iPad 2: Retina Display, Lighter, Camera, Gyroscope and…USB Port?

According to a report from Chinese-language Economy Daily News also published by Digitimes, industry sources are claiming these will be the five key features Apple will add to the next generation iPad:

  • Video phone
  • Better mobility
  • USB port
  • New display technology
  • 3-axis gyroscope

Which, put simply, means: FaceTime camera, thinner and lighter device, a USB port, a Retina Display and same iPhone 4 gyroscope. Many reports have surfaced from “industry sources” close to Digitimes in the past, and with rumors of Apple ramping up production of the next generation iPad for a Q1 2011 launch it is possible that these rumors have a solid foudation. Read more

Three UK Teases Subsidized iPad Plans

With a brief post on the company’s blog this morning, Three UK confirmed that they’ll be offering subsidized iPads “in the coming months”. The plan is to offer new purchase options for the WiFi + 3G model when combined with a data plan.

Three today announced it will offer new purchase options for iPad users, including more affordable prices when purchased with a data service plan, for iPad with Wi-Fi + 3G models in the coming months. iPad allows users to connect with their apps and content in a more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before.

Carrier Orange UK confirmed rumors of subsidized iPads just three days ago. Three’s current Micro-SIM data plans are available here.

European iPad Signed By President Obama [Video]

At a rally at the University of Washington in October, president Barack Obama signed an iPad. Maybe you remember the viral video that made the rounds of internet where this guy was staring at the president with his finger pointing at the tablet’s screen, on which he had prepared a sketching app for the president to put his signature on.

Pretty much the same happened a few days ago at the NATO summit in Lisbon, Portugal. Obama walks his, security all around him, a man approaches him and asks him to sign his iPad. “Sign my iPad. I’ve done this once before”, jokes the president, clearly aware of the fact that the Washington video was posted on basically every tech blog out there.

Very cool. Check out the video below. Read more

Happy Thanksgiving from MacStories

I wish we could write an article about this every single day: we’re thankful we get to wake up every morning, check on our emails (ok, maybe a full inbox isn’t something to be thankful for) and do what we love. We’re thankful we can talk about the things we love every day and share them with you. It’s been an amazing 2010 so far for MacStories, and we have only you to thank.

That said, happy Thanksgiving folks. Personally, I never had the chance to be invited to a Thanksgiving lunch (we don’t have such a thing here in Italy) but I’m pretty sure Cody and Chris are lost somewhere in their houses right now trying to figure out how they managed to eat so much while talking about apps with their non-geek friends.

Seriously though, we wish you the happiest of holidays. Oh, and in case you missed it: we’ve taken care of Black Friday Apple-related sales for you.

Find My iPhone Triggers MobileMe’s Free Account Limit

Rumors of some features of MobileMe going free started surfacing online days before the public release of iOS 4.2. On November 22nd, a few hours before Apple flipped the switch on the new OS, Find My iPhone – a MobileMe functionality that allows users to remotely locate and wipe the iPhone and iPad – went free for all iOS users running the latest firmware on last generation devices. It turned out, though, that enabling the feature for free on older devices wasn’t that difficult.

Apple’s refreshed MobileMe offering, however, comes with some limitations, namely the impossibility to activate Find My iPhone for free more than 3 times on a device. Read more

Single-Station Radio Apps Are The New Fart Apps: Banned

Remember the App Store Review Guidelines Apple published a few months ago? They’re available for you to read here, although an Apple Developer account is needed. Basically, Apple opened up to many more kinds of apps and frameworks with the publicly available Review Guidelines, but took a clear position on some kinds of apps as well. Namely, fart apps:

We have over 250,000 apps in the App Store. We don’t need any more Fart apps. If your app doesn’t do something useful or provide some form of lasting entertainment, it may not be accepted.

Read more