Technology Update News!: iPad

Showing posts with label iPad. Show all posts

Oct 8, 2013

Report: Apple’s next, probably-iPad-focused event happens October 22

AllThingsD is rarely wrong about these things.
by Andrew Cunningham

The old iPad 4 will supposedly be replaced by something more in line with the design of the iPad mini.

Chris Foresman

"Sources familiar with the matter" are telling AllThingsD that Apple's next product announcement will be taking place on October 22 and that the event will likely focus on new iPads, the Mac Pro, and OS X 10.9 Mavericks. AllThingsD has a strong track record when it comes to Apple news (the publication correctly predicted the company's September 10 iPhone event), and the date would make sense given the iPad-focused announcements Apple made in October of 2012. If Apple's scheduling is the same as it normally is, look for official invitations to go out at some point next Tuesday.

Apple refreshed a good-sized chunk of its product line in September—its event on September 10 gave us iOS 7 and a pair of new iPhones. The iMac was quietly refreshed with new Haswell CPUs a couple of weeks later. That said, much of Apple's lineup is still due for some sprucing up. The larger iPad is expected to get a physical redesign to bring it more in line with the iPad mini, and the mini may (or may not) be getting a Retina display to go with the expected internal upgrades. Both Retina MacBook Pros and the new Mac Pro that Apple first teased back in June are also due for a release date, and all of these product lines are sufficiently high-profile that we could see them sharing stage time with the iPads at the event (the Mac mini is also due for a Haswell refresh, but don't expect Apple to dwell much on its smallest, cheapest Mac). Both the redesigned 2012 iMac and the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro were unveiled at last year's October event, and the recent Golden Master build of OSX 10.9 gives Apple even more reason to talk up its Macs.

Analysts are also looking for an all-new (perhaps watch-shaped) product line, but if it's coming, Apple's notoriously sieve-like supply chain has yet to give us any indication. We would expect an event that focuses primarily on the iPads and on Apple's professional Macs at this point. Whatever is announced, we'll be covering the events as they happen, and we'll be giving the review treatment to any new hardware and software that Apple sees fit to release.

https://dl-web.dropbox.com/get/img/Courtesy_arstechnica.PNG?w=AABDquFIucL3zTvawmlJe5QkJ8DpikPVXVIZ34Y15xnoQA

By: Unknown On 2:59 PM

Oct 3, 2013

Schools Complain iOS 7 Upgrade Stripped Filters From Students’ iPads

iOS 7 was supposed to make it easier for schools to manage the iPads that are becoming increasingly common in the classroom. But for some, the latest version of Apple’s mobile operating system is proving to be a bit of a headache.

A number of schools that have upgraded their iPad deployments to iOS 7 say installing the new OS removed the supervision profiles they had installed on the devices. This rendered those iPads unsupervised, depriving administrators of their remote management privileges and eliminating the filtering protections they had established to protect students from inappropriate content they might stumble upon outside school.

“Apple did not realize that installing iOS 7 would remove our (and thousands of organizations across the country) safety protection measure, which now makes the iPad devices unfiltered when accessing the Internet away from school,” said a memo from the Manitou Springs (Colo.) School District 14 to parents, verified by AllThingsD. “In the short term, the district will be collecting iPad devices at the end of each day until the safety protection measure is reinstalled.”

And Manitou Springs School District 14 is not an isolated case. According to Apple’s support forums and some external IT discussion boards, schools across the United States are grappling with the issue, which is causing a lot of angst and frustration for administrators.

At Manitou, the district ended up collecting hundreds of iPads that had been upgraded to iOS 7, wiping them, and then reinstalling the OS along with the apps and student content originally on the devices. “It’s been a major undertaking,” Superintendent Ed Longfield told AllThingsD.

That’s particularly the case for affected schools with large iPad deployments, some of which have gone so far as to adjust their network settings to block over-the-air iOS 7 updates. “When we first caught wind of the bug, I tweaked our DNS to stop iPads from checking for software updates,” a school administrator who declined to be named told AllThingsD. “That helped us to keep a lot of our iPads running iOS 6.1.3. We plan to maintain those settings until Apple addresses the issue.”

And Apple is working hard to do just that, though it’s not yet clear just when it will have a resolution.

“Some business and education users have reported that their supervised devices have reverted to un-supervised when they upgrade to iOS 7,” Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller told AllThingsD. “We are aware of this issue and will have a fix this month.”

Courtesy: AllThingsD

By: Unknown On 4:28 AM

Oct 1, 2013

LA schools halt iPad program in light of student “hacks”

A total of 2,100 iPads are supposed to be returned—with 700 still missing.

by Cyrus Farivar

Last week, we reported on the fact that students in Los Angeles had figured out a way to “hack” the iPads they were given by their school. (In reality, it was a simple matter of deleting profile information as students found ways around the security limits implemented by the administration.)

Now, school officials at Westchester and Roosevelt high schools are seemingly pulling the plug on the entire program. They're asking for students to return the 2,100 devices that had been distributed. For the time being, however, only about two-thirds of those iPads have actually been returned to the school, and no one knows if or when the district's iPad program will resume.

"They carted them out of every classroom in sixth period," Westchester senior Brian Young told a Los Angeles Times reporter on Monday. "There has been no word of when they'll be back."

Sep 29, 2013

Microsoft extends iPad trade-in program to include iPhone 4S and 5

Microsoft already launched a trade-in program offering min. $200 for an iPad and the company has now extended it to include your "gently used" iPhone 4S or 5

Earlier this month, Microsoft launched a new scheme offering iPad owners the chance to gain min. $200 to use towards a Microsoft Surface tablet.

The company, in a bid to get people using Windows, has now extended its trade-in program to include any “gently used” iPhone 4S or 5’s for the same min. $200, but in Microsoft Store Credit only.

TechCrunch reports there is also a deal in the works to offer a similar trade-in for iPad owners.

Microsoft’s incentive behind the scheme; to get Apple customers handing over their Apple hardware and walking out with Microsoft, whether that’s a Lumia Windows Phone such as the Nokia Lumia 925, Surface tablet, or other device.

“Precisely what Microsoft intends to do with all its accumulated Apple hardware remains opaque,” TechCrunch reports.

Last week, Microsoft’s Surface Pro 2 was officialy unveiled with Windows 8.1 alongside reports that a Surface Mini is on its way.

Microsoft has also recently acquired Nokia’s mobile phone business paying out £4.6 billion to take over the reins.

According to a report in Bloomberg earlier this year, Apple are rumoured to be planning their own trade-in program offering Apple customers the chance to trade-in their current iPhone handsets and upgrade to a newer model.

Source: TechCrunch
Courtesy: T3

By: Unknown On 4:26 AM

'Solitaire,' 'Jigsaw' iPad games are fun, free downloads

Not everyone wants to spend $60 on a new disc, nor do "core" games like military shooters and deep role-playing games appeal to all tastes.

If you prefer more of the accessible, "casual" game variety, and ones that won't cost you anything, two newly updated apes for your Smartphones or tablet might just fit the bill.

The following is a closer look at two family-friendly titles: Solitaire Deluxe and Jigsaw Collection T. Both aren't flawless, mind you, but free to download and play, along with optional in-ap purchases.

Solitaire Deluxe (Mobile Deluxe; for Apple and Android; mobiledeluxe.com; 3.0 stars out of 4)

As the name suggests, Solitaire Deluxe offers a collection of 16 different solitaire card games, including Klondike, FreeCell, Spider, Tri-Peaks, Pyramid, Yukon, Golf and Canfield, to name a few classics. Each game has an optional tutorial to walk you through.

A screenshot from 'Solitaire Deluxe.'(Photo: MK Jigsaw)

Simply use your fingertip to tap, flip and place cards on the board. The game features large, easy-to-read card faces, an "undo" function, support for landscape and portrait view and a jazzy soundtrack (though it's turned off by default).

Too bad there's no "Hint" button if you get stuck, nor does the game notify you if you can't win.

By playing games you'll earn virtual coins to spend in the Rewards Store, to buy things like new backgrounds and decks, if desired. Solitaire Deluxe also offers "Daily Winnable Deals" to compete with friends for top score over the game's Facebook app.

While not necessary, top in-app purchases range from 99 cents for 2,000 Rewards Credits to $19.99 for 150,000 Rewards Credits.

Now optimized for iOS 7, Solitaire Deluxe is a fun and free solitaire collection for both Apple and Android devices.

Your favorite app store houses free solitaire card games and jigsaw puzzles. (Photo: MK Jigsaw)

Jigsaw Collection HD (MK Jigsaw; for Apple iOS devices; mkjigsaw.com; 3.5 stars out of 4)

Just as playing solitaire is an enjoyable pastime for many, solving a jigsaw puzzle is also a fun way to relax.

Playable on iPad, iPhone or iPod touch, Jigsaw Collection HD includes a few ready-made jigsaw puzzles to choose from (five cake photos and five pictures of kids), but the game also lets you download free puzzle packs. In fact, among the 10 different categories — such as Animals and Nature — there were many freebies offered (about 50 free sets, in total). You can also spend $1.99 or $2.99 on additional sets.

Alternatively, you can import a photo from your own library to create jigsaw puzzles, or take a photo with the camera to make a puzzle out of it immediately.

For any puzzle you want to play, you can choose the desired size (anywhere from 12 to 288 pieces), the shape of the pieces (three options) and whether you'd like to rotate the pieces.

You can also tweak the background color, play your own music if you don't like the bundled soundtrack and save your puzzle progress (allowing you to work on multiple jigsaws).

The interface can be a little tricky at first — for example, it wasn't clear you can drag a puzzle piece to the right-hand side of the screen to place it back in the virtual box — but overall, there's little to complain about with this ad-supported free game for kids and kids at heart.

Courtesy: USAtoday

By: Unknown On 3:44 AM