The Verizon iPhone might lessen dropped calls, but it’s getting the short end of the stick thanks to the lack of Apple’s latest iOS 4.3 update. Heads up: a note in the iMovie support documents indicate that the Verizon iPhone isn’t compatible with the Apple TV just yet, as sending a movie from iMovie to the Apple TV requires the iOS 4.3 update for your iPhone, as well as the Apple TV Software 4.2. AirPlay has recently been vastly expanded in the iOS 4.3 update, adding support from Photos to other supporting apps, and you’ll need to hold on a little longer if the movie buff in you can’t wait to share home movies on the big screen.
Your Verizon iPhone Won’t Send iMovies To Your Apple TV Just Yet
#MacStoriesDeals - HUGE Thursday
So who’s getting a new iPad 2 tomorrow? Here are today’s deals on iOS, Mac, and Mac App Store apps that are on sale for a limited time, so get ‘em while they’re hot!
GarageBand for iPad Now Available
Following the release of iMovie for iPad, Apple also pulled the trigger on the second app unveiled at the March 2 event, GarageBand for iPad. The app is available now in the App Store at $4.99.
GarageBand for iPad features an intuitive interface depicting real music instruments you can play with your fingers and multitouch; with Smart Instruments, users who are not musicians but still want to play music can use the tools provided by the app to easily switch between chords and notes without actually having to precisely know music. For medium to advanced users, GarageBand offers a semi-professional music making and mixing environment with multi-track audio recording, exporting features, touch instruments with a realistic interface for drums, guitars, synthesizers, pianos and many more. GarageBand for iPad really is a full-functional port of the Mac version with the addition of multitouch that allows you, for example, to play instruments at different sensitivity levels thanks to the built-in support for pressure recognition through the accelerometer.
GarageBand looks like a must-have for iPad owners and an app that we’ll thoroughly test next week once we get our hands on the iPad 2. You can find it here at $4.99. Full changelog below. Read more
Apple Releases iMovie for iPad
As announced in a press releases earlier today, Apple has just released the new iMovie for iPad. It is available now in the App Store at $4.99 here. iMovie is a universal app for iPhone 4 and iPad 2, a free update for existing customers.
iMovie for iPad takes where the Mac and iPhone versions left off to bring a powerful yet easy to use movie editing experience to the iPad, deeply based on multitouch technology. Users of iMovie for iPad can easily import their photos shot on the iPad 2, or iPhone or iPod touch (or any other camera) through the Camera Connection Kit; movies recorded at 720p through the iPad 2’s back camera can be accessed from a Library popup menu to start editing right away. With a split-screen interface you can visualize the movie you’re editing in the top section, and manage or trim video and photo segments in the lower part of the iPad’s screen. You can pinch to zoom to additional parts of a video, use the precision editor to adjust videos with accuracy.
You can import songs from your iPod library to use for background audio, or use the built-in effects in iMovie. You can share videos on the web through Facebook, Youtube and a variety of other services, beam your creations to the Apple TV via AirPlay, or simply export to iTunes.
The iPad: Does It Need Programming Apps?
Many things have been said about the iPad as a content creation tool, rather than a device to consume media like music, movies and photos. In spite of the plethora of apps released in 2010 that proved you can actually do stuff on an iPad, at the iPad 2 event last week Steve Jobs himself wanted to remember the audience how the tablet is “no toy”, also thanks to the upcoming iMovie and GarageBand apps. But no matter how many apps allow you to produce and create original content using only your fingers and the virtual keyboard, there’s still a niche market Apple hasn’t addressed yet: coding apps. Read more
Developers Can Still Enable Multitasking Gestures in 4.3 Final with Xcode
With the final release of iOS 4.3 final yesterday, several readers asked us whether or not Apple pulled the multitasking gestures that had been implemented in developer betas of iOS 4.3. As we noted in January, multitasking gestures for iPad were only meant for testing purposes so developers could test the integration of gestures in their apps. The feature needed to be activated with Xcode.
We received word from several developers that the multitasking gestures can still be enabled in the final version of iOS 4.3 (build 8F190, same as GM), but you will need Xcode and an Apple Developer account to register the device for development and activate the gestures panel in the iOS Settings app. Again, the process takes less than a minute and you can find the instructions here.
The gestures in iOS 4.3 final are the same of earlier betas: four or five finger pinch to Home screen, swipe up to reveal the multitasking bar, swipe left or right to switch between apps. So if you have Xcode and a dev account, update your iPad to 4.3 final and you’ll still be able to activate gestures. [via RazorianFly]
Flipboard CEO Talks New Version, iPad 2
With the release of version 1.2 last night, the team at Flipboard has one again raised the bar for social magazines on the iPad. Flipboard 1.2, not different in the design from the previous iterations but richer in content, manages to extend the platform’s capabilities beyond articles and status updates with Instagram integration. The coolest iPhone-only social network these days is now baked directly into Flipboard thanks to an API that allows you to browse photos, comment on them and like them, discover and follow users without leaving the app or jumping to Safari. Everything happens through Flipboard. Together with that, a new feature called “social search” lets you browse for any term or hashtag within an easy-to-use popup menu that aggregates content from a variety of sources like Facebook, Twitter and the aforementioned Instagram.
In an interview with Robert Scoble, Flipboard CEO Mike McCue confirms Social Search is the first example of the implementation of Ellerdale, a company Flipboard acquired last year to build a smart algorithm for aggregating and displaying relevant and personalized content. Whilst this “intelligent system” is still in the works, all the members of Ellerdale are now working at the Flipboard office and have shipped the very first feature last night, social search. It’s very cool in the way it catches tweets, photos, articles and status updates from social media, but it’s not intelligent yet. More will come in the next months, we’re sure.
McCue also gives a hint at advertising coming in future versions of Flipboard. Some fullscreen, elegant banners have already been implemented in the Flipboard-formatted version of SF Gate, and he says they’re indeed targeting for this kind of ads: beautiful photography, fast and lightweight. The opportunity for publishers to team up with Flipboard (like SF Gate) and set up iPad-optimized versions of their articles is also something McCue is heavily betting on. Last night, Flipboard rolled out integration with Wired and Pictory, too.
Last, Flipboard is going to take advantage of the iPad 2’s improved hardware with the possibility to create more than two pages in the main screen – currently a limitation of the iPad 1 hardware and memory constraints. With the iPad 2 coming out tomorrow, we can’t wait to see how Flipboard will benefit from faster processor, graphics and more RAM. As for the competition and all the tablets coming out this year, McCue says they’re just going to wait and see.
Check out the video below.
Read more
Apple Confirms: iPad 2 Online Sales Beginning At 1 AM PT Tomorrow
With a press release that went out a few minutes ago, Apple confirmed that the iPad 2 will go on sale tomorrow in the United States in all 236 Apple retail stores, plus AT&T, Best Buy, Target, Verizon Wireless, Walmart and select Apple Authorized Resellers. The good news is, if you’re willing to buy one online you’ll be able to starting 1 AM PT on the Apple online store:
Apple today announced that iPad 2, the next generation of its magical device for browsing the web, reading and sending email, enjoying photos, watching videos, listening to music, playing games, reading ebooks and much more, will be available tomorrow at 5 p.m. local time at all 236 Apple retail stores in the US and through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com) beginning at 1 a.m. PT.
If you’re going to get an iPad 2 at the retail store, however, Apple will offer a Personal Setup service for setting up email and iTunes accounts and learn the basics of the App Store with an Apple employee. It is unclear at this point how many units Best Buy, Walmart and Target will be provided, but previous speculation suggested Apple had to face shipment issues for an early March launch. Steve Jobs said at the iPad 2 event they were going to ship the new device “in volume” though, so it’s really impossible to provide an estimate of availability now. If you’re going to get in line tomorrow, send us pics and videos at our tips inbox.
Press release below.
Apple Sets Up Temporary Store in Austin for SXSW
The SXSW 2011 conference kicks off in Austin tomorrow, and the iPad 2 debuts in Apple Stores and authorized retails chains tomorrow at 5PM. Over the past weeks, I’ve read several blog posts and tweets from people attending SXSW this year unsure whether or not they should pull off the conference to stay home and buy an iPad 2, go to Austin and spend hours in line at the nearest Apple Store (thus missing SXSW events) or just go to Austin without getting an iPad 2. See, SXSW is a rather huge event where startups launch and geeks from all over the U.S. meet and the launch of the iPad 2 right in the middle of it could be a deal-breaker for many. Most of all because once you see some people at the conference with an iPad 2, if you’re an Apple geek you’re going to want one.
Apple thought about these issues as well, and in order to sell a truckloads of iPads to SXSW attendees they decided to set up a temporary store in downtown Austin. The plan came together quickly last Monday, when an Apple executive confirmed they wanted to set up a pop-up store for two weeks in the Scarbrough Building on Congress Avenue.
On Wednesday, construction workers were busy retrofitting the 5,000-square-foot space in the building, at Congress and West Sixth Street, that Apple will lease for two weeks. Black vinyl sheeting covered the windows fronting Congress.
The store will be ready tomorrow and we guess they’ll be selling a lot of iPads to people attending SXSW. That’s just a clever more and, although it won’t stay there for long, we’re sure the store in Austin will be a great experience for all those at SXSW willing to get their hands on the latest gadget from Cupertino. If you have photos of the new store, the Tips box in the sidebar is just a click away. [via Statesman]