abroad. Even within the fast-paced technology sector, however, Apple is well-known for cultivating a high-stress culture, and those standards are imposed on just about everybody Apple works with. Under these conditions, it’s no surprise that basic humanitarian standards take a back seat to shipping a product. That said, I might agree with this petition, but I really doubt Apple or Foxconn will make any sweeping changes that hurt their bottom line.

If you’re interested in signing the petition, hit the link below.

[We'll post links to the petitions for HP, Dell, Sony, Nokia, Motorola, HTC, Amazon, Lenovo, Toshiba, Samsung, and every other technology company who operates in similar manners without enjoying the link-bait status that seems to drive online media attention. We want everyone held to the same, high standards. - ED]

Source: SumOfUs via The Register

Canadian musician Neil Young has claimed in an interview that Steve Jobs preferred listening to music played back on vinyl rather than digitally via an iPod. Speaking to Peter Kafka and Walt Mossberg at the D: Dive Into Media conference, he told them that he discussed the prospect of offering higher quality digital music downloads with Steve Jobs.

“Steve Jobs was a pioneer of digital music, and his legacy is tremendous,” Young said. “But when he went home, he listened to vinyl. And you’ve gotta believe that if he’d lived long enough, he would have eventually done what I’m trying to do.”

Source: Macworld, Image: All Things D

Apple has just released an update to Final Cut Pro X, their executive video editing software suite, which adds multi-camera syncing and broadcast monitoring suport. Final Cut Pro X 10.0.3 also includes enhanced XML, so it can talk with third-party plug-ins more easily. As always, there’s a bunch of great audio, animation, and color correction tools in there which professionals have come to rely on.

So, okay, okay, maybe Final Cut Pro X is a little overkill for something shot on your iPhone 4S, especially with iMovie available right on the device, but if you’re knee-deep in the Apple lifestyle, maybe you like adding an extra layer of polish to your mobile videos. Or if you just shot your new music video with a four iPhone setup and need that new multi-cam sync. (Hey, it happens!)

Even though Final Cut Pro X is clearly built for, well, pros, it’s still interesting to see some people kit out their iPhones with all manner of video-enhancing accessories. While I can’t speak much to the quality of those videos versus something done with a “real” camera, I still admire folks who try to close the gap. A full-blown version of Final Cut Pro X on iPad — even the iPad 3 is still the stuff of legend, but I’d love to see a bunch of mobile companion apps to enhance desktop publishing. Adobe’s done a lot of stuff like this, and I think a similar strategy for Apple would be a great way to keep an iPad in the workflow. Even if Apple doesn’t take up the call, maybe the enhanced XML support will enable third parties to make some cool iPad companion apps for Final Cut Pro X. There are just so many separate panes and menus to keep in order when editing video, that it would be nice to shunt a few of the less vital ones to a separate display. Full press release after the jump.

• Free trial – Apple.com link.
• $299 – Mac App Store link,

CUPERTINO, California—January 31, 2012—Apple® today released Final Cut Pro® X v10.0.3, a significant update to its revolutionary professional video editing application, which introduces multicam editing that automatically syncs up to 64 angles of video and photos; advanced chroma keying for handling complex adjustments right in the app; and enhanced XML for a richer interchange with third party apps and plug-ins that support the fast growing Final Cut Pro X ecosystem. Available today as a free update from the Mac® App Store™, Final Cut Pro X v10.0.3 also includes a beta of broadcast monitoring that supports Thunderbolt devices as well as PCIe cards.

Final Cut Pro X v10.0.3 includes a collection of groundbreaking new tools for editing multicam projects. Final Cut Pro X automatically syncs clips from your shoot using audio waveforms, time and date, or timecode to create a Multicam Clip with up to 64 angles of video, which can include mixed formats, frame sizes and frame rates. The powerful Angle Editor allows you to dive into your Multicam Clip to make precise adjustments, and the Angle Viewer lets you play back multiple angles at the same time and seamlessly cut between them.

Final Cut Pro X builds upon its robust, one-step chroma key with the addition of advanced controls including color sampling, edge adjustment and light wrap. You can tackle complex keying challenges right in Final Cut Pro X, without having to export to a motion graphics application, and view your results instantly with realtime playback.

In the seven months since launch, the third party ecosystem around Final Cut Pro X has expanded dramatically. XML-compatible software like DaVinci Resolve and CatDV provide tight integration for tasks such as color correction and media management. The new 7toX app from Intelligent Assistance uses XML to import Final Cut Pro 7 projects into Final Cut Pro X. In addition, some of the industry’s largest visual effects developers, including GenArts and Red Giant, have developed motion graphics plug-ins that take advantage of the speed and real-time preview capabilities of Final Cut Pro X.

Broadcast monitoring in Final Cut Pro X is currently in beta and allows you to connect to waveform displays, vectorscopes, and calibrated, high-quality monitors to ensure that your project meets broadcast specifications. Final Cut Pro X supports monitoring of video and audio through Thunderbolt I/O devices, as well as through third party PCIe cards.

Pricing & Availability Final Cut Pro X v10.0.3 is available from the Mac App Store for $299.99 (US) to new users, or as a free update for existing Final Cut Pro X customers. A 30-day free trial of Final Cut Pro X is available at www.apple.com/finalcutpro/trial. Full system requirements and more information on Final Cut Pro X can be found at www.apple.com/finalcutpro.

Apple has appointed John Browett as their new Senior Vice President of Retail. Mr Browett will be leaving his position of CEO of Dixons Retail, Europe’s largest specialist electrical retailer.

“Our retail stores are all about customer service, and John shares that commitment like no one else we’ve met,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We are thrilled to have him join our team and bring his incredible retail experience to Apple.”

Prior to taking the reins of the Dixon Group, Browett also held high positions within Tesco plc and even had the CEO role for Tesco.com. Browett replaces former retail head, Ron Johnson who left Apple in the summer of last year to take the post of CEO at JC Penney.

Full press release below.

John Browett Joins Apple as Senior Vice President of Retail

CUPERTINO, California—January 30, 2012—Apple® today announced that John Browett will join the company as senior vice president of Retail, reporting to Apple CEO Tim Cook. Browett comes to Apple from European technology retailer Dixons Retail, where he has been CEO since 2007. Beginning in April, he will be responsible for Apple’s retail strategy and the continued expansion of Apple retail stores around the world.

“Our retail stores are all about customer service, and John shares that commitment like no one else we’ve met,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We are thrilled to have him join our team and bring his incredible retail experience to Apple.”

Prior to joining Dixons Retail, Browett held a series of executive positions at Tesco plc including CEO of Tesco.com. Earlier in his career he advised retail and consumer goods clients at Boston Consulting Group. He holds a degree in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University and an MBA from Wharton Business School.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.

Apple has finally caught up with the huge demand for the iPhone 4S. For the first time since its iPhone 4S launch way back< in October/a>, all models of the iPhone 4S are now shown as in stock.

No matter which model you go for, 16GB, 32GB or 64GB or which carrier you choose from AT&T, Verizon or Sprint, they are all in stock. Even the unlocked and contract free models too.

Source: Apple Store via Macrumors

Apple is continuing to enculturate the legacy of Steve Jobs, this time by placing memorable quotes and iconic images of their late co-founder around their Cupertino campus. The images include everything from the original Mac to the lasted MacBook Air, from Jobs’ earliest days to his final appearances.

Mark Gurman from 9to5Mac reports that they’re meant to serve as guidance and motivation for the next generation of Apple employees.

I think if you do something and it turns out pretty good, then you should go do something else wonderful, not dwell on it for too long. Just figure out what’s next.

Previously, Apple recruited prominent business school professors to compile and teach case studies on Apple, for Apple, and to Apple, to ensure future management would share the same vision — the same stance at the cross-roads of technology and liberal arts — that Apple was imparted under Steve Jobs. Termed Apple University, it was intended to keep the unique start-up-like mentality first and foremost at Apple, now as Tim Cook has taken over as CEO, and one day when he’s succeeded as well.

Most companies don’t endure, at least not at the heights of their influence, power, relevence, and growth. It will be interesting to see if Apple’s conscious, focused efforts to productize themselves and institutionalize their co-founder’s values lets them avoid the same pitfalls IBM, HP, Microsoft, and others have faced.

Check out more posters via the link below.

Source: 9to5Mac

A Police officer in New York used his own iPhone to catch a thief and retrieve a victim’s iPhone after she was robbed in a handbag store on Thursday night. A man walked into the store brandishing a black handgun and took the woman’s iPhone.

After a fruitless canvass of the area, one officer, Robert Garland, tried another tack. Using the 24-year-old victim’s iTunes account information and the iCloud feature on his own phone, Mr. Garland was able to track the victim’s iPhone. Officers then followed the cyber-scent to the area near 49th Street and Eighth Avenue. As they searched the area, the suspect, who the police said had placed the phone in his boot, walked past the officers. The victim’s phone began to beep. And, soon, the suspect was placed under arrest.

Source: The New York Times

Yahoo has announced that they’re canceling some of their mobile apps in an effort to — wait for it — keep moving and keep innovating. Some of the apps that will be discontinued include:

• Yahoo! Meme (iPad and iPhone)
• Yahoo! Mim (iPad)
• Yahoo! Answers (Android)
• Yahoo! AppSpot (Android and iPhone)
• Yahoo! Deals (iPhone)
• Yahoo! Finance (BlackBerry)
• Yahoo! Movies (Android)
• Yahoo! News (Android)
• Yahoo! Shopping (iPhone)
• Yahoo! Sketch-a-Search (iPad and iPhone)

Yahoo has been in the mobile space for quite some time and managed to amass a good amount of apps so looking to cut some of their weight and move on isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The decommissioning of these apps, as Yahoo noted, will allow them to put more effort into creating other applications, like LiveStand in the mobile space. Of course, the apps that Yahoo! cut weren’t really up there in terms of usage and it’s hard to imagine anyone will be sad to see any of them go.

Source: Yahoo via: Android Central

Strategy Analytics has crunched most of the fourth quarter results announced this week (including Apple’s), and figures the iPhone maker is now the top smartphone manufacturer, but only by a sliver. In Q4 2011, Apple claimed 23.9% of global smartphone market share, and Samsung trailed only slightly, with 23.5%. That’s just counting Q4, too; for the whole year, Samsung beat out Apple by a single percentage point.

Beyond smartphones, in the world of mobiles at large, Apple was relatively far behind. iPhones constituted 8.3% of the world’s handsets, while Nokia still clung the top spot with 25.5%, followed by Samsung with 21.3% global market share. Although that shows the iPhone still has a long ways to go, it did boast the best growth out of the three; during the same quarter last year, Apple only constituted 4.0% of the global market.

The folks at Strategy Analytics stepped in for a few comments. Associate Director Alex Spektor said “Apple’s growth was fueled by intense demand for its refreshed iPhone 4S, as well as the availability of three generations of iPhones at a variety of price points at operators like AT&T in the United States,” but there’s a lot of promise internationally, too. Tom Kang, another director, said ”China is becoming a key market for Apple this year, and we expect Apple’s share to grow rapidly in 2012, despite countless copycat rivals.” Nokia’s having a rough time holding onto their top spot, despite generally positive reviews of their first Windows Phones. According to Executive Director Neil Mawston,  “Nokia’s global handset shipments declined 8 percent annually to 113.5 million units in Q4 2011. Volumes were buoyed by the sales of Nokia’s low-end dual-SIM models in emerging markets like Southeast Asia, but were a little soft overall, as initial shipments of Microsoft Lumia phones could not offset declining Symbian sales.”

It’s rarely a surprise to see Apple doing well in terms of sales, but they’ll have to keep working hard in order to stay ahead of Samsung. We’re seeing lots of different Android phones coming out of Samsung to address different price points, and though Spektor’s right that there are older iPhones still on the market, they lack the forward-compatibility of many Android handsets.

It’s worth noting that according to Strategy Analytics, the overall smartphone market grew 63.1% in 2011, versus 71.4% growth in 2010. Do you guys think smartphone momentum is starting to plateau, or is this just a slight bump in the road?

Source: Strategy Analytics via Apple Insider

Acoording to a report by Reuters, Apple’s generous customer service may be causing huge problems for victims of iPhone theft. The warranty plan is tied to the iPhone and not the person who owns the phone; this means anyone can take an iPhone to an Apple Store for service or replacement.

The ease of trading in stolen iPhones and selling their replacements makes them nearly as tempting as grabbing cash. In cities from coast-to-coast, reports of iPhone thefts are common. While some thieves sell the phones through the traditional channels of fencing stolen goods, examples abound of stolen iPhones being brought back to Apple, as if broken, for either replacement or a discount on a new unit. ”Apple seems to have not considered stolen devices and instead is relying on the honor system,” says Robert Siciliano, a consultant for Intel Corp’s technology security unit McAfee and an identity theft expert. “The honor system is devised with the mindset that we are all sheep and there are no wolves.” Siciliano says he has known of this problem for a while, but doesn’t see any immediate solution. “Until consumers scream loud enough about this issue, Apple probably won’t do anything about it.”

Apple has yet to comment on the findings within the report but let’s hope a simple solution can be found that will not cause pain for the honest amongst us. The last thing we need is for Apple to change its policies and make life more difficult when it comes to iPhone service and replacement.

Source: Reuters, Image Wikipedia

Apple CEO Tim Cook has followed up on the New York Times story about the human cost of manufacturing iPhones, iPads, and Macs in China with an email to Apple internal employee. In short, he takes issue with the Times.

As a company and as individuals, we are defined by our values. Unfortunately some people are questioning Apple’s values today, and I’d like to address this with you directly. We care about every worker in our worldwide supply chain. Any accident is deeply troubling, and any issue with working conditions is cause for concern. Any suggestion that we don’t care is patently false and offensive to us. As you know better than anyone, accusations like these are contrary to our values. It’s not who we are. For the many hundreds of you who are based at our suppliers’ manufacturing sites around the world, or spend long stretches working there away from your families, I know you are as outraged by this as I am. For the people who aren’t as close to the supply chain, you have a right to know the facts.

Cook went on to note that Apple wants to educate workers about their rights. Apple wants to empower them to speak up when they are unfairly or mistreated. Cook claims more than a million people have already been trained under Apple’s program. Cook was also sure to mention that it’s his belief that no other company has taken more or better steps than Apple has with their workplace efforts.

The employee emails were semi-frequent under the late Steve Jobs and they’ve been regular under Tim Cook as well. Jobs was also fond of the open letter. Perhaps we’ll start to see those from Cook as well, and this incredibly important issue will get the attention and publicity it deserves.

You can read Tim Cook’s full email sent out to Apple employee’s via the link below.

Source: 9to5Mac

Team,

Tired of filling out one tedious web form after another, and wondering how to get Safari on iPhone and iPad to automatically fill them out for you? Luckily, deep within the settings of Safari there is a way to setup AutoFill, something which allows you to automatically input your personal data on sites that permit its use.

• If you haven’t already, create a contact for yourself in the Contacts app.
• Open up the Contacts app
• Select the plus sign in the top right corner

• Add in your personal information

• Hit Done
• Open up your settings app

• Tap on Safari

• Tap on AutoFill
• Toggle “Use Contact Info” to on

• Tap on My Info and select the contact you just created or the one you already had
• Now when you visit a site that needs your information, as soon as you select the first text box your keyboard will pop up and there will be an option called AutoFill

• Tap on AutoFill and Bob’s your Uncle, all your details will be automatically filled in for you

Daily Tips range from beginner-level 101 to advanced-level ninjary. If you already know this tip, keep the link handy as a quick way to help a friend. If you have a tip of your own you’d like to suggest, add them to the comments or send them in to dailytips@imore.com.

Valve has released Steam Mobile for iPhone and iPod touch into the App Store. Sort of. It is available to download and install on your iOS device, but unfortunately you need to be part of a limited beta to actually begin to use it. We are sure this will change fairly soon but it is very frustrating for those gamers that use Steam and want to use the app now.

With the free Steam app for iOS, you can participate in the Steam community wherever you go. Chat with your Steam friends, browse community groups and user profiles, read the latest gaming news and stay up to date on unbeatable Steam sales.

• Connect with friends:  Steam on your mobile phone is the easiest way to keep up with your Steam friends while on the go.
• Steam Chat: Now you can take your Steam chats away from your computer with Steam for iOS and Android.
• Shop Steam: Browse the extensive Steam library of Windows and Mac titles from your phone. Find out about Steam sales wherever you are.

The Steam Mobile app is available for iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation) and iPad. It is not a universal binary so you are looking at 2x mode on your iPad. Hopefully Valve will rectify that soon as well.

• App Store link

Have an app you’d love to see featured on iMore? Email us at iosapps@imore.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.

The New York Times is reporting on the human cost of manufacturing iPhones, iPads, and other electronics in China. While Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Motorola, Nokia, Sony, Toshiba and others are also mentioned, Apple gets most of the focus, no doubt because they have the highest profile. The article details how suppliers approach Apple and what Apple requires of them to produce the devices we all use on a daily basis — the cost of parts, salaries, and more importantly, the impact on human lives.

“The only way you make money working for Apple is figuring out how to do things more efficiently or cheaper,”

“And then they’ll come back the next year, and force a 10 percent price cut.”

Many of these cuts come at not only the expense of their workers but to their safety as well. A former Apple executive familiar with the supply process agrees that safety and cutting margins has long been an ongoing issue in China -

“You can set all the rules you want, but they’re meaningless if you don’t give suppliers enough profit to treat workers well,”

“If you squeeze margins, you’re forcing them to cut safety.”

A recent explosion in an iPad 2 facility resulted in 2 fatalities with many more injured. The advocacy group Sacom in Hong Kong also published a report warning of unsafe conditions, issues with aluminum dust, and poor ventilation. Debby Chan Sze Wan of Sacom says a copy of the report was sent to Apple. After receiving no response, she flew to Cupertino.

“A few months later I went to Cupertino, and went into the Apple lobby, but no one would meet with me. I’ve never heard from anyone from Apple at all.”

Apple has been making moves to address some of the concerns, including publishing a Supplier Responsibility Progress Report that lists several companies that have continually been found in violation of safety regulations every year since 2007. The problem doesn’t just lie with Apple but with many technology companies that continuously pressure suppliers to cut their margins. It’s worth pointing out that Apple is the only company that’s releasing a supplier list and providing transparency. We’re still waiting on other companies to do the same.

And the countries themselves can’t be let off the hook either. They want the jobs and money Apple and other manufacturers are creating and providing, and have not yet put in place regulations to safeguard their citizens and workplaces. Perhaps they fear if they do, Apple and other companies will just go elsewhere. But that’s a reason, not an excuse.

Source: The New York Times

Tim Cook has apparently unveiled some new Apple employee benefits at yesterdays Town Hall meeting. According to 9to5Mac, the meeting was all about giving something back to the people who worked so hard to put Apple where it is today; one of the wealthiest businesses in the world.

Cook announced that Apple employees will soon be given $500 discounts on purchases of new Macs and $250 discounts on purchases of a new iPad. The new discount program will officially kickoff at some point during June 2012. A major caveat is that Apple employees may only utilize the opportunity every three years and employees must have been working for Apple for at least 90 days.

Source: 9to5 Mac

Following their Q1 2012 results, Apple now has a staggering, mind-boggling, almost unbelievable $97 billion dollars in the bank. That’s cash reserves bigger than most other companies and countries… combined. That’s a money bin even Scrooge McDuck could drown in.

What would you do if it were your money? Return it to the shareholders? (Pfft, what fun is that?) Buy all of Apple’s competitors? Buy a Hollywood studio or carrier network? Buy your own subcontinent? Buy the moon? Or just blow it all on candy and dancers?

Seriously — or at least as seriously as such a question could be posed! — what would you do with Apple’s $97 billion in the bank?

Leave a comment below with your best, most comedic, most tragic, most utterly entertaining answer and you’ll be entered to win a $97 gift certificate for the iMore Store. (Yeah, $97 dollars, not $97 billion — we’re not made of Apple bucks!) Contest starts now and ends Sunday, Jan. 29 at midnight PT.

Enter now!

He and I always enjoyed talking. He would throw some things out, you know, some stimulating things. We’d talk about the other companies that have come along. We talked about our families and how lucky we’d both been in terms of the women we married. It was great relaxed conversation.

Gates also commented on how Steve Jobs’ death impacted him.

Well, it’s very strange to have somebody who’s so vibrant and made such a huge difference and been … kind of a constant presence, to have him die. It makes you feel like, ‘Wow, we’re getting old.’ I hope I still have quite a bit of time for the focus I have now, which is the philanthropic work. And there’s drugs we’re investing in now that won’t be out for 15 years — malaria eradication, I need a couple of decades here to fulfill that opportunity. But, you know, it reminds you that you gotta pick important stuff, because you only have a limited time.

Indeed.



Source: ABC News

UK network O2 appears to be submitting your telephone number to any website you visit whilst using the data connection on your phone. According to report from TNW, the information is transmitted when a user asks for a webpage view.

The issue was brought to our attention to Lewis Peckover, who created a simple webpage to check the information that a mobile browser would send to a website when it requested data. Whilst most of the data was to be expected, including the Host, User Agent, Referrer and Encoding, there was also another field in the results — x-up-calling-line-id. What is x-up-calling-line-id? Your mobile phone number.

We’re investigating this with our internal teams, and will come back with more as soon as we can

Source: TNW

Microsoft has launched another app for the iPad, this time it is MSN UK. MSN UK is brings all the latest news, sport and entertainment from the UK right to your iPad.

The MSN experience is now enhanced on iPad – easily swipe to find your favourite news, sport and entertainment articles and videos. Excited about something you read on MSN for iPad? Just tap and share with your friends on Facebook and Twitter.

• Reading articles on MSN for iPad feels natural, no matter how you hold your iPad – in either portrait or landscape modes. We’ve added popular photo galleries, slideshows and videos to add depth to what you’re browsing. You can even download stories to your iPad for when you’re not connected to a network later. Need to dig deeper on something you just read? We’ve built Bing right into the top of the app for easy searching.
• Popular photo galleries and slideshows
• Quick access to Hotmail and Windows Live Messenger
• View in portrait and landscape modes, whatever is easier for you
• Send feedback to the MSN team – let us know what you think

If the iPad’s Auto-Lock is set to 2 or 5 minutes, the downloading of an issue of MSN for offline viewing may be interrupted when the iPad locks the screen. You may see the dialog box showing that the download is in progress, but the background downloading of the issue may have stopped. Tap Cancel to close the dialog box. You may need to close and restart the app to resume the offline download.

• App Store link

Adam Lashinsky’s Inside Apple, wish purports to go behind the scenes of Apple’s magic as the world’s biggest start up, and lay bare the secrets of their success, is now available for purchase and, if you go the electronic route, immediate download.

You can pick it up via the links below, or if you’re feeling especially lucky, go enter our Inside Apple contest — we have three (3) copies to give away, and one might just have your name on it. Regardless of how you get it, get it, and then hop on over to the iMore book club and let the discussion begin!

• $12.99 – iBooks link
• $12.99 and up – Amazon link

Apple held their Q1 2012 conference call today and announced a ton of figures pertaining to revenue, profit, sales, and more. So in case you just want to run the math, here’s our quarterly take, [by the numbers.(http://www.imore.com)

Cash

• $97.6 billion cash on hand
• $64 billion of cash on hand is off shore
• $17.5 billion in cashflow

That’s a lot of money. That’s more money than most countries and other companies. Combined.

Revenue

• $46.33 billion in revenue – 73% growth
• iPhone revenue was $24.4 billion including accessories – 133% growth
• iPad revenue was $9.1 billion including accessories 99% growth
• iTunes revenue was $1.7 billion

The amount of revenue accounted for by the iPhone, especially as a percentage of total, is staggering. And it didn’t exist 5 years ago.

Sales

• 37.04 million iPhones sold – 128% growth
• 15.43 million iPads sold – 111% increase
• 15.4 million iPods sold – down from 19 million last year
• 7.7 million iPod touch’s sold – 50% of total iPod sales
• 315 cumulative iOS device sales. 62 million last quarter.

The iPad has surpassed the iPod. And remember when we used to ask if the iPhone would ever sell more than 10 million units in a month? It’s a staggering amount of devices now.

iTunes, App Store, iCloud

• 140 million iTunes downloads
• 550,000 App Store apps
• 170,000 iPad specific apps
• 85 million iCloud customers.

I cloud is Apple’s strategy for the next 10 years and, according to Apple, 170,000 iPad specific apps is almost 170,000 more than competing platforms.

Education

• 1.5 million iPads in use in education
• 600,000 copies iTunes Author
• 3 million copies of iTunes U downloaded

1.5 million seems like a drop in the bucket; look for the latter two bullet points to start moving the first upwards.

Retail Stores

• 358 stores open. $17.1 million average per store – 43% growth
• 4 new stores including Grand Central
• 45% increase in visitors
• 22,000 visitors per store, per week on average.

Most Genius Bars are now busier than real bars. Apple Retail remains a massive competitive advantage.

As part of Apple’s record breaking Q1 2012 financial results, Apple CEO Tim Cook took the time to break out Apple TV numbers — 2.8 million sold last year with half of those sales, 1.4 million, coming in the last quarter.

Cook insisted that Apple TV is still a hobby for Apple and while there was pressure to comment on the Apple iTV Television rumors, Cook managed to dodge his way around those questions simply by stating there was nothing else to talk about in that area. Of course, that’s what Apple said about phones and tablets, once upon a time.

Totally avoided by analysts and Apple execs alike — Apple TV 3 rumors. Where’s our Apple A5 powered, 1080p update already?

Apple made their predictably astronomical financial statements tonight, but one tidbit in particular stuck out – their emphasis on iCloud and its 85 million customers. Specifically, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that iCloud isn’t a product, it’s their strategy for the next decade.

iCloud is still relatively new, having launched with iOS 5 last summer as a replacement of MobileMe. It’s a bit more involved, and offers a lot more in terms of functionality, which you can see in our full iOS 5 walkthrough. It’s interesting to hear Apple positioning the service as such a high priority, but  since they’ve pretty much owned the hardware game for the last couple of years, it’s the next logical place to go. Having full-bodied services back them up will only serve to cement the iPhone and iPad as leading mobile devices.

Quick show of hands – how many of you actively use iCloud on a regular basis? How many of you sign up for it and forget you have it?

For the financial nitty-gritty of Apple’s quarterly results, the PDF report for their Q1 2012 can be found here.

Apple has just announced another record breaking quarter, coming off the holidays with $46.33 billion in revenue, $13.06 billion in net profit, and a whopping 37.04 million iPhones, 15.43 million iPads, and 15.4 million iPods sold.

“We’re thrilled with our outstanding results and record-breaking sales of iPhones, iPads and Macs,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “Apple’s momentum is incredibly strong, and we have some amazing new products in the pipeline.”

“We are very happy to have generated over $17.5 billion in cash flow from operations during the December quarter,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO. “Looking ahead to the second fiscal quarter of 2012, which will span 13 weeks, we expect revenue of about $32.5 billion and we expect diluted earnings per share of about $8.50.”

Apple’s live conference call starts in about 10 minutes and we’ll be doing play by play right here on iMore. Full PR after the break.

Conference call: apple.com

Apple Reports First Quarter Results

Highest Quarterly Revenue and Earnings Ever

All-Time Record iPhone, iPad and Mac Sales

CUPERTINO, California—January 24, 2012—Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2012 first quarter which spanned 14 weeks and ended December 31, 2011. The Company posted record quarterly revenue of $46.33 billion and record quarterly net profit of $13.06 billion, or $13.87 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $26.74 billion and net quarterly profit of $6 billion, or $6.43 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 44.7 percent compared to 38.5 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 58 percent of the quarter’s revenue.

The Company sold 37.04 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 128 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 15.43 million iPads during the quarter, a 111 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 5.2 million Macs during the quarter, a 26 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 15.4 million iPods, a 21 percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter.

“We’re thrilled with our outstanding results and record-breaking sales of iPhones, iPads and Macs,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “Apple’s momentum is incredibly strong, and we have some amazing new products in the pipeline.”

“We are very happy to have generated over $17.5 billion in cash flow from operations during the December quarter,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO. “Looking ahead to the second fiscal quarter of 2012, which will span 13 weeks, we expect revenue of about $32.5 billion and we expect diluted earnings per share of about $8.50.”

Apple will provide live streaming of its Q1 2012 financial results conference call beginning at 2:00 p.m. PST on January 24, 2012 at www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/earningsq112. This webcast will also be available for replay for approximately two weeks thereafter.

This press release contains forward-looking statements including without limitation those about the Company’s estimated revenue and earnings per share. These statements involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ. Risks and uncertainties include without limitation the effect of competitive and economic factors, and the Company’s reaction to those factors, on consumer and business buying decisions with respect to the Company’s products; continued competitive pressures in the marketplace; the ability of the Company to deliver to the marketplace and stimulate customer demand for new programs, products, and technological innovations on a timely basis; the effect that product introductions and transitions, changes in product pricing or mix, and/or increases in component costs could have on the Company’s gross margin; the inventory risk associated with the Company’s need to order or commit to order product components in advance of customer orders; the continued availability on acceptable terms, or at all, of certain components and services essential to the Company’s business currently obtained by the Company from sole or limited sources; the effect that the Company’s dependency on manufacturing and logistics services provided by third parties may have on the quality, quantity or cost of products manufactured or services rendered; risks associated with the Company’s international operations; the Company’s reliance on third-party intellectual property and digital content; the potential impact of a finding that the Company has infringed on the intellectual property rights of others; the Company’s dependency on the performance of distributors, carriers and other resellers of the Company’s products; the effect that product and service quality problems could have on the Company’s sales and operating profits; the continued service and availability of key executives and employees; war, terrorism, public health issues, natural disasters, and other circumstances that could disrupt supply, delivery, or demand of products; and unfavorable results of other legal proceedings. More information on potential factors that could affect the Company’s financial results is included from time to time in the “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” sections of the Company’s public reports filed with the SEC, including the Company’s Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 24, 2011 and its Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2011 to be filed with the SEC. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements or information, which speak as of their respective dates.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.

Virgin America has named one of its planes in memory of Steve Jobs. The plane has a well known Jobs quote emblazoned across it from his 2005 commencement address at Stanford University, “Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish”.

On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.” It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Source: MacRumors

Imagine for a moment that Apple had come to market with a Microsoft Surface-style multitouch table, then take a look at these concept pictures of what it could have been. Forget workstations showing off blue screens of death, instead replace those thoughts with beautiful functional workspaces where placing your iOS device on the table could initiate an iTunes or iCloud sync.

The desk could sync with your Mac or potentially have a Mac built in, perhaps with a portion of the desk’s surface angled upward to serve as a display. Tactile keyboards could likewise be replaced by a digital touch-sensitive version (endlessly configurable to your preferences for individual apps), and any part of the desk’s surface could be cordoned off as a trackpad area. Files could be transferred easily between Macs, iPhones, iPads, and so on by sitting the devices on the desk and swiping file icons across its surface from one device to the other. Shared files could be passed between coworkers via digital inboxes, designated digital “trays” that collect documents sent from other iDesks. And of course, the desk would wirelessly sync to your iCloud account to keep calendars, contacts, and other data updated across all your gizmos.

Source: Mac Life via 9to5Mac

Reckless Racing 2 is expected to have many new features including a full single player campaign, longer and more dangerous tracks, better graphics and new car models. No news on pricing or if this will be a universal app for all platforms. We will let you know as soon as we find out anymore.

Source: Pocket Gamer

The Raspberry Pi budget computer main board can now handle AirPlay content from an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. The Raspberry Pi, for those that do not know, is a tiny credit card sized computer that has an HDMI port to connect to your TV. It is a fully capable computer but also has the added bonus of being able to play back high definition video; thanks to its Videocore 4 GPU. The GPU is capable of BluRay quality playback, using H.264 at 40MBits/s.

The Raspberry Pi is currently in production and will soon be available internationally in two models, one with 10/100 Ethernet and one without. The most interesting part of the project is definitely the price. The basic model will cost just $25 with the model including Ethernet costing just $10 more.

The Raspberry Pi was originally aimed at computer hobbyists however now that AirPlay has been demonstrated as well as a port of XBMC, this little computer may have a big part to play in future home media center solutions too.

Source: Raspberry Pi via Electronista

According to The New York Times, not the cost of labor, not the cost of components, but rather the speed and flexibility with which Chinese factories can respond to iPhone and iPad manufacturing demands is reportedly the reason Apple prefers them over their U.S. counterparts.

One former executive described how the company relied upon a Chinese factory to revamp iPhone manufacturing just weeks before the device was due on shelves. Apple had redesigned the iPhone’s screen at the last minute, forcing an assembly line overhaul. New screens began arriving at the plant near midnight.

A foreman immediately roused 8,000 workers inside the company’s dormitories, according to the executive. Each employee was given a biscuit and a cup of tea, guided to a workstation and within half an hour started a 12-hour shift fitting glass screens into beveled frames. Within 96 hours, the plant was producing over 10,000 iPhones a day.

This isn’t unique to Apple, of course, but Apple’s popularity and profile, fueled by their exceptional supply-chain management, gets their name in the headline.

For a complete run down of the realities of modern manufacturing, and examples including Steve Jobs’ response to U.S. President Obama, give the full article a read.

Source: New York Times

Samsung has again launched an attack on iPhone users with its latest advertisement for the Samsung Galaxy S II Android phone. The ad starts with a line of people waiting outside what appears be an Apple Store in Austin TX.

The ad attempts to poke fun at the iPhone 4S as it has the same form factor as the previous iPhone 4 as well as the fact that it doesn’t come with any inbuilt satellite navigation capabilities. The tagline is “The next big thing is already here”.

Source: YouTube

McGraw Hill CEO, Terry McGraw has paid a huge amount of credit to Steve Jobs over the launch of iBooks 2, which brought the availability of low price textbooks on the iPad.  Speaking to the press after Apple’s education event yesterday, McGraw was asked a number of questions by All Things D reporter Peter Kafka. He was asked why now for digital textbooks as Apple had been talking to publishers for the last few years.

Sitting and listening to all of this, I wish Steve Jobs was here. I was with him in June this past year, and we were talking about some of the benchmarks, and some of the things that we were trying to do together. He should be here. He probably is [gesturing up and around]. This was his vision, this was his idea, and it all had to do with the iPad.

We’ll do whatever we can to make this the most meaningful space. And the person, or, well, Steve Jobs and Apple, have done more, in terms of creating this personalized learning platform than anyone.

Source: All Things D

Time Warner has just updated its TWC TV app and it is now fully compatible with the iPhone and iPod touch. Since its launch back in March 2011, it has been an iPad only app, but not any longer. If you are a Time Warner Cable subscriber, you can now watch live TV, manage your DVR and change channels on your set-top box on your iPhone and iPod touch.

If you are a Time Warner Cable video subscriber, the FREE TWC TV app turns your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch into another TV screen and lets you watch selected live cable channels while in your home, through your wireless home network. Watch Bravo from your bedroom, take Food Network with you to the kitchen or catch up on CNBC news from the breakfast table.

• Interactive program guide (IPG) – up to 7 days of listings. View detailed show descriptions including box art. Option to display “HD only” or “favorites only” by creating a favorite channel list.
• Search – search for programming by title or episode name and filter results by genre
• Set-top box tuning – tap on a network logo or “watch on TV” button within the program description to tune compatible set-top boxes directly to the channel
• DVR management – schedule one-time and series recordings on compatible DVRs directly from the IPG. Tap on the “DVR” button to see a list of all upcoming recordings and make changes or cancel recordings

Apple has posted the full education event keynote video on its website and placed it on iTunes for download. The keynote video covers all of today’s education announcements including iBooks 2, iTunes U and iBooks Author for Mac.

If you subscribe to Apple Keynote podcasts in iTunes you should find it there when you refresh. If you don’t want to watch it via iTunes, there is also a stream available on their website via the link below.

• iTunes link
• Apple.com link.  

Following their education event held in New York where iBooks 2 and textbooks were announced, Apple has gone ahead and released iTunes 10.5.3 to the masses. As noted in the change log, this release covers the ability to sync interactive iBook textbooks to your iPad:

What’s new in iTunes 10.5.3

iTunes 10.5.3 allows you to sync interactive iBooks textbooks to your iPad. These Multi-Touch textbooks are available for purchase from the iTunes Store on your Mac or from the iBookstore included with iBooks 2 on your iPad.

iBooks textbooks are created with iBooks Author — now available as a free download on the Mac App Store. For information on the security content of this update, please visit: support.apple.com/kb/HT1222

The update is currently showing on the Apple website and should start rolling out through software updates shortly.

Source: 9to5Mac; Via: Apple

Brookstone is set to launch an iPad specific hardware scanner in February. The scanner has been designed for the road warrior that no longer wants or needs to carry around a laptop, but needs to regularly scan documents on the go .

Our iConvert Scanner for iPad and iPad 2 Tablets scans hard copies to JPEG files directly to your tablet, giving you instant e-copies of your most important documents. The JPEG files are automatically stored in the picture folder. Great for use at home, the office and on the go. The entire scanner is sized to take with you in your messenger bag or backpack.

Source: Brookstone

Wondering how to save time and effort entering common information like your name, email address, or phone number? The good news is iOS 5 has a special feature called “Shortcuts” that lets you define a word or phrase to a key combination. Follow along and we will show you how easy it is to setup and how it can save you a lot of time too:-

• Go to Settings

• Click on General

• Click on Keyboard

• You will now see a predefined shortcut which is triggered by typing omw
• Click on Add New Shortcut

• Type in a username, email address or phrase you use a lot
• Now choose a letter combination to trigger the shortcut

• Hit Save and that’s stored for future use
• Add as many as you like

• When you are finished you will see a list of your shortcuts under General>Keyboard
• Now open up an app that you can type into, we will use Notes
• Type in the shortcut for one of your phrases, you will see the whole phrase open up in a bubble below

• Hit the Space Bar and the whole phrase appears

If you plan on jailbreaking your iPhone 4S or iPad 2 as soon as a jailbreak for Apple A5 chipset-powered devices is released, update to iOS 5.0.1 ASAP if you haven’t already.

If/when Apple releases an iOS 5.0.2 patch or iOS 5.1 they’ll most likely stop signing iOS 5.0.1 pretty quickly. iOS 5.1 patches the current exploit used on iOS 5.0.1. That means if you don’t update before then, you’ll be stuck waiting for jailbreak developers to find a new exploit for iOS 5.1 and we have no idea how long that’ll take.

So the moral of this story is if you’d like to jailbreak sooner rather than later, update your devices to iOS 5.0.1 now. If you’ve got an iPhone 4 or other Apple A4 chipset device, you can jailbreak untethered now on iOS 5.0.1.

Firecore has released an updated version of its aTV Flash (black) software that runs on any jailbroken second generation Apple TV. The new update, version 1.2,  adds in some nice new features like video zoom options, grid view, watched icons, quick access to recently visited browser pages and a huge raft of bug fixes.

• Three all new zoom options (Normal, Crop, and Stretch) allow you choose how videos are displayed. You can keep videos in their native format (widescreen or pillar box) or crop/stretch them to fill the entire screen.
• Watched indicator icons have been added to the grid view. These icons allow you to quickly see which content is new and ready to be enjoyed. (Note: These can be disabled through the Media –> Settings menu if desired)
• Couch Surfer now displays thumbnail images in the ‘top shelf’ area of the main menu, which allows you to quickly get back to recently viewed pages.

• Added video zoom options (available through Playback Menu)
• Added watched indicators to grid view
• Added ‘Recently Visited’ section to Browser top shelf
• Added support for MicroDVD .SUB files
• Added screensaver during pause
• Added file delete option
• Added activity indicator for metadata clearing
• Added ‘tune’ icon placeholder for audio files without metadata
• Added episode number to the fetched name the list view
• Added Reload Metadata’ option in contextual menu for folders
• Added ‘no items’ message to the ‘Unwatched’ filter of the list view
• Added gray ticket image caching
• Added loading screen when opening Manage Extras menu
• Improved scrubber bar logic
• Improved audio feedback for watched and pre-playback screens
• Improved poster loading for large folders
• Improved support for DVDs without menus
• Improved subtitle support for right-to-left languages (e.g. Hebrew)
• Improved installer device detection
• Resolved minor memory management issues
• Resolved issues with subtitles settings while playing a playlist
• Resolved issues with yellow subtitles displayed for movies converted with Handbrake
• Resolved conflicts with default audio player
• Resolved issues with passwords that contain @ symbols
• Resolved issues with metadata loading for files that contain ‘/’ in folder or file name
• Resolved buffer overflow in libafpclient observed when navigating folders with long names
• Resolved issues with installer Bonjour detection
• Resolved rare crashes during web browsing
• Changed metadata format to S.# / Ep.# for TV Shows
• Disabled metadata processing during movie playback
• Corrected audio feedback when pressing Menu while in grid view
• Minor UI improvements
• Other miscellaneous bug fixes

If you’re not already jailbroken, you can jailbreak your AppleTV via Seas0nPass. You’ll just need the most recent version of Seas0nPass and a micro-usb cable. For help, you can check out our guide on how to jailbreak the AppleTV second generation. All the steps will remain the same as long as you grab the correct version of Seas0nPass for your AppleTV firmware.

Source: Firecore

Chronic Dev Team member pod2g has again teased everyone waiting for an iPhone 4S and iPad 2 untethered jailbreak. This time he has released a picture of an iPad 2 running Cydia after being jailbroken by the soon to be released untethered iOS 5.01 jailbreak.

We have already seen a demo video of an iPhone 4S running with an untethered jailbreak a few days ago and we were told then that we only had to wait a few more. Now with this release, all we hear is “No more to say!” We assume that this means that the untethered jailbreak for A5 devices is now complete and may be released as early as this week.

Non-A5 iPhone and iPad owners can untethered jailbreak iOS 5.0.1 right now.

Source: pod2g Blog

The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple’s iWork VP Roger Rosner has been charged to lead Apple’s entry into the digital textbook arena.

According to people familiar with the matter, Mr. Rosner—Apple’s vice president for productivity applications, in charge of its iWork document, spreadsheet and presentation software—is closely involved in developing the new digital-textbook service. Apple last week said it was holding an event in New York City on Thursday for an announcement, which people familiar with the matter have said will be around digital textbooks.

With Apple’s education event happening January 19th, we’ll soon be able to lay to rest all the rumors surrounding what, exactly will be unveiled. It seems, however, that rather then looking to replace textbooks with their digital counterparts right away, Rosner’s team will introduce a new set of tools for publishers to create “iTextbooks”. Apple’s iTunes U podcast section is a critical if not mainstream success, and their iBooks eBookstore and reader already have a small set of textbook publishers participating. If Apple can expand on that existing base with tools to make the transition easier, they could start to get some momentum going.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Canadian retailer Future Shop, part of the Best Buy empire, is investigating a scam where some iPad 2 devices purchased in its Vancouver stores turned out to be fake. It appears that scammers bought as many as ten iPad 2s and swapped them for modelling clay.

Future Shop said scam artists bought Apple’s popular tablet computers with cash, replaced the devices with bags of model clay, resealed the boxes and returned them. The returned fakes were then put back on the shelf and sold to unsuspecting customers. It really saddens Future Shop that people stoop to be this opportunistic and make money is this kind of organized way.

One customer gave his wife one of the iPad 2s for Christmas; she was very shocked to receive an iPad 2 box with just a lump of modelling clay inside. To make matters worse, when he returned the iPad 2, he was apparently treated like a criminal by the store’s manager. Thankfully Future Shop has now refunded the cost of the iPad 2 and given the customer a free iPad 2 as compensation for the mix up.

Source: CTV News

According to a report by Ars Technica, Apple is going to announce a GarageBand type tool to aid in the creation of e-books at its New York education event this Thursday. The new tools will assist in the creation of interactive e-books especially in the education sector.

At the same time, however, authoring standards-compliant e-books (despite some promises to the contrary) is not as simple as running a Word document of a manuscript through a filter. The current state of software tools continues to frustrate authors and publishers alike, with several authors telling Ars that they wish Apple or some other vendor would make a simple app that makes the process as easy as creating a song in GarageBand. Our sources say Apple will announce such a tool on Thursday.

Source: Ars Technica

Apple’s iTunes Match service has now expanded to a total of 37 countries. The service initially launched in the United States in November of last year and has slowly rolled out to various countries internationally since then. While Latin American areas already had iTunes in the cloud, iTunes Match was still not enabled but with the latest roll out both services are now offered in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Guatemala, Honduras, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela.

Apple had a little bit of a rough start with iTunes Match but it appears things are running a whole lot smoother now for them. If you’re looking to learn more about iTunes Match, be sure to check out all our previous coverage.

Source: Apple via MacRumors

Apple has snuck a couple of new features into their apps pages in iTunes, specifically an information popup with tabbed content remarkably similar to how Google presents Android Market details. We know that in the past Android has been accused of copying Apple, but like Notification Center this time it looks like Apple is the one caught with their fingers in the copy jar.

The iTunes pop-up windows are activated by a new information icon which will appear when hovering over an app icon. The purpose of this is to make things easier — the information appears right in front of you now without having to click through and load a new page. Movies and TV shows are also getting in on the action, although they’ll have a play button to preview a clip of the video instead.

Source: MacRumors; @sdw

Japanese car manufacturer Nissan has announced that it will soon be launching a line of self repairing cases for the iPhone. The Nissan Scratch Shield iPhone cases will use a special paint technology that Nissan already uses on its cars. The paint was developed back in 2005 in a joint effort between Nissan, the University of Tokyo and Advanced Softmaterials Inc.

The outer ‘paint’ is made from polyrotaxane, which means that when damage occurs to the coating in the form of a fine scratch, the chemical structure is able to react to change back to its original shape and fill the gap – ‘healing’ the blemish.

Source: TNW

Namco Bandai has announced that it will be bringing its weapons based fighting game Soul Calibur to the App Store this week. Soul Calibur was originally launched in arcades back in 1998 and has also been available for the Sega Dreamcast and more recently the Xbox 360.

The iOS port of the classic arcade and Dreamcast fighting game features all 19 fighters and a mode list that includes arcade battle, time attack, survival, extra survival, practice and museum modes. Of these, time attack, survival and extra survival are compatible with Game Center’s Leader Boards.

Source: Andriasang

According to a report by the Jakarta Globe, the iPhone 4S will soon be available in Singapore without a front or rear facing camera. One small carrier in Singapore even went live with a web page displaying pricing for a version of the iPhone 4S with no camera; it was later taken down. Whilst it was live, it showed a 64GB version of the iPhone 4S with no camera going for $900. It is thought that these models of iPhone are being made available for those in the armed forces where smartphones with cameras are banned from army camps.

Currently, Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) servicemen are allowed to take only no-camera smartphones into camp. Because of this, many own two phones – one for use in the camp and another outside.Those with no-camera smartphones are able to tap into the Wi-Fi networks, now covering more camps, to surf the Internet.

Source: Jakarta Globe

KO Gadget posted up on their Facebook page this morning that they have received a cease and desist order from Apple over their glowing light mods. The order states what you would assume about trademark infringement -

The website, http://store.kogadget.com/, is offering for sale and selling merchandise bearing counterfeit Apple trademark(s). Such illegal use of Apple Trademark(s) is a violation of federal and State trademark laws.

There are tons of third party manufacturers out there that distribute colored and custom backs for the iPhone (I order many of them for color swaps). I don’t think that Apple issued this order on the basis of infringing on the Apple logo alone. I believe it’s due to safety concerns as well. I personally don’t feel these modifications are safe from a technical standpoint.

KO Gadgets is claiming all orders have shipped but that they won’t be selling any additional units. If you’ve ordered one of these light mods recently, has your shipping status changed or has your order been cancelled?

Source: KO Gadget Facebook

An iPhone Marimba alarm tone brought a total halt to a performance by the New York Philharmonic whilst playing Mahler’s Symphony No. 9. The orchestra conductor Alan Gilbert, stopped the performance but the Marimba tone kept on playing. After a few words from Mr. Gilbert, the owner of the iPhone finally managed to turn it off and the concert was resumed. The man responsible for the stoppage has since apologized and asked to remain anonymous.

Patron X said he had no idea he was the culprit. He said his company replaced his BlackBerry with an iPhone the day before the concert. He said he made sure to turn it off before the concert, not realizing that the alarm clock had accidentally been set and would sound even if the phone was in silent mode. “I didn’t even know phones came with alarms,” the man said.

Source: New York Times Image: WSJ

The International Trade Commission (ITC)’s Administrative Law Judge has ruled in favor of Motorola Mobility, saying the new Google acquisition and maker of fine, Corellian-styles Android phones doesn’t violate 3 of Apple’s multitouch patents. Scott Offer, senior vice president and general counsel for Moto, had this to say:

We are pleased with today’s favorable outcome for Motorola Mobility. Motorola Mobility has worked hard over the years to develop technology and build an industry-leading intellectual property portfolio. We are proud to leverage this broad and deep portfolio to create differentiated innovations that enhance the user experience.

Apple had claimed Motorola’s Droid, Droid 2, Droid X, Cliq, BackFlip, Devour and Charm infringed on tapping, swiping, and pinching gestures. What this means for the viability of the patents moving forward is unknown, but likely not good for Apple.

Steve Jobs considered Android a stolen product and said in his biography that he would spend every last dollar in Apple’s massive money bin to destroy it. Results so far, however, have been decidedly hit and miss. Still, the legal wrangling persists and no doubt the lawyers on both sides are already picking out new hypercars in anticipation of the next round.

Source: Motorola PR via Android Central

Apple is reportedly leasing around 215,000 square feet of office space in a research and office complex in Sunnyvale, CA. It’s rumored that Apple is aiming to acquire around 700,000 to 800,000 total square feet in that area. That much space is enough to accommodate over 3,000 Apple employees. The space in Sunnyvale is less than 15 minutes from their current headquarters in Cupertino.

As Apple continues to grow it’s quite obvious they’ll need more space. This makes me wonder what is happening with their updated plans for a redesigned Cupertino campus. Sunnyvale has become somewhat of a hotspot for technology companies. We could just rule it as Apple leasing a space that’s not only convenient but in a good location as well.

Source: Mercury News

Apple has just posted their annual Supplier Responsibility Progress Report. The report aims to help improve worker protections and factory conditions as well as show audit information for the year. The report outlines how their audit procedure is performed as well as shows results for audits in 2011.

Apple also posted a list of the 156 suppliers that make up over 95% of their supply chain. The main focus of the report is to highlight their continued efforts to improve work conditions and tighten down on underage labor.

Apple-designed training programs have educated more than one million supply chain employees about local laws, their rights as workers, occupational health and safety, and Apple’s Supplier Code of Conduct.

Apple is also offering educational programs for workers to improve their business skills as well as learn more about entrepreneurship.

Source: Apple report, Apple list

Apple has postponed selling the latest iPhone 4S in some stores in mainland China after crowd disturbances spoilt its launch day. The main trouble appeared outside of the Apple Store in Sanlitun Beijing.

Would-be customers, many of whom had waited over night in the freezing cold to be among the first to purchase the latest iPhone, became so unruly when the store failed to open its doors on-time that Apple was forced to cancel first-day sales there. And rather than risk a repeat of the incident — which ended in profanity, egg-throwing and a few scuffles, the company has decided not to sell the 4S at any of its retail stores in Beijing and Shanghai. Instead, it will sell the device through its Web site and carrier partners.

Source: All Things D, Image: MIC Gadgets

OnLive Desktop has now gone live in the App Store. OnLive Desktop is an app which will provide a cloud based Windows 7 experience for iPad users. The OnLive Desktop app will give users access to a Windows desktop experience without the need for any VNC or remote desktop connections. It is all stored in the cloud and accessible from your iPad or a desktop machine.

OnLive Desktop is a service that provides a seamless, no-compromise, instant-response cloud-based PC desktop, wherever and whenever you want it. OnLive brings to your iPad a high-performance PC experience, regardless of the content, even when interacting with fast-action media. Based on groundbreaking video compression technology, OnLive harnesses the power of cloud computing to deliver a seamless, no-compromise remote PC desktop solution.

• Instantly view, edit and create documents using actual Microsoft Office Word, Excel and PowerPoint
• Easily transfer files between OnLive Desktop and other devices
• Experience high-performance, instant-response PC applications
• Interact with lag-free animation and video

• App Store link

Mole Kart has arrived in the App Store and if you are looking for a game that resembles the original Nintendo Mario Kart, you need look no further. After Nintendo sees how this game looks and plays, we are sure it will be talking with its legal team.

Your favorite Mole characters come together to battle it out in an adrenaline-fueled race to the finish line. They are zooming on to your iPhone and iPad for party racing showdown.Test your skills across different landscapes and unique tracks, ranging from freezing glaciers, cliffhanging mountains, waterfalls and even Mole’s World. Experience new challenges, all kinds of monsters, extraordinary gameplay and much more! Challenge up to four friends over WiFi or Bluetooth.

• Choose from 7 unique tracks, set in Mole Pasture,X.Mushroom,Sky Remnant, Mole’s Garden and other fantasy environments.
• Go through completing challenges and watch out for outrageous monsters that may await you at any turn!
• 6 iconic Mole characters, each has a custom built vehicle with special abilities to match against tough terrains and all racing conditions.
• Whether racing around an obstacle-filled track or battling in an arena, drifting and tossing items are the keys to Mole Kart success. You can toss a prop to temporarily boost their speed or create an explosion to block competitors. 19 super cool power-ups to outwit your opponents and enhance your racing experience!
• Manual or automatic modes! Experience the ultimate drifting by tilting the device or controlling the virtual stick.
• Local Multiplayer Mode: Battle up to four friends online either on WiFi or Bluetooth.
• Excellent graphic and 3D experience, feel the thrill of racing like never before!

• App Store link

According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, Sony is bringing its Music Unlimited service to the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch later this year. Music Unlimited is Sony’s subscription based streaming music service and will be available as an app for all iOS devices.

Sony’s decision to offer the service, touted as the Japanese company’s answer to Apple’s iTunes, on iOS devices speaks to Apple’s presence in the all-important smartphone and tablet markets as well as Sony’s willingness to do whatever it takes to expand the reach of its content services.The Music Unlimited service, along with Sony’s video and videogame offerings, functions as the glue holding together the links between the Japanese conglomerate’s entertainment businesses and electronics products.

Source: WSJ

The TomTom App for iPhone and iPad will be the first to use social networks as a source for turn-by-turn navigation. It can automatically plan routes based on information from Facebook events, places and friends. Drivers can also use the App to share their destination and arrival time on Twitter, Facebook, by email and SMS text.

Source: TomTom PR

Shazam has launched a new app called Shazam Player which can be used as an alternative to the inbuilt Music app on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. Shazam Player lets you stream lyrics for supported tunes as well as view a huge store of information on the band or artist you are currently listening to.

Switch to a music player with a difference – Shazam Player™ the NEW app from Shazam! Why just listen to your music when you can now see streaming lyrics, watch YouTube videos and read reviews of your favorite tracks and artists! Get to know your music with Shazam Player. It’s your music. Shazam Player lets you do more with it.

• Bring your music to life with LyricPlay. See streaming lyrics in time to the music – you’ll always have the words to your favorite songs with you
• Share the soundtrack of your day on Facebook and Twitter
• Watch YouTube videos and concert clips
• Find tour dates for the bands and artists you’re into
• Manage your music – see your iTunes playlists and create new playlists on the fly
• Select your favorite tracks and hide ones you don’t want to hear
• Add to your music – buy new tracks on iTunes from within the app
• View music by artist/album/title and use the Track Tray to see all the great Shazam features available for each song
• Top tracks – a changing list of LyricPlay tracks – buy them straight from the app if you don’t already own them
• Identify new music you’re hearing by instantly launching the Shazam App

Comcast has announced that it is now rolling outs its AnyPlay service which is a small device that will allow you to watch your home Comcast TV channels on your iPad and other WiFi enabled displays.

With AnyPlay, you can watch the channels that are included in your linear channel subscription through the Xfinity TV app on the iPad, and very soon the Motorola Xoom™ tablet. This means that while someone else watches a program in the living room, for example, you can watch another show on your iPad from the backyard deck, kitchen or other places around the home.

• App Store link

Source: Comcast

Kodak will be filing lawsuits against both Apple and HTC related to possible infringements on some of their digital imaging patents.

The claims from Kodak are that both smartphone manufacturers are infringing upon some of their digital imaging patents. While they already have an existing lawsuit directed at Apple, this one brings more devices to the table. HTC meanwhile are being targeted through their EVO View 4G, Flyer, Jetstream, Vivid, Amaze 4G, Desire, EVO Design 4G, Hero S, Rezound, Rhyme, Sensation 4G and the Wildfire S devices. That’s a lot of Android. Notably missing from the list are any of HTC’s Windows Phone devices.

Florian Mueller from FOSS Patents speculates this may be due to Kodak attempting to gain attention with their patent portfolio while they shop around for a potential buyer.

Source: AndroidCentral via mobileburn

Amazon has launched a new web based Kindle Store designed specifically for the iPad. The new site looks and feels like an actual app rather than a web page however you don’t need to install anything to use the store.

Books are laid out in a cover flow arrangement and you can swipe through the books, click on the covers to see more information, read reviews and of course buy a book. If you do make a purchase, the book is automatically sent to your designated reading device. If you can’t wait that long, you can even read it within the new Kindle Store web page because Amazon has now made its Cloud Reader compatible with the iPad too. If you have your iPad handy, simply visit  http://www.amazon.com/iPadKindleStore to take a look at the new layout.

Consisting of two initial products, the WeMo Home Control Switch and the WeMo Motion Sensor, WeMo is a customizable, accessible home automation solution designed to simplify home maintenance and bring peace of mind to busy families and individuals on the go. WeMo works with a home’s existing electrical system and requires only a Wi-Fi network and free smartphone app to set up and control. Simply plug the WeMo Home Control Switch into any electrical outlet and then plug in any device, such as a lamp, into the WeMo Home Control Switch. Through the free smartphone app, the item then can be turned on or off remotely or scheduled to turn on and off at set times. The second product in the line is the WeMo Motion Sensor, which works with the WeMo Home Control Switch to make your device react to motion. Used together, WeMo can create a home environment that can turn a light on when someone walks in a room, or off when no one is present.

Source: Belkin PR

iRig MIC Cast provides a pocket-sized voice recording solution with crystal-clear audio quality. It features a tight unidirectional pickup pattern that minimizes background noise, making it ideal for single-source audio recording.

• Features a stereo mini-jack headphone output which enables real-time monitoring of what is being recorded using headphones or speakers.
• Offers a mini-switch that provides two different sensitivity settings to record close-up or distant sources.
• Includes an adjustable desktop stand for convenient iPhone/iPod touch positioning during recording.
• Has a bumper-friendly mini-jack connector that fits the majority of iPhone/iPod touch cases.
• Has an ultra-compact profile that can be carried anywhere with ease.
• Like other IK Multimedia microphones, it includes 2 free apps: iRig Recorder, an easy-to-use voice recording/editing app, and VocaLive, a multi-effects processing app for singers.
• Works with all regular phone calls and any Voice-Over-IP app.
• Is compatible with iPhone/iPod touch/iPad.

Source: IK Multimedia

OnLive, better known for its online gaming service has just announced that it will be launching a cloud based Windows 7 experience for iPad users. The OnLive Desktop app will give users access to a Windows desktop experience without the need for any VNC or remote desktop connections. It is all stored in the cloud and accessible from your iPad or a desktop machine.

OnLive has just re-imagined what’s possible on iPad with the OnLive Desktop app, available Thursday in the iTunes App Store. Launching a brand-new chapter for OnLive (and everyone), OnLive Desktop gives users instant access to a seamless Windows desktop experience, with full-featured Microsoft Office applications and 2 GB of free cloud storage for secure file access anywhere. Need to edit a Word doc with redlines and comments? No problem. Need to give some oomph to that PowerPoint deck for your meeting? Go for it: present animations and slide transitions, edit diagrams and embed videos. Desperate for a pivot table in Excel? Pivot away … Anything you can do on your office desktop, you will be able to do on your iPad—at home, in your hotel, anywhere.

OnLive also plan on offering some more advanced versions of the app too. OnLive Desktop Pro will offer up to 50GB of storage, priority access to apps, full-featured cloud-accelerated browsing and additional PC applications for a subscription of $9.99 a month. OnLive Enterprise will allow complete customization for business and organizations and OnLive collaborative services will offer thousands of users to simultaneously view, control and discuss a shared desktop via voice chat.

Source: OnLive

Running low on iCloud storage and wondering how to delete old backups to reclaim some space? iCloud offers iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users a fantastic way to secure your personal data in the cloud. It makes everything a breeze if you have to restore a device or set up a new one. Just type in your iCloud details and everything magically appears just how it was before you had the problem. Of course you only get 5GB of free storage, if you need more, you have to pay each month. Whilst this is not a problem for most, if you have multiple devices linked to one iCloud account and no longer use one or more of them, the iCloud backup may be taking up valuable space. Well there is a way to delete individual device backups in iCloud all from your iOS device. Read on and we will show you how.

• Open Settings

• Scroll down to iCloud and tap on it
• Scroll down to the bottom and tap on Storage and Backup

• Here you can see the storage being used and what is available

• Click on Manage Storage

• Here you will see a list of backups being held in iCloud, as you can see I have two iPhones. I had one replaced at the Apple Store last week so no longer need this backup.
• Click on the one you want to remove from iCloud

• Click on Delete Backup

• Click on Turn Off and Delete
• That’s it, that backup has now been removed and the space reclaimed in iCloud

Daily Tips range from beginner-level 101 to advanced-level ninjary. If you already know this tip, keep the link handy as a quick way to help a friend. If you have a tip of your own you’d like to suggest, add them to the comments or send them in to dailytips@tipb.com.

Ion, the guys who brought us the magnificent iCade iPad arcade gaming cabinet have now announced some new gaming accessories for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices. There are three new accessories in total to compliment the original iCade and they all look awesome. The iCade mobile is a handheld gaming system for your iPhone or iPod touch. The iCade Core is similar to the original iCade but doesn’t include the cabinet surround. Finally the iCade Jr is a version of the original iCade designed specifically for the iPhone and iPod touch.

iCade Mobile

Gamers of all ages will love iCade Mobile’s classic controller configuration, designed to play modern and retro games the way they were meant to be played. iCade Mobile’s four-way directional pad, four front-facing action buttons and four shoulder buttons are designed to withstand even the most fierce button mashing. iCade Mobilegets your fingers out of the way and gives you a full view of the action with a specially designed cradle that ensures safe loading and unloading of your iPhone or iPod touch, while also providing a solid, secure fit even during the most intense game-play sessions.

iCade Core

iCade Core’s specially designed cradle ensures safe loading and unloading of a user’s iPad, while also providing a solid, secure fit for even the most intense gameplay sessions. Beneath the cradle is a custom-designed pass-thru slot, which allows users to charge the iPad with their standard 30-pin cable. The cradle also swivels to allow either portrait or landscape so that orientation is never a problem. iCade Core’s top-quality arcade controls quickly connect to the iPad using Bluetooth wireless technology. Once the iPad is in place, simply launch any compatible app and it’s game-on.

iCade Jr

A sequel to the smash hit ION iCade controller for iPad, iCade Jr. brings the arcade excitment to your iPhone or iPod touch. Game-on with great iPhone and iPod touch games with this pint-sized arcade powerhouse. iCade Jr. gives you a joystick and four front buttons, plus four rear trigger buttons for ultimate control over tons of iPhone and iPod touch games. This mini-arcade cabinet will give you a novelty gaming experience like no other!

Source: Ion

Photography app specialists Interealtime has just released an update to its highly acclaimed True NightVison app. The app uses special light capture techniques which allow much darker photographs to be taken using the iPhone camera.

Looking for powerful light amplification tech that fits in your pocket? You came to the right place. True NightVision features advanced image enhancement AND unique light gathering modes. Combined, they make this the most potent night vision app available on the App Store. How does it work? It uses a live camera view and special photo enhancement techniques capable of producing a decent image at high speed (we’re talking fluid 30fps action here!) even where it’s way too dark for the iPhone’s camera app.

• Speed: For full motion, 30fps action use
• High: Balances speed and light enhancement, good for regular use
• Still: High level light enhancement, but requires a steady hand
• Max: Ultimate light enhancement for stationary use
• Improved zoom: Up to 8x zoom on iPhone 4/4S, up to 4x on 3GS
• Enhancement is now set to 50% initially
• Speed fix for iPhone 4s

• App Store link

The Griffin Twenty is the easiest, best-sounding solution for consumers who have speakers that are not AirPlay-enabled but still want to stream high-fidelity audio wirelessly,” said Mark Rowan, President of Griffin Technology. “Not only can users stream from their iTunes library, they can easily connect with any AirPlay-enabled iOS device.”

Source: Griffin

In speaking to the New York Times recently, the man running the show for the Windows Phone software team, Joe Belifore noted how Apple’s iPhone prompted Windows Phone redesign and shaped the future of Microsoft’s mobile operating system.

“Apple created a sea change in the industry in terms of the kinds of things they did that were unique and highly appealing to consumers,” Joe Belfiore told The New York Times. “We wanted to respond with something that would be competitive, but not the same.”

It really isn’t any secret that Apple’s launch of the iPhone disrupted the mobile industry in many ways, but even today — 5 years after the official unveiling — we’re still finding out just how much of an impact it had. Microsoft at the time was considering their options for what to do with exhausted Windows Mobile platform. With their mobile future now at risk, it was decided in December of 2008 to go ahead and scrap Windows Mobile and start fresh.

That meant assembling a new team of engineers, developers and more importantly — someone to lead them all into the next generation of mobile OS’ for Microsoft. That led Terry Myerson, mobile engineering chief to hire Joe Belfiore who had recently been working on the Microsoft Zune projects. Borrowing ideas from the Zune projects, the Metro UI as we now know it was born and early Windows Phone devices were rolled out, providing something many would say was ideas never saw from Microsoft before.

Whether you like Apple and the iPhone or not, their influence on every other modern smartphone really is undeniable.

Source: NYTimes

According to a group of hackers in India, Apple, RIM and Nokia could be providing backdoor access to the Indian government, allowing them to monitor user data. The Indian government might be insisting on this access in exchange for allowing Apple and other smartphone vendors to offer their products and services in India, they have allegedly given them access to cellular communications. The agreement appears to be called RINOA (Rim, Nokia, Apple).

Several documents have been found referring to RINOA and how information was gathered from some of these government bodies. I know India is a large country but I’m not quite sure what is more damaging — not having a presence there at all or betraying your customers’ trust by allowing the local government to access data without their knowledge.

Source: ZDNet

• Spark Digital: The world’s first studio-grade condenser microphone to offer both USB and iPad connectivity, featuring Focus Control, adjustable desk stand, built-in shockmount, and y-cables with an attached, extended female headphone jack for each platform.
• Mikey Digital: The perfect tool for mobile recording with iOS devices features two custom-tuned Blue capsules for stereo recording, a line-input, USB pass through and a stylish 230-degree rotating design.

Source: Blue

ChatON is an instant messaging app that supports multi-platform chat across iOS, Android and Samsung Bada platform. Soon the app will also be available for BlackBerry and Windows Phone as well, so it will cover most platforms. What makes it really interesting is… the app was made by Apple largest Android rival — Samsung.

ChatON is a Global Mobile Communication Service that enables you to have better relationships with your buddies or groups. ChatON brings together all of these methods of communication, expression, and sharing in one place.

• ChatON supports multi platforms and devices. Users can chat freely through ChatON.
• Currently, ChatON supports iOS, Android, Bada, Samsung Feature and will support Blackberry, Window mobile, web soon.
• ChatON provides multi ways to make your communication richer.
• 1:1 Chat, Group Chat, Broadcast, Drawing Message, Picture, Video, Voice, Location, Contact, Calendar.
• Using ChatON, create your own unique drawing message by hand drawing etc.
• ChatON provides group management feature for easy group chat
• ChatON provides Interaction rank which informs you how often you chat with your buddies.
• For every chat room, you can easily see all sent images and videos in a Trunk.
• Something to say for your buddies? Use ‘Buddies Say’!

• App Store link

According a report by network metrics firm Arieso, iPhone 4S users are consuming twice the amount of data than users of earlier iPhone models, and the reason is Siri. Siri is getting the blame for the huge increase in data consumption as it communicates with Apple’s servers to provide its personal assistant features.

“Voice is the ultimate human interface,” Arieso Chief Technology Officer Michael Flanagan said in an interview in London. “As you lower the barriers,” consumers will use their smartphones’ functions even more often, he said. Arieso, based in Atlanta, advises clients such as Vodafone Group Plc (VOD), Telefonica SA (TEF) and Nokia Siemens Networks Oy on how to manage wireless networks.

Data consumption remains a concern for those on restricted plans and on networks like AT&T that have historically suffered connectivity problems due to excessive load. Arieso claims to have measured one million subscribers across a single European network in both urban and rural areas to come up with its findings about Siri. We can understand a small increase in data with the additional functionality that Siri brings, however, it shouldn’t be forgotten that iOS 5 was also released for other devices at the same time as the iPhone 4S was launched with Siri. iOS 5 brought a little extra service called iCloud too. We are sure a lot of this additional data usage could be explained by over the air updates, iTunes in the Cloud, Photo Stream and many other data intensive tasks available for iPads and earlier iPhone models and not just Siri on the iPhone 4S.

And if Siri is responsible for the spike, it will be interesting to see what if any decline results when the novelty wears off. How many times can you really ask how to hide a body, or have the pod bay doors opened?

Source: Bloomberg

An iPad has survived a massive 100,000 foot fall in the latest publicity stunt for case manufacturer G-Form. The iPad was solely clad in a G-Form 6oz Extreme Edge case and taken into space on a weather balloon.

The company released a stunning hi-def video Thursday where the nearly naked iPad is shown hanging above the Earth in the blackness of space. In the video, the iPad is lifted to over 100,000 feet by a weather balloon which bursts at altitude, then releasing the iPad to free-fall to Earth where it crash lands on a rocky hillside in the Nevada countryside. Perhaps even more remarkable than the dramatic hi-def footage itself is the fact that the iPad survives the adventure, remaining fully functional.

The video is really impressive on its own, without taking into account the magnitude of the fall or the fact that it is an iPad. It’s not something I would be willing to try with my iPad 2 but it is definitely a great way to show some faith in your cases!

Source: YouTube

iHome is working on bringing three new iPhone docks to its already large portfolio of accessories. The new docks are set to be revealed at CES 2012 which starts next week. Three models will be introduced in total; one will even include AirPlay.

• iW4 AirPlay Wireless 20 Watts Bedside Speaker System for iPad/iPhone/iPod: making its alarm clock speaker system debut, AirPlay utilizes the home WiFi network to deliver more flexibility than ever before. Easily stream your entire iTunes library over the network to listen, sleep or wake to your favorite tunes. The iW4 is expected to retail for $269.99.
• iP18 LED Color Changing Dual Alarm Clock Speaker System for iPhone and iPod: a little bit of color goes a long way with this ultra-modern and stylish alarm clock speaker solution. Now with a smaller footprint and new cube design, this app-friendly Glowtunes offering has big features including four color-changing modes, Reson8 speaker chamber technology, one-touch clock sync and more. The iP18 is expected to retail for $69.99.
• iD50 App-Enhanced Bluetooth Alarm Clock Radio Speakerphone for iPad/iPhone/iPod with AM/FM Presets: the alarm clock you’d expect to see on James Bond’s nightstand, but with a price tag that makes it realistic for non secret agents to own. The iD50 is strong in the features department and has a smooth finish that will stir you to wake rather than shake you. The iD50 is expected to retail for $169.99.

The bad news is that these new docks will not be available to buy until later in the year. That’s as good as it gets on the release information for now. We will let you know as soon as we find out anymore.

Source: Business Wire

Now that iPhone 4S has come and launched, iPhone 5 (or whatever Apple ends up calling the next generation iPhone), concept designs are once again starting to pop up. This one comes from designer Antonio De Rosa, who created the above iPhone concept and has given it the title of iPhone SJ, as it is Steve Jobs inspired. He imagines it having an A6 processor, a 10 MP camera, and a polycarbonate body. I don’t particularly feel that an A6 processor or a better camera are out of the question for the next iPhone.

I don’t think polycarbonate would be a bad choice for the body as it’s extremely lightweight. It would allow Apple to create an even larger device and subtract weight. I’m not sure I would want a larger screen as that has its disadvantages too. Overall, I think the design is great but I’m not sold on Apple making a larger screen that would inhibit one-handed use. You can visit ADR Studio’s site for more images of his design.

Source: ADR Studio

Pod2g has decided to share a little more information on the hopefully soon to be released iPhone 4S and iPad 2 jailbreak. In a blog post, pod2g has answered a couple of questions that may have been on your mind as you await its release. One of the questions is how he has managed to get an untethered 4S and dev teams still haven’t released tools to achieve this at home?

The exploit I used to inject the untethering files to the 4S relies on having a developer account, and can’t be released publicly.It’s the same reason why @MuscleNerd has an iPad 2 tethered jailbreak but couldn’t distribute it. So, we need to find a distributable exploit to remount the system partition read/write and to set Corona files at the correct places.

Source: Pod2g Blog

A newly discovered timestamp security bug may leave your iOS device photos exposed regardless of whether or not your device is passcode locked. Ade Barkah, a Canadian tech consultant, has figured out that changing the time on your device will leave any photo taken in the “future” accessible via the quick camera toggle on the home screen.

The quick toggle is a new feature in iOS 5 that allows you to double tap your home button to access your camera app. From there you can tap into your image gallery. If your device is passcode locked, you will receive a message asking you to unlock your device to view photos. Unless you change the time on your device. Anything taken after that time stamp will be viewable as the phone will assume nothing exists after that point in time.

Turns out Apple’s restriction is just a simple filter based on the timestamp when the Camera app was invoked. You’re allowed to see all images with a timestamp greater than this invocation time. Yet that leads to an immediate hole: if your iPhone’s clock ever rolls back, then all images with timestamps newer than your iPhone’s clock will be viewable from your locked phone.

This could be a potential issue for anyone that travels frequently or has a need to change timezones. You can test this by simply changing the time and popping into your quick toggle even when the device is locked. Better get to deleting those inappropriate pictures!

Source: Peekay.org via CNET

According to an article in British newspaper The Daily Mail, Apple is considering throwing its hat into the bidding ring for the rights to broadcast English Premier League soccer games. The deal is open for a new round of bidding before the end of this season in May.

The Premier League is seen as the type of premium content that will help establish Apple TV in the UK and boost iPad sales, while the iTunes subscription service infrastructure is already in place.

Apple will face some huge competition if it is to get its hands on some form of TV rights for these games. Sky, who currently owns most of the rights for live games, had to pay around £1.6 billion ($2.5 billion) for the privilege. Competition is also likely to come in from Google, ESPN and Middle East Network Al Jezeera.

If Apple did manage to secure some of the rights to live EPL games, it would then have to force consumers to buy an Apple TV if they wanted to see the content on their big screen televisions. This does not appear to make a great deal of sense for the consumer unless of course the deal is just to sell the games through iTunes; in a similar way to its TV episodes.

Source: The Daily Mail

HTML5 and CSS expert Vasily Zubach has put together a quite amazing render of an iPhone 4 created solely using CSS3. Because it was created in this manner, it does not include any images at all, it is all done with code.

This rendering of iPhone 4 and its icons was made in pure CSS3. No images, no base64, no SVG, no canvas, just 3395 lines of CSS code and 335 lines of Javascript code (with jQuery, of course).Viewed best with the latest versions of Safari and Chrome in Mac OS X.

You can see what we mean by amazing, when you visit the full render here. It is not just a render but it also offers a certain amount of functionality too. You can slide to unlock, click the home button and even turn it on and off using the power button. Very clever work!

Source: TNW

Noted Montreal iPhone photographer and videographer, Martin Reisch, better knows as *safe solvent™ on the internet, used a scan of his passport displayed on an iPad as identification while passing through the U.S. border from Canada. The man was visiting friends in Vermont when he realized that he had forgotten his passport. Luckily he had a scan of it saved on his iPad so decided to use it at the border.

Martin Reisch is certain that if Steve Jobs was alive, the tech innovator would have something to say about him.

“He’d probably say: ‘Here’s something to work on for the future.’ Maybe have some kind of digital certification or encryption to let people travel like this,”

Unfortunately not everyone shares those sentiments. Federal critics claim border officers failed in their duty by accepting digital proof of identity. MP Brian Masse claimed that it was troubling because a scanned copy of a passport is not a secure document and could be altered. He did however accept that electronic passports could be used in the future if the correct safety features were implemented.

After a certain TiPb editor-in-chief bothered Reich about his passport photo missing his trademark hat, Reich also added:

i get in with an iPad, i break technological ground but the comments are about my haircut…

Source: Montreal Gazette

More: about.me/safesolvent, @safesolvent

Apple is set to hold a sale across Asia to celebrate The Year of the Dragon.  The sale will start on January 6 and will last for one day only. As with all Apple sales, you will not know what the sale covers until it actually starts.

Customers in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines are eligible for Apple’s one-day sale, which the company is calling ‘Red Friday’, offering a range of accessories, gadgets and software — as well as some Apple Store exclusives.

Source: TNW