Apple : Chinese men jailed over iPad 2 leaks |
- Chinese men jailed over iPad 2 leaks
- Apple Store employee secrets revealed
- Updated: Top 200 best iPad apps 2011
| Chinese men jailed over iPad 2 leaks Posted: 15 Jun 2011 01:45 PM PDT  Three men have been jailed in China after being convicted of stealing unreleased information about Apple's iPad 2. The conspiracy involved the sale of images of the iPad 2's back cover from Apple's Foxconn supplier to enable a manufacturer to produce protective cases for the device. The Chinese court said ruled that Xiao Chengsong, general manager of MacTop Electronics had paid $3,000 to former Foxconn employee Hou Pengna, in exchange for the top-secret images. Pengna then enlisted the help of Foxconn R&D worker Lin Kecheng, who assisted in obtaining the images in September of 2010. Accurate design The images allowed Chengsong to begin selling cases in December 2010, which accurately predicted the position of speaker grill and camera on the device, which was not officially unveiled until March 2nd. The cases saw Foxconn officials become suspicious and a police investigation was launched. Changsong has been sentenced to 18 months in-prison while Kecheng received a 14-month term and Pengna was given a year behind bars.Each of the guilty party was handed a sizable fine for their troubles also. Perhaps iPad 3 and iPhone 5 leaks might be a little harder to come by from now on... |
| Apple Store employee secrets revealed Posted: 15 Jun 2011 12:45 PM PDT  Apple retail store workers are bound to strict codes of conduct relating to how they interact with customers, a report in today's Wall Street Journal has revealed. The financial bible has interviewed several current and former employees about how they are trained to understand customer needs rather than push products on the punters. Former employee David Ambrose told the WSJ: "You were never trying to close a sale. It was about finding solutions for a customer and finding their pain points." The report also pointed-out that the philosophy means Apple Store employees do not receive commission or bonuses based on the sales they make. Training manual In a 2007 training manual obtained by the paper Apple Store employees are informed that: "Your job is to understand all of your customers' needs - some of which they may not even realize they have." The manual also offers insight into a "steps of service" APPLE acronym that employees are encouraged to use when dealing with visitors to the store: "Approach customers with a personalized warm welcome," Unfortunately In one slightly humorous revelation, workers at Apple's tech support 'Genius Bars' are not allowed to use the word 'unfortunately' to customers as it is considered to have negative connotations. Instead they are encouraged to use phrases like "as it turns out." One former employee interviewed by the WSJ says that he was forbidden from correcting, and hence patronising, customers when they mispronounced the names of Apple products. Meanwhile, employees who don't sell enough Apple Care service packages with products sold are retrained or shipped out to another department. Pay Genius Bar employees at paid around $30-an-hour in the US, while sales staff earn between $9 and $15.The former are regularly retrained and retested on their knowledge. One Apple employee has recently set about trying to arrange an Apple Store employee's union and is demanding higher wages. There's plenty more interesting insight into the Apple Store world and it's worth heading over to the WSJ to check out the rest. |
| Updated: Top 200 best iPad apps 2011 Posted: 15 Jun 2011 04:20 AM PDT  Whether you have an iPad or iPad 2 that means deciding which apps you should purchase and download right away. We tested the launch apps when the first iPad became available in the US and we ranked them below based on how they test out, if they make use of the larger screen, and any added perks. When the iPad became available in the UK, we trawled the UK App Store to pick our favourite free iPad apps, paid-for iPad apps, free iPad games and paid-for iPad games. You'll find links to all those round-ups at the end of this article. 1. Kindle for iPad Why list a free e-book reader as the top pick when Apple's own iBook is included? Ask anyone who owns a Kindle - with this free app, you can download every book and magazine you have ever purchased for free and read them on the iPad. The Kindle reader doesn't have the annoying grayscale book spine of the iBook reader, and books through Amazon are cheaper. There's also a much wider selection. And, one of the best ways to use the iPad is for reading books, mags, and newspapers.
2. Blackboard Mobile Learn The second free app that tops our list, Blackboard Mobile Learn is a classroom learning tool where teachers can make assignments, interact with students, write blogs, and post grades. It requires a backend infrastructure. Currently available only for higher-ed schools, Blackboard will add K-12 support by June.
3. Scrabble Scrabble is another app that is just an ideal fit for the iPad. The classic word-cross board game is well-designed with wooden tiles that look realistic. With the accurate touchscreen control, it is easy to slide tiles around on screen.
4. Groovemaker Groovemaker is like having a DJ on your iPad. There's an easy to way to record and mix loops, add drum parts, and adjust sound levels to make a song. Samples clips sound great, especially on earbuds. The app is ideal for live music at parties as well.
5. Things We know all about Things - the well-regarded task manager for iPhone and Mac. On the iPad, once again the app just has a new life because it's like carrying around a clipboard with all your to-do items in one easy-to-access bucket.
6. Fieldrunners Fieldrunners - the classic tower defense game for iPhone where you drop cannons to shoot advancing armies - has always needed some extra screen real estate. On iPad, the game looks crisp and colorful, but most importantly there is more room to plan out your strategy and divide up your units in a logical array.
7. Netflix Netflix is on so many devices it is becoming a legitimate standard for streaming movies over the internet. (It's on the Roku player, Samsung BD-C6500 Blu-Ray player, and many others.) Now, it is on the iPad, and it works: you can even set up a movie queue and search for films and shows, unlike other embedded devices that force you to add instant movies to your queue on your PC only.
8. Pianist Pro MooCowMusic got an early jump with its iPhone port of this useful piano tool. On the iPad, the keys are large enough to actually play a real song. There's plenty of sampled piano sounds - even a church organ - and a quick way to record.
9. WeatherBug Elite WeatherBug Elite is a perfect example of why the iPad is changing computing: it shows a well-detailed map of your exact location, forecasts, video, and even camera feeds from your area. There are even contour maps for wind speed and temp.
10. FlightTrack Pro This iPhone port works exceptionally well on the iPad, mostly because you can see a large map that shows your flight departure and arrival. Pop-ups after you enter the flight info remind you about when the flight is ready to take off.
11. Pages Apple knew full well that Microsoft would not move an inch to support the iPad, so Pages is the best (and only!) word processing app. Combined with the iPad Dock with an Apple Bluetooth keyboard, it is possible to do real work on the iPad, even if Pages lacks some key features - such as HTML mark-up support.
12. Tweetdeck Another brilliant port to iPad, Tweetdeck shows you the feeds of your Twitter friends, your own mentions, and your direct messages. It works well because there is enough screen space to actually read all of this content.
13. Keynote Keynote is worth the price of admission if only because you can set up an attractive slideshow - using Apple's templates and stock artwork - and run it on the iPad's crisp screen - which is viewable from side angles during a meeting.
14. Mirror's Edge The PC and console versions of Mirror's Edge never really caught on due to minimalistic gameplay mechanics. On the iPad, the story is still confusing (is she running from enemies, trying to collect info about them?) but the action is better. You flick and jump to avoid obstacles in a side-scrolling window, and there's a few interesting additions - such as tilting the screen to run faster.
15. ABC Player The ABC Player on the iPad is a must download - it provides the best way to watch TV shows from the US network for free. Most importantly, it works quite well over a Wi-Fi connection without some of the latency problems on the desktop.
16. Labyrinth Lite HD More than just a simple wood-block puzzle where you move a marble from one end of the box to another, Labyrinth Lite HD has expanded to provide a tougher challenge with switches, rotating dials, and other obstacles. The iPad version is just right: it really feels like you are playing the classic puzzle game.
17. Yahoo! Entertainment We were surprised to discover this colorful, well-designed app - which shows you TV listings for your area as well as video snippets and news.
18. SketchBook Pro We're big fans of SketchBook on the iPhone, and this high-def version just makes it even easier to sketch out an artistic image. The tools are amazingly advanced, mirroring what you might see in Photoshop or in a real artist's shop.
19. OmniGraffle OmniGraffle has never quite fit a device like it fits the iPad. This diagramming tool - which you can use to create flowcharts, sketch out ideas, and even plan an office floorplan - is just pick-up-and-go easy on the smooth touchscreen.
20. AIM AOL still exists? Yes - in theory. On the iPad, this instant messaging client looks great and, coupled with the responsive soft keyboard, is actually one of the best ways to communicate with friends, short of a video chat in a future iPad version.
Best iPad apps for UK buyers Top 50 best free iPad apps Many great free iPhone apps cost 59p or more in their iPad incarnations, and the quality level of what's still free is often ropey. But among the dross lie rare gems - iPad apps that are so good you can't believe they're still free. Of those we unearthed, here are our favourites.
Read Top 50 best free iPad apps Top 40 best paid-for iPad apps We worked our way through the App Store and furiously tested a huge (digital) pile of apps, before coming up with our 40 best paid-for iPad apps.
Read Top 40 best paid-for iPad apps Top 40 best free iPad games The App Store offers plenty of iPad gaming goodness for the (unintentional or otherwise) skinflint. Our pick of the 30 best free iPad games are below.
Read Top 30 best free iPad games 30 best iPad games worth paying for With the iPad, the larger screen and extra clout from Apple's A4 chip creates a gaming experience markedly superior compared to that on the iPhone, and already there are plenty of fantastic titles for the system. Here are our current top 30 paid-for iPad games.
Read 30 best iPad games worth paying for 20 best iPad 2 apps If you've been fortunate enough to get your hands on a new iPad 2, you'll know that it's a very powerful piece of kit. But what apps should you get to show it at its best?
Read 20 best iPad 2 apps
|
| You are subscribed to email updates from TechRadar: All Apple feeds To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment