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Continue reading ERPLY’s mobile credit card reader handles NFC payments on an iPad, obliterates the check-out line

ERPLY’s mobile credit card reader handles NFC payments on an iPad, obliterates the check-out line originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Aug 2011 03:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With the elegant addition of a magnet, any case becomes iPad 2-compatible. Photo Charlie Sorrel

Problem: I still have a bunch of iPad 1 cases laying around, but I now longer use my fugly, fat, slow old iPad 1. Of course, the iPad 2 fits in fine, but unless you use a dedicated case, you’ll have to use that tiresome slide-to-unlock control every damn time you take the iPad out of the case.

Solution: Magnets.

The case in question is the Dicota PadCover, a herringbone-tweed sleeve with leather trim, a clever iPad-extraction strap and the annoying habit of toggling the screen-lock switch every time you pull the tablet from the bag. It’s a pretty cool case, but I wanted it to lock and unlock my iPad 2 automatically.

So I added a magnet. Pretty much any magnet will do. I picked up a four-pack of plain, round fridge magnets from the dime store. They cost around €0.70 ($1) for the pack. I then pulled off the plastic cover (or more accurately used the magnet that had already shed its poorly-glued shell) and started to wave it over the iPad.

If you try hard, your version may be as professional-looking as mine

The Smart Cover works because it has magnets which engage with one inside the top right bezel of the iPad. All you need to do to roll your own is to place your magnet in the same place. You’ll need to line it up just so, but aim for the right bezel, level with the second row of icons.

Once you have found the spot, tape the magnet to the outside of the case (unless your case is really thick, in which case you should ditch it and buy a thinner one). Slide the iPad in and out and watch to see if it sleeps and wakes reliably. If not, adjust the position. You may need a more powerful magnet.

Or you may not. While I am sticking with the ghetto version — gaffer tape on the outside — you may choose to put the magnet inside, or to open up the case and stick the magnet into its lining, thus placing it closer to the iPad’s own detector magnet. You might also consider thinner magnets. As you can see in the picture, mine’s fat, but it’s all they had at the store.

This trick also works great with folio-style cases, like the DodoCase or the Pad & Quill, although in these cases you’ll also have to hack the case to actually hold the thinner iPad 2.

A final note for those who already own the Dicota case above. The iPad 2 fits inside perfectly well with the Smart Cover in place, if that’s how you want to play it. I find the double cover too tiresome to bother with, hence this beautiful, elegant hack.

See Also:

• Hands-On With the Dicota PadCover Case
• IFixit Smart Cover Teardown: Contains Magnets. Lots of Magnets …
• Magnetic Stylus Sticks to Your iPad
• Wooden iPad Cover Bends, Sticks and Supports
• Sticky Magnetic Strip Fixes Smart Cover to iPad 1

It may not have live TV streaming yet, but Comcast has been at the forefront of expanding the cable TV experience to phones and tablets with its Xfinity app and pushed further recently, updating the iOS version and releasing an edition for Blackberry phones. On Blackberry it brings the usual set of features, including Comcast.net email access, remote DVR scheduling and trailers for VOD selections. On iOS, v1.60 adds a “previously played” button that can return the TV to previously watched channels, or start playing VOD content on the mobile devices right where you last left off. Check the official blog for more details or just download from iTunes or Blackberry App World.

Comcast’s Xfinity app debuts on Blackberry, updated on iOS originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Aug 2011 06:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hang tight just a second — let me preface all of this with a quick reminder that I’m speaking on a personal level, and I’m absolutely certain that slates have a place in this world somewhere. We could go back and forth for hours with use-case scenarios (and the same could be done with cars, time machines or your luxury good of choice), but this isn’t about proving that a tablet can do one or two things; it’s about the limitations and awkwardness of using one that no one seems to talk about.

After years of watching the masses fawn over the iPad (and every other PC maker scramble to come out with something that serves a similar purpose), I still can’t ever imagine myself investing in one, let alone actually using one in place of a smartphone or laptop. I’ve met quite a few folks in my line of work that all ask me the same thing: “Should I buy an iPad?” It’s worth noting that no one actually asks if “they should buy a tablet,” but that’s speaking more about Apple’s absurdly enviable mind (and in turn, market) share than anything else. My response is always the same: “If you can’t think of a reason you’d need it, you don’t need it.”

Tablets, for whatever reason, seem to defy logic when it comes to purchase rationalization in the consumer electronics realm. I’ve yet to meet a bloke who purchased an ultraportable without knowing full-well that they would take advantage of enhanced battery life and a highly mobile chassis. Everyone I’ve know that invested in a high-end gaming rig knew why they were shelling out on that $500 GPU (read: frames-per-second). And all of my movie cuttin’ pals knew precisely why they just had to have a Thunderbolt RAID setup. But tablets? People are just buying these things in a fit of hysteria — does anyone actually know why this “third device” is such a necessity? Let’s dive a little deeper, shall we?

Continue reading Editorial: tablets aren’t the ‘third device’ I’d hoped for… from a productivity standpoint, anyway

Editorial: tablets aren’t the ‘third device’ I’d hoped for… from a productivity standpoint, anyway originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 21 Aug 2011 12:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Whether or not your cable TV provider has decided to offer live TV streaming to your mobile devices, you can do it yourself with the new HDHomeRun iPad app from Elgato. Paired with one of SiliconDust’s new HDHomeRun Prime CableCARD tuners, the $17.99 app can tune into cable channels that are sent without encyption or are marked copy freely (varies from provider to provider) and even allows users to record them right on the app. Restrictions include that it only works on the iPad 2, with standard definition MPEG-2 channels and (for now) only the most recent HDHomeRun hardware is supported. Check out the video demo for more information on exactly how it works or click the source link to get to iTunes and buy — in a market suddenly flooded by CableCARD tuners maybe this extra functionality is just what’s needed to tip the balance between one device or another.

Continue reading Elgato HDHomeRun iPad app brings (some) cable channels to the tablet

Elgato HDHomeRun iPad app brings (some) cable channels to the tablet originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Aug 2011 18:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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