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iPad 2 and iOS 4.3 JavaScript benchmarks show big performance gains
Some of the first speed tests coming in show that hardware and software improvements in the iPad 2 are giving it decent performance gains over its predecessor -- and over rival devices. CNET UK decided to spend its brief hands-on time with the iPad 2 by running the SunSpider JavaScript Benchmark, which CNET calls "an increasingly important indication of overall performance. The better a phone or tablet is at dealing with JavaScript, the faster more complicated websites such as Facebook will run, which means your whole experience with the device will feel faster." CNET found initially that the iPad 2 is up to four times faster than the original iPad, but not all this speed improvement is down to the upgraded hardware. The speed advantage dropped to a 1.5x boost when CNET updated the original iPad's OS to a beta version of iOS 4.3 that it happened to have lying around. This could be good news for anyone who wants an original iPad just for web surfing. Heavy discounting to clear stock means you can pick one up for $100 less than this time last week, a bargain if you don't want the cameras and other goodies that the iPad 2 brings. The other good news is the boasting rights this will give you over owners of rival Android hardware; iPad 2 cleaned the clocks of the Galaxy Tab (3x faster) and the Google Nexus S smartphone (also 3x faster). Since it will also be getting the iOS 4.3 update, the iPhone 4 will be 2.5x faster. Thanks Nik!
iPhone 4 + Personal Hotspot + Wi-Fi-only iPad: Possible, but with drawbacks
Once Apple announced Personal Hotspot, the new iPhone 4-only feature, a lot of potential iPad buyers started asking the same question. "Can I use this feature with a Wi-Fi-only iPad and avoid paying extra for a 3G-enabled iPad, plus another monthly data plan for it?" Indeed you can. With Personal Hotspot activated on an iPhone 4, any Mac or iOS device will treat the iPhone 4's Wi-Fi broadcast like it's a standalone base station. This means if you have an iPhone 4 and a Wi-Fi-only iPad, you can "tether" your iPad to your iPhone's 3G data connection for the first time. "Awesome! So this means if I have an iPhone 4, there's no reason to get an iPad with built-in 3G, right?" Well, no, that's not necessarily true. I can think of three things you lose if you go Wi-Fi-only with your iPad and keep it tethered to your iPhone 4. 1. GPS. Only the 3G models of iPad have built-in GPS functionality. The Wi-Fi models can approximate your position using Wi-Fi, but it's almost never as accurate as with GPS. "Well, so what," you might say. "If I've got my iPhone right there, what do I need GPS on my iPad for?" That depends on how important GPS functions are to you. If you hardly ever use apps that depend on location-based services, you probably won't be missing out on much. If you're like me and you use location-based apps all the time, having to sacrifice GPS functionality on one of your iOS devices might be more trouble than it's worth. 2. Longevity, by which I mean the amount of time you can use the iPad in a single session. The 3G version of the iPad 2 is rated for nine hours of battery life when surfing over 3G. When using your iPhone 4 as a Personal Hotspot, you can expect the iPhone 4's battery to last for only about five hours before it needs to be charged. Granted, you can bring along the iPhone 4's charger, plug it in, and use Personal Hotspot as long as you like. However, the charger and cable are just two more things to carry, finding an unused outlet isn't always easy when you're on the go, and having your iPhone plugged into the wall quite literally tethers you to one spot. That leads into the third thing you give up if you go the Personal Hotspot + Wi-Fi iPad route... 3. Flexibility. If your iPad doesn't have its own 3G capability, it's totally dependent on your iPhone's Personal Hotspot unless you can find another Wi-Fi source. If your iPhone's battery dies, or if you forget your iPhone in a bar and some unscrupulous wag pockets it, your iPad loses all of the versatility it gained through Personal Hotspot. The iPhone's data plans aren't anywhere near as flexible as those on the iPad, either. For one thing, in most countries the iPhone is locked to whatever carrier you buy it from; the iPad has no carrier locks whatsoever, and you can roam between carriers (or between countries) at a whim. Not only that, in several countries (most notably the US) you'll pay an extra monthly fee to enable Personal Hotspot on your iPhone 4. In the States this comes to $20 per month, which gives you an extra 2 GB of monthly data, for a total of 4 GB per month on your iPhone's plan. On a US iPad plan, you'll get 2 GB of data for $25. That's $5 per month more expensive than enabling Personal Hotspot on the iPhone, but you can manage the iPad's data plan on a month-to-month basis -- no contracts to sign, and no obligations to any carrier. Most carriers also offer cheaper iPad plans with lower monthly bandwidth caps, which should satisfy most users' data needs. Personally, I'm still getting a 3G-enabled iPad 2. I may never actually use its independent 3G capabilities since the iPhone 4's Personal Hotspot costs nothing extra through my wireless provider, but I'd rather know that I could use the iPad's own 3G if I needed to. Update: Many commenters have pointed out that Apple's Canadian website contains the following verbiage on the iPad 2's 3G capability, which at first glance seems to indicate the iPad 2 may be carrier-locked in Canada: If you decide on an iPad with Wi-Fi + 3G, be sure to select the model that corresponds with the carrier you'd like to use for 3G service. The iPad model you purchase is specially configured to work with either Bell, Rogers, or Telus. So while you don't have to activate 3G service right away, you should choose your iPad with Wi-Fi + 3G according to the carrier you prefer. Website iPhoneinCanada has confirmed directly with Rogers itself that the iPad 2 will not be carrier-locked in Canada. And despite similar wording on the US Apple Store urging buyers to decide between an AT&T iPad or a Verizon model before purchasing, the situation for the iPad 2 in the US remains the same: the AT&T iPad 2 is not locked to AT&T. iPhoneinCanada verified this by calling Apple directly; I just got off the phone with AppleCare myself, and they confirmed that just like the original iPad, the iPad 2 will not be locked to any specific carrier. Therefore, if you're like me and you live in a country where the iPad 2 won't be released until after March 11, you can still order an AT&T model iPad 2 from the US site without fear of having to jailbreak the thing in order to use it in your home country. The AT&T versus Verizon iPad 2 situation is a matter of the hardware differences necessary to access the different networks, not a case of the iPad being artificially locked to one carrier or another. It's unclear why Apple chose to word things the way it did on its Canadian site (no other country's site contains similar wording), but the Canadian carriers themselves have stated the iPad 2 won't be carrier-locked.
More details on iOS 4.3 compatibility
iOS 4.3 will be making your iOS device even more desirable in just one week's time -- that is, if yours is one of those lucky enough to be compatible with it. It will work on an iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4, but not on an iPhone 3G (so, I guess I may be upgrading sooner than I thought). iOS 4.3 also supports the past two generations of iPod touch and both generations of iPad. Most notably, it won't work on a CDMA Verizon iPhone, which currently runs iOS 4.2.6. [Via Mac Rumors]
AirPlay in 4.3 delivers on access for third-party apps
AirPlay is one of the cooler new technologies Apple has brought us recently, and iOS 4.3 (coming March 11) will allow third-party apps full use of its wireless streaming capability, not just for audio, but for video as well. Apple is already busy approving apps that take advantage of AirPlay's video-streaming capabilities. For example, StreamToMe allows you to stream from a Mac or a PC to your iOS device via Wi-Fi or 3G. In theory, you should be able to send your music and pictures from any app to your Apple TV over AirPlay, but according to GigaOM, it seems that not all your favorite content producers will be playing along. So far, only Vevo has updated its app to support AirPlay when 4.3 comes out. Netflix has said it won't be supporting AirPlay streaming, since Netflix is already available on the Apple TV itself. Hulu, Comcast and HBO haven't decided yet, and ABC isn't interested. The problem for the media companies is rights -- they're doing their best to keep their web content off your television screens because They Fear Change and think they'll lose money if you get to watch what you want, where you want. Let's hope no one thinks of doing an end-run around such shortsightedness with a bit of wire that could link your iOS device to your TV screen -- whoops, too late.
What was MIA from the big iPad announcements today?
Pretty exciting stuff at the Yerba Buena Center. From where I sit, the new iPad is a substantial, but not groundbreaking upgrade. I do think it has created some unpleasant drama for the Android and unshipped BlackBerry tablets. On the other hand, life is not all about fawning over every move Apple makes (despite what it feels like some days). As I step outside the Reality Distortion Field, there were some things I wanted to see Apple include. More storage: We've seen the iPhone storage increase over time while prices stayed the same. The iPad is sitting at the same configurations at the same price. It would have been nice to see the 16 GB iPad dropped, with the 32 GB at the lower price point. Screen: I didn't expect the screen resolution to increase. That would have jacked the price up, and Apple surely didn't want to do that..., but a non-glare screen option would have been awfully nice. Using the iPad outside or in a room with a lot of windows is no picnic.
We're liveblogging from Apple's iPad 2 event tomorrow... be there!
There's really no telling what could happen tomorrow at Apple's little event. Sure, the company could talk about its success with iOS devices, how well the iPad has sold, and then introduce a brand new version of the wildly popular tablet... but maybe there'll be surprises too. We can't say for sure at this point, but that's okay, because come 10AM PST (1PM EST), we're going to be delivering all the news as it happens with the industry's best liveblog right here on Engadget. If you want to follow along with the action, tune into this URL right here at the times below tomorrow. Just make sure you've got the popcorn and sodas ready -- this is going to be a fun one. 08:00AM - Hawaii 10:00AM - Pacific 11:00AM - Mountain 12:00PM - Central 01:00PM - Eastern 06:00PM - London 07:00PM - Paris 09:00PM - Moscow 11:30PM - Mumbai 03:00AM - Tokyo (March 3rd) 05:00AM - Sydney (March 3rd)
Play PlayStation 3 games on any iOS device with hack
The group of hackers and developers known as pandaelf found themselves with a PlayStation 3, an iOS device and some time on their hands. With a bit of ingenuity, they figured out a way to play their PS3 games on their iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. The setup is slightly complex and requires you to attach a capture device as well as an input converter with a USB mouse and keyboard to the PS3. You also need a PC to serve as the conduit between the game console and your portable Apple device. The capture device sends video from the PS3 to a nearby PC, and the keyboard/mouse converter sends and receives button presses. The iOS device then connects to the computer using a custom build of everyAir, a remote desktop application. Basically, the PS3 sends its info to the PC, which processes the incoming stream and sends it to your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch via everyAir. This communication is bi-directional, so the information flows both ways. Currently, this custom build of everyAir is not available to the public, so the average iOS owner won't be able to do anything with this setup quite yet. While you wait for this build to become available, you can check out a video of the system in action below. [Via Macstories]
TUAW's Daily App: Volcano Escape
Here's another day-and-date release for you -- Volcano Escape is brand new on the App Store today, and it's an interesting take on the Canabalt-style genre. It asks you to run up a series of platforms inside a volcano rather than across rooftops like usual. The controls are a little floaty, unfortunately, but I think it's designed that way, as you can basically double and wall jump your way up the various stages. There's a button for shooting, and shooting various enemies will turn them into stone that you can then jump off of on your way up. Aiming is pretty tough, though, so sometimes it's easier to just dodge the baddies and move on. You can also get access to power-ups as you run, and your progress is constantly marked in the game, so you're often just trying to beat your last record. There's Game Center integration for leaderboards and achievements, and you can submit scores to Facebook and Twitter to brag about a particularly good run if you can pull one off. Things aren't quite as polished as they could be (I still love Monster Dash for this type of gameplay), but the idea of adding vertical platforming to the mix is a good one, and hopefully, it will spawn a little more innovation in titles like this. Volcano Escape, as I said, is brand new and available on the App Store for US$1.99.
FX Photo Studio HD for iPad adds more filters and printing
FX Photo Studio HD, was already a comprehensive collection of photo filters for the iPad. Version 3.0, priced at US$2.99 for a limited time, adds 53 new effects, bringing the total number of filters to 181. Effects can be combined and modified, and changes can be saved. If you have compatible printers, you can print directly from the app and share photos via email, Facebook, Twitter, Tumbler or Flickr. An innovative feature is the ability to share your creations with friends who are also running the app. FX Photo Studio HD can save your photos in the photo album on your iPad, copy images to the clipboard, or even save to a document folder so that you can move the images to your computer or other iOS device. There are filters for just about any mood. Images can be blurred, turned into black and white or sepia. Textures can be added, and even lightning bolts can be generated. You can simulate tilt-shift lenses, to make parts of your photos look like miniatures. %Gallery-116897%
Google may introduce in-app purchasing to compete with Apple's model (Updated)
Google may debut its new in-app purchasing and subscription system to compete with Apple's controversial model. Similar to Apple, the Google system would let users purchase upgrades and other digital content within an application using Android's built-in payment system, Google Checkout. The new system for Android would give developers a 90 percent cut, while Google would grab the remaining 10 percent. This revenue split is more attractive than Apple's current 70:30. Google is reportedly rolling out this system as soon as today and is possibly introducing it early to capitalize on the dissatisfaction that is brewing over Apple's recent changes to its subscription and in-app purchasing policy. These changes now require content providers like Amazon to offer in-app purchases of content that is offered for sale via another channel. Application developers have until June 30 to comply with this new requirement or risk having their application removed from the App Store. This change would affect a wide variety of applications including the Kindle app, Hulu, Rhapsody and others. Rhapsody has already responded negatively to these changes, and other developers may follow suit. Will Google's Android model be enticing enough to get developers to jump ship or is everyone blowing this out of proportion? [Update: The original rumor is slightly incorrect. It is not Google's in-app purchasing model that is rolling out today. Instead, Google announced its One Pass subscription service for publishers. The service lets publishers set their own rates for content, which will be accessible via the web, tablets and smartphones. In-app purchasing will be available but only through mobile applications that can process an in-app purchase outside of the app store (i.e., probably not iOS). Revenue sharing is set at 90:10, and the service provides direct access to subscriber's data. It is designed to help publishers promote and distribute digital content.]
TUAW's Daily App: Cows vs. Aliens
By the time you read this post (or 12 PM EST, whichever comes first), Cows vs. Aliens should be live on the App Store and ready for purchase. I first got to see the game back at Macworld (where we also talked about XMG Studios' comments on EA's big holiday sale), and as you can see from that video, the game is a pretty simple affair. It's completely touch-controlled, and the idea is that you push cows into the barn to keep them away from aliens, who you try to push off the precariously situated cliffs on either side. The gameplay comes in waves, and I believe there's only the one mode, but there is Game Center integration for leaderboards. Cows vs. Aliens seems like good fun, especially for younger players. If you want something more complicated, there's plenty of that on the App Store, but if you want something for the kids to play (or something you can play with them -- the iPhone version works great on the iPad, and the game supports all 11 points of touch, so multiple people can play at the same time), Cows vs. Aliens seems like a good deal. It's US$0.99 on the App Store now
How to go music hunting for Shazam and Pandora
The New York Times has an interesting writeup of a growing new trade built around services commonly used as smartphone apps: music-tracking, or music-identifying services. You've probably played with Pandora or Shazam on your iPhone already, and the article profiles just how all of that music gets tracked down and identified for your listening pleasure. A surprising amount of it is still done simply by human hands. While everything is still fed into the system, obviously (computers do have to know what the music is and what it sounds like), humans do a lot of the actual tracking down, both finding new tracks to index and implement, and listening in to describe to the computers how it sounds. The other side of it is interesting, too -- Shazam's employees will keep an eye on what's showing up on television or in movies, and make sure that the database can identify any songs popping up and being tagged a lot. It's really wild. Of course I know that there are networks of people and computers behind these apps tI only use for a moment every day, but they're such a small part of my life that I tend to forget just how much work goes into them. [via Engadget]
Instagram photo sharing service reaches 2 million users
Picture-sharing service Instagram (driven only by the popularity of its free iOS app) has hit a whopping 2 million users already. As TechCrunch notes, the service hit its first million users in just three months, and six weeks after that, it has doubled that number. That's pretty astounding growth -- even other popular sharing services usually don't hit those milestones until a year or more after they start operation. But Instagram certainly seems like it's hitting at the right place and time -- it's a super simple sharing service that offers a lot of features that tie in very well with all of its users walking around with connected HD cameras in their pockets. Instagram doesn't even have an Android app yet (though presumably we'll see one very soon), and also noted by TechCrunch, you can't even sign up for the service on the website -- it's all driven through Apple's iOS platform. That hints at quite a future for Instagram and its service.
Apple's subscription model is boon to consumers, bad for publishers
As we reported earlier, Apple announced the arrival of new subscription services for apps in the App Store today. According to the press release, subscriptions purchased from within the App Store will utilize the same billing system currently employed for app and in-app purchases. Publishers are free to set the length and price of the subscriptions, which can be weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, bi-yearly or yearly. Then with one click, customers choose the length of their subscription and are immediately charged for it. The great thing about these digital subscriptions for customers is that they can cancel their subscription at any time with very little hassle. They simply need to go to their personal account page to stop re-billing or cancel a current subscription. Anyone who has ever dealt with the headache of getting out of a magazine subscription will recognize this as a huge benefit of Apple's subscription model. However, as we've already seen, many content-based app publishers might not like all the new terms that Apple has laid out. All publishers of content-based apps (like Netflix, Hulu, etc.) must comply with Apple's new subscription service guidelines by June 30 or risk removal of their app from the App Store. The guideline compliance was originally rumored to go into effect March 31, but it seems that app publishers have four more months to make their apps compliant. Content-based app publishers are still free to sell content outside of the apps (like buying a Kindle magazine subscription from Amazon.com), but they now must offer the same content available for purchase directly within the app itself at the same or better price.
Washington Post extends free iPad app subscription
The free ride on the Post iPad app was supposed to end in mid-February, but the Post app has been updated, and the iTunes Store description says that the full access subscription is still "provided for a limited time." That's the same thing that another iPad paper, The Daily, did the other day. One wonders if the newspapers are afraid to pull the plug and see how a paid version will fare. I don't blame them. App Store reviews of both endeavors have been dreadful. Maybe they are trying to set up the in-app subscriptions Apple has allowed. This latest update to the Washington Post app now includes the ability to read offline (duh!) and fixes the frequent crashes that plagued the software. I haven't seen anything in either of these efforts that would convince me to subscribe when the free trial ends. How about you? Were you enticed by the apps, or are you going to dump them when or if the free trials end?
Report: Zynga worth $7-9 billion
The Wall Street Journal says that, with its $250 million in new funding, social gaming company Zynga could be worth as much as $7 to 9 billion -- that's "billion" with a B. An astounding number for the company behind the extraordinarily popular Facebook game Farmville. Zynga has a number of interests in the iOS space, including a Farmville app as well as the recent purchases of iPhone developers Newtoy and the studio behind Drop7. Of course, that number is only an estimate of the company's value, not actual money it's earned. But investors do expect the company to go public within the next few years, and given that Farmville has attracted an audience (and appears to have nailed down a way to make a significant amount of money from an all-new gaming audience), there's no question that Zynga is a huge relatively new force in the gaming space. Zynga is likely not done growing -- the company has picked up one developer per month over the past nine months, and I'll bet that we haven't heard of the last iPhone developer being acquired by them just yet. The iOS platform isn't the only reason for Zynga's huge valuation, but it certainly seems destined to play a part in its future. [via Mashable]
The Matrix app turns iPads into a video wall
I spoke with someone from Anywise Enterprises at CES this past year, and they told me about The Matrix, an iPad app (that's now out on the App Store) that will network a bunch of iPads together to create a video wall of whatever size you want. We've seen this idea custom implemented in art installations and design ideas before, but this is a one-touch implementation for broadcasting a multimedia installation across a set of iPads. When we talked about the app at CES, I asked the developer to make a video of it and send it out when it was done, and sure enough, you can see the app in action after the break. He's only got a set of three iPads running it (1x3), but I was told it can run on any "rectangular" group of iPads, so if you have a wall full of iPads, you can run the video across each one. The app is US$4.99, and you'll have to install it on every iPad you want to use -- there's no free version if you just want to receive a broadcast from another controller iPad. Still, $15 is cheap for a 1x3 video wall of something you'd have to code and design yourself. And if you have enough iPads to make a bigger Matrix, you can probably afford the app a few more times as well. Then again, if you're doing this regularly (for a trade show or demo), you would probably just use the same iTunes account and install the app across all iPads for the one-time cost of $4.99.
Enterprise iPad adoption up to 80 percent in Fortune 100
Apple critics repeatedly say the iPad is a media consumption device, and not really fit for the heavy lifting in the enterprise environment. But think again folks, because the iPad is working itself into some of the the largest companies in the world. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that 65 percent of the the Fortune 100 have either deployed or have pilots running with the iPad already. Meanwhile, Network World puts the number in the Fortune 100 as 80 percent and cites companies taking the iPad in, like Dupont, JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo. Company IT mangers like the increased security that comes with iOS 4, especially the application level encryption. And being able to remotely wipe the device is another plus. I don't think Apple intended the iPad as a solution for big business, but increasingly, it's finding a way in anyway. Happily for Apple, Microsoft seems to have fumbled so far on delivering a tablet-ready OS. After promises in 2009 that tablets would be a top priority in 2010, nothing has been delivered. Meanwhile, BlackBerry, HP and Android have moved ahead with products or nearly-ready products to challenge the iPad. Is your company or business using iPads? Let us know your experiences in the comments. [via Network World]
TUAW's Daily App: Rayman 2: The Great Escape
For a few different reasons (the recent Verizon iPhone release probably being the primary one), Valentine's Day has become another holiday for big sales on the App Store. We covered quite a few titles on sale last week, and of those, Rayman 2 is the one I'll recommend today. It's a port of an old Ubisoft title, so the controls aren't quite perfect, but it's an excellent platformer, and if you've never played through this game but like the genre, you should definitely give it a shot. There's no Game Center integration or any extra features, but if you just want to explore your way solo through the 45 different levels, the game is great. Plus, for Valentine's Day, it's only US 99 cents on the App Store, along with a bunch of other EA, Gameloft, Capcom, Sega and other developers' titles. Even if you don't have a big date planned tonight, odds are you'll find something on the App Store that you'll love.
TUAW's Daily App: UNO
Everybody knows UNO, the classic card game where you have to match cards going around a table and try to clear out your hand before someone else clears out theirs. Gameloft produced the iPhone version, and it's a respectable recreation of the card game that's available in single or multiplayer. The game even has some extra rule sets, so if you're tired of the core game, you can try some others. Unfortunately, there's no Game Center integration, but the app was updated for Retina Display recently. In celebration of the game's 40th anniversary, it's on sale at 99 cents for a limited time, so head to the App Store and grab it while it's cheap. There's also a free version to try if a dollar is somehow too much, and there's an iPad HD version as well, though it's still at its normal US$4.99 price.
