Posts in news

Mac App Store Adds NetNewsWire Lite To Its Catalogue Of Apps

NetNewsWire, one of the best Mac RSS readers has reached version 4.0 and before a full version is completed, a new ‘lite’ edition has been released on to the Mac App Store. Whilst it is limited in a number of respects, it has an improved and refined UI, is free and remains of the better RSS readers on the Mac.

The biggest limitation is that it doesn’t support syncing, that’ll be a big bummer for many of you, but it’s developer Brent Simmons says that will be coming soon in the full edition of NetNewsWire. The other limitations are the lack of starred items, AppleScript support and searching amongst other more minor ones. Simmons does provide users some comfort in saying “That it supports gestures. That you can edit feed names inline. That it launches and quits very fast.

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Does The iPad 2 Have 512 MB of RAM?

While Apple never provides exact information on the amount of RAM they manage to build into their mobile devices, speculation and teardowns in the past always offered good indication and proof of the specs of iPhones, iPod touches and iPads. We know the iPhone 4 has 512 MB of RAM (likely to jump up to 1 GB this summer with the iPhone 5) and the iPad 1 only featured 256 MB of memory. The iPad 2 was announced yesterday, and now the question is: how much RAM does the A5-powered new tablet have?

According to a Korean semiconductor analyst quoted by AppleInsider, the iPad 2 has double the RAM of its predecessor – 512 MB. The analyst apparently also revealed through a series of tweets that Apple is using LPDDR2 memory in the iPad, contrary to LPDDR1 from the original iPad.

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of Concord Securities also told AppleInsider that the RAM in the iPad 2 would run at a higher clock speed of 1,066MHz for greater memory bandwidth than the 800MHz memory in the iPhone 4.

Kuo also indicated back in January that the iPad 2 would have LPDDR2 RAM at a speed of 1,066MHz, corroborating Lee’s more recent claims. Kuo said the memory would be supplied by both Samsung and Hynix.

Previous rumors pointed to the iPad 2 featuring 512 MB or 1 GB of RAM. Someone got it right eventually, but we think the most important achievement for Apple isn’t the amount of RAM or Ghz in the A5 – rather, we’d focus on the improved specs in a thinner design that yet haven’t compromised the battery life. That should be the most important thing in the consumer experience and, together with a faster and snappier device, what will make sure Apple sells millions of this thing this year, again.

Update: Softpedia also notes that the iMovie for iPad webpage should confirm the new device has 512 MB of RAM. In fact, the app won’t work on the iPad 1 but it already does on the iPhone 4 and iPod touch 4G which, guess what, have 512 MB of RAM.

Mobile Payment Service Square Hits Milestone And Is Featured By Apple

Yesterday was a pretty big day for Square, with the mobile payments startup managing to reach the milestone of processing more than $1 million in payments per day. It was also featured in Apple’s 2010: Year of the iPad video that was played at its iPad 2 event yesterday (you can stream or download the keynote if you missed it, Square is featured 11 minutes in).

The startup has processed a steady increase in payment transactions since last fall when the figure was a couple of million dollars per week. In January, Kevin Rabois, the chief operating officer of Square, said that they expected to process $40 million in transactions in Q1 2011. Also compared to last fall the company is also adding 100,000 new merchants per month as opposed to 30,000.

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Best Buy Will Have iPad 2 at Launch

It looks like with the second-generation iPad Apple is really trying to replicate the distribution success of the first one. Indeed, Steve Jobs said yesterday that with a US launch on March 11 and a wider rollout in (at least) 26 more countries by March 25 this thing will be “everywhere”. But not just Apple retail stores, which helped getting the original iPad in the hands of millions of consumers last year.

Best Buy has already confirmed on their website they will have the iPad 2 at launch. 9to5mac speculates same will happen with Sam’s Club and Walmart – these are all current retailers of the iPad 1 and we wouldn’t be surprised at all to see the iPad 2 being available again through their channels.

So now the question is: will you get a white or black iPad 2?

Firemint Announces Real Racing 2 HD with Enhanced Graphics for iPad 2

Just in time for some truly magical iPad 2 hands-on videos featuring games being played on the new device, developer Firemint has announced that the brand new version of award-winning game Real Racing HD will take advantage of the more powerful graphic capabilities offered by the iPad 2.

Firemint says they were not aware of the detailed specs of the iPad 2, but they had a fairly accurate idea that turned out to be good for what they’ve been building. That means gyroscopic controls, faster graphics, lighter form factor easier on gamers’ hands when holding the device.

Real Racing 2 HD has been significantly enhanced beyond what could work on existing devices, and our efforts have definitely given us a head start on iPad 2.

All these attributes combined with our enhancements to Real Racing 2 HD will create the most precise and intuitive car racing experience on any device. The 1080p HDMI output also opens up some great possibilities.

We can’t wait to see more developers jumping on board with great-looking games built specifically for the iPad 2. March 11 can’t come soon enough.

Just How Big Is The iPad 2 Battery?

Good question. This big, compared to the first iPad:

We’re not entirely sure about the 1.8x figure provided by our friend Nils, but taking a look at another photo from the Engadget liveblog seems to confirms we have three bigger battery packs now built right into the (thinner) iPad.

Apple’s tech specs page says it’s a “built-in 25-watt-hour rechargeable lithium-polymer battery” with up to 10 hours of usage.

The “Mystery Port” On The iPad 2? It Wasn’t Thunderbolt, It’s The Microphone

In the weeks that lead to the official iPad 2 announcement today, you might remember some leaked case designs for the new device suggested there was a new “mystery port” at the top of the device. Some speculated it was USB, some said Mini DisplayPort, some even guessed it could be a port for the new Thunderbolt technology Apple launched with the new MacBook Pros last week.

Well it turns out, the case manufacturers were right, the rumors were not. There is indeed an opening in the top part, but it’s for the iPad’s internal microphone that’s been relocated in the middle instead of next to the headphone jack.

So, no Thunderbolt. But that mic sure must be beautiful to look and whisper at. [MacRumors via Engadget]

Apple’s Digital AV Adapter Works With 1st iPad

If you’re looking for HDMI out video on devices other than the iPad 2, you might be happy knowing Apple’s Digital AV Adapter works with your iPhone 4, iPod touch 4th gen, and first iPad if you’re inclined to hold onto it for another year. These devices will only output 720p video, however, but keep in mind that’s still technically HD quality. If you’re looking for video mirroring, it appears to only be supported by the iPad 2. The Digital AV Adapter is available for $39.00 in the Apple Store.

[via Engadget]