Jan 24

RIM: PlayBook battery life will be ‘equal or greater than the iPad with smaller battery size’

Posted in: Apple, BlackBerry, blackberry playbook, BlackberryPlaybook, ipad, plans, playbook, research in motion, ResearchInMotion, RIM, Today's Chili

Hey, can everyone please stop talking about the iPad? RIM’s been skirting around Apple’s tablet, saying only that its upcoming PlayBook slate would have “comparable” battery life, but now it’s dropped all pretense and called the iPad out by name. Specifically, the Canadian company’s senior business marketing VP Jeff McDowell has promised that the PlayBook will offer “equal or greater” battery endurance to Apple’s device, while using a smaller cell size. The latter part isn’t hard to achieve, considering Apple filled most of its slate’s innards with Li-Pol juice packs, but the promise of matching its autonomy from the wall socket is a big claim to make. Many people consider that to be among the iPad’s foremost strengths, so RIM is surely aiming high by pledging to not only match it, but potentially better it. The PlayBook we saw in person wasn’t quite up to that level yet, but there’s still time until that March launch for RIM to turn bold words into a beautiful reality.

RIM: PlayBook battery life will be ‘equal or greater than the iPad with smaller battery size’ originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Jan 2011 19:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 24

Microsoft’s answer to the iPad: attack its enterprise weaknesses… even if nobody cares about them

Posted in: Apple, business, enterprise, ipad, leak, marketing, Microsoft, slate, tablet, Today's Chili

If we were running Microsoft, we’d stop trying to pigeonhole the iPad and focus instead on reversing Apple’s domination of the burgeoning tablet market. Alas, for better or worse, we’re not the ones in charge, so all we can do is cringe at the news that Microsoft has put together a marketing campaign for its reseller partners that highlights the iPad’s enterprise shortcomings. Yes, the device that was patently designed for consumer-centric accessibility is being tarred with the damning brush of being unfriendly to business. The thing is, business customers are indeed deploying iPads in their workplaces, but we’re pretty sure none of them are throwing out the ThinkPads in the process, which kinda makes Microsoft’s furrowed brows and highfalutin concerns — such as the lack of enterprise OS patch management tools — seem, well, disconnected from reality. Still, we know trash talk when we see it and there’s a whole ten slides of the stuff at the source link below.

Microsoft’s answer to the iPad: attack its enterprise weaknesses… even if nobody cares about them originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Jan 2011 19:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 24

LMP Bluetooth Keypad now ready to mate with your Apple Wireless Keyboard

Posted in: Apple, Today's Chili
Cropmark's LMP Bluetooth Keypad is now ready to mate with your Apple Wireless Keyboard

If you’ve been pining over this one since December — Wireless Keyboard cold, alone, lacking a dedicated numeric keypad — prepare to stick something in your shopping cart. LMP has announced that its Bluetooth Keypad is now available. For $39.99 you get a device that clips on to your Keyboard and connects via Bluetooth, adding typical numberpad stuff plus an additional five function keys, though it can certainly work standalone too. We’re told you don’t even need a separate dongle or driver. Beautiful.

[Thanks, John P.]

LMP Bluetooth Keypad now ready to mate with your Apple Wireless Keyboard originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Jan 2011 17:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 24

The Best Steve Jobs Tributes

Posted in: Apple, steve jobs, Today's Chili

Thumbnail image for steve-jobs_costume.jpg
Steve Jobs may be on a temporary break from the company he helped found back in 1976, but he certainly hasn’t been forgotten. Apple’s ailing CEO will surely go down as one of the most engaging, dynamic, and forward-thinking business executives in modern memory–Jobs’s impact can be gaged by, among other thing, the tributes and parodies he’s inspired all over the pop culture map.
As COO Tim Cook once again grabs the reigns of One Infinite Loop, we’re reminded that, for all of Jobs’s many successes, Cook is probably best off not being his own executive, rather than imitating the man in charge. After all, many have tried, some more successfully than others.
So, as we wish Jobs a healthy recovery, we’d like to take a look at the best, funniest, and just plain most bizarre tributes of the Apple CEO we’ve seen.

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Jan 24

Magic Box MagSafe mod kit brings the external battery back to your Mac (some assembly required)

Posted in: Apple, macbook, macbook air, macbook pro, MacbookAir, MacbookPro, Today's Chili
It ain’t exactly soldering guns at dawn, but it looks like HyperMac is going through a few somersaults to ensure that its products stay on the market without offending the legal team at Apple. First there was the HyperJuice auto / airline adapter, and now the Magic Box takes things to an even more invasive level. First step: cut the power cord of your Mac’s MagSafe power adapter in half. Second step: feed the cable that you cut in half into the MagicBox… and you now have your very own HyperMac battery pack for those extra-long liveblogging sessions. Seems dead simple, right? And for the time being, the company is throwing in a free car charger to sweeten the deal. Available for $50 in March.

Magic Box MagSafe mod kit brings the external battery back to your Mac (some assembly required) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Jan 2011 15:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 24

White iPhone 4 in AT&T’s account management system now, too

Posted in: Apple, att, iPhone, Today's Chili

Hot on the heels of cameos in various Vodafone Germany and Best Buy systems, the mythical white iPhone 4 is showing up somewhere else — and for many of you, this one hits particularly close to home. Turns out any AT&T subscriber can now log in to their account and see both 16GB and 32GB versions of the phone listed in the model picker, which could definitely suggest that these guys are getting ready to finally make them available along with everyone else. Then again, we’ve also heard that the white iPhone 4 never even left some of AT&T’s inventory systems in the first place, so this might mean very little — but for now, we’re going with the “where there’s smoke, there’s fire” angle. Verizon, your turn.

White iPhone 4 in AT&T’s account management system now, too originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Jan 2011 13:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 24

Verizon Charges $50 More Than AT&T for Off-Contract iPhone 4

Posted in: Apple, att, iPhone, Phones, Today's Chili, verizon

According to Verizon’s FAQ, the new iPhone 4 will cost $50 more off-contract than it does from AT&T. While the prices of the handset is the same from both carriers if you sign up for a two-year contract, the unencumbered handset will cost $650 for the 16GB version and $750 for the 32GB model. This compares to $600 and $700 from AT&T.

The FAQ also makes the launch timings clearer. As previously announced, existing Verizon customers will be able to order the iPhone on February 3rd, and everyone else can buy it from February 10th. Verizon customers will only be able to pre-order at the earlier date, though: “beginning on February 10th, you can visit an Apple Retail store to purchase and activate.”

Everything else, from purchasing in an Apple Store to iTunes activation, is the same as with the AT&T model.

So why the extra $50? My guess is that Apple may be charging Verizon more, and it is simply passing on the cost to the customer. After all, the GSM version of the iPhone sold by AT&T is exactly the same as every other iPhone sold around the world. But right now, the only company selling the CDMA iPhone is Verizon. It could just be that the typical “economies of scale” haven’t yet kicked in.

Finally, there is a little more information on tariffs. While no pricing is revealed, the FAQ says that “iPhone customers will need to choose from any of the current Nationwide plans. Customers will also be required to activate a data package, pricing will be announced at a later date.”

iPhone 4. Verizon. It Begins [Verizon]

iPhone 4 photo: Jon Snyder / Wired.com

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Jan 24

Woman Downloads 10 Billionth iTunes App, Thinks It’s a Prank

Posted in: Apple, itunes, Today's Chili, Weird News

1WonkaByPsychedelicBoat.jpg

Apple hit the magic number over the weekend. The company reached 10 billion app downloads on iTunes, thanks in part to a recently announced prize for the person who hit that big, round number.

Gail Davis, a resident of Kent, England walked away with the prize, scoring a $10,000 iTunes gift card for downloading a free app called Paper Glider–actually, that’s not entirely true. “I have to confess it wasn’t actually my download, it was my daughter’s,” Davis told the BBC.

When Apple reached out to congratulate her, Willy Wonka-style, Davis thought she was being punked. “I had no idea, when Apple called me,” Davis says. “I thought it was a prank call and I declined to take it.”

And then she came to her senses. “I had a moment of blind panic but thankfully Apple called me back. They said it’s not a joke and you are the winner.”

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Jan 24

Engadget Podcast 230 – 01.24.2011

Posted in: Apple, earnings, Google, ipad, motorola, nintendo 3ds, Nintendo3ds, podcast, podcasts, tablet, Today's Chili, webos, xoom

This week in consumer electronics was full of culture. Or maybe it was full of color — we’re not quite sure what the difference might be, but there was a lot of weird / cool news in the CEO, handheld gaming, and tablet worlds. The point is, we’ve got another weird / cool podcast on our hands that you haven’t listened to yet and you need to take care of that, like, five minutes ago.

Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Nilay Patel, #1 Digitimes bestselling author Paul Miller
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Music: Superstition

00:04:15 – Steve Jobs takes medical leave from Apple, Tim Cook taking over daily operations in his absence
00:10:22 – Apple turns in record Q1: $6b profit on $26.7b revenue, 16.2m iPhones sold
00:23:20 – Apple’s invested in a ‘very strategic’ $3.9b component supply agreement, but what is it?
00:25:10 – Asahi Glass introduces Dragontrail for consumer electronics, puts the Gorilla on notice (video)
00:25:48 – Larry Page taking over as Google CEO, Eric Schmidt will remain as Executive Chairman
00:35:30 – Google Voice now lets you port your own phone number, maybe (update)
00:44:53 – Exclusive: HP / Palm’s webOS tablets — pictures, plans, and more
00:45:42 – HP / Palm tablet to feature Touchstone dock, cloud storage, Beats audio and Tap-to-Share smartphone integration
00:49:30 – HP calls us out, implies it’s got even better scoops at February webOS event
00:53:20 – HP’s first webOS tablet may start shipping in March, fulfill longstanding promise
01:06:00 – Motorola Xoom launching February 17th at Best Buy (update: priced at $700)
01:06:22 – Motorola Xoom priced at $800 at a minimum, according to Verizon leak
01:14:52 – Nintendo 3DS coming to US March 27th for $249.99, Europe first on March 25th (video)
01:19:10 – Live from Nintendo’s 3DS preview with Reggie Fils-Aime
01:23:22 – Bloomberg: Sony PSP2 to debut next week, PlayStation Phone at MWC
01:23:47 – This fan-made PSP redesign is sexy
01:25:15 – PSP2 to be based on iPhone-esque PowerVR GPU, rival original Xbox in power?
01:27:52 – The Engadget Show returns next Sunday with Steve Wozniak!

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Engadget Podcast 230 – 01.24.2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Jan 2011 11:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 24

10 Billion iOS Apps Downloaded, Winner Hangs Up on Apple

Posted in: Apple, ios, Software and Operating Systems, Today's Chili

Ten billion apps have been downloaded from the iOS App Store, winning one lucky person a $10,000 iTunes gift voucher. The App Store launched in July 2008, and has “sold” seven billion apps in the last year alone. That’s an astonishing 19 million per day.

The 10 billionth app was Paper Glider, a free game for the iPhone and iPod Touch, and it was downloaded by Gail Davis of Orpington, Kent, England. Or more accurately, it was downloaded by one of her daughters. In fact, when Apple’s vice president of iTunes, Eddy Cue, called up to tell her the good news, Davis hung up on him, assuming it was a prank call.

Speaking to Cult of Mac’s Leander Kahney, Davis said that once her daughters had put her straight, she tried to call back but couldn’t get past the front-line of Apple’s help-desk. Later, another Apple employees called and the prize was awarded.

According to Kahney, the prize will actually end up costing Davis money. “We’re thinking of upgrading our Nanos so we can join the party” she said.

Upon hearing the news, our own Brian X Chen tweeted “I don’t even know what I’d do with $10,000 of iTunes money.” What would you spend that money on? I guess what it really means is free apps, movies TV shows and even Mac applications for a good chunk of the future, but where do you start? Any suggestions for expensive apps you might like to own if you weren’t paying? Answers, as always, in the comments.

Apple’s App Store Downloads Top 10 Billion [Apple PR]

$10K iTunes Winner Hung Up On Apple, Thought It Was a Prank [Cult of Mac]

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