Technology Oasis

• 21Mar

  New iPad Has a Smart Cover Problem

  Electronics No Comments

  Magnets: How do they work? Differently on the new iPad than on the iPad 2, it has emerged — and that’s bad news for anyone with an old or third-party smart cover.

  A number of users who bought new iPads over the weekend (this reporter included) were dismayed to discover that the smart covers they’d bought for the iPad 2 didn’t work on the new model.

  Smart covers, which attach to the iPad’s built-in magnets, are supposed to turn the tablet on automatically when you flip them open. But as dozens of iPad users in this Apple forum concurred, that was no longer the case with many smart covers on the new iPad.

  That seemed odd, as the new iPad is physically no different from the iPad 2 — on the surface, at least. But it turns out Apple has been messing with the polarity of its magnets under the hood. Continue reading »
• 20Mar

  $29 Android Phone Isn’t Alone in Bare-Bones Options

  Electronics No Comments

  The price of the low-end ZTE Score on Cricket’s (now Leap’s) network keeps dropping lower and lower, in one sale after another. Last November it cost $49 from Amazon Wireless, $80 less than its original $129 price tag. Now it’s down to $69 — without a two-year contract — and it’s on sale now at Best Buy for $29, for an unspecified length of time.

  It’s not alone

  Many other Android smartphones have dropped below the $99 mark, even without 2-year contracts. Kroger-owned iWireless offers two for $49, although they may require a membership card. And Virgin Mobile has been taking preorders for the $99 Venture, a new entry-level smartphone. Continue reading »
• 13Mar

  Khan Academy launches iPad app for free educational tutoring on the go

  Electronics No Comments

  Over the past seven days Google users have been carrying out online searches for Lord’s Resistance Army warlord Joseph Kony after a video examining the situation in Uganda went viral. Apple’s latest creation the iPad 3 was also a big hit this week, appearing three times in this week’s search terms with the most significant growth.

  The popularity of the week’s top three search terms — “Joseph Kony,” “Kony” and “Kony 2012″ — can be attributed to a video made by charity organization Invisible Children exploring the crimes committed by Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in Uganda. Continue reading »
• 12Mar

  People are already lining up to buy the new iPad

  Electronics No Comments

  If you missed out on pre-ordering the new iPad before the Apple Store completely sold out of its first round of inventory, it’s highly likely that you will have to wait the long, dreaded lines that wrap around your local Apple retailer this Friday when the iPad arrives in stores. But the local folks in England at SlashGear have already spotted two early birds who took it upon themselves to wait a whole week ahead of time to be the first to own the upgraded, Retina display tablets. Continue reading »
• 11Mar

  Google Insights: viral video ‘Kony 2012,’ Apple’s iPad, ‘Mass Effect 3′ create buzz

  Electronics No Comments

  Over the past seven days Google users have been carrying out online searches for Lord’s Resistance Army warlord Joseph Kony after a video examining the situation in Uganda went viral. Apple’s latest creation the iPad 3 was also a big hit this week, appearing three times in this week’s search terms with the most significant growth.

  The popularity of the week’s top three search terms — “Joseph Kony,” “Kony” and “Kony 2012″ — can be attributed to a video made by charity organization Invisible Children exploring the crimes committed by Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in Uganda. Continue reading »
• 10Mar

  iPhoto for iPhone: Not worth the money

  Electronics No Comments

  Apple’s long-offered photo editing app iPhoto is now available for iOS users. Priced at about $5, iPhoto for iOS gives users a swath of image customization features, as well as the ability to “beam” photos between iOS devices, and share edited images on Facebook, Flickr, email, iCloud Journal and Twitter. Given that the app was the only entirely new piece of software debuted at Apple’s big iPad event on Wednesday, I decided to dive in for some picture-tweaking goodness. Or, so I thought…

  For this hands-on, I will be using the iPhone version of the app, which has some marked differences from the iPad version. Why just iPhone? Because I don’t have an iPad. So, for this time around, we’ll be stuck with the smaller screen. And since I work primarily from my home office, you’re also going to be stuck with lots of example images of my dog and cats. Continue reading »
• 09Mar

  iPad dominates due to Apple’s supply deals

  Electronics No Comments

  Apple certainly has lots of buzz and corporate cache behind its products, but there’s a hidden — almost mundane — reason its newest iPad is likely to dominate the competition: the advantageous deals the company cuts with components manufacturers.

  Apple’s size, and the fact that the iPad shares components with the highly popular iPhone, means that the company can buy crucial parts such as processing chips and display screens at lower prices. Any company that wants to make a tablet computer that matches the iPad’s $499 starting price has to endure higher costs.

  As a result, Apple’s tablet-making competitors have flailed — and failed. And with the new iPad, Apple is expected to extend its 62 percent market share in the tablet computer category it created. IMS Research expects Apple to capture 70 percent of the market this year. Continue reading »
• 07Mar

  iPad 3 last minute rumor roundup: iPad HD, release date, 4G LTE

  Electronics No Comments

  By this time tomorrow, we will (hopefully) know everything there is to know about Apple’s newest tablet. For today, however, we’re just going to have to satiate our desire for the next big thing with some good ol’ fashioned rumors. We’ve already covered most of the “iPad 3″ speculation in our comprehensive rumor roundup. But with a slew of new “confirmed” information flowing out of the tech blogosphere in the past 48 hours, we thought we’d fill you in on the latest and greatest iPad rumors before Apple goes and spoils all our fun at its big iPad event, which kicks off at 10am PT/1pm ET tomorrow.

  iPad HD, not iPad 3 Continue reading »
• 04Mar

  No Matter What Features the iPad 3 Has, it Will Be a Hit

  Electronics No Comments

  According to a report from CNN, next week Apple is holding a news conference, where it is rumored the launch of the newest generation of iPads will take place. While a lot of time and effort has gone into wondering what features the new tablet computer will have, the easiest answer is it largely does not and will not matter.

  According to CNET, Apple is a $500 billion company, and a company does not get that successful without knowing what it is doing. The iPad controlled 66 percent of the tablet PC market in 2011, as reported by TechZone360.com. Making a newer version of a market-leading tablet seems to be a surefire way to keep cash rolling into the company. Continue reading »
• 03Mar

  Amazing iPad 3 concept includes 3D holograms

  Electronics No Comments

  While the Apple rumor mill churns endlessly with chatter about iOS 6 and the ipad-3-concept-nfcWithin the concept video, Aatma Studio shows a man opening up the display of the iPad 3 to reveal an edge-to-edge retina display. Rather than leaving an edge to grasp on the outside of the iPad 3, the mock-up in the video uses the full front face of the device to display the apps, photos, videos and games. The concept video also shows off a idea that allows users to physically connect two iPad 3 screens using internal magnets and digitally connect the devices using near-field communication (NFC) technology. This creates a dual-screen effect that potentially doubles the screen size for watching widescreen movies or simply creating a larger screen for multiplayer gaming. Continue reading »

« Previous Entries   Next Entries »