Hasta La Gadget!

Just in time for AirPrint functionality to arrive with iOS 4.2, Bolle decided to go a different route with its BP-10 printer dock. Really, why get a printer that gives you a wide array of options when you can get one that will only print 4 x 6-inch color prints from a docked device? All that and it will charge your handheld — for £120 (about $190). Available now in the UK.

Bolle BP-10 printer dock for iPhone does one thing, and one thing only originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Nov 2010 11:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oh boy, here we go. It’s official: iOS 4.2 is out today. While iPad users finally get sweet, sweet multitasking, iPhone users get something too: Find My iPhone is now free for everybody without MobileMe to track missing iPhones*. More »

If you’re an iPad owner, you’ve probably been on pins and needles lately. That’s because back in September, Apple announced that a full-scale update to the tablet’s OS would be coming in the form of iOS 4.2, bringing a slew of new features to the device. Included in that laundry list is proper iOS 4-style multitasking, folders, major mail improvements, Game Center integration, and Safari enhancements (like find-in-page text searches). Besides those features, the company has been touting two other big changes that could cause a major shift in the way you use your iPad — namely, AirPrint and AirPlay. Both additions leverage your WiFi network, certain connected printers, and the new Apple TV in an attempt to make the company’s slate less like a distraction and more like the center of your digital life.

When the update was originally announced, we took you on a walkthrough of the early developer beta. Though 4.2 will roll out to the iPhone and iPod touch, we wanted to focus on the iPad version, as it represents a major change for the platform. We’ve had a chance to spend time with the final version of the OS (which is actually 4.2.1 now), and put it through its paces. We’ve updated our original guide and given the finished product a critical once over, so read on for our full review!

Continue reading iOS 4.2 review (for iPad)

iOS 4.2 review (for iPad) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Nov 2010 08:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rage HD for iOS is a seriously gorgeous game — well worth the $2, if you ask us. Now that he can look up from his monitor, id Software’s technical wizard John Carmack is making the interview rounds — let’s see what we can glean, shall we? On the subject of Rage itself, expect the first patch to add Game Center support as well as some bug fixes / minor tweaks to prettify the game further. And if you picked up the SD version, consider yourself among a more exclusive crowd: sales have been majorly lop-sided in favor of HD. “If it’s that big of a difference,” he told TUAW, “we probably won’t offer the low-end, standard def version [in future games].”

We already know Carmack’s thoughts on the iPhone vs. Nintendo DS / PSP, as they’ve been echoed before once or twice, but here’s one new to us: “You should be able to do something that’s better on an iPad than anything that’s done on the Wii,” according to the John that spoke with Kotaku. That’s all purely theoretical, as it’s really up to the developer as to how much power it takes advantage of, and even with the tablet in question, “we’re nowhere close to maxing out what could be done on an iPad.” Oh, and Android? There’s work being done for the Little Green Platform as well, but via TUAW John, “there’s a lot of things with how the distribution platform works and the diversity of the platforms that you have to target, where things are still much, much nicer on the iOS world.”

As for id’s next foray in the “iOS world,” Joystiq learned that a driving game based in the Rage universe is in the cards, and perhaps something inspired by Quake Arena: “maybe focusing on the lightning gun, and call it ‘Lightning Arena’ or something, that would be a full roam-around FPS game.” When asked about his resemblance to one Kevin Bacon, all reports indicate Carmack vanished behind a green-tinted smoke cloud of 1s and 0s, leaving in his wake a three-foot tall statue of Commander Keen made from old shareware discs.

id’s Carmack talks Rage HD, iPad’s power, and future iOS games originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Nov 2010 21:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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One of the features pulled from the iOS 4.2 update at the last minute was the ability to print to any printer connected to your Mac (more correctly, the functionality was not added in OS X 10.6.5). Printopia, from Ecamm, solves this, without any messy hacks, and it adds more besides.

You can still print from an iPad to a purpose-made AirPrint printer, but who wants to buy a printer these days? Nope, better to repurpose the piece of junk you already have (and lets face it, nobody has ever designed a good printer). Printopia is a preference-pane that lists any printers you have installed on your Mac, and when you choose the print option in any compatible iOS app, (Safari, for instance), the printer shows up right in the menu.

But what if you don’t have, or want, a printer? Printopia has you covered. You can choose to print to a PDF, which is then saved on the Mac (in a new Documents/Printopia folder), and if you have Dropbox installed (which you should, as it is both awesome and free) then there’s even an option to save a PDF into your Dropbox. This last option should show up automatically, but for me it only works on my MacBook, not my iMac. Then again, my entire Documents folder is inside my Dropbox so, like, whatever.

Printopia is available now, for $10, and you can try it free for a week.

Printopia product page [Ecamm]

See Also:

• Print from iPad, Cellphones with 'Google Cloud Print'
• Rumor: Apple's iOS Printing Crippled on Release
• Colleges Dream of Paperless, iPad-centric Education
• iOS 4.2 First Look: iPad Gets Multitasking, Printing