From the latest news to the most comprehensive tutorials, learn how to get the most out of your iPad with our step-by-step guides and expert tips.
Plex, the popular cross-platform media player and my go-to home theater solution, on Tuesday issued a nice refresh to its iPhone and iPad application containing support for the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus screens.
Plex 3.5.2, now compatible with iOS 8, has also been updated with improved support for Google's $35 Chromecast HDMI dongle and contains additional bug fixes.
The universal app will run you $4.99.
Shazam, a song-matching service that recently passed 100 million active users, on Tuesday released a major update to its free iPhone and iPad application.
Available free of charge in the App Store, the refreshed Shazam 8.0 has been optimized for iOS 8 and introduces a handy Today widget that lists tagged music recognized through the background-listening Auto Shazam feature.
A new Charts page in News Feed lists collates popular tracks other Shazam users have tagged and track lists now have a nicer looking layout.
Apple's latest iPad Air 2 costs roughly the same as its predecessor, an analysis from the research firm IHS quoted Tuesday by Re/Code has determined. An entry-level Wi-Fi-only model with sixteen gigabytes of storage costs an estimated $275 in parts, excluding costs associated with sales, marketing, advertising, packaging, software licensees, research and development and so forth.
It's interesting that Apple pays about $60 for NAND flash chips in the high-end 128GB model and only $9.20 on memory for the low-end 16 GB devices. At retail, the difference between the 128 and 16GB model is $300. “Apple reaps a pretty good profit for all that memory,” IHS analyst Andrew Rassweiler observed.
DisplayMate Technologies has put the screens of the new iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 through a barrage of tests concluding that the former's anti-reflective screen reduces ambient light reflections dramatically compared to any other tablet display out there.
The technology, DisplayMate discovered, reduces ambient light reflections by about 3:1 over most other tablets, including the previous iPads, and about 2:1 over all of the very best competing tablets and smartphones, including the iPhone 6.
Ever since the first iPad was introduced by Steve Jobs way back in 2010 there has been the argument about whether it is just there to be a media consumption device, or can actually be used for what PC users seem to be so determined to call 'real work.'
Steve Jobs knew, or at least he hoped that iPads would eventually replace computers as we know them. When launching the first iPad he spoke of his new tablet as a car, and the computers that came before it as trucks.
I'm trying to think of a good analogy. When we were an agrarian nation, all cars were trucks. But as people moved more towards urban centers, people started to get into cars. I think PCs are going to be like trucks. Less people will need them.
He knew the transition wouldn't be easy, and he was right.
If you're looking for a little entertainment this weekend in the form of a new iOS game, you might check out some of Rubicon's titles. The UK-based indie developer has discounted nearly all of its iOS library down to free for the next two days.
This includes the massively popular turn-based strategy "Great War Game" series, as well as other games like Zombies: Dead in 20, Fruit Blitz and Yachty Deluxe. They normally range in cost from $1 to $3, so we're talking $10+ in savings here.
Just a heads up for folks looking to get a Wi-Fi + Cellular version of one of the new iPads. It was discovered on Friday that the awesome new Apple SIM feature, which is supposed to allow you to switch seamlessly between compatible carriers, doesn't play well with all providers.
More specifically, MacRumors points to an Apple support page that says when you activate your new iPad with AT&T, the carrier dedicates its Apple SIM to their network only. So if you wanted to move the tablet to another provider, you'd have to purchase and install a new SIM.
What if you could combine screens of iOS devices sitting on your table into one massive multitouch enabled canvas that you could interact with?
That's what researchers with the Human-Computer Interaction Group at the University of Konstanz in Germany set out to create with their noteworthy HuddleLamp project.
Basically a tabletop with a built-in 3D camera that sits above, the HuddleLamp uses smart software which analyzes RGB and depth data to not only detect your mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets, but also track hand movement and determine their relative position to one another.
The results are impressive: the HuddleLamp can detect interactions above and between displays so you can swipe and toss information from one device to another, render a huge map across the devices with each screen showing only a portion of the map and what not.
Every time a new Apple mobile product comes along, you can bet that prolific YouTubers will be first out of the gate with those silly, non-scientific drop test videos. As you may have guessed, the iPad Air 2 is no exception.
Courtesy of YouTuber TechRax, we now know that the latest 9.7-inch Apple tablet's screen won't survive being dropped on the front glass panel from approximately five feet high. Watch the video embedded right after the break.
Following their analysis of the iPad Air 2's innards, repair experts over at iFixIt have now perfumed their ritual teardown dance with Apple's iPad mini 3. As you know, the iPad mini 3 is basically the iPad mini 2 with the addition of Touch ID and a gold color option so there isn't much to be analyzed here.
That being said, iFixIt was able to make a few noteworthy observations regarding the new tablet's repairability. Specifically, they found that Apple engineers glued the Home button bracket to the front panel assembly, making Touch ID and Home button repairs difficult.
Rockstar Games is celebrating the 10th anniversary of Grand Theft Auto, the famous action-adventure video game franchise originally created by David Jones and Mike Dailly. And to mark the occasion, Rockstar has put the wildly popular Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City games on sale in the App Store.
This is a great limited-time opportunity to save as much as seven bucks on all three open-world action-adventure games.
Apple has named the popular mini truck puzzler RGB Express its app of the week for this week. This means that from now through next Thursday, you’ll be able to pick up the title for free in the App Store—a solid $3 discount from its normal price tag.
For those who haven't played RGB Express, the game is simple. Players are tasked with drawing routes for their trucks in a way that ensures every house receives the correct package. There are over 200 levels, which of course get progressively tougher.