Netflix: More Viewing Hours on Apple TVs Than iPads

In today’s earnings release, movie streaming service Netflix has announced that viewing hours on Apple TV have surpassed those through the iPad. What’s interesting is that the Apple TV was released in September 2010 and has sold less than two million units since then; the iPad, on the other hand, was released in April and has sold almost 15 million units.

It has to be considered, though, that Netflix makes more sense on a TV’s big screen than a tablet’s, and Apple implemented a native Netflix front-end on the second-gen Apple TV. The iPad has access to Netflix through an app that has to be downloaded manually from the App Store.

In spite of the iPad’s bigger numbers, people still like to watch movies on their TVs, apparently. Perhaps the iPad is more meant for “web video”, rather than just movies. [TiPB via Yahoo]

Gmail Notifications Come To The Desktop with Chrome

A few minutes ago Google rolled out a new feature for Gmail and Chrome users: native Gmail notifications. These notifications are only available to Google Chrome users for now, and they’re very similar to Growl in the way they appear on your computer on top of any window you’re currently on. Unlike Growl, though, it all runs natively within Chrome and Gmail.

These notifications, however, seem to be in need of some serious tweaking. Testing them briefly, I’ve noticed that they stick on the desktop, there’s no timeout option (Growl offers this functionality in its preferences) and they’re definitely slower then Growl associated to, say, Mailplane. Also, they don’t work in Safari and Firefox – just Chrome. They work both with new email messages, new “important” messages (in Priority Inbox) and IMs.

To activate Gmail notifications, head over your inbox, then Settings and enable as you can see in the screenshot below.

The AppSumo MEGA Mac Sumo Bundle Giveaway

We’ve given away some AppSumo bundles as of late that include everything from productive power plants to apps that allow you to just sit down and relax. What if we combined all of those previous bundles, and added must-have utilities like Skitch, Yummy FTP, and IconBox2? The MEGA Mac Sumo Bundle might initially sound like a character out of Mega Man, but it’s really just the latest bundle we’re giving away to another five lucky readers.

Read more

MacBook Pro Stock Running Low, Update Coming Soon?

According to a report posted by MacRumors, stock for the 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pros is beginning to run low suggesting that Apple may be planning to not ship orders to suppliers in order to prepare an update to the product line, expected for the first half of 2011.

The 17” MacBook Pro generally appears to be in the shortest supply at the moment, with Amazon quoting a shipment window of 1-2 months for the base Core i5 model and several popular resellers connected through Amazon’s systems also showing low stocks of the 17” models. For its part, Apple continues to show “within 24-hour” availability of all MacBook Pro models in its online stores, suggesting that the company may be prioritizing remaining stock to serve its customers directly.

An update to the MacBook Pro family could integrate Intel’s Sandy Bridge processors and internal Solid State Drives, not to mention a new thinner design to reduce weight and increase portability like Apple did with the MacBook Airs last year. It is unclear whether or not Apple will also implement USB 3.0 or Intel’s Light Peak, but what’s for sure is that we should be hearing news about the Pro line any day now.

Personally, a lighter and slightly thinner 15” MacBook Pro with built-in SSD and higher resolution screen would be my perfect machine.

Where To? for iPhone Gets 3D Augmented Reality

Where To? by Future Tap is one of the most popular apps ever released for the iPhone. In fact, I remember buying the app years ago on my original iPhone, and I still have it. Where To?, like many other alternatives that eventually came out in the App Store, gives you detailed information of nearby points of interest using the iPhone’s built-in GPS technology and Google Maps. It features a popular and unique “click-wheel” interface that Apple even used in patents to describe functionalities of iOS apps and, overall, it’s powered by a great design that’s really a pleasure to look at.

A few minutes ago, Where To? got a major update that introduces a neat 3D Augmented Reality feature I’m just playing around with as we speak. The Future Tap developers added this new option as a $0.99 in-app purchase that’s a no-brainer for as much as it’s well realized and perfectly consistent with the rest of the app. As the app fetches your location and provides you a list of POIs, you can switch to the usual map view and you’ll notice a new “eye” icon in the bottom toolbar that activates Augmented Reality. Unlike other AR software, Where To’s 3D implementation stands out because of the use of OpenGL that brings smooth animations to the reality layer captured by the iPhone’s camera. When pointing the iPhone, the app will create a virtual grid that displays POIs as boxes, all based on the distance between the user and the target. The developers explain:

Our solution: First, results are displayed in a real 3D world and their size and stacking order depends on the distance. Then, you can zoom in and out using the gestures already known from the map: Double-tap to zoom in, two-finger-tap to zoom out, pinch for fine grained zooming. Zooming of course affects the camera picture as well.

Where To? 3.5 also uses the gyroscope for much smoother AR animations and location info. In my initial tests, I’ve found the system to work exactly as the developers described it in the introductory blog post; you can zoom it and pan out with two fingers, tap on a POI’s box to get to the usual portrait view. The UI is gorgeous.

Where To? 3.5 is available here at $2.99. To see the app in action, check out the promo video below. Read more

Glasses-Free 3D Springboard Tweak Coming Soon to Cydia [Video]

The jailbreak community is always working on the “next thing” that will make your friends go “wow” when they see your modded iPhone. Developer Apocalypse is working on a new tweak called 3DBoard that will add a subtle 3D effect to the icons on your Springboard when you tilt your device. There is a demo video embedded below, but I’m not sure how much the effect can be spotted in the video.

Anyway, it will be available soon in Cydia at $4. [Gizmodo via Youtube] Read more

AT&T May Offer Unlimited Data To Previous Customers To Keep iPhone Users

As news spreads about Verizon’s unlimited data plan being available for the iPhone, AT&T could fight back by rewarding previous customers (who had an unlimited data plan before AT&T’s new policies took effect) with the option to subscribe to an unlimited plan. For AT&T customers who switched off the unlimited data plan, they’ll have the option to attain it once again.

From the Associated Press,

Verizon Wireless will start offering the iPhone on Feb. 10 with a draw that AT&T no longer offers to new subscribers: a plan with unlimited data usage. But The Associated Press has learned that some AT&T iPhone users on limited plans won’t need to move to Verizon for unlimited data.

In an unadvertised loophole, AT&T Inc. has allowed subscribers who have had an unlimited data plan in the past to switch back. That includes anyone who had an iPhone before June, when the limited plans took effect.

You’d never see this kind of fighting over an Android phone - I don’t see AT&T extending their policies for the upcoming Motorola Atrix, which has a laptop dock available for greater productivity. Clearly the iPhone is more important to these carriers than its competitors. Between AT&T changing eligibility dates, and their previous mudslinging before the iPhone 4 launch, AT&T is vying to keep customers on their network.

But why is AT&T worried? While it isn’t clear to the public yet on how Apple will update the iPhone 4 on Verizon, customers can expect that the next generation iPhone will appear on AT&T’s network this summer. Does AT&T know something we don’t? Customers may stick around on AT&T just to have the latest hardware: I don’t expect many to pay a large termination fee on AT&T when Verizon launches their iPhone 4 - that switch would more likely happen when those contracts finally run out. I’m not in the camp that exclaims AT&T would suddenly lose a massive base of their customers…unless Verizon would get the next generation iPhone at the same time as well. I doubt it: I’d like to think Apple purposely misaligned their launch dates between carriers so Apple could maintain (and protect) their relationship with AT&T, while carefully extending their phone to a base of new customers. It’s not AT&T that should be worried about mass defection, it’s Android manufacturers selling phones on Verizon that should be worried.

[Associated Press via MacRumors]