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Technology Today ( Apple,iPhone,iPad,Mac – Google,Tables,Android )
Macworld | iWorld Best of Show liveblog
Jan 27th
I’m live at the Best of Show awards, where Macworld has chosen the best products from the show (hence the name). Sorry about the lack of images, you’d basically see washed out photos of a projected image. Be sure to check out the links to each product.
3:07 Just now getting started! Up first, Boinx with iStopMotion. Florian from Boinx is doing a demo of iStopMotion. As we said back in December, it is pretty nice.
3:12 A beautiful little paper cutout animation from a kid who used iStopMotion — really cool stuff.
3:15 PDFpen for iPad is up next from Smile. Really interesting to see how something as simple as a PDF tool (and there are several on the store) can be fresh and awesome.
PDFpen is basically Adobe Acrobat Pro for your iPad. But much, much easier to use. I just saw a signature from Photos applied to a tax document — with transparency so it didn’t block the field below! You can easily drag and drop text boxes and more. Oh, and iCloud storage. How cool is that?
There’s a Mac version as well, but PDFpen looks fantastic either way.
3:20 TourWrist is up next. They call it “remote reality” — sort of like QuickTime VR for your iPad. The authoring side of the app is really pretty nice. It uses a simple line to help you line up your images for a full panorama, better than a gyro-based solution that automatically lines them up.
3:25 The other winners:
DevMicro makes a small microphone in a cone shape that captures 6 channels of audio at once!
FileThis has a service called Fetch that will
Article source: http://www.tuaw.com/2012/01/27/macworld-iworld-best-of-show-liveblog/
Siri probably isn’t the bandwidth hog the WaPo warned you about
Jan 27th
“How Siri is ruining your cellphone service.” That’s the searing headline from the Washington Post in an article by Paul Farhi. Farhi claims that “Siri’s dirty little secret is that she’s a bandwidth guzzler, the digital equivalent of a 10-miles-per-gallon Hummer H1.”
Where’s he coming up with this? Apparently, the “Siri eats bandwidth” claim is based on a study by Arieso that reports that iPhone 4S owners consume twice as much cellular data as iPhone 4 users and 3 times as much as iPhone 3G users. Recent Android phones are also chewing up twice as much data as the iPhone 3G, while 3G and 4G mobile hotspots are by far the biggest download hogs (26x the baseline).
At least in the press release summary of the study, however, there’s no mention of Siri at all; just the increased usage for the 4S, which just happens to support a faster download standard on ATT’s network. Our sister site Engadget helped put that study in perspective by pointing out that Arieso has a vested interest in the results of the research. We’ve asked for a full copy of the report to see what, if any, linkage there is between Siri and data volume.
If we take the study at face value, though, why more data on the 4S? The likely answer hasn’t much to do with Siri and a lot more to do with the profile of the iPhone 4S buyer.
The people who buy the latest phone are also the power users who take the most advantage of their devices. We’ve seen that happen before with new technology, and once people stop amazing themselves and their friends, the
Article source: http://www.tuaw.com/2012/01/27/siri-isnt-the-bandwidth-hog-the-washington-post-claims-it-is/
iPad announcement anniversary: January 27, 2010
Jan 27th
Before two years ago, we didn’t yet know much about the hypothetical Apple tablet device, prescient leaks and rumors aside. We didn’t know for sure which OS it would run (although we were pretty confident it would be iOS and not Mac OS X). We didn’t know what it would cost — the WSJ hinted at pricing near the $1,000 mark — and we didn’t know what it would look like. We certainly didn’t know what it would be called, even though there were strong suggestions; apparently the Mad TV writers and some Dubai architects had some good sources.
We couldn’t have guessed that our most extravagant estimates of sales would prove to be woefully meager. We could not foresee that Apple’s tablet would come to dominate its own category in a manner similar to the iPod’s remarkable run through the 2000s, and contribute to a level of financial success the company has never seen before (and that few companies ever have).
We didn’t imagine that both consumers and businesses would gravitate to the iPad’s flexibility and power, with enterprise customers adopting it at a breakneck pace. We probably could have anticipated a revised and updated version months later. And we did not expect that case polishing operations at two iPad suppliers would suffer deadly explosions, deepening concerns and questions about workplace safety and employee treatment at the factories owned by Foxconn, a manufacturing partner to Apple and scores of other electronics companies.
What we did know, in early 2010, was who would be introducing it to the world. Below, a video clip
Article source: http://www.tuaw.com/2012/01/27/ipad-announcement-anniversary-january-27-2010/
Nokia still top vendor as global handset shipments reached 1.6 billion in 2011
Jan 27th
Global mobile phone shipments grew 14% annually to shatter the previous shipment record in 2011. Market research firm Strategy Analytics estimates that 1.6 billion cell phones were shipped last year, representing more than one-fifth of the world’s total population, which surpassed 7 billion in late October last year according to the Population Reference Bureau. An earlier report from the GSMA estimated that there are now more than 6 billion total mobile connections worldwide. Read on for more.
Handset shipments grew 11% to reach 445 million units globally last quarter according to Strategy Analytics, 155 million of which were smartphones. Nokia retained its No.1 position globally with mobile phone shipments totaling 113.5 million units, and Samsung followed with 95 million units. With just one smartphone line that includes just three models, Apple was the world’s No.3 cell phone vendor last quarter with shipments totaling 37 million units.
Nokia was also the top vendor for the full year, having shipped 417.1 million phones globally according to Strategy Analytics’s figures. Samsung shipped 327.4 million units in 2011 and Apple sold 93 million iPhones into distribution channels.
“Smartphone specialist Apple shipped 93.0 million handsets worldwide in 2011, nearly doubling the previous year’s volumes,” Strategy Analytics analyst Tom Kang said. “Currently in just its fifth year of participation in the handset market, Apple is on track to ship well over 100 million units during 2012. 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.” The firm’s full press release follows below.
Boston, MA – January 26, 2012 – According to the latest research from Strategy
Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheBoyGeniusReport/~3/11EowKm3rlE/
DROID RAZR MAXX customers won’t have to wait for custom ROMs
Jan 27th
Verizon released the DROID RAZR MAXX on Thursday for $299.99 with a new two-year agreement. The device features a massive 3,300 mAh battery and a slightly thicker frame than its predecessor, the DROID RAZR. Other than that, the handsets are identical. Droid-Life confirmed on Friday that both devices run the same exact software, in fact — the Android version on both devices features the same build number, same kernel and same baseband version. We have seen similar products in the past (DROID 2 and DROID R2D2), but they all carried slightly different software versions to accommodate various changes. With the DROID RAZR and DROID RAZR MAXX however, it looks like everything is interchangeable, so savvy users already have a wide range custom ROMs to choose from.
Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheBoyGeniusReport/~3/PCkv2h9ySMI/
Microsoft and Asus may be working on Kinect-enabled Windows 8 laptops
Jan 27th
Asus is reportedly working on Windows 8 laptops that are equipped with Microsoft’s Kinect technology. The Daily recently reported that it was able to “check out” two different prototype laptops that “appeared” to be made by Asus. The Kinect sensor was built into the area where a notebook’s camera would typically reside, and The Daily also noted a set of LEDs below the screen. Microsoft reportedly confirmed that the notebooks were Kinect-enabled prototypes. As The Daily points out, a Kinect-enabled notebook could allow a user to interact with Windows 8 or play games using motion controls, much like Xbox 360 Kinect users are able to do now. It is unclear when, or even if, the notebooks will ever be released.
Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheBoyGeniusReport/~3/PVRnbJvZOjE/
Peer Into Another World With Central Core Studios’ RadiantWalls HD
Jan 27th
When it comes to my Android devices’ home screens, I’m fickle. It is rare that a wallpaper or layout will last more than a few days. That being said, I find that live wallpapers tend to have a much longer shelf life than their static counterparts, perhaps because they are – generally – so much more dynamic. Taking the concept of a truly dynamic LWP to another level entirely, Central Core Studios has introduced RadiantWalls HD – PlanetScapes to the Android Market, making your device “a window looking out onto the surface of the planet Avalon.”
The wallpaper comes in two flavors – free and paid. The free version includes only the “Night at Avalon’s Falls” vista, while the paid version (at a reasonable $1.49) adds two more stunning environments – “Day Within Avalon’s Sunridge Canyon,” and “Sunset Between Avalon’s Frosty Northern Tundra.” All of the environments are styled and rendered beautifully, bringing to life images that could easily stand alone as wallpapers themselves.
Besides bringing stunning HD landscapes to your device’s display, PlanetScapes allows users to adjust certain environmental variables including falling leaf density, cloud speed, and whether the landscape includes waterfalls.
All in all, this is a great LWP, offering some truly beautiful visuals. One thing I would love to see, however, is the option for the wallpaper to cycle through vistas throughout the day, or perhaps the ability to enable
Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AndroidPolice/~3/1LmIUZdHias/story01.htm
Yahoo cleaning house, lays some of their mobile apps to rest
Jan 27th
I’m not exactly sure how many folks out there use apps from Yahoo but if you’re among those that do, you’ll want to check the list below. Reason being – Yahoo is laying some of their mobile apps to rest to focus on a whole new set of apps that more so meet users needs. So what apps got the cut?
- 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)
That quite a few apps to kill off but from looking at the list, it’s looks as though those apps are smaller on the chain and may have a minimal amount of users.
Source: Yahoo; via: Phonescoop
Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/dUNlUijfVas/story01.htm
XYBOARD buyers, Galaxy Nexus wallpapers [From the Forums]
Jan 27th
We’ve rolled through this week like there was no tomorrow and we’ve finally reached the weekend. We packed a lot of coverage into this week so be sure to get yourself caught up by skipping a few pages back. Looking for more? Head on into the Android Central forums and dig in:
- HTC Rezound Forums - What’s the final result of your OTA update?
- Galaxy Nexus Forums - Galaxy Nexus Wallpaper Thread (Some NSFW)
- Droid RAZR MAXX - RAZR to RAZR MAXX upgrade?
- Droid 4 Forums - Droid 4 launch date?
- Motorola XYBOARD Forums - Anyone else pick up a XYBOARD?
If you’re not already a member of the Android Central forums, you can register your account today.
Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/mCMH6OsBpQQ/story01.htm
1Weather for Android from OneLouder [Android Quick App]
Jan 27th
When it comes to weather applications on Android there is no shortage of options, and quite honestly that is a good thing. 1Weather by OneLouder is one of the latest weather applications to enter the Android market and it has done so with some serious style of its own. So what’s it all about?
1Weather provides you with ready access to a full suite of accurate, up-to-the-minute weather information, including animated maps and radar, daily weather alarms and severe condition alerts so that you can proactively prepare for changing conditions.
When looking for new applications to download most of us tend to look for something that is unique, clean, and very functional, and OneLouder has nailed all of this and more with this application. Let’s hit the break together to check out some more information about the application and additional screen shots.
As soon as you launch the application you can see how well the information is presented, the font is very easy to read and nicely layed out on the screen. The problem some applications face is trying to add an overload of information that is all easily accessible and then stuff tends to get cramped and actually makes it harder to read. 1Weather offers all the information you want to be at your fingertips by breaking it down to various pages allowing the information to not become smushed or run together.
The first page that loads up gives you the current weather conditions with information like the current temperature, humidity, precipitation and an animated weather icon. From here you can scroll to the right and you have pages that show off the upcoming seven day forcast, weather advisories, upcoming precipition levels, local radar, sunset and sun rise times and
Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/UlkwJG4e6PE/story01.htm