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Tag: ipad

  • Mirror Your iPad on a HDTV

    Love all that your iPad has to offer and want to share it with a group in a home theater setting? All of those apps, movies and games look great on the iPad if it’s just you, but if you want everyone at home to enjoy it, you’ve now got options. Mirroring your iPad’s display onto a HDTV is as simple as running it through an adapter. Here’s a quick look at how to get it done.

    The most seamless connection will work in conjunction with Apple TV and it’s cutting edge AirPlay technology. If you expect to often connect your iPad to your HDTV, spending the $100 on Apple TV is the best, most seamless method. As long as your iPad 2 or 3 is running iOS 5 or a later version, and your Apple TV is running version 5.0 or later, you’re basically good to go. You’ll link the iPad to the Apple TV through a Wi-Fi network. Then just hop on your iPad, access the AirPlay icon, and connect to the Apple TV with Mirroring turned on.

    Although it won’t be quite as elegant, you can link the two through a digital adapter set-up. Pick up a HDMI adapter for around $40, and then drop another $40 for the Apple Digital AV Adapter, which you’ll find in most technology retailers. The adapter plugs into the iPad, and then links to the HDTV with the HDMI cable. If your HDTV doesn’t have that port, you could use a VGA adapter or composite plug-in as an alternative. Just remember that you’ll need the latest iPad and upgraded adapters to make it all work. And you’ll only see video up to 720p with this set-up. But for a cheaper fix, and one you can take with you wherever you go, it’s quite solid.

  • BlackBerry Close to an End, RIM Prepares New Layoffs

    BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) has announced it aims to reduce operating costs by one billion dollars per year, a plan that includes significant layoffs.

    RIM’s U.S. sales declined dramatically due to the fierce competition represented by the Apple's iPhone and Google’s Android OS, which is why RIM will terminate the contract with Celestica – phone parts manufacturer.

    Celestica is a Canadian company that provides parts and assembles terminals for several companies, including RIM. The company recently announced that it will stop producing parts for the BlackBerry manufacturer and for this reason it expects a loss of $35 billion.

    BlackBerry, along with Nokia, are the companies that have lost the battle against Apple. RIM recorded losses of $125 million in the first quarter of the year, while in Q1 2011 had a profit of $1 billion. Revenues decreased from $ 5.2 billion to about $4.2 billion and shares value decreased by 80% in one year. In comparison, Apple has announced for 2011 a net profit of $ 13.06 billion, mainly supported by the sales of iPhones and iPads, revenues reaching a record of $46.33 billion.

    RIM also fired 35% of its employees last year, thinking that this would be the right solution, but unfortunately the collapse continued.

    Besides Celestica, RIM will also terminate the contracts with other two companies, Flextonics International Ltd and Jabil Circuit Inc.

    “RIM has committed to achieve significant efficiencies and reducing operating costs during this fiscal year. Reducing the number of employees is part of this initiative,” said the company spokesman, Tenille Kennedy.

    RIM's reorganization process could affect between 2,000 and 3,000 jobs, as estimated by analysts at Northern Securities Toronto, under the premise that 30% of the announced cost reductions will be achieved by measures of employment and human resources. Also, Wall Street Journal, citing sources close to the company, claims that RIM fires for weeks groups of at least 10 employees.

    Canadian company plans to launch this year a new range of smartphones based on the BlackBerry 10 OS, through which hopes to regain market share.

  • Apple iPhone, Partly Built By 13-Year-Olders for 70 Cents per Hour

    Not many people know that the popular iPhone and iPad are made in unbelievable working conditions. According to a report conducted by NPR, some of those working in production are 12, 13 or 14 years old.

    Foxconn, the factory where parts of Apple terminals are made, is located in the Chinese city of Shenzhen, with a population that exceeds New York – over 13 million people. Factory workers are more than 430,000.

    What surprised NPR reporters is that they met many children at the entrance. Apparently, Foxconn employers ignore age when hiring, even when they have less than 14 years old. The reporters  estimated that 5% of Chinese people working in manufacturing are minors. They suspect that Apple's U.S. representatives must know this or, if they don't, it's because they don't want to know being concerned about the price of production to remain as low as possible.

    According to NPR, at the Foxconn factory as well as other factories in Shenzhen, employees are working in halls with a capacity of 30,000 people. Work is done exclusively by hand, and the room is always quiet, because people are not allowed to speak. Workers are watched by cameras and have no right to create trade unions.

    On the move, reporters saw a former employee of Foxconn factory. He has broken his hand in a metal press, but has not been provided with medical care. Moreover, when he got back to work he did not have the same dexterity, so the man was fired. One reporter showed an iPad to the former employee and despite the fact that he worked for years in production the man had never seen such a device.

    NPR reporters claim that Foxconn employees earn about $250 per month. According to Reuters, their salary is $298 per month. Considering the fact that they are working over 15 hours a day, they are paid with less than 1 dollar per hour.

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  • iPhone 4S Could Be Banned in Europe

    iPhone 4S, Apple’s latest smartphone, could be banned in Europe along with all Apple devices that have GPRS connectivity and run iOS, following a lawsuit filed in Germany by Motorola.

    The number of lawsuits in which the company in Cupertino is involved grows with every passing day. After last week a court in Australia has unanimously decided to withdraw a preliminary decision prohibiting Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 to be sold in Australia, Apple faces a new threat from Motorola.

    The company, acquired this year by Google, has won in Germany a preliminary injunction through which obtained prohibiting the sale of Apple devices that have the GPRS  technology, namely iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPad 3G and iPad 2 3G, in Europe.

    The case represents a huge loss for Apple in the patents war that they are carrying with the Asian manufacturers of Android devices in several countries worldwide.

    “We will appeal the decision immediately. German consumers who want to buy an iPhone or an iPad for the holidays should not have troubles finding them,” said Apple representatives shortly after the decision.

    In the light of recent events, the Motorola Mobility purchase by Google, recorded this summer, seems a natural one. Market specialists have speculated even since those times that Google has paid $12.5 billion for the U.S. company only for its patent portfolio in the telecom area, and only in order to defend Android, the mobile platform that develops, by the trials filed by Apple against several manufacturers.

    Legal conflict between Apple and Android manufacturers has a long history, most of the lawsuits being filed by the U.S. company against the South Koreans from Samsung.

    Apple accuses them of copying the design and functionality of the iPhone and iPad smartphones and tablets of the Galaxy series models. In response, Samsung accuses Apple of violating several patents in the telecommunications area.

    Currently, between Apple and Samsung are opened 23 lawsuits in countries like France, Japan, Germany, South Korea and the United States.

  • Apple Strikes Again: Galaxy Tab 7.7 Out From IFA

    The war Apple takes against Samsung is reaching a new milestone: the tablet Galaxy Tab 7.7, presented last week at IFA 2011, has been removed from Samsung’s stand after a court order, the reason being violation of patents owned by Apple.

    The Court in Dusseldorf, the same that has also decided to ban Galaxy Tab 10.1, was the decision-maker in this case.

    Apple has legally obtained an order according to which Samsung is prohibited from marketing and promoting this product.

    James Chung, a spokesman for Samsung Seoul declined to comment on the court decision, but said that Samsung will respect the legal order, despite the fact that it is severely limiting the consumer. Furthermore, the company will defend itself in court.

    Samsung and Apple have been in disputes over time, because Apple claims that the Galaxy products from Samsung are copying their iPad and iPhone. Just a month ago, the court from Dusseldorf has temporarily banned Samsung to promote their Galaxy Tab 10.1 in 26 out of the 27 EU member states. The first trial in this series took place in April, in the United States.

    The legal order received late last week comes with losses of over half the units, according to Strategy Analytics. In the first quarter, Samsung had a market share of 16%, well below the iPhone's 69%.

    Galaxy Tab 7.7 has been released last week in Berlin. The first tablet in the world with Super AMOLED screen resolution of 1280X800 has a thickness of 7.89 mm, weighs 335 grams and comes equipped with a 1.4 GHz dual-core processor and 1GB RAM. The tablet is running Android 3.2 Honeycomb and has WiFi, HSPA + 21 Mbps and 2 cameras of 2 and 3 megapixels, respectively.

    Samsung had no details about the price of the tablet and when it will arrive in stores.

    Further reading:

  • Apple Launches New Lawsuit Against Motorola Regarding its Xoom Tablet

    Just one day after Apple convinced the court in Düsseldorf, Germany, that Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 imitates the iPad and obtained a court order that prohibits the sale of the South Korean tablet in few European countries, here’s that Steve Jobs and his team from Cupertino launches a new lawsuit, this time against Motorola.

    The incriminated product is Motorola Xoom, also for the alleged design elements inspired by iPad 2. The trial will take place at the same court in Düsseldorf. Even if Apple will win in the first instance, the companies accused can appeal, a fact already confirmed by the South Koreans.

    Apple has also won a major victory against its South Korean rival, Samsung Electronics, after the court in Dusseldorf has banned the sale of Samsung Galaxy tab in the European Union, except the Netherlands. Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet, confirmed that the court has issued a temporary ban against the Galaxy Tab 10.1. It is not yet clear why the order did not include the Netherlands.

    Samsung Electronics, the largest technology company in Asia in terms of revenue, said it will appeal German court decision. Samsung is also the world's largest producer of memory chips and televisions and the second largest producer of mobile phones.

    German court decision comes a week after Samsung was forced to postpone the launch of Galaxy tablet on the market in Australia because of similar legal actions filed by Apple.

    On the IT&C market, such lawsuits are on the agenda. There is a huge network in which many important companies are judging each other for the infringement of various patents. In terms of design-problem lawsuits and not software, is very difficult to make an objective judgment.

    If Apple will finally win all these lawsuits, it will be created a precedent under which the company in Cupertino could also attack other major manufacturers of tablets.

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  • Samsung Out from Apple’s Suppliers List of Components for iPad

    Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), a Taiwanese company producing chips, began manufacturing a new generation of components for Apple’s mobile devices, which could mean that the manufacturer of iPad tablet will break the contract with its supplier of Samsung Electronics chips, according to several sources close to the situation.

    Samsung is the only supplier of A5 chips used for the iPad 2, but Apple has suggested that wishes to depart from the Korean company.

    The two companies have each other filled a complaint in court accusing of infringement of patents, while Samsung has proven to be the fiercest competitor of Apple in the battle on the smartphones and tablets market. Apple is faced with several obstacles if would want to make a transition to TSMC.

    "Apple is trying to diversify its source of components, but will continue to be some way in a relationship with Samsung," said William Wang, an analyst at Fubon Securities.

    "I believe that TSMC will receive orders for the new chips, but the problem is how many. Apple will not provide 100% of the orders of a single supplier, such as TSMC. Maybe will allocate only 20-30% of the orders", he completed.

    The analysts and other sources have previously said that TSMC, the largest manufacturer of chips under contract, will become the supplier for the next generation of chips for Apple devices, probably starting from next year.

    TSMC is an obvious candidate to win the future business with Apple, because it has budgeted 7.8 billion dollars this year to update the technology and to add capacity of production.

    The company has experience with the architecture of the British ARM Holdings chips, widely used by Apple to make efficient mobile chips in terms of energy consumption.

    "Taiwanese company already has all the details and authorizations in place," said another source.

    Tablet market, which last year was aggressively dominated by Apple's iPad, is expected to grow to 108 million devices next year, from 70 million as estimated for 2011 and 17.6 million as it was in 2010, according to Gartner.

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  • fring Brings Mobile Group Video to iPad

    fring, the mobile communication service that pioneered mobile video over internet calls across smartphone platforms, now brings the world’s first dedicated group video chat service to the iPad.

    fring’s iPad Group Video chat enables four friends to simultaneously video chat one another, & see friends across a host of devices including iPhone, Android & Nokia, over any internet connectivity (Wi-Fi, 3G or 4G).

    "With fring on the iPad, users enjoy full-size 9.7-inch LED, glossy widescreen Video chat, with Multi-Touch display and optimized picture quality using fring’s proprietary DVQ™ technology," the company said.

    The fring iPad Group Video chat experience is wrapped in an intuitive, natural gesture- navigation where users drag & drop friends into Group Video chat, move their video chat stream & seamlessly augment video chat with parallel communication like tandem text chatting.

    “fring is empowering tablet users to unleash the power of their 9.7 inch screens beyond movie watching and gaming to rich, fun personal video communication,” says Avi Shechter, CEO and Co-founder of fring. “With Group Video on the iPad, we are changing face to face video chat. Users will now be able to video socialize on big screen tablets enjoying seeing their friends wherever they are- as they commute, sunbathe at the beach or wait for coffee at a café.”

    In addition to free Group Video chat, fring enables users to make free two-way video chat, voice calls and live chat with friends on Android, iPhone/iPod touch & Nokia Smartphones.

    fring’s iPad Group Video is available from Apple’s App Store.

    Here is the demo video:

  • The Most Efficient Mass-Media Apps for iPad

    It is known that Apple fans have for their devices hundreds of thousands of applications to choose from, but which are the best of them? In this article we will try to find the most interesting and effective tools for those who are interested to know the latest news in the media.

    AP News

    AP News is one of the best programs of its kind, although it has nothing revolutionary. The software includes articles, photos and video clips on the latest news. AP News has a clear interface, easy to use and supports news feeds of local news and weather.

    NPR iPad

    NPR iPad is very useful for users who want to know the latest news in music, arts and media. The design is simple, clear and easy to use, with three horizontal lines that bring users the latest articles and songs for each section. Internet users can listen to the song they want from the thousands of options available in the playlist. The player will start at the bottom of the screen in one click. In addition, you can explore all the details of the program while listening to the chosen song.

    StumbleUpon

    Those who are already addicted to the StumbleUpon site will definitely appreciate the similar program for the iPad, and others will be surprised by the ability of the online publication to find the most interesting information on the web and put them all together. Just select the topics you are interested in, such as nutrition, fitness, travel, design, etc. and StumbleUpon will gather the newest and the most commented news and articles.

    CNN

    CNN app is very useful for those who are greedy for news of any kind. The application can be seen in magazine type format, with a mosaic made up of text and photos, a list of titles or a format with large photos linked to articles. This layout quickly shows you the most important information and other features such as live video news, updates every hour and videos for most of news are making this app very efficient.

    Marvel

    For comic books fans, there’s the Marvel app. This is one of the most effective ways to track your favorite stories on the iPad. Each publication of its kind – here being included an important selection of free titles – can be explored page by page or in "guided tour", which helps user to easily choose from a very wide range.

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  • iOS 5 Launched at WWDC 2011, 200 New Features

    WWDC, the annual Apple conference, passed without the much awaited launch of the iPhone 5, but the company has not left their fans empty-handed, presenting, among other, the new version of the iOS 5. iOS 5 will bring over 200 new features on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch this fall, the most important being the Notification Center and the iMessage, Newsstand or PC Free systems.

    The Notification Center brings together all the notifications in one location that can be easily managed while iMessage is a redesigned messaging service that allows you to send messages, pictures or videos from all the devices running on iOS 5.

    Apple has listened to criticisms and has also launched the PC Free function, which gives iOS devices users the possibility of activating the product without a PC connection.

    With the new iOS 5 and iCloud, after you’ve entered your Apple ID, iCloud will integrate “into the cloud” all the applications, emails, contacts, photos and music, all without the need to be connected to a computer.

    iOS 5 provides Twitter integration for most applications, so you can access the tweet functions from Photos, Safari, Camera, Maps and YouTube, with a single touch.

    For the fans of magazines and newspapers, the new iOS 5 comes with Newsstand, a new way of organizing the subscriptions, more elegant and more intuitive.

    Safari has also undergone some improvements, including the Reader mode that makes easier reading the text.

    Other improvements that come along with the new iOS 5 are related to the Game Center, mail or keyboard.

    IOS 5 beta is already available for developers, and the final version will be available for free in this fall for iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad and iPad 2, but also for the fourth and third generation of iPod touch.

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