Expert Blogs
Forget the image that jumps into your mind of a standard wristwatch with a glass face connected to a band. Instead, imagine this: flexible, paper-like glass wrapping around your wrist, with a display encompassing the entire band. According to an article in The New York Times Sunday, Apple is working on just such a device: a wristwatch-like iOS device made of curved glass called iWatch.
Thanks to the purported leak of an enclosure for a fifth-generation iPad, MacRumors commissioned an artist to create mockups of the new device. The enclosure and attendant rumors have suggested that the forthcoming iPad will have a form-factor more like that of the iPad mini, will be thinner, and have narrower bezels on the left and right such that the overall width is less.
Here's the good news: Mailbox is an extraordinary new free app for effectively managing your inbox. But the bad news is, it only works with Gmail, and downloading the app simply puts you on a waiting list as its developers gradually roll it out. (There are already several hundred thousand eager iPhone users lined up ahead of you.)
Apple revolutionized human-computer interaction with the Macintosh interface back in 1984 and again in 2007 with the iPhone. And now we're seeing it again with Siri. Apple's job postings clearly show that Apple is focused on increasing Siri's role in the interface.
Apple added a new section to its iBookstore called Breakout Books Tuesday. It features self-published books, which are typically lower priced than those from traditional publishing houses. And there are a number of free titles — typically the first title in a fiction series.
In my mind, it's not a given that the next iPad mini will have a retina display, but certainly the rumor persists. And today a Chinese website purports to have all the juice on the forthcoming device. According to Tapscape, it will likely be called "iPad mini with retina display." The screen resolution will be 2048x1536 pixels, giving it a 324ppi pixel density. The resolution is rumored to be the same as the current fourth-generation iPad.
I read an interesting article in Wired recently about the likelihood of a major redesign of iOS, Apple's software that runs our iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches. Speculation began when Apple replaced Scott Forestall with Jony Ive to head up iOS interface design. Forestall, like Steve Jobs, loved skeuomorphic design, which harks back to real world objects of the past.
The smartphone industry is moving so fast, offering such a variety of models that if Apple releases an iPhone 5S in June, as is rumored, it appears destined to be a letdown. Apple typically makes changes in the form factor every two years, but often makes internal upgrades in between. A great article on 9To5Mac, titled, "Can Apple get away with another 'S' iPhone?" questions whether this sort of incremental upgrade this year will be enough to impress consumers.
The annual Macworld/iWorld trade show is underway in San Francisco, and Macworld magazine already has named its Best of Show winners. They include some gotta-see gadgets for the iPad and iPhone, such as an iPad robot, an iPad case that doubles as a speaker, and a 1TB external hard drive for the iPhone and iPad.
iOS 6.1 became available on Monday, and no doubt you will want to upgrade. If you're in the habit of syncing with your desktop computer, you can simply connect your device and go into iTunes and click the Check for Update button. However, you may want to consider updating "over the air," which requires a WiFi connection. A great article on TidBITS recommeds this method of updating because the iTunes update is much larger. For example, the iPhone over-the-air update is 107 MB whereas the iTunes update is 989.5 MB.
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