Month: March 2012

For some early adopters, Wi-Fi reception problems with their new iPads

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 21, 2012

In addition to the new iPad getting a bit warm when playing graphics-intensive games, it would appear that an unknown portion of early adopters are also having issues with Wi-Fi reception. A growing thread on Apple's support forum is filled with reports describing a range of difficulties with the iPad's wireless networking capabilities.

According to a bunch of disgruntled users, the new iPad has trouble maintaining a reliable wireless connection in places with strong signal. It also exhibits flaky connection that constantly drops or has no reception at all. Apple has not yet responded to these complaints at the time of this writing...

CardSwitcher 2.0 now available on Cydia

Jeff Benjamin ∙ March 21, 2012

[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zzdi1lO7V_w[/tube]

An exciting update to CardSwitcher has been issued on Cydia. If you remember our initial walkthough of the tweak, CardSwitcher is an alternative multitasking solution for iOS devices.

This latest update was totally rewritten for iOS 5, and includes live application views, updated swipe gestures, and a new grid mode aimed at iPad users.

Would you consider using the new and improved CardSwitcher? If so, you can find it on Cydia's BigBoss repo for $1.99, but it's a free update for existing customers.

Sprint chief: iPhone folks use less data, are more profitable

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 21, 2012

For all the talk about iPhone users being network hogs due to their data-hungry nature, the reality is that Apple's phone is still stuck in the slower 3G lane while the majority of high-end Android handsets boast 4G LTE networking.

As we learned this morning, 4G LTE support on the new iPad has some not-so-obvious downsides to it as some folks are blowing past their monthly allowance in a matter of days due to high-definition content downloads and streaming on the go.

But the iPhone is different, says Sprint CEO Dan Hesse. The executive said in a video interview with GSMA’s MobileWorld Live blog that iPhone users aren't as data-hungry as their Android counterparts and thus are more profitable.

His company is "pulling a lot of customers" from rival AT&T and Verizon Wireless, he said, noting that four out of every ten iPhone sales in the holiday quarter went to new customers. He also defended that costly iPhone deal...

‘Aptdate’ provides push notifications for Cydia updates

Jeff Benjamin ∙ March 21, 2012

Ever since we first saw the sneak preview of Ryan Petrich's CydiaBulletin, we've wanted something like it.

Now it looks like having notifications for Cydia updates is finally a reality, even if it's not exactly as Petrich had envisioned.

Aptdate is a new jailbreak tweak that will be soon available on Cydia, which provides banner notifications to alert you when there are updates in Cydia.

We've given it a spin on video, check out our walkthrough inside...

Cellular data plans not cutting it for content-hungry 4G LTE iPad users

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 21, 2012

That entry-level data plan you signed up for to go along your brand spanking new iPad? It's obsolete, thanks to the device's 4G LTE networking that allows for speeds easily exceeding your home broadband connection. As a result, folks planning on enjoying 4G speeds on the go may likely blow past through their monthly allowance in a couple days. Your mileage may wary, of course, depending on your mobile usage habits.

Here in the U.S., entry-level data plans for iPad begin at $15 or $30 a month, depending on your carrier. AT&T's entry-level 250MB plan will set you back $14.99 a month, with 2GB/5GB plans costing $30/$50 a month. Rival Verizon Wireless is offering 2GB/5GB/10GB tiers priced at $30/$50/$80 a month.

But even five gigabytes a month is conceivable insufficient when you stream high-definition movies and television shows to your device over 4G LTE networks, upload big photos to your social networks or edit and upload full HD movies to YouTube, etc. The Wall Street Journal has the full story (subscription required)...

Apple upping iPhone orders from Pegatron, iPad touch modules from Wintek

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 21, 2012

A pair of reports from Asian trade publication DigiTimes appeared this morning, asserting Apple's iPhone orders from contract manufacturer Pegatron are on the rise while the company is also looking to source more touch panel modules from Wintek in the following quarter. According to the first story sourced from market watchers, "Apple continues to raise its iPhone orders to Pegatron as well as placing orders for new iPad".

Pegatron, whose plants are up for inspection by the Fair Labor Association, reportedly found itself under fire over Asustek Zenbook orders, according to a story by Chinese-language Commercial Times (Google translation).

You may also recall that Pegatron is rumored to be keeping its fingers crossed to land manufacturing orders for the so-called iPad mini that the usually credible Wall Street Journal raved about.

Apple imposing Nano SIM standard on Motorola, RIM and Nokia

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 21, 2012

When Apple was designing the iPhone 4, the company had adopted the smaller Micro SIM format for space constraints. Smaller in size compared to the standard Mini SIMs, Micro SIMs do the exact same job while using less space. But with mobile devices getting even slimmer these days, even Micro SIMs waste too much valuable space inside thin mobile gadgets.

Apple thinks smaller is better so last summer the company submitted a new requirement to the European Telecoms Standards Body for the use of even smaller SIM cards in mobile phones (AT&T followed suit). But the battle over the upcoming Nano SIM standard has put Apple once again on a collision course with its rivals in the smartphone space, namely the opposing group led by Android maker Google and joined by the ailing BlackBerry maker Research In Motion and Nokia of Finland, reports the Financial Times (subscription required)...

Microsoft allegedly halting iPad purchases made with company funds

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 21, 2012

Just as the new iPad landed two weeks ago, taking off to a great start, software maker Microsoft is reportedly looking to put a ban on iPad purchases made with company funds. According to ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley, a new policy is being put in place by Microsoft’s Sales, Marketing, Services, IT, & Operations Group (SMSG) which sent an internal email to employees specifically stating that iPads and Macs are a no-go.

Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit makes Office and other utilities for the Mac, but the company also makes iPad peripherals and a number of apps for iOS devices, such as the MSN and SkyDrive programs. They're also rumored to have been working on bringing the full-blown Office suite to iPad, which would help Apple's tablet penetrate deeper into enterprise world.

Even though SMSG encompasses 46,000 Microsoft employees worldwide, it's unlikely that the ban Apple products will put a noticeable dent in the iPad's performance. Apple shipped 55 million iPads as of last December and is projected to sell 12 million units of the new model in this quarter alone, excluding iPad 2. An alleged email to Microsoft employees is included right below...

Siri updated in iOS 5.1 with deeper Yelp integration

Cody Lee ∙ March 21, 2012

Apparently Japanese support wasn't the only Siri-related enhancement Apple included in its recently-released software update. It looks like iOS 5.1 also brought deeper Yelp integration to the digital assistant.

Siri has always returned Yelp-rated businesses on a number of queries, but tapping those results haven't always taken you straight to the Yelp application. Well, now it does...

World of Warcraft producer says they’re looking into iPhone version

Cody Lee ∙ March 20, 2012

Ah World of Warcraft. The number one MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing game) is also likely the number one reason why gamers aged 12 - 60 don't see much sunlight. But that may not be the case for long.

Eurogamer recently spoke with WoW's senior producer John Lagrave about the possibility of Blizzard bringing the popular game to the iOS platform. And his comments are actually a lot more positive than you'd think...

Microscope analysis of A5X chip finds jumbo-sized GPU, 310% larger package

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 25, 2016

While guys over at iFixIt have done their trademark awesome job peeking under the new iPad's hood, one aspect of its bowels hasn't been scrutinized yet: the Apple-designed A5X chip labeled "S5L8945X" and fabbed on Samsung's 45-nanometer process. Enter silicon analysis firm Chipworks which just released a high-resolution photo depicting so-called "floorplans" of the A5X package.

Their analysis corroborates speculation on the A5X architecture and offers a fascinating insight into the innards of the A5X package. As you can see in the above shot, a large portion of the A5X's die is dedicated to the four graphic cores, found to be comparable to Nvidia's Tegra 3 chip in terms of speed.

Apple does not publicly specify the type of GPU/CPU used, but it's been widely rumored that the A5X packs in Imagination Technologies' PowerVR SGX543MP4 technology versus a dual core PowerVR SGX543MP2 GPU found inside the A5 chip from iPad 2 (both pieces of silicon run dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore CPU). Read on for the nitty-gritty details depicted in the polysilicon die photos...

The new iPad review

Jeff Benjamin ∙ March 20, 2012

The new iPad. Two generations from the somewhat enigmatic, yet overwhelmingly successful debut, Apple’s latest tablet is firing on all cylinders.

No longer is there a question as to whether such a device has a place in people’s day to day lives, it’s now a question of how many such devices are necessary to have for one household.

Indeed, the iPad is about as mainstream as mainstream gets, only a few years removed from many pundits, including myself, questioning its viability.

The truth is that maybe only a handful of people knew how insanely successful Apple’s tablet would be, but now everyone but the most blinded of opposers is a believer. Even if you don’t own an Apple device, you’re compelled to give credit where credit is due...