Apple has given the go ahead for the iPad 2 to go in to production. This is according to the WSJ who reported that the second generation tablet device would have a front facing camera allowing video calls to be made.

We also hear more confirmations that the screen will not be a higher resolution. Earlier reports have been swayed both ways with some saying the screen will be retina and others saying it will be the same but thinner with a thinner bezel around the edge. This report from the WSJ hints at it not getting a retina display this time around although this could happen on the iPad 3. [Read more…]

The BBC is about to launch a new app for the iPad this week. The new app is the iPlayer which is currently available via the BBC website.

“iPlayer App for iPad is being released this Thursday – 10th Feb. 3G connection is browse only. Browse+Playback requires Wi-Fi. #iplayer,”

This information came from a tweet that Geoff Marshall of the BBC sent out recently and as mentioned, it works on WiFi only for playback although you can browse content over a 3G connection. [Read more…]

Some handy changes have been made to the Apple iPad App Store in the last 24 hours. Now when performing a search in the app store (on the iPad), there are several filtering options that are available.

What these options do is allow you to filter between the category, release date, customer rating, price and device (iPad or iPhone). At the moment, the updated app store is only available to iPad owners and it isn’t clear just yet if the smaller screen iPod touch and iPhone will get the same treatment. [Read more…]

Rumors are hinting that Apple might announce the iPad 2 on the same day that iOS 4.3 is announced. That date is expected to be February 13.

The reasoning behind this date is that iOS 4.3 will be announced which will bring hotspot functions to the iPhone. Also, this marks the 2 week end to the Verizon deal where the company are picking up the tab for those subscribing to The Daily iPad app. [Read more…]

Apple has posted a new job listing requesting for an iOS Photography Software Engineer to join the team. The job description explains that the person will be responsible for creating software for the iPad and Mac platforms in the area of Photography. It hints at iPhoto and Aperture on the Mac platform which in turn, could be ported over to the iPad in some shape or form.

Strong skills in HTML5 and CSS are also requested which also hints at some sort of web based service for photos. In iOS 4.3, some have noted that a photo stream feature has been referenced in the Beta versions which in turn, hint that some sort of service that pulls down pictures from the web to the iPad could be a possibility. [Read more…]

Rupert Murdoch has launched The Daily, an iPad exclusive publication. The Daily goes on sale in the US iTunes store today (launched about 20 minutes ago), and is published daily every single day of the year. Each day when The Daily becomes available to download, it is filled with over 100 pages of unique content covering breaking news, sports, apps, games, technology to name a few things. [Read more…]

Pictures of the iPad 2 screen have leaked on to the Internet. What we see is a comparison between the iPad and the iPad 2 display. The new one is thinner by about 1mm and also has a slimmer bezel which should help shrink the iPad 2 down a little in size.

Some investigations have revealed that the screen will still have the 1024×768 resolution and not be retina as originally rumored. This is thanks to the model number found on a sticker with the reference number LP097x02 SLN1. Each of those sets of digits has a meaning such as it being created by LG Phillips, 097 refers to it being a 9.7 inch screen, SL means H-IPS and N1 is unknown at the moment. The 02 refers to the resolution. [Read more…]

News Corp has announced the launch date of its new digital news paper called The Daily. The launch date will be February 2 and is believed to be launched in time with the new Apple subscription platform that will be made available in iTunes.

The Daily will be launched at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. Apple will have Eddy Cue attending who is the VP of Internet Services. Also, we hear Rupert Murdoch will also be attending the event. [Read more…]

Some digging around the latest SDK from Apple has revealed that the iPad 2 might get a camera similar, if not the same, as the current generation iPod touch. This means it will be somewhere in the region of 0.7 to 1 Megapixels. This is referring to the camera on the back of the iPad. As for the iPad camera on the front, expect it to be of VGA quality.

The information in the SDK was listed under the name of K94 which 9to5Mac have been told is a codename for the iPad 2. [Read more…]

As well as finding out that the new multitasking gestures in iOS 4.3 will not be made available in the public release, we also find out that camera icons have been included in the new iOS 4.3 beta 2 update.

Three new icons have been added to beta 2 which are FaceTime, Camera and PhotoBooth. The screenshot seen above is called homeScreenOverlayFaceTime~ipad.png and is a screenshot of the home screen used when selecting a new wallpaper on the device. [Read more…]

With the release of iOS 4.3 Beta 2 yesterday, Apple also announced that the multitouch gestures introduced in the beta versions will not make it to the public release.

This feature will not be enabled in iOS 4.3 for customers, but we are providing this preview to gather input on how these gestures work with your apps.

[Read more…]