Hasta La Gadget!

Today it’s come to our attention that a collection of iPhone users out there believe that Apple might, in their next iteration of iOS, decide to give the average smartphone user Android-level customization options. I couldn’t disagree more. Though it’s clear that Apple should – in an early adopter’s dream universe – need by now to bring some major changes to their mobile operating system iOS, it’s just not going to happen. With Apple, change comes only when change is needed, and if you’ve seen the cash this company makes with each new iteration of its iPhone line and think they’re in dire need of any sort of radical change, you’re out of your mind.

What Apple should do, on the other hand, is tap two markets that it’s been avoiding since the dawn of the iPhone. The first of these is the customizing developer/hacker community that so ravenously devours each new Android phone. The second is the vast group of people rather rapidly accepting the ultra-large (but not quite tablet-sized) smartphone screen.

With the amount of attention each post about Jailbreaking gets here on SlashGear compared to the chatter that comes up each time iOS is updated, an instant conclusion can be drawn: it’s much more interesting (to those that reach tech blogs) to see the iPhone broken into than it is to see Apple bring on updates and upgrades. Where it gets really interesting is when Apple’s updates appear to be the direct result of Jailbreaking – hacks take a turn, Apple takes a turn, and so on and so forth.

So what if Apple created a Developer Edition iPhone?

Would it be so very anti-Apple to release a device that they encouraged the very real – and rather giant – developer community to customize?

Or would it be releasing their hardware to those that would change the software as they saw fit that made the iPhone into a device that’s not all that different from phones made by the Android-toting competition?

Then there’s the more obvious next step for the iPhone – a larger display size. Now that Apple has cracked the illusion that the iPhone 4′s screen size was the only one that – because of the massive amount of time that went into perfecting it – was ever going to be perfect, they can move on. Apple should and will create an iPhone that’s larger that the iPhone 5′s 4-inch display size limit.

But before they do that, they’ll have the ability to make this handheld machine bring on innovations we’ve not yet seen implemented on smartphones. If the rest of the smartphone universe is the Borg, they’ve already assimilated vast amounts of the “cool” that has pushed the iPhone to the top spot and kept it there for so many years. “The iPhone and Apple do not need help surviving”

The iPhone and Apple do not need help surviving – this is no call to action for Apple – they’ve still got one massively successul smartphone line on their hands. Instead consider this a call-to-action on the part of you lovers of game-changing innovation: Apple creates products people love. If everyone on the planet made it clear to Apple that they loved iOS better on the iPad mini than they do on the iPhone 5, you’d see a smartphone right between the two rather quick.

The same goes for you Jailbreaking-loving developers out there – continue to spread the love that is community evolution in software and you might – not any time soon – see an iPhone Developer Edition in your holiday stocking. Some day!

Dear Apple: Android-loving hacking developer hordes await you is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Refurbished iPad Minis have hit the Apple Refurb Store, the store where like-new Apple stuff is actually sold at a discount. The iPad Mini was announced last October, and new models usually hit refurb land within six months, so the iPads populating Apple’s refurb ghetto are right on schedule. More »

Google first launched the YouTube Capture app for iPhone back in December. It allows you to record videos and instantly upload them to YouTube with nothing getting in your way. Today, though, Google has added support for the iPad and iPad mini to YouTube Capture. Users can now record videos on their iPad and then directly upload them to their YouTube channel right away.

The iPad version comes mixed in with the iPhone version, so there aren’t two separate apps here. This means that the iPad version can do the same things that iPhone users have been enjoying for a couple months now, including the ability to edit your videos right after shooting them, and then uploading their videos to social networks.

After filming a video, you can add different effects and edit your video by adding color correction, auto stabilization, trimming, and even music. You also have the choice of uploading your video as a private video or make it public. Plus, you can post it to Google+, Facebook, and Twitter all at once, cutting out many of the monotonous steps in the process.

The app recently updated to support 1080p recording, which is excellent, but if you’re connected to WiFi, be aware that uploading a 1080p video may be slow, and it could eat up your data plan if you’re not on an unlimited subscription. YouTube Capture is a free download, and the update is available now from the App Store.

YouTube Capture now available for iPad is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

A new concept has been released for Apple’s pending iWatch accessory, and we’ve got to say, it looks pretty acceptable. The concept was created by MacUser Magazine, and it shows a mini iPad mini plastered onto a leather band. The design is supposed to emphasize a conventional iWatch that’s also stylish. While I do like the look of the iPad mini-esque display, I would much prefer a black band to a brown band.

The MacUser folks stated that the concept was inspired by the Smart Cover accessory for iPads. They stated that creating an iWatch could be as easy as combining an iPad Nano device onto a leather band. The leather would give the device a classic and conventional feel. MacUser stated, “We came to the conclusion that Apple’s most likely play would be to keep its watch as conventional as possible, with the feel of something classic rather than excitably innovative.

Analysts believe that Apple could take 10% of the global watch market with the iWatch. That would mean that it could make $6 billion off the device. The watch is rumored to be able to survive 5-6 days on a single charge, and there are currently 100 engineers working on the project. Many have said that if Apple could pull of the iWatch (if any company could do it, it’d be Apple), it can kill all of those rumors that say the company is not innovative without Steve Jobs.

Many sources are saying that Apple is prepping to launch the new mobile accessory this year around early Q4. The company may be accelerating the launch of the device because its investors are feeling uneasy about its deteriorating stock price. Tim Cook has been saying over and over that Apple has some “great products” that will help bring the company’s stock price back up. Do you think the iWatch will be the device to do that?

[via Tapscape]

iWatch concept is what the iWatch should be is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

There is nothing else out there quite like Google Now. It’s arguably the single best feature found in Android Jelly Bean, and soon, it seems, it’ll be coming to iOS, Windows 8 and Chromebooks everywhere.