Here Comes The (Fake) Angry Birds Movie Trailer

They say you can tell the success of a franchise from the number of additional material, gadgets, toys and extra stuff it generates besides the main line of products. Angry Birds is the perfect example: it started as an iPhone app, then it landed on the iPad, Android, home consoles. Then Rovio outsourced the production of plush toys, cellphone and tablet cases, made a deal with Universal for a movie tie-in (that’s actually well done) and there are thousands of fans worldwide coming up with the craziest Angry Birds-related creations every day. Like cakes and LEGO. The next step, the discovery of a fake movie trailer on Youtube, doesn’t come as a surprise at all at this point.

The video is embedded below, and it’s somewhat disturbing. If only because it feels “real”, with the “government” studying the behavior of the birds in secret labs and the main character feeling bad about fighting pigs but killing the birds in the process.

Totally crazy. Oh, and it’s directed by Michael Bay! Check it out below. [via The Next Web] Read more

Curious iPad 2 Camera Bug Generates Color-crazy Photos & Videos

A few days ago we reported the FaceTime app on the iPad 2 might have some issues with the cameras “freezing” on the last displayed video call until a user restarts the device. I experienced this problem personally and it’s very annoying, as it forces you to close everything and reboot. Yet the issues with iPad 2 cameras reported by Cult Of Mac (and other users in my Twitter timeline last week, too) certainly are more interesting. Mainly because the screenshots taken to demonstrate the issue are completely crazy.

I compiled some still images from a recording that I made while inside a car wash. I had my iPad 2 in my bag, and I figured that, since I’ve yet to record a video on it, I could just record my trip through the car wash. During the two and a half minutes that I was in there, I noticed that the colors were “glitching-out.” It’s happened three times now.

Apparently the issue hasn’t been fixed in iOS 4.3.1, and it’s unclear whether it’s a software-related problem, a more serious hardware flaw. When I saw the first Twitpics of these crazy iPad 2 shots last week I thought it was an isolated issue happening to a couple of users, now Cult Of Mac says they received dozens of similar reports. I, for one, can say the issue with FaceTime and the cameras freezing is most definitely real, although I can’t confirm on the “color glitching” problem reported above. If you’re experiencing problems with your iPad 2’s cameras, drop a comment below or, even better, open a thread on Apple Discussions.

 

Rumor: Cloud-based iOS 5 Coming this Fall with New Location & Music Services

Following the speculation that Apple might soon seed a GM build of OS X Lion to developers, TechCrunch now reports the long-awaited major revamp of iOS, dubbed iOS 5, has been pushed back to fall, with a possible WWDC preview in June. The rumor is interesting because it breaks Apple’s usual release cycle and media event pattern: in the past years, Apple previewed a new version of iPhone OS (and then iOS) with a media event in March / April, and then released it by the WWDC, or soon after that together with the availability of a new iPhone model. And in the past years, this plan has worked quite well for Apple: developers had time to test the OS in the months leading up to the WWDC, whilst everyone else was getting ready for a new iPhone in June / July. According to TechCrunch, this is about to change.

Citing “two solid sources”, MG Siegler reports this year’s plan involves a preview of the new OS at the WWDC, and a public release “this fall”. Putting the pieces together, as TechCrunch also notes, pushing iOS 5 back to fall would play well with Apple’s usual music event in September. But why would Apple use the music event to do some major iOS-related announcement? TechCrunch speculates it’s all about the cloud: the rumored “music locker” service will be ready this fall, and being a major new feature of iOS 5 Apple might as well wait until September to unveil it. iOS 5 is also rumored to introduce a new UI, a new notification system, direct OS X integration. Read more

Cydia 1.1 Is Here! Speed, Stability and Search Improvements Plus A Resume Feature

Jay Freeman, a.k.a Saurik just tweeted out that Cydia 1.1 is out; the update focuses on being even “faster, slimmer and more stable”. It also adds an improved search algorithm and a “resume where you left off” feature in what is a really solid update to the app. To get the update all you need to do is run Cydia and it will prompt you to run some updates.

Cydia 1.1: faster, slimmer, and more stable; including an improved search algorithm and “resume where you left off”. Available in Cydia now!

Many people will be glad to hear that speed has most definitely been improved in the app and it is now far quicker at loading to a fully loaded state as well as checking for updates, searching and loading the various categories of repositories. As Freeman says in his tweet, there is a new search algorithm, which as he explained in a comment earlier this month includes “an integer-arithmetic radix-sorted relevancy algorithm” which does make a little bit of difference from my quick testing. Perhaps more helpful is that the search results screen has been tweaked to make the results slightly smaller so that more can fit on the screen at any one time, helpful to quickly scan across the results to the one you want.

One of the oft-requested features for Cydia was support for multi-tasking, however as Freeman explained in some comments, this is not feasibly possible because of the requirement that Cydia run as Root whilst SpringBoard (which controls the suspension and resumption of apps) does not, meaning it could not control Cydia like it can a normal app and let it run in the background. However in Cydia 1.1, Freeman has managed to largely resolve the issue of multi-tasking with a “resume where you left off” feature which lets you quickly (I experienced less than 4 seconds wait time) get back to exactly where you were in the app, whether it be on a search page or inside a section folder.

Retina Display Featured In Latest “If You Don’t Have An iPhone” Ad

The iPhone 4’s Retina Display is the latest feature to be showcased in Apple’s new advertising campaign characterized by the “If you don’t have an iPhone” tag line. It highlights how without a Retina Display,  “movies aren’t this dramatic”, “maps aren’t this clear”, “emails aren’t this detailed” and “memories aren’t this memorable”.

Jump the break to watch this latest ad, as well as the other four featured in the “If you don’t have an iPhone” ad series which demonstrate Game Center, the App Store, iBooks and the iTunes store.

Read more

OS X Lion GM Coming Soon?

TechCrunch reports tonight Apple has been gathering feedback and crash reports from developers testing the first preview build of the next major version of OS X, 10.7 Lion, and the operating system is now nearing the “GM” stage. When a new OS reaches the Golden Master status, that means it’s usually ready for public release – although Apple previously announced Lion wouldn’t ship until Summer 2011. Indeed, TechCrunch also speculates a public release could happen around the WWDC – which should be scheduled for June as usual.

Specifically, Apple is gearing up to deploy an OS X Lion update to developers that they may be classifying as the “GM1″ release, we’ve heard. “GM” or “Golden Master” is a title reserved for software that is complete. But from what we’ve heard, this is only the initial Golden Master candidate. In other words, don’t get too excited just yet.

If Apple is planning to deploy multiple GM builds of Lion, that would keep them on track for another (possibly final) GM build / release candidate seeded at the WWDC and public availability soon after that. As MG Siegler notes, the GM seed of OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard was released a few weeks ahead of the public launch.

The first developer preview of Lion was seeded on February 24th. Apple decided to rely on the Mac App Store (and the redeem code system) for the distribution of the developer preview, which saw several issues with canceled downloads and slow loading times arose at first. Apparently Apple has fixed the issues with the Mac App Store distributing OS updates on a large scale, and the GM build is almost ready to go. In February, TechCrunch correctly suggested a beta of Lion was about to be released just a day before the actual developer seed. Among the new features of Lion (such as a complete Finder rewrite, new Mail app, multitouch gestures and the Launchpad), many speculate Apple might bring direct integration with the Finder and iOS devices wirelessly, through the new AirDrop utility.

Kalimat Takes On Words With Friends; Remix For Speed Play

If you haven’t had enough of word based tile games for your iPhone, Kalimat is ready to take on Scrabble and Words With Friends as your go to game of choice. While I’m personally not a fan of the OpenFeint ecosystem in general, I was able to anonymously create a new profile with a gamer name to play online. Kalimat is interesting not because of differentiation in run of the mill gameplay, but because of its additional remix mode. Remix mode is interesting because there’s a timer (no casual thinking / cheating here), and you can swap out one letter per turn. The speed based gameplay is pretty wicked, and I thoroughly enjoyed this. There is also an additional secret tile (kind of like landing on a bonus in Jeopardy… okay it’s nothing like that) that awards you an additional fifty points. The Ali Baba can change the game at any time, so you’ll always want to be thinking of high scoring words to stay ahead. Kalimat supports multiple users, and the game board itself is easy to use with simple drag and drop controls. If a player drops a word on the board you’re unfamiliar with, you can look it up in the dictionary or simply chat with your opponent. For $2.99 in the App Store, Kalimat is a refreshing alternative in the word-game genre.

The Best PDF Reader for iPad, PDF Expert, Now Available on iPhone

I am a huge fan of PDF Expert on the iPad: developed by Readdle, I choose PDF Expert when I need to read documents on my iPad (and now iPad 2) because the app’s fast, has a nice interface, can import things from Dropbox and other online services and, most of all, has support for annotations / text notes / highlights / signatures and forms. Put simply: it’s great. And now it’s available on the iPhone, too.

First off, a complaint: I don’t like the fact that the iPhone version is sold separately at $9.99 and it’s not an universal app. Considering the similarities between the two versions, PDF Expert should become a universal app priced, perhaps, at a slightly higher price. PDF Expert for iPhone is basically a “mini” version of the iPad counterpart, and by “mini” I mean that it just fits on the smaller screen. All the features of PDF Expert for iPad have been ported over: highlights, notes, annotations, forms, online services, fast engine. It’s really the same app, working on the iPhone’s screen.

If you already own PDF Expert for the iPad, you know it’s a great app. So if you would like to have it on the iPhone as well, you’ll have to spend $9.99 again. If you don’t have PDF Expert, make sure to read my initial iPad review and then choose carefully between the two versions because it’s not a universal app.

Apple Wins First Round of Patent Battle Against Nokia

According to Reuters news agency, a US panel has said that Apple didn’t infringe any patents from Finland-based cellphone company Nokia. The 5 patents claimed by Nokia in the past months included mobile phones, portable music players and computers.

A judge at the International Trade Commission, which hears many patent cases, said that Apple did not violate the Nokia patents.

In the past months, the two companies fired back at each other with a series of lawsuits. In September 2010 Apple sued Nokia in the UK over 9 cellphone-related patents the company had purportedly implemented in their products, and sued again in January challenging one of the seven patents filed by Nokia in its lawsuit against Apple in Germany. Indeed, had previously sued Apple in the U.S., U.K., Germany and the Netherlands over 37 patent infringements claiming that Apple “owed it royalties for using Nokia technology that allows such basic mobile tasks as sending email or downloading applications”.

More specifically, Nokia sued Apple in May 2010 over five patents related to “enhanced speech and data transmission, and antenna configurations that improve performance and save space” that, according to the Finnish company, Apple implemented in their iPhones and iPads. Before that, Nokia had filed a lawsuit in October 2009 accusing Apple of infringing 10 patents and demanding royalties for more than 51 million iPhones sold since then.

We’ll update this article with more information as details surface in the next hours.

Bloomberg reports a statement from Nokia:

While we don’t agree that there has been no violation, we’ll wait to see the details of the ruling before we decide on any next steps,” said Laurie Armstrong, a spokeswoman for Espoo, Finland-based Nokia.

Apple has a “no comment”:

Kristin Huguet, a spokeswoman for Apple, said the Cupertino, California-based company had no comment. The judge’s reasons will be released to the public after both sides have a chance to redact confidential business information.