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iPhone 5 to feature ‘scent recognition’

Posted by admin under iPhone News on Thursday Mar 31, 2011

Leaked documents show that Apple is planning to include a ‘scent recognition’ feature in the iPhone 5 as an additional security measure.

When iPhone 5 owners first set up their handsets, they will be asked to place the iPhone in their underarm, in order to register their scent. Owners can also register the scents of up to five family members or friends who might occasionally use their iPhone.


Once this is done, the iPhone will only work if it can pick up the scent of one of its registered users. Perfume, cologne and deodorant will not affect the iPhone 5′s ability to pick up a scent as it is only capable of recognising organic pheromones.

A tiny ‘arometer’ will sit just by the microphone of the handset, alongside a 1ml tank of indelible ink that will immediately spray any unauthorised user of the iPhone. The ink cannot be washed away or even removed by solvents, making the offender easily recognisable to the police.

The feature was revealed in documents shown to Macworld by an source who wished to remain anonymous but has provided reliable information in the past. A related feature, which may not be available in the first version of iOS 5 but should be added at some stage is ‘mood recognition’, where the handset will not only be able to recognise individual scents, but the mood of its owner, which is determined by the pungency and intensity of the aroma.

This will be especially useful for those using a new sat-nav app planned for iOS 5 or to play music in their cars via an FM transmitter. If the driver becomes stressed while at the wheel, the sat-nav app will change its tone to offer calming platitudes as well as directions. When playing music, the iPhone will immediately play whale noises and other sounds from nature to calm the driver in high-stress situations.

There are some other clever features built in to the as-yet-unnamed sat-nav

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11 iPhone tips for total novices

Posted by admin under iPhone News on Thursday Mar 31, 2011

My very own mom just joined the ranks of
iPhone owners. (Welcome to the party, Mom!) Much as I was excited to show her all the cool stuff (FaceTime! Apps! Visual voice mail!), I quickly realized she needed to walk before she could run.

In other words, she needed a course in Basic iPhone Operation. After all, she was accustomed to a simple flip phone with a physical keypad. Going from that to an iPhone is like trading a
car for a 747: confusing, intimidating, and no doubt a little scary.

With that in mind, I put together this list of 11 tips for iPhone newcomers. If they seem overly obvious to you, well, you’re not the target audience. But I’ll bet you know someone who is, so feel free to share this with the iPhone newbies in your life. Trust me: they’ll thank you!

The Home button.

The Home button.

(Credit:
Screenshot by Rick Broida)

1. When in doubt, go Home.
Want to go back to the main screen, the one with all the icons? That’s called the Home screen. It doesn’t matter which app you’re using or task you’re performing–a single press of the Home button (the only physical button on the front of the iPhone) will return you to the Home screen.

2. Always turn your iPhone off before you slip it into your pocket.
Although your iPhone will switch itself into idle mode (where the screen turns off but the phone stays on) after a designated period of inactivity, you should get in the habit of manually turning off the screen. Otherwise you might accidentally place a call or run a battery-draining app while slipping the phone into your pocket. So remember: when you’re done using your iPhone, press the top button (aka, the Sleep/Wake button).

3. Send calls straight to voice mail.
Don’t want to answer the incoming call, but don’t want your iPhone to keep ringing and/or vibrating until it finally goes to voice mail? Just quickly double-press the Sleep/Wake button to immediately route

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Cablevision iPad App Delayed Amid Content Rights Dispute

Posted by admin under iPad News on Thursday Mar 31, 2011

Dow Jones


By Nat Worden, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- A live TV iPad app that Cablevision Systems Corp. (CVC)
planned to launch by the end of March has been delayed as a similar app recently
unveiled by Time Warner Cable Inc. (TWC) has exposed a dispute over content
rights between cable companies and their network partners.

Time Warner Cable’s app provides its cable TV and broadband customers access
to 32 live cable TV channels — like the Disney Channel, Discovery Channel and
Comedy Central — on their Apple Inc. (AAPL) tablet device in their home.
Cablevision’s planned app would expand on that, providing customers access to
all programming that is available through their cable box on their iPad.

The apps have raised hackles from programmers, who claim the cable companies
haven’t acquired the rights to distribute their content on the iPad. Time Warner
Cable confirms it has received a cease and desist letter from News Corp.’s (NWS,
NWSA) Fox TV networks, as well as other programmers. News Corp. owns The Wall
Street Journal as well as Dow Jones Newswires.

In addition, Scripps Networks Interactive Inc. (SNI) has publicly objected to
the app, while Viacom Inc. (VIA) and Discovery Communications Inc. (DISCA) have
raised objections privately, according to people familiar with the matter.

It wasn’t known how long Cablevision’s delay would last.

“We have launched our Optimum App for iPad on Cablevision’s campus and in
approximately 100 employee homes, and it works wonderfully,” said a spokesman
for Cablevision. “The application

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A ‘real’ Photoshop app is coming to the iPad

Posted by admin under iPad News on Thursday Mar 31, 2011

By Rosa Golijan

Adobe Photoshop Express has been available as an iPad app for quite some time, but — despite being quite powerful and feature-filled — it hasn’t been as appealing to most image-editing beginners as some other apps.

Based on Adobe’s keynote presentation during Photoshop World 2011 though, that might be changing soon.

Photography Bay reports that Adobe demonstrated its plans for the Photoshop for iPad app on Thursday and that there is a lot to be excited about. Based on the presentation, the future app will be a great deal more powerful (probably thanks to the fact that the iPad 2 is a graphics powerhouse), have nearly every menu option under the sun, take advantage of more multitouch gestures, and include a clever layer animation feature.

As you can see in the slightly blurry video of the demonstration above, the layer animation feature is one of those things that initially seems to have little reason for existence other than to show off how nifty an iPad’s user interface and touch screen are, but there’s more to it than that.

This showy feature will probably help make the app — and Photoshop itself — far more accessible to amateur image editors.

Sam Spratt, a professional digital artist for whom Photoshop is a key tool, explains that image editing beginners often struggle to comprehend features such as layers in particular. For those individuals, “the ability to see the layers of an image deconstructed to their individual shapes and transparencies almost instantly makes a difficult concept simple to grasp and utilize.”

There are no details as to when amateurs and professionals will be able to take advantage of the features shown off in Adobe’s keynote, but for the sake of better image memes, we hope it’s soon.

Related stories:

Rosa Golijan writes about tech here and there. She’s a bit obsessed with Twitter, loves to be liked on Article source: Read More

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Limited supply of Apple’s iPad 2 keeps 65% of eBay resales in US

Posted by admin under iPad News on Thursday Mar 31, 2011

By Neil Hughes

Published: 11:50 AM EST

With demand outstripping supply, most iPad 2 units sold on eBay have shipped to buyers in the U.S., compared with just a third of the site’s iPad sales remaining in America a year ago.

The initial iPad 2 sales data from eBay was shared with AppleInsider on Thursday, and provides an idea of who is buying the iPad 2, and what models are most popular. A total of 65 percent of the iPad 2 units sold on eBay went to domestic buyers, nearly doubling the 35 percent of sales of the first-generation iPad that stayed the U.S. when it launched a year ago.

Sales of the iPad 2 on eBay also show that the least-expensive, $499 Wi-Fi-only 16GB model is the most popular option, accounting for 30 percent of sales. The second-most-popular model is the most expensive option, as the $829 3G-equipped 64GB model represented 23 percent of sales on the site.

eBay has enforced stricter rules on iPad 2 sales in 2011, compared with sales of the first-generation iPad in 2010. Specifically, Apple authorized resellers are only allowed to list up to 50 items per week, and eBay top-rated sellers can only list up to four items per week, while last year authorized resellers could list unlimited items and top-sellers could list 8 items.

iPad 2 resellers are also making a healthy profit on eBay: The 16GB Wi-Fi model sells on eBay for an average of $198 above retail, while the 64GB model with 3G sells for $406 over the regular asking price.

Domestic resales of the iPad have grown on eBay with the launch of the second-generation device as Apple has struggled to meet demand for the product in the U.S. since it launched earlier this month. Apple’s retail stores as well as its partners’ completely sold out of the iPad 2 in its first few days, and stock has trickled in ever since.

But Apple has also improved estimated shipping times for new iPad 2 orders from its website to three

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More than an iPhone robbery, more than a random death

Posted by admin under iPhone News on Thursday Mar 31, 2011

Smartphone_robbery As the Red Line train I was riding stopped at Fullerton Thursday morning, a few morning passengers craned their necks to look for the stairway where Sally Katona-King was fatally injured this week by a smartphone thief making a getaway.

CTA passengers have been keeping their valuables more secure, and have warned one another to do the same, whether they harbor a morbid interest in that fateful stairway or not.

The story works on us at a couple of levels. Naturally, no one wants to be robbed of an expensive possession.

But it resonates as powerfully as it does because of Sally.

She was a good person. She was neither the victim nor the perpetrator in the robbery just before. She may not even have seen it. She, like many of us, was simply a CTA rider.

Tribune police reporter Jeremy Gorner has been working his sources for the answers that will be important to concluding the manhunt for her killer.

Chicago police say they have witnesses who were on the platform when she was knocked down those stairs by the fleeing robber. The police also handed out fliers about the incident to passersby outside the station during the Tuesday afternoon rush hour, with hopes that more witnesses will come forward and speak with detectives. They were going to look at surveillance footage in the area to see if that could shed some light on the investigation.

If my hunch is right, a resolution to the case would mean more to Chicago CTA riders than an arrest for any other public transportation pickpocket.

– James Janega and Jeremy Gorner

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Mozy releases iPhone app for browsing, sharing backups

Posted by admin under iPhone News on Thursday Mar 31, 2011

Not content to let competitors like Carbonite have all the iOS fun, online backup service Mozy has released its own iPhone app.

Mozy Complete Coverage »

Pricing

Best current price: $0.00


  • Mozy testing online backup for iOS devices

  • Hands on with iOS 4.3

  • SugarSync

  • Review: The iPad 2

  • Amazon launches cloud storage, music service

  • Online backup options for photographers

Mozy’s new app for iPhone and iPod touch lets you view files from all of your backed up computers. You can search for a specific file, view a folder of photos as a gallery, download a high-resolution copy of a photo to your device, and e-mail files to friends, family, and coworkers.

In addition, Mozy supports iOS 4.0’s Document Sharing features, allowing you to open a file in any app that supports it. Even Facebook makes a cameo, as you can choose to publish a handful of file types to the omnipresent social networking site.

Mozy 1.0 is free and requires an iPhone or iPod touch running at least iOS 4.0, but you’ll need an account from Mozy.com to use it. The company offers paid plans (which it recently restructured, disappointing a good portion of its users) that start at $6 per month for 50GB of storage. While it also offers a free plan with 2GB of space, I had to resort to Google to find it.

Mozy announced its plans for an iOS app earlier in March, when it also revealed that it was gearing up to compete with file sync and collaboration services. It is now beta testing desktop clients that enable real-time file sync between multiple computers, features that have been popularized by services like Dropbox and SugarSync.

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iPad Case Review: Bracketron Twist360 iPad Case and Stand

Posted by admin under iPad News on Thursday Mar 31, 2011

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iPad Trash Talk from HP, Dell Sounds Like Sour Grapes

Posted by admin under iPad News on Thursday Mar 31, 2011

I love a good flame war between rival tech companies, but two recent attacks on Apple’s iPad by HP and Dell executives failed to stir my emotions, except one: sympathy.

Reading the remarks of Dell marketing head Andy Lark and HP senior vice president Stephen Dewitt made me feel sorry for both companies. Apple’s destroying them in the tablet market, and there’s not a whole lot they can say or do about it.

Dell’s Delusion

I feel pain for Lark, who for some reason said the following to CIO Australia about the iPad: “An iPad with a keyboard, a mouse and a case [means] you’ll be at $1,500 or $1,600; that’s double of what you’re paying.” As PC World readers pointed out, an iPad mouse doesn’t exist, and if you add a keyboard and case to the priciest iPad, you still wouldn’t crack $1,000.

But that misguided comment isn’t my main concern. The bulk of Lark’s comments are about how Dell has taken a “considered approach to tablets” because the company does most of its business in the enterprise market. I interpret that to mean Dell wants to create Windows tablets — the company has been showing off a 10-inch concept device running Windows 7 — but right now, the software isn’t working in Dell’s favor. Windows 7 just isn’t designed for touchscreens, so Dell will not really be able to embrace tablets until Windows 8 comes around. Being powerless on the software front must be tough, especially while Apple is making its hardware thinner, lighter and faster.

HP’s Palaver

DeWitt’s iPad bashing is a little more obscure than Lark’s comments. Speaking at a conference for HP’s channel partners, DeWitt criticized the relationship Apple has with the companies that sell and service its products. “Apple’s relationship with partners is transactional, completely. Apple doesn’t have an inclusive philosophy of partner capabilities, and that’s just absurd,” he said.

I can’t speak for Apple’s channel partners, but it seems

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iPhone 5 4G? Could fall release mean LTE?

Posted by admin under iPhone News on Thursday Mar 31, 2011

There have been a lot of rumors floating around the web that the iPhone 5 release would be delayed until fall. Apple has had a pattern of releasing new iPhone hardware in the summer during its World Wide Developers Conference, but according to a release from Apple earlier this week, only new versions of Mac OS and iOS will be introduced this year (not that they’d spoil the iPhone 5 in the invite).

So what’s up with the delay? Macotakara, a Mac blog in Japan, reports Apple hasn’t ordered components for the next-gen iPhone. Because of that, the iPhone 5 could be planned for Apple’s 2012 fiscal year, which starts on September 25. It’s likely that Apple could release the phone in October or November so the company doesn’t miss the big holiday season sales. From what we’ve seen around the web, a fall release is imminent. But, Apple has fooled us in the past, and the company has been known to quickly change its plans at times.

The delay may be worth the wait, though. A fall release seems awfully suspicious and leads us to believe we may be seeing a 4G iPhone. LTE is being introduced to more and more phones, and many Android devices with LTE capabilities are expected this fall. So, autumn would be the perfect time to jump into the LTE game and not get left in the dust, which has never been Apple’s way of doing things.

That being said, the company has been weary of quickly adopting new technologies in the past. Take the original iPhone for example. The first edition was launched with EDGE while other phones out at the time had 3G.

Again, take all of this with a grain of salt because Apple keeps its secrets tightly locked up, and this

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