Hasta La Gadget!

Apple’s iOS is great at displaying content already on a device, but transferring documents from your computer to your iPhone or iPad has traditionally been a tedious, inefficient process. SugarSync’s new mobile device management sets out to help change that, allowing you to send files directly to your smartphone or tablet using a simple web interface. After selecting a connected device from the sidebar, you can click to upload content, booting it directly to your handheld. A push notification will appear, prompting you to download any or all of the files you uploaded, which will also remain in the cloud — so you’ll be able to access files synched with the SugarSync app from the Web, even when your device is offline. The feature is rolling out for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch this week, and will be available for Android and BlackBerry soon. It looks like the concept of emailing documents to yourself just to access them on the go is about to follow iTunes sync and tethered updates to a permanent group home in the sky.

Continue reading SugarSync adds mobile device management, lets you push digital delights directly to iOS (video)

SugarSync adds mobile device management, lets you push digital delights directly to iOS (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Jun 2011 17:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The iPad 2 is available as a Wi-Fi-only device, or with 3G access from ATT or Verizon. (Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com)

Apple recalled an unspecified number of Verizon-carried iPad 2 tablets because of connectivity issues related to their mobile equipment identifier codes.

Late last week, a number of people reported in online forums that their iPad 2s were being returned to China mid-shipment, prompting rumors of a recall. After getting shipment notification for an iPad 2 from FedEx, some who had placed orders received a delivery exception notification that Apple had requested the unit’s return.

9to5 Mac first brought the issue to light on Thursday, with a number of readers confirming via e-mail or comments on the initial blog post.

One such reader, a recent iPad 2 purchaser from Louisville, Kentucky, said:

I bought an iPad2 on Wednesday (6/8) from the Apple Store in Louisville, KY. It is a 16GB black Verizon 3G edition. Have been using it for past couple days on wi-fi and went to activate the 3G service on it today. Had trouble doing it on the iPad, so I called Verizon for assistance. They told me that there is a batch of iPad2’s with duplicate MEID’s (which I believe are hardcoded into the device) out there and apparently I have one of them. Only way to fix is to bring my iPad2 back to the store for exchange to new iPad.

An Apple spokesperson confirmed this and the limited recall, saying, “Duplicate MEID codes were flashed onto an extremely small number of iPad units for the Verizon 3G network.” An MEID is a one-of-a-kind numerical code that is used to identify a mobile device when it connects to a CDMA network, which is why only the Verizon units were affected.

Apple unveiled its second generation tablet earlier this year, and the device originally went on sale March 11. Network connectivity is available in three options: Wi-Fi only, or 3G service provided by either AT&T or Verizon.

An Apple Store employee commented on instructions for identifying the affected tablets:

Apple has given all the stores a list of serial numbers to scan, if it’s a match we were told to set aside and ship back to Apple, these are only for Verizon iPads. This was to be done on Monday and continue to scan all shipments thru June 11. I had over one hundred to send back.

The exact number of affected units has not been released, but Apple is in the process of replacing affected iPad 2s with new ones.

See also:

• Foxconn Factory Workers Arrested, Charged for Leaking iPad 2
• 9 iPad Music Apps to Rock Your World
• Fingers-On: Adobe’s Photoshop Touch Apps for iPad
• Hands-On With Apple’s Skinnier, Faster iPad 2
• Apple Will Replace Your Junky iPod Shuffle Headphones
• Apple Recalls iPhone 3G Power Adapters

They hacked Facetime onto the iPhone 3GS, and now they’ve done it again — the iPhoneIslam team’s bringing cellular calling and texting to your jailbroken iPad 3G. We haven’t been able to test it for ourselves quite yet, but the new PhoneIt-iPad app should be available through the team’s Cydia repository right now, and it’ll cost $20 to bring out the full potential of your slate. And with that, it’s only a matter of time before iPad sidetalking becomes a meme.

Continue reading PhoneIt-iPad available via Cydia now, claims it’ll turn your iPad 3G into a phone (video)

PhoneIt-iPad available via Cydia now, claims it’ll turn your iPad 3G into a phone (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Jun 2011 04:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

It is hard to believe that Apple has been trying its hand at the Internet services space since the year 2000, when it launched iTools. Like nearly all of iCloud, with which it shares its trademark vowel prefix, iTools was free. Unlike iCloud, though, its collection of services was all over the map, ranging from Web page creation to greeting cards. iCloud marks the third reboot of Apple’s Web services suite since that foray. In the intervening years, we’ve seen .Mac (essentially a subscription version of most iTools features), and MobileMe, which paved the way for the contact and calendar synchronization that will be free as part of iCloud.

Modern-day Apple has shown an appreciation for seamless network access since the launch of the iMac in 1998, which eschewed floppy drives in favor of network-based sharing. One can even trace a belief in the power of the network further back to eWorld, AppleLink, and even the Mac’s early, simple networking technologies, AppleTalk and LocalTalk. Internet services are clearly complementary to advanced devices running sophisticated software — two areas where Apple excels. So why has the cloud rained on Apple?

Continue reading Switched On: Apple’s cloud conundrum

Switched On: Apple’s cloud conundrum originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 12 Jun 2011 20:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You probably know the drill by now — Cupertino introduces a new product with a name that ostensibly belongs to someone else, and for better or worse that someone decides to take Apple to court. Today, it’s iCloud Communications charging out of the left corner to sock Apple’s iCloud square in the wallet. Arizona-based iCloud Communications appears to be a VoIP equipment and service provider, though in court documents it claims to be a cloud computing company as well, and says that it’s been using the term iCloud (and the above logo) to sell such services since 2005. It’s asking the court to destroy all of Apple’s iCloud marketing materials, pay damages and even invalidate the iCloud trademark that Apple bought from Xcerion — the only registered iCloud trademark so far — but what’s probably going to actually happen here is a nice little settlement out of court. We’ll let you know if there’s any reason to break out the popcorn.

[Thanks, Tamaine M.]

iCloud Communications sues Apple for obvious reasons originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 12 Jun 2011 01:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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