The Downsides to Apple’s iPad

When Apple’s iPad was launched, there were queues of people waiting to get their hands on one. The revolutionary tablet iPad was going to offer people a new device that was going to change their lives. However, a lot of people shrugged at the idea with clear indifference. Many people announced their disappointment at the fact the iPad could not deliver on it’s promises. The two opposing views show just how divided opinions are about the device.

First we need to take a look at the things that make the iPad a device that really is not worth buying.

 Apple are constantly releasing new versions of the iPad in the very near future, so is it the device we all need to rush out and buy?

 A lot of people have expressed their pure disappointment in the iPad so when it comes to a new tablet PC, the big question on everyone’s lips is ‘will the device be any better’? The fact that questions are being asked is enough to hurt Apple’s sales because it is mostly ‘techies’ who don’t like the iPad. Bad press always puts a large number of people off buying a product.

 With a new upgraded version soon to be released, a lot of people would rather wait for the it to be launced because the device might have a few of the features that Apple did not incorporate into the iPad in the first place and this includes a built-in camera. If it means waiting a few months for a better version of the device, then people would prefer to do this than fork out $500 on a device that lacks some fundamental features that will be outdated very soon by an upgraded version.

On factor that many people find annoying about the iPad is the fact is does not support Flash which is a standard on the web. Flash runs videos, audios as well as games but for one reason or another Apple does not like this application which some people find understandable. Apple prefers a less vulnerable application that’s more stable and harder to hack into. As such the company uses it’s own HTML5.

However, as the majority of websites use Adobe Flash, this can be a little annoying. Users have to visit sites using the iPad’s Safari browser and although this is great, this causes a few problems that can be very annoying.

As mentioned above, there’s no in-built camera either and there’s no guarantee that a newer version will have one either. This is a huge downside of the iPad as people can’t communicate over skype or any other way they might want to.

Multitasking can only be done when running Apple’s native applications, it does run on third party applications. So if users want to multitask the simple answer is they won’t be able to if they are running any application that are not native to Apple.

The conclusion is the iPad is great if you want a sophisticated gadget that has multi-function applications like a multimedia player, a laptop hybrid or that represents a really great toy. However, if you like to be online then you might find you reach a dead end pretty quickly without Flash support and you won’t be able to make a video call on Skype while listening to iTunes.

Source: http://tabletbuzzblog.com/the-downsides-to-apples-ipad/

SATYAM COMPUTER SERVICES IMATION IKON OFFICE SOLUTIONS HEWLETTPACKARD HYPERCOM NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS MOODYS

Apple v. Samsung Closes Week Two, the Patent Expert Parade

Apple and Samsung continue to duke it out in federal court over copyright infringement relating to products like the iPad, left, and the Galaxy Tab, right. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired

The second week in Apple v. Samsung saw a parade of expert witnesses describing the patents at issue in the case. Although the tedious breakdown of each patent could be considered dry, a few interesting nuggets of information emerged both in the courtroom, and in unsealed court filings.

On the “confusion” front — Apple’s claim that consumers get confused by the similarities between Samsung’s products and Apple’s — survey researcher and professional litigation expert Kent Van Liere took the stand briefly. He’d conducted a mix of web surveys and “mall-intercept” surveys where he showed mall-goers videos of the unbranded front and side of the devices, and he testified that 52 percent of people surveyed associated Samsung’s Fascinate smartphone with Apple, and 51 percent associated the Galaxy S II Epic 4G with the iPhone.

User interface expert Ravin Balakrishnan detailed the so-called bounceback feature of Apple’s UI, using Powerpoint stacks and animations to help keep jurors from nodding off. He argued that Samsung infringed on Apple’s bounceback patent (the ’381 patent) and that they did so knowingly: They knew how Apple solved the document-scrolling issue, and simply decided to use Apple’s method rather than creating its own, he claimed.

Unsealed court documents this week also revealed exact sales figures for Samsung’s and Apple’s smartphones and tablets involved in the case.

Back in January 2011, Samsung reported the company sold 2 million Galaxy Tabs. It looks like that figure wasn’t quite true — the number is in fact closer to a tenth of that, 262,000 units in Q4 of 2010, and another 77,000 more the following quarter. And for the second quarter of this year, Samsung also reported sales of over 2 million tablets, when in fact the company only sold 37,000 tablets. That brings the total tablets Samsung has sold to around 1.4 million. Ouch.

Samsung’s smartphone sales figures fare much better, with the Galaxy Prevail and Epic 4G bringing in the most units sold: 2.25 million and 1.89 million, respectively. From June 2010 to June 2012, Samsung sold a total of 21.25 million phones, accumulating over $7.5 billion in revenue.

Since their respective launches, Apple on the other hand has sold 85 million iPhones and 34 million iPads, and in the first two quarters of 2012, over 19 million iPhones and over 10 million iPads have been sold. That’s $50 billion in iPhone revenue and $19 billion in iPad revenue for the Cupertino company.

Last week we saw illuminating testimony from Apple executives Phil Schiller and Scott Forstall on the origins of the iPhone, iPad, and the iOS user interface. And former Apple design guru Susan Kare stepped in earlier this week to provide her expert take on some of the UI issues at hand.

Friday marks the sixth day of the jury trial in San Jose federal court. Apple’s counsel said that it expects to wrap up its case by Monday at the latest, then Samsung will begin its defense. After that, the “Samsung v. Apple” portion of the trial will begin over Apple’s alleged infringement of Samsung’s 3G-related patents.

For Wired’s past coverage of the Apple v. Samsung trial, click here.

Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/08/apple-v-samsung-week-2/

LAM RESEARCH MEMC ELECTRONIC MATERIALS APPLIED MATERIALS F5 NETWORKS DST SYSTEMS EMC LAM RESEARCH

Chrome 11 beta adds new experimental APIs for proxies, Web navigation

google chrome 11 proxy
Google Chrome 11 -- which just recently made the move to the browser's beta channel -- has received a minor update that gives developers access to two new APIs.

The first is a full-featured proxy API, which will, for example, allow users to set different proxy servers for normal browsing and Incognito mode. Proxy auto-config scripts are also supported by the API.

The second -- Web Navigation Extension -- is a bit more expansive. This API will allow devs to build everything from more powerful safe browsing extensions -- like Traffic Light -- to data analysis and reporting extensions.

Both APIs are currently experimental, so you'll need to enable them on the about:flags page to try out any relevant extensions. Apart from a proxy example built by Google and shipped with the Chromium source, we're not aware of any examples just yet, however. We'll let you know when we spot any slick, new extensions which do surface.

Chrome 11 beta adds new experimental APIs for proxies, Web navigation originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/05/chrome-11-beta-adds-new-experimental-apis-for-proxies-web-navig/

WESTERN DIGITAL CHINA MOBILE POWERCHIP SEMICONDUCTOR MICROSOFT HON HAI PRECISION IND INTEL QUANTA COMPUTER

Apple details 2010 presentation to Samsung on Android patent infringement, licensing offer

Apple reveals 2010 presentation to Samsung on Android patent infringement, licensing offer

As the battle between Samsung and Apple closed out another week in US District Court, lawyers for the latter focused its argument on evidence and testimony covering a presentation Apple made to Samsung in 2010, and its offer to license the patents. AllThingsD has the deck of slides from the meeting (embedded after the break), specifying areas and specific patents Apple believes Android as an OS infringes or things Samsung specifically copied elements from, plus a report on testimony from Apple executive Boris Teksler. He testified today about the meeting with Samsung, calling it a "trusted partner" (should be, since Apple paid it paid $5.7 billion for parts that year) that both Tim Cook and Steve Jobs spoke to directly about the issue.

While more information is expected from Teksler next week, he did have time to put a dollar amount on the licensing deal Apple subsequently offered, at about $30 per smartphone and $40 per tablet, as well as royalties also collected from phones running Symbian and Bada, with the possibility of a 20 percent discount if Samsung would cross license its own technology back to Apple. The companies are restricted by Judge Koh to 25 hours each to argue their points (Apple is at 11 and a half hours while Samsung has crossed over 12 with its own arguments yet to come) but we're sure there's enough time left for a few more revelations before any resolution is reached.

Continue reading Apple details 2010 presentation to Samsung on Android patent infringement, licensing offer

Filed under: ,

Apple details 2010 presentation to Samsung on Android patent infringement, licensing offer originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Aug 2012 23:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceAllThingsD (1), (2)  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/10/apple-samsung-presentation-licensing/

IRON MOUNTAIN INORATED SANDISK EMC EPICOR SOFTWARE MICRON TECHNOLOGY INTERSECTIONS DIODES INORATED

Safe & Sound case looks to pump up the volume of your iPad

Safe & Sound case looks to pump up the volume of your iPadThe Safe & Sound is an iPad case that looks to increase the volume of your iPad speaker. It hopes to make listening to music, making FaceTime calls or anything else that you may need the external speaker for a much better experience. The Safe & Sound has just appeared on Kickstarter and is looking for funding to make the case a reality.

The Safe & Sound case for iPad is a dual purpose hard shell case offering both protection and acoustic amplification that feels more like an extension of your iPad than just another accessory. With the Safe & Sound case, your iPad is safer and sounds better, without losing any of its functionality, including the use of a smart cover.

The key feature that makes the Safe & Sound case stand out is its acoustic sound box, which reflects sound waves back toward you off of a single smooth surface. This means that sound waves reach your ear with greater amplitude and little interference, resulting in clearer, louder audio, optimizing your iPad's built-in speaker.

If you like the look of the Safe & Sound amplifying case and want to help with its funding you can do that very easily. A pledge of just $15 will secure you one should they make it into production. The Safe & Sound currently has just over $1.2k of pledges but needs to reach at least $12.25k to reach its funding target; there is still 30 days left to go. As with all of these Kickstarter projects, just because a particular item reaches its funding total doesn’t guarantee it will be made.

There is no doubt that from my experience that all generations of the iPad suffer from really low audio levels from the external speaker, other tablets and notebooks have seen some tremendous advances in audio over the last few years but not the iPad. Apple seems to ignore the problem hence the need for these types of devices that look to offer improved audio levels.

Do you think the iPad speaker is really poor or are you happy with its volume levels? Would you use a case like this to improve the audio level on your iPad?

Source: Kickstarter

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/Xns7J4dbG6M/story01.htm

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES MILLICOM INTL CELLULAR PEROT SYSTEMS WESTERN DIGITAL CHINA MOBILE POWERCHIP SEMICONDUCTOR MICROSOFT

Deal of the Day – 10.1″ Asus 32GB Eee Pad Transformer TF300T Tablet

Saturday’s LogicBUY Deal is the Asus 32GB Eee Pad Transformer TF300T on sale for $374.99.  Features:  Tegra 3 quad-core 1.2GHz processor, Android 4.0 OS, 32GB storage, 10″ 1280 X 800 IPS display, 1GB RAM, dual-facing cameras (1.2MP front, 8MP back), GPS, microSD, microHDMI, a weight of 1.4lbs, and more.

$399.99 – $25 coupon code = $374.99 with free shipping.

This deal expires August 11, 2012 or sooner. Check the above link for more details on this deal, and check the LogicBUY home page for other deals.

Filed in categories: News

Tagged:

Deal of the Day – 10.1″ Asus 32GB Eee Pad Transformer TF300T Tablet originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 11, 2012 at 9:00 am.

Longer, more powerful battery for iPhone 5 purportedly gets sneak-peeked

Longer, more powerful battery for iPhone 5 purportedly gets sneak-peeked

If the new iPhone is going to do more than all iPhones before it, including LTE 4G networking and a bigger 4-inch, 16:9 screen, and not run out of juice faster, it's going to need a more powerful battery. And a more powerful battery is just what the latest round of parts leaks purport to show off. 9to5Mac's Marc Gurman and Sonny Dickson presented the pictures, and peg the details at 1430 mAh, 3.8v, and 5.45 wHr.

If this battery turns out to be what Apple's going with in the iPhone 5, it would make it 10 mAh, 0.1v, and 0.1 wHr higher than the current iPhone 4S battery.

When Apple switched from the 3G iPad 2 to the LTE iPad (3), they managed to keep the same battery rating, though not without making the new iPad 0.6mm thicker, and chocking the frame full of as many battery molecules as possible. The iPhone 5 might get a better, less power-hungry LTE chipset in Qualcomm's 28nm MDM9615, however.

With the new iPad, the battery also had to support a monstrous, demanding new Retina display. The iPhone made the jump to Retina back in 2010 with the iPhone 4, but if rumors of that 4-inch, 16:9 screen prove be true, Apple will also need to light up 1136x640 pixels, up from 960x640 in the previous two models. That's only an 18.33% increase, nowhere near as big a jump as the new iPad's 2048x1536 upgrade from 1024x736, and newer, more power-efficient panel technologies may help, but every bit of additional battery drain will add up.

Speaking of which, if Apple gives the iPhone 5 a variation on the new iPad's Apple A5X system-on-a-chip, which includes a quad-core graphics processor, the battery will have to account for that as well. It's possible an iPhone A5X would have better power efficiency than than the iPad A5X, but like it won't require less power than last year's Apple A5 in the iPhone 4S.

The iPhone 5 is also rumored to include a new, much smaller Dock connector, a new, much smaller nano-SIM card holder, and a new, thinner in-cell screen technology.

A taller iPhone, even if slightly thinner, with other components shrunk down as much as possible, could ultimately provide for a bigger and slightly more advanced battery, and do it in such a way that Apple can provide LTE 4G networking and a bigger Retina display, and still maintain battery life.

We'll likely only know for sure on September 12, just over a month away. In the meantime, hit the link below for all the details on this latest part leak...

Source: 9to5Mac

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/sWb7mZbw2MA/story01.htm

TIBCO SOFTWARE ACER SYBASE TECHNITROL NII HOLDINGS FIDELITY NATIONAL INFORMATION SVCS FISERV

Adidas Social Media Barricade shoe concept moves tweets to the track (video)

Adidas Social Media Shoe concept moves tweets to the track

Adidas is known for making connected shoes -- but never quite as linked-up as a Nash Money concept making its appearance late into the London Olympics. The Social Media Barricade weaves the guts of a phone and a basic two-line LCD into a running shoe, letting the footwear take Twitter updates very literally on the run through a public account. Even the signature Adidas stripes change their hue through remote control. Before anyone gets visions of athletes checking congratulatory tweets after the 100-meter sprint, just remember that it's an idea rather than a production blueprint: although Adidas is quick to call the Social Media Barriacade the "future of athlete connectivity," the only athletes putting eyes on a pair right now are those swinging by the Olympics' media lounge for interviews. Knowing this, we can still imagine some future shoes padding runners' egos at the finish line during the 2016 Rio games.

Continue reading Adidas Social Media Barricade shoe concept moves tweets to the track (video)

Filed under:

Adidas Social Media Barricade shoe concept moves tweets to the track (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Aug 2012 15:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Pocket-lint  |  sourceAdidas (YouTube), (Twitter)  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/10/adidas-social-media-barricade-shoe-concept-moves-tweets-to-the-track/

VOLT INFORMATION SCIENCES IBASIS LIBERTY GLOBAL FACTSET RESEARCH SYSTEMS SONIC AUTOMOTIVE MENTOR GRAPHICS EMULEX