Mar 09

Apple releases iOS 4.3

Posted in: Apple, breaking news, ios, ipad, iPhone, ipod touch, IpodTouch, Today's Chili
Well, it’s not March 11th, but you can now download iOS 4.3 for you iPhone, iPad or iPod touch (most of them, anyway). That, of course, brings with it mobile hotspot functionality for iPhones, along with a variety of new AirPlay features, a new and improved version of Safari, and a number of other more minor improvements and fixes (like an option to control how your iPad’s side switch behaves). We’re already busy testing it out ourselves and will report back on what we find, but you can feel free to leave your own first impressions in the comments below in the meantime — Apple’s complete list of what’s included in the update is after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Apple releases iOS 4.3

Apple releases iOS 4.3 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Mar 2011 13:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 09

Hulu Plus on TiVo apparently being tested, live streaming to iPad apparently being considered

Posted in: Apple, content, dvr, hulu, ios, ipad, rumor, slate, streaming, tablet, tablet pc, TabletPc, tablets, tivo, Today's Chili

So, an update. Er, a refresher if you will. Back in September of last year, TiVo announced that ingrained Hulu Plus access would be coming to its DVRs “in the coming months,” but we’ve heard precisely nothing on the matter ever since. Enter the present. We’ve got a tipster who owns a TiVo Premiere and was just invited to join a Field Trial to “test Hulu Plus on TiVo,” and he’s also receiving codes to receive a free month of service. It’s hard to say what kind of gap we’re looking at between the testing period and the go-live period, but at least we’ve got a little assurance that no one simply forgot about their promise. In related news, other tipsters are starting to receive some fairly interesting surveys from TiVo itself, with a few questions in particular asking consumers how they’d feel about the option to “stream live TV, DVR recordings and TV shows from a cable company’s On Demand library to one’s iPad.” This seemingly includes in-home and remote streaming, and we have to say — streaming to the tablet just might be the magic feature that finally gets TiVo out of the hurt locker. Probably not, but are you really going to judge us for being blindly optimistic?

Gallery: TiVo’s Hulu Plus, iPad streaming survey

Hulu Plus on TiVo apparently being tested, live streaming to iPad apparently being considered originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Mar 2011 08:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 09

VMware View brings virtual desktops to iPad with touchscreen-friendly controls (video)

Posted in: app, Apple, apps, free, ios, ipad, Today's Chili, video

Remote controlling your personal desktop from an iPad is one thing, but today VMware is offering something a little heftier — a streamlined app to connect to enterprise-class virtual desktops. Like Citrix Receiver, the idea is that you’ll get the iPad client for free, and hopefully pay to have the cloud computers served up, but instead of streamlining applications for tablet use, VMware’s app hands you customizable PC-like controls. There’s a handy-looking virtual touchpad you can use for fine control over the mouse cursor if your fingers prove too pointy, a set of Windows shortcut keys at the top of the virtual keyboard, multi-finger gestures and more — but why not just watch the video after the break to see what’s in store?

Continue reading VMware View brings virtual desktops to iPad with touchscreen-friendly controls (video)

VMware View brings virtual desktops to iPad with touchscreen-friendly controls (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Mar 2011 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 09

Profit shocker! Android brings home more bacon than iOS for Pocket Legends developer

Posted in: Android, android market, AndroidMarket, AppStore, ios, market, Today's Chili

Back in 2009, we wrote a story on crack mobile developer Larva Labs lamenting its inability to make a living off top-rated games in the Android Market. Well, to put it lightly, it ain’t 2009 anymore: the Android ecosystem has expanded exponentially in every conceivable direction, the Market has taken on tens of thousands of additional apps, and — according to one research firm, anyway — Android has now overtaken BlackBerry to become the most prolific smartphone platform in the US.

To that end, Spacetime Studios — the company behind mobile MMORPG Pocket Legends, which brings in revenue through in-app purchases — was shocked to discover that it’s making some 30 to 50 percent more from its Android users than its iOS ones. Furthermore, they’re spending more time playing and downloading the app with far greater frequency, which might be a testament to the fact that really great apps still stand out in the Market better than they do in the more mature (and more populated) App Store. The in-app purchase disparity is a little more difficult to explain, though — especially since iOS has a slick, integrated purchase mechanism that Google won’t be rolling out in Android for a little while yet. At any rate, the online mobile economy — regardless of platform — clearly still has some growing, maturing, and stabilizing to do.

[Thanks, Michael]

Profit shocker! Android brings home more bacon than iOS for Pocket Legends developer originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Mar 2011 03:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 08

Apple’s iOS Update Speeds Web Browsing, Expands AirPlay

Posted in: airplay, Apple, ios, ipad, iPhone, ipod touch, operating system, Phones, Today's Chili

The iPhone's multitasking drawer contains a playback widget for controlling audio apps. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

The next operating system upgrade for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad is landing sometime this week, and customers can look forward to major improvements in Safari performance and AirPlay media streaming.

Wired.com reported on most of the changes in iOS 4.3 when the beta released January. The newest additions that Apple announced last week included a significant speed boost to the Safari web browser, using the new Nitro JavaScript engine, which should make JavaScript run twice as fast.

Additionally, the AirPlay streaming feature has been expanded so that you can stream video played inside Safari or a third-party app to an Apple TV. Previously, AirPlay video streaming was limited to the Videos app on the iPad.

Wired.com got an early look at the iOS 4.3 gold master (usually the official version that ships), and it’s pretty slick.

Benchmark tests Wired.com ran using SunSpider showed a significant speed boost in Safari’s JavaScript performance between iOS 4.2 and iOS 4.3.

An iPhone 4 running iOS 4.3 completed the test in 4,340 milliseconds, and an iPhone 4 running iOS 4.2 completed the same test in 10,626.4 milliseconds (fewer milliseconds is better). That makes iOS 4.3 about 59 percent faster than iOS 4.2 with JavaScript rendering. (See below the jump for the full benchmark results.)

So when iOS 4.3 ships this week, iPad 2 owners won’t be the only people getting a big speed boost. A significant increase in JavaScript performance means web browsing on JavaScript-heavy sites such as Google’s mobile apps (Voice, Docs and Reader), Facebook and others should be zippier.

As for AirPlay, I used an iPhone 4 to play a YouTube video and was able to hit the AirPlay button to send it to straight to the Apple TV 2. Being able to AirPlay YouTube is pretty nifty, because using the Apple TV’s remote control to browse YouTube is a huge pain in the rear; it’s much easier to search for YouTube clips using the iPhone. iOS 4.3’s expanded AirPlay support will be a nice addition for anyone with the new Apple TV.

The iOS 4.3 is due out sometime this week, possibly as soon as Wednesday, according to well-sourced Apple blogger Jim Dalrymple.

SunSpider results on iOS 4.2
============================================
RESULTS (means and 95% confidence intervals)
——————————————–
Total: 10626.4ms +/- 6.8%
——————————————–

3d: 1437.6ms +/- 6.8%
cube: 443.0ms +/- 14.8%
morph: 534.6ms +/- 5.3%
raytrace: 460.0ms +/- 2.0%

access: 1635.8ms +/- 33.6%
binary-trees: 146.2ms +/- 5.8%
fannkuch: 671.2ms +/- 0.6%
nbody: 429.6ms +/- 32.4%
nsieve: 388.8ms +/- 106.4%

bitops: 877.0ms +/- 0.5%
3bit-bits-in-byte: 180.8ms +/- 0.8%
bits-in-byte: 185.2ms +/- 2.7%
bitwise-and: 163.2ms +/- 0.6%
nsieve-bits: 347.8ms +/- 0.5%

controlflow: 143.0ms +/- 1.1%
recursive: 143.0ms +/- 1.1%

crypto: 643.6ms +/- 2.9%
aes: 295.0ms +/- 2.8%
md5: 163.6ms +/- 1.2%
sha1: 185.0ms +/- 11.1%

date: 744.8ms +/- 3.3%
format-tofte: 377.2ms +/- 3.5%
format-xparb: 367.6ms +/- 3.1%

math: 1134.6ms +/- 0.9%
cordic: 425.6ms +/- 1.7%
partial-sums: 372.0ms +/- 0.6%
spectral-norm: 337.0ms +/- 2.6%

regexp: 1444.8ms +/- 1.1%
dna: 1444.8ms +/- 1.1%

string: 2565.2ms +/- 21.6%
base64: 355.8ms +/- 4.3%
fasta: 422.0ms +/- 15.0%
tagcloud: 458.6ms +/- 18.8%
unpack-code: 744.8ms +/- 5.6%
validate-input: 584.0ms +/- 70.2%

====

SunSpider results on iOS 4.3

============================================
RESULTS (means and 95% confidence intervals)
——————————————–
Total: 4340.1ms +/- 0.7%
——————————————–

3d: 557.6ms +/- 1.6%
cube: 213.5ms +/- 3.4%
morph: 136.0ms +/- 0.9%
raytrace: 208.1ms +/- 0.7%

access: 497.2ms +/- 2.4%
binary-trees: 122.2ms +/- 3.3%
fannkuch: 138.7ms +/- 3.0%
nbody: 164.2ms +/- 4.7%
nsieve: 72.1ms +/- 2.1%

bitops: 219.2ms +/- 2.2%
3bit-bits-in-byte: 28.9ms +/- 10.4%
bits-in-byte: 53.6ms +/- 2.3%
bitwise-and: 64.5ms +/- 3.3%
nsieve-bits: 72.2ms +/- 2.3%

controlflow: 25.7ms +/- 4.4%
recursive: 25.7ms +/- 4.4%

crypto: 246.7ms +/- 0.5%
aes: 147.1ms +/- 0.4%
md5: 58.5ms +/- 1.7%
sha1: 41.1ms +/- 2.2%

date: 588.8ms +/- 4.2%
format-tofte: 277.3ms +/- 0.9%
format-xparb: 311.5ms +/- 7.2%

math: 462.2ms +/- 1.1%
cordic: 167.2ms +/- 0.8%
partial-sums: 206.6ms +/- 2.8%
spectral-norm: 88.4ms +/- 1.2%

regexp: 115.4ms +/- 3.5%
dna: 115.4ms +/- 3.5%

string: 1627.3ms +/- 0.9%
base64: 226.3ms +/- 3.2%
fasta: 227.8ms +/- 0.8%
tagcloud: 310.8ms +/- 0.8%
unpack-code: 554.2ms +/- 0.3%
validate-input: 308.2ms +/- 1.9%


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Mar 08

Optical tweezers manipulate microscopic objects using an iPad, raw brainpower (video)

Posted in: interface, ios, ipad, light, multitouch, science, Software, Today's Chili, university, video

Okay, so maybe the whole brainpower thing is a distant second to the iPad itself, but still — being a rocket scientist probably doesn’t hurt when manipulating microscopic objects via a multitouch display. That’s the kind of setup that students and boffins alike have going at England’s University of Bristol, where iTweezers are being used to control a tiny rod about 300 nanometers wide, amongst other things. Essentially, the iPad is able to display what’s under a microscope via a wireless display transfer, and then, touch points are converted into laser movements that are used to handle objects that are far smaller than those visible particles clogging up your left ear right now. All told, a user can select up to 11 different objects, and in theory, the iPad could enable scientists to do this remotely. Hey, we’re all about new and improved ways to telework. Vid’s below, kiddos.

Continue reading Optical tweezers manipulate microscopic objects using an iPad, raw brainpower (video)

Optical tweezers manipulate microscopic objects using an iPad, raw brainpower (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Mar 2011 06:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 07

Adobe outs experimental Flash-to-HTML5 conversion tool, calls it Wallaby

Posted in: adobe, flash, ios, research, Software, Today's Chili, video, web

Ah, if only we could flip a big happy switch and convert all the web’s Flash content into (functional) HTML5 code. It’s a dream shared by many and, funnily enough, the company pushing to make it a reality is none other than Adobe itself, the owner and proprietor of Flash. Its Labs research team has just released an experimental new dev tool, dubbed Wallaby, that’s targeted at taking Flash-encoded artwork and animations and turning them into a more compatible mix of HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Of course, the intent here is not some magnanimous move to free us from the shackles of Flash — Adobe openly admits that the initial goal for the new tool will be to help convert animated banner ads so that they work on the iOS platform — but hey, even bad tools can be used for good sometimes, right?

Continue reading Adobe outs experimental Flash-to-HTML5 conversion tool, calls it Wallaby

Adobe outs experimental Flash-to-HTML5 conversion tool, calls it Wallaby originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Mar 2011 00:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 07

ComScore: Android leapfrogs BlackBerry among US smartphone subscribers to take first place in market share

Posted in: Android, BlackBerry, Google, ios, RIM, Today's Chili

Last time we checked in with ComScore’s report on smartphone platform market share among US subscribers three months ago, Android was doing a little happy dance as it overtook iOS for the number two spot overall. Well, the cuddly green bots have self-replicated yet again, enough to overtake RIM this time thanks in part to a 5.4 percent decline on BlackBerry’s part (down to 30.4 percent in January) coupled with a 7.7 percent boost on the Android side, moving up to 31.2 percent. We imagine ComScore’s next report — covering the period through March — will see a little boost on the iOS side thanks to Verizon’s iPhone launch, but RIM’s knight in shining armor might be further out; we still don’t know when QNX-based phones are going to happen, after all, and devices like the Monaco don’t really seem like cure-alls.

ComScore: Android leapfrogs BlackBerry among US smartphone subscribers to take first place in market share originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Mar 2011 16:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 07

Pay-as-you-go shocker! CDMA iPhone 4 makes its way to Cricket Wireless (via jailbreak)

Posted in: Apple, cdma, flash, ios, iPhone, Today's Chili, verizon, video, vzw
As any astute follower of the “pay-as-you-go” world knows, there are quite a few back alley Cricket dealers (and quite a few main street ones as well) that will happily flash any phone you give them for use on their network — and not even Verizon’s CDMA iPhone is immune. Ready to jump ship from “America’s largest?” Of course, you’ll have to jailbreak, install some third party MMS software, and trust some random dude at the Cricket store with your precious smartphone. We’re not saying it’s wise, but it is possible, as the video below attests. See for yourself after the break.

[Thanks, Mark]

Continue reading Pay-as-you-go shocker! CDMA iPhone 4 makes its way to Cricket Wireless (via jailbreak)

Pay-as-you-go shocker! CDMA iPhone 4 makes its way to Cricket Wireless (via jailbreak) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Mar 2011 12:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 06

Switched On: Padded Windows

Posted in: Apple, column, ios, Mac, Microsoft, operating system, OperatingSystem, os, os x, OsX, PC, switched on, SwitchedOn, tablet, tablet pc, TabletPc, tablets, Today's Chili, Windows, windows 8, windows phone 7, Windows8, WindowsPhone7

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

At the launch of the new iPad – superior for video chat, group presentations, and cutting cake — Apple didn’t miss a few opportunities to rub salt in the open air vents of Microsoft’s tablet efforts. Apple noted that sales of the iPad have exceeded those of every other tablet PC ever sold, and that Microsoft (along with other competitors) were chasing doomed strategies that extended outmoded models.

Microsoft has been clear that it will continue to use its “desktop” operating system – Windows – rather than its mobile operating system – the device-specifying Windows Phone 7 – as its operating system for tablets. Considering the critical importance of an intuitive touchscreen UI on tablet — where Windows Phone 7 excels and desktop Windows has struggled — this seems risky on its face. But it is important to remember from Microsoft’s perspective that the question is not whether Windows is the best choice for tablets but whether it is a better choice for Microsoft than Windows Phone. While the company faces an uphill battle regardless of which OS it chooses, its flagship could be the better answer for several reasons.

Continue reading Switched On: Padded Windows

Switched On: Padded Windows originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 06 Mar 2011 19:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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