Apple News: TV on an iPad + Free iPod Calling

yap.TV [Add TV to your iPad]

yap.TV allows you to watch your favorite television shows right from your 3G iPad. The application is also free and available on the itunes website. To learn more information about yap.TV go to www.yap.tv or check read more about yap.tv here. [TechCrunch]

To Download Yap.TV directly on to your iPad, please click the link below:

Yap.tv iPad Download

Pinger [Add Calling and Texts to Your iPod]

Pinger allows you to make calls and texts on your new Apple iPod Touch. Pinger was created by TextFree, an iPod Touch app company that allows its users free texts to other phones and iPods. Click here to read more. [TechCrunch]

To download TextFree, click the link below:

TextFree iPod Touch App

Check out the Pinger App:

Pinger

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Blackberry News: The Blackberry PlayBook

At Research in Motions Development Event, RIM announced their new tablet and iPad competitor, Playbook. This full 1080p out device is scheduled to be released in early 2011. The new device is thinner than an iPad, has both a back facing and a front facing HD camera, offers flash, java, html 5 with a dual core processor and 1 GB of ram.

RIM has recently been in the news as Blackberry Bans were being discussed in Saudia Arabia and Dubai since the RIM network is encrypted.

Rim Stock - Over the Past Month [Google Finance]

When looking at the RIM stock over the past month, two things are clear. In the month of September 2010 the Rim stock reached a 1 year low. But as news of the devices launch has surfaced, the RIM stock  has been improving after its Playbook release.

Specs From Gizmodo:
— 7" LCD, 1024 x 600, WSVGA, capacitive touch screen with full multi-touch and gesture support
— BlackBerry Tablet OS with support for symmetric multiprocessing
— 1 GHz dual-core processor
— 1 GB RAM

— Dual HD cameras (3 MP front facing, 5 MP rear facing), supports 1080p HD video recording
— Video playback: 1080p HD Video, H.264, MPEG, DivX, WMV
— Audio playback: MP3, AAC, WMA
— HDMI video output
— Wi-Fi - 802.11 a/b/g/n
— Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
— Connectors: microHDMI, microUSB, charging contacts
— Open, flexible application platform with support for WebKit/HTML-5, Adobe Flash Player 10.1, Adobe Mobile AIR, Adobe Reader, POSIX, OpenGL,Java
— Ultra thin and portable:
— Measures 5.1"x7.6"x0.4" (130mm x 193mm x 10mm)
— Weighs less than a pound (approximately 0.9 lb or 400g)
— Additional features and specifications of the BlackBerry PlayBook will be shared on or before the date this product is launched in retail outlets.
— RIM intends to also offer 3G and 4G models in the future.

The Blackberry Playbook also an open product, as the Blackberry Tablet OS is completely Open Source, allowing companies like Netflix and other major app companies to create software for the tablet.

Sources: [Business Insider] [Gizmodo] [Blackberry - North America] [Google - Finance]

iPad Today: Accessories, Mounts, News, and More

The Crestron iPanel

The Crestron app for iPad and the outside casing [seen in the photo to the right] allows you to completely control everything in your house all from your iPad. Manage your tv, vcr, dvd player, bluray player, lights window shades, and pretty much everything else in your home all from this app. [Read More]

Aidacase

The Aidacase allows you to turn your iPad into a touchscreen macbook. Use the Aidacase keyboard to respond to emails on the go. A major complaint about the iPad is that typing on it while holding it can be difficult, especially while standing. This case attempts to making it easier to use the iPad as a desktop computer rather than a tablet pc. [Read More]

iPad Wall Mounts

• $3 iPad Wall Mount [Kitchen/Cookbook Wall Mount]

• The Bathroom iPad Wall Mount [Toilet Reading]
• iPad Fridge Magnet Mount [FridgePad]

iPad in the News [Taking Over]

• Best Buy CEO says iPad is cannibalizing the laptop industry
• Netbook Sales are Crashing Due to iPad Sales
• Apple Now Sells Refurbished iPads for $50 off

Why You Should Invest in Apple...

1. Silicon Alley Insider predicts that the Apple stock will jump from $300 to $1000 by 2015

This estimate is based on increased 2011 iPad sales by UBS, lowered PC sales with increased 2011 tablet sales by Barclays Capital, ramped up iPad production numbers, and Apples "increasing efforts to drive greater penetration into enterprise and SMB accounts," say Deutsche Bank. [Source]

2. The iPhone moves to Verizon 4G

For Verizon's new 4G systems, launching in early 2011, the iPhone 4G will be their launch product for the new network, combining the reliability of the Verizon wireless service with the speed and dominance of Apple's iPhone. [Source]

3. Soon Apps will overtake Music on iTunes Downloads

This means that the Apple App market is growing rapidly, as the new iPad's, iPhones, and iPods all allow for app downloads. Competition with the Android market will also mean better Apple created consumer incentives to download iTunes apps. [Source]

iPad Today: Microsoft, VLC, and Shopping

Microsoft should Develop Office Apps for the iPad

Apple's iWork's iPad Apps are some of the best-selling iPad apps, and with Apple approaching 5 million iPad's shipped, it makes sense that Microsoft should invest in creating a Microsoft Office for iPad. "Specifically, Microsoft should develop Office apps for the iPad, Android, Chrome OS, Blackberry tablet, and any other computeing platform that is likely to become popular over the next 5-10 years." [Silcon Alley Insider]



VLC Player on the iPad?

Applidium, the creator of VLC, has created an iPad app that allows you to play any video format on the iPad. It's chances of being allowed on the app store are low as vlc would increase the number of pirated movies watched on iPads, compromising both the itunes movie store and the Apple-Netflix app deal. [Crunch Gear]

Digital Shopping

Magento Commerce has already launched their shopping iPhone app and will soon be releasing their iPad app. The company raised $22 million in March for its "open-source mobile e-commerce apps." Charging clients $800 set-up fee and then $700 annual fee to be on the e-catalog, the company already has such clients as The North Face, the Miami Dolphins, and Flowe(Red). [TechCrunch]

iPad Today: Schools + News

A lot of people asked me why I liked the iPad when it first came out. They asked, "what could you possibly need this for?" and "who would ever buy this?" I dedicate this article and all my future iPad posts to those of you who asked ridiculous questions like those. The answers to those questions are, what can't you do with an iPad and who wouldn't want one.

Wall Street Journal [WSJ.com] reports that their Digital Subscribers will soon Outnumber their Print Subscribers

Notre Dame begins a paperless class using the iPad this Semester
"The first course to have students use an iPad instead of any text books is Project Management, a class with 40 students that will not only use the iPad as a book, but will also be encouraged to use it for everything else in daily life and report back their impressions..."

A Private School in Scotland hands out 105 iPads to Students for Lessons



Sources: [The Wire] [TreeHugger] [Gizmodo]

Why I love Plex and How It Just Got Better

I found out about Plex on April 28th, 2010 and have been using it daily since then. Those of you who know me personally, I have made you download the application. Plex allows you to not only download and watch apps such as Netflix, CNN, Youtube, MLB, NatGeo, and many others, it allows you to watch all your personal movie files as well, including your .mkv files.

There are other apps that allowed you to do this as well, but most of those froze when trying to play an 11.1gb 1080p .mkv file of Dark Night. Plex allowed me not only play, pause, fast forward and rewind movies of this size, but it also allowed me to do it using my iMac and apple remote, turning my computer into a full entertainment system.

Plex also lets you access other programs on your computer as well, such as the dvd player, or hulu desktop. From across the room, using only the five button apple remote I am able to access pretty much any tv show, movie, or movie file I want.

FREE DOWNLOAD HERE

The new iPhone / iPod / iPad app now allows you to control Plex from your mac device. So you iPod has now become a multi media controller. Also, the new version of Plex, for mac, has a better interface and more apps so you can watch Comedy Central, MTV, NBC, Netflix, plus a lot more.

Plex version 9 has recently come out and is available for free download now at www.plexapp.com. If you have a mac and like watching movies, I advise you download this app immediately.


Sources: [CrunchGear] [TechCrunch] [Plex]

The Coming Death of Paperback

With the new Apple book store, Google Books online, there is a lot of question about the future of paper books. Though they are bad for the environment, reading a paper book is currently still the major medium of literature. The major question is, will that change? Will Barnes and Nobles suffer the same future that Blockbuster is currently facing? How will publishing companies deal with the digitization of literature? Macmillan textbooks has already started to go digital. There are over 10 different kinds of digital eReaders currently available.

New technology is now available that can scan a 200 page book in under a minute.

The UK branch of Dorling Kindersley Books released this video during DK sales conference to help answer some of the future questions in publishing.

Sources: [Boing Boing] [The Wire]

The Future of Road Trip Media In General [iPad Road Trip]

I have been saying for a few months now that the future of all media lay in iPad-like devices. Imagine sitting in the back of a car being able to access any magazine, any movie through netflix or the itunes store, download and blast any song on your car speakers. This technology will not only be available within the next year, but will be apart of every car within the next 2 years, changing road trips forever.

The video below, taken from Gizmodo, demonstrates how the magazine component of this device would work:

The problem with developing a product like this is not the technology, as Mercedes-Benz has introduced a touchscreen online panel into their 2010 and 2011 models. All the technology is currently available to install an iPad car entertainment system. You would need:

- An iPad [Price Depends on the Model]
- Car Wireless Internet System [About $400 on Amazon]
- Wires [for audio and power supply]
- Car Mount [This is where the money is]

The first company to successfully incorporate these four main features into automobiles will dominate the automobile entertainment market for the next 7 years. The only complicated part of this project would be the mount that fits any car.

- OE Technology Business Design Deparment

This Week In Consumer Confidence

Overall Consumer Confidence vs. The iPad Hype

Most people I talk to say they are not going to get an iPad because they have no use for it, but if there is no use for it, why is there so much buzz about a useless product. As the chart [above] shows, people are some what likely to buy an iPad, but who are these people? In the iPad keynote address, Steve Jobs comments that the iPad is for the older generation that are unfamiliar with the daily use of computers. If we look at the day the iPad was officially announced, January 27th, and then look at consumer confidence in January, we may get some answers to our questions on the full extent of who is actually excited about the product.

Though it may seem like the iPad and consumer confidence have little to do with each other, but the announcement of the iPad was broadcasted world wide, and can be considered the peak of consumer goods or the good that everyone is talking about. Clearly other things affect over all consumer confidence, specifically the Toyota Total Recall, but the information below is still relevant.

Though the younger audience, consumers under 35, have the most consumer confidence, they are most likely not the group the most interested in the iPad. Consumer confidence of those 35-54 seems to peak just as the iPad was announced, while younger consumers confidence had experienced a peak a few weeks before.

Sources: [Gizmodo] [Business Insider]

The New Crestron iPad

A HOME ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM MUST

If there is one reason to buy an iPad, it is to make it a part of your home entertainment system. 

Sources: [Gizmodo]

The iPad: A Business Tool for the Future

The iPad in Business Context:


Undercut the Netbook Market:
The iPad is made out of "glorified iPhone parts" making it cheaper to produce than the other existing netbooks, a "Digitimes, Asus and MSI wanted to undercut whatever the iPad would cost by 20 to 30 percent, but that was when they expected it to cost $1000, which made it kinda easy. It's a lot harder when the entry price is $500 for the iPad, thanks to the fact it's using essentially mobile guts (the A4 chip is the beefiest component, it seems, and it's designed for smartbooks, so it's lower power than anything in a full-size netbook)."

Undercut the eBook Market
The futur possibilities of the iPad seem to be endless, but there is no doubt Apples "eBooks" store is there to compete with the kindle. The iPad has a major advantage over the Kindle that has not been advertised yet, "...There isn’t anything on the market at the moment that can allow a comic or magazine as printed to resonate with a reader in digital form. The iPad can do that. It can display full, large coloured pages as they were designed. As they were meant to be read." The New York Times 2.0 seems to be a clear example of future applications for the iPad that will allow people to enjoy media.

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iPad Uses - Personal/Business


Library Uses:

[Australian architect concept of iPad Library Wall]

The basic functions of web browsing make the iPad perfect for libraries to use for people to browse their catalogs. The iPad and it's docking keyboard make it the perfect cheap computer for public database searches. It's low cost of $499 makes it perfect for libraries by lowering computer maintenance due to less accessibility in the iPads OS.


Digital Automobile Entertainment

The iPad is perfect public touch screen interfaces, such as replacing the current touch screens in the back of New York City taxi's. The future of iPad car entertainment will be iPads in the back of cars where passengers can download magazines, books, TV-shows, movies, and music all from the back seat of their car. Car internet modems currently cost about $500 at minimum, the addition of the iPad 3G means internet modems will not be a necessary purchase.


Such applications like for Netflix, Hulu desktop, and other media applications will become available via the iPad to cars around the world, making car dvd players a function of the past. 




Sources:
 - The Blu-Ray Blog - Gizmodo [Article 2] [Article 3] [Article 4] [Article 5] - Engadget