iPad Features Still to Come?
The buzz prior to the existence of the iPad is almost as the outcries from disappointed fans and critics alike. The prevailing comments I get from a the tech savvy observers familiar with the iPad seems to be:, “It doesn’t have X feature so it sucks.” or “I don’t think I need that”. While the latter mindset was addressed in the previous post, some new and interesting information about the iPad that speaks to the former has been trickling out. As consumers scour the Apple site; and developers the SDK searching for more insight into this increasingly mysterious device.
The iPad might support Flash. According to the analysis done by iPhone Alley the iPad is demonstrated browsing the NYT website, and showing a flash element being rendered properly on the tablet. This is in contrast to the ugly blue “missing plugin” icon safari showed during Jobs’ keynote demo. Could this be an early prototype for some more loosely defined variant of flash, or even a custom written apple flash lite player, designed to use the A4 processor for performance and energy saving gains? Doubtful, but it seems as though that would be a viable option.
The iPad may get a camera (possibly before launch, possibly in a the next revision. Ars Technica explores the iPad’s camera options in this article.
Let’s all try to remember that the iPad is still 2 months away from shipping and it’s not impossible to suppose Apple could add features prior to launch as production hasn’t been fully ramped up. Besides, that fat black bezel is begging to have a front facing camera installed.
8 Ways the iPad Changes Things
1. Change which devices we use to do what. Checking my email can now be done from my lap, using only my fingers. I think certain everyday functions like email, reading news, watching videos will become – something we can do on the computer but prefer to do on an iPad or Slate.
2. It will evolve quickly to fix problems that had no solution until now. I think the iPad will be a goto platform for the Military, Education, and Medical industries. Why? Because they trust Apple, and with good reason. A lot of people predicted the iPhone would be a failure, it wasn’t.
3. It’s setting the tone for wireless carriers in America. By getting ATT to allow contractless 3G data access it paves the way for Apple to demand the same thing for the next iPhone.
4. 140,000 possibilities already exist. iPad can run every app from the app store natively. Some Apps within the app store are definitely better suited to the large iPad Screen, and some aren’t. But the ability to run every app on day 1, is a very smart decision by Apple, Akin to the universal binary solution – while Apple transitioned from PowerPC to Intel chips. It’s a seamless bridge to the future.
5. The magic is in the SDK. Developers will jump on the new user interface elements for the iPad allowing them to create even cooler apps than are possible for the iPhone. There will be a lot of iPad only Apps! In order to make the iPad a true success Apple will have to get all the iPhone developers on board in a big way. Steve Forstall said as much when he said “There will be a new GoldRush in the app store”.
6. Large multi touch screen means simpler content creation. In a time when cheap ubiquitous cameras has allowed youtube stars to be born. I think the iPad will allow people who want to create new types of media to do so very easily.
7. When the hardware catches up, Apple will be a leader in tablet UI interface design. By hardware catching up I am referring to color e-ink solutions like Pixel Qi becoming better and less expensive.
8. It’s only the first release. Apple has a consistent product release cycle, debuting newer, better, faster products on schedule. I expect that within 3 years, you’ll see an iPad for $349 that makes this version of the iPad look silly.
Feather by Incipio: The Perfect, Thin iPhone Case
The Limited Edition Neon Yellow Feather from Incipio.
As you may remember, my colleague set out to find the perfect iPhone case, and he did. Well I’m here to tell you about my favorite iPhone case and I think that’s a lot more important! Let me introduce you to the Incipio Feather. It is by no means new to me; I’ve been playing with mine for about six months. It might, however, be new to a lot of you and how lucky you are to have finally found this case! Ahem, I’m getting ahead of myself.
My search for the perfect iPhone case is as old as, well, my life with iPhones. Like many of you, I’ve struggled with trying to find the right balance of protection and bulk, form and function. I am another of hundreds of guilty people who have left their iPhone cold and naked in an attempt to saver the oh-so light, wafer-thin nature of the iPhone. And like many of you I’ve spent more then I’d like to admit on cases. Some might call me an iPhone case whore, but I don’t like those people. I can now say with confidence that I, Blake have found what is to me the perfect iPhone case!
The Feather is made by a somewhat new company, Incipio and as it’s name suggests, it’s quite light. So light, in fact, I can’t tell when it’s on my phone. As you can imagine, a light case must be a very thin case, and you’d be right again. How many of you have bought a case and used it for a month only to be newly amazed at how small your iPhone feels when you finally take it back out again? This doesn’t seem to happen anymore when I take my phone out of the Feather.
So it’s thin, that’s it? Well, no, it’s also one of the best looking thin iPhone cases available. Lets face it, you didn’t buy your iPhone strictly for function, you bought it because it looks cool! Lets keep it that way! To me the reason the Feather looks so good is because Incipio has taken care not to cut off too much extra plastic around the edges, because of this you get a very neat, uniform edge almost all the way around the bezel. It’s almost as though the case is cradling the iPhone, not holding on for dear life. This added plastic also means that the case stays on when it’s supposed to, and comes off when you need it to. Something that you’ll also notice is that Incipio has omitted putting a hole in the back of the Feather for the Apple symbol. People know it’s an Apple product, why should you have to show off the Apple Symbol? By eliminating the hole they have not only made the case look more uniform and sleek, but there’s one less place for grit to get into your case and possibly scratch your iPhone.
To me the Feather is the case I’ve always been looking for and it took a company like Incipio to finally produce it. If you’re one of those people still hunting for the perfect, thin iPhone case I would strongly encourage you to pick up the Feather. Heck, now you can stop spending money on iPhone cases and pick up a new hobby… like blogging (ahem).
via Incipio
SlipCover Makes Pretty Custom Icons
SlipCover Icon
To get started with SlipCover you will need to amass a collection of high resolution images that you will be using as the source for the icon. Movie posters make a good choice if you are adding icons to movie files. Album covers for music folders etc.
Slipcover comes with 3 default icon templates but you can download more check out the selection at http://dustinschau.com/#rw01. If you are looking for an easy, free way to add custom icons on your Mac, SlipCover does the job perfectly.
Klipsch Joins the Game with New Apple-friendly Earbuds
Clean and crisp, the new S4i earbuds from Klipsch will keep you dancing.. and matching.
As a respected home audio company known for it’s honest sound quality, Klipsch decides to throw some of it’s own style on the Apple peripheral world. Introducing the new S4i, black and white colored earbuds. Previously only available in black, the newly announced S4i earbuds will be available as the first Apple-approved third party earbuds in white that have a “made for iPhone” remote. At a reasonable price of $99, you can have your sound quality and still be able call mom and tell her you’ll be home for dinner on time.
If reading isn’t your thing this video does a good job of explaining the awesomeness.
via Engadget
Will Apple Open Up the iPhone to iTunes Rival Spotify? – TIME
If there is one thing that the iPhone should implement is a way to stream Songs from your iTunes Library to your iPhone, they could even make it part of the Mobile Me service! Spotify an upcoming app for the iPhone does something very similar check out the article Time wrote about it.
If Spotify has its way, though, iPhone owners will no longer be slaves to iTunes, song-by-song payments or finite disk capacity. Last week the Swedish company behind Spotify's streaming music provider announced plans to release a free iPhone application that will let users listen to songs played directly off of its online service, with no need to download. That would give iPhone users instant access to any of Spotify's 6 million songs, without taking up precious memory space — way more than the maximum 7,000 tracks that a 32 GB iPhone can hold. Songs can also be temporarily stored, or cached, ready to play during those moments when Web connection drops, like when you're in a tunnel or underground. Spotify's new application could change the way iPhone users listen to music. But first it has to get the O.K. from Apple.
via Will Apple Open Up the iPhone to iTunes Rival Spotify? – TIME.
