Posts Tagged ‘iPad’

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Apple Take Over

Thursday, August 11th, 2011

Since 2005, Exxon Mobil has held its spot as the number one most valuable company in the US.  But all that has changed since iPod touches, iPhones, iPads, and iClouds.

Everyone wants a piece of it.  Once you use one of these sleek phones or gadgets, you need one!  Their stylish products and advanced technology makes it irresistible to not throw your Blackberry out the window, and consumers have definitely shown this is true!

On Wednesday, Apple moved to the number one position by market value—leaving Exxon in the dust.  Apple is now the most valuable US company, and its stocks are worth more than any others.

Exxon currently has a market value of $331 billion, but Apple has outranked them, obtaining a market value of $337 billion.  One share of an Apple stock costs $363.  Wow! Apparently people need iPhones more than they need gas!

This is probably not that shocking to most people.  Just last year, Apple’s net income shot up 70 percent ($14 billion) and its profits grew 52 percent ($65 billion).  Apple said that in their latest quarterly report, their iPad and iPhone sales contributed to more than doubling their net income to $7.3 billion and shooting up its revenue by 82 percent ($29 billion).

The tech giant is putting all others to shame with their fresh, modern products.  Apple is just behind Hewlett-Packard Co.—the world’s largest technology company by revenue—with $28.6 billion in its last quarter, while HP reported $31.6 billion in profit.

Apple is taking over, but no ones complaining about it!

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APPealing Review – The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

Monday, July 18th, 2011

The New York Times calls The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore simply “the best… It is a visually stunning bit of work with entertaining interactive features.”  And we agree.

The eye-catching iPad app is an interactive narrative experience based on William Joyce’s short film “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore”. Produced by Moonbot Studios, the app is available for download on iTunes for only $4.99, which is well worth it.

 

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore iPad App Trailer from Moonbot Studios on Vimeo.

 

This iPad storybook is about a man (named Mr. Morris Lessmore, of course) who lives in an old library. The flying books housed in the library have become his friends and his job is to make sure they are handled with care and shared with reading lovers who will appreciate their value.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore is visually reminiscent of Pixar movies like Up, Toy Story 3, and Geri’s Game. The imagery is interesting and beautiful, as is the narrator’s soothing voice.

Customer reviews claim The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore to be “One of the best. I’d have to put this up there with Goosed Up Rhymes and Cosmo’s Day off as one of the best book apps. Big hit with the kids.” Another praised the app as a fantastic teaching tool saying, “My wife even used this and the animated short film we got in the iTunes store for a Language lesson. This will entertain both adults and children, buy it!”

Another rave review, which we found notable stated, “I just finished reading The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, the first thing I did was go buy another copy of the app for my grandchildren. I love everything about this book, the story, the animation, the feeling of being part of the story. The feelings it envoked reminded me of the first time I read Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree. I highly recommend this book to young and old.”

After reading reviews such as these, how could you not check it out! iPad apps like The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore will likely change the way parents read bedtime stories to their children. Tell us, how do you feel about the new world of interactive narrative apps? Will you or do you share them with your kids?

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iCloud: What You Need to Know

Tuesday, June 14th, 2011

I’ve already told you about the Mac OS X Lion and iOS 5 news from Apple’s WWDC keynote presentation.  With all of the new features, there’s no end to the things you can do and create on your computer or mobile device.  Apple’s iCloud service will allow you to access what you create from any of your devices.

What is it?

iCloud is the latest cloud service from Apple.  It will provide an easy way to manage content by storing your content and automatically pushing it to all of your devices, wirelessly.

Content?  What content?

iCloud works with Apple applications including Calendar, Mail, and Contacts, similar to Apple’s previous MobileMe service.  But it also works with iTunes, the App Store, iBooks, iWork apps, backup, and the new Photo Stream.  So you will be able to access almost any content that you would access on one computer or mobile device, but on all of them.

How do I get it?

iCloud will be free and available as soon as iOS 5 is.  When you sign up, you automatically get 5GB of storage for Mail, Documents, and backup.  Purchased music, apps, books, and photos will not count towards your free storage.

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iOS 5: What You Need to Know

Tuesday, June 14th, 2011

I’ve already brought you the happenings from Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference and introduced you to some of the new features of Mac OS X Lion.  Here’s a run-down of the new features of iOS 5 (the operating system for Apple’s mobile devices) demonstrated in the keynote presentation.

The Basics

  • Available: Fall
  • How to get it: downloadable on your device
  • Cost: free

New Features

  1. Notification center: all of your notifications from your apps are now all in one location, easy to access from any screen including the lock screen and less distracting than the current push notifications
  2. Newsstand: a folder to manage all of your newspaper and magazine subscriptions delivered to your device and automatically updates in the background
  3. Twitter integration: you will now be able to sign-in to Twitter just once in ‘Settings’ and instantly send tweets from your camera, Safari, and other apps
  4. Safari: the internet browser now has a reader feature to read articles in an RSS-like view and save things to a reading list for later (also, the iPad will feature tabbed browsing)
  5. Reminders: store multiple to-do lists complete with due dates and locations and automatically syncs with other devices and apps
  6. Camera: in addition to better features to help you compose a picture and sync photos to other devices, you will be able to use shortcuts to access the camera app from the lock screen and take a picture by simply pressing the volume-up button
  7. Mail: you’ll be able to add rich-text formatting (bold, underline, etc.) to emails, search the contents of messages, and flag important messages
  8. PC-free: you no longer need a computer to activate, update, and back-up your devices
  9. Game center: enhanced with profile pictures, game recommendations, and friend recommendations
  10. iMessage: a messaging service for all iOS 5 users with group messaging, delivery receipts, typing indications and more, and conversations are pushed to all of your devices

Watch out for the last article in the series, which will be about the iCloud service.

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Attention eBook Worms! Is the iBook 1.3 Update Generating a Loud Shout with its new Read Aloud Feature–or No Sound At All?

Thursday, June 9th, 2011

Apple has advanced eBook reading with the new iBook 1.3 update, presenting a read aloud feature in select books with automatic page turning, highlighting words, automatically playing audio & video content in the books, and improvement on downloading large books.  Or has it?  Users have experienced a few glitches with the update—encountering silent narrators that make us wonder whether we should have went with Amazon Kindle or Google eBookstore instead.

The iBook iOS app update is free, requiring iOS 3.2 or higher, and is compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.  It has Apple’s usual appealing, sleek characteristics with some modernistic features.

The iBook 1.3 contains read aloud for select children’s books.  The app is also capable of highlighting words as they’re being read, helping children learn to read.  There is a picture of a speaker at the top of the app, and the user simply taps the speaker to enable sounds.  There is also an option of turning the pages manually or automatically in this menu.

Books including multimedia content, such as audio or video, will automatically play on iBook 1.3, as well.

The update also acts more efficiently with larger books than before.  There used to be incidents of the app displaying the same page twice, but this new update has corrected that issue.

However, there are definitely glitches with this update.  It is said to have difficulty functioning on the iPad and iPhone 4 on the latest iOS.  When the read aloud is selected, the pages will turn properly, but there is no sound.  Apple is aware of this glitch, and I’m sure they will have it perfected shortly, as they always do.

Some critiques with iBook also include that it is not supported by any other devices, while its competitors most certainly are.  Kindle can be read on iPad, iPhone, Kindle and PC’s, and Google eBooks is supported by iPad, iPhone, Android devices, and any JavaScript-capable web browser.

Electronic book worms everywhere are stocking up their virtual shelves, and Apple needs to fix these glitches before they slither over to Amazon or Google!

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Behind Every Cloud is Another iCloud

Wednesday, June 1st, 2011

We all know the success and power of Apple as a company; however the one area they have continually failed in is their multiple tries at an online media service. First it was iDisk, next it was .Mac, then it was MobileMe, and now they are taking their forth swing at it with iCloud. Steve Jobs is scheduled to discuss the details of iCloud at the Worldwide Developers Conference 2011 next Monday.

iCloud appears to be a re-branding of the Apple media service previously known as MobileMe, which [attempted] to serve as a paid online hub for users to manage their email, calendars, address books, and photos. Unfortunately for Apple, MobileMe turned out to be full of bugs; and no one likes an apple full of bugs.

By naming the new endeavor iCloud, it suggests to those in the industry that the service will likely allow users to store and access their iTunes purchases (music and videos) online, on multiple devices. For those of you who are not fully aware of industry lingo, “cloud” is a word that has been used by other companies basically meaning that they offer everything online, rather than on hard drives. Think of it as an online locker for your media.

If Apple is successful in their reach for the clouds, it would be wise for the company to advertise perks for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and iPod Touch users; that is, if they can do so without those pesky bugs. It would be pretty cool to be able to use and manage your iTunes library without having to plug your iProduct into your computer.

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Medical App Makes Smartphones Even Smarter

Wednesday, May 25th, 2011

Smartphones have never been so smart! There is now an app called ResolutionMD Mobile that doctors can use to scan a patient’s brain in order to diagnose a stroke. The medical app is available for the iPhone, iPad, and the Android, and gives doctors the astounding ability to distinguish whether a patient has suffered from a stroke and prescribe treatment faster than ever before.

This advancement in technology will make a major difference in the early diagnoses and treatment in stroke victims, allowing actions to be taken sooner and more accurately, which improves the outcome tremendously. For every 15 minutes that a patient is kept waiting for a diagnosis, the effectiveness of the medication is reduced by half. So, when they say that every second counts, they mean it.

ResolutionMD Mobile is designed to scan images of the brain with what specialists at the University of Calgary are calling “nearly the same accuracy as when they use a full diagnostic workstation”. However, some medical experts have been resistant to the idea of reading a scan off of a 3.5 inch screen. The app is meant to be used in emergency scenarios, after all, and doctors worried that it was not trust worthy.

Fortunately, image compression, microprocessors and wireless-data bandwidth have all been improved so much so that ResolutionMD Mobile has won over most of the critics, making it an extremely useful tool for doctors when they do not have other equipment available.

For patients who live in more rural areas, ResolutionMD Mobile will save lives. Ross Mitchell, a medical professor who worked closely on the app at the Canada University commented on the effect it has already had in rural Arizona saying “The patients are being treated remotely, and they stay remote”.

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iPhone 5…4, 3, 2, 1 Surprise!

Tuesday, May 17th, 2011

Rumor has it that the much anticipated iPhone 5 will feature an edge-to-edge screen. That assumption is based on cases that have already been made for the “iPhone 5G” by a Chinese company, Kulcase, which allegedly got a hold of pre-released pictures of the phone. Seemingly, the location of the camera has also been relocated. Kulcase’s trading site, Alibaba.com, claims that they offer the “Newest design crystal case for apple iPhone 5g.”

Some are assuming that this apparent case for the new iPhone, indicates that Apple is “iPad-izing the iPhone” by widening the screen akin to the iPad. It’s difficult to say what is or is not true considering Apple has not released any official statement about the iPhone 5 and that this is all just hear-say. Nonetheless, it’s still pretty intriguing.

Tab Julius, a software engineer at Dynamic Network Systems believes there is more behind the edgeless screen than what meets the eye. “I suspect the wider screen on the supposed iPhone 5 is a move to the same screen ratio as the iPad,” Julius said, “The photograph supplied is obviously smaller, but the ratio should hold.”

On a similar note, PCWorld reported that the new iPhone will likely be released in the third quarter this year. So, for all of you who have been holding out for the iPhone 5, you’re wait is nearly over.

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Online News Breaks Past Newpaper Readers

Wednesday, March 16th, 2011

Continuing the inevitable trend of decreasing popularity for newspapers, internet news finally surpassed print news. According to the Project for Excellence in Journalism “State of the Media Report”, 40% of surveyed Americans read printed news three times a week. Moreover, because of the large scale accessibility and major increase of internet usage, 46% surveyed receive their news three times a week online.

Internet accessibility is key. From tablets to smartphones, this generation revolves around mobile gadgets that offer internet access. Because electronic tablet sales doubled from last year, and more smartphone users are using free news applications, online news passed newspaper readership.

Last year only 17% read news online. Now, 41% read national and international news on the web. As a result, newspaper agencies have taken a hit from the increased viewers on the Internet.  Between 1,000 and 1,500 jobs were lost in the last year in the news industry because print media survives largely due to advertisement space. Businesses are also following suit and considering a better option to reach their target market: online advertising.

Due to the increased readership throughout the world-wide-web, online advertising increased 14% mounting to 25.8 billion dollars spent last year.  Will newspaper agencies salvage this internet revolution in sight of their apparent losses? Surely they will but only if they incorporate themselves into as many news outlets as possible.

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Japan iPad 2 Launch Postponed In Wake Of Disaster

Wednesday, March 16th, 2011

Last week’s massive earthquake and tsunami disasters in Japan have pushed back the country’s iPad 2 launch.

Reuters reports that Japan and dozens of other countries around the world were scheduled to debut the device on Friday, March 25. As the country continues to reel from the devastation however, Apple announced that it would be pushing the launch back indefinitely.

“We are delaying the launch of the iPad 2 in Japan while the country and our teams focus on recovering from the recent disaster,” said Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris.

She went on to say that the delay had nothing to do with a shortage in supplies, a plight facing many factories and manufacturing chains in Japan.

Instead, the Apple store in Japan has focused its efforts on helping the Japanese people get through the distaster by offering use of its products (chargers, surge protecters, etc) and free wi-fi services to Apple and non-apple users. The store’s employees have also lent their shelter, products and services to help people survive and connect with family members.

As it stands, the iPad 2 remains hard to come by on American soil. The smartphone quickly sold out upon its launch last week. Orders for the device will now take up to five weeks to ship.


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