Thursday, March 10, 2011

Apple : GarageBand and iMovie for iPad get early release

Apple : GarageBand and iMovie for iPad get early release

GarageBand and iMovie for iPad get early release

Posted: 10 Mar 2011 12:02 PM PST

Apple has sprung its second early launch in a week by outing the iPad versions of GarageBand and iMovie a day ahead of schedule.

First-gen iPad owners can now download GarageBand for just £2.99, while an updated version of iMovie is available for iPod touch and iPhone 4.

Tablet-fanciers will need an iPad 2 to run the iMovie app as the original iPad obviously doesn't have a video camera to record footage.

The early release follows Apple's decision to roll out iOS 4.3 yesterday. Both the 4.3 update and the apps were originally scheduled to launch on Friday, the day the iPad 2 arrives in the United States.

iLife on iPad

The launch sees the two most popular apps from Apple's iLife software package land on the revolutionary "post PC" tablet.

iMovie uses the iPad 2's new 720p HD video camera to open up a world of touchscreen editing possibilities. It brings precision fingertip video editing, multiple audio tracks, a host of themes and the ability to share your creations across the web.

GarageBand brings an 8-track recorder and real instruments to the touchscreen, with the accelerometer even sensing how firm you hit the keys on the piano.

At £2.99, both represent massive value and a big leap forward for iPad apps.

Exclusive: Sir Richard Branson: Apple is my favourite brand

Posted: 10 Mar 2011 07:43 AM PST

Sir Richard Branson has expressed his admiration for Apple and its founder Steve Jobs, joking that he'd consider merging his Virgin empire with the tech giant.

Branson, who was in town to check out the new Virgin Media TiVo box, told TechRadar and T3 of his love for Apple as a company, with the iPad 2 already on his wishlist.

When asked about the biggest name in technology, Branson needed no time to think.

"Steve Jobs," he answered. "I hope he gets through his current illness. He's the entrepreneur in the world I most admire and I think [Apple] is the brand I most admire."

Comeback king

"[Jobs] is the greatest comeback artist as well. He's twice been down and out and fought his way back and created a brilliant global company.

"Everything he does is real class and if he wants to rename his company Virgin Apple I'd be happy to merge! It's a great brand and a great company and may he get well soon.

"…it sounds like he may not be coming back [to work], and he really has done incredible things; he's got a great legacy."

iPad 2

Branson told us that he is already looking forward to getting hold of the iPad 2, with its predecessor quickly becoming his favourite gadget.

"I recently discovered the iPad and I'm looking forward to discovering the new iPad," he said

"[The original iPad] is fantastic and we recently launched the magazine 'Project' which is very good.

"Whether Apple can stay ahead of the game with all the competition with Google [Android] and putting it on every single bit of electronic equipment I don't know.

"There's a possibility that Apple won't reign supreme indefinitely."

Tutorial: iOS 4.3 home sharing: how to enable it

Posted: 10 Mar 2011 06:35 AM PST

There aren't a huge number of enhancements in iOS 4.3, but what is there is pretty darn powerful. Next to Personal Hotspot, the other headline feature is the arrival of Home Sharing in iOS.

This enables you to listen to media on your iOS 4.3-enabled iPhone, iPad or iPod touch streamed from iTunes on your networked Mac or PC.

And that's not only music – you can stream video, podcasts and audiobooks – indeed, anything that's in your iTunes library.

However, Apple doesn't really make it clear how you need to enable it, so here's our complete guide to Home Sharing in iOS 4.3

1. Install iTunes 10.2 and update to iOS 4.3

You don't necessarily need the very latest version of iTunes to download the iOS 4.3 software update, but you definitely need the latest version of iTunes. Trust us, it didn't work without it. Make sure you download and install the latest version of iOS. This isn't a small download at over 600MB, so be prepared for it to take a little while.

In case you don't know, iOS 4.3 is compatible with the iPad, iPhone 4 and 3GS (not 3G) and third generation iPod touch or later.

2. Turn on Home Sharing in iTunes

Home Sharing is in the Advanced menu of iTunes. Select Turn on Home Sharing from the menu, at which point the main screen will ask you to sign in using your Apple ID or create one in the unlikely event that you don't have one already. Finally, click Create Home Share. You can also get to this under the Sharing heading in the left sidebar.

iOS 4.3 home sharing: how to enable it

iOS 4.3 home sharing: how to enable it

3. Turn it on in iOS

As you might have expected, Home Sharing doesn't immediately pop up in the iPod app on your iPhone or iPad. Go to Settings > iPod > Advanced. Under Home Sharing, add your Apple ID username and password.

iOS 4.3 home sharing: how to enable it

4. Are you on the same network?

Now, make sure your iOS device is on the same Wi-Fi network as the PC or Mac you want to share from. Otherwise you won't be able to play anything.

5. Accessing your media

Providing all has worked out, you'll be able to go into your iPod app (or the different media apps on your iPod touch) and play media. Click more. You'll see there's now an additional heading called Shared. You can now flip between the library stored on your device or browse the other shared libraries on your network including those on network devices.

iOS 4.3 home sharing: how to enable it

Gary Marshall: iPhone Personal Hotspot: another excuse for the networks to rip us off

Posted: 10 Mar 2011 04:40 AM PST

There's something admirable about genuinely miserable people, the kind of people that greet the dawning of a new day by asking, "how can I really ruin this day for everybody?"

The kind of people who see everyone as money sponges they can squeeze to get a bit more cash.

The kind of people who run mobile phone networks.

iOS 4.3 is here, and that means Personal Hotspots: the ability to turn your iPhone 4 into a Wi-Fi access point for devices such as your computer or your iPad. It's just like sticking a Wi-Fi router on your home broadband, and it's a feature Android already offers.

Now, you'd think that since iPhone data plans are so ridiculously, ruinously expensive, and since almost all of them have a cap on the amount of data you can use each month, the personal hotspot feature would be free.

You'd be wrong.

With the honourable exception of Three, it seems that if you want to use your iPhone as a hotspot and you're not on a million quid per month data plan, you'll pay extra for it.

Why?

Data is data

I've seen suggestions that the networks are worried about data hogs: people will connect their laptops to their iPhones and immediately download Windows Service Packs, AV updates and Blu-Ray rips.

If only there was a way of penalising such customers, for example by setting a limit on how much data they could download in a month. The networks could mess with them while we're at it by calling it "unlimited data" when it's really half-a-gig.

Deterring data hogs is the only reasonable explanation for making you pay extra for tethering on an iPhone, but we already have a deterrent in the form of data caps - and you don't pay for personal hotspots on Android devices. So what's different here?

There are only two possible explanations.

One, iPhone data is a different shape from Android data. It's triangular, or maybe octagonal, and it gets stuck in the internet tubes.

Or two, the networks are bastards.

I know, I know. It's a tough one.

Imagine if ISPs behaved like this. On a typical day my broadband connection is used by a MacBook Pro, an Acer Aspire, a PC I made out of old bits of wood and string, an iPhone 3GS, an iPhone 4, an iPad, an Apple TV, an Xbox 360 and quite possibly my next-door neighbours, the postie and the milkman. By phone firm logic I should be paying a surcharge for that, or several surcharges.

By phone firm logic I should be paying extra if I put a call on speakerphone.

Data is data. Provided you don't exceed your data limit or bring down the network, what you do with that data when it leaves the mobile phone network is none of the operator's damn business. Charging for tethering on a capped data plan is profiteering, plain and simple.

Maybe the networks realise that. O2 told us earlier that their new tariffs, which will be announced in the next few weeks, will include tethering as part of your data allowance - and that existing customers would be able to get those tariffs. The cynic in me says "yeah, provided you sign up for another 24 months". I hope I'm wrong.

If you want a personal hotspot, don't pay for it. Wait and see what new tariffs emerge, whether the operators will let you move to them without signing away your eternal soul, and whether the various networks realise how greedy they're being when they ask you to pay twice for your data.

And if they still expect you to pay extra for tethering?

Jailbreak your iPhone.

Updated: iPhone 5 rumours: what you need to know

Posted: 10 Mar 2011 01:11 AM PST

iPhone 5 (or the iPhone 5G, as some are calling it) rumours are flying thick and fast already.

Will there be a rush release to erase memories of the iPhone 4's antenna problems? Maybe not - with the Verizon iPhone 4 Apple showed it wasn't afraid to tweak the current iPhone design.

Will the 5th generation iPhone deliver ultra-fast mobile internet? Will it ever end up on Verizon in the US?

Let's raid the iPhone 5 rumour fridge to find the tomatoes of truth amid the stinky stilton of baseless speculation.

The iPhone 5 release date will be in the summer…

Apple's established a rhythm with iPhone releases, with new models appearing in late June or early July each year. It's a safe bet that the iPhone 5 release date UK and US will also be late June or early July.

As Beatweek magazine points out, Apple's A-Team can't be everywhere at once; by staggering the releases of the iPad 2 and the iPhone 5, they get to work their magic on both devices.

…or maybe the iPhone 5 launch date will be earlier

iLounge said its source reckoned Apple would push the iPhone 5 release date forwards - possibly to January 2011 - because of the iPhone 4 antenna problems, although iLounge itself said the claim was "hard to believe". The source could be confusing the Verizon iPhone and the iPhone 5.

The usual July release date was mentioned by Engadget's source too in January 2011 - meaning the standard release cycle looks set to continue.

On 22 February, we reported that Craig Berger, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets, claimed that some components manufacturers are still ramping up and so the iPhone 5 release date could now be delayed until September.

The iPhone 5 will have a different form factor to the iPhone 4 - or will there be an iPhone 4S or iPhone 4GS first?

WSJ: "Separately, Apple is also developing a new iPhone model, said people briefed on the phone. One person familiar said the fifth-generation iPhone would be a different form factor than those that are currently available… it was unclear how soon that version would be available to Verizon or other carriers."

This has since been backed up by reports from Engadget we reported on 17 January 2011, which state the design will be a 'total rethink'.

Of course, since the iPhone 3G was followed by the 3GS it's possible the new iPhone won't be a total refresh and we'll see an iPhone 4S (or iPhone 4GS) before an iPhone 5.

There might also be a cheaper, smaller iPhone 5 - an iPhone nano

A prototype version of a smaller iPhone is said to exist, built to ward off competition from cheap Android handsets.

Rumours around an iPhone nano picked up again on 13 February when the Wall Street Journal claimed that the so-called 'iPhone nano' exists and may even be on sale later this year.

Those iPhone nano rumours may hold little truth, though. As we reported on 18 February, the New York Times cites an anonymous source who says there will be no smaller iPhone from Apple. "The size of the device would not vary," says the source.

A white iPhone 5?

The Economic Daily News is reporting that white iPhone 5 glass is being shipped, with a supplier called Wintek being the sole touch panel vendor for the white iPhone.

Edge-to-edge display?

A spurious photo of an iPhone 5 front case has been unearthed by a Chinese reseller, suggesting that the next Apple handset will feature an edge-to-edge display. We're not convinced it's a genuine Apple part, though.

A new metal back?

A rumour we covered on 7 March 2011 suggests that the new iPhone will do away with the glass back and opt instead for a metal back which will act as a new iPhone antenna.

The iPhone 5 specs will be evolutionary, not revolutionary

According to the Chinese Economic Daily News (via AppleInsider), with the exception of Qualcomm chipsets - which would replace the current Infineon chipsets in the iPhone 4 - Apple's sticking with the same suppliers for the 2011 iPhone 5G components.

We'd expect the basics of the iPhone 5 specs to get a bump - more memory, faster processor, and more storage.

The specs? A new antenna, 1.2GHz processor (possibly dual-core) and a larger screen: 3.7" instead of 3.5". The iPhone 5 may also be made from a new kind of alloy, or maybe meat.

In other rumours which surfaced on 15 February 2011, Digitimes is reporting on information supposedly leaked from component suppliers that claim the iPhone 5 will feature a larger, 4-inch screen. Digitimes quotes the source as saying that Apple is expanding the screen size "to support the tablet PC market as the vendor only has a 9.7-inch iPad in the market."

We're also hearing word of a multi-core design, in keeping with the rest of the mobile world, as Apple looks to improve both battery life and performance.

The iPhone 5 will also get a massive graphical boost as it moves to a dual-core GPU - this could herald true 1080p output from the new device, according to our news story on 18 January.

UPDATE: On 10 March 2011 it emerged that the A5 chip, found in the new iPad 2, looks to be headed to the iPhone 5, bringing enhanced functionality and dual-core power.

The iPhone 5 specs may include a digital wallet

There's been some speculation that Apple might include Near Field Communication (NFC) technology in the iPhone 5G, turning it into a kind of credit/debit card. However, as Techeye.net notes, "Apple has looked into NFC before" so this might not be imminent.

However, with the tech being inside the Google Nexus S, the time for NFC may finally be here.

Near field communication

PAY PHONE: Apple patents show how a near field communication-equipped iPhone 5 could act as a kind of credit card

UPDATE: On 24 February 2011, we reported that an Apple patent has revealed an e-wallet icon on the iPhone homescreen. This adds credence to the rumour that iPhone 5 will feature NFC.

The iPhone 5 specs may include LTE support

At least one analyst thinks the iPhone 5 will support LTE, super-fast mobile broadband, in the US. That would make the iPhone 5G a 4G phone, which won't be confusing at all. LTE is certainly coming - AT&T plans to roll out its LTE service in 2011 - but an LTE iPhone has been rumoured for a while. USA Today floated the idea of an LTE iPhone on Verizon last year.

The iPhone 5 price won't change

If the iPhone 5 is an evolutionary step like the move from the iPhone 3G to the iPhone 3GS then we'd expect the price to stay more or less the same, although in the UK higher VAT rates may well mean a higher price tag.

Apple TV also gets software update

Posted: 09 Mar 2011 01:34 PM PST

Apple has launched Software Update 4.2 for its Apple TV box to accommodate the new AirPlay functionality outed in the today's iOS 4.3 launch for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.

The new update arrives alongside iOS 4.3 which brings iDevice users the opportunity to stream content from third-party apps to their Apple TV box.

For UK users, the update also brings a redesigned Apple TV keyboard to improve search functionality as well as new slideshow themes.

US-centric

But the real boon comes for Apple TV owners based in the US, with the arrival of the MLB.tv and MLB League Pass subscription channels which can stream live baseball and basketball games to your TV.

Netflix subscribers using their Apple TV will now be able to watch movies and TV shots in Dolby 5.1 surround sound.

Surely it's about time UK users got some love for the £100 they splashed out on the box? At the moment, their device is a portal to rent movies from Apple, watch YouTube and not an awful lot else.

There's no TV show rentals, LOVEFiLM app, iPlayer or Sky Player available to British-based Apple TV owners. Come on Apple, show us the goods!

Update: MLB.tv will be available to UK users too. Hooray for the estimated 0.15 per cent of Brits who watch baseball.
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