Today the International Data Corporation raised its 2012 tablet forecast to 106.1 million units, up from its previous forecast of 87.7 million units thanks to a stronger-than-expected 2011 finish. According to IDC, tablet shipments rose 155%, leading to a full-year 2011 total of 68.7 million units shipped. The IDC credits Amazon for raising consumers’ awareness of the tablet category in 2011 thanks to their popular $199 Kindle Fire.
CloudOn brings cloud-based version of Office 2010 to the iPad without licensing or legal concerns
Last week Microsoft accused cloud gaming company OnLive and users of its OnLive Desktop of pirating Windows 7. OnLive made headlines when it launched OnLive Desktop earlier this year and again when it updated the product to support additional features and subscription plans. The app, which is available for the iPad and for Android, provides users with a cloud hosted Windows 7 desktop complete with the core Office apps (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) as well as Adobe Reader and a copy of Internet Explorer that iPad users can use to play Flash content.
After not voicing an opinion about OnLive Desktop for several weeks, Microsoft publicly announced that the OnLive was violating its license agreements and effectively breaking the law in the process. The issue appears to be specific to the licensing restrictions when offering Windows 7 in a virtual desktop scenario.
Although OnLive Desktop is probably the most well known cloud-based Windows and Office mobile solution, it isn’t the only one. And its competitors are quick to point the legality of their services and their compliance with Microsoft’s licensing policies.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has subpoenaed Apple to give the details of its iPhone search deal with Google. The request is a result of the Google antitrust probe the FTC is currently conducting. Apple has been required to reveal the agreements it made to make Google the preferred search engine on the iPhone.
Oh, Samsung. We know you have a complicated relationship with Apple, building components for them with the one hand, suing with the other. But can’t you stop mouthing off about the components you’re building them about Cupertino’s top-secret upcoming projects? Keep this up and you’re likely to find yourself wearing concrete shoes at the bottom of the local reservoir.
Have you ever wanted to have access to the lyrics of your favorite tunes in the iOS Music app? Do you not want to take the time to manually add lyrics for every song in iTunes? A jailbreak tweak called Lyricalizer automatically fetches the lyrics for songs as their playing on the iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad and lets you view them right in the default Music app.
This is pretty hard to believe, but if true, it could have a huge impact on the future audience of the MacBook Pro line: Apple could have dropped NVIDIA as the supplier of the next-gen MacBook Pro’s discrete GPUs, and will instead go with Intel integrated graphics. Huh?
Apple wants to be sure employees know when their iOS devices are managed at work
One short sentence in the help documents for the new Apple Configurator tool shows that the company is aware that many workers are bringing their personal devices into the office. More noteworthy is the fact that it shows that Apple is thinking about some of the potential privacy issues that can arise in situations like BYOD programs where a personal iPhone or iPad is managed by a company’s IT department.
The sentence in question is in the section on supervised or managed devices. It reads as follows:
Important: When a device is initially supervised during the Prepare process, it’s wiped of all content and settings. This prevents a person’s personal device from being supervised without their knowledge.
Detailed close-up taken with an iPhone. Courtesy of OS X Daily.
Your iPhone’s camera might be good enough to replace your old point-and-shoot — especially if you have the iPhone 4S — but it does have some flaws. For instance, it’s not great at taking those really close-up shots for catching the smallest details; it just doesn’t focus.
But with just a droplet of water, you can add a macro lens to your iPhone that allows you to capture crystal clear high-resolution close-ups. Here’s how!
Siri is arguably, the best digital personal assistant in the world. She can tell you if you need an umbrella. Wake you up when your late. Remind you that you forgot to buy your girlfriend a birthday present, and so many other tasks that sure are nifty. She’s better than having a personal assistant because she doesn’t get all pissed off when you tell her to go get you a coffee, or call in sick so she can go hangout at the beach with her friends.
Did you know Siri can sing too? Yeah, she totally can, and it’s like having J.Lo in your back pocket at all times, without the obtrusive lady lumps. Need proof? Here’s Siri singing a tear jerking robotic rendition of Stairway To Heaven.
Tweetbot's new streaming option. Image courtesy of Macstories.net.
We’re huge, unwavering fans of Tapbot’s Tweetbot Twitter client for iPhone and iPad. It just blows the official Twitter client out of the water in every respect. Ahead of the debut of the new iPad on Friday, though, and in accompaniment with their recent update to Camera+, Tapbot has pushed through the 2.1 update of Tweetbot for iPad (iPhone version coming soon), and not only does it support Retina Display resolution and Camera+ 3.0 image capturing and editing… it introduces streaming to the mix!
Apple Configurator is a new free tool that let’s you manage iOS devices in business or education settings. The app can be used simply as an initial deployment tool or as an ongoing management solution. It’s particularly well suited to environments where iPads and other iOS devices will be shared among multiple users since it can be used in “lending library” fashion with users checking out devices because Configurator backs up user data on check-in and applies to a new device on check-out.
This guide covers each part of Configurator with step-by-step instructions.
One of Foxconn's many assembly line workers who will hopefully benefit from the Lifestyle Services Manager hire
Everybody has heard of how crappy Apple supplier Foxconn treats their workers. Long hours. Low pay. Shoddy conditions. Working at a Foxconn factory is in no way glamorous and wonderful, and it looks like even Foxconn is ready to admit as much. In an effort to reshape their image, Foxconn’s Shenzhen factory is looking to hire a Saftey and Security Officer and a Lifestyle Services Manager to make life a little bit more fabulous for their workforce.
Gizmodo’s resident PhotoShop freak and controversy-stirrer extraordinaire Jesus Diaz has posted up a fantastic couple of images putting into perspective just how frickin’ densely packed the new iPad’s 3+ million pixels really are.
In the image above, a new iPad is placed right next to a vintage Macintosh. The idea here is that if the pixels of the vintage Mac and the new iPad were exactly the same size, the iPad would have to be positively Brobdingnagian to accommodate all of them.
You could buy a new iPad from AT&T's stores starting on Friday morning, but why would you?
This shouldn’t take anyone by surprise, but with the new iPad going on sale on Friday at 8 a.m. at Apple Stores around the country, AT&T will also have units that they’ll be selling at their retail outlets on the same day. Don’t count on being able to easily get one, though.
Apple has continually talked about the number of companies that have been testing or deploying iPads to its workers – and if you look around many workplaces today, you’re likely to see at least one or two iPads.
If you’re craving more than anecdotal evidence that the iPad is a serious business tool, however, a new ChangeWave study offers plenty of solid proof. The study shows that 84% of businesses looking to deploy tablets are planning to buy iPads within the next three months. That follows an earlier study that showed the iPad commands 96% of the business tablet market.
Customers in Hong Kong must reserve Apple's new iPad online before they attempt to collect it from store.
iOS devices are big business in China, and not just for Apple. Gangs of scalpers queue up to get their hands on the latest devices on launch day so that they can later be sold on through the grey market for a sizable profit.
Back in October, when the iPhone 4S launched in Hong Kong, police were called to break up the riots that occurred outside of Apple retail stores as scalpers attempted to force their way into the lines ahead of genuine customers. To ensure it doesn’t happen again, Apple has warned scalpers not to queue up for its new iPad on Friday.
Over at 9to5Mac, everyone’s favorite teenage tech space Tintin, Mark Gurman, managed to get his hands on some soon-to-be-posted retail art that confirms the new iPad will go on sale starting at 8 a.m. on Friday. In other words, doors at your local Apple Store will be opening two hours early to accommodate the crush.
Will you be waiting in line for one? What time do you plan on getting there? Let us know in the comments.
One of Camera+'s great new features is much-improved sharing.
Camera+, one of the most popular photography apps for the iPhone, has been updated to version 3 today. In addition to a fancy new icon, the update brings a ton of new features including improved photo sharing, focus and exposure locks, workflows, and more. The release also quashes several bugs.
A rare and interesting Apple prototype surfaced on eBay recently, and although the auction has since ended we thought it notable enough to merit mention. A 1993 prototype called a WALT – Wizzy Active Lifestyle Telephone – combined a telephone, fax, personal address book and more with a HyperCard user interface. It never shipped, but this vaporware breakthrough netted the seller a cool $8000 on eBay.
Apple's new iPad has double the RAM of its predecessor.
Early benchmark tests conducted on Apple’s new iPad have confirmed that the third-generation tablet is the first iOS device to get 1GB of RAM, double the amount packed into its predecessor. Its new A5X processor, however, clocks in at the same speed as the A5 chip.
Talking Tom Cat is one app Rian picks out for criticism
User experience expert Rian van der Merwe posted a heartfelt rant at Smashing Magazine yesterday, begging developers of iPad apps for kids to think a little more carefully about how they put their apps together.
Most of his comments were about UI and interface issues, but the final one was a warning a lot of parents (myself included) will support: don’t try and trick my kids into buying additional content.
Apple is quietly and diligently working behind the scenes to make sure its website looks great on the new hi-res iPads which will begin to drop onto our doormats this weekend. To get ready for the never-seen-before ten-inch retina display, Apple is swapping in higher resolution graphics.
iPhoto501Fix promises to eliminate iPhoto crashes under iOS 5.0.1
If you’ve got a jailbroken iOS device that you can’t upgrade to iOS 5.1, then you may have installed Apple’s new iPhoto app unofficially. The problem with this is, the app only supports the iOS 5.1 firmware, and you’re likely to run into some compatibility issues that cause iPhoto to crash and freeze every so often.
But thanks to a new tweak called iPhoto501Fix, you can quash those bugs and enjoy a seamless (almost) iPhoto experience.
The new iPad doesn’t go on sale until this Friday, March 16, but some lucky so and sos already have their hands on the device. This video, which is believed to be its first unboxing, was published by Vietnamese site Tinhte.vn.
Apple CEO Tim Cook cashed in on $11.1 million worth of Apple stock today, according to a filing with The Securities and Exchange Commission. 20,178 of Cook’s shares were sold off through a series of 5 transactions at various individual stock prices ranging from $547-$551.
