This Week's Sponsor:

Hello Weather

Half Off for WWDC Week, Just in Time for Summer.

Posts tagged with "iPad"

iPhone, iPad Rumored to Get NFC Technology, Large Opportunity Awaits

A report by Bloomberg today suggests that Apple’s next iPhone and iPad are likely to feature NFC (Near-Field Communication) technology that would allow various forms of data transfer between the iPhone and another NFC capable device. Richard Doherty of consulting firm Envisioneering Group explains that the technology would be primarily used for making purchases at physical stores, expanding Apple’s reach in commerce beyond just iTunes.

Near-Field Communication is a technology that can send and receive data between two such devices with NFC that are up to 4 inches apart. The technology has gained popularity in recent times, most notably being included in Google’s Nexus S.

By including NFC into the iPhone and iPad, Apple could use it’s existing iTunes accounts and give consumers an alternative to more traditional financial services by Visa, MasterCard and PayPal. Richard Crone, an industry advisor suggests that “It would make a lot of sense for Apple to include NFC functionality in its products.”

Read more

Microsoft Tries to Convince Enterprise that the iPad is Inadequate

So with Microsoft previous attempts at a tablet/slate/UMPC/pad not going so well and with Ballmer unhappy about how successful the iPad has been, Microsoft has started a new strategy. This strategy involves putting together a marketing campaign targeting the enterprise market and claiming the iPad is not secure or flexible enough to be deployed in the enterprise.

Undoubtedly this is an attempt to try and stop or slow the iPad penetration into the enterprise after it was revealed 80% of the Fortune 500 companies were deploying iPads. The 10 page PowerPoint presentation also encourages Microsoft’s partners to position Windows 7 tablets against the iPad.

Read more

iPad “Best Thing to Happen to Meetings Since the 1960s”→

iPad “Best Thing to Happen to Meetings Since the 1960s”

Ben Brooks is right about the iPad as a device for meetings:

There is an artificial barrier between you and everyone else because of those damned laptop screens.

The iPad changes all of this, it can sit slightly angled on the table and not be a a barrier to anyone, or even completely flat on the table mimicking a notepad. Further, because the screen is not staring you in the face, participants get a more open sense about how you are using it — that is people can see what you are doing on it. This is crucial to making the other meeting attendees feel like you are actually paying attention.

The real difference, though, is once again made by apps: easy-to-use yet powerful software like Screens, iFiles, Omnifocus, Dropbox and FileBrowser can turn the tablet into a killer machine for business purposes. “Apps” is where the competitors will need to catch up with.

Permalink

Multimedia JFK Biography Hits the iPhone and iPad

On the 20th of January 1961, John F Kennedy became the 35th President of the United States, now fifty years later there’s a new iPhone and iPad app that commemorates his life and achievements.

Historian and publisher Marc Schulman who developed the app whilst writing the text biography told Reuters “The paper book is limited, in that you can’t see all the supporting documents, videos and photographs.” The app, JFK Historymaker for iOS however is a rich multimedia experience full of videos, documents and includes the retrospective biography of the President.

The app comprises of many key sections including those documenting his family, him as a Congressional Candidate, the Space Program, Cuban Missile Crisis and his Assassination. Schulman emphasized that it enables the reader to do their own research so they don’t have to “rely just on my voice as the biographer.”

According to a November Gallup poll, JFK remains America’s most popular President with an 85% approval rating. Whether you approve of him and want to know more or you simply want to learn something about a pretty significant historical individual, JFK Historymaker undoubtedly seems like a treasure trove of information for the price of $4.99.

[Buy on iTunes]

[Via Reuters]

SyncPad: The Collaborative Online Whiteboard For iPad. Review & Giveaway!

Inspiration hits us often at MacStories, and we’ll usually collaborate by sharing sketches thanks to Skitch and iChat. Imagine, however, if we didn’t rely on static images and browser refreshes to share content collaboratively over the Internet: SyncPad is an answer to our clunky workflow, thanks to immediately accessible online sketch rooms available via the Internet or SyncPad’s reader component for the iPad. In realtime, you can watch as the creators create instant wireframes, sketch over photos, markup PDFs (yes!), or draw the “OctoTicci” as I’ve done screwing around when I first tried the app with Federico. Below you’ll find many a 4th grader’s sketch (read: my terrible finger painting), an overview, and a little something for our readers who’d like to win one of ten copies. We can’t keep all of this collaborative-ness to ourselves after all.

Read more

The Kork™ iPad Case

The Kork™, by A PRODUKT, is an eco-friendly iPad case. It’s made from 100% natural leftover cork, then formed into a uni-body shell for the iPad. It gives great protection and is ergonomically designed to fit in your hand, just like the iPad. It has a very natural grip and feel and is very light weight while leaving easy access to all the buttons and ports. “The Kork™ is a fine blend of Technology and Nature.”

FEATURES and TECH SPECS:

  • Recycled and Recyclable Natural Cork
  • Easy access to all Buttons and Inputs
  • Ergonomic Natural Shape and Feel
  • Angled Audio Output for Front Projected Sound
  • Larger Dock Connection Extra Space for Connectors
  • Extra Space for Bigger Jack Input
  • Angled Mic. Wall for User Directed Sound Caption
  • Very Light Weight

Video after the break. Read more

Flight Control Lands Nearly 4 Million Sales

Firemint, which recently acquired Infinite Interactive has posted on it’s blog some sales statistics of it’s popular Flight Control game that is currently featured in Apple’s Top Paid Apps of all time. As of the post it had sold 3,881,634 copies and has raked in $3.8 million dollars and that’s after Apple 30% take.

As demonstrated by the graph it released that is shown above (click for larger size) it’s pretty clear that Christmas and big feature updates really helped increase sales of the game. In particular the addition of Game Center support led to a peak of 120,000 sales, the largest peak since the release of the app. The new maps update and Retina display support were the other notable peaks.

Also notable is the sales by country, as the graph below the break shows, the US has the lion’s share followed by Great Britain, Australia and Germany.

Read more