Apple's iPad 3 should have a Kids Edition

The iPad 3 isn't expected to break cover until 2012, but there has been a steady flow of rumours about its likely specs and features. A better display is expected to be included, as is a lighter carbon-fibre body, a beefier A6 processor and better cameras. More features are all well and good, but these are logical steps forward rather than a revolution.

What if Apple was to make an iPad 3 with fewer features though? Strip out the email, place restrictions on Web browsing and the App Store, and bury the Settings so deep the average user wouldn't even find them by accident? A dreadful idea, yes? But I'm talking about that average user being a child.

Apps for kids are huge, why not an iPad?

I'd love Apple to make an iPad 3 for kids, and here's why. When the first iPad was announced, several friends told me they'd never let their children within a country mile of the device. Hand over a £429 tablet to a jam-fingered dribbly toddler with a tendency to fling things at the wall? Yeah, right. This device was going to be adults-only. Except that's not how it's turned out.

The market for kids' apps is booming on iPad, as well as on iPhone and iPod touch. There are tens of thousands of animated picture books, games, educational apps, talking animals, ABC flash cards and digital toys available on the App Store, with plenty of willing buyers. The idea of handing your tablet over to your child seems eminently reasonable nowadays, and not just when you're at the end of your tether on a car journey or stuck inside on a rainy day.

Apps like Toca Robot Lab, Nursery Rhymes with StoryTime, Charles Peattie's Animal ABC, Paint My Wings, sundry Dr Seuss book-apps, Mindshapes' Jack In The Beanstalk, Nighty Night and Nosy Crow's The Three Little Pigs and Cinderella have captivated my two children, giving us many hours of fun as a family. Okay, and some spectacular tantrums when the iPad gets turned off, admittedly.
Five reasons why they need their own iPad

So, kids are using iPads and iPad 2s already, jammy fingers and all. Why should Apple make a special version of the iPad 3 just for them? Reason one: I've found my children merrily swiping their way through my email inbox, tapping gleefully whenever a little red button pops up (ie 'delete').

Reason two: that thing where all your app icons wobble while waiting to be deleted with a tap, which is quite easy to trigger? That.

Reason three: the Settings screen is a bit too accessible. Reason four: my photo library is now stuffed with around 674 PhotoBooth shots of my 4-year-old staring into the screen with a look of concentration on his face. If a picture tells a thousand words, he's leaving the equivalent of War & Peace on the iPad most nights. Reason five...

Well, you get the picture. Sharing your iPad with children is still a worry. Kid iPad could solve that by getting rid of the unneeded features like email, providing more controls for Web browsing and YouTube to make them child-friendly, and maybe even adding in new features focused on how kids might want to use the device (one-tap sharing of photos and scribbles with parents and grandparents, for example).

Apple could work on the device components to bring the price down, although the design wouldn't need to change -- even if the idea of Jony Ive wandering round Toys R Us eyeballing Fisher Price telephones for inspiration is irresistible. Pretty much every parent I know would be interested in the device, especially if Apple marketed it alongside the grown-up iPad 3.
Is it going to happen?

You can probably guess the answer to that. Apple's laser focus on a handful of products is what's making it billions of dollars right now, rather than bimbling about with offshoot devices aimed at niche audiences. If children are in Apple's thoughts device-wise, it's more likely to be as a key reason for parents to upgrade to the iPad 3 from an original iPad or iPad 2, so they can pass the older device on.

What's more realistic would be for Apple to act on this trend with its iOS software, though. Include a few more parental options such as the ability to lock down the Settings, browser and ability to delete anything from the device, for example. Perhaps even bring the idea of profiles to the iPad, recognising that while some families have one each, many still share a single device between two, three or four people -- including children. Making this simple and intuitive is the challenge, but that's Apple's bread and butter.
Make App Store child-friendly

More pressing is this: the App Store needs a Kids category. Currently, apps for children are spread between Games, Entertainment, Books and Lifestyle on Apple's store, with no unified chart to see what's currently popular. It's something the company is clearly aware of, since it has an Apps For Kids featured selection bringing some good apps together, but expanding this to a full App Store category would be a great move for parents and developers alike.

Expect to see a bunch of tablets aimed at children launch in the next year or so, all looking to capitalise on parents' desire to get their kids using new technology (or just to keep them quiet with a game for 10 minutes while you're having a peaceful cup of tea). LeapFrog already has its Explorer tablet, and there will be more to come running Android, hopefully with some or all of the features on my wishlist.

Their Achilles Heels may be apps. What iPad has right now is a big collection of creative, innovative and fun apps for kids, with two or three more new ones of note coming out every day. Anything Apple can do to bolster its tablet's appeal to children and their parents will pay off in the future: those children will be buying smart phones and tablets in a few years' time, after all. Even if they're not still buying Peppa Pig games to play on them.

Source: crave.cnet

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More Android Users Than iPhone Users Have Downloaded IRS Tax App

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- Adding to the emerging research on smartphone users, the Treasury Department reported Tuesday that more Android users than iPhone users so far have employed their smartphones to check on their tax returns.

Online tracking data already has exposed some dividing lines among smartphone users: Apple Inc. (AAPL)'s iPhone users prefer chicken to pork ribs, which are favored by Google Inc.'s (GOOG) Android users, Coupons.com said last fall, for example.

When it comes to checking in on their tax returns, Android users are flocking earlier to IRS2GO, the Internal Revenue Service's first mobile application, according to a report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration released Tuesday. Users can check on their tax returns and get tax tips with the program.

The Treasury report found that 178,773 Android users and 147,205 iPhone users have downloaded the app since its release on Jan. 20, 2011. Those numbers may even understate the preferences since the iPhone figure dates to May 15, while the Android figure is slightly older, from March 1.

The Treasury report found no security problems with the application, but sounded concern over the IRS's decision to use a programming language and open-source software that had not been approved when developing the application. Senior officials also never approved the application before its release, the report noted.

"The IRS is to be commended for using technology to make tax information more accessible to taxpayers," Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration J. Russell George said in a statement. "However, I am troubled that the IRS took some shortcuts in developing the application."

In its response to the report, IRS officials noted that rules mapping out the approval process were written 25 years ago and last updated in 2000, before the advent of mobile platforms. The tax agency said it will make sure new programs are properly screened, but are still released in a timely manner.

Source: foxbusiness

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What will happen to Android in the tablet market as mobile and desktop platforms merge?

Since the introduction of iOS in early 2007, the mobile world has never been the same. Google, Apple, Microsoft and a select few others have entered themselves in a race for the best mobile operating system around. In light of bigger, faster, more powerful handsets, the capabilities of mobile software has increased tenfold, along with the idea of how said software should operate.

Back at the WWDC in June, Apple gave us a peek into their endgame: merging their desktop software (OS X) with their mobile platform (iOS). Likewise, Microsoft has been working around the clock to make Windows 8 ride the line between mobile and desktop software. The approaching Windows 8 update will support x86, x64 and ARM architectures and schizophrenically share the very familiar Windows desktop with a Windows Phone-like Metro UI.

The obvious cause here is to bring together two markets that are inevitably merging with one another instead of killing one off entirely. The two technologies come with serious faults of their own, but could be vastly improved by bringing the two together and creating one super platform. Full desktop software has extreme functionality with more apt Internet browser options and programs, but it doesn't play well with more lightweight hardware and components. On the other hand, mobile platforms run happily on lighter, less powerful hardware – which translates to extreme portability – but only offers a fraction of the functionality. If the two can be integrated appropriately, this could take tablets, PCs and mobile computing to an entirely different level.

For the most part, we know how Microsoft and Apple have this planned out. The path is already paved for Windows and OS X, and with such a large, existing footprint in the computer business, the marketing options are endless. They can tweak their in-house software to work just as they want – no need to start from scratch. But where does Android fit into this whole tablet-computer merger? If you recall, Google only owns Android. They currently have no desktop equivalent. They do have Chrome OS, but it is neither a full desktop OS or really any more functional than current mobile platforms.

Then there is Linux, which is the sole foundation of Android. Being open source and so closely related, I feel if Google were to follow the lead of companies such as Apple or Microsoft, they would be forced to take the Linux path. But even Linux may not be enough to edge out its competition. Linux has been around for 20 years and despite being a fully functional operating system, it never went mainstream. The personal computers that you can buy preloaded with Linux are few and far between. Linux has mostly remained behind the scenes and running the gadgets and gizmos that you would least expect.

Although Linux is fully capable and my operating system of choice, the third-party software support is a hit or miss. I spend a lot of my time searching for alternatives to Windows or Mac programs, so I don't have to reboot my computer to Windows. It's only for the junkies. Not everyone is going to want to load their Linux/Android tablet up with Wine just run Windows programs on the go. (Just the thought makes my head hurt.) No, they're probably going to buy a Windows 8 tablet instead.

Lest we forget that Intel support is coming to Android in the not too distant future, which could definitely expand options quite a bit. But don't set your hopes too high for a Windows-Android dual-booting tablet. Although I doubt Microsoft would complain if Google (and their partners) came crawling to them for a licensing deal, El Goog is on their own here.

So what will Google do? My best guess is they will try to keep Android operating a solo operation until they absolutely have to come up with something else. Linux seems to be their only viable option at this point, and even that route may leave them stranded, choking on the dust from Microsoft and Apple. For the die-hards, Linux will be great. But basic consumers will stick to the more mainstream platforms when push comes to shove.

Who knows, Android may finally be what brings Linux into the limelight. A guy can dream, right?

It's tough trying to predict how this inevitable merger will pan out. But it appears as if Google may quickly find themselves in a pinch. What say you, tablet lovers? Would you prefer a full (yet optimized) operating system on your tablet? When the time comes, will you drop Android for other, more functional and mainstream platforms if Google can't keep up? Is there anything in particular that you would like to see Google do with Android to make it more functional?

Source: phonedog

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iPad continues to drive growth of media tablet shipments

According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Media Tablet and e-Reader Tracker, media tablet shipments have increased worldwide by almost 90 per cent on a sequential basis, and year over year by about 300 per cent in the second calendar quarter of 2011 to 13.6 million units. Because of the strong performance that leads to a positive outlook for the gadget for the second half of the year, IDC made a forecast of 62.5 million units being shipped all over the world. This projection is definitely higher than the previous forecast of 53.5 million units.

The shipments of media tablets in the second quarter increased because of the continued robust demand for the iPad 2. Apple’s iPad 2 shipments reached 9.3 million units which represents 68.3 per cent of the worldwide market, a 2.6 per cent increase from 65.7 per cent of the previous quarter. Apple’s continued competitiveness and RIM’s introduction of their very own media tablet brought chagrin to the Android-based media tablets, whose shares slipped down from 34.0 per cent to 26.8 per cent. Competition’s getting real tough nowadays, isn’t it?

IDC is expecting that Android will yield additional market share in the third quarter of 2011 before it begins growing its share once again in the fourth quarter. IDC also expects continued demand for Apple iPads and Touchpads pegged at $99. Before the end of the year, TouchPad shipment is seen to be close to around a million units. WebOS’s worldwide market share will reach 7.4 per cent in the third quarter of 2011.

According to Mobile Connected Devices research director Tom Mainelli, the strong demand for Apple products has driven the growth of media tablet shipments in the second quarter. He added that shipments will continue to increase in the latter half of the year because more Android manufacturers will introduce more price-competitive products into the market while Apple strives to retain its reign.

Jennifer Song, a research analyst at the Worldwide Trackers expounded that Apple’s iOS share will maintain its lead by more than 40 per cent over Google’s Android for the rest of this year, but its share will fall closer to 50 per cent by the end of the forecast period due to the new tablets which will be rolled out by manufacturers.

The second quarter experienced a seasonal downfall for the e-Readers. Amazon led the market with its 51.7 per cent share; Barnes and Noble came in at second with 21.2 per cent. IDC expects growth in e-Reader shipments through the holiday season. Mainelli said that we must anticipate sellers to bring down the prices of their current generation black-and-white eReaders by the holidays in order to entice more potential customers. Amazon’s rumored color LCD-based device is also expected to be shipped within this year.

Source: mobilemag

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Duo: iPhone 5 release date arrives with Sprint iPad 2 ahead of iPad 3

So much for the iPad 3 arriving this year alongside the iPhone 5. But the latter isn’t the only new Apple hardware whose release date is in 2011. Sprint, Apple’s new iPhone partner, is set to launch its own iPad 2 instead. If the iPad 3 were imminent, the carrier would instead be waiting for its arrival. The report from CNET, if true, brings to a seeming end the will-they or won’t-they saga of whether the iPad 3 might arrive just before the holidays instead of the traditional spring 2012 timeframe. Instead the iPhone 5 is on its own for 2011. Although Apple most often goes a full year between mobile device generations, a number of factors have led some to believe Apple would yank the iPad 2 after a mere seven months in favor of a new generation. This news does not, however, kill off the possibility of an iPad 2S type of spec-bump before the year is over.

The Sprint news echoes the last time Apple gained a new iPhone partner. Verizon began selling the iPad in advance of the Verizon iPhone 4 release date as well. However, in that instance Verizon was selling the non-3G iPad bundled with a Verizon Mifi hotspot device. This report has Sprint selling its own iPad 2 with built-in Sprint mobile networking. That it’s a "2″ and not a "3″ is bound to disappoint those who were expecting an iPad 3 to arrive this year with the iPhone 5. After the iPad 2 turned to to be a mere spec bump with a handful of new features and a slimmer body with no revolutionary new features or redesign, many were expecting Apple to deliver the "real iPad 2", the ambitious one which the company had surely been working on since spring of 2010 or before, heading into the holidays…

Apple’s other seeming motivation for changing up the iPad release date schedule was so it could avoid the scenario last year in which some consumers put off iPad purchases during the holiday season amid "When is the new iPad coming?" talk. By shifting the iPad to a fall release date alongside the iPhone 5, Apple could turn things to its advantage, changing the sentiment to "A new iPad just launched, now is a great time to buy one as a gift." The news of a Sprint iPad 2 model points to the iPad 3 not arriving until after the new year, leaving the device on its current annual upgrade schedule. However, that doesn’t mean the iPad can’t still be revved this year…

Apple could find middle ground by revving the iPad 2 into an "iPad 2S" type of model, with better specs along the lines of capacity or battery life, and making a comparatively quiet changeover even as the iPhone 5 announcement grabs all the headlines. The move would allow Apple to push a "new iPad" to market going into the holidays and mitigate "When is the iPad 3 coming out?" talk among holiday shoppers. For all that is known, the "Sprint iPad 2″ could in fact be a Sprint iPad 2S, with Verizon and AT&T also getting their own iPad 2S models. It’s not clear what the device would actually be called, however, as iPad 2S is a moniker created by those who are hoping it’ll arrive. As usual, Apple has had nothing to say on the subject of a new iPhone 5 or iPad.

Source: beatweek

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Shrug off the recession with your new Ayn Rand iPad app

I once dated an objectivist. Every sentence began with "I am" or "I want." Which made asking her questions about her feelings a little awkward.

Still, there are those for whom Ayn Rand's movement represents a guiding element that lights up their lives in a way Debby Boone never could. For these people I have great news. For Rand's great opus, "Atlas Shrugged," is now available in a fascinating and self-empowering iPad app.

"Atlas Shrugged" might well have passed you by. This might be because it has around a thousand more pages than Kate Middleton at her wedding.

It is the story of people with brains who decide to go on strike--as if that has never happened before. It was published in 1957, when people could actually rely on entities like corporations and governments. So prescient was it that, even then, it posited a world where self-reliance was the only way to go.

Some of those who watched the Republican debate last night and heard an audience cheer at the thought of a sick person without health insurance being left to die might imagine that the true author was Ayn Rand Paul.

But, no. This was merely a woman who hung with Alan Greenspan and, somewhat refreshingly, didn't care whether we all got along or not. I make her sound heartless. But this iPad app will, apparently, give you insight into her as well as her book, so you will be able to judge for yourself.

You will see video of the author talking about the book and be treated to Rand's full-length audio lectures. You will also be able to experience her from the grave opinions about Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, rap music, and Obamacare. (OK, that last sentence may be entirely inaccurate.)

You might be wondering whether this fine (and somewhat interactive) app will cost you a month's salary. No, it is a mere $14.99 and it will help you rise above the detritus that surrounds you and become the person you've always dreamed of being. Yes, Harry Reid. Or Debby Harry. Or Debby Boone.

Ayn Rand was the ultimate laissez-fairy. She waved her wand and imagined a world in which only the individual mattered, only the individual could make things happen. She may well have been right. With just one wave of your index finger, you can now cuddle up to her and listen to the whispers of her wisdom.

Source: news.cnet

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Apple loses unreleased iPhone 5 in bar, rumored features leaked

A year has come and gone since the release of the iPhone 4, and Apple has been fairly silent until recently.

On Aug. 31, CNet.com ran an exclusive story describing how, in a repeat of last year's missing iPhone 4, an Apple employee lost an unreleased iPhone model in a Mexican restaurant and bar in San Francisco. Apple reportedly contacted the San Francisco Police Department, saying the device was "priceless" and they were "desperate to secure its safe return."

Apple traced the phone to a two-story home in San Francisco's Bernal Heights neighborhood and partnered with SFPD to investigate.

Police and Apple's investigators arrived at the home and spoke with Sergio Calderon, who acknowledged his presence at the bar the night the iPhone went missing but said he didn't know anything about the phone.

Calderon gave the police permission to search his house, but they found nothing. Apple's investigators also offered Calderon money, no questions asked, for the return of the device, but he continued to deny knowledge of the device.

It was reportedly sold on Craigslist for $200, according to the article.

The latest lost iPhone added to speculation that has been building in the months following the release of the iPhone 4, the Internet has been ablaze with rumors about the next iteration of the device.

Brian Middleton, unified applications analyst for the University, explained some of the supposed features.

Near Field Communications chip

"In the typical sense, it allows data transfer between two devices over a short range," Middleton said. "It could allow the phone to be used in place of a credit card. You could just hold your phone up to the vending machines around campus and buy a drink."

A5 dual-core processer

"Basically, dual core just means there are two processers on one chip, which gives you more processing power," Middleton said.

More processing power allows the device to run faster.

Eight megapixel rear-facing camera

"Megapixels don't really mean too much," Middleton said. "The pictures will be larger, but you're still limited by the size of the optics and the device."

In addition to those features, the iPhone 5 is rumored to have an "edge-to-edge" display, making its screen comparable to Google Android phones like the HTC Inspire.

As for Apple's lost iPhone, Middleton said he thinks it was an accident.

"I think they're just bad at keeping track of it," Middleton said. "With all of the stuff that went down with the iPhone 4, I don't think they meant to lose it."

But some students don't think Apple's actions are purely accidental.

"I don't think Apple would allow a prototype to just float around with their employees," said Chris Nguyen, biochemistry sophomore. "I thought they would learn from the last time they lost one."

Apple apparently won't be taking any more chances, as the company added two job listings for a product security team after the phone went missing.

But Nguyen doesn't think the lost iPhone will deter people from buying the phone anyway.

"If anything, everyone gets kind of a sneak peek into what's definitely going to be in the phone," Nguyen said.

Apple has yet to make any announcement regarding the next iPhone.

Source: lsureveille

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Apple May Not Increase iPhone 5 Screen Size: Analyst

As the October release date nears for the iPhone 5, the rumor mills are churning anew over its expected features and specifications.

Apple needs to be much more cautious over the specifications of the iPhone 5 as several Android smartphones are threatening the next iteration with breathtaking features. The notable ones include Samsung Galaxy S2 and Motorola Droid Bionic. Both smartphones feature the latest version of Android Gingerbread OS with screen size of at least 4 inches.

In addition, the recent breed of Android phones such as HTC Holiday, HTC Thunderbolt and Motorola Photon found expression in 4.3-inch displays. The trend seems to highlight that the next barrage of Android phones will follow the 4.5-inch form factor.

As a result, if Apple seeks to pose a strong competition against Android it may have to increase its screen size especially when it is prepping for a bigger iPhone market in the second half of this year.

Apple is also rumored to be boosting the screen size of the iPhone 5 to compete with Android rivals, probably going for a 3.7 to 4-inch screen. But if the latest findings from a Wall Street analyst are to be believed, then Apple would not increase the screen-size of iPhone 5.

"iPhone 5 component orders increased for FQ4 (Sept.) and FQ1 (Dec.); timing of orders continues to suggest an October launch. FQ4 orders for iPhone 5 increased ~700k; timing continues to suggest an Oct. launch. iPhone 5 screen size likely to be same as iPhone 4," Pacific Crest Securities analyst Andy Hargreaves wrote in a note to clients.

iPhone 4 has a 3.5-inch screen featuring the LED backlit liquid crystal display with a 960×640 pixel resolution and is marketed as the "Retina Display."

Source: ibtimes

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