Monday, March 28, 2011

PadGadget

PadGadget

Link to PadGadget

iPad 2 Sells Out Overseas; Delivery Times Slip to 3-4 Weeks

Posted: 28 Mar 2011 01:50 AM PDT


Looks like Apple has done it again.  Based on reader reports, iPad 2s are sold out across stores in most of the 25 new countries where Apple launched this past Friday.  Similar to what we witnessed in the US, Apple Stores acorss the 25 countries saw customers lining up at least 24 hours ahead of the doors opening in hopes of getting one of Apple’s new tablets. Demand for Apple's new iPad 2 has far exceeded what we witnessed last year when the original iPad was released.

As was the case in the US, many international customers were turned away after a few hours with stock of the most popular iPads sold-out by the end of Saturday. Apple Stores once again had the largest share of available inventory with smaller resellers often getting fewer than 50 units of the popular iPad 2.

International Shipping times have also slipped an additional week.  On Friday, Apple’s Online Stores showed all 25 countries had a 2-3 week estimated shipping window.  On Sunday, all Apple Stores now showed the iPad 2 shipping in approximately 3-4 weeks.

These estimates are still better than the 4-5 weeks US customers faced shortly after the iPad 2 launched on March 11. Both Apple’s International and US Online Stores now show estimated shipping times for the iPad 2 to be 3-4 weeks. If you’re a glass half-full type, you’ll be happy to hear customers ordering online have repeatedly told us Apple's shipping window is dead-on and that they received their iPad 2 well within the time-range Apple provided. If you do decide to order online, at least you should get your iPad 2 on time.

Apple began selling their second-generation iPad at Apple Retail Stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers at 5:00 p.m. local time this past Friday.  International customers were also able to order online from their local online Apple Store beginning Friday at 1:00 a.m. local time.

» Related posts:

Rat Dissection – Quick App Review

Posted: 27 Mar 2011 09:43 PM PDT


Last summer we were impressed by the award winning Frog Dissection app from Emantras so we were anxious to take a look at their latest dissection app when it was released last week.  Rat Dissection is the newest app designed to enhance the science curriculum for middle and high school students.

Dissection begins with a rat on a tray and tools displayed at the bottom of the screen.  Students are prompted with step-by-step instructions and led through the dissection process. Pin the rat in place, make the necessary cuts with a scalpel and students quickly get to work on their lab.

Once the belly and chest of the rat are split open, the internal organs are ready to view. Small blue dots appear throughout the abdominal cavity and indicate the organs you may select to get more information. Tap a dot on an organ and a detailed 3D picture appears along with a description of how that particular organ functions.  Students may view each organ from a variety of angles by swiping their finger back and forth across the screen and read through information about the purpose of the organ by scrolling through the text at the bottom of the screen.

My kids were amazed by the original frog dissection app and were equally interested in dissecting a rat with the help of this new app.  The directions were easy to follow and it didn't take them long to get inside and expose the rat’s organs.

It’s unlikely dissection apps such as these will completely replace the traditional experience students get during a biology class, but they are a great addition to the tools teachers have to help their students learn.  Rat Dissection is available for download from the App Store for $3.99.

 

» Related posts:

iPad 2 Camera Issues: Yet More Evidence of a Problem

Posted: 27 Mar 2011 08:29 PM PDT


Last week, we reported on camera issues experienced by several iPad 2 owners, while using FaceTime. Earlier today, CultOfMac uncovered more camera-related issues, and even manage to capture the problem while it was occurring.

At this stage, the issue seems fairly random, and is difficult to reproduce, as it is not limited to FaceTime only. The problem could be directly related to the cameras coming with the iPad 2, or the software layer used to manage them. A hardware problem would be quite a challenge for Apple, as fixing it might never be possible, while a software bug would be much easier to squash.

I compiled some still images from a recording that I made while inside a car wash. I had my iPad 2 in my bag, and I figured that, since I've yet to record a video on it, I could just record my trip through the car wash. During the two and a half minutes that I was in there, I noticed that the colors were "glitching-out." It's happened three times now.

The new iteration of iOS released on Friday, iOS 4.3.1, doesn’t fixed the issue, as the iPad 2 used by CultOfMac was already updated to the latest version of iOS. And until Apple communicates on the issues, and fixes it, users are not given much of a choice, but to reboot their device when the problem occurs.

The videos below were taken with an iPad 2, inside a car wash. The camera issue can be seen several times on the first video, while the second video shows the issue frame-by-frame, in case you cannot see it in the first video.

» Related posts:

PadGadget Weekend iPad News Roundup – March 27, 2011

Posted: 27 Mar 2011 10:40 AM PDT

A Revamped iOS 5, Cloud Service, and iPad 3 in the Fall?

Posted: 27 Mar 2011 10:28 AM PDT


Ever since the iPhone was released, Apple has followed a pattern of launching new iOS releases right before a new iPhone hardware update becomes available.

With all the rumors about an upcoming MobileMe service, and Apple’s signs to leverage its huge North Carolina data center, many of us in the tech blog world thought that iOS 5 details would be revealed in April. However, TechCrunch reports that iOS 5 will probably be released in the fall.

According to the TechCrunch report, the new iOS 5 might be unveiled at Apple’s WWDC conference in June instead of a special April event. Even though some consumers and developers may be a bit disappointed with the new time frame, the upcoming iOS 5 release could include many features that everyone’s been waiting for. It would be a “major revamp” for Apple’s popular mobile operating system.

According to different sources, the new iOS 5 with almost certainty be focused on several cloud-based features. There are strong indications of a “personal media locker” hosting service for your music, videos, photos, and location-based features. As of now, the plan seems to be for Apple to unveil many of these features during the summer at WWDC, and later release them with a “revamped” version of iOS 5.

If we examine some of Apple’s recent signs or subtle messages, we can certainly assume that a major iOS “revamp” is imminent. First, we recently told you about Apple working on a new Maps app for the iPhone and iPad. The company already hired several developers last year to help with the development of "navigation software on a massive scale." The new service could be tied to the upcoming new version of MobileMe, and could be powered by Apple's new data center in North Carolina.

Second, a "Find My Friends" feature was reported to be part of earlier beta versions of iOS 4.3. This feature would show the location of selected contacts on a map in proximity to the device owner, which could be assumed as part of the location-based features in iOS 5.

Third, Apple did hire former Palm’s webOS notification designer (Rich Dellinger), in which many believe was to help the company develop a more advanced notification system in the iOS operating system.

Finally, if we try to make sense of Apple's recent decision to discontinue the sale of MobileMe retail boxes, it seems the changes are imminent, and other rumors have also talked about an improved "voice navigation" feature for the iPhone that would allow us to control the device via voice commands as well.

Other rumors have also hinted about the possibility of a new iPad 3 in the fall. Although the news of a new iPad 3 could be far fetched, Concord Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo seems pretty convinced that the third generation iPad will be released much earlier than expected. The rumor claims that the iPad 3 will be the one to deliver the highly anticipated Retina Display, and most likely even better processing power with additional cores.

It seems that Apple will follow its usual release schedule for the iPhone 5, but plans to surprise all of us with a “major revamp” of iOS 5 a few months later. Stay tuned!

[via TechCrunch]

» Related posts:
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)