More Apple News – They Knew About iPhone 4 Antenna Problems But Will Fix iPad WiFi Issues

Todays big Apple news is likely to come later in the day when Apple will address the press and inform them of what, if anything, they intend to do about the issues that many users are having with the iphone 4 antenna. However, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t plenty of other Apple news in various outlets on the Internet.

For instance, the Telegraph newspaper has run with a report that Apple knew all about the antenna problems before the phone was released while ITProPortal has gone with the story that while they may not be so forthcoming with a resolution to that problem, Apple has at least said they will fix the WiFi issues that some iPad users are facing.

The iPhone 4 antenna problems have been extremely well documented and while users and experts alike have attempted to demand action, Apple has done very little to resolve the problem. They released a software update that basically improved the effectiveness of the signal bar display but all that little gem did was ensure that you know you had a problem.

The fact that senior engineer Ruben Caballerro told Steve Jobs that there may be a problem with the antenna will only serve to exacerbate the negative press that the company is receiving; especially if they don’t make a major announcement later today regarding a way forward for fixing the antenna/reception problems.

Slightly better news for Apple lovers and indeed iPad owners is that they are being slightly more proactive with the iPad (is this just an indication that phones are treated less seriously by manufacturers than tablets and laptops?).

An iOS update will apparently fix the problems with slow download speeds, poor WiFi connections, and an issue with copying and pasting PDF documents. The update is available now.

Does Apple take its customers for granted?

Have you experienced any of these problems and are sick of not getting proper resolution?

How many Android apps have been downloaded so far?

A few hundred thousand? Try a little over a flippin’ million and you’ll be there or thereabouts. In fact, exactly 1,063,084…wait…089…095. Argh, the counter on http://www.androlib.com/appstats goes too fast for me to keep up.

Anyway, that’s a lorra, lorra downloads, Android fans, and the little graph showing the download rate is looking scarily like the hill you come across on your bike just when you run out of water and energy. Of course, with the number of both users and apps growing all the time the number of downloads is likely to carry on climbing expotentially (note to self: must learn another big word to use tomorrow). Did you know that over 60% of the Android apps don’t cost a bean, while over at Apple the free market is limited to under 30% of their apps. Cheapskates and bargain hunters are welcome. I’ll see you there. wey hey.

Do you want a see through phone?

Of course you do. What sane, well balanced person wouldn’t?

Well if you have a Samsung Galaxy S (cue groans from users of other phones) hop along to the Samsung Apps Store and get yourself tooled up with Samsung’s funky new Android app called Road SMS. The app itself is a text messaging program but the way the screen shows the images captured by your camera is the very height of cunning. Of course, the idea is that you can walk along the street and send messages without falling over small dogs or being knocked over by runaway trolleys, but more fun can be had wowing friends and gullible neighbours with the app’s apparent ability to make the phone transparent.

If you are interested in the Samsung Galaxy S hang on a couple of days till I finsh and post the review.

Could This Be The Next HTC Phone?

HTC phones are seemingly being vomited out at a fair rate of knotts recently; new phones are being released and unveiled all over the place, many of them to decent critical acclaim. The HTC Desire and HTC HD Mini are among two of the more recent releases while a concept phone currently titled the HTC 1 has also been leaked to certain parts of the Internet and the proposed iPhone killer does look sexy (if that’s your thing).

In all honesty the HTC 1 isn’t all that likely to be released, certainly not in its exact guise, as it has been designed by blogger Andrew Kim on his Design Fabulous blog as a means to show that other developers should be able to advance their phones toa degree that would make them comparable and competitive with the iPhone and he does make a valid point although some of the ideas may be a little too far left field to be included in any phones released in the near future; it even destroys microorganisms on the screen as you charge the phone – genius.

Current HTC phones are performing reasonably well in the real world. The HTC Desire was well received for its AMOLED screen and advanced email although there were some niggles over the poor battery life. The Sense user interface of the HTC HD Mini was also a positive point for the mobile phone company but critics weren’t impressed with the fact that it ran Windows Mobile as its operating system.

Both phones also feature good looking designs and are comfortable to hold and use. They do have their problems like an inability to wake them from sleep mode with the front buttons but you can expect these problems to be ironed out in future releases of the mobile handsets.

Got yourself an HTC yet?

Would you buy the concept HTC 1 if Kim was suddenly employed by HTC?

Look at the latest HTC phones at : Vodafone | O2 | Orange | T mobile | 3

Whisper Quiet XBox 360 Slim Out Tomorrow

The new XBox 360 slim hits UK shelves tomorrow having been available in the US for quite a while now. Microsoft is offering something of an upgraded package for current XBox owners with the deafening roar of the old 360 reduced to ltitle more than a whisper and if you’ve ever played the old model then you’ll know that every game is accompanied by an incredible level of noise emitted from the fans. The good news is that the XBox 360 slim is reported to genuinely be all that quiet so good news there, but what else does the new console offer?

First off it offers a 250GB hard drive which is becoming increasingly important to regular gamers, downloaders, and other users. Games can be downloaded directly from XBox Live Marketplace now, including full games and downloadable content is getting bigger and more impressive. This is great news for convenience seekers as it means you don’t even need to leave the house to pick up the next instalment of your favourite games but your memory card certainly won’t do the trick any more.

It also includes an HDMI cable making it ideal for high definition gaming, although this isn’t quite as impressive as the news that the PS3 now features 3D gaming capabilities. The built in wifi is good news and means that you can connect to the Internet wirelessly and without having to pay extra for the wireless network bridge that was a required piece of kit for the original.

Finally, we get to the design and the slim is not only slimmer than the original but it is also sleeker and shinier. The disc tray emits a lovely beep and the whole unit feels more electronic and less mechanical when compared to the old 360.

All in all the news looks good especially when you consider the £200 RRP is really quite reasonable compared to the Elite price tag and the cost of a PS3.

Will you be getting the new XBox 360 slim when it’s released tomorrow (if you do, we suggest Tesco and don’t forget your Clubcard)?

Source – xbox.com

iPhone News – New iOS Features, Plus Apple Conference Announced For Tomorrow

You can barely move for Apple news nowadays as the company seemingly throws itself from one major release to another. Unfortunately, it’s also fair to say that the release of the iPhone 4 hasn’t been without its teething problems. The antenna/reception problem is certainly no small thing with an estimated 25% of users affected by the issue and Apple doing little thus far to really remedy the situation.

However, having announced a conference for tomorrow when they may (or may not) make an announcement on their next step to fixing the problem, they have also quietly released an update to the iOS operating system.

iOS 4.1 is currently only available to developers at the moment but it will be made available to all in the near future. Redesigned signal bars will come as scant consellation to users with reception issues but a complete redesign of the game centre and watermarks placed on jailbroken devices are notable changes for the improved system.

Apple has also announced that they will hold a press conference tomorrow morning, at 10am Pacific Time. The only topic of conversation will be the antenna fix and analysts and tech experts alike believe that the chances of a complete recall have increased despite estimates that this would cost the company $1.5bn. The press conference comes as presure mounts on the company and they receive more and more bad press with every passing day as consumers expect to be able to use their phones for the purpose they bought them.

Are you having problems with your iPhone?

Source – T3 Magazine

Design an astronaut’s house

NASA have given out details of a competition for engineering students; design an inflatable home for space travellers.

Beforce you start scribbling down ideas and dreaming of the cash prize on offer you might want to check the rather demanding criteria thet have set.  The blow up house has to last a quarter of a century with no maintenance work or resource consumption and a near zero carbon footprint.  However, it is also has to give the hardy astronauts a comfortable and useable living space. Pretty wallpaper and pot plants are optional.

Another NASA snippet (put the kettle on Malcolm, it’s a NASA double bill today) is that on the 29th of July they are going to present the first live Tweet from outer space. One small tweet for man…etc etc…

iPhone Recall Would Cost $1.5bn But Apple Tell Employees Something Big Is On The Way

It seems that the whole iPhone 4 antenna reception issue just won’t go away for Apple, and in all honesty why would it? It’s believed that about 1/4 of all users are affected by the issue that means holding the phone in a certain way gives bad reception and while this is an issue that most people believe should be fixed by the manufacturer as part of their warranty Apple quite clearly disagrees.

For their own part, they’ve stated that it’s merely an issue with the calculation of reception bars on the phone handset rather than an actual reception problem but many individuals and companies are not convinced and even fewer are convinced by the efforts that Apple aren’t putting in to remedying the situation.

As reported by AppleInsider, Bernstein Research has weighed up the figures to determine which would be the most viable method of resolution for the electronics giant. Having sold or shipped around 6 million units, the figures are based on this.

• A complete product recall would cost an estimated $250 per phone or $1.5bn total.
• An in-store fix would cost around $75 per phone or $450m total.
• The cheapest and therefore most likely resolution is to give a free bumper case which retail at $29 each – $174m total. Obviously it wouldn’t cost Apple this much to give away a free case to every iPhone owner.

The company has already stated that they won’t give a free bumber case but with the pressure mounting up for them to live up to their end of the agreement, it is possible that they may make an about turn.

Meanwhile, AppleInsider has also reported that some retail staff that are “in the loop” have been privy to an internal statement saying that something big is coming. However, don’t get your hopes up too much, as the site also predicts that it will be retail related so is only really likely to impact the stores themselves.

Who are the top 3 search engines?

Microsoft’s search engine, Bing, has ended its first year of life with a 12.7% share of the market, according to research recently carried out. Not at all bad for a new kid on the block, although still significantly behind Yahoo (18.9%) and number one and still undisputed champion of the search engines, Google, whose facility is used in over 62% of the searches we make.

Google and Yahoo are like familiar, friendly faces to all of us but maybe some people haven’t tried the new(ish) Bing engine yet. It is designed to be intuitive and user friendly, with a strong emphasis on the things most people like to search quickly and easily; news, sports, travel, entertainment and 24 hour pizza places (sorry, is that just me again). How big a chunk of the search engine pie it can carve is difficult to say but we can certainly expect it to continue to grow in the next year.

The EliptiGO Running Bike – Get Fit, Look Daft, Spend A Fortune

Following on from yesterday’s piece about the bendable bike that aims to cut down on storage space and bike theft, here’s another quirky (and we’re being kind there) bike idea. The developer is actually an Iron Man competitor so we’re not going to say too much against the EliptiGO except that we don’t think the take up rate will be all that phenomenal. The bike is designed to give you the workout of running without the high impact and possibility of injury associated with it.

Even the best design of shoe and the most expensive equipment can’t prevent the repeated impact injuries that are associated with regular running. Pounding the pavement every day can prove ultimately bad for the body but it is also a method of exercise that really generates results so finding a happy medium could ensure that you stay fit and stay healthy at the same time.

The EliptiGO aims to do exactly that.

The position of the EliptiGO bike is such that it positions riders out of the saddle. This means that you can put your weight and greater effort into generating torque with every step that you take. There are two pedals, one on either side of the frame, and by using these in a simialr way to a step or cross training machine you propel the bike forwards (hopefully).

The EliptiGO running bike is out in America and costs a quite high $2,200 and we’re fairly sure it will also create something of a stir as you fly past pedestrians at speeds of up to 25mph. Eight gears and brakes on the handlebars will be useful too and it’s worth considering that this definitely more of a workout machine than a method of convenient and effortless transport.

Would you fork out the equivalent of about £1,400 on a novelty running/cycling machine?

<« Previous page — Next Page » 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 « Previous Page — Next Page »