January 28, 2010 :: Posted by - SoSly :: Category - News

A few of our readers have pointed out this interesting little blurb currently found down at the bottom of the iPad’s specs page:

This device has not yet been authorized as required by the rules of the Federal Communications Commission. This device is not, and may not be, offered for sale or lease, or sold or leased, until authorization is obtained.

Did Apple just announce a “magical and revolutionary product” that they can’t yet sell? Yes and no. Yes, given that the 3G iPads will connect to the cell phone network, the FCC will have to approve them. But will that be a problem? Probably not. Read more…

January 28, 2010 :: Posted by - SoSly :: Category - News

When Apple formally introduced its touchscreen tablet as the iPad Wednesday, it was not the first tech product to carry that moniker — Fujitsu released its own mobile, touchscreen ‘iPAD’ in 2002.

Speaking with The New York Times, Masahiro Yamane, director of public relations for Fujitsu, said it is the company’s understanding that they still own the name ‘iPad.’ Fujitsu is currently consulting with its lawyers over the next steps it may take.

It could become a similar situation to 2007, when Apple formally introduced the iPhone, only to be sued days later by Cisco, which owned the rights to the name. The Linksys iPhone was released just three weeks before the Apple iPhone was introduced at the Macworld San Francisco keynote in early January 2007. Read more…

January 28, 2010 :: Posted by - SoSly :: Category - News

Details of Apple’s custom-built processor inside the newly unveiled iPad are beginning to surface, with a report stating the system-on-a-chip includes an ARM Cortex-A9-based CPU accompanied by a GPU.

According to Bright Side of News, the Apple A4 is based mostly on intellectual property from ARM reference designs. The new, custom chip from Apple, through its purchase of fabless chip designer P.A. Semi, includes the Cortex-A9 MPCore (identical to the processor in the nVidia Tegra and Qualcomm Snapdragon), a ARM Mali 50-series GPU, and a memory controller all on one die. Read more…

January 28, 2010 :: Posted by - SoSly :: Category - News

In my post yesterday I touched on the likely long faces at Amazon H.Q. in Seattle. The iPad is something I’m sure they wished hadn’t happened, but of course it did, and I thought I’d take a closer look at the competition between the Amazon and Apple devices.

First off, if you were thinking of buying a Kindle DX, I’d say forget it. The iPad is a knockout punch to that device. At just ten dollars cheaper than the low end iPad, there just is no contest. The two devices are the same size (both are 9.7″), but the iPad has a color screen and can do a lot of things that Kindle just can’t do. Yes, the DX has free 3G wireless for buying books, but the iPad has 802.11n, and for most common usage, it just isn’t that hard to find a place to hook up. Read more…

January 28, 2010 :: Posted by - SoSly :: Category - News

AT&T says its dropping fewer calls and is seeing an improvement in their network thanks to new carriers at existing cell sites, an ongoing backhaul renovation, and the recent roll-out of 7.2Mbps capability across most of its 3G footprint, reports Engadget.

AT&T claims that dropped calls network-wide has been reduced from 1.41 percent to 1.05 percent between December ‘08 and ‘09. Read more…

January 28, 2010 :: Posted by - SoSly :: Category - News

Adobe has posted their thoughts on the iPad’s lack of Flash noting that Apple continues to impose restrictions on their devices which ‘limits both content publishers and consumers’.

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It was really exciting to see some of the technologies that Adobe has contributed to, like PDF and ePub support, taking center stage in the launch. Adobe technology is at the center of virtually every print and digital workflow, so undoubtedly a lot of what you¹ll see getting delivered to the iPad will have originated in Adobe creative software. Read more…

January 27, 2010 :: Posted by - SoSly :: Category - News

There will be five Apple-branded iPad accessories available at launch. We already mentioned a few of them earlier, but here is the complete rundown (with official product photos):

iPad Keyboard Dock
The Keyboard Dock is a dock for charging your iPad, integrated with a full-size keyboard. The dock has a rear 30-pin connector, which lets you connect to an electrical outlet using a USB Power Adapter, sync to your computer, and use accessories like the Camera Connection Kit. And an audio jack lets you connect to a stereo or powered speakers. The dock will sell for $69. Read more…

January 27, 2010 :: Posted by - SoSly :: Category - News

Apple has finally released their long awaited tablet. Here’s how much it will cost you and when it will be available.

Hardware Costs
The iPad comes in three sizes: 16GB, 32GB, 64GB.

You have the choice of purchasing the device with or without 3G Internet access.

iPad 16GB: $499
iPad 32GB: $599
iPad 64GB: $699

iPad 16GB 3G: $629
iPad 32GB 3G: $729
iPad 64GB 3G: $829
Read more…

January 27, 2010 :: Posted by - SoSly :: Category - News

The just released iPad Emulator contains functionality that suggests the iPad was supposed to have a camera.

Crunchgear found that within the iPad’s contacts application is an “Add Photo” button. When pressed the button pops up a menu asking you to “Choose Existing Photo” or “Take Photo”. If you press the “Take Photo” button it opens a preview window which is supposed to display what the camera sees.

So what’s going on here? Did the iPad once have a camera, and it was pulled on such short notice that they didn’t have time to strip it out of the software? Read more…

January 27, 2010 :: Posted by - SoSly :: Category - News

Apple has updated the iPhone developer SDK to allow VoIP over cellular networks, according to a press release from iCall.

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iCall is the first and only VoIP application that functions on the iPhone and iPod Touch over cellular 3G networks.

iCall is a market leader in desktop and mobile-based desktop calling platforms, including its highly popular version for the Apple iPhone. Until today, restrictions imposed on developers prohibited VoIP functionality on any 3G network.

VoIP on the iPhone has been the source of many debates with companies such as Google being denied access to the platform and the FCC inquiring as to the restrictions in the Apple App Store; iCall is one of the few VoIP applications that has been permitted by Apple to operate on the iPhone platform. Read more…