Jun 27
In an effort to make the DMV seem less like the seventh ring of hell, the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland security has installed 72 iPad kiosks in 26 of these Satanic outposts across the state. More »
Jun 27
The legal scuffling between Apple and Samsung had almost gotten boring; cases have been either summarily dismissed or been decided in far-flung parts of the globe. But last night, the hammer finally fell on Samsung here at home: no more Galaxy Tab 10.1s can be sold in the US, by court order. More »
Jun 27
Tennessee introduces iPad kiosks to make driver license renewal a more efficient process
Posted in: Today's Chili
If you’re just like everyone else, standing in line and queuing up to renew or replace your driver’s license can be a huge time waster. However if you’re living in the state of Tennessee, you’re in luck as the state’s Department of Safety and Homeland Security has recently spent $80,000 installing about 72 iPad kiosks in 26 driver service centers across the state. This was done in an effort to speed up the time it takes for someone to replace or to renew their driver’s license. Dubbed ASSETS (Automatic Self-Service Electronic Terminals), these kiosk can be found in more urban areas, and will allow drivers to fill out forms electronically and make their payment via debit or credit card. The drivers can then expect to receive their new license within minutes. On top of that, the kiosks will also allow drivers to change their addresses and pay reinstatement fees. Now if only this concept will start making its way across the nation and to other government offices!
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: San Diego Unified School District purchases 26,000 iPads to be used in classrooms, iPads used as menus and a jukebox at D-Doghouse restaurant in Miami,
Jun 27
There’s certainly no shortage of speakers and docking systems for the iPad and other Apple gadgets. That doesn’t mean users are always looking for the next cool and interesting speaker system for their iPad though. A company called Carbon Audio has launched a new line of speakers designed to pair with the iPad and more called Zooka.
The Zooka isn’t a docking station, as you might expect, it’s a long speaker bar with a slot that you can slip your iPad into. The Zooka is available in a rainbow of colors, including black, blue, dark gray, green, orange, pink, purple, red, and teal. The system will be officially launched in August, and you can pre-order now if one of the colors strikes your fancy.
The Zooka promises concert hall audio for movies, music, games, and more. The slot on the Zooka is designed to attach a speaker to your iPad, but it uses Bluetooth to stream the audio and has a 30-foot range. The device also has an integrated microphone to turn it into a speaker phone for use with Skype or other VoIP applications. The slot also secures the speaker bar to the top of a MacBook. The retail price for the Zooka is $99.95.
Carbon Audio Zooka speakers for iPad hit pre-order is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Jun 27
Cablevision launches iOS app to track down Optimum WiFi hotspots, keep you off the 3G sauce
Posted in: Today's Chili 
Some internet purveyors make a big fuss over having public WiFi. It’s not often that they go out of their way to help you find that WiFi, however, and that’s where CableVision’s recently posted (but just now official) Optimum WiFi Hotspot Finder comes in. If you’re one of the cable company’s Optimum Online subscribers, the currently iOS-only app will pinpoint the 35,000 access points that you can call a home away from home. As we’d hope, the app both finds hotspots nearby for an immediate fix or drills down to specific hotspots if you’re just that determined to find a restaurant with a data pipe. The app and WiFi access are both free — apart from that small matter of the cable account, of course — and will no doubt help iPad and iPhone owners for whom Optimum WiFi’s 15Mbps speed is an oasis in a sea of pokey 3G.
Cablevision launches iOS app to track down Optimum WiFi hotspots, keep you off the 3G sauce originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jun 2012 04:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Jun 27
Apple has won a preliminary sales injunction against Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the US, the biggest blow so far in the two company’s ongoing patent war. The ban on US sales of the original Galaxy Tab 10.1 – not, though, the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 we reviewed last month – granted by US District Judge Lucy Koh on Tuesday evening was justified by the similarity of the tablet’s appearance to iPad design patents Apple holds. Apple must post a $2.6m bond to enact the injunction.
“Although Samsung has a right to compete, it does not have a right to compete unfairly by flooding the market with infringing products,” the judge’s order read, AllThingsD reports. “While Samsung will certainly suffer lost sales from the issuance of an injunction, the hardship to Apple of having to directly compete with Samsung’s infringing products outweighs Samsung’s harm in light of the previous findings by the Court.”
Unsurprisingly, Apple is happy with the decision. “It’s no coincidence that Samsung’s latest products look a lot like the iPhone and iPad, from the shape of the hardware to the user interface and even the packaging,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “This kind of blatant copying is wrong and, as we’ve said many times before, we need to protect Apple’s intellectual property when companies steal our ideas.”
Samsung, meanwhile, is likely to appeal the injunction, and accuses Apple of being too narrow in its patent interpretation. “Apple sought a preliminary injunction of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1, based on a single design patent that addressed just one aspect of the product’s overall design,” the company said in a statement. “Should Apple continue to make legal claims based on such a generic design patent, design innovation and progress in the industry could be restricted.”
Apple filed for the ban back in May, with negotiations between it and Samsung breaking down shortly after. The company has not said when it might enact the ban.
Apple wins US Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 sales ban is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Jun 26
Pioneer SMA wireless speakers put AirPlay, HTC Connect in one happy family (update: hands-on photos)
Posted in: Today's Chili 
Apple and HTC might be at each other’s throats in court, but they’re living in peace and harmony in Pioneer’s world. The fresh new SMA wireless speaker line supports both Apple’s AirPlay format and HTC Connect-certified DLNA to take audio over WiFi no matter whether it’s coming from an iPhone or a One S. Proof that we can all get along is good in itself, but Pioneer is also throwing in Wireless Direct, a trick that turns the speaker into its own WiFi access point if it can’t latch on to a nearby router. Pioneer’s stratification of the range is dictated by whether you value freedom or raw power. The XW-SMA1 is the baseline with two 3-inch speakers and a 3 / 4-inch tweeter, with a bass reflex port doing its best to mimic a subwoofer; the XW-SMA3 is the exact same with a lithium-ion battery good for six hours of cord-free play, and the XW-SMA4 goes battery-free but rolls in a proper 4-inch subwoofer and an extra tweeter. The lot arrives in August and costs either $299 for an SMA1 or $399 for either of its premium siblings.
Zach Honig contributed to this report.
Pioneer SMA wireless speakers put AirPlay, HTC Connect in one happy family (update: hands-on photos) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jun 2012 22:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Jun 26
Apple opens iTunes Store in Hong Kong, Taiwan and 10 other Asia-Pacific territories
Posted in: Today's Chili 
Many Apple fans on the opposite side of the Pacific from Cupertino haven’t had much of a choice to shop from iTunes, even though they’ve had the App Store for some time. There’s now a much better sense of balance: Apple just flicked the switch on the iTunes Store for music and movies in a dozen countries and territories across the Asia-Pacific region. The company singles out our own Richard Lai’s Hong Kong as well as Singapore and Taiwan, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention that Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam are also getting the media catalogs, which include local content along with the international hits. It’s a full catch-up as well, with iTunes in the Cloud re-downloads and iTunes Match subscriptions available in every new country. If you’re a huge Andy Lau fan but wanted his albums from the most iPhone-friendly store possible, the wait is over.
Apple opens iTunes Store in Hong Kong, Taiwan and 10 other Asia-Pacific territories originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jun 2012 19:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Jun 26
I’m so guilty of forgetting about podcasts. Though I’m subscribed to several, they tend to get lost in the chaos of iTunes, Spotify, Hulu, Netflix, and all the other places I’m turning to for media. But these shows have been given a little breathing room. Prior to the proper release of iOS 6, Apple has launched a standalone app for audio and video Podcasts. More »
Jun 26
Can’t wait for the inevitable release of iOS 6 to get an Apple-sanctioned standalone podcast app of your own? Great news! Those rocking 5.1 and higher can roll on over to iTunes to pick up the straightforwardly named Podcasts, right this very second. The iPhone / iPad-friendly app is designed as a repository for the manner of pre-recorded talk radio-killing entertainment that Cupertino inadvertently helped name. We downloaded the app and took it for a spin. Check out the results after the break.
Gallery: Apple’s Podcasts app hands-on
Continue reading Apple’s Podcasts app for iOS hands-on
Apple’s Podcasts app for iOS hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jun 2012 15:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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