Hasta La Gadget!

Last year’s iPhone 4 launch brought more than 600,000 pre-orders within the first 24 hours. This year, that number nearly doubled, topping one million within one day of the device’s pre-order availability through AT&T, Sprint and Verizon. Those that haven’t pre-ordered the iPhone 4S can line up at Apple stores beginning at 8 a.m. on October 14th, or you can try your luck at pre-ordering now, though you may need to wait an extra week or two to get your hands on Apple’s new iOS smartphone. Jump past the break for Apple’s PR.

Update: Maybe not a huge surprise considering the numbers Apple announced earlier today, but Sprint has just let us know that it has sold out of the 16GB iPhone 4S in both black and white for pre-orders, and that it’s not taking backorders. 32GB and 64GB models are still available in both colors, however, as is the 8GB iPhone 4.

Continue reading Apple iPhone 4S pre-orders exceed one million in first 24 hours (updated)

Apple iPhone 4S pre-orders exceed one million in first 24 hours (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 Oct 2011 08:46:00 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.

The most surprising thing about the iPhone 4S is that people were surprised by the iPhone 4S, for there is ample precedent to the company both confining upgrades largely to a speed bump and to saying no to a host of potential new features. As to the former, the iPhone 4S is straight out of the playbook of Apple’s successful upgrade of the Apple 3G to the 3GS, although the competition wasn’t as strong as it is today.

Similarly, when Apple first lowered the price of the iPod touch below $200 in 2009 amidst widespread speculation that it would add a front-facing camera for FaceTime (which it did in the next generation), the company noted that it didn’t think the product needed any more “stuff.” So, what, then, defines the iPhone 4S? The differentiators can be thought of as four “Ses.”

Continue reading Switched On: The four Ses of the iPhone 4S

Switched On: The four Ses of the iPhone 4S originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 09 Oct 2011 20:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Real Racing 2 shows off iPhone 4S’ graphical chops, brings split screen gaming to iOS (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Oct 2011 07:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It was just about a year ago that we initially heard rumors of the DirecTV Nomad, and after some lengthy intrigue it is finally ready to launch. While its product page on the company’s website isn’t live yet, the folks at DBSTalk have been testing it and already posted one of their detailed walkthroughs, revealing the box as a TiVoToGo-style transcoder. Plug the $149 box into your whole home DVR network and it snags recorded programs and prepares them for viewing on other devices. Currently that list includes PCs with 1.2GHz processors or higher (no Atom powered netbooks invited to this party) and iOS devices, although an app for Android is apparently on the way. Compared to Dish Network’s Sling-powered TV Everywhere streaming approach, DirecTV’s sideloading has the distinct benefit of offline viewing, but without access to live TV on the go. The iPhone app is already available in iTunes and some forum posters report they’ve already been able to preorder the unit, but check DBSTalk for their breakdown and the device’s manual in PDF form before making a decision on your placeshifting future.

DirecTV Nomad is ready to launch, transcodes DVRed shows for mobile viewing originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Oct 2011 16:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Four players with their own iDevice combined into one split-screen view via AirPlay

This is pretty awesome. The already great Real Racing is about to get “Party Play.” Party Play lets up to four people play the game on their iOS device, and all four of their views can be combined in a split-screen view on your TV via AirPlay.

Party Play is the next step on from AirPlay video mirroring (also coming in the next update). Any AirPlay-capable device can be used to join in, but at least one of them has to have an A5 chip inside to do the heavy lifting. This means an iPad 2 or iPhone 4S.

Aside from making a great way for non-players in the room to follow along, and to sneakily peek at what your opponents are up to, you can also switch to a map view on the iDevice’s screen and use the big-screen view for actual playing. It’s a little like the one-player split-screen view in the original Super Mario Kart.

Party Play will be added to Real Racing in the “next major update.” Now might be a good time to get out and make some friends.

iPhone 4S: Massive Real Racing 2 update featuring Party Play [Firemint]

See Also:

• 15 iPad Apps You Should Download Today
• The Hidden Secrets of Apple's AirPlay
• AirPlay Can Stream to Apple TV From Any iOS App – Not Just …
• AirPlay App Projects iPhone Browser Onto Your TV