Although the iPhone 4S sports a faster processor and an upgraded camera, the feature that everyone is talking about is Siri. Siri allows you to speak a variety of commands to your device and have it do your bidding. In addition, the iPhone 4S includes voice-control technology that makes it possible to compose emails, text messages, and more through dictation—no more typing on the phone’s tiny touchscreen keyboard.

Both Siri and the iPhone 4S’s voice-dictation software work by recording your voice and beaming it to a server to interpret what you’ve said; as such, you will need an Internet connection (either Wi-Fi or 3G) to use either feature properly. Siri currently only supports the following languages: English (in United States, United Kingdom, and Australian dia­lects), French, and German.

How To Use SIRI and Dictation

Getting Started Once you’ve enabled Siri from Settings -> General -> Siri, you can give it a command at any point by press­ing and holding on the Home button (or, if you’re using a wired or wireless headset, press and hold the corresponding button on the remote). If you have the Raise To Speak toggle switched on in the Siri Settings screen, you can also hold the phone up to your head as if you were making a call.

Siri will chirp twice in succession to indicate that it’s ready to listen to you. If you’re not sure what kind of question or request to make, tap the info button (i) on the right side next to bring up a list of suggested topics and phrasings.

You can talk to Siri as you would talk to another person: It has natural language recognition. But Siri doesn’t require a strict vocabulary—if talk like Yoda you try, it will generally figure out what you’re trying to say.

How to use Siri with Apps, Siri can interact with most of Apple’s built-in apps: Phone, Music, Messages, Calendar, Reminders, Maps and Directions (in the United States only), Mail, Weather, Stocks, Clock, Address Book, Find My Friends, Safari (Web search), and Notes. You can give Siri commands for most every action within one of those apps; for instance, you can ask it “Where’s Jason Snell?”, and (assuming you’re logged into Find My Friends, and have Jason added as a contact there) it will display his current location.

Siri can also understand the context of conversations. Ask Siri for suggestions for places to have lunch, and it provides a list of nearby restaurants that serve lunch. You can then specify that you want to eat in a certain location, say, down­town, and Siri gives you a narrower list of places in that area.

Siri is also linked with Wolfram Alpha, a computational knowledge engine that provides answers to numerous factual questions. If you want to figure out the speed of light or the number of days until Christmas, Wolfram Alpha can provide the answer. If Siri cannot accomplish or under­stand what you ask, it will offer to perform a Web search for you.

Once you give Siri a command, the service sends it to a central server for analyzation and returns it as a plain text speech bubble, with your phrase in quotes. If you tell Siri to do something and it mis-hears you—for instance, if you state “Make me a reminder” in a noisy bar, and Siri translates that into “Maine Maryland”—you can correct it by tapping once on that bubble and typing in the correct words.

In addition to Siri’s basic commands, Apple’s voice assistant has a few quirks and easter eggs hiding about. Ask it to tell you a story, mention famous fictional robots, or bring up the meaning of life, and you might get an unusual response.

Hands-Free Use With Siri, you can now use your phone in hands-free scenarios, such as when you are driving a car. Siri becomes more chatty when the iPhone 4S recognizes that you’re in a hands-free situation, reading text aloud that it might not if it knew you were holding the phone in your hand. When you get a text message, you can instruct Siri to read the message, and it will. You can then tell Siri to reply to the message, dictate the entire message, have Siri read it back to you to confirm that it makes sense, and then send it.

There are some caveats to hands-free use: Siri can tell you that you have a new email message, and you can use it to send emails, but it doesn’t read your emails to you. (It only reads text messages aloud.)

Dictation While Siri gets the bulk of the iPhone 4S feature hype, another speech-related technology may prove to be more important and a bigger boost to users’ productivity: Dictation. The iPhone 4S can convert what you say into written text in any app.

On your iPhone’s virtual keyboard is a new button in the bottom row with the image of a microphone on it, to the left of the spacebar. Tap this button and the iPhone 4S transcribes whatever you say. It sends the results over the Internet to a server that analyzes your speech and converts it into text (if you’re not online, the microphone button doesn’t appear).

To get the most out of Dictation, you need to start thinking in punctua­tion. For example, to construct a grammatically correct email message, you might say, “Dan comma new paragraph What do you think about writing a review of iOS numeral five question mark I think it might be right up your alley period new paragraph Let me know what you think exclamation point.” The feature understands when you are requesting punctuation or a new paragraph, and translates that into the text. You can dictate text messages, email messages, entries in the Notes app, Web searches, and more. Unlike Siri, Dictation works in third-party apps, so you can dictate Facebook status updates, tweets, or Instagram captions just by choosing the microphone icon from the keyboard and speaking.

See also:

• How to Use Wi-Fi Sync For iPhone 4S
• How To Use SIRI | Your Personal Assistant
• How To Use iPhone 4S | Change Your Settings
• How To Use iPhone 4S | Knowing For Beginners

Unlike days gone by, you no longer have to connect your device to your Mac or PC when you want to sync your information or download a subsequent software update. There are two features at work here: iTunes Wi-Fi Sync and Software Update.

Wi-Fi Sync (as its name suggests) allows your iPhone 4S to sync with your computer over a Wi-Fi network rather than through a USB connection. It’s slightly slower, but you can do it any time your phone is on the same Wi-Fi network as your desktop computer. Better still, your device stays perpetually connected: You can adjust settings and re-sync without having to disconnect and reconnect any cables. (You can always con­tinue to sync the old-fashioned way, of course.) Another benefit to this perpetual con­nection is that when syncing, you’re not stuck with a Do Not Discon­nect screen while updating your song list or changing a setting; instead, it all happens in the background, allowing you to multitask and use your phone during a sync session.

Set Up Wi-Fi Sync

To enable Wi-Fi Sync, you need to connect your phone to your computer and open up iTunes. Click on your device in the Source list and then scroll down to the bottom of the summary pane.

Your device syncs with your computer only when iTunes is running; because of this, you need to check the first two boxes in the Options section: Open iTunes When This Phone Is Connected, and Sync With This iPhone Over Wi-Fi. Press the Sync button to save your changes, and you’re all set. By default, your device will automatically sync with iTunes any time it’s plugged into a power source and both are on the same Wi-Fi network; you can also force a sync by going to the Settings app on your device and tapping General -> iTunes Wi-Fi Sync and then tapping Sync Now.

Install iOS Updates If you’ve ever used an iOS device before, you may be familiar with the process of downloading app updates from the App Store app: When a little red badge appears in the upper right corner of the App Store icon, you open the App Store, navigate to the Updates tab, and download your app updates all at once, or one by one. The Software Update process is remarkably similar; but instead of going to the App Store, you go to the Settings app for any system updates.

Like the App Store, your device perpetually checks for new software updates in the background. When one is available, you’ll see a red badge appear on the Settings app; to download it, open the app and navigate to General -> Software Update. There, you can read some brief information about the update and install it by tapping a button. You can also force the system to check for an update by navigating to the Software Update pane.

Because these iOS updates are “delta updates” (they contain only the parts of the system that have changed, so you don’t have to download the entire system each time there is an update), they’re smaller; there­fore, you can download them just about anywhere you have a decent 3G or Wi-Fi connection—on the bus, at home, walking down the street, you name it. To install these updates, however, you need to have at least 50 percent battery life on your device, or have it plugged into a power source.

Just as a friendly reminder: Even though you can install these updates anywhere, you should always (always, always) back up your device before you do. You can use Wi-Fi Sync to back up to your computer, or, if you have iCloud Backup enabled, you can use that.

See also:

• How To Use iPad 2 | A New User’s Guide
• How To Use iPhone 4S | Gestures and Techniques
• How To Use iPhone 4S | Navigation Basics

Now that you’ve taken your first step into the iOS world of Multi-Touch gestures, it’s time to learn how to navigate your device. We’ll go over where your apps are stored, as well as how to organize them, search for them, and delete them.

The Home Screen

When you first turn on your device, you’re brought to the home screen. Here, you see an assortment of icons grouped into rows,
and several more icons grouped in the silver Dock along the bottom of the screen. The home screen is where your apps live, and where you can launch them. Because only 16 apps fit on one home screen, you can have multiple home screens for organizing your apps (up to nine). Above the Dock are dots (the default number is two), with one highlighted in white; these dots signify the number of home screens you have. Swipe left or right to go from screen to screen.

The Dock

The silver translucent bar along the bottom of your home screen is called the Dock. Swipe between home screens, and you notice
that the icons in the Dock don’t change. That’s because the Dock is for the apps you use most frequently; instead of having to swipe from screen to screen to find an app, you can drop it directly into the Dock for easy access. You can store up to four apps in the Dock.
Search in Spotlight You can search for any email message, webpage, and app on your device, or search through Google or Wikipedia, by swiping right on your home screen until you reach Spotlight. To search, just type your query in the text box at the top.

Open and Close an App

Want to launch an app? To open it, all you have to do is tap its icon. Once it’s open, you can return to the home screen at any time by pressing the Home button.

Rearrange and Delete Apps

To rearrange the order of your icons, tap and hold any icon on a home screen. After a few seconds, you enter Edit  mode: All your app icons‚ including the one you’re holding‚ start to wiggle, and a small black X pops up in each icon’s top left corner. Then you can rearrange any apps on the home screen, or even drag them into or out of the Dock. If you’ve installed a third-party app you don’t want anymore, you can tap the X to delete it (you cannot delete the apps that came preinstalled on your iPhone). When you’re finished, press the Home button to make the app icons stop wiggling and stay in their new location. You can also rearrange your icons and home screens through iTunes when you connect your phone to your computer.

Use Folders

When you start amassing a collection of apps on your iPhone, organizing them can get tricky. Luckily, you can use app folders. A folder is a group of apps, represented by a single icon, on a home screen. Each folder sports miniature icons representing the apps inside, along with an overall name, such as Games or Photography. When you tap a folder, the Dock fades and slides down, making room for a view of the folder’s contents. Within the folder, you find the name and icon for each app. Tap any app to launch it, or tap anywhere outside the folder to return to the home screen.

To create a folder, start by tapping and holding any app icon to enter Edit mode; after the icons begin to wiggle, drag an app on top of another app. When you release the app, you’ll have created a folder, which will open and display both apps. By default, the folder’s name is based on the App Store category for one of the first two apps in the folder. If you want to customize this name, just tap inside the field (while still in Edit mode) and enter something new. When you’re done, press the Home button to exit Edit mode.

To add another app to the folder, reenter Edit mode and drag the desired app onto the folder icon. Repeat until you’ve added all the apps you want (up to 12 per folder), and then press the Home button to exit Edit mode.

To edit the folder itself—its name, contents, or the layout of the apps inside—you can either enter Edit mode and then tap the folder, or, while the folder is open, tap and hold any icon inside. You can then tap the folder’s name to change it, drag apps within the folder to rearrange them, drag an app out of the folder to return it to the home screen, or tap an app’s Delete button to completely delete it from your phone. Unlike apps, folders don’t have a Delete button; to delete a folder, you must remove all the apps from it.

 See also

• How To Use iPhone 4S | At A Glance
• How To Use iPhone 4S | Change Your Settings
• How To Use iPhone 4S | Gestures and Techniques
• iPhone 4S Tips and Tricks | To Force-Quit or Not to Force-Quit

It isn’t often that you can liken a Japanese TV programme to a sideways-scrolling monster truck game, but while racing the green shadow car over chaotic scenery, the obstacle course with the wrecking ball from Takeshi’s Castle comes to mind. Monster Trucks Nitro 2 takes the well worn and quite tedious premise of sideways-scrolling scenery with automatic acceleration and some obstacles to get over and turns it into a carnage-strewn, gravity-defying race against time. The aim of the game is to rotate the truck to get maximum lift on jumps and flips where possible to gain nitro boosts, and get the tyres back on the ground to keep the speed up — as shown by the green shadow car. Best of all, the trucks are a shiny 3D, and the chaos caused during the race is a visual feast.

 

Now that you have your iPhone 4S set up, it’s time to turn it on and explore. Your device is running Apple’s mobile operating system, iOS, which uses a variety of finger-based Multi-Touch gestures to help you navigate. In addition, it comes with some great apps—programs that you can run on your mobile device—to make your life easier and more productive. But before you start playing around, you’ll want to know the basics of working with iOS and your apps, and what they can (and can’t) do. We’ll show you how to use iPhone 4S and some basic gestures; help you get the hang of navigating the home screen, multitasking, and working with notifications; offer some tips and tricks; and introduce you to your new voice assistant, SIRI.

If you’ve never before owned a Multi-Touch device from Apple, you may be unfamiliar with phrases like pinch to zoom and the difference between flick and swipe. Have no fear: Although some of these gestures may have odd names, they’re easy enough to pick up.

Tap

As clicking is to a desktop computer, so is tapping to an iOS device. Tapping is the most common and basic gesture: You tap to open apps, bring up controls, make choices from menus, and more.

Double-Tap

Tap an object twice in succession to effect a double-tap. Double-taps are primarily used for zooming in or out on text, but third-party apps also use the double-tap for various purposes.

Tap, Hold, and Drag

For some functions‚ such as highlighting text, copying and pasting, and deleting and moving apps‚ you need to tap and hold down on the screen. When you do this on a piece of text, it highlights in blue, and editing handles—vertical lines with blue dots—appear on either side of the highlighted area. You can tap, hold, and, while holding down, drag your finger to increase or decrease the selection. Dragging  also comes into play for moving objects in apps, drawing, and swiping and flicking.

Flick and Swipe

Drag your finger across the screen—up, down, left, or right—to swipe. Swiping is one of your primary navigational tools: You use a left or right swipe to move through home screens or images in the Photos app; you use an up or down swipe to read text in Safari, iBooks, Newsstand, or elsewhere. It’s one of the easiest gestures to learn. A flick is just like a swipe, only faster: Your device supports inertial scrolling, which means that the faster or slower you move your finger, the faster or slower content will move. If you want to get to the bottom of a page quickly, just flick your finger upward in a fast motion.

One note of caution: All flicking and swiping on your device is inverse, meaning that when you move your finger down (in other words, swipe down), you’re actually moving the content on the screen upward. While this makes perfect sense in the real world, it can still be a bit disorienting at first. Why make the clarification? In this book, we refer several times to “swiping right” to bring up a navigational bar from the left—which can be confusing to parse if you don’t know about inverse gestures.

Pinch

To zoom in or out, use the pinch gesture (also referred to as a pinch-to-zoom gesture). To zoom in or to open something, place your thumb and index finger, pinched together, on screen and spread them apart. To zoom out, do the reverse: Start with your thumb and index finger further apart, and then pinch them together.

Rotate

You can even rotate some elements with two or more fingers. Just place two fingers on screen and make a circular gesture‚ clockwise or counterclockwise.

See also

• How To Use iPhone 4S | At A Glance
• How To Use iPhone 4S | Change Your Settings
• How To Use iCloud | A New User Guide
• iPhone 4S Tips and Tricks | To Force-Quit or Not to Force-Quit

 

Greed Corp is a multiplayer game that made its name on the console gaming scene. It puts players in the role of one of four corporations fighting to control the largest number of ever-crumbling landmasses and limited resources. This is strategy gaming at its finest, and the iOS version manages to bring the same level of fun and polish to the table. While Greed Corp ($1.99, app2.me/4890) is available as a separate iPhone version, I prefer the iPad one for the extra screen real estate; it also al­lows for a more expansive pass-and-play experience. The three difficulty levels, steampunk setting, and 1920s-era jazz score keep things interesting. The ability to mix and match any com­bination of local, online, and Al opponents is also welcomed.

What are you waiting for? These games aren’t going to play themselves. Also, don’t forget to invite a few friends.

Take a Screenshot

To capture an image of what’s showing on your screen—whether it’s Sid’s latest droll reply or proof of your highest Fruit Ninja score ever—simply press the Home button and the Sleep/Wake button simultaneously. Voila! The image is saved directly to your photos.

Swipe to Delete

Want a quick, easy way to delete emails or text threads? Open your Mail or Messages app and swipe your finger from left to right over the email or text thread you want to delete. Tap the red Delete button and it’s his­tory. If you accidentally swipe the wrong email or text thread, just tap the screen anywhere besides that red button (or swipe that same line from right to left) and the Delete button will disappear.

If you’d like to keep an entire text thread, but want to delete one or more individual text messages within the thread, open it up, tap Edit in the top right corner, and tap the little circle on the left of each message you want to delete. Then hit the Delete button at the bottom—no more incriminating messages visible to prying eyes!

Type Punctuation Quickly

For all you incessant texters out there, this typing tip will save you countless taps per day. Instead of tapping the 123 key, tap­ping your punctuation mark, and then tapping ABC to get back to the alphabet, simply tap and hold down the 123 key, slide your finger to whatever punctuation mark you want, and release. You’ll automatically be taken back to the alphabet keyboard. Not a huge shortcut, but definitely one that saves time if you’re texting nonstop.

Tap & Hold: Other Keyboard Options

If you’re like me and can’t bear to type phrases like “a la mode” or “Uber” without their proper accents, you’ll love this quick tip: tap and hold the vowel that requires the accent, and a slew of options will appear above the letter. Slide your finger to the cor­rect one and release. Punctuation purists, rejoice!

Similar options exist for URL endings (tap and hold the..com key in Safari), degree signs (tap and hold the 0 key), and other punctuation marks (test out the apostrophe, quotation mark, hyphen, and period keys).

Switch Apps in a Flash

Once you’ve discovered this next tip, you’ll realize what a huge pain in the derriere it is to have to go to the Home screen in between using apps, espe­cially if you’ve organized them into folders. Say you’re in the middle of a game of Sudoku and you suddenly remember that you needed to look up a recipe in Epicurious. Just double-tap the Home button and a row of your 4 most recently used apps will ap­pear. Swipe from right to left, and you’ll see apps from even further back. Once you get used to navigating this time-saving secret passageway of apps, I’m confident you’ll never look back.

Tap to Focus

A great camera feature in both the iPhone and iPad is “tap to focus:’ As you set up your shot, tap the screen wherever you want the focus of the photo to be. A small square will appear in that area, and the image will re-focus based on your selection. Then tap the Camera button or press the volume up button to take the photo.

For Everyday Users

Set a Timer to Stop the Music App (iPhone and iPod touch only)

Like to lull yourself to sleep with soothing classical tunes? A little sultry R&B, perhaps? (Or eardrum-shattering death metal, for that matter? Hey, we’re not judging.) Well, there’s no reason to keep it playing all night, draining the bat­tery, and potentially waking you up from your much-needed slumber. Problem solved: you can set a timer to stop the music anywhere from 1 minute to 24 hours later.

Open the Clock app, tap on Timer, scroll to the number of hours or minutes for which you want it to play, then tap When Timer Ends. Scroll to the bottom and tap Sleep iPod, hit Start, and then open up your Music app. When your timer runs out, the Music app will stop, leaving you to catch some z’s in peace.

Change Siri’s Default Language (iPhone only)

Did you know Siri could speak to you in French? Or with an Aussie accent? I happened upon this feature one day and had great fun fiddling with it. Open up Settings, select General, then Sin, and then tap Language. You can choose from English (U.S., UK, or Australian), French, or German. Inexplicably, Sin has a male voice in British English and French, while it remains female in the other languages.

Don’t Shake to Shuffle (iPhone and iPod touch only)

You know when you’re sprinting on the treadmill, totally in the Gaga groove, and just as the clubtastic climax starts, your phone abruptly switches songs? Avoid such ca­lamities by switching your Shake to Shuffle feature off. Then you can bop to your heart’s content, without fear of interruption. Sim­ply open your Settings, tap Music, and toggle Shake to Shuffle to the Off position.

Post on Facebook, Google+, or Twitter with Siri (iPhone only)

We briefly mentioned in our Jan/Feb issue that there’s a work­around for updating your social media profiles via Sin, since it doesn’t have a built-in method to open apps. What Siri can do, however, is send texts. Once you’ve set up each account, you can tell Sid to message Facebook, Google+, or Twitter just as you would any other contact, and the text will show up as a post on your profile. Here are specific directions for each site:

Facebook:

Text “Hello” to short code 32665 (for the U.S. and Canada) and follow the link in the reply to complete the set­up. You’ll be directed to the web version of Facebook, where you can select notification settings and whether you want your mobile number to be visible to friends. When you’re done, save that short code in your Contacts as Facebook.

Google+:

Go to your settings page in Google+ and scroll to Notification Delivery. Add your mobile number, hit Send Veri­fication Code, and Confirm. If you don’t want to receive text messages from Google+, make sure to select Don’t Notify Me. Then add the short code you see underneath (33669 for the U.S.) in your Contacts as Google Plus.

Twitter:

Text “Start” to short code 40404 (for the U.S.) and follow the necessary steps, entering your username and pass­word when prompted. Once you’re set up, save that short code in your Contacts as Twitter.

We know that the iPhone 4S’s battery life leaves much to be desired. But there are several settings you can tinker with to help it last as long as possible. Sure, I’ve heard the protests: “If you turn off d the features, all you have left is a regular phone — what’s the point of having an iPhone if you don’t get all the bells and whistles along with it?” To that I say, just be judicious about it. When you’re relaxing at home, there’s no need for GPS to be on, and if you’re at yoga class for an hour, you won’t be needing your Wi-Fi anyway. Why not do what you can to keep your phone alive when it only takes two seconds to switch set­tings? If you really do need all these settings on all the time, I suggest picking up a hardy battery case such as the Mophie Juice Pack Plus ($99.95, mophie.com).

Airplane Mode

If you don’t need to to make or receive calls for a while, go to Settings and toggle Airplane Mode to the On position. Alarms will still work in Airplane Mode; Reminders will not.

Location Services/Time Zone

If you’re not using any location-based apps, go to Settings, tap Location Services, and toggle to the Off position. But since GPS is integral to so many of the iPhone’s features, a less drastic way to combat battery drain is by turning off a known iOS 5 bug: the Time Zone setting, which constantly tracks your location. From Location Services, scroll to the bottom and hit System Services. Then toggle Setting Time Zone to the Off position.

Vibrate Off

Don’t want your phone to vibrate when it rings? Go to your Settings, then Sounds, and under Ringer and Alerts, toggle Vibrate to the Off position. If you want it to vibrate in Silent mode, keep the Vibrate on under Silent; if not, toggle it to the Off position.

Push Notifications

Having notifications sent to your phone from every app you download will quickly wear out your battery. Go to Settings, tap Notifications, and then look at the apps listed In Notifica­tion Center. Don’t need updates from, say, the Stock Widget? Tap its bar and toggle Notification Center to the Off position. Do this for each app you’d prefer not to get real-time notifications from.

Wi-Fi

If you are in a 3G area and don’t need Wi­Fi enabled, go to Settings, tap Wi-Fi, and toggle it to the Off position.

Bluetooth

Not using your Bluetooth headset or any oth­er Bluetooth-enabled devices? Turn it off and your battery will thank you. Under Settings, tap General, then Bluetooth, and toggle to the Off position.

Spotlight Search

Do you ever use the search feature to the left of your Home screen? If so, what apps do you actually end up searching in    (e.q., Contacts, Music, Notes)? To choose which apps are searchable, go to Settings, tap General, Spotlight Search, and uncheck all the apps for which you i to deactivate the search function.

Brightness

Dimming the screen helps your battery last, as does activating Auto-Brightness, which adjusts your screen’s brightness according to lighting conditions. Go to Settings, tap Brightness, and drag the slider to the left to reduce brightness. Then toggle Auto-Brightness to the On position.

Fetch Emails

Set your emails to be fetched at certain inter­vals, rather than pushed immediately from the servers. Go to Settings; select Mail, Contacts, Calendars; and tap Fetch New Data. Toggle Push – to the Off position and, under the Fetch section, choose how often you want your email to be refreshed (the longer the duration, the less battery used). If you just want to check your email manually and not have it automatically refresh, tap Manually.

Siri

Yes, we love Siri. But we don’t need it to serve us at every waking moment. When you know you won’t need Sin’s assistance for a while, go to Settings, tap General, se­lect Sid, and toggle to the Off position. If you want Sin on but prefer to long-press the Home button to activate it, toggle the Raise to Speak option to the Off position.

Reduce Auto-Lock Time

Leaving your screen display on longer than necessary is a great way to waste your bat­tery. Train yourself to manually lock the phone every time you set it down, and reduce the Auto-Lock time by going into Settings, tap?ping General, scrolling down to Auto-Lock, and selecting 1 Minute as the default.

See also

• The New iPad Review
• New iPad Features | More Pixels Than HDTV
• The New Apple TV | 1080p HD Resolution and More
• How To Use iPad 2 | A New User’s Guide

7.8/
10
Average – 1792 Total votes

In addition to the new iPad, in March Apple introduced a new version of their New Apple TV set-top device that can now play high-definition movies and TV shows in 1080p. And to go along with that, Apple has now made 1080p content available in the iTunes Store.

If you’ve already purchased a movie at 720p movie in the iTunes Store in the past, Apple will allow re-downloading of a 1080p version. Not all the 15,000 movies and 90,000 TV shows are available in 1080p, but a significant number are.

At the same time, Apple introduced a new version of the Apple TV software that has an app-based interface more like that of the iPhone and iPad. This software is also available as a download for the earlier second-generation Apple TV (2010 model). The new Apple TV interface is more attractive, and simplifies navigation.

The New Apple TV Review is Small and Compact

Other new features of the Apple TV include Genius. Just as with iTunes and iOS, you can get recommendations for movies you might like based on movies you’ve watched in the past. And compatibility with iCloud and iTunes Match lets you listen to all your music and view your photos that are in the cloud. You simply log into your account, and the content is automatically available.

At the event, Apple also announced that you’ll now be able to store some movies in iCloud, just as you do with music. This means that the movies will be available to you via any device that can connect to your iCloud account, including an Apple TV.

If you’re not familiar with Apple TV, let’s do a quick overview. You connect the Inter­net to the device, and the device to your HDTV. The Internet connection can either be wireless or Ethernet. Included is an elegantly simple remote like the one that’s also available for the Mac.

Once you’re connected, the device shows a home screen that gives you access to a range of con­tent. This includes rental or purchase of movies and TV shows via the iTunes Store; free Internet content such as podcasts (both video and audio), YouTube, Vimeo, and Flickr; and subscription services such as Netflix, Major League Baseball, NBA basketball, and professional hockey. There are also hundreds of free streaming Internet radio sta­tions.

In addition, Apple TV lets you stream movies and TV shows from your desktop computer via your home network. And if you have an iPhone or iPad, the AirPlay feature lets you stream videos from your device to your HDTV via the Apple TV.

The New Apple TV 1080p HD Resolution And More

The Apple TV has been in the iOS lineup for a few years, but its popularity has been accelerating. Apple sold 2.8 million second-generation Apple TVs in the 2011 fiscal year, and had sold 4.2 million total by the end of 2011. Steve Jobs had once described Apple TV as a  hobby given its small contribution to Apple’s overall revenue. But it’s clear that the company intends to continue to develop it, and Apple is even rumored to be coming out with a killer TV set and a streaming TV service that will be similar to cable TV but will let you customize it according to your interests. The New Apple TV for all of your family.

 

8.7/
10
Average – 1554 Total votes

Here is the Latest iPad News from the WWDC Keynote that took place just moments ago.

Even though the WWDC Keynote focus was mostly on iPhone 4.0, we wanted to make sure you got the latest on any iPad-related news that came from the Steve Jobs WWDC 2010 Keynote.

Here is what we learned about the iPad from today’s  Keynote that Steve Jobs just finished up.

The iPad Statistics

• Steve Jobs announced “It is really changing the way we’re experiencing the web, things like photos, video, maps.”
• 2 Million sold in 10 countries, one sold every 3 seconds
• iPad will be in 19 countries by the end of July
• There have been 35 million iPad apps downloaded (average of 17 per iPad)
• Cool new apps: Pulse, WebMD, eBay, Anatomy app, IronMan, Avatar, Field Rumors, Gold…
• 15,000 apps submitted per week. 95% are approved in 7 days.
• 70% of revenue goes to developers

iBook News

• Update to iBooks app Today with new features: Make Notes that will show up in TOC. Can Now View and read PDF’s in iBook.  PDF’s have their own bookshelf.
• iPad has 22$ of total eBook Market

App Store News

• Jobs, “I want ot make something really clear. We support two platforms at Apple. The first one is HTML 5. A fully open uncontrolled platform that is forged and defined by widely respected standards bodies. We fully support html 5, a lot of the technology has come from apple, and apple’s browsers are in the lead when it comes to implementing html 5.”
• “The second platform is the App Store. A curated platform. It is the most vibrant app platform on the planet.”
• Farmville coming…just what we all need (I can hear the productivity dropping right now…THUD!)

There was also a great deal of news for the iPhone 4.0 which can be found at Engadget, TUAW or The Apple Blog.

The next question that comes to my mind is, when can we get the new iPad Update to iOS 4.0?  The update for the iPhone is out on June 21st, so perhaps we will see the iPad update at the same time.

Category:  Games
Released:  May 14, 2010
Developer: Ngmoco, Inc.
Price:         $4.99

Charadium: An Addicting Draw-and-Guess Multiplayer Game

Charadium for iPad is an addicting draw-and-guess multiplayer game for your whole family.  You play a game with other people who are also playing on an iPad, iPhone, and even an iPod Touch.

Building A Community

Everyone playing will need the app which is part of the Plus+ community that is also integrated with other games, like God Finger, and We Rule. With these games and the Plus+ community, you can keep your scores and achievements on you’re iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch too, as well as keeping in contact with you’re friends that you have met via the games.  This is a great way to build community around things you enjoy.

How Charadium for iPad Works

• When the game starts the first person to draw is randomly picked.
• Once someone is picked they get the option to draw the word given to them or skip the word.
• If they choose to skip the word then they automatically get points deducted
• If they don’t accept or decline a word they may be skipped anyway with no consequence.
• After they accept to draw the given word, then the game begins and the timer starts going down, and if you’re drawing you can choose nine colors to draw with.
• There is also an option to “undo” and a trash can.  The trash can trashes the whole drawing and lets you start over, but the timer stays where it is at and continues to go down.
• As the timer goes down so does the amount of points you are willing to get.
• The person who guesses it correctly and the person who drew get points for winning.
• If a person fails to get any correct guesses and the timer runs out, the person who drew loses points.

The End of a Charadium Round – Things You Can Do

At the end of each round you can add, warn, and star a player.  Adding a player means  you are adding them to your Plus+ community and they can accept or decline.  Warning someone is usually an indication they were cheating by spelling out words.  Starring someone is kind of like favoriting them and I like to give them out when someone correctly guesses one of my drawings.

The Bottom Line

I absolutely love this game. It is so exciting to try to draw a word that they give you, or even trying to guess at what another person is drawing.  Here are some of the other features that make this a good game for $4.99.

• You can play with people who are on the iPod Touch and the iPhone who also have the app.
• You can also great is that you can play the game in landscape or portrait mode, though in the landscape mode they tend to give you a smaller drawing space than in portrait mode, but that is understandable since the canvas has to be square for other people who may be playing in the opposite orientation.

This post was generously contributed by Kevin Tran a Graphic Design student at the Art Institute of Dallas. Kevin is getting an Associate degree in Graphic Design and is a gadget enthusiast.

Will there ever be iPad apps for the MacBook Pro?  Or the iMac?  I sent out a tweet today that actually turned into a very intriguing question:  Will Apple ever allow mobile applications on their laptop/desktop products?   At first, it sounded a little odd to me. But then, as I thought more about it, why not?

The reason I sent out the tweet was due to something that happened. I am so used to using the iPhone and the iPad apps that it did not really occur to me when I thought, “I wonder if a certain application i use on my iPad could be used on my MacBook Pro?”  Of course not, because you can’t put iPhone/iPad apps on these platforms.

Now think about this for a moment though.  Mobile applications for the iPad/iPhone are fairly small in size, very functional, and easily downloaded/updated.  Does that not sound like a great idea to distribute to laptops/desktops as well?  I think it makes great sense.

Imagine an entire App store dedicated to the laptop/desktop market. It would spawn a whole new surge in development even beyond where it is today.  This surge would encourage even more innovation that would in turn benefit the iPhone/iPad apps as well and it could eventually tie the platforms closer together for a more rich computing experience.

There are reports of frustration with certain  iPad applications like Keynote, in that they can’t share data as easily with their laptop/desktop counterparts.  Would this not solve that?  Perhaps it could. And while solving the issue, it could also provide a great way to tie applications closer together for those of us with multiple products.

I’m not suggesting that full fledged software should slowly go away but I am suggesting that laptops and desktops make a great environment for mobile apps (yes, I realize the irony there) because of the ease of distribution, information sharing with the mobile version, and the lower cost.

What do you think?  Would you like to see iPad/iPhone apps for the MacBook/iMac?  Does it make sense?

You’re surfing the Web, when all of a sudden Safari stops scrolling. You try tapping any of the on-screen buttons, but you can’t get a reaction. The app has become utterly unresponsive. This kind of situation is called an app freeze or crash. For whatever reason, the app has encountered an error it can’t recover from, and it’s stopped doing everything while it tries to figure out what the problem is and solve it (if it even can).  Here some iPhone 4S Tips and Tricks.

iPhone 4S Tips and Tricks | To Force-Quit or Not to Force-Quit

If you don’t want to wait for the app to try to fix itself, you can tell it to force-quit. There are two ways to do this. If the app’s not completely frozen, and you can get to the home screen, you can double-click the Home button to bring up the multitasking shelf. Find your app’s icon and tap and hold it; after a moment, the icons start to wiggle and a little minus-sign button (–) appears in the upper left corner of each app. Tap the minus button of the unresponsive app, and it shuts down. You can then safely relaunch it from your home screen.

If your app is totally frozen and you can’t get to the home screen, hold down the On/Off button on the iPhone until the Slide To Power Off slider appears. Then release that button and hold down the Home button until the app exits.

See Also:

• The New iPad Review
• New iPad Features | More Pixels Than HDTV
• How To Use SIRI | iPhone 4S User Guide
• How To Use SIRI | Your Personal Assistant

 

Company:     Belkin

Price:             $39.99

Material:       Neoprene

Category:      Sleeve

Colors:          Black/White and Purple

The Details

I have been using the Belkin Vue Sleeve for about 3 weeks now and I am very pleased with it.  I tried 3 other cases/sleeves before this but I have stuck with the Belkin Vue.  It is made out of durable neoprene, which is light and provides sufficient padding to protect your iPad.

There is a plastic pouch on the front which Belkin claims can hold accessories but I have found that the best use of the pouch is for a cleaning cloth.  Putting anything more in there would seem awkward and a bit obtrusive, but, having said that, I can see putting in a camera connector or any other flat object.

The Vue has two zippers for convenience and the inside is made out of neoprene as well which is a nice feature compared to other competing products lined with fleece.  I am not a fan of the fleece lining at all as it gets little “hairs” all over the place and is quite dusty.

The Vue is a great accessory because your  iPad will fit really nicely into it.  The seams are well lined to avoid any mistaken scratching of the sides of your device.  I like this attention to detail because I have tried a few other sleeves that weren’t so kind to my iPad when I went to store it away!

The thin I like the most about the Vue is that it has the perfect amount of padding so that it protects the iPad while not adding to the overall weight or adding unnecessary bulkiness.  I have found also that if I flip it upside down (on the other side of the zippered pouch) it makes a great place to lay our iPad so you don’t scratch it on a rough surface, etc.

Bottom Line

It’s a bit pricey at $39.99; I would rather pay about $24 for this, but it is definitely has “stick” appeal to it.  Meaning, I will continue to use it even with some of the more fancy cases/sleeves on the market.

I give it 4 iPad Daily Dogs.  I would give it 5 if it were a little cheaper for what it is.

Telephones have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. We feel helpless if we are not connected to the outer world. Whether it is a mobile phone, telephone system or a satellite telephone, communication has a great impact on businesses in all organizations. For businesses in bigger organizations, business telephone systems play an important role. These systems are in general, the multiple line telephone in business environments. One of the biggest examples of these systems is VoIP. Let us see how VoIP has helped organizations.

Example of Business telephone systems: Voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) is a web based application for businesses to save money over their phone bills. With cheaper prices they offer many other services with are totally free of cost.

Due to superb service plans and robust customer support, VoIP services have ended up in the number one position. These services are one of the reviewed services which have provided unlimited extensions with unlimited calling minutes. It has given the ultimate flexibility with the selected plan over Internet protocol systems and put the competition in way ahead. Along with the money back guarantee policy it provides customer support including FAQ section and tutorials with a user forum. Businesses are pleased to have RingCentral VoIP packages which have impressed many organizations at every turn.

RingCentral Coupon brings every service plan attribute on the board. It satisfies nearly all key requirements that you might be having while you transit over to a jam-packed VoIP system. You can’t go wrong with RingCentral if you need a business VoIP solution with boundless extensions and calling mintutes.

Why Business Telephone Systems are required?

Importance: Naturally, call quality is key issue in every business environment. Furthermore, every businessperson always desires to have a long-term relationship with his potential clients by providing ultimate services to his clients.
Communication of every organization completely depends upon business telephone system. Therefore, it is important to make sure that the communicating systems are running smoothly. Innovative technologies have become crucial part, so it is important for business enterprises to adopt such systems.

These systems deliver high performance and various operational necessities thus being flexible to cater all business solutions to all business entities. For the best option for your business, go for reliable telephone system providers. The extensive services they provide includes autodialing, speed dialling, welcome messages, call conferencing, call forwarding and many more other services that will result in saving your thousands of dollars and improves your reputation.

Major Benefits:

? Supports entire business efficiently

? Improves cost effectiveness and productivity. For example, it gives the facility of video conference among several participants even at distant locations and the meeting form each geographic location instead of a physical meeting can save cost, time and effort of businesses to large extent.

? Appropriate to satisfy requirements of mix of business telephone systems.

Hence RingCentral with its wide range of services has many other products like iContact Coupon which develops and also provides marketing software to businesses email. With its endless products and services it has incorporated the businesses with tools and features that bigger enterprises have in the telephone system.

All the new iPad reviews are so wordy you can’t tell what’s good or bad about the new iPad. Here’s a cut down version, so you know what Apple is offering with their new iPad.

Even though they didn’t fix the screen so you can view it in the sunlight, you can see the difference with the new pixel count. The screen has some very remarkable improvements. However, it’s pretty much the same size as the old iPad 1 but weights more than the iPad 2. If you go from iPad 1 to the new iPad, you will see a difference but not if you go from iPad 2.

You will notice the difference in the charging time of the battery. It takes forever to charge, but it is a bigger battery. You can get about 9 hours on a battery charge. The 4G is terrific if you watch your bandwidth. However, the graphics are as close as you can get to PS3. My Infinity Blade 2 had the same polygons and texturing. Not exact but they are getting close.

I found the recessed power button to be a hassle, cuz I liked the button on the iPad 1. The improvement in the camera is great! It takes some gorgeous stills and videos. It makes editing them on the apps a lot more fun. The extra RAM stops the apps from crashing and the Verizon 32 GB has more room for apps and I could use a hotspot. For a tablet, it’s still the best price and I can give it 5 stars.

That’s it for what’s new in the new iPad. Reviews can be quick if they left out all the fluff, but what really matters is where Apple is heading with this new integration of technology. I think they are heading for the invisible computer and iPad is the start of this window into the future.

The New iPad Review | The Magical World of Counterfeit Realism

Every iPad release has had rumor attached to them such as the retina eye screen to the haptic screen rumor before the new iPad was released. It not only gives Apple more exposure for the iPad, but it’s a way to show how their devices are becoming invisible.

Many people believe these rumors, which for Apple aren’t bad, it saves them a lot in advertising fees, but it does force them to try to explain them. The first iPad was thought to be a magical device. It was the first tablet and Apple went from The Mac to the iPad, then on to the iPhone. They are transitioning to a way to make the computer an invisible part of everyone’s life.

Apple named the new iPad just “iPad” to show that it is all things to everyone. They, Apple, have been making things right for a long time now and the new iPad is the creation of the perfect tablet. It has everything you want and need. It may be a little thicker and a littler heavier and it may take a little longer to charge the battery, but it is fast becoming the invisible computer. It does everything a computer can do, its display is better than a monitor, and the Bluetooth keyword makes it more like a computer than a tablet. The new Retina display is what makes the new iPad worth all the hype.

The interface show what the Retina display can do because it works under the glass and on top of the glass. It gives the appearance of being “magical” to the touch. Your finger slide across the glass and with the lightest touch you can type, open apps, or edit images. It truly makes the new iPad a powerful magical device.

Before the Retina display it would be impossible to display GarageBand with look alike real images. It would be like carrying a TV around, but the new iPad makes it look real good with just a little weight and a few millimeter thicker. You can tell it’s going to be a big seller when you check out the stock prices and see how high they are climbing. That show investors believe the new iPad is going to sell well.

The New iPad Review | Resolutionary

In order for Apple to convince you their new iPad is the “none computer” to have, you’re entering the field of technology. Technology has come a long way since the aliens of Roswell crash landed. We borrowed from them to create our world of technology. By backward development, we now have the iPad. Maybe Steve Jobs was invited to visit Roswell. Either way he has revolutionized how we think about computers.

For those who have not tried the iPhone, you’re missing out on a bit of technology that will soon disappear. The new iPad is where all computers are going. They now have the Retina display and tomorrow they might have the Retina scan for passwords. The Retina display is better than HDTV. You won’t have to watch TV if you have a new iPad. The same display that’s on the iPhone is now on the new iPad.

Since is has a magnetic flow, all screens will be everywhere. Apple has changed the way people use devices and they have had an impact on many different industries such as education, research, design, and manufacturing. Forget about the other new iPad reviews and their fluff. Look at the new iPad as the future of technology. The tool you’ll always need and always have. It can only get better and better. Star Trek should move over as the new iPad moves in to take over.

See Also:

• The New iPad Features | More Pixels Than HDTV
• How To Use iCloud | A New User Guide
• How To Use SIRI | iPhone 4S User Guide
• How To Use iPhone 4S | At A Glance
• How To Use iPad 2 | A New User’s Guide

Now in its third generation, it simply carries the name of “iPad”. No extra numbers, a better display, and a faster delivery system. But, has Apple really improved the new iPad features? You still get all the great features of graphics, photos, text, and video through the Internet. We took a look at the New iPad to see what the improvement was. Take a look…

It still holds same price as the last iPad, running at $499, but the internal components has been improved with a 9.7-inch screen and transfer of data over cell phone networks. These are some very big updates for the new iPad. It’s like going from a 2 inch screen to a 24 inch screen. Everything is in much sharper detail. However, it takes a toll on the battery’s life span.

The main feature of the New iPad was the battery life. You could spend more time surfing the net without charging the battery. This has always been an advantage over other tablets. Now it looks like they have equalized this feature to coincide with all the other tablets. This doesn’t hurt, they still have a long battery life, but you just have to charge more often than you did with the older iPads. You loose about 11 minutes on each battery charge, depending on how long you stay connected. That’s not much of a disadvantage unless you don’t have access to an electrical plug.

However, putting in a bigger battery gives the new iPad a little more weight at about 8% more than other iPads. It’s also about 7% thicker, so Apple’s claim for the thinnest and lightest tablet no longer applies. Although, it is still lighter and thinner than the iPad 2, it now weights a little more. Unless you’re a 10 pound weakling, it shouldn’t be a problem.

We tested the New iPad features of the connectivity through Verizon and AT&T. Playing videos constantly, the battery lasted 9 hours compared to 10.9 hours on the ipad2. Not that much of a difference, but the biggest difference was the connection speed.

Apple’s 4G LTE cellular technology is a big advantage over the iPad 2. Using Verizon‘s wireless we connected at downloads speeds of over 17 megabits and AT&T was over 12 megabits. That’s faster than a home cable network. This alone is more than worth the price of the new iPad features even if it does lessen the battery life.

The Total Improvement to The New iPad Features

Throughout the test we’ve run, the New iPad features show it has four times the pixel strength than other iPad. This is a vast improvement. You get the sharpest picture within the same amount of space. Apple claims it’s better than HDTV with a million more physical pixels than the former iPads. We like it!

The New iPad and its new features doesn’t mean you should run out ant buy the new one, even though it does have better coverage in Wi-Fi than every before. The 4G LTE cellular-data capability is an extra cost feature, but it does give you connection where you might not have had it before. Of course, there it the collection of over 200,000 iPad apps designed especially for the iPad. Older apps work just as good as the new apps do on the new iPad. The music, books, and magazines are the same, as well, just sharper in detail.

You will find the weight more noticeable, but you won’t even notice the thickness. You will, however, notice the ability to enjoy reading or video watching better with the bigger screen. If you are a 10 pound weakling, then you can still purchase the iPad 2 for about $399 with 16 gigabytes of hard drive space. It’s the first time Apple has ever offered a deal like this, but they must have a lot of iPad 2s in the warehouses just looking for a home.

One can choose the size of hard drive you want for the extra price for storage. They have 16, 32 or 64 GB capacities that can take the price up to $829 plus shipping. The extra cell phone coverage is also offered at a price through Verizon and AT&T. It’s a monthly fee, but if you already have a cell phone through them you can get a pretty good deal for the new iPad.

The New Display Requires A Word Or Two

Back in the olden days, about ten years ago, we had monitors the are barely acceptable to tablet users today. Even computer uses find it hard to believe they used the much smaller screens. The New iPad display screen is the sharpest available today. Although, you can’t see the pixel difference when looking the screen; you sure can see it when you play a video. Even the worse videos from YouTube look almost good on the new iPad. With features like a resolution of 2048 x 1536 you can compare it with your old iPad 2 and see a big difference.

Put them side by side and you’ll see Apple has really improved the display. And when you read text you’ll notice the sharper letters no longer merge together, so you can’t tell the difference between an n or r. The smallest font is still easier to read without blending all the words together.

Even though Apple has improved the display image they still haven’t done anything about sunlight washing out the screen. It still washes out when in direct sunlight. Oh, well, the faster than light speed connection makes up for that.

New iPad Features: The New Camera

The new iPad now has a 5 megapixel camera compared to the 1 megapixel for the older iPad 2. Of course, you still have a front and back camera, you can now take better picture indoor and out. They will never make it to a photographic hall of fame, but they will take a better shot of Aunt May opening her birthday present.

The New iPad features many of the old apps and benefits from iPad 2 such as Smartphone usage, emails, and touch typing. All in all, the new features are more than worth upgrading to the new iPad. It still holds in place as one of the great tablets of all time.

See Also:

• Apple iPhone 4S Review
• How To Use SIRI | iPhone 4S User Guide
• iOS 5 Features You Should Know About
• iOS 5 Features | Tips and Tricks

When I first bought my iPad a few weeks ago, I was so caught up in playing around with the features that I forgot to get a case for it.  Being a Mac owner and an iPhone owner, I know that a good case is essential in keeping my products protected.  I’m pretty picky, however, when it comes to cases.  I don’t like big, bulky ones that add a lot of weight or unnecessary volume. I don’t like material on the outside that collects dirt and lint, and I don’t like any type of fleece or fur on the inside.

I tried a few cases (one from Apple) and a few from other vendors but they just weren’t “the right one”.  After a few searches online I bumped into Saddleback Leather.  They had an all-leather iPad case (not an affiliate link) that looked “incredible”.  I went to the site, learned about it and then ordered it.

When I got it, I was extremely pleased.  It’s durable, smells great, is perfect for the iPad, and was not too expensive ($41.00).  Saddleback created a great customer experience as well with their emails and timely shipping.  The only downside to the case I see, so far, is the tight fit of the iPad which makes it kind of cumbersome to get it out of the case.  However, I feel that this is because it’s new and with leather it will need to relax and stretch out a bit.  I’ll update this review as I keep on using it.  Saddleback has a great story to tell and all their products are made local.  Thanks Saddleback for a great iPad case.

This is the first post of many where I will begin promoting local businesses with products/services that provide superb functionality and a great customer experience.  If you would like to have your product/service promoted, let me know and I’ll get together with that gorilla and see what we can cook up.

Leather iPad Sleeve: Saddleback Leather is a post from: TCGeeks

You couldn’t get a cuter concept than Storm In A Teacup. A young boy takes a ride on a magic floating teacup as he hops between platforms tied by strings, passes houses made to look like pop-up books, and defeats disgruntled rainclouds with a candy-firing cannon. We even feel a bit sick just writing that.

But its charm is enough to give it a unique feel, with the bright visuals and pleasant tunes making it a treat to play. Unfortunately, the gameplay takes punishment alongside it, with very basic platforming pinning the rest of the game together. A handful of difficult — if not impossible — collectables mean that those willing to put the effort in with find a bit more of a challenge, though more likely its frustration will just cancel out any will to play.

Despite this, however, the pleasantness of it all may well appeal to children, especially since the basic gameplay doesn’t really require much in the way of skill.

It’s not perfect, and there are certainly better alternatives already available in the App Store. But for a saccharine sweet platform game Storm In A Teacup is as good as any.

Storm In A Teacup For iPad | Adventure Games is a post from: TCGeeks

Tetris, quite simply, is timeless. Regardless of how many years pass and what other ideas are stumbled upon, Alexey Pajitnov‘s puzzler will be just as good in 30 years as it has been for over two decades. As you would expect, Tetris on the iPad ensures this remains true, despite not being the best adaptation. Controlling the blocks as they fall to their doom can be a little fiddly but the new modes—which all couldn’t work on any other contraption — are a great fit for the legendary franchise.

Tetris For iPad | Music/Puzzle Games is a post from: TCGeeks