Category: Apple

Apple kicks off discussions on Apple TV with Media Executives

Apple is reportedly discussing the possibility of the Apple TV (not the tiny box, but a real television) with global Media honchos. Steve Jobs’ next big thing before he passed away was the change in the Television industry. Apple’s new CEO Tim Cook has no plans to drop the idea as the company pushes the game forward.

An idea that includes a TV that packs wireless streaming with AirPlay to deliver TV shows and movies as well as technology it’s developed to tie-in DVR storage and iCloud, allowing personal access on tablets and devices handheld. There should be major voice activated control implemented in the whole ecosystem, possibility of that is the already popular Siri voice control systems.

Several companies including Google have already attempted this ill fated journey, only to fail all attempts. Lets see what Apple brings to the table and if it changes anything.

December 19, 2011
App A Day : Asphalt 6 Adrenaline Free on iOS for today : iPad, iPod & iPhone

Shocker : Gameloft has made Asphalt Adrenaline 6 full version free for 24 hours on the App Store. The game is one of the most played games on both Android and iOS platforms. You can even take on friends in Online and Local Multiplayer mode for up to 6 racers. The game is only free for today so make sure you get it before the offer runs out.

The total download is 515.4 MB so make sure you have a decent connection.

[Download here]

December 16, 2011
Microsoft Launches Skydrive app for WindowsPhone and iOS, what no Android app?

Microsoft is going the Nokia way, where iOS is not a threat and Android is too much clutter. The company today released the Skydrive app for Windows Phone and iOS leaving out Android out of the picture, for the time being at least. The apps will bring the ability to browse all of your files, share them with others, delete them and create new folders. When sharing links you can even choose whether or not a person can edit a document or simply view it. Check out the videos below.

December 14, 2011
Apple Mac App Store crosses the 100 Million download mark (PR)

In less than a year since its debut on Apple computer screens, the Mac App store has crossed 1 million downloads. Thats a huge number if you consider it a Mac only download store, if you compare it to the iOS App Store its mere digits in front of the 18 Billion downloads. The App store already has most of the Apps available for Mac Computers with others coming in fast. Check out the full PR below.

[toggle title_open=”Press Release” title_closed=”Press Release” hide=”yes” border=”yes” style=”default” excerpt_length=”0″ read_more_text=”Read More” read_less_text=”Read Less” include_excerpt_html=”no”]Apple’s Mac App Store Downloads Top 100 Million

CUPERTINO, California-December 12, 2011-Apple® today announced that over 100 million apps have been downloaded from the Mac® App Store™ in less than one year. With thousands of free and paid apps, the Mac App Store brings the App Store experience to the Mac so you can find great new apps, buy them using your iTunes® account, and download and install them in just one step. Apple revolutionized the app industry with the App Store, which now has more than 500,000 apps and where customers have downloaded more than 18 billion apps and continue to download more than 1 billion apps per month.

“In just three years the App Store changed how people get mobile apps, and now the Mac App Store is changing the traditional PC software industry,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “With more than 100 million downloads in less than a year, the Mac App Store is the largest and fastest growing PC software store in the world.”

“With Autodesk products in both the App Store and Mac App Store, we can reach hundreds of millions of Apple users around the world,” said Amar Hanspal, senior vice president of Platform Solutions and Emerging Business at Autodesk. “With our free AutoCAD WS and the more powerful professional drafting tools of AutoCAD LT, we’re using the Mac App Store to deliver new products and reach a growing base of new Mac customers.”

“The Mac App Store has unparalleled reach and has completely transformed our distribution and development cycle,” said Saulius Dailide of the Pixelmator Team. “Offering Pixelmator 2.0 exclusively on the Mac App Store allows us to streamline updates to our image editing software and stay ahead of the competition.”

“In less than one year we’ve shifted the distribution of djay for Mac exclusively to the Mac App Store,” said Karim Morsy, CEO of algoriddim. “With just a few clicks, djay for Mac is available to customers in 123 countries worldwide. We could never have that reach through traditional channels.”

The Mac App Store offers thousands of apps in Education, Games, Graphics & Design, Lifestyle, Productivity, Utilities and other categories. Users can browse new and noteworthy apps, find out what’s hot, see staff favorites, search categories and look up top charts for paid and free apps, as well as user ratings and reviews. The Mac App Store is included with Mac OS® X Lion and is available as a software update for any Mac running Mac OS X Snow Leopard®. For more information visit, www.apple.com/mac/app-store.

Mac developers set the prices for their apps, keep 70 percent of the sales revenue, are not charged for free apps and do not have to pay hosting, marketing or credit card fees. To find out more about developing for the Mac App Store visit, developer.apple.com/programs/mac.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced iPad 2 which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.[/toggle]

December 13, 2011
Pick: iG Holiday Gift Guide 2011: Gadgets Rs. 10,000
Tis’ the season to be jolly and make others jolly. With that thought in mind we bring to you the iGyaan Holiday gifting guide of 2011. This edition will include gadgets and gift items that stay within and around the Rs 10,000 price bracket. So lets begin.

Since its iGyaan.in and we love Smartphones, lets begin with them

Smartphone

Till about two years ago fitting the word smartphone in this category was practically impossible. But today we have several options and only one should shine as a recommendation for the guide.
1. Samsung Galaxy Y
Price Rs. 7150/-

The only real smartphone for the price that features specs that would fit in the budget and leave a few Gandhis to spend about on your favorite christmas dinner. This phone features a powerful processor and Android Gingerbread, Its our Recommendation for the best phone under 10,000 Rs.

Personal Media Player

iPod Touch 8GB

8GB : Rs. 10500/-

A lot of media players come close but non so close, if you manage you can grab one for lower than 10000, the best touchscreen experience you can find at 10,000/- along with endless apps from the Apple App Store. Support for Nike +, bluetooth, FaceTime, iMessage, Safari web browser, email, Maps and a whole lot of music in the 8GB capacity. The fact that it bundles as a best gaming device eating into the personal gaming console market for years, makes it an even better device.

Alternative iPod Nano

8GB : Rs.6500/-

16GB: Rs.7500/-

If you can’t go over 10K, the best mp3 player is possibly the iPod Nano, maybe not the best to watch movies on, because you can’t. But you do get an enormously large capacity mp3 player, with a multitouch screen, audiobooks, podcasts, photos, FM radio, Fitness Walk + Run support built in, Nike+ support built in.

Digital Camera

Canon Ixus 130

Rs. 9650/-

Not a lot of pixels, 14.7 to be precise, 17.8mm stainless steel body finished in a choice of silver, black, orange or pink, a 4x optical zoom and a 28mm wide-angle lens is what make the our choice. The camera has HD video recording and SD HC capable memory slots, backed by Canon’s great support and exceptional mechanics in camera technology.

Personal Gaming

PSP 3004

Rs. 7000/-

Apart from the fact that the iPod Touch makes an excellent gaming device, adds a camera and a music player, a dedicated gaming console is a must if you are a hardcore on the go gamer. It allows multiplayer over WiFi and acts as a second remote to your PS3, it allows video out, and music storage. Music , movies, videos, games and everything in Rs. 7000 . Its our recommendation for the best gaming device under 10k, if you don’t want an iPod Touch.

Headphones

Soul by Ludacris Sl99

Rs. 6500/-

If you can find them at that price you are lucky, they retail for about 100 US $ but are very expensive in India. The earphones are the best you can get for the price and the feature an online remote that is compatible with iPhones, iPads and iPods. The remote also somewhat works with some android devices. the earphones have the best in class bass and tangle free flat cables. The build quality is superb and they look, feel and sound premium for a price that is usually considered average for good earphones. Don’t think two ways, these sound better than beats by Dre by a mile.

Stay tuned for more gift guides coming up.
December 11, 2011
French court denies iPhone 4S sale ban to Samsung

Its like winning and loosing all round, Apple was denied injunction lift suspension and Samsung was denied primary sale ban in France. The french courts yesterday denied Samsung’s request to ban the sales of Apple iPhone 4S in France. The court called the reaction out of proportion with its claims of intellectual property theft and ordered Samsung to pay a fine of €100,000 (about $134,000) to cover Cupertino’s legal fees.

The case is one of many legal battles being waged between Samsung and Apple in the United States, Italy, and several other countries over intellectual property protecting their smartphones.

December 9, 2011
Apple’s Appeal to suspend the temporary injunction lift for Galaxy Tab rejected in Australia

First Apple managed to get an injunction against the sale of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia, The Korean company managed to get the courts to temporarily lift the injunction . Apple then appealed this lift of injunction, But it seems that this appeal was denied by the Aussie Court, as is being reported by The Register. Samsung will be now allowed to sell its Galaxy tab 10.1 throughout the holiday season, gathering up enough sales to recover initial costs of ad investments.

Samsung says the device will on on the shelf on Monday, December 12, with list prices of $579 for the 16 GB WiFi Galaxy 10.1 Tab, and $729 for the 3G version in Australia.

[The Register]

December 9, 2011
Apple new ‘digital handshake’ will be powered by invisible ink, according to patent

Apple has filed a new patent that will enable the use of next-generation cameras and invisible ink to negotiate digital handshakes.

Snap a picture of a cash register with a barcode and your iDevice will generate a unique ID to pair up. but in order to keep the technology secure, the codes would have to be painted on with “invisible” fluorescent coatings. Similarly to share information between 2 iPhones or iDevices, the screen of one will display the information while the camera from the other will simply click to transfer the info.

While the whole world is looking forward to NFC, you can leave it up to Apple to think of a different standard. Remember the whole world was using regular size sim cards before apple managed to make the Micro-sim a standard.

USPTO (1), USPTO (2)

December 3, 2011
Apple’s request for block of Samsung sales in the US denied

US District Court Judge has rejected Apple’s request to block the sales of Galaxy devices. The two companies are engaged in a bruising legal battle that includes more than 20 cases in 10 countries as they jostle for the top spot in the smartphone and tablet markets. Apple sued Samsung in the United States in April, saying the South Korean company’s Galaxy line of mobile phones and tablets “slavishly” copies the iPhone and iPad.

It is not clear that an injunction on Samsung’s accused devices would prevent Apple from being irreparably harmed”.

The case in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California is Apple Inc v. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd et al, 11-1846.

December 3, 2011
Microsoft brings WP emulator to Android and iPhone

[dropcap]M[/dropcap]icrosoft is using a browser based demo of WP7 on Android and iOS to lure users into shifting into their new OS. The HTML5 demonstration showcases Windows Phone’s Metro user-interface and allows you to follow through and experience the operating system’s basic functionality.

The demo goes thorough basic functionality and demos some of the key features like Phone, People, Messaging, Outlook, Calendar, Family, Local Scout and Picture tiles. Just visit the link http://aka.ms/wpdemo on your Android or iOS device and enjoy the demo exploits. Its like owning the phone without owning it, Microsoft is playing those naughty games again. Trying to itch you into buying a WP7 device.

[Microsoft]

November 30, 2011
BFRA: Microsoft is preparing a new “Office” for Lion and iPad

This one is a Blunt Force Rumor Attack.

According to The Daily, Microsoft may be preparing a series of apps, or a single suite of Office apps to target the iPad market. These apps would directly take on Keynote, Pages and Numbers from the Apple software arsenal. The company is also reportedly prepping an Office Suite update that will add official support for Lion and may be available from the Mac App Store. Apps for the iPad and Mac App store could cost upto US $ 9.99 (the same Apple Charges for its apps) these apps will support sync with Office 360 and will be available before the end of the year 2011

We already deliver Office on multiple platforms and devices and are committed to expanding in the future, but have nothing further to share today,

Microsoft in a statement to CNET

[The Daily] [CNET]

November 30, 2011
Bring Siri dictation to your favorite iDevice – Jailbreak and Siri0us required

A new package for jailbreak friendly iDevices has been released that enables Siri dictation on the iPhone 4 / 3GS and all those that run a Jailbroken iOS 5. The package is available to be downloaded from a repo that uses Siri Api (without permission) to connect to the servers that the speech recognition company hosts for apps instead. This method will allow only dictation on the iPhone and not Siri itself. We have a feeling that the package might be removed soon so get it before it goes.

Check out the demo video below.

November 29, 2011
Apple Seeds iOS 5.1 Beta to devs, New Product ID reveals next iPad

Apple has started seeding the next beta of iOS 5 to developers, the iOS 5.1 is meant to bring some major fixes to the OS. Many are also hoping for a fix to the major battery drain faced in the current version of the OS.

But thats not the only news surrounding this release, a new product iD has been found in the release dubbed “iPad 2,4”, which is hinting at the next generation of the iPad said to be coming in the next couple months. Rumors have been pointing at Retina/ high res display along with better cameras. The chipset may or may not be bumped up to the next revision. The product iD only increases chances for something like this showing up in the near future.

November 29, 2011
iPhone 4S Sales in South Korea Stalled – the iPhone is Uncompetitive

Sales of Apple iPhone 4S are reportedly very low in South Korea and wireless customers are reportedly disappointed with the phone’s poor performance. The Korea Times reports that the movement of the iDevice is slow due to problems with the phone’s battery life and the lack of support for 4G LTE.

Except for the ‘Siri’ function, I didn’t find any wow factors about the iPhone 4S and that’s why I decided to buy Samsung’s LTE smartphone, Also Siri doesn’t support Korean language and that means the iPhone 4S is technically the same as the iPhone 4. Why should I pay more to buy the same thing? It’s nonsense to purchase the 4S just to show my personal tribute to the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs”

– Korean Consumer

Internationally, Apple’s latest iPhone has seen record sales following its launch. In India the iPhone 4S went on sale on 25th November for a price os 44,500 for 16GB version

November 28, 2011
Microsoft Lync the first to link WP7 – Blackberry – Android – iDevices

Microsoft Lync is ready to hit your portable devices in a fast and swift motion. MS Australia tweeted that they are working on a synergised app for all Smartphone OS’s software becomes available for Android, BlackBerry, iOS and Windows Phone.

[Microsoft Australia (Twitter)]

November 26, 2011