Hasta La Gadget!

Some things, they never change. Boys will be boys, free never really is, and iPads will have WiFi issues. If you’ll recall, the original Apple slate also had such troubling issues with maintaining a wireless connection that the folks in Cupertino actually made a promise to fix things in time. Eventually, that patch was indeed rolled out, but then we heard that iOS 4.2 was being pushed a bit due to — you guessed it — more WiFi issues. Now that the iPad 2 has made its way out into the adoring public’s hands, we’re starting to see a growing cadre of customers raising similar gripes. Our in-house iPad 2 hasn’t shown any WiFi connection issues as of yet, but there’s a 10+ page thread over in Apple’s forums that have us wondering if we’re amongst the lucky few. Have you noticed any internet quirks with your new iPad? Or are all of these people simply using the world’s worst router? Let us know in comments below.

[Thanks, Brian]

Is your iPad 2 experiencing intermittent WiFi connection issues? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Mar 2011 14:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Although we don’t exactly know how they work, magnets are one of Earth’s many fascinations and are used in many gadgets today — perhaps most notably in Apple’s new Smart Covers. As you might have already known, the iPad 2’s first party screen concealer uses a bunch of magnets to make the magic happen; it snaps on and fits almost too well. By taking a few rare earth magnets and gluing them to the original slate’s hip, blogger Dan Provost is able to use a Smart Cover with the iPad uno. He positioned them according to how they stuck to the hinge of the cover, which explains the lack of spacing between the four magnets. As you’ll see in the video, Apple’s screen protector works well with the tablet, but it lacks the auto-unlock mechanism found in the iPad 2. Care to give your original iPad a taste of modernity? Hit the more coverage link to find the main ingredient for this DIY project.

Original iPad retrofitted to play nice with Smart Cover, magnets largely to thank (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Mar 2011 19:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Red Bull Augmented Racing game lets you build tracks with Red Bull cans

Red Bull Augmented Racing game lets you build tracks with Red Bull cans originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 19 Mar 2011 13:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The old saying goes “the early bird catches the worm,” and it certainly appears to be holding true for the insomniacs who stayed up for iPad 2 pre-orders to go live online. We’ve received our own orders that were placed as soon as the switch was flipped, as have several MacRumors forum contributors (as pictured above). With shipping estimates slipping longer and longer, maybe waiting on a real line isn’t the most unattractive option any more.

iPad 2 online orders start arriving on doorsteps originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Mar 2011 01:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You knew this was coming — it was only a matter of time — and here it is, Apple’s latest creation sans the iOS 4.3 chains. The development community credits @comex with installing Cydia on this white iPad 2, and he’s apparently already hard at work on a public jailbreak. According to his Twitter feed, the hack required a brand new exploit, as previous bugs were squashed in iOS 4.3. We’ll keep you posted on when the hack’s ready for you to use, too.

[Thanks, Henrique and Vassilis]

iPad 2 jailbroken, no ETA on public release originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 13 Mar 2011 20:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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