ScreenFloat by Eternal Storms Software – the same developer behind Flickery for Mac – is a new app released in the Mac App Store last night that allows you to take screenshots that will float above other windows on your Mac. Why would you want to do that, instead of the classic CMD + Shift + 4? Because sometimes information can’t be copied & pasted, and a screenshot is the best you can do to have the information you need a few clicks away. With OS X’ default screenshot-taking capabilities, you’ll still be forced to switch between the main app you’re using (say, the browser or a text editor) and the screenshot you just took, perhaps opened with Preview or Quick Look. So Eternal Storms thought that, when screenshots are the best way to quickly capture information, your Mac should be able to let you easily and quickly take a look at the image. Read more
Apple Showcasing “Great AirPlay Apps” In The App Store
With the release of iOS 4.3, Apple enabled third-party developers to implement the AirPlay streaming technology in their apps, a feature that was previously exclusive to Apple’s own software on iOS 4.2. On the new iOS 4.3, not only does Safari allow you to stream video content from the browser to an Apple TV, developers also got the possibility to use the AirPlay APIs (after several requests) in their applications. Apps like Air Video or StreamToMe greatly benefit from the addition of AirPlay without any manual hacking.
To celebrate the new feature for all developers, Apple has put up a section on the App Store to showcase the first apps that make great use of AirPlay. “AirPlay-Enabled Apps” collects 11 different apps that have been updated to support wireless streaming, The list includes the VEVO Player, Air Video, ESPN Magazine, and Discovery Channel HD. All these apps let you beam video from your iOS device to the Apple TV in your local network.
You can find the section here, and we hope Apple will soon update it to feature more great apps for the iPhone and iPad. The problem? If you have a Verizon iPhone you might be out of luck.
iPad 2 Is Jailbroken
Jailbreaking the iPad 2 is quickly underway, as revealed by @comex and @chpwn this evening on Twitter. The Jailbreak has yet to be packaged, and no release date has been announced. Shown to be running on a white 3G iPad 2, Cydia is displayed as ready to launch – a replacement exploit found in the latest version of iOS 4.3 enabled the hackers to install Saurik’s directory. Previous works by @comex include an iBooks fix in the 4.2.1 jailbreak that enabled users to read DRM’d content, and a universal jailbreak web tool for iOS devices.
Phil Schiller: White iPhone This Spring
The elusive white iPhone 4 has become one kind of a myth among tech bloggers following Apple news and fans willing to get their hands on a different colored model of the popular device. Initially announced in June 2010 at the WWDC then delayed multiple times due to alleged manufacturing issues (light leaks, color paint, picture quality have been mentioned in the rumors), a series of DIY replacements have surfaced in the past months, but none of them quite managed to win the hearts of consumers that, at the same time, kept hearing about this white unit finally becoming available in Spring 2011.
Now it is Apple’s Phil Schiller to confirm the news officially through his verified Twitter account: the white iPhone is coming this Spring. In a reply to a customer, he says the white iPhone is a “beauty”. We have no doubts about it – well, at least basing on what we saw back in June 2010.
A number of reports in the past weeks suggested Apple had fixed the production issues with the device and it is now ready to ship it in volume. It’s also worth noting that Schiller didn’t mention the “iPhone 4” in his tweet, but we think it’s pretty clear that we’re not talking about an iPhone 5 available in Spring. It’s unclear whether Apple will release only a GSM version of the device, or both GSM and CDMA for Verizon. [via Engadget]
Donate To Red Cross for Japan Through iTunes
As noted by 9to5mac, Apple has enabled an option in the iTunes Store to donate to the American Red Cross for the Japan relief fund. If you want to make your donation to the earthquake and tsunami victims in Japan, you can by visiting this page and choosing to donate $5, $10, $25, $50, $100 or $200. Everything happens through the iTunes account you already have – a clever move to make donations easy and just a click away for iTunes users.
100% of your donation will go to the American Red Cross, which is set to provide food, shelter and assistance to the victims of the earthquake and tsunami.
Will The iPad 1 Keyboard Dock Work With The iPad 2? [Update: Yes]
A notable lack on Apple’s accessory page for the iPad 2 is the Keyboard Dock the company used to sell last year for the original iPad which allowed you to dock the device, charge it, and type with a physical keyboard at the same time. I own a 2010 Keyboard Dock and, in spite of its portrait-only functionality, it is a well-made piece of tech that I used a lot last summer when I needed to write my articles on the go.
Keyboard Dock is no more. Apple isn’t selling such an accessory for the iPad 2 (they only have a new dock for sale), and AppAdvice reports the dock you bought last year won’t work with the iPad 2: it doesn’t fit well and doesn’t charge the device.
The decision doesn’t come as a surprise considering Apple’s rapid move to touch interfaces instead of physical keyboard input. Clearly, Apple thinks the iPad’s virtual keyboard is great for most of the typing you’ll need to do, and if you really want a physical keyboard you can still get one of the third-party ones that will come out in the next weeks – or just buy an Apple Bluetooth wireless keyboard that works perfectly with the iPad. But that is, no native option for the iPad 2.
Update: we’re hearing from some of our readers that the Keyboard Dock typing works, but the iPad 2 doesn’t indeed fit very well and charging is rather random. Works for some, doesn’t do anything for others. We’ll look into this. Read more
Video Comparison Shows Safari on iPad 2 Is Incredibly Fast
When Apple announced the iPad 2 would get a new dual-core processor with improved performances, we all guessed that the device would also get at least double the RAM for much better app management and fast switching. In the days following the announcement and after the plethora of hands-on videos that were uploaded from San Francisco, it was still unclear whether or not the iPad 2’s Safari browser (undoubtedly one of the most-used apps by iPad owners) would be faster and snappier than its iPad 1 counterpart. Many had the feeling that, combining the improved iOS 4.3 with a new processor and more RAM, Safari would highly benefit to reach great performances and stability. This, however, remained a theory even after the reviews posted last week that failed at really showcasing the capabilities of the new Safari.
With the iPad 2 now out and available for everyone, the guys at TiPB posted a video last night a few hours after they got their iPad 2 to (finally) compare Safari on the iPad 2 with Safari on the original iPad. The results are impressive: with 9 tabs loaded and open on each browser, not only does the iPad 2 keep every tab loaded in memory, it also doesn’t display any “checkerboard effect” when scrolling. A major annoyance on Safari for iPad 1, in fact, was that with multiple tabs open the browser was usually forced to reload a tab when you switched to it because it didn’t have enough memory to keep it in a live, fully loaded state. This changes with the iPad 2 as you can see in the video below.
Scrolling in Safari is smooth as butter, and gone are the days when switching between tabs meant loading the entire page from scratch.
The difference in performance is quite clear, and browsing on the iPad 2 is definitely a step up from the original iPad in every way.
We’ll follow up later today with other videos showing the improved performances of the iPad 2 over the original iPad. Check out the video below. Read more
QuickShot: The First iPad 2 Camera App with Dropbox Uploading
If you just got a shiny new iPad 2 at your local Apple Store and you’d like to try out the cameras as proper photographic tools, take a look at the latest QuickShot update. We’ve already reviewed QuickShot here and it was a great and simple iPhone app that mimicked the default iOS camera app, but had Dropbox integration built-in to instantly upload photos to Dropbox.
The new version of the app comes with full iPad 2 support and we believe it’s the first iOS application to have Dropbox camera uploading for the new device.
Get the app here.
First iFixit Teardown Pics + Live Teardown from iFixyouri
And after the first unboxing photos and videos, here we have the first teardowns from iOS hardware experts iFixit and iFixyouri. The guys at iFixyouri are doing a live streaming teardown in collaboration with 9to5mac, they’re currently a heat gun to remove the front panel (which is attached with a lot of glue, as noticed by iFixit). Read more