Ning Launches Slick New Mobile Social Tool Called Mogwee

Mogwee launches this evening, an ambitious new product from Ning unrelated to its core social networking service. It’s a new social/communications tool that’s built from the ground up for mobile platforms, beginning with iOS for iPhones, iPod Touches and iPads.
For now, Mogwee’s main feature is to let you have on the fly public and private instant message-like conversations with people via the app. It updates in real time allowing for synchronous conversations, or you can wait

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Cinq Photo updated for iPhone and iPad: Send your pix home when mobile

I took a look at Cinq in December. It was a cool little iPhone app that allowed you to view your iPhoto libraries on your iPhone, and send photos back to your home computer when you're out over WiFi or 3G. I liked the idea of sending full resolution pictures home while I was on vacation, and the app worked pretty well.

Some recent updates have made Cinq even more attractive. It now is a universal app that runs on the iPad, as well as the iPhone and iPod touch. As before, you have to install

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Gameloft working on four Unreal Engine games

We have some wicked awesome news on the iOS gaming front today -- Gameloft, the developer of popular 3D mobile games such as N.O.V.A and Asphalt, has announced a partnership with Epic Games that will allow Gameloft to use Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3 in four new titles, two of which are expected by the end of 2011.

Unreal Engine on Apple devices first became a talking point when Epic Games debuted their tech demo of the engine, titled Epic Citadel, at Apple's iPod event last September. The

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When Will Apple Cave And Accept Flash? Maybe When It Doesn’t Suck

I read an interesting article this morning that suggested Apple would change its mind and put Adobe’s Flash technology on its iOS devices within a year. I don’t think that’s going to happen.
In an open letter to users, Apple CEO Steve Jobs gave several reasons why he didn’t want Flash on the iPad, iPhone or iPod touch. They are: Flash isn’t open; the full web; reliability, security and performance; battery life; and touch.
Adobe began shipping Flash Player 10.1

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Play Playstation 3 games on any iOS device with hack

The group of hackers and developers known as pandaelf found themselves with a PlayStation 3, an iOS device and some time on their hands. With a bit of ingenuity, they figured out a way to play their PS3 games on their iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. The setup is slightly complex and requires you to attach a capture device as well as an input converter with a USB mouse and keyboard to the PS3. You also need a PC to serve as the conduit between the game console and your portable Apple

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Ask TUAW: Wait, is this a leap year? Edition

Just to clear that up, no there is no February 29 this year, but 2012 is another story. Welcome to this week's edition of Ask TUAW -- everyone's favorite Mac and iOS Q&A and advice column. We got a few interesting queries from last week's post, but this is going to get mighty boring without your questions!

Here's what we need you to do: go to the comments of this post, think of those niggling questions that keep you awake at night thinking about your Mac, iPod, iPad, iPhone or AppleTV

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In Two Years, Most Of You Will Be Reading TechCrunch From An Apple Device

In February of 2007, 83.24 percent of users visiting TechCrunch did so from a Windows machine. One year later, in February 2008, the stranglehold remained firm at 80.44 percent. In February 2009, the number was at 74.04 percent. Last year, it was 61.59 percent. And this year? The number of people visiting our site from Windows machines dipped to 53.84 percent.
The writing is on the wall.
Look at those numbers again for a second. In four years, Windows share among TechCrunch readers has fallen

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Oscar.com offers 'all access' pass to the Academy Awards, for a cost

Sure, you could just watch the Oscars for free along with a bowl of popcorn and your favorite Twitter commentary, but the folks behind the Academy Awards are hoping you'll try something even more "interactive" this time around. Those that head to Oscar.com this evening will be treated to a few different live cameras that are freely available to everyone, but to really see to everything you'll have to fork over $ 4.99 for the "all access" pass. That will give you access to a number of

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Former Sun CEOs recount plan to buy Apple in 1995

At a recent Churchill Club dinner in California, Sun Microsystems CEO Scott McNealy and former Sun CEO Ed Zander spoke candidly about Sun during its heyday in the 90s when it was poised to buy the then-struggling Apple.

Michael Spindler headed Apple at that point, and the company was on the downswing. It had licensed the Mac OS to Radius and Power Computing, faced the looming threat of Windows 95, and launched the ill-fated PowerBook 5300. Regarded as one of the worst Apple products of

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Engadget awards iPad best gadget of 2010

Apple won big in our sister website Engadget's annual editors' awards yesterday, taking the top prize with the iPad winning 'Gadget of the Year' and a number of other Apple products either winning or coming runner-up in their categories.

"The iPad won this one going away -- there's just no denying the influence Apple's tablet had on the industry this year," said Engaget's editors. The iPad also won Tablet of the Year and was in the runner up position to Netflix in the Home Entertainment

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Gillmor Gang 2.26.11 (TCTV)

Every Gillmor Gang begins with a mysterious blend of serendipity and confusion. This episode is no exception, as Robert Scoble attempts to discuss the Motorola VaVaVoom or somesuch. The only problem with that (or any other Android tablet) is that Gillmor himself could care less about anything other than waiting for next Wednesday’s rollout of the iPad II. John Taschek is an Android fanboy, and Kevin Marks used to work for Google and has not yet shaken the mindset off. I am trying to

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Gosh! Even Napoleon Dynamite Is Now Using Kickstarter

I love Kickstarter. It’s maybe the best enabler site ever. In the short time it has been around, we’ve gotten everything from open source Facebook “killers” to iPod nano watches to RoboCop Statues. But one of the aspects of the service with the most potential is movie funding. A few of these projects have popped up already, and it apparently caught the eye of Napoleon Dynamite himself, Jon Heder.
As NewTeeVee points out today, Heder has set up a project on the service to

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iMainGo X iPhone / iPod speaker system cranks the volume up to 11

When it comes to portable speaker systems that work with the iPhone and various flavors of iPod, the iMainGo 2 (US$ 39.95) from Portable Sound Laboratories has been an inexpensive and powerful favorite of many Apple fans. Now the company is turning up the volume -- literally -- with a new version known as the iMainGo X ($ 69.95).

What It Is:

Like the previous version, the iMainGo X is a deceptively simple box that looks like a large clutch case for an iPhone or iPod touch. One half

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Joystickers provide a little tactile feedback on a touchscreen

Do you want little tactile-feedback joysticks on your iOS-device screen? And do you want to be a founding financier of the company that produces them? You're in luck. Head over to the Kickstarter funding project of Chicago-based Joystickers, who want to muss up your shiny screen with tiny, sticky joysticks in order to improve the feedback you get in shooter and platform games.

The joysticks -- the inventors call them the Classic -- are held onto your iPhone, iPod touch, iPad or Android

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Apple Releases A Developer Preview Of OS X Lion — Through The Mac App Store

Two days ago, we first reported that Apple was likely to release a developer beta of OS X Lion “soon”. Well, how’s this for soon? This morning, alongside their new MacBook Pros, Apple has announced the developer preview of the latest version of OS X. And the most interesting aspect may be how Apple is releasing this developer preview: through the Mac App Store.
Again, to be clear, this initial test version of the OS will be for developers only. The final version of Lion is

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Online Freight Brokerage Open Mile Raises $6 Million

A freight brokerage is a service that brings together someone who wants to to transport goods (like oranges, or iPods) with the trucking company that wants to transport them. Open Mile, which is today announcing a $ 6 million round of Series B funding, is the first such service that attempts to bring these relatively unglamorous transactions online, tapping into a $ 60 billion industry which is heavily phone and fax based. Read: It’s disruptive.
The financing was led by Globespan

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Apple pushes software update for new iPod nano, still makes an iffy wristwatch

If you bought the new iPod nano to wear as a watch, well, more power to you. However, if you're a music junkie and purchased the PMP to actually consume media, you might be interested to know that Apple isn't only updating the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. The company has just put out the first software update for the 6th generation nano, 1.1, which allows you to actually turn off the device -- nope, before this update there was no way of actually powering the thing down. In addition, you can

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Halftone iPhone app gives your photos that old-time newspaper look

Halftone (currently US$ 0.99), a new iOS photo app from Juicy Bits Software, wants to be the app that turns your iPhone or iPod touch into a photographic time machine. Juicy Bits is the company that created the cool 3D Camera Studio for iPad ($ 3.99) and 3D Camera ($ 1.99) apps that provide a way to create 3D anaglyph, stereogram, and "wigglegram" images.

A Short History of Halftones

Back in the ancient, pre-digital days, there used to be a way of consuming news, entertainment, and

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Apple patent suggests Photo Booth for iOS

Patently Apple uncovered a new patent that describes an iOS variant of the Photo Booth app that may be under development for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. The patent describes an image capture and effects system that can be triggered by external cues such as shaking your phone.

A new setting for "Image Effects" is presented under the Wallpaper option that lets you turn on special effects for select camera applications. In addition to toggles for iPod video, the camera and the photo app,

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SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone & iPad updated with video-out support

If you have an iPod, iPhone or iPad with the SlingPlayer Mobile app, you now have a Slingbox to go since the app was just updated with support for video out over component cables in high quality mode. Version 2.1 also includes a few unspecified bugfixes, but we're figuring the opportunity to watch TV, on a TV in high bitrate streams is more than enough to get users mashing that update button and digging out their unused connectors.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]SlingPlayer Mobile for

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Munster: Mac sales up 20 percent this year

Apple's Mac sales are up 20 percent year-over-year and on target to meet expected sales of 3.6 million units in the March quarter, according to
new domestic sales data from the NPD Group.


Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster revealed the figures, and he says that he believes early numbers from the first month of Apple's second quarter of fiscal year 2011 mean Apple is on course to meet Wall Street expectations. Investors are expecting year-over-year growth of around 22 percent in the March

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Elan denies settlement rumor, says Apple lawsuit to go on

by Dan Nystedt, IDG News Service
Elan Microelectronics plans to continue its patent lawsuit against Apple over multitouch technology and said a reported $ 100 million settlement proposal from Apple was untrue.

The Taiwanese chip designer sued Apple in April 2009, alleging the infringement of two U.S. patents related to touch technology. At the time, the company asked a federal court in the U.S. to prohibit Apple from producing, using and selling iPhones, iPod touches and MacBooks over

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Apple and other music retailers purportedly looking at 24-bit, high-fidelity audio downloads

Digital downloads, at least pertaining to music, have come a long, long way. The iTunes Music Store in particular has surpassed Walmart as America's leading seller of music, and it's evolved from a DRM-laden mess to a restriction-free(ish) marketplace with higher-than-average bitrate support. But it seems that 256kbps simply isn't high enough. According to unnamed "executives involved in talks," Apple -- as well as a few other digital music retailers -- are currently in discussions with

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Apple updates software for 6th gen iPod nano

by Jonathan Seff, Macworld.com


Although iOS devices seem to get all the attention these days, it’s good to know that Apple hasn’t completely forgotten about the other members of the iPod family. The company has just released iPod software update version 1.1 for the 6th generation iPod nano, which adds two new features to the tiny touchscreen player.
New in the 1.1 software are the abilities to completely turn off the iPod (rather than just put it to sleep) and to control music or

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iGrow promises to regrow hair with lasers, accessorize any wardrobe

Laser combs? Old news. The latest in laser-based hair rejuvenation is the iGrow, a stylish new wearable device from Apira Science that packs 21 laser diodes and 30 LED lights. According to the company, that matches the output of most clinical hair lasers, and it should result in "thicker, fuller and healthier" hair in just a "few short months." But that's not all. The iGrow also includes a remote that has been programmed for both men and women, and it has a built-in set of headphones that you

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iPad versus MacBook Air: Which is right for you?

Both the iPad and the MacBook Air offer phenomenal hardware solutions, but they occupy distinct niches. A well-accessorized iPad may take you pretty far along the way in getting work done on-the-go, but in no way does it provide the full OS X experience. In cost as well as weight, a low-end MacBook Air is not all that different from an iPad, but it lacks the simple form factor and touch-based interface that makes the iPad a perfect lightweight reading and connectivity solution. Two tools, two

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Rumor: iPhone 5 to land in September

In a research note, analyst Craig Berger of FBR Capital markets makes the bold claim that the iPhone 5 will not launch until September, a timing that overlaps with Apple's annual iPod refresh. Berger writes,

"we think a September launch is more likely, off from Apple's traditional iPhone launch schedule, but giving the firm more time to enhance its next-generation instant communications on the phone."
To back up this claim, Berger cites reports from Asian parts suppliers which are still

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Ask TUAW: Presidents Day Edition

Hi everyone! Welcome to the Presidents Day Edition of Ask TUAW -- everyone's favorite Mac and iOS Q&A and advice column. We got a nice group of questions from last week's post, but we always need more!

Here's what we need you to do: go to the comments of this post, think long and hard about which burning questions have been bothering you about your Mac, iPod, iPad, iPhone or AppleTV and ask away! You can also email your questions directly to ask [at] tuaw.com.

When asking a question, it

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Android may save the day for Apple's iPad subscription policy in the EU

There may never be an official "thank you" note sent, but Apple may be secretly grateful for the explosion of Android tablets about to hit the market. Apple is under the watchful eye of both the United States and the European Union's regulatory bodies regarding its new subscription policy for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. The terms of this new policy have prompted some to question whether it runs afoul of current anti-competitive regulations.

These anti-competitive concerns may be allayed

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Facebook Messenger iPhone app gives you yet another VoIP option, Zuckerberg yet another good idea

Think Facebook chat is cool? How's about a billion Facebook chats... with your voice. A company by the name of Crisp App has just pushed out an iOS program that may or may not be pulled at any time. You see, the app essentially enables iPod touch and iPhone users to call their Facebook friends (even if they're logged on via the web) using a VoIP protocol, but there doesn't appear to be any affiliation with Zuckerberg and co. It also allows chatters to shoot over pictures, browse message

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Nomad capacitive brush now available for iPad

Some remarkable work has already been produced by artists using iPads -- David Hockney even mounted an exhibition in Paris of his iPad and iPhone paintings -- and the release of the new Nomad Brush should only increase their creativity.
Until now, artists have been limited to using their fingers or eraser-like styluses, but this is set to change with the introduction of the Nomad Brush, which is made with capacitive fibers to give creative types the same "feel" as if they were painting

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Apple about to add Light Peak to Macs?

According to CNET sources, Apple is set to introduce a new "high-speed connection technology" very soon. The most obvious new connection type this could be is Light Peak, a sort of jack-of-all-trades connection technology. Light Peak allows one interface to be used to connect pretty much any device you can plug into a computer, including displays, scanners, printers, external hard drives, and even devices such as iPods and iPhones.

The obvious hardware to introduce the Light Peak connection

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Idapt's $40 i2+ universal charging dock now shipping, patching over divides

Fancy a way to charge his and her phones with a single dock? Idapt's i2+ has you covered -- the multifaceted mobile charging machine that launched at CES is now shipping directly from the company, with Walmart, Crutchfield, Costco and loads of others slated to pick it up in the coming weeks. It'll set you back $ 39.99 (or €34.99 across the way), with that tally netting you six of the most popular charging tips: miniUSB, microUSB, iPod / iPhone, Samsung 4, Nokia 2 and Sony Ericsson 2.

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SRS iWow 3D really improves the sound of any iPod or iOS device

I've been a fan of the SRS iWow audio adapter for my iPod Classic for a number of years. What this dongle did is make iTunes audio sound dramatically better. It tightened the bass, improved the treble and added a good deal of presence to my music with the largest difference being heard in acoustic or orchestral tracks. It also punched up the audio of videos to an extent.
This wasn't done by just increasing the volume, which would be the easy way. Instead, it added proprietary post processing to

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Report: iAds surging against Android

In a new study from Medialets, Apple has grabbed the lead in mobile ad share from Android. There have been concerns that the Apple iOS ad system was faltering, but it seems to be getting a strong footing, at least for now.
Most of the Apple gains are on the iPhone and the iPod touch, but the iPad share is starting to move as well. On the Android side, 35 percent of ad traffic comes from 3 phones, the Motorola Droid, the HTC Evo 4G and the Motorola Droid X.
The Medialets report speculates that

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LIFE's photographic history of computing

LIFE Magazine was a great magazine in its day. Since ceasing monthly publication in 2000 and closing as a newspaper supplement in 2007, the brand itself appears on the occasional "special issue" and has continued showcasing images on its website. You can also browse the LIFE archives through the lovely and free iPad app.
LIFE puts together galleries from time to time around various themes, and one that might be relevant to your interests is A Brief History Of Computing. Starting with the abacus

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TUAW's Daily App: TurboGrafx-16 GameBox

When the App Store first opened, Apple wasn't very keen on running emulators. Not only can they easily fall into a gray legal area, but allowing extra layers of code to run didn't seem safe to Apple at the time. Since then, however, Apple has loosened its policy, and now emulators of old consoles and hardware with official clearance are good to go. The TurboGrafx-16 Gamebox is one of those. It's an emulator of the old TurboGrafx-16 console, and since HudsonSoft designed it and most of the

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Inline remote controls for iOS devices that work with your current headphones

Problem: You like the inline remote and microphone functions built into the headphones that come with the iPhone, but if you want to use another pair of headphones, you lose that functionality. Solution 1: Ditch your current headphones for another set with built-in controls and a mic. Solution 2: Keep your current headphones and find an adapter.
Over the past couple years, I've spent far more time using Apple's pack-in headphones than I might have otherwise, simply because the inline remote

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IK Multimedia releases AmpliTube Fender for iPhone and iPad

IK Multimedia has announced the availability of AmpliTube Fender for iPhone and AmpliTube Fender for iPad, its newest mobile apps for guitar-based composition. Already a great tool for guitarists to practice, learn songs, and record tracks right on the iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad, AmpliTube Fender now offers five of the legendary musical instrument company’s amplifiers and six of its stomp boxes to improve your sound. The apps are available for $ 15 each from the iTunes Store. Free

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AuraSound Sound Station is the audiophile-grade iPod dock for your audiophile-grade bedstand

It's no good plunking your precious iPhone into a little dock that tries to skitter away from you. You need something with mass. Something with presence. Something like the AuraSound Sound Station, which offers an "audiophile-class acoustic design" in something a little less... dirigible-esque than other high-end docks we've seen. It also sports a seven-inch touchscreen wedged in the middle there, enabling "unrivaled ease of use," also letting you play videos and things. AirPlay support

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Sony denies rumored plans to exit iTunes

Sony is preparing to launch its Music Unlimited service in the U.S. today and has used this occasion to debunk the rumor that it was pulling out of iTunes. A recent interview with Michael Ephraim, chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment Australia, hinted that Sony may leave iTunes if its own Music Unlimited service saw widespread adoption. Sony Network Entertainment COO Brandon Layden responded to this report by stating:

Sony Music as I understand it has no intention of withdrawing from

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i think Apple is affecting children's grammar

I want to relate an interesting story my brother told me the other day about one fascinating -- and negative -- way Apple is affecting children in the classroom. My brother is a grade school teacher, and recently he's noticed an alarming trend in his students' grammar, specifically capitalization. It started a few years ago. My brother would review a sentence one of his students wrote, and it would read, "i went on a walk with my mom." He'd see this lowercase I and would mention to the

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Mac growth outpaces market for 19 straight quarters

If you've been following Apple's quarterly financial calls for the past several years, you know that many of the new products -- iPhone and iPad, specifically -- have been selling like the proverbial hotcakes. But you might be surprised to know that Apple's 27 year-old Macintosh personal computer line has seen a remarkable resurgence in sales.
John Paczowski at the Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital looked at the skyrocketing sales of Macs in a post today. As he notes, Apple's first

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Apple creating touch panel shortages for tablet competition?

Things tend to get messy for the competition when Apple decides to direct its vast cash reserves on "very strategic" components. Especially when Cupertino starts waving around stacks of dough in the range of $ 3.9 billion to $ 7.8 billion. Just look at what Apple did to NAND supplies as the flash-based iPod rose to dominance, for reference. Today DigiTimes is reporting that Apple is occupying close to 60 percent of the global touch panel production capacity resulting in a "tight supply" for

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The iPad Makes Apple The Top Seller Of Mobile Computers, So It Can Do Whatever It Wants

With all of the debate about whether or not Apple will prevail with its new subscription pricing for media apps on the iPad and iPhone, it is helpful to keep one thing in mind: nobody else yet comes close to selling as many tablet computers as Apple. In fact, if you count the iPad as a mobile computer, in the fourth quarter Apple passed HP as the biggest manufacturer of mobile computers measured by products shipped. According to NPD’s DisplaySearch, Apple shipped 10.2 million laptops

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Analyst: iPhone mini could increase Apple's market reach by 6X, revenue 2.5X

Analyst Toni Sacconaghi of Bernstein Research predicts Apple could increase its addressable handset market by 6X in unit volume and 2.5X in revenue with the launch of a smaller, less expensive iPhone model, says Forbes. These projected numbers come from his analysis of handset market share and Apple's current market reach. Sacconaghi suggests Apple misses 60% of the handset market with its current strategy that limits distribution to select carriers and sells the iPhone at a relatively high

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Roqbot Is A Jukebox On Your iPhone

Something unusual happened last Friday night at Bar Basic here in San Francisco. When I walked in, the entire room was fixated on on a screen above the bar, which displayed what looked like a musical game but wasn’t karaoke. The game? Roqbot, a unique iPhone app that allows you to yes, pick the music playing at a bar. Like a combination Pandora and traditional jukebox, Roqbot allows you to control the tunes without getting up from where you’re sitting.
The inspiration for Roqbot

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Jetstar airline to offer in-flight iPads in April

Back in June 2010 we first reported on a pilot program by Qantas Airways' low-cost airline Jetstar to offer iPad rentals as in-flight entertainment, and now we have learned that Jetstar will finally start offering them in April for AUD $ 10 per flight. According to Australian Business Traveler, the in-flight iPads will come loaded with "movies, music, magazines, books and games" and will be available on Jetstar's A320 flights in Australia and Asia.

Jetstar had initially intended to launch the

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Ask TUAW's triumphant return from abroad

This, my friends, is the triumphant return of Ask TUAW -- everyone's favorite Mac and iOS Q&A and advice column. Unfortunately, a giant beaver ate all of the questions from prior editions of Ask TUAW, and we need more new questions!

So, here's what we need you to do: go to the comments of this post, think long and hard about which burning questions have been bothering you about your Mac, iPod, iPad, iPhone or AppleTV, and ask away! You can also email your questions directly to ask [at]

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Apple’s Big Subscription Bet: Brilliant, Brazen, Or Batsh*t Crazy?

We all knew it was coming, but the details of the App Store subscription model, which Apple outlined today, are fascinating on a number of levels. Simply put: this is one of the boldest bets Apple has ever made. And it could backfire. Or it could be huge beyond belief. Either way, it’s going to be very controversial.
We’ve already gone over the basics, but as a quick recap: any service offering an app with any sort of subscription component must now offer it within the app using the

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Apple officially launches App Store subscriptions

When Apple's Eddy Cue, Rupert Murdoch and others launched the iPad-only newspaper The Daily, Cue promised that its subscription model would be made available to other iOS publications soon. Today, Apple has officially launched App Store subscriptions.

Subscriptions are purchased through the apps themselves using the same billing system that the App Store has employed for in-app purchases. individual publishes are able to set their own price and length of subscription. As for Apple, it takes

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Apple Launches Subscriptions For Content-Publishers On The App Store

As we heard at the Daily’s launch a few weeks ago, Apple was planning to launch a new subscriptions model for content-publishers on the App Store. And today, Apple is officially announcing the new service for magazines, newspapers, video, music and more on the App Store.
Here’s the revenue breakdown: When Apple brings a new subscriber to the app, Apple earns a 30 percent share; when the publisher brings an existing or new subscriber to the app, the publisher keeps 100 percent and

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Apple reportedly testing three iPhone 5 prototypes

A Taiwanese Mac news site with a history of accurately predicting future Apple products says Apple is currently testing three different prototypes of the next iPhone. From what can be gleaned from the Google translation, tw.apple.pro says one of the iPhone 5 prototypes features a a slide-out physical keyboard -- a form factor that Steve Jobs and Apple have never seemed too keen to embrace.

Another iPhone 5 prototype is said to closely resemble the current iPhone 4 with a longer-lasting

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Apple is Barron's most-respected company for second year running

In what should be no surprise to anyone who follows the tech sector, Apple has been named Barron's most-respected company for the second year running. Barron's annual most-respected list is compiled from a survey of money managers who can recommend any company in the world for the top honors.
Not only did Apple make those money managers a huge amount of cash last year (the stock went up almost 60% in 2010) but Apple also took top honors because the company had the technical, creative, and

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GreenPois0n jailbreak goes untethered

The Chronic Dev team of eager iOS hackers at GreenPois0n has announced an untethered jailbreak for the current Apple TV in the form of RC6 of the eponymous utility. This new build features contributions from the NitoTV team to enable the tetherless feature.
Up until RC6, most iOS 4.2 jailbreak tools performed a tethered jailbreak, meaning you would have to connect your device to your Mac or PC on reboot to get it to start up properly. While this wasn't a huge issue with the ATV (you could

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Fisher Price releases iCan Play Case and Kid-Tough See Yourself Camera, you'll thank 'em

You know who you can count on to protect your technology? Fisher Price, that's who. We know, it sounds a bit crazy, but what other company out there is thinking about safeguarding your gadgets from those adorable yet greasy-handed kids? The company is kicking off Toy Fair with a few new gadgets that do just that, and first up, is that cute little Laugh & Learn iCan Play iPhone case up there. The $ 20 plastic enclosure stores any generation iPhone or iPod Touch and has a screen cover to

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10 Reasons To Buy A Tablet (And 5 Reasons Not To)

You’ve held out for months, waiting and watching the market for some sign of a tablet that you think you’d like. But maybe you’re asking the wrong question. Instead of “Which tablet should I buy?” maybe you should be asking why you need a tablet in the first place?
We’ve written out a brief guide to deciding whether you need a tablet at all. As for a recommendation, the two devices we can unequivocally recommend right now are the iPad and, if you’re

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Camera Mic adds acoustic remote shutter to your iPhone

It’s happened to all of us: you want to take a picture, but the right spot for that perfect angle is somewhere difficult for you to reach, like on a ledge or on top of a car. Or, maybe, you just want to take a group picture with your friends that is not destined to have a caption that ends with “not pictured: you.”
You may be in luck, because Gamblus LLC has just released Camera Mic, a simple app that uses the iPhone’s microphone as a trigger mechanism for taking pictures (think the

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Opera Mini for iPad set for debut

According to a report from Macworld, the iPad is about to get its own version of the popular Opera Mini web browser. The new iPad-centric version will supposedly be released at the Mobile World Congress event starting in Barcelona next week, along with updated versions for the iPhone, Android and BlackBerry mobile platforms. Speaking with Macworld, Opera CEO Lars Boilesen said that "Our developers have been hard at work building the mobile browser of the future for both consumers and mobile

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Seagate's GoFlex TV and FreeAgent Theater+ HD media players get iPhone, iPad and iPod remote control app

Too busy to fiddle with another remote while your iPod touch / iPad / iPhone is already cozily tucked between your arm and chest? Seagate hears you, and it's just pushed out a new app that'll transform its bundled remotes into fantastic doorstops for those that adore iOS. The TV Remote app enables any new iOS device to control the functions of Seagate's GoFlex TV and FreeAgent Theater+ HD media players, and since it relies on WiFi, you need not worry over line-of-sight considerations. You'll

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Win two copies of myPhoneDesktop

I've mentioned myPhoneDesktop before, including listing it as one my best apps from 2010. It is, by far, my favorite way to send information to my iPad or iPod touch (works with iPhone, too): URLs, codes, phone numbers, anything that I need to get from my Mac to my iOS device quickly and with the minimum amount of fuss.
Now I'm happy to announce that we have a special giveaway for TUAW readers. We're going to pick five winners, and each winner will receive two codes for myPhoneDesktop -- one to

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Detroit Needs A Statue of RoboCop! Best Kickstarter Project Yet.

When it comes to things the city of Detroit needs, there’s undoubtely a pretty long list. And if there is an official version of such a list, I’m pretty sure that a statue of RoboCop isn’t on it. But that’s dumb. It totally should be. And that’s exactly why God invented the Internet.
How is this tech-related? First of all, RoboCop is tech. He’s probably the most badass tech ever created in a fictional Detroit future. Secondly, there is actually a campaign

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Bloomberg: Apple prepping cheaper phones?

Rumors of a smaller, cheaper iPhone are definitely not new and have floated around for nearly the life of the device. But Bloomberg has an article out today saying that Steve Jobs, despite being out on medical leave, is involved in strategic decisions involving a smaller, cheaper, more universal iPhone. Bloomberg quotes its unnamed source by saying the new phone would retail for about $ 200, lose the contract, have a universal SIM card and be a third smaller than the current iPhone

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The iPhone Nano Rumor Reborn: 1/3rd Smaller, Older Components, $200 With No Contract

Just in case you haven’t had enough Apple rumors in the past 24 hours…
Hot off the heels of the talk that Apple is planning to release the iPad 2 in a few weeks — and then another new version of the iPad in the fall (something which we’ve heard from a very good source), here comes another one. Today, Bloomberg is reporting that Apple is working on a smaller, cheaper version of the iPhone. And here’s the thing. Once again, we’ve heard this as well.
Not to play

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Gruber: iPad 3 coming this fall?

We don't have an official announcement of the iPad 2 yet, but Daring Fireball's John Gruber is already speculating that the iPad 3 -- what he says will be a competitor to the just-announced HP TouchPad -- will be ready by fall.

"If my theory is right, they're [HP] not only going to be months behind the iPad 2, but if they slip until late summer, they might bump up against the release of the iPad 3," Gruber speculated on Wednesday.

He quickly clarified, after sparking a flurry of rumors,

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Ramping Up: Mary Meeker’s Latest Mobile Trend Slides

View this document on Scribd
Today, Kleiner Perkins partners Mary Meeker (the former Internet analyst-turned-venture-capitalist) and Matt Murphy are giving a presentation at Google’s thinkmobile conference for its biggest 200 advertisers. The complete slideshow is above, and it goes through ten mobile trends Kleiner is following and investing in. Meeker’s slideshows are always insightful, and she’s been focusing on mobile the past few years.
But in particular the

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Finally! Sonos To Release Android Controller App In March

Ah, Sonos. Once you’ve tried it you never go back. The trouble was that it used to cost thousands of dollars to get your home set up to stream music from any wifi connected hard drive to the Sonos speakers. Here’s my Sonos review from way back in 2006.
Then things started to happen. Most notably they released the Sonos ZonePlayer S5, a lower cost Sonos device that could be controlled via an iPhone or iPod Touch. And, last year, they finally had an iPad controller app.
But nothing

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Is the Apple TV about to take on Xbox Live?

One of TUAW's tipsters points to an interesting possible development for the Apple TV: an online gaming service beyond what Game Center's paltry offerings currently provide, expanding gaming in iOS to the 'hobby' living room device.
Mysterious references to "ATVThunder" in the yet-to-be-released iOS 4.3 seem to indicate online games and merchandising will soon flow through iTunes and potentially into your Apple TV. Imagine scheduling games to be played online, viewing games by date,

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Remains of the Day: Heads I win, tails you lose

Steve Jobs wasn’t always the man of steel that we know and love today—even he got nervous, once upon a time. Meanwhile, the iPod classic may be at death’s door, an iPad survives a death-defying stunt, and a way to decide whether or not an iPhone 4 is for you—without boring you to death. The remainders for Wednesday, February 9, 2011 have both feet firmly out of the grave.

Steve Jobs early TV appearance (YouTube)
Steve Jobs is cool. He’s collected. He’s calm. He’s one of the best

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Yes, Apple Is Lining Up For A “Surprise” This Fall. And Yes, It’s Likely An “iPad 3″

The following may sound a little crazy considering that the iPad 2 has not even been acknowledged or introduced by Apple yet. But from what we’re hearing, the next iteration of the iPad — let’s call it “iPad 3″ to keep it simple — may be coming along sooner than people realize.
Earlier today, HP held a big event in San Francisco to unveil their latest products based around the webOS software that they acquired when they bought Palm last year. One of these devices is

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iPod classic still the 5th most popular US MP3 player

Speculation has been poking around lately that the iPod classic's time is not long for this world, but before you start etching out the gravestone, take a look at these recent sales rankings from the NPD Group. According to the numbers, the iPod classic is still the fifth most popular MP3 player in the US, right behind all four versions of the iPod touch. Apple, in fact, claims 9 out of the top 10 spots on the list, but while the shuffle and the nano are down in the 6-9 spots, the iPod classic

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What happens to the original iPad after iPad 2?

The iPad 2 just entered production, says the Wall Street Journal, and multiple sources (including common sense) point to its release sometime within the next couple months. That brings to mind a question: what will happen to the current iPad after the iPad 2 comes out? Will Apple discount and discontinue it, or will it keep the original iPad around as a "budget" model?
TUAW reader Dennis wrote in to us and speculated on the latter, saying that Apple might follow the route it's followed for the

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iPad cutting board chopped down by Apple

Apple has pulled the plug on a cutting board designed to look like the iPad, according to the board's creator on his blog. Dean Kaplan had a lot of success with his iPhone and iPad stencils, and thought it would be clever to make a cutting board shaped like Apple's magical and revolutionary device. Unfortunately, Apple's lawyers came down on him a few months back, claiming that the wooden board's "likeness" to an certain electronic tablet was a problem. He thinks the whole thing's a little

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iPod Classic stock low, prompts refresh rumors

AppleBitch picked up a tip that the shipping times are getting pretty long for the iPod Classic and that many Apple retailers are simply out of stock. Since the iPod Classic hasn't been updated since fall 2009, we're now seeing speculation that the iPod Classic might be due for a refresh soon. Hardmac reported last month on a new line of hard drives that could indicate the iPod Classic's capacity might go up to 220 GB.

Reinforcing the news, AppleBitch points out that Amazon.com shipping times

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Ronald Reagan library adds 250 iPod touch tour guides

Ronald Reagan would have celebrated his 100th birthday this past week and the Presidential Library that bears his name has been updated with a US$ 15 million renovation. The Library has a variety of new exhibits and new technology including 180 video screens, two teleprompters, a green screen and 250 iPod touches. More than a static display, the iPod touches are your virtual tour guide through the library and museum.

The iPod touch provides an audio narrative of various exhibits throughout

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Banana TV will let iOS devices stream video to the Mac

When it comes to making AirPlay sit up and do tricks, we're proud to have one of the best in the business right here at TUAW. Erica Sadun has released a full suite of in-progress Mac apps to work with Apple's video streaming protocol.
While AirPlay is intended to allow iOS devices or iTunes to stream media to the current-gen Apple TV or third-party receivers, Erica's AirFlick, AirPDF and Bruce utilities extend the AirPlay universe to allow you to show content, weather/RSS or arbitrary video

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Fake iPhones seized from LA warehouse

Police in the port of Los Angeles have seized what they say is over $ 10 million worth of counterfeit Apple devices from a warehouse. The fake iPods, iPhones, and iPod touches were reportedly brought in from Asia recently, and were supposedly going to be sold around CES this past year, duping customers into thinking they were buying real Apple products for cheap. Not that cheap, though -- the cops also reportedly found receipts in the warehouse, along with other stolen and counterfeit

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Remains of the Day: I guess that's why they call it the news

iPad 2 details surface from a surprising source, iFixit rips a Verizon iPhone 4 to shreds, and don’t blink or you might make the birds even angrier. The remainders for Monday, February 7, 2011 are dusting out the demons inside.

Elton John Reveals iPad 2 Details (Rolling Stone)
The iPad 2 is going to have a camera—so says Sir Elton John. And he’s got a “sir” in front of his name, so you know he has the scoop. Or maybe, just maybe—and perhaps I’m going out on a limb here—he

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Verizon iPhone 101: What new owners need to know to get started

You hung in there. For four long years, you hung in there. And now, finally, you've made it to the promised land. For many of you, an iPhone is even now arriving on a FedEx truck. Soon, you'll be able to set up your new baby and start entering the strange and wonderful world of Verizon iPhone use. TUAW is here to help you.

Many of you already own iPods or iPads, and know the ins and outs of iOS use. For others, the Verizon iPhone may represent your first ever iOS device. Let's take a few

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Angry Birds ties into Super Bowl ad with secret level code

During the Super Bowl game last night, you may have seen an ad for a soon-to-be-released animated feature called Rio. Cleverly tied into that advertisement was a way to get access to a secret level in that special app installed on just about every iPhone, iPad, Mac and iPod touch in the universe: Angry Birds.
If you happened to be watching closely about 26 seconds into the 32 second ad, you would have seen the infamous red bird, a golden egg and the numbers 13-12 on a wall behind a couple of

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Slideshow: Top 20 Apple commercials

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Today is Super Bowl Sunday, the annual spectacle that celebrates American football and the spirit of competition. It also celebrates commercialism—many people are more interested in the ads that air during the game that the game itself.
Any discussion about Super Bowl commercials always leads to Apple— specifically, Apple’s minute-long 1984 ad that just might be the greatest TV ad of all time (at

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SRS Labs iWow for iDevices: now with 3D!

SRS Labs pushed out the iWow adapter a couple of years ago to give your iDevice more sonorous tones, and now is has released a new product: the iWow 3D, for your audial enjoyment. SRS's latest offering still promises to "effectively and naturally restore the audio cues that are buried" in your music -- which seems a bit like a Rumplestiltzkin proposition to us -- through an included dongle and the free iWow app. The company provides little information on how the attachment spins sound straw

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Greenpois0n untethered jailbreak for iOS 4.2.1 comes to Windows

It's been a painful two days, hasn't it? If you're a Windows user looking for an untethered jailbreak for your iDevice, the answer is most certainly "yes." The Chronic Dev Team has just let loose the greenpois0n untethered jailbreak for iOS 4.2.1, but unlike the build released 48 hours ago, this one's meant for Wintel boxes. The team's site seems to be down at the moment (shocker!), but there's a download mirror linked below if you just can't wait to get going. As always, we'd caution you to

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Tango Takes Face-To-Face Video Calling Beyond The iPhone With 8 Million Downloads

One of the best built-in features of the iPhone 4 is FaceTime, the video calling feature that lets you see who you are talking to by using the cameras on both phones. But it only works over WiFi and if both callers own an iPhone 4. Perhaps those limitations are why an app called Tango is the seventh most popular social networking app right now (iTunes link).
Tango lets you make video calls not just on iPhones but also on Android phones, and it works over 3G data networks as well. It works

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Where To? adds augmented reality

I've looked at Where To? in the past, and found it a well thought out way to find points of interest in your vicinity. Another plus is that it integrates with the Navigon and TomTom apps so you can send information for precise navigation.
Now the app has added a new wrinkle, augmented reality. Basically that means in either portrait or landscape mode your camera will activate and points of interest in categories you select can be seen layered over the real-time image. The closer the location,

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Apple succesion plan proposal gets proxy firm's backing

Advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services announced its support for a proposal that would ask Apple to produce a written CEO succession policy. Apple shareholders will vote on the proposal at the company’s annual meeting later this month in Cupertino.


The proposal submitted by the Central Laborers’ Pension Fund asks that Apple’s board of directors adopt and disclose a detailed succession planning policy that would require annual public reports on succession planning. Apple’s

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Turn an iPod touch into an iPhone with its own packaging

Here's a nice bit of ingenuity. Lifehacker reader Kevin explains how he used a VoIP app (Viber and Line 2 are two nice options) with his iPod's packaging and earbud speakers to create a DIY handset.

After smoothing the edges of the plastic backing and wearing a groove to hold the earbud wire, Kevin used a Dremmel to place a hole in the back of the plastic, sealing it with a rubber washer to prevent the hole from slicing the wire. Next, the threaded it through and pulled the wire tight to hold

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The iPhone user's Down Under travel guide

If you own an iPhone and you're traveling to Australia or New Zealand, you might be wondering how your handset will work Down Under. The good news: as long as you have a GSM-model iPhone (i.e., not the Verizon iPhone), and as long as it's unlocked, your iPhone will work just fine down here. But there are still some tips you'll need to get the most out of your iPhone on our corner of Earth.
First of all, if you want to use your iPhone's voice and data features overseas without hunting for WiFi

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US indicts 27 in Apple product credit-card fraud ring

by Jeremy Kirk, IDG News Service
New York prosecutors indicted 27 people on Wednesday as part of a crime ring that bought Apple iPods, iPads and other products with stolen credit card information for resale in the criminal underground.

In raids conducted Feb. 1, agents seized $ 300,000 in cash, three firearms and ammunition as well as equipment to make fake credit cards from the gang, which split into two operations running from June 2008 through the end of last year, according to a

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join.me introduces mobile viewer for iPad

Today, join.me introduced their free iOS viewer, allowing users to participate in online meetings and screen sharing from their iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch. A bunch of us TUAWians spent time yesterday afternoon exploring join.me in its browser-based form. join.me is a new conferencing/screen-sharing website from the makers of LogMeIn, a popular remote screen solution.

What makes join.me so compelling for us is that it takes about 5 seconds to set up, and doesn't require registration for

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Zynga Brings Newtoy’s Crossword Game ‘Words With Friends’ To Android Phones

Zynga is continuing to roll out mobile versions of its games, announcing today that it will be bringing Words With Friends, a popular multiplayer crossword game for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, to Android phones later this month.
Words With Friends, which was developed recently acquired mobile game studio Newtoy, had over 10 million users on iOS devices. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Words With Friends, it’s similar to playing a Scrabble-like word game against one

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Apple confirms Verizon iPhone pre-order

Coming as no surprise, Apple has issued a press release stating that the Verizon iPhone 4 will be available to qualified Verizon Wireless customers for pre-order on Thursday, February 3rd via the online Apple Store and Verizon Wireless online. High demand is expected, and phones will be distributed on a first come, first served basis. Verizon issued its own confirmation on January 28.

All qualified customers will be able to pre-order on the 9th. On the following day, the Verizon iPhone will be

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iSuppli suggests Apple's cash infusion going toward display manufacturing

During Apple's recent earnings conference call, Tim Cook confirmed Apple was spending $ 3.9 billion on pre-payments for unspecified components. Aware of the AMOLED display shortages that plague the mobile phone industry, analysts and tech pundits alike assumed Cook was referring to the LCD displays used in the iPhone, iPod touch and the iPad.

One early hint of a manufacturing deal for display technology surfaced in early 2009 when Apple reportedly signed a five-year deal with LG to supply

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iOS now accounts for 2% of global web browsing traffic, Chrome rounds the 10% mark

After the desktop stalwarts of Windows 7 and Mac OS, the world's third most popular platform for web browsing turns out to be Apple's iOS. The software that makes iPhones, iPod touches and iPads tick has been identified by Net Applications as responsible for over two percent of the global traffic data analyzed in the web statistician's latest report -- the first time iOS has crossed that threshold. The UK and Australia had more than five percent each, while the USA clocked in at 3.4 percent.

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Flash-friendly Skyfire browser for iPad gets updated

After the initial iPhone, iPad and iPod touch version earned $ 1 million in its first weekend in the App Store back in November, the third party iPad-specific web browser Skyfire for iPad (US$ 4.99) has been updated to Version 2.1.1 and is available for downloading now. Fixes in the update include auto-completing URLs, stronger privacy controls, and several performance improvements.

Because Apple's iOS devices do not support Flash, the Skyfire browser provides a workaround which transcodes

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GadgetTrak app tracks stolen iPhones

ActiveTrak has released an updated version of its GadgetTrak anti-theft app for iOS. Like previous versions of the app, version 2.5 helps you recover your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch if it gets stolen. You install the app on the device and register the hardware on the GadgetTrak Website. Then, if your phone or tablet is stolen, you notify the site, and the service begins to track the device.
The updated app adds a couple of new features. It now supports cameras; if you have an iPhone 4,

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Some Toyota car audio systems not working with iPhone in Australia

Australian newspapers are reporting today that Toyota is contacting more than 200 dealers to let them know that iPhones and iPod touch models running iOS 4.1 are locking up the audio systems of 2009 and 2010 cars. Models having problems include the Yaris, Corolla and Prius.
The glitch is somewhere between the iOS software and radios supplied by Fujitsu Ten. When drivers plug their iOS device in, the screen gets stuck on the word 'load' and then the radio locks up and will no longer operate

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Apple's softened "water damage" policy gains notice

Quite a buzz has appeared recently about Apple's updated water damage policies. These policies actually came to light several months ago due to some clever sleuthing on the part of Boy Genius Report, which we posted on at the time. The same policies may even have gone into effect in Europe several months earlier than that.

iPhone and iPod immersion sensors have long been notoriously unreliable. Despite insider claims that the indicators will not change color unless a device has been submerged

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