New iPhone 5, iPad 3 Coming Soon?

Thinking of buying a new iPhone 4 or buying your first iPad?
Wait.
The latest rumors have Apple unveiling its long-rumored iPhone 5 in mid-August at the earliest, sometime in September at the latest. A month later, there may be a next-generation iPad 3.
And all will run the new Apple mobile operating system, iOS 5, which you can read more about in "What Apple's iCloud Means For You."



To 4G or not to 4G?
Here's what the Apple cognoscenti doesn't know about the iPhone 5: whether or not it will connect to super-speedy 4G data cell networks for faster Web browsing, faster app loading and operating, and faster uploads and downloads.
As you might know, there are two different types of 4G an iPhone 5 could access.
There's LTE (which stands for Long Term Evolution, which you can now forget), the true next-generation 4G technology. Verizon launched its LTE network earlier this year, and has and will have the most extensive LTE coverage for some time.
AT&T, iPhone's primary carrier, has yet to officially launch its own LTE network.
Then there's HSPA Plus (High Speed Packet Access, which you also can now forget), essentially a souped-up version of the current 3G technology used in iPhone and by T-Mobile.
AT&T recently launched its own HSPA Plus 4G network.
You can bet your kid's college fund that the iPhone will NOT be LTE, even if the AT&T LTE network was ready. As anyone with an LTE device will tell you, the LTE connectivity drains battery life like Dracula sucks blood. At most, 4G phones continually connected to an LTE network will live, maybe, four hours.
For Steve Jobs, that kind of limited battery life is unacceptable.
So will the iPhone 5 be HSPA Plus 4G? It might solve some of AT&T's constant connectivity problems in major metro areas. But thus far there's been no indication whether or not the iPhone 5 will be a 4G phone.
If iPhone 5 is 4G, its got nomenclature problems (the 4G 5?). There has been speculation that the next iPhone will be dubbed the iPhone 4S, similar to the 3GS, which also offered speedier connectivity. A 4GS 4G iPhone? Makes a helluva lot more sense.
For the sake of consistency in no way reflecting my personal prognostication, for simplicity sake I'll just keep calling it the iPhone 5.

Other iPhone 5 attributes
Here's aggregation of current iPhone 5 speculation.
Form factor: Most observers believe iPhone 5 will look pretty much like the iPhone 4. But more recent rumors say iPhone 5 will have a completely different, thinner, more iPad 2-like sloping design, with a curved screen to keep adjacent prying eyes at bay and a tougher aluminum, instead of glass, back.
If the form factor remains the same, all of your current iPhone 4 cases and accessories will fit. A new design means having to shell out more shekels on new accessories. Thinner is nice, but I'd rather save some dough. But then, could you call a new iPhone with a radically new design an iPhone 4S? Wouldn't a new design demand a new model number?
My head hurts.

A larger screen: Considering the deluge of Android phones with 4- and 4.3-inch screens, Apple has to increase iPhone 4's suddenly miniscule 3.5-inch display.
If iPhone 5's form factor (and try saying that three times fast) is similar to the iPhone 4, Apple is space constricted. Apple can stretch the display bezel-to-bezel, increasing the screen about a quarter of an inch all around. That would create an iPhone 5 screen of about 3.7 or 3.8 inches. Nice, but I think we'll all be happy if iPhone 5 has a 4-inch screen – "4" is such a nice, round number, but which requires a redesign.

More power: iPhone 5 will certainly pack a faster processor, likely the 1.2 GHz engine currently found in the iPad 2, perhaps even 1.5 GHz (iPhone 4 uses a 1 GHz processor). This means everything loads faster and works faster. You will notice its zippy-ness.

More storage: I was really disappointed iPhone 4 topped out at 32 GB. But with the price of memory continuing to plummet faster than an iPhone dropped by a skydiver, the hope is iPhone 5 will be offered in 16, 32 and 64 GB versions, finally large enough to hold all 11,000 of my iTunes tracks. Although, with iCloud and the long-rumored Apple streaming music service, you may be able to settle for the cheaper 16 GB model.

Better camera: Or, at least a higher-resolution camera, probably 8 MP, which probably means full high-definition 1080p video recording (iPhone 4 records "only" 720p video).
But the better camera news is the rumor of a dual LED flash, which means brighter shots in darker locations. There's been some speculation the iPhone 5 camera will have 3D capabilities, to which I say BFD.

Better antenna: Or, more accurately, MORE antennas to minimize call drops and to access more global networks, which means…

More carriers: T-Mobile may become an iPhone vendor; there have been reliable reports of a T-Mobile iPhone being tested. But that doesn't mean we'll see one when the iPhone 5 launches. Verizon was testing iPhone for years before finally putting it on sale.
There has been a sprinkling of speculation surrounding a Sprint iPhone, which would be great because Sprint has a roomy 4G network (albeit with the same power-sucking issues as LTE), but I say it's unlikely, at least this year. Sorry, Sprint subscribers.
And that's all I've heard about iPhone 5 being ready, I can't tell you more 'cause I told you already, and here I am waving iPhone 5 rumors good-bye. Whoa whoa.

iPad 3 rumors
I apologize in advance for the cheap trick I'm about to pull. The headline, lead and photograph accompanying this article imply a new iPad 3 is coming this fall.
Yes, there may be. But if you want an iPad 2, go ahead and indulge, no need to wait.
If Apple unveils a new iPad 3 in the fall, it will likely be a more expensive "pro" version with a thinner, higher-resolution Retina display – 2048-by-1536 pixels, twice the resolution of iPad 1 and 2. An iPad 3 presumably also would pack a more powerful engine.

For most of us, that additional resolution and processing speed, especially for the expected price premium, is unnecessary. So forget I even said anything about an iPad 3.

[via lifegoesstrong]

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Posted in: Apple,iPad,iPhone

The iPad 2: It’s a Game of Millimeters and Ounces, or the Lack Thereof

More than most unannounced Apple products, the second-generation iPad–which we now know is the iPad 2–has been subject to wild swings of the Expectations-o-Meter. It was going to have a “retina display.” But only for awhile. Then it was going to be the meatier of two iPad revisions for 2011. It was also going to have two cameras. Until it wasn’t.
Finally, as of yesterday morning, the new iPad was supposed to be a “ho-hum” speed-bump of a refresh. Nothing to see, folks–move along.

At this morning’s press event, I sat next to gdgt’s Ryan Block. While I was gawking at Pixar’s John Lasseter, Ryan noticed that Apple COO Tim Cook and marketing honcho Phil Schiller were hobnobbing with the audience. Which meant they weren’t backstage prepping to host the event. Could that mean that Apple’s CEO would do the honors, Ryan wondered?

Yup. And the iPad 2 that Steve Jobs introduced easily cleared the low bar set by the last round of rumors. Everything about it is evolutionary, not revolutionary. But that’s okay: It means that Apple will have an even more fully-evolved, even more polished product out before most of its major competitors have managed to get their first-generation competitors out the door. (Motorola’s Xoom is good enough to get me hopeful about Google’s Android 3.0 Honeycomb, but it feels like an 0.9 release–not a 2.0.)
The two most interesting things about the iPad 2 don’t involve (de facto) new features like the cameras and dual-core processor or the (minor) iOS 4.3 upgrade or the (very cool) iMovie and Garage Band apps. They don’t even relate to the Smart Cover–although the magnetic, articulated doohickey is remarkably interesting for a cover. No, what’s most significant about the iPad 2 are a few millimeters and a few inches, or the absence thereof. The iPad is .34″ thick (8.6mm) , vs. .5″ (12.7mm)  for the first version; it weighs 1.33 pounds (Wi-Fi version), vs. 1.5 pounds for the original.
That doesn’t like a big whoop, but it is–as I discovered in Apple’s demo hall after the presentation, the iPad 2 is much easier to lift and easier to hold. The difference would be instantly recognizable even if you did it blindfolded. All in all, the device is more like a magazine that happens to be made out of aluminum and glass, and less like a (very stylish) notebook that’s lost its keyboard. (The more highly-tapered case edges also help a lot–they’re slimming, like a flattering outfit.) It still doesn’t have the go-anywhere, cute-little-paperback-book feel of Samsung’s 7″ Galaxy Tab, but it does feel more portable than its predecessor.
Steve Jobs repeatedly referred to the iPad as a post-PC device, and its svelter makeover certainly helps move it in that direction.

Other than that? Well, the Smart Cover is remarkably clever: It snaps to the side of the iPad using magnets that guide it into place, can be folded back in a way that doesn’t obstruct the rear camera, folds up to put the iPad at either a typing or a movie-watching angle, and has a microfiber lining designed to help keep the notoriously smudgy iPad display tidy. It’s not going to eliminate the need for standard cases–it doesn’t protect the iPad’s back or edges from scratches and other damage. But it’s earned a place in the Brilliant Accessory Hall of Fame among such gems as Think Outside’s Stowaway PDA keyboard.




Additional quick thoughts:

• Just for the sake of comparison to the iPad 2′s .34″ and 1.33 lbs: The 7-inch Galaxy Tab is .4″ thick and weights .8 lb., the 7-inch BlackBerry PlayBook is .4″ thick and weighs .9 lbs, the 10.1″ Xoom is .51″ thick and weighs 1.61 lbs, the 10.1″ Galaxy Tab is .43″ thick and weighs 1.32 lbs, and the 9.7″ HP TouchPad is .54″ thick and weighs a hair over 1.6 lbs.
• By keeping the same price while upping the features and refinement, the iPad 2 continues to benefit from voodoo economics (Apple would call it “magical pricing”): It’s a distinctly more more lux-feeling product than its competition at  a meaningfully lower starting price. I’m still not sure how any other tablet maker intends to compete with that proposition…
• I was glum over the fact that iOS 5 wasn’t part of the announcement–iOS 4.3 is, as its version number suggests, a modest-sized deal. (Pollyannish take: That means there’s presumably a meatier iOS update to come in the next few months.)
• Anyone who can look at the new iMovie and GarageBand and insist that the iPad is a consumption-centric device for passive sheep is  either a dolt or a poltroon.
• I’m still somewhat uncertain about front-facing cameras and video calls on tablets, in part because it’s hard to hold the tablet at an angle that (A) shows your whole head, and (B) is flattering. (Until I adjusted the angle of the iPad 2 carefully, I looked a little bit like I’d been Photo Boothed into a pinhead.) But I’m pretty sure that Apple made the right decision to place the camera at the top of the iPad 2 in portrait orientation, so it’s more likely to be closer to your face than the Motorola Xoom’s camera, which is oriented for landscape-mode use.
• I love SD slots. Love ‘em. (One of the best days of my life as a user of devices made by Apple was when it finally put SD readers in MacBooks.) I was up enough on my iPad rumors that I already assumed the iPad 2 had no SD slot and was therefore not crushed when that turned out to be the case. But with its newly skinny profile, I’m now concerned that it might not be possible to squeeze one onto the edge of any future iPad.
• I don’t remember Jobs calling the iPad 2 a post-PC device before. Maybe he’s using the term in part because other tablets–especially Honeycomb ones–do have a more computerish feel to them. (I don’t mean that as a criticism, just a statement of fact about stuff like Honeycomb’s more traditional drop-down menus and pop-up notification panels.)
• Jobs pointed out that the iPad has 65,000 apps to Honeycomb’s one hundred. That’s an entirely valid argument in favor of the iPad. But the big unanswerable question is one you wouldn’t assume Jobs would try and tackle: Where will Honeycomb be in, say, six months? (Not to 65,000, obviously…)
• Now that a few hours have passed since the announcement, it’s not irrational to begin speculating about the iPad 3–whether it’s going to come out in the fall or a year from now. If all it does is add the rumored-about features that failed to materialize this time, it’ll have a “retina” display, 128GB of storage, an SD slot, the ability to roam between GSM and CDMA networks, a free version of MobileMe, and a nifty streaming-media service that feels like the second coming of LaLa. Sounds good to me…

[via Technologizer]

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Posted in: Apple,iPad,iPad 2

“Peter Rabbit” for iPad Delivers Interactive Twist to Classic Tale [VIDEO]

Thanks to rapid developments in consumer technology — namely, large-format touchscreen devices like the iPad, and soon, Android, BlackBerry 6 and Windows 7-based tablets — the definition of the e-book is quickly evolving. Soon, the word “e-book” will no longer connote dull, text-only transcriptions of popular print books on clunky e-readers, but richly colored, animated and interactive multimedia experiences that will leave their print counterparts looking lifeless in comparison.

The e-book medium broke new ground late last week when a little-known team of former video game developers in Vancouver, known as Loud Crow Interactive, released their first book for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch, PopOut! The Tale of Peter Rabbit [iTunes link].

What makes Loud Crow’s version of Peter Rabbit so remarkable is the care and ingenuity with which the company has adapted the classic Beatrix Potter tale to the touchscreen medium. The original text, watercolor and ink illustrations, and sliding and pop-out features from early pop-out editions of the book (the team kept one of the original color copies in the studio, founder and President Calvin Wang told me) have all been kept intact.

What the startup has added has only made the Tale even better and more immersive. The entire story is set to the soft piano keys of Debussy’s “Claire de Lune” (sure to activate the tear ducts of many a nostalgic reader) and read by a pretty, female English voice. Words are helpfully highlighted as they are read aloud, and young readers can click again on each word to have it re-pronounced. A pale grey ribbon tab at the top of each page can be pulled down to reveal a full thumbnail index, making it easy to navigate between spreads.

Tap little Flopsy and Mopsy, and they giggle; tap falling leaves or blackberries to enlarge and scatter them about the page; use your finger to lift up pots and the animals hiding underneath will emit tiny squeaks. Paper doll joints and tethered kettles can be swung about on their hinges and the iPad can be tilted to change the direction of gravity for falling leaves. Each page offers a new opportunity for engagement, making readers eager not only to discover what’s going to happen next in the narrative, but to find out what fun bit of interactivity awaits them as well.

The e-book/app is currently available for $4.99 in the U.S. App Store. (Loud Crow is still negotiating for reproduction rights from the original publisher in Europe.) The startup plans to release further pop-out books in the future, including a Christmas-themed e-book set to debut in 30 days.

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Screenshot Gallery

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View As Slideshow »

Home screen.

Title page.

Drop-down index.

Click on falling leaves to enlarge.

Words are highlighted as they are read aloud.

Click on the falling blackberries to enlarge.

Double-clicking on the blackberries will cause them to burst and disappear.

Sliding wheels can be moved to trigger simple animations, just like in traditional pop-up books.

Rotate the iPad to shift the direction of the falling leaves.

Final spread.

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Video Walkthrough

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[via mashable]

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Posted in: Apple,Entertainment,iPad,Tech

Kobo Store Gets Digital Magazine and Newspaper Subscriptions

Global e-reading service Kobo has just announced that it is now offering subscriptions to digital magazine and newspaper consumers using the Kobo e-reader or the Kobo apps for iPhone or iPad.

Kobo is currently offering about two dozen newspapers and magazines from the U.S. and Canada. These include publications like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Nation and The Harvard Business Review.

Subscribers can get a 14-day free trial before committing to subscriptions, which are automatically delivered to the iPhone, iPad or Kobo e-reader.

Kobo’s news stand is similar in scope and pricing as those offerings from competitors Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com, which both offer wirelessly delivered newspaper and magazine subscriptions. Titles are typically priced identically across the various stores.

The difference is that for most publications, Kobo also allows users to access subscription content from its iPad and iPhone apps. Last week, Amazon announced it would be making subscription content accessible from its Kindle apps “in the coming weeks.”

While it’s great that more periodical offerings are coming to Kobo and its reader and apps, we can’t help noticing that similar content shops, which all operate in their own walled gardens, are popping up all over the place.

In an ideal world, I would be able to subscribe to a digital edition of The New York Times for $19.99 per month and be able to access it on my iPhone, iPad, Kindle and from a Kobo reader or app.

Do you have any digital magazine or newspaper subscriptions?

[via mashable]

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Posted in: Apple,iPad,iPhone,Kindle,Kobo

Mobile Credit Card Reader Square Now Open for Business

Square, the new mobile payment venture from Twitter Co-founder Jack Dorsey, has officially opened its doors.

This means that anyone who downloads the the Square mobile app can now order a Square reader. Square tells us that it is also now shipping a slimmer, second-generation Square reader that is compatible with iPhone 4 and can capture a wider range of swipe speeds.

Dorsey announced the news the same way he announced Square:with a tweet. “The doors are (finally) open @Square & we’re going big,” Dorsey tweeted, linking to an article in USA Today.

Square is available on the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and select Android devices, including the Droid, Droid X, Nexus One and Galaxy S. Merchants who are approved for Square accounts will be sent a free credit card reader for their device.

Combined with the Square mobile app, the reader can take credit card payments. Merchants are charged 2.75% of the purchase price plus $0.15 to swipe a card. There are no monthly charges or set-up fees and no contract is required.

Square made a big splash when it was announced last year. Since then, interest in the startup has mounted, especially as the micro-transaction space has really started to heat up.

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Mobile Payment Space Heats Up

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Square is one solution, but there are other players in the mobile and personal electronic payment sphere; some, like Square, are acting as a way to capture payment information from a mobile device. Others are looking to eschew traditional credit and debit cards entirely.

PayPal is investing in mobile payments and mobile transactions in a big way, and it seems to be paying off. Its parent company, eBay, reported solid earnings for the third quarter, in large part thanks to PayPal, which now contributes more than a third of eBay’s revenue.

Over the past year, we’ve spoken with PayPal several times regarding its plans for mobile payments and it’s clear that the company wants to be available in as many situations as possible.

The smartphone revolution is a driving part of the acceptance of micropayments in North America, with Visa already piloting programs in New York to accept payments via phone in shops and on the subway.

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Square Up

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If you have wanted a low-cost way of accepting credit cards without having to deal with the hassle of a larger-scale point of sale (POS) system, Square could be a viable solution. By requiring only a connected mobile device and the Square card reader, payment processing will be available to vendors that would normally never be able to accept credit cards.

Check out this video Square released a few weeks ago to see the product and service in action:

[via mashable]

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Posted in: Android,iPad,iPhone,iPod Touch,Motorola,Tech

Amazon: 14-Day Lending Coming to Kindle “Later This Year”

Amazon will allow Kindle users to lend books to each other for 14-day periods, the company announced this afternoon.

The lending feature has been one of the primary selling points of Barnes & Nobles’s Nook e-reader, which is slated for a refresh next week. As with Barnes & Nobles’s lending feature, Kindle lenders will not be able to access the book on loan during the 14-day period, nor will they be able to loan the book to the same user more than once.

“Not all books will be lendable,” Amazon added, noting that it was entirely up to the publisher or rights holder to determine whether to participate in the program.

Amazon also announced that Kindle editions of newspapers and magazines, which have thus far only been accessible on the Kindle e-reader, will soon (“in the coming weeks”) be accessible via Kindle’s free apps as well. Support for periodicals will be added to the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch apps first, followed by Android and other apps “down the road,” the company revealed in a statement.

Amazon plans to follow up with further details shortly.

[via mashable]

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Posted in: Android,Apple,iPad,iPhone,iPod Touch,Kindle

HP Slate Officially Launches for $799

We all but gave up on the Slate, but Hewlett-Packard’s tablet computer was destined to reach the market after all, albeit in a slightly different flavor than it was originally envisioned.

The HP Slate 500 is a Windows 7-based tablet PC with a 8.9-inch, 1024×600 resolution screen, a 1.86GHz Intel Atom Z540 processor, a Crystal HD accelerator that should ensure smooth playback for HD (1080p) videos, two gigabytes of RAM (recent rumors predicted 1 GB), and a 64GB SSD.

It has a USB port and two cameras: a 3-megapixel one on the back, and a VGA camera on the front for making video calls. It also has Wi-Fi but, quite disappointingly, no 3G connectivity.

These specifications make the Slate one of the most powerful tablets on the market, but its $799 price tag also makes it more expensive than its chief rival, the iPad. However, HP has envisioned the Slate as a device aimed at business customers.

“It’s really like a full-function PC, it runs Windows, it will run your office applications, it just so happens to be in a slate form factor,” said Carol Hess-Nickels, director of business notebook marketing at HP.

What do you think about HP’s decision to make the Slate a Windows 7-based tablet, aimed at business customers? Is the price right, and is there a place on the market for such a device? Please share your opinions in the comments.

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HP Slate

HP Slate

HP Slate

HP Slate

[via mashable]

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Posted in: Apple,HP,iPad,Tech

Tilt iPad Case Is Made of Felt, Leather and Awesomeness

Another day, another iPad case.

It’s hard to keep up with the unending parade of gadget-skins sometimes, but what keeps us going is our unwavering goal to have a different awesome iPad case for each day of the week. Lofty goal? Perhaps. But as long as options like the Tilt iPad Case continuously come out, we’re going to hold onto our dream.

Tilt’s iPad case is handmade from vegetable-tanned leather and felt, so no two cases are exactly the same. Its lightweight design is flexible, and the leather provides screen coverage when closed. Like virtually every other iPad case on the market, it folds for comfortable typing and easy movie watching.

The Tilt iPad Case is available for pre-order now for about $115 plus shipping — from Austria — so it’s not the cheapest case out there. It may very well be the sexiest, though.

Here’s some video of the Tilt iPad Case functionality. Don’t fault the Tilt because the video looks like it was made by a freshman film student:

[via mashable]

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Posted in: Apple,iPad