Latest Gadgets, Tablets and Smartphones
Evernote has updated the Evernote app for iOS devices. The universal app update covers the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch versions.
New features include snippets, an updated PDF engine, more formatting options, Evernote Business integration and the usual various bug fixes.
Now that millions of people have installed iOS 6 on their iPhone or iPad a number of problems have been spotted with the Apple Maps. Problems include town names being in the wrong place down to air ports found in farmers fields etc… The list goes on and on.
In iOS 6, Apple dropped Google Maps as the standard and then switched to Apple Maps so that it had more control over the whole service. Although it has good points such as free navigation built in for latest gen and last gen devices, it still lacks in many areas. One notable example is no street view and even more so, the problem of the maps not being accurate.
Redmondpie has been very helpful by putting together a video of all the new features to be found in iOS 6. The demonstration shows both the iPad running iOS 6 and an iPhone running the new operating system. The iPhone is a 4S while the iPad is an iPad 3 (or the new iPad as it’s officially known as).
Yesterday, Apple [AAPL] released iOS 6 to the public. The new version builds on previous versions of the operating system. It is compatible with all iPhone models down to the 3GS as well as the latest 2 generations of iPod touch and the iPad 2 and iPad 3. For those running the latest gen iPhone 5 (released tomorrow), this OS makes use of the larger screen and also has all the apps adapted to fill the extra space on the screen.
Although the invitation to a press event has a 12 for the date I assume and a number 5 in the shadow, these were put together to mean iPhone 5 announced on September 12. But, a “leaked” picture of what looks to be a packaging printing machine now seems to show that the iPhone might just be referred to as iPhone with using the same naming as the new iPad… ie, “The new iPhone”. The font, text, bolding and upper case letters are all in the right places when compared to the latest gen iPad, so perhaps this is correct.
A few moments ago I posted a picture of what someone thinks the iPad mini will look like, should Apple decide to launch it. This post is now about an iPhone 5. The device is a mockup created by a case manufacturer who apparently has the official specs ready for a launch in the next few weeks. The device is not working and is literally just parts cut out to match the dimensions that Apple has provided.
Instead of a picture, the Verge managed to spend some time with the case manufacturer although the company behind the mockup didn’t want to be identified, understandably.
It’s hard to know where to draw the line between rumour and hopes. A lot of rumours are spread about devices such as Android tablets as well as iPhones and iPads. The latest relates to the relatively new Nexus 7 tablet from Google. The rumour hints that a 3G model will be arriving within weeks… as in sometime in September.
ZAGG has announced at IFA that it is launching a couple of new iPad keyboards. The new keyboards are called the ZAGGkeys PRO and there is also a PRO Plus model launching. The PRO Plus with backlit keyboard is pictured below.
A few days ago an picture of a front panel on an iPhone 5 went around the web. This particular image had a picture of a square device at the top right (when looking at the panel from the back). Matching it up to an earlier patent that Apple filed as well as some speculation based on Passbook being added to iOS 6, many people, including me, mentioned that NFC could be coming to the iPhone 5.
Well, AnandTech has commented that NFC is unlikely. The reason for this is how the iPhone 5 has been built. If all the leaked parts are official then the back of the iPhone will have a metal and glass back. The glass portions at the back are classed as RF windows which can let radio waves through. But, as they are quite small it is unlikely that NFC built in to this configuration will work correctly.
Although we didn’t cover the ChargeCard project on KickStarter when it first appears on July 18th… not sure why as it looks amazing! I see today that they have 63 hours to go at the time of writing this and have raised three times more than their goal of $50,000. At the moment they have raised $151,248 funded by 5,173 backers. Impressive numbers! That amount of cash puts them in the top 50 of all KickStarter projects ever funded.
Facebook has released an update for its app on iOS devices. The new update has been “built from the ground up” and now drops HTML5 and switches that for native iOS programming to keep it running. The result is that the app runs far smoother than previous versions.
Good news for those wanting unlimited data for their smartphone. T-Mobile in the US has announced that starting September 5, it will be offering unlimited data.
The cost of the unlimited data is $69.99/month or $89.99/month depending on if you choose a subsidised smartphone.
