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Posts tagged with "iPad"

Digital Magazines for iPad: An Example Of Bulkiness→

Digital Magazines for iPad: An Example Of Bulkiness

Nick Bilton, reporting for The New York Times:

This morning I decide to try a little experiment: I opened up my iPad, clicked on the little Wired icon and purchased the magazine’s latest digital issue. After I agreed to fork over $4, it began downloading. For the next phase of the experiment, I grabbed my car keys, left my apartment and drove about 12 blocks to a local magazine store in Brooklyn, where I also purchased the latest issue of Wired magazine, this time in print.

I didn’t run any red lights, or speed, or park illegally during my shopping expedition. Yet when I returned home with the glossy paper product in hand, the digital iPad version still hadn’t finished downloading to my iPad. Anybody who reads Wired would call this an Epic Fail.

I couldn’t agree more. Having to download hundreds of megabytes, and having to wait several minutes (hours, for many) for the download and install processes to finish doesn’t simply make sense. Especially when the digital magazine you’ve purchased is nothing but a series of static images with no interaction at all. Digital magazines need to be more than this.

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The iPad, Perfect for Coffee Table Apps

In a new App Store section that went live last night, Apple is featuring a series of apps the company thinks are well-suited for the iPad, specifically when placed on a coffee table. These apps, organized in “The Classic Coffee Table” and “The New Coffee Table” sub-categories, include gems like Flipboard, Trickle, Fotopedia Heritage, Ions and Aweditorium. Apple’s own iBooks software is featured as well, together with the art-related apps Van Gogh HD and The Monet Album.

Coffee Table Apps is an interesting section because it groups applications coming from a variety of categories in the App Store, not strictly related to each other. There are particle visualizers like Uzu, newspapers and magazines like The New York Times and LIFE, educational apps like Elements and Solar System for iPad.

Check out “Coffe Table Apps” in the App Store here.

Finally: Previous Purchases Coming To iOS App Store

Apple is updating its iOS App Store tonight. After search filters, Apple added a much requested feature: apps already purchased get an “Install” button instead of the usual “Buy” one. Why is this a big deal? Because having the “Buy” button was confusing, as it wasn’t easy to remember which apps you had already bought. Now, if you’re trying to install an app you have already bought one, it’s much easier.

Sure, it’s not as useful as the “Purchases” tab in the Mac App Store (which lets you see all your app purchase history at once), but we think this is a great (and much needed) first step nonetheless. The new feature is only enabled on the iPad App Store right now, but it shouldn’t be a problem for Apple to add it to the iPhone and iPod touch as well (unlike filters, which require some screen space).

Thanks, App Store team.

New In The iPad App Store: Search Filters

Looks like Apple rolled out a new neat little feature in the iPad App Store: search filters. When you browse the App Store from your iPad (mine is running iOS 4.3 beta, but I guess the change is live for everyone) and start searching for an app, five filters will appear under the top bar: category, release date, rating, price and device. Filters can be adjusted from a popover, and there’s also a button to clear all filters.

The feature is quite useful if you’re into searching for apps through your device’s App Store, so go check it out. More screenshots below. [Thanks, Shane!] Read more

MC Hammer Can Touch Flipboard

As a developer, you’d think you’ve hit big time when Apple names your creation “app of the year”. Or when everyone on the Internet is talking about you. Or again, when your app appears in Apple’s commercials. But I guess some developers would pay to have MC Hammer visit their offices and have the video featured on Oprah’s website.

That’s what happened to Flipboard, as MC Hammer is apparently a real iOS geek now, with an iPhone 4 he uses to tweet “30-40 times a day” and an iPad that runs Flipboard, that according to him is an “awesome app that turns social media into a digital magazine”.

Check out the video here. Also: what is Mike McCue showing to MC on his iPhone? A new version of Flipboard?

The Daily Is Heading To The United Kingdom

The Daily Twitter

The Daily Twitter

The Daily (@Daily) tweeted the folks over at the Guardian that they’ll soon be bringing The Daily to the United Kingdom. It’s not known what The Daily would comprise, but we assume our friends across the pond would be happy not to have the American’s “snowpocalypse” on the front page. And just so we’re clear, get schooled on the difference between the United Kingdom, England, and Great Britain thanks to fantastic video.

[The Daily UK via RazorianFly, UK Explained via @jenna, @jazer]

20% Of Financial Times Subscriptions Comes From iPad App→

20% Of Financial Times Subscriptions Come From iPad App

The official Financial Times app for iPad keeps generating interesting numbers: downloads have reached 600,000 copies up from 430,000 in November, and the app is driving 20% of Financial Times’ subscriptions.

Ridding, who was speaking at an investor conference in New York on Thursday, said the FT’s iPad app had been downloaded 600,000 times, up from 430,000 downloads at the end of November.

Pearson PLC’s FT allows people to read a set number of articles on its website each month before asking for a fee. Newspaper and magazine publishers are turning to the iPad and other tablet devices to help revive their business, which have been beset by declining advertising revenue and readership.

It will be interesting to see whether Financial Times will update the app to support Apple’s new in-app subscription system.

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#MacStoriesDeals - Thursday

All this bad weather in the US must be keeping App devs from dropping their prices! Here’s 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! Read more

Rumor: Apple Planning iPad 2 & iOS 4.3 Event Next Week

According to website MacNotes.de, which previously reported the next-generation iPad is set to come out in the first weeks of April, Apple is planning a media event next week to discuss the new features in iOS 4.3 and provide a preview of the iPad 2.

A release date between 2nd and 9th April seems quite likely, sources - not only ours - pointed to a release in early April. The only question is: When will the iPad 2 be presented? One manufacturer of iPad accessoires now told us Apple is planning on holding an event next week.

Our guess is Apple will present the iPad 2 as a “One more thing” during a special iOS 4.3 developer event next week. iOS 4.3 is still a beta, Apple released the third beta on Tuesday. It still contains critical bugs, but might be released soon as soon as all the bugs are fixed.

The rumor follows a series of reports surfaced last night that hint at the release of iOS 4.3 in two weeks. iOS 4.3 is currently being tested with developers and has reached the beta 3 status, which may lead to a release of a GM seed next week. If the rumors are to be believed, in two weeks (and after the release of the Verizon iPhone on February 10th) Apple could roll out iOS 4.3 for all iOS devices, which, among other features, will introduce the Personal Hotspot functionality on the iPhone. The timing is also somewhat curious: the long anticipated iPad newspaper The Daily offers a free trial of two weeks, sponsored by Verizon Wireless. The Verizon iPhone will come out on Feb. 10 with the Personal Hotspot feature as an exclusive; AT&T iPhones will get Personal Hotspot only with iOS 4.3. Looking at the numbers and hints, the two-week timeframe seems likely.

It is unclear, however, why would Apple hold an event to announce both a new version of iOS and the iPad 2 as “one more thing”. Usually, new devices are always given a dedicated media event, not a brief preview during an iOS-related event. [via]