Nanogenerators produce electricity by squeezing your fingers together, while you dance

It's been a while since we last heard about nanogeneratos -- you know, those insanely tiny fibers that could potentially be woven into your hoodie to juice up your smartphone. Dr. Zhong Lin Wang of the Georgia Institute of Technology has reported that he and his team of Einsteins constructed nanogenerators with enough energy to potentially power LCDs, LEDs and laser diodes by moving your various limbs. These micro-powerhouses -- 1 / 500 the width of a single hair strand -- are embedded with

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World Backup Day: Mozy app puts backed-up files at your fingertips

Here's another product for World Backup Day. Mozy, a well-respected and veteran cloud backup solution for Mac and PC, has delivered Mozy to the App Store. This app, which is a free download that works with any iOS device, gives you access to all of those files from your computer that have been backed up to Mozy's servers.

If you're a subscriber to Mozy's service, you can view files from any of the computers backed up to your account. The app tells you when the last backup was completed,

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Exclusive: yap.TV 2.5, a social TV guide

I had the pleasure of spending part of Wednesday afternoon chatting with yap.TV founder & chief marketing officer Shawn Cunningham. yap.TV is a free social TV guide that initially came out for the iPad last fall, and later for the iPhone and iPod touch. We lightly touched on yap.tv last fall when Steve Wozniak appeared on an episode of The Big Bang Theory. At the time, Woz chatted along with viewers through yap.tv, and it turns out he does more than that. He is an adviser for the app

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SoundTracking Is A Hit! Reaches 100K Downloads In Two Weeks

If you haven’t noticed by the amount of follower notifications you’re suddenly receiving, music snippet sharing app SoundTracking has a had an impressive 14 full days since its SXSW launch, clocking in 100K downloads from the Apple App Store on March 26th.
SoundTracking, for the un-initiated, allows users to share music with the with added context of photos, locations, and comments. SoundTrackers can use GraceNote, their iPod or manual search to identify songs.
While we’ve

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Vimeo for iPhone now available, features video editor

Vimeo expanded its video hosting service to include an iPhone application today. The new mobile application is integrated tightly into the Vimeo service and lets you easily edit and manage your existing video content as well as add new content recorded on your iOS device.

The Vimeo application is feature rich and lets you upload new content and download existing clips to your camera roll. The account management feature lets you edit the details of your video clips and organize them into

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Nokia files second complaint against Apple

After yesterday's decision by the International Trade Commission that Apple isn't violating five key Nokia patents, Nokia today has hit back by claiming that they invented, well, just about everything Apple has ever made.

AppleInsider is reporting that Nokia has today launched a second complaint with the ITC saying that Apple's iPhone, iPod, iPad and Mac computers violate seven of their patents covering multi-tasking, data synchronization, positioning, call quality, and the use of Bluetooth

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JBL intros OnBeat iPad / iPhone / iPod speaker dock, prices it at $150

This planet we call home needs another iDock about as bad as we need another Charlie Sheen running around aimlessly, but no matter -- we're getting one, and it's being delivered from JBL. The company has just outed its first-ever iPad speaker dock, the OnBeat. Truth be told, it's capable of handling iPod touches, iPhones and iPads (no word on the iPad 2), but it's clearly engineered to hold the largest of the bunch best. Aside from providing joints and jams to those situated in your living

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Amazon Cloud Player Doesn’t Work On iOS — But It’s Not A Flash Issue

As you may have read by now, earlier tonight, Amazon dropped a bomb on their rivals in the online music space: a fully working cloud storage and playback system. And it’s not just working on desktop web browsers, it works on Android devices too. One important place it doesn’t work though: iPhones, iPads, iPod touches — no iOS devices.
At first, you might think this is a Flash issue (Apple’s devices famously do not support Flash). But it’s not. I don’t have Flash

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Legends Of The Fall, Apple Style

This past weekend, we broke the news that iOS 5, the latest version of Apple’s mobile operating system, was likely being released in the fall. This would break the tradition of a summer release. And we also noted that instead of a separate event in the early spring, Apple was likely to use their WWDC event in June to talk about the new OS for the first time. Sure enough, today came word from Apple that seems to verify both things.
Apple will host WWDC in San Francisco on June 6 through

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No iPhone 5 at WWDC this year? That's how it looks from here

By now you've seen the announcement for WWDC 2011 (coming June 6th), but what you may not have heard yet is that this one is going to be a little different than some of the dev cons from years past. Namely, unlike the events in 2008 through 2010, you won't see the announcement of a new iPhone (or iPad... or anything else hardware related). We're hearing the same kind of chatter from sources that solid writers like Jim Dalyrmple of The Loop and All Thing D's John Paczkowski have been reporting

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iPad 2 loses water damage indicator at headphone jack

While Apple has been softening their policy on water damage for some iOS devices, any trip to the Apple Store for a repair may still entail a little anxiety about the water indicators reporting a problem -- even when you know that your device hasn't been exposed to any liquids.

Historically, Apple has checked for water damage by adding liquid contact indicators (LCIs) that change from white to red when exposed to water in the headphone jack and the 30-pin connector of iPhone, iPad and

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Barron's: Steve Jobs among world's best CEOs

Barron's compiled it annual list of the world's 30 best chief executives and Apple's Steve Jobs tops the list, again. Jobs was selected for his vision and forethought that anticipates the products and services that customers want, even before they realize it. Jobs' insight has led to the development of the iPod touch, the iPhone and the iPad. These three products top their respective market and have become must-have items for technophiles and the average consumer alike.

Barron's also notes

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Hanwha unleashes HDMI / USB adapter for iPad, iPhone 4, and fourth-gen iPod touch

Feel the desire to watch your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch (fourth gen) videos on the big screen, but looking for something with a little more girth than Apple's HDMI solution? Hanwha's latest dongle might do the job. As you can see above, in place of the original adapter's dock connector port is a USB 2.0 socket -- compatible with cameras supporting mass storage connection -- alongside the 720p-friendly HDMI port, but you'll have to use the switch to toggle between the two modes. And that

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Rumor: iOS 5 will be a 'major revamp,' won't debut until fall

TechCrunch reports that two "solid sources" have said Apple will hold off on unveiling the next iteration of iOS, version 5, until this fall instead of debuting in the summer as in years past. If TechCrunch's sources are correct, the iPhone 5 is still likely to debut in the summer, but it will be running a flavor of the current v4 iOS.

In addition of launching in the fall, TechCrunch's sources state that iOS 5 will be a "major revamp of the OS" that will include:


an heavily cloud-based

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iRig Mic: A hands-on review of a hot iOS accessory

If there's one group that has taken to the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch in a big way, it's the worldwide community of musicians. From amateurs who just want to play with making music electronically to professionals who have recorded albums on iOS devices, musicians love the way they can take advantage of the light weight, power, and music-related apps that have been developed for the iOS platforms.

IK Multimedia has come to the rescue of musicians who wish to use their iOS devices to

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Apple looking to 'radically improve' iOS Maps experience, may look to you for help

It's tough to read too much into this, but when Apple publishes a couple of job applications hoping to bring on folks who can "radically improve how people interact with maps and location-based services," we can't help but take note. The outfit's currently seeking a pair of full-timers to be labeled as iOS Maps Application Developers, and it's honing in on applicants with "excellent skills in object-oriented software design and programming." We've felt for awhile that Apple's built-in Maps

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Apple airs new 'Retina' iPhone 4 commercial

Apple has released another commercial in the "If you don't have an iPhone" series of ads. This commercial, titled "Retina," shows off the Retina Display on the iPhone 4. The ad cycles through the Photos, iPod (movies), Maps, and Mail apps. The latest ad comes just one day afterApple released an iPhone 4 ad showcasing Game Center. Apple seems to release iPhone ads in groups of twos or threes, so it's likely that another one may hit the airwaves soon.Apple airs new 'Retina' iPhone 4

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Wham-O's Frisbee Forever iOS app promises to change backyard fun... forever

If there's one thing the iPhone needs -- and we mean exactly one thing -- it's clearly a Frisbee app. Er, Frisbee(R) app. Not a legitimate Gmail app. Not a new notification system. A Frisbee(R) app. As the story goes, Wham-O has linked hands with Kiloo in order to develop the Frisbee Forever app for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, which is said to offer avid iOS gamers "unique challenges and obstacles in a rich complete 3D environment." What kind of challenges, you say? We're hearing that you'll

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iOS 4.3.1 is now available

Apple has released iOS 4.3.1 today for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad (full list below). According to Apple, this update:


Fixes an occasional graphics glitch on the 4th generation iPod touch

Resolves bugs relating to activating and connecting to some cellular networks

Fixes image flicker when using Apple Digital AV Adapter with some TVs

Resolves an issue authenticating with some enterprise web services


You can grab it now by connecting your device to iTunes. Here are

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iOS 4.3.1 released, fixes a few bugs

Apple's just dropped iOS 4.3.1 on iTunes users across the land, fixing a handful of issues related to enterprise apps, AV-out, iPod touch graphics problems, and cellular network connections; not the most exciting changelog, but it's better than a slap across the face. As usual, the update is available for pretty much the full suite of iOS products -- iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch alike. Go on, grab it!

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]iOS 4.3.1 released, fixes a few bugs originally

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Yosion's second-gen Apple Peel 520 arriving on March 28th, ready to cellularize your iPod touch

Remember the second-gen Apple Peel 520 we saw back in January? Yep, Yosion has now confirmed that this familiar-looking adapter will be available in China on March 28th, which happens to be this coming Monday. Like its predecessor, this new sleeve lets you send texts and make regular phone calls on a jailbroken iPod touch (including the latest FaceTime-loving model), but now Yosion's also thrown in GPRS data connectivity along with some extra battery juice, all for the price of just ¥520

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Apple files patent for graphics-based contact management

AppleInsider has discovered a recently filed patent by Apple that would, if implemented, overhaul the way users navigate through their contacts on the iPhone. The patent, "Segmented Graphical Representations for Recommending Elements," describes a way for users to navigate through their iOS contacts in a way other than through text-based lists.

An example of how Apple would use graphical elements to let users sort through their contacts would be by presenting a collection of graphical tiles

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Final Fantasy III hits the App Store

As promised, Square Enix released its version of Final Fantasy III for the iPhone and iPod touch. The role-playing game follows the journey of four orphaned youths chosen by the crystal of light to restore balance to the world after the land is robbed of light. This version is a remake of the Japanese Final Fantasy III that debuted on the Nintendo DS in 2006.

It has been optimized for the iPhone 4 and iPod touch and includes Retina display support, iPhone-specific touch panel controls

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Remains of the Day: Long live the iPod classic

Steve Jobs denied the demise of the iPod classic as recently as last fall, Apple may be thinking about bringing AirPlay to a big screen near you, and an iPhone 4 succeeds where Humpty Dumpty failed. Once upon a time, there were the remainders for Wednesday, March 23, 2011...

Steve Jobs: ‘No Plans’ to Discontinue iPod Classic (MacRumors)
I feel like it’s been a while since our last run-in with a Steve Jobs e-mail, so let’s summon up this, uh, classic from last fall where Steve tells

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Steve Jobs ordered to provide antitrust deposition

There are some days when it feels like Steve Jobs is the only person who works at Apple, judging by the number of times his name is cited when anyone has a complaint against the company.

Now, a US judge has ordered him to answer questions relating to monopolistic behavior over the iPod and the iTunes Store back in 2004. Then, Apple made changes to the iPod software which disrupted RealNetwork's Harmony software, designed to allow songs purchased from the RealNetworks online store to be

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iPad 2 impressions: Chris Rawson

A couple of the other TUAW staffers have given you their first impressions of the iPad 2, but I'm coming at it from a different angle, because I used the original iPad for a grand total of about 20 minutes. This won't be a comparison of the new iPad versus the old; instead, it'll be my take on what this new device means to me and how it promises to reshape the way I interact with computers from now on.

When the iPad debuted in January of 2010, I wasn't particularly impressed. That's mostly

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FileMaker Starter Solutions released for mobile apps

FileMaker announced the availability of three new Starter Solutions for its FileMaker Go mobile application. FileMaker Go lets you access and edit your FileMaker databases on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch while away from your desktop. The three Starter Solutions are optimized for Apple's multi-touch mobile devices and include:


Contacts: Organize and search your contacts.

Documents: Work on documents remotely and synchronize any changes to a master database.

Assets: Track all

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How to extract media files from your iPod or iOS device

by Kirk McElhearn, Macworld.com
It’s always a good idea to back up your iTunes library. I do it somewhat obsessively, but the are simpler techniques that can do the trick as well.

But if disaster does strike and you lose everything, you may not be completely out of luck—assuming you’ve synced a good portion of your library to an iPod, iPhone, or iPad. In most cases, unless you’ve purchased something on one of your devices, Apple’s iTunes syncing is a one-way street—computer

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Chinon's Avi Stylix iPod / iPhone docking station packs 7-inch LCD, streams Netflix*

It doesn't scream quality (or maybe the legion of professional stock photographers were all on vacation last week), but the June-bound Avi Stylix does have something that the vast majority of me-too iPod / iPhone docking stations do not: an embedded 7-inch LCD. The usual suspects are also here, including a Dock Connector port, twin two-watt speakers, USB port, SD card slot and a bundled remote. The kicker is its ability to stream Netflix, but there's an obvious catch; you'll need an iPhone or

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ForeverMap handy but a bit rough

ForeverMap brings maps of every location in North America to your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. The US $ 0.99 app lets you decide which maps you want, such as a state, a whole country or a province, and download what you need. Maps can be downloaded through iTunes or on WiFi, but not on 3G. You can delete, or add more maps as you wish, the only limitation being storage on your iDevice.

The maps are sourced from OpenStreetMaps.org. The advantage of the app is you have the maps with you

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iPad 2 hits 25 countries this Friday

Earlier this morning, Apple announced that the iPad 2 will go on sale in 25 countries this Friday, March 25th. The retail frenzy will begin at 5:00 PM local time via Apple Stores, complete with boisterous, fist-pumping sales staff, and select authorized resellers. Insomniacs can take advantage of online sales which begin at 1:00 AM.

As for pricing, here are some numbers. MacStories points out that the Italian pricing is €479,00 for the WiFi 16 GB model, €579,00 for the WiFi 32 GB

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Rumors of Jon Ive moving to the UK reportedly false

Jonathan Ive, Apple's senior vice president of product design, has no plans to take his talents back to the United Kingdom, an in-depth profile of the designer in the Daily Mail revealed last week. Recent speculation suggested the 44-year-old planned to cash in his US$ 30 million in Apple stock options and relocate to a mansion he owns in Somerset so his children could receive an education in the UK.

Last month, the Times of London reported Ive might be looking to leave Apple whose

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Banana TV now shipping

TUAW's own Erica Sadun recently announced the immediate availability of Banana TV, software that allows users to display photos and videos from any iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch on a Mac connected to the same wireless network.

Banana TV closes a notable gap in Apple's AirPlay streaming technology. Typically, AirPlay enables iOS devices to stream photos and videos only to a second generation Apple TV. Now, with Banana TV, customers can easily choose to use the big displays on their Macs to

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Bank app lets you pay bills with iPhone camera

Danske Bank just made it easier to spend money. Banking customers can now pay bills with nothing more than a photo and a tap, boosting the convenience of online payments.

Danske Bank's official app is available for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and Android devices. Once installed, users simply launch the app, snap a photo of the bill they wish to pay, and press a confirmation button. The app uses the photograph to rapidly enter the details for a bill or electronic funds transfer, for example

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Two 17-year old Irish students create Penguin Slider! for iOS

Penguin Slider is a game (US $ 1.99 for the iPad and $ 0.99 for the iPhone and iPod touch) created by Mark Thompson and Ashley Hunter, two 17 year old students at The Wallace High School, a 1200 student Co-educational Grammar school in Lisburn Northern Ireland, near Belfast. They are shown above with their proud past-principal Deborah O' Hare. Mark and Ashley were guided by their ICT teacher David Cleland, but did the work themselves both in and out of school over a three-month period.

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Push notification

With all the real trouble in the world these days, it seems small-minded to ponder the impact of the latest wave of technologies on our lives. After all, TechCrunch is a blog about startups and the Valley, with only a tangential relationship to the struggles in Japan and the Middle East. But the larger theme of the role and limits of technology in solving our problems still resonates across this divide.
The reactor crisis in Japan may have its roots in a cascading series of events, but the most

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Listen Closely: Broadcastr Brings You An Audio Guide To The Whole Wide World

I’m a huge William Gibson fan, not least for the ideas with which his books overflow. One such in Spook Country was location-based virtual art: VR images that can only be seen at specific real-world places. As is often the case with Gibson, I read that and wondered, “How long?”
Well, we’re halfway there. I give you Broadcastr, a new platform that allows anyone to record or upload audio, and then “pin” it to physical locations. Broadcastr then indexes and

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The Macalope Weekly: All not-so-good things must come to an end

[Editors’ Note: Each week the Macalope skewers the worst of the week’s coverage of Apple and other technology companies. In addition to being a mythical beast, the Macalope is not an employee of Macworld. As a result, the Macalope is always free to criticize any media organization. Even ours.]
iPad competitors don’t seem to be doing so well so it’s time to make some up! Then the Macalope consoles the Winotaur over the death of the Zune. Well, “consoles” is probably the wrong

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Cool custom-made iOS device stand

Design student Andrew Kim has produced the very cool Polyply to avoid having all his iOS devices strewn around his desktop like so many expensive paperweights.

Made from acrylate polymer (acrylic plastic), birch plywood and birch it has cutouts for his new iPad 2, iPod Touch, iPhone and pen. It can be turned to give more vertical or horizontal orientations and looks a perfect match for his wireless Apple keyboard, with cutouts for the relevant cables.

Andrew says it took him two

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Google TV Remote app now available for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch

After debuting it on the Android platform in December, the Google TV team has finally released a version of the official remote app for iOS. The interface and features appear to be the same with one key difference, currently the iOS version doesn't support sharing web pages from mobile to the screen, but everything else like voice search is here and accounted for. It's good for the team to finally get the long promised app out, but more interesting now is the question of which features will be

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How To: Setting up Find My iOS device

Losing your iOS device can be a real pain, but a little preparation can make it easier to recover
Posted on by Dan Moren, Macworld.com


At one time or another, most of us have experienced that moment of panic upon realizing that we don’t remember where our iPhone or iPad is. Thankfully, included in the bag of tricks for these technological marvels is the ability to tell you where they are. All it takes on your part is a little forethought.

By setting up the free Find My iPhone (or iPad,

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If you don't have an iPhone: Apple ads posted to YouTube

The new iPhone television ads that debuted earlier this week have made it to Apple's official YouTube channel, just for your viewing pleasure. The three ads all share the "If you don't have an iPhone..." tagline, and they focus on the App Store, iPod/iTunes and iBooks respectively.

As TAB points out, the inclusion of iBooks as a selling point for the iPhone is a little bit odd -- the iOS-only bookstore doesn't match up well against Amazon's multiplatform Kindle offering, which lets you

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First Impressions Of The Nintendo 3DS: 3D Done Right

I’ll be the first to admit that I thought the 3DS would be a gimmicky also-ran. I followed the handheld console from E3 to a hands-on at CES and now with the device in my hands I can report that Nintendo will have a hit on their hands.
The 3DS is the DSi grown up. The UI is highly polished and there are a number of interesting features including a “suspend mode” for games that allows you to drop into Nintendo’s communication and photo interface to take pictures and send

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Pittsburgh Apple store robbed again

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Walnut Street Apple Store in the Shadyside neighborhood is closed this morning due to a smash-and-grab robbery.

A cinder block was used to shatter the glass doors of the store sometime around 5:30 this morning, and a phone call to the store confirms that they were indeed closed this morning. According to the Post-Gazette, the robbers made off with thousands of dollars worth of MacBooks and iPods.

This isn't the first time we've seen the

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Pinger’s Textfree Exchanging 1 Billion SMS Messages A Month, 1 Million Voice Minutes A Day

Pinger’s free texting and phone application Textfree is continuing to see booming growth. The app, which has been downloaded over 14 million times for iOS and Android devices, uses an ad-supported model to provide free SMS and voice calls to users and now ranks among the top mobile carriers by volume of messages exchanged. And it’s hitting some impressive milestones.
For those that haven’t used it, Textfree gives users a free, unique phone number which they can use to send and

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Japanese disaster could affect Apple flash memory supply

by Gregg Keizer, Computerworld
Editor's Note: This story is excerpted from Computerworld. For more Mac coverage, visit Computerworld's Macintosh Knowledge Center.
Last week’s earthquake and tsunami in Japan may put a crimp in Apple’s supply of flash memory, but its problem will pale in comparison to smaller firms, an analyst said today.

“There’s really no current impact to Apple,” said Michael Yang, a principal analyst with IHS iSuppli who covers NAND flash memory. “But

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Report: Apple king of the tablet market until 2013

One of the stories making the blog rounds today is a new report from research firm DisplaySearch, which claims that Apple will stave off emerging iPad competitors. The iPad will be king of the tablets until 2013 when they'll be overtaken by competitors.

A lot depends on not just how well competitors will do, but the access to supplies. As we reported last month, Apple is making sure the majority of touch screens currently being produced are being earmarked for the iPad.

While

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Photoshop Express for iOS enhances camera features

Adobe updated its Photoshop Express application for iOS to version 2.0. Photoshop Express is a basic photo editing and sharing application for Apple's suite of iOS 4.2-compatible devices. The updated application now includes support for the retina display of the iPhone 4 and the iPod touch as well as the multi-tasking features of the latest version of iOS.

For budding photographers, Photoshop Express 2.0 includes a new "Camera Pack" feature. Available as a $ 3.99 in-app purchase, the

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iPod touch owners report graphics issues under iOS 4.3

Reports are coming in of iPod touch users having graphics glitches after updating to iOS 4.3. As you can see in the picture here and in this video, the problem looks like overlapping icons and "interference" on the screen.

There's a growing thread on the Apple message boards of fourth-generation iPod touch users who aren't happy. Resets and factory restores don't solve the problem, it seems, and users are looking to Apple to fix the problem with an update soon.

"I've noticed in the lock

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Google Mobile app for iOS gets major revamp, new name

Google has released a major update to the Google Mobile app for iOS, with new features and a new name -- Google Search for iPhone (free).

The app has a completely redesigned user interface, and according to the developers they've improved fast app-switching support. Multitouch gestures have been added -- to make a search more specific, you swipe right on the results that appear, and a vertical toolbar appears allowing you to focus on places, images, news, shopping (both in stores and

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Study: Mobile Ad-Tracking Systems Are “Blind” To 80 Percent Of Apple iOS Devices

Apple mobile iOS devices (iPads, iPhones, and iPod Touches) are used by 130 million people, but they present a huge blindspot to advertisers. All Apple mobile devices use the Safari browser, as do millions of Apple laptop and desktop computers. Safari blocks third-party cookies by default, which is good for privacy and good for consumers. But it is bad for advertisers who rely on browser cookie tracking to measure the effectiveness of their ads.
Marin Software, which offers a way to manage

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iMovie on iPad 2 beats most Macs in benchmarks

Benchmark information from AppAdvice.com

If the results of benchmarks run by Tim Chaten at AppAdvice are any indication, anyone looking for a good, fast iMovie workstation for doing editing in the field should take a close look at the app running on an iPad 2.

Chaten wanted to see how iMovie for iOS running on the dual-core A5 iPad 2 would stack up to the Mac OS X edition of the app running on a variety of Macs, so he took a set of files to an Apple Store to run three tests on all of

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Vidyo’s HD Video Conferencing Platform Now Supports iPad 2, XOOM And Atrix

Video conferencing technology company Vidyo is enhancing its platform with support for Apple’s just released iPad 2, Motorola’s XOOM tablet and Atrix smartphone. The platform utilizes the company’s VidyoTechnology SDK, which is available to third parties, and enables 720p HD multipoint video conferencing that works on a range of mobile devices.
With Vidyo’s platform, customers can join video conferences from anywhere using a bunch of devices (see below for a list of previously

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iPod's mission accomplished: Zune is declared dead

After a four and a half year run, Microsoft may be retiring its Zune media player. A report from Bloomberg claims the Redmond company has stopped producing new models of the Zune player due to weak sales and even weaker demand. The company will abandon its hardware efforts and focus on the software side of the media player.

The Zune launched in November 2006, and the media players never caught on with consumers. Even the flashy Zune HD, which launched in 2009 with sleek styling and a nice

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Flash, DRAM prices spike on worries over supplies from Japan

by Dan Nystedt, IDG News Service
Prices of widely used chips, including NAND flash memory and DRAM, have both risen sharply since the 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck and hurled tsunami waves at the northeastern part of Japan.

But major Japanese suppliers have said factories producing these chips were largely unaffected by the temblor, nor are they in areas where blackouts will force production to stop. While it appears by their statements that the memory markets are overreacting to the

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Pimp Your Screen does just that

If you want some eye catching customization for your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad, Pimp Your Screen may be just the utility you want. It's US $ 0.99 and is basically a large collection of background images and app shelves to give your iDevice a unique look.

Most of the background images are anything but subtle, but that will be the appeal to many. Resolutions are available to match the Retina Display on the iPhone 4, and more standard resolutions for older Apple mobile products. Many of the

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Apple's iPhone / iPod touch daylight saving time woes continue

If a broken clock is right twice a day, Apple's is off twice a year these days -- once each time Daylight Savings Time needs to be calculated in territories that depend on it. iPhone and iPod touch users are reporting on Twitter and the official Apple forums that the Clock app is been demonstrating all kinds of erratic behavior -- regardless of phone model or AT&T / Verizon pedigree -- with some alarms going off early, others late, and plenty of others working perfectly. Amusingly, still

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Security firm warns lack of iOS 4.3 update leaves iPhone 3G vulnerable

Security company Sophos is warning iPhone 3G and older iPod touch owners that their devices could be vulnerable to attack following Apple's decision not to make the iOS 4.3 update available to them.

In addition to AirPlay improvements and iTunes Home Sharing, the iOS 4.3 update fixes a number of security holes, but it's only available for the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, the iPad and more recent iPod touch models.

"[I]f you have an earlier iPhone or iPod touch your device is probably vulnerable

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Peel works as universal remote and TV service on your iPhone

I sure thought we'd covered Peel here before, but I guess not (maybe I was thinking of that iPod touch add-on -- the "Apple" name certainly invites lots of fruit imagery). Either way, it's worth mentioning that the interesting Peel TV solution for the iPhone is now available for purchase. For $ 99, you get the Peel "fruit" unit that sits wirelessly by your television and transmits to it with infrared. And then you can also download the free app that both works as a universal remote, and

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Win a SugarSync 30 GB account for your new iPad 2

Our friends at SugarSync posted a wonderful blog entry the other day on how to use their signature cloud service to make the iPad 2 a more productive mobile device. As they note, one of the biggest issues with the iPad is that the current file system makes it difficult for users to transfer files or save and access files on your iPad for later use.

SugarSync resolves this issue by making it possible to access all of your files on any device, continuously syncing to a "Personal Cloud"

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Monitor Japanese news with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch

If you have loved ones, friends, or colleagues affected by the Japanese earthquake, you may want to install the free NHK WORLD TV Live application on your iOS device and take your news on-the-go.

NHK WORLD TV offers English-language updates (you will hear other languages as well) around the clock, produced by Japan's single public broadcasting service.

According to the application write-up, broadcast quality will depend on the way you connect to data service, automatically adjusting to

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Need Some Cash? Buy Apple Stock Instead Of Apple Gear

If you had bought Apple stock instead of an iPod back in 2001, you’d be about $ 10,000 richer. According to an assessment by Kyle Conroy, you’d be a few times richer if you bought Apple stock instead of Apple gear on day of launch. What does this say about us, as consumers? That we’re ravenous fools intent on spending ourselves into oblivion? Pretty much.
The highest bit of profit comes from the Apple PowerBook G3 250 released in 1997 on the cusp of Apple’s turnaround.

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SoundTracking Sets Out To Share Your Music Moments In A Postcard-Like Manner

Twitter allows you to share a short message at any given time. Foursquare allows you to share your location at any given time. Instagram allows you to share your photos at any given time. IntoNow allows you to share what you’re watching on television at any given time. The list goes on. But oddly, that list doesn’t yet include anyone who has nailed sharing the music you’re listening to at any given time. There’s a ton of potential in that space. And that’s exactly

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What if you had bought AAPL stock instead of Apple products?

Since 2003, the rise of Apple's stock has been stratospheric. Currently AAPL sits at US$ 346, but many analysts expect it to be at $ 450 or higher in the next twelve months. The growth of the stock over the years is attributed to Apple's bottom line, its creative and business teams, the fact that it has zero debt, tens of billions of dollars in the bank, and of course, the fact it sells the hottest consumer electronics on the planet. But what if instead of buying Apple's products, like a

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VeriFone's FUD meets Square's QED

Yesterday, VeriFone (a $ 4.2b company) launched a harsh public attack on upstart rival Square (a less-than-fifty-people, $ 37.5m in funding startup). You may remember Square from previous coverage on TUAW or its impressive advertising last year. So what's going on, exactly?

The basic gist of the Square service is simple. It sends you a free little reader doohicky which you plug into your iPhone or iPod touch's headphone/mic port, and you get an accompanying app for free from the App

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Apple posts new iPad guided tour videos

Apple has posted new iPad guided tour videos on its site. The new videos all feature the iPad 2 and encompass FaceTime, Mail, Safari, iBooks, Videos, Photos, Find my iPad, iPod, iTunes, App Store, Maps, AirPlay, GarageBand and iMovie. The videos follow on the heels of the release of iOS 4.3 earlier today.

Additionally, Apple has added dedicated preview pages for iMovie and GarageBand for iPad. The previews give you a nice walk-through of all the features the two apps offer on the iPad.

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iPhone app helps the blind ID currency

Identifying different denominations of dollar bills has long been a problem for the sight-impaired in the USA. A US $ 1 bill is the same size and shape as a $ 100 bill, making them hard to differentiate.

Many use techniques like folding different bills into different shapes, but this doesn't help when receiving change in a store. Looktel now has an app called Money Reader for the iPhone 4/3GS and fourth-generation iPod touch which will check bills and speak their values out

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iOS 4.3 is now available

Apple has released iOS 4.3 just a day after BGR's rumored release schedule, but right on the nose for Jim Dalrymple's prediction. This is a big update for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Changes include improve AirPlay support, the Nitro JavaScript engine for faster web browsing, personal hot spot and iTunes Home Sharing, which lets users stream iTunes media to their devices. We can't wait to play with that! You'll find the details on iOS 4.3 here.

To get the update, connect your device to

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Peel universal remote adapter for iOS now available, $99 buys you expensive Fruit

You know your product name is clever when not one but two companies go for it. Such is the name "Peel." This offering we're talking about is not the sort that turns an iPod into an iPhone, rather it's the kind that turns an iPhone into a universal remote -- though it'll work with all the other iOS devices too. It's a combination app and hardware that we've been tracking since last year, and now it's up for order. The iOS app talks to a goofy shaped IR blaster, called the Fruit, which costs $

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Apple releases iOS 4.3

Well, it's not March 11th, but you can now download iOS 4.3 for you iPhone, iPad or iPod touch (most of them, anyway). That, of course, brings with it mobile hotspot functionality for iPhones, along with a variety of new AirPlay features, a new version of Safari, and a number of other more minor improvements (like an option to control how your iPad's side switch behaves). We're already busy testing it out ourselves and will report back on what we find, but you can feel free to leave your own

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Apple selects Taiwan's TSMC to produce its A5 chip

Apple is reported to have inked a deal with Taiwanese chip manufacturer TSMC to produce the A5 dual-core chip for the iPad 2, in a substantial blow to former producer Samsung.

TSMC was apparently chosen over Samsung because tests showed it was consistently producing the chips more efficiently at 40 nanometers than was Samsung at 45 nanometers. It had the most capacity and highest yields in each batch. There are now suggestions that the deal between Apple and TSMC could stretch into the

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Apple updates iTunes to 10.2.1

Apple just pushed out a minor iTunes update. iTunes 10.2.1 allows you to sync your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to iOS 4.3 and provides improved Home Sharing, the service that allows you to browse and play media from your home computer's iTunes library.

You can download iTunes via your Mac's Software Update utility, or on Windows using Apple Software Update. It's also available at itunes.com.

Thanks, Clint Collins & MacUpdate.Apple updates iTunes to 10.2.1 originally appeared on TUAW

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JBL reveals wireless AirPlay speaker dock for iPhone or iPod touch

As you can see above, the JBL On Air Wireless AirPlay is a pretty intriguing speaker dock for your iPhone or iPod. Not only does it sport that Dyson-style ring, but it's got an attached FM radio, a dual alarm clock, and even a screen to display the current name and album art of the song you happen to be listening to. As you can tell by the name, it'll connect up to any AirPlay-enabled device, streaming your songs and media wirelessly for your ears to listen to.

Looks great. Of course, at

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Adobe releases Wallaby, experimental Flash to HTML 5 conversion tool

Adobe announced the release of Wallaby, an experimental tool designed to convert FLA files to HTML 5. This initial version of Wallaby is meant to convert animated Flash banners to HTML 5-compliant code. This output is optimized for viewing by WebKit-based browsers, including those on the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Since it is designed for banners, the first iteration of Wallaby is limited and will not convert ActionScript, movies or sound.

The tool converts the Flash file to an HTML

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Spy cam feature among MultiCorder's new video options

A revamped iPhone videography app from Mirage Labs is crammed so full of features that the developer is promoting it as “the Swiss Army knife of camcorders.” Among those militaristic attributes: a “spy cam” setting that lets users make surreptitious recordings.
MultiCorder 2.0, formerly known as Flexicorder, debuted Wednesday in the iOS App Store. The new spy mode lets users select a picture from their photo library to display on screen while making the secret video; a finger swipe

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Apple finds another AirPlay partner in Pioneer's VSX-1021 AV receiver

You may have laughed off the assertion made by BridgeCo's VP of Sales and Marketing back at CES, but the man's looking downright prophetic now. Apple has just nailed down yet another major player in its efforts to take over the streaming media world with AirPlay, as Pioneer's VSX-1021 launched today as the first of eight AirPlay receivers the company has planned for 2011. It's a 7.1 channel affair that supports wireless playback of iTunes libraries so long as you fork over a few extra dollars

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Peel: A Bridge Between Your iPhone And Home Entertainment System (Video)

It’s a problem as common as it is ugly: between your television, Blu-Ray player, surround sound tuner, cable box, and DVR, you probably have at least three remotes sitting on your coffee table. And then there’s the elaborate list of steps required to get each component working properly (don’t forget to set the tuner to HDMI2 before firing up the Blu-Ray!) The associated headaches have spawned an entire industry of super-remotes like Logitech’s Harmony devices. But what

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Apple To Shed Some Retail Games And Peripherals, Focus On Selling Macs

Apple’s retail stores are well-known for their clean layout, product-first mentality, and obsequious staff. Though they stock things like iPod cases, printers, and so on, the focus has always been on Apple’s devices, and may soon be even more so, as it appears a fair amount of software and peripherals will be taken off the shelves to make room for more Mac-focused space. It’s an interesting indicator of the Apple ecosystem endgame.
After all, Apple is positioning itself as

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GDC 2011: Chillingo's upcoming slate of titles

The good folks at Chillingo invited me to stop by their suite at GDC 2011 last week (which was actually run by EA, thanks to a new deal with EA's Partners program) to see the company's upcoming slate of titles on their way to the iPhone and iPod. On the next page you'll see previews of Blobster, Anomaly: Warzone Earth and Painkiller Purgatory, all due out in the next few months from Chillingo.

Stay tuned -- I also got a chance to speak with co-founders Chris Byatte and Joe Wee about

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Rumor: Best Buy to equip employees with iPads

Forbes reports that "...one of the country's top 10 largest retailers" is prepping to supply its floor employees with iPads. A source notes that the retailer in question has 1,000 locations in the US. Forbes suggests that, with 1,100 stores in its stable -- not to mention its existing partnership with Apple -- Best Buy is a likely match.

While the retailer would neither confirm nor deny the rumor, Forbes notes that a recent "Connected Store" pilot program launched by Best Buy locations in

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Ask TUAW: The iPad 2 Is Almost Here! Edition

The iPad is almost here, and in honor of Apple's latest gadget, we're having an iPad edition of Ask TUAW this week! We got a few interesting queries from last week's post, but this is going to get mighty boring without your questions about the iPad 2, which will be released on Friday!

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 2, iPhone or AppleTV, and fire away. You can

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PlugShare Helps Electric Vehicle Drivers Find Free, And Paid Charging Options

A newly released app for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, called PlugShare aims to alleviate so-called “range anxiety” for electric vehicle drivers by giving them a map of an area’s available, paid charging stations and homes or lots that will allow them to plug in and recharge for free.
Xatori co-founder and chief executive Forrest North —who previously worked as an engineer at Tesla Motors, and founded and was CEO of Mission Motors, a company that makes electric

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Inhabitat's Week in Green: ice castles, cardboard columns, and the Geneva Auto Show

Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green.



This week Inhabitat showcased several jaw-dropping feats of architecture, starting with a series of amazingly complex computer-designed cardboard columns that boast between 8 and 16 million facets. We were also struck by a stunning new net-zero Solar Academy in Germany, and we showcased a Swiss chalet that is the world's first apartment building to be

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Gartenberg: Is that an iPod on your wrist?

by Michael Gartenberg, Macworld.com

I know you’re not going to believe this, but amid the mobile-device revolution of the past ten years, one of the most important spaces in the digital world has been almost entirely ignored.

I am talking, of course, about the wrist.
That’s right: take a look at that watch you’re wearing. (Or perhaps think back to when you once wore one.) It’s essentially a uni-tasker. It does one thing: tell you the time and date. In this world of connected

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Apple's 'Year of iPad 2' doesn't necessarily mean no more iPad updates in 2011

At Apple's recent unveiling of the second-generation iPad, Steve Jobs said "2011 is the year of iPad 2." That sent several sites, including AppleInsider, into a flurry of backtracking on previous rumors concerning a possible iPad 3 release at the annual iPod event in September. "Jobs wouldn't have said that [2011 is the year of the iPad 2] were he planning to introduce another iPad model this summer," AppleInsider surmised.

Actually, that's exactly what Jobs would have said, and should

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iOS 4.3 brings a handful of new features and new headaches

iOS 4.3 doesn't bring nearly as many changes to the table as iOS 4.2 did last November. The release of iOS 4.2 was a watershed moment for the iPad, bringing features like multitasking and folders that made it a far more useful device than before. The iPhone got fewer new features in iOS 4.2, some of which have proven more useful than others; I use AirPlay almost every day to stream from my iPhone to my home theater system, but I used AirPrint once (after some hacking), then forgot about

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The (Fake) Banned iPad 2 Promo: “Like The iPhone 4, Minus The Retina Display”

You’ve seen the parodic banned white iPhone 4 promo video, so you know what to expect.
Below is the transcript of “Johnny Five”‘s introduction, just in case you hadn’t seen the previous fake Apple promo video, so you too will know what to expect.
Or you can just watch it, of course.

“Last year, iPad revolutionized technology as we know it. Before iPad, people were checking their email … on computers. They were playing Angry Birds on their phone! iPad

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JFK Historymaker: an iOS biography app for the 35th President

JFK Historymaker (US$ 4.99) from MultiEducator, Inc. is an extensive and comprehensive multimedia biography app for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. The amount of information is massive and includes 250 photos, 200 full text documents and 25 videos chronicling the life of John F. Kennedy, the United States' 35th president. In structure, it's very similar to an earlier app from the same company about the Civil War. Both apps have many positive attributes, but also quite a few nagging

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It’s A Good Day To Be An iPad Competitor . . . Oh Wait, It’s Not

Editor’s Note: Jim Dalrymple has been writing about Apple for more than 15 years. You can follow him on Twitter @jdalrymple and on his Web site at The Loop.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs on Wednesday introduced the iPad 2 at a special event in San Francisco, taking even more momentum away from its competitors.
I’ve had a lot of people in the last 24 hours tell me that the iPad 2 isn’t as revolutionary as the first generation device. Yes, that’s true. But not every device a

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Apple's new Digital AV Adapter: what it will and won't do

Apple introduced the iPad 2 today and along with it rolled out a few new accessories to accompany its new tablet. One new cable to hit the retail shelves is the Digital AV adapter which can be used to pipe content from your iOS device to your TV. Not just iPad 2-specific, the adapter is compatible with the iPhone 4, the original iPad, and the 4th generation iPod touch (although it is somewhat limited on those devices, see below).

One side of the adapter plugs into the 30-pin connector on

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Live from Apple's iPad 2 event (update: it's over!)

We're going to be liveblogging Apple's iPad 2 announcement (and whatever else they have in store). Check back at the times below, and get ready to make history together!

08:00AM - Hawaii
10:00AM - Pacific
11:00AM - Mountain
12:00PM - Central
01:00PM - Eastern
06:00PM - London
07:00PM - Paris
09:00PM - Moscow
11:30PM - Mumbai
03:00AM - Tokyo (March 3rd)
05:00AM - Sydney (March 3rd)

Update: Phew! The event's just finished. Now here's a list of all our posts from this event:

The iPad 2

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An iPad Lover’s (Initial) Thoughts On iPad 2

“These are post-PC devices, that need to be even easier to use than a PC.”
That was Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ closing remark as he left the stage having just announced the iPad 2 at an event today in San Francisco. And that comment really summed up the vibe of the entire event. When Jobs was on stage, he made it very clear over and over again that the iPad competition out there just doesn’t seem to get it.
And the iPad 2 is really a bet directly related to that. Apple kicked things

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Apple's Digital AV Adapter also works with iPhone 4, fourth-gen iPod touch, and first-gen iPad

In case you're wondering whether Apple's forthcoming Digital AV Adapter is worth your $ 39, you might be pleased to know that said HDMI dongle is also compatible with the latest crop of iOS devices before the iPad 2. This includes the iPhone 4, fourth-generation iPod touch, and even the first-generation iPad. Alas, both movies and slideshows will be capped at 720p output from these older devices, whereas the iPad 2 goes a little further with screen mirroring of up to 1080p -- we're guessing

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Apple Store is back up, gives more detail on the digital adapter

The Apple Store is back online and features information for the iPad 2, along with the iPad Smart Cover and the Apple Digital AV adapter, which also supports video output from the original iPad, iPhone 4 and current-generation iPhone 4, but mirroring will only be on the iPad 2. Video out supports up to 1080p for the iPad 2 and 720p for the original iPad, iPhone 4 and iPod Touch.

The iPad 2 will be available starting March 11, and there are no preorders.Apple Store is back up, gives

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Visualized: if the iPhone had happened in an alternate reality

This collection of devices -- from Germany's SKS Hinkel, and winner of an iF Product Design Award this year -- is really a video intercom system. But if you use your imagination, from left to right, it looks like an iPod shuffle, an iPod classic, an iPhone shuffle, and an iPhone classic all developed in some awesome alternate dimension where coiled phone cords are still cool.

Admit it: you miss the click wheel.Visualized: if the iPhone had happened in an alternate reality originally appeared

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Apple iOS 4.3 coming March 11 with iPad 2, includes new AirPlay features and FaceTime

Along with the iPad 2, Apple's releasing the final version of iOS 4.3, which features the Nitro Javscript engine from Safari on OS X, new iTunes Home Sharing features that let you play content from desktop iTunes over WiFi, and the updated suite of AirPlay features from the betas -- including the ability for App Store apps to share audio and video. Apple's also finalizing the new option that lets you assign the side switch to either rotation lock or mute, and it's adding Personal Hotspot

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Apple Now Owns FaceTime.com (But Still Doesn’t Own iPad.com)

When Apple first announced its video calling application FaceTime on June 7, 2010 at the WWDC event, in conjunction with the iPhone 4, it quickly became apparent that there was a potential trademark conflict with a company called FaceTime Communications.
But Apple struck a deal with the company to transfer said trademark over to them, and FaceTime Communications subsequently changed its company name to Actiance.
As of very recently, ownership of the domain name FaceTime.com was also

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iPad 2 (or something) shows up in the wilds of China

Look, not even the source of these images is absolutely certain that the device in his possession is a legitimate iPad 2, but we can't very well leave you spending your entire day anticipating Apple's new tablet launch without a potential candidate for what it might eventually look like. The above mockup has been procured over in China (where else?) and seems to tally closely with speculation we've been hearing about this hardware refresh -- namely, a slimmer profile, an almost entirely flat

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iPad 2: The rumor buzz

As Apple's March 2nd iPad announcement draws near, the Interwebs are alive with rumors. In no particular order, here's the buzz that we're seeing flick across our in-boxes today.


Will Apple produce a White iPad? That's what the 9 to 5 Mac blog thinks might happen, based on iPad parts they "acquired" early.

The Wall Street Journal suggests that the iPad 2 will be more streamlined than its big brother, with a thinner and lighter build. They're also expecting models for both AT&T

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Evernote 4 iPhone / iPod touch app starts with a clean slate

With most of the iOS app updates that we see here at TUAW, UI changes are minor, and the feature changes are usually evolutionary in nature. That's why we were sort of surprised with the changes in the iPhone / iPod touch client for Evernote that were just announced.

Evernote 4 started with a clean slate and totally changes the way the program looks and operates. The original app was launched on the same day as the App Store itself, making Evernote one of the oldest iPhone apps around.

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