While Apple hasn't announced specific figures for the iPad Air's launch weekend yet, most indications are that the tablet is performing well. Supplies began weakening over the weekend, and carriers are seeing healthy sales.
In fact, AT&T just issued a press release this afternoon saying its iPad activations increased more than 200% over the past three days compared to last year’s launch weekend. The reason? Customers are excited for the new Air...
The great thing about Apple's iOS 7 password syncing feature is that setting up iCloud Keychain on your device with an iCloud Security Code prevents anyone from gaining access to your saved web passwords by going to Settings > Safari > Passwords & AutoFill > Saved Passwords. That is, viewing any saved entry there requires providing an iCloud Security Code, or your account password on the Mac.
This added layer of protection ensures I can't steal your iPhone while it isn't auto-locked and use the Settings app to hijack your online identities in a snap. Not so much with Chrome for Mac. Currently, Google's browser does not require any form of authentication to reveal saved passwords. The Internet giant is aware of the problem and is aiming to deploy enhanced security for saved passwords in an upcoming Chrome build...
T-Mobile has caused quite a stir announcing carrying the new iPads with no downpayment, especially the promise of 200MB of free LTE data for life for those who opt for cellular models, as long as they remain customers.
Our own Jeff Benjamin praised T-Mobile's un-carrier move, noting no other U.S. wireless company has offered free data to iPad users.
The controversy was born after some customers complained that T-Mobile reps told them they couldn't claim 200MB worth of free monthly data unless they were paying phone customers. Otherwise, it's a $10 a month On Demand plan charge and T-Mobile CEO John Legere calling it an “executional mistake” didn't help.
So, what exactly is going on here? Is the 200MB free tier a bait and switch or a legitimate offer, with some strings attached? We lay it all out for you right after the break...
Apple has finally issued a long-expected update to its Remote app for the iPhone and iPad. Designed with the cleaner iOS 7 appearance in mind, the free universal binary download has been overhauled top to bottom for iOS 7 look and feel and aso offers compatibility fixes for iTunes 11.1, but no new feature additions.
With the Remote app, users can control their desktop iTunes and the $99 Apple TV using their iPhone, iPod touch or iPad devices, from without having to use Apple's aluminum Remote for prolonged text entry, for example...
The iPad Air is without a doubt one of Apple's most marvelous engineering feats to date. It features a huge screen with a slimmer bezel than previous full sized iPads. It provides an immersive experience that just can't be achieved on the minuscule iPad mini.
It's also much lighter than its predecessors, which is obviously something desirable to anyone who's held a full sized iPad in their hands for any nominal length of time. It's not just lighter and slimmer and thinner — it feels like a completely different product.
But before I take it too far, let me just say outright that regular iPad mini users won't be as impressed by the weight loss. It's still significantly larger, heavier, and harder to handle than the iPad mini, which may lead to disappointment for the looking into getting back into full sized iPads.
I too, suffered from such disappointment, but it was short lived after I took the time to appreciate that the iPad Air isn't the mini, and never pretended it was. It's a full sized tablet in a marvelously well put together package, and it's definitely something you should consider picking up if you want the "true" iPad experience.
As primal as it may seem, there's just something to be said about using a device whose screen is large and in charge. The iPad Air is sort of like holding a television in your hands, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, given its slimness and light weight.
If you've yet to take the plunge, then what should you do? Should you go into the Apple Store and compare both side by side? Should you give Apple's 14 day return policy a go, and spend some quality time with the Air? Check inside for my opinions on the matter.
Apple's free Mavericks update contains a set of compelling headline features and nice-to-haves, like tapping the ambient light sensor to detect motion in order to prevent system sleep.
But as any Mac owner could tell you, each major OS X release brings with it inevitable early adopter issues in the form of bugs and various software-related issues and hiccups. Mavericks is no exception.
Though definitely more stable and less susceptible to teething issues than perhaps any OS X release thus far, Mavericks affects your productivity by introducing unreliable performance with Gmail accounts in Mail. Other stock apps suffer from typical 1.0 release issues, but rest assured that Apple is hard at work squashing these pesky bugs as we speak...
With the release of new iPhones and iPads, Apple has retired the somewhat defensive 'Why iPhone' and 'Why iPad' web campaign. It makes sense: Tim Cook & Co. probably think others should now defend themselves against the new iPhone 5s and iPad Air.
Fans will recall both of Apple's web pages gave undecided customers plenty of reasons to consider an iPhone and iPad over competing products, citing - among other reasons - rampant Android malware and high satisfaction scores by J.D. Power.
On the other hand, the removal of J.D. Power scores from Apple's web site could easily have everything to do with J.D. Power's last week tablet scores giving Samsung the top tablet ranking even though the South Korean company won only on price.
The results of that survey have sparked a heated debate and prompted some tough questions among the Apple faithful because the iPad clearly bested Samsung in all of the remaining five categories: Overall Satisfaction, Performance, Ease of Use, Physical Design and Tablet Features.
And now in a seeming PR damage control maneuvering, J.D. Power is attempting to defend the indefensible by claiming the survey wasn't botched and arguing the rankings hold up - even if the reputable research firm's actual explanation is pretty bizarre, to say the least...
Unleashed on August 22 as a 99-cent download, Gameloft's Asphalt 8: Airborne was praised for its licensed cars and a refreshingly new concept doing away with simulation in favor of action-packed suspense where racing cars literally fly all over the place (hence the Airborne name). A month later, the game was free for a weekend and in mid-October became Apple's Free App of the Week on the App Store.
Confirming today the game is now permanently available on a free-to-play basis, Gameloft has unleashed the first content pack which enhances gameplay with new cars and Clio R.S. challenges, seven new reverse tracks in the multiplayer World Series mode, new boosters, support for iOS 7 physical controllers and other perks...
Google-owned Motorola's Moto X smartphone with always-on Google Now functionality launched on August 1, but has failed to gain much traction as pundits deemed its $200 on-contract asking price a lot to pay for what is basically mid-range hardware.
It's also considerably disadvantaged price-wise compared to Google's just-released Nexus 5 with Android 4.4 KitKat, which retails for $349 unlocked. However, Motorola's been rumored to be working on a low cost Moto X variant called Moto G from the onset.
Indeed, today the company issued press invites for a media event on Wednesday, November 13. According to a teaser on Motorola's web page, the low-cost Moto X will be in fact marketed under the Moto G moniker...
This past Friday, Apple's new iPad Air went on sale in 40+ countries at 8am local time. Third-party data suggests that early adopters are in fact liking the thinner, lighter and faster full-size iPad a lot, as corroborated by early reviews. If you compare usage data across its first three days of availability, the iPad Air usage is around five times that of its predecessor, the iPad 4. And compared to the popular iPad mini, the new iPad Air is four times more used during its first few days of availability than the first-generation iPad mini was...
Sprint's mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Ting has recently started quietly supporting Apple's iPhone, a new report has discovered. According to a help document posted on the carrier's website, Ting customers can now activate the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S on its network. Previously, the Tucows-owned telco would not allow users to bring their unlocked iPhone and use it with one of its no-contract wireless plans.
Ting still isn't selling the Apple handset directly, despite a bunch of regional U.S. wireless carriers now offering the latest iPhone 5s/5c as well as previous iPhones...
As noted by iFixit in its recent teardown, the iPad Air's battery is noticeably smaller than its predecessor (32.9 Whr vs. 43 Whr). But thanks to the efficiency of the A7 chip and other internal mods, it still gets great battery life.
In addition to Apple's usual claim of 10-hours of web-browsing, moving-watching, etc, a weekend test by the folks over at AnandTech shows that the newly-released tablet can still last for more than 24 hours as an LTE hotspot...