Developers ‘scrambling’ because Apple changed the UDID access it said it would in August - by aby benedict

TechCrunch notes that some of the Apple teams that approve apps for the App Store are turning down apps that access the depreciated UDID identifier in iOS:

But this is the first time Apple has issued outright rejections for using UDIDs. “Everyone’s scrambling to get something into place,” said Victor Rubba, chief executive of Fluik, a Canadian developer that makes games like Office Jerk and Plumber Crack. “We’re trying to be proactive and we’ve already moved to an alternative scheme.” Rubba said he isn’t sending any updates until he sees how the situation shakes out in the next few days.

That’s something because Apple announced the change in August. It is hard to feel for people who are ‘scrambling’ just now.

What do Samsung and Phones 4u have to show the UK on March 30th? - by aby benedict

We're not saying this could be the date-of-reveal for the Galaxy S III, but we also can't say it's not. What we can surmise, however, is that either Samsung or UK retailer Phones 4u (possibly both) apparently have something to unveil on March 30th. According to Eurodroid, the window pictured above, simply reading "coming 30.03.12" under a Samsung logo, was photographed by one of its readers outside of the Phones4u located on Oxford St. in London. The site also notes that this same location was the exclusive retailer for the Galaxy Nexus when it launched, making the little meat that's currently here all the more juicy. Whatever Sammy has in store, you'll just have to keep guessing as it remains a mystery for now. Hit up the links below for more photos and speculation, and be sure let us know your best guess in the comments.

Galaxy Note Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich Update Delayed? - by aby benedict

Samsung has promised a first quarter update to Android 4.0.3 to their innovative Samsung Galaxy Note and it seems it will be pushed. Now Samsung has announced that the ics update will be coming in Q2 of this year with a new “premium suite upgrade” We could have gathered the update wasen’t going to be here this quarter as its wrapping up within a week.

According to Samsung, with the update in Q2 to Ice Cream Sandwich the devices will also be getting extra multimedia features and new apps designed for the S-Pen stylus. One of the new features that Samsung mentioned was the S Note feature that will further integrate written content with digital data.

S Note also includes the innovative Shape Match and Formula Match applications that help correct and digitize geometric shapes and even solve numeric formulas hand-drawn with S Pen, increasing your on-the-go efficiency and productivity. You can draw tables and grids which are instantly digitized, saving time and effort. Moreover, by using the S Note’s integrated knowledge search engines, users can quickly search, and obtain information.


We don’t currently have any information on the exact date of the updates release not even to the month. Although we are confident that it will be before the end of Q2 as Samsung usually follows through with their word and pushing once is enough.

Instagram for Android pre-registration opens - by aby benedict

Instagram has opened a pre-registration page for Android users wanting to be first in line for the upcoming Instagram for Android app. The much-anticipated Android version of the app still hasn’t had its release exactly dated, but the Instagram team has said that it is coming “very soon” and may, in fact, be considered even better than the widely popular iOS version.

That iOS version has over 27m registered users, Instagram said earlier this month, taking advantage of the app’s various retro-style photo filters and straightforward sharing. Exactly how the Android app will differ wasn’t detailed, though company co-founder Mike Kreiger revealed that the Google Android team was supposedly impressed by how Instagram “leverages” the OS.

Instagram first confirmed the work-in-progress Android port back in December 2011, saying at the time that it had two engineers on the job but giving no real timescale for its completion. However, the company did hint that advertising would play a significant role. “I think the advertising experience is going to be extremely engaging, CEO Kevin Systrom said. “Obviously, we didn’t start a business to not make money … Our focus now is on growing the network. You really need to build up the network, or no advertisers care.”

You can pre-register for first access to Instagram for Android here

Linux and Android, together at last - by aby benedict

The newest Linux kernel, version 3.3, includes code from Google's Android project. That should help both Android and other Linux-based projects.

Linux and Android are two closely linked open-source projects, but they've been as notable for how distant they are from each other--until yesterday.

That's when Linus Torvalds, leader of the Linux kernel project, released a version of the operating system core that bridges between the two worlds. Version 3.3 of the Linux kernel is the beginning of the end of isolation between these two projects.

Down under the covers, every Android phone is a Linux phone. Although programmers writing Android apps generally use a Java-like interface, a Google-customized version of Linux handles underlying details such as keyboard input, multitasking among different chores, and keeping needed data readily at hand in memory.

But Google's Android work has been a "fork"--a separate code base that's branched off from the main repository Torvalds oversees at the Kernel.org Web site.

The result of merging Google's Android Linux with Torvalds "mainline" version, if all goes well, should be easier programming and therefore faster progress for all parties involved. Google can benefit from new features added to mainline Linux sooner and with fewer hassles keeping its code in sync with the mainline kernel. And others using Linux in mobile devices can benefit from improvements that previously had to be retrieved from Google's separate fork.

Google lifts code liberally from many open-source projects, often contributing its own additions back as well as launching its own open-source works. But sometimes the company prefers to work more in isolation from a project's primary developers, which can lead to tensions given the generally collaborative, code-sharing ethos.

Another example where Google's Android team is linking up with its open-source brethren is with the WebKit browser engine. Google had worked on its stock Android browser as a separate fork of WebKit, but with the arrival of Chrome for Android, the mobile version of its browser is being integrated with the ordinary WebKit project.

Back into the fold with Linux 3.3
Torvalds announced the release of Linux 3.3last night on the Linux kernel mailing list. He made no specific note of the Android merge, but it's been under way for months. Tim Bird, a Sony programmer who works on the Linux Foundation's consumer-electronics project,announced the "Android mainlining project" in December.

"I would like to announce the beginning of a project to make a concerted effort to mainline patches and features from Android into the mainline Linux kernel," Bird said.

His words came shortly after Torvalds himself in November tried to ease tensions between the two camps. He said in an interview with Muktware's Swapnil Bhartiya:

Every time there is a fork, and I think actually forks are good things, it means somebody sees a need and a technical reason to do something different from the standard kernel. But most forks are failures. They find that the things they needed were not actually worth doing and as a result most forks die. Some forks are successful--Google with Android has really been very successful.

Now, we are talking about how to say, 'Hey you were right, we were wrong, you were successful doing something right.' We are talking about how to merge the good parts.

Greg Kroah-Hartman, a longtime kernel developer and new Linux Foundation fellow, said to expect Android kernel components in Linux 3.3 on Google+ at the same time. And in a February interview with Muktware, he said, "The 3.3 kernel release will let you boot an Android userspace with no modifications, but not very good power management. The 3.4 kernel release will hopefully have the power management hooks that Android needs in it, along with a few other minor missing infrastructure pieces that didn't make it into the 3.3 kernel release."

Boot to Android
"Boot an Android userspace" means that a developer could run Android on a standard Kernel.org kernel rather than having to fetch one Google's customized version.

That could be handy for many programmers--the large number using Linux in electronics devices with memory and processor power limits, for example. And Mozilla, with its B2G (Boot to Gecko) project for a Linux-based browser operating system, also stands to benefit from the integration. It's currently using the Android open-source project (AOSP) software.

At a February meeting of the Android mainlining project, programmers dug into the details of the merge.

One area where there has been tension is with a Google technology called WakeLock, which lets a programmer tell the kernel that a particular computing process should prevent the computer from going into a low-power sleep state.

Linux Weekly News documented the initial loathing of WakeLock, which Google developed in isolation. That displeasure doubtless meant more work for Google mending fences than if it had worked closely with mainline kernel developers at the outset.

But Google had its own priorities, and collaboration takes time. And apparently those fences weren't unmendable.

Fortinet sees future where computer virus and biological virus combine - by aby benedict

What we know today as a “computer virus” might eventually evolve into the point where it’s able to affect human biology. And no, we’re not talking about a forgettable 1999 Jamie Lee Curtis flick. In one of those cases where science fiction could turn into fiction, researchers legitimately see a future where someone who’s able to make a computer virus today is able to make a biological weapon tomorrow.

That’s if you believe the futuristic warnings of security company Fortinet. At a recent security conference, Black Hat Europe, the company’s senior manager of threat research Guillame Lovet discussed what we might be dealing with in the not too distance future. He said there has been research into distinguishing the differences – and similarities – between the way computers fight viruses and the way humans fight viruses. After all, it is no mistake that we use the same word for both cases.

“We came to wonder if there can be some kind of convergence between human viruses and computer viruses. It may sound like a scenario for a bad Hollywood movie, but it is not such a stupid question,” Lovet said. Fortinet actually penned a research paper on the subject, noting that you can boil down a biological disease into a series of formulas and coding. One researcher even compared a Denial of Service attach to HIV, since both aim to overload a system. Is it still just high-concept dialogue or is this an actual threat? At least someone is trying to solve that question.

Microsoft aiming for October 2012 release of Windows 8, tablets and PCs on deck - by aby benedict

We knew good and well that Microsoft was aiming for a 2012 launch of its latest and greatest operating system, and if sources reporting to Bloomberg are accurate, it looks like we'll have a date with Mrs. October. Purportedly, work will wrap on Win8 this summer, with PCs and tablets (!) to ship in October carrying the newfangled OS. We're told that the initial rollout will include devices running Intel and ARM processors, and not surprisingly, this positions Microsoft to make a serious play for holiday dollars. Still wondering if it's for you? Give the Consumer Preview a run, won'tcha?

Visualized: new iPad burns 10 degrees hotter than its predecessor - by aby benedict

We wouldn't exactly be going out on a limb by suggesting that the new iPad is Apple's hottest tablet to date -- even before Tim Cook confirmed as much earlier today. But while Apple has plenty of reason to brag about the device's sales figures, it's slightly less motivated to be forthcoming about its tendencies to create more heat. 10 degrees more, in fact, according to infrared camera confirmation obtained byTweakers.net. After five minutes of running GLBenchmark, the site used its infrared cam to confirm what many of you have already suggested: the new iPad runs a little hot. According to the site's measurements, Cupertino's flagship slab reached 33.6 degrees centigrade (92.5 Fahrenheit), compared to 28.3 centigrade (82.9 Fahrenheit) with the iPad 2. That's certainly not enough heat to cause a tablet to spontaneously combust, but if you happen to be one of those new iPad owners that noticed a difference, you can now rest assured that your internal thermometer hasn't missed a beat.

PSA: ICS customer guide now available for Samsung Galaxy S II owners - by aby benedict

Now that Ice Cream Sandwich has (finally) begun rolling out for the Galaxy S II, Samsung has decided to put together a little guidebook to help its European customers get started. It's actually more PowerPoint than book, but it's just as informative as you'd expect, offering a full rundown of everything GT-I900 users will need to know before making the jump. The folks over at Coolsmartphone were kind enough to put it all into a pocket-sized PDF, so check it out for yourself at the source link below.


ICS guide for customers

Cook: ‘We had a record [iPad] weekend, and we’re thrilled with it.’ - by aby benedict

During this morning’s conference call where Apple’s Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook and Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer announced a new dividend and share repurchase program, Cook was asked about first weekend sales for the new iPad. The new iPad officially launched in 10 countries on March 16 to the usual long lines outside Apple retail stores. The company also quickly sold out of initial online preorders leading up to the launch. While Cook did not share any exact numbers or confirm whether we would get a press release, he did note: “We had a record [iPad] weekend, and we’re thrilled with it.” We know the iPad 2 was estimated to have sold somewhere between 500,000 and 1 million units during its début, so the new iPad is definitely off to a good start. Apple confirmed 300,000 iPad 1 units were sold within 24 hours of launch, but it never released official iPad 2 numbers. That number also included initial preorder purchases. The original iPad eventually went on to sell 1 million units within 28 days. You can listen to audio of the conference call here.

The No. 1 app on iOS and Android is OMGPOP’s ‘Draw Something’ - by aby benedict

Pictionary-like drawing game “Draw Something,” developed by OMGPOP, has quickly become one of the hottest mobile apps for both of the industry’s leading platforms. A few days ago, the developer told TechCrunch it reached 25 million registered users, 10 million active daily users, and close to 1 billion paid ad impressions every day. That is just over 5 weeks after launching. With even more press following reports that Zynga is in talks to acquire developer OMGPOP, the app is continuing to climb app charts in both the App Store and on Google Play.

Currently the app sits at No. 1 in both stores as the No. 1 Top Paid and Top Free iPhone app in the App Store, and the No. 1 Top Free app on Google Play. The app is also currently the No. 1 Top Free iPad app in the game category and in the Top 5 of many other charts in over 80 countries. It looks like the company might get picked up by Zynga, which is not surprising, because a gain of 3.5 million daily users over the last week saw Draw Something take over Zynga’s “Words With Friends” as the most popular Facebook Connect game, according to AppData.

‘Strongest iPad launch yet’: Apple announces three million new iPad sales since March 16 launch - by aby benedict

Apple has announced that they have sold three million of the new iPad models. The new iPad went on sale on Friday, March 16 and includes the Retina Display, A5X chip, a new iSight camera, and 4G LTE capabilities. Three million marks a huge milestone as this new iPad only went on sale three days ago. For comparison, it took Apple a little bit over a month to pass the one million mark for the first-generation iPad.

The new iPad is a blockbuster with three million sold―the strongest iPad launch yet,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “Customers are loving the incredible new features of iPad, including the stunning Retina display, and we can’t wait to get it into the hands of even more customers around the world this Friday.

Apple has also reaffirmed that more countries will see launches of the new iPad this upcoming Friday, March 23. These sales will begin at 8AM local time in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macau, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

CUPERTINO, California―March 19, 2012―Apple® today announced it has sold three million of its incredible new iPad®, since its launch on Friday, March 16. The new iPad features a stunning new Retina™ display, Apple’s new A5X chip with quad-core graphics, a 5 megapixel iSight® camera with advanced optics for capturing amazing photos and 1080p HD video, and still delivers the same all-day 10 hour battery life* while remaining amazingly thin and light. iPad Wi-Fi + 4G supports ultrafast 4G LTE networks in the US and Canada, and fast networks around the world including those based on HSPA+ and DC-HSDPA.**

“The new iPad is a blockbuster with three million sold―the strongest iPad launch yet,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “Customers are loving the incredible new features of iPad, including the stunning Retina display, and we can’t wait to get it into the hands of even more customers around the world this Friday.”

The new iPad is already available in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Switzerland, UK and the US Virgin Islands and will be available in 24 more countries starting at 8:00 a.m. local time on Friday, March 23 through the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers, including Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macau, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

The new iPad Wi-Fi models are available in black or white for a suggested retail price of $499 (US) for the 16GB model, $599 (US) for the 32GB model, $699 (US) for the 64GB model. iPad Wi-Fi + 4G for either AT&T or Verizon is available for a suggested retail price of $629 (US) for the 16GB model, $729 (US) for the 32GB model and $829 (US) for the 64GB model. iPad is sold in the US through the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers. Additionally, the incredible iPad 2 is now offered at a more affordable price of $399 (US) for the 16GB Wi-Fi model and just $529 (US) for the 16GB Wi-Fi + 3G model.

Samsung Galaxy S II Android 4.0 ICS update set for March 10th - by aby benedict

The world’s most fabulous Android smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S II, is set for an upgrade to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich on March 10th. That’s just two days away for the international edition of this hero phone of Samsung’s, with the rest of the versions – namely the USA editions on each of the top four carriers in the country – still under wraps. Of course they should be getting and update sooner than later, but its now the carrier modifications that Samsung will have to work with to get this software bump added.

This update will come in the form of an over-the-air update which will be slowest if you’re upgrading just using your mobile data, a bit faster if you’re on Wi-fi, and even faster still if you simply grab the update with Kies. For those of you that’ve never used Kies, it’s the Samsung-made desktop interface you can use to interact with your Samsung device with great ease. This upgrade will bring everything that Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich has to offer including advanced multitasking and a modded Samsung TouchWiz user interface.

It’s not just straight up Vanilla you’ll be getting this this update, mind you, it’ll be a mix of what you’ve seen on the Galaxy Nexus and what you’ve already got on your Galaxy S II at the moment (supposing you’re still on stock software.) Samsung has prepared several different versions of their own TouchWiz user interface for action with this new upgrade to Android, and they’ll all be prepared depending on the carrier you’re on and which Galaxy S II model you own. The most basic build will be on the Galaxy S II international edition and will be out, again, on March 10th.

iOS 5.1 gets tethered jailbreak for non-A5 iPads, iPhones and iPods - by aby benedict

We've got good news for anyone intrigued by the new (largely incremental) features of Apple's latest mobile OS update. MuscleNerd, famed iOS meddler, has confirmed that iOS 5.1 can be jailbroken to the original iPad, iPhone 4 and 3rd and 4th generation iPod Touch devices. Unfortunately, it's still a tethered jailbreak which means you'll need to "just boot" the device using redsn0w whenever it powers down. However, we're sure those iOS hackers are already working on that minor niggle. Get the full instructions and those ever-important warnings over at Think iOS, which also links to the required iOS 5.1 files.

Apple confirms A5X with quad-core graphics in new iPad - by aby benedict

After unveiling the new iPad’s Retina Display, Apple execs are onstage right now confirming the the new iPad will indeed run a new dual-core A5X processor with quad-core graphics. Apple said the chip is “twice as fast” as Tegra 3 and provides “four times the performance”. We’ll update this post when we learn more on the specifics.

New iPad preorders start today, available March 16 in ten countries - by aby benedict

Apple has just announced preorders for the new iPad (still unnamed) will begin today with the device becoming available March 16. As for pricing, as expected, Apple will keep the entry level WiFi only model at $499, with pricing for the LTE models the same as the previous iPad 2′s WiFi+3G model starting at $629. A huge international rollout will take place on March 23. Check the slide below for the full list.

The new iPad has 10-hour battery life, is 0.6mm thicker and 0.07lbs heavier- by aby benedict

Apple just finished its iPad 3 presentation at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and now we have full tech specs, among which the new Retina Display is its defining feature. But what about the little things? Per pre-event rumors and whispers, the new iPad is a tad heavier and thicker than its predecessor.

The new iPad is 9.4mm thin and weighs in at 1.4lbs. As for the iPad 2, it is 8.8mm deep and weighs in at 1.33lbs (WiFi model). This makes the new one full 0.6mm thicker nad 0.07lbs heavier, but we somehow doubt anyone but the most eagle-eyed fans will notice the difference.

As for its battery, iPad 3 maintains the same ten-hour battery life as both the original iPad and iPad 2. Steve Jobs highlighted the fact at the iPad 2 unveiling, underscoring how iPad 2 features the same “legendary” battery performance as the original model. “We don’t want to give that up”, he said, adding that “this has been tried and tested by many reviewers”.

Apple launches gestures-heavy iPhoto for iPad, can tell you weather in images. Available today for $4.99 - by aby benedict

In what many might call a long overdue move, Apple has ported the iPhoto photo management application to iPad. The release of the software completes a trio of most important iLife apps that are now available on the iPad: iMovie, GarageBand and now iPhoto. The app supports images up to 19-megapixels and sports the familiar and popular features, including the auto-enhance tool, social sharing via Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, email and more.

The iPhoto app is aimed at people who “want to do more with your photos”. One thing immediately becomes clear: iPhoto for iPad is gestures-heavy, per an extensive live demo Apple’s chief architect for photo and video Randy Ubillos gave on stage.

You can use the new bezel gesture – a first for an Apple-made iPad app – to swipe from the left side of the screen in order to look at other images in the album. from there, just tap on an image to bring the editing interface up. When you want to bring in the thumbnail view, just swipe from the side again.

Another cool feature: Double-tapping a single image tells iPhoto to scan your entire library and compare all the images to find the ones that look similar. You can also beam photos between devices over-the-air, tap a specific area to adjust it, touch and drag to brighten or tweak saturation and more.

But when it comes down to heavy image editing, the iPhoto app doesn’t disappoint. For example, brush palettes include tools like such as red eye, saturation and lighten. Other notables include sharpen, soften, darken and a general repair tools, while the effects gallery includes black and white, vignette, tilt-shift and watercolor.

And really neat stuff here is…

Journals… Put simply, it is a page showing all the highlighted pictures. The layout, as we’ve come to expect from Apple, is very efficient, fun to use and just gorgeous. Photos with captions or favorites are slotted into larger spots while others are smaller. In case you want to quickly edit a photos, just drag them around or change their displayed size. This view also allows you to add notes and texts, there’s a calendar to show when your photos were taken. Geotags are supported as well and there’s even a weather icon that can tell you the weather in the image.

The new iPhoto app costs $4.99 a pop and will be available later today from the App Store. Apple also updated the iMovie for iOS app with slight refinements, including storyboards and new editing chops.

New iPad Third-Gen Announced – Price, Features, Availability – Everything You Need to Know - by aby benedict

The day has finally come. Apple has finally pulled the curtain on what they are calling as the “new iPad”, and we finally know for certain what the device has in store. Some of the more sensible rumors about the iPad 2′s successor – most of which were outlined in an earlier post – have come to fruition, and we have a roundup of everything new in the third-gen iPad as announced at this morning’s San Francisco press event right here.

Price and Features
Price
As many have anticipated, the storage tiers – and their respective cost – remains the same as the previous-generation iPad, even factoring in the new 4G LTE support; basically, there are WiFi models, and there are WiFi + 4G + 3G models. Coming in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB flavors, the new ipad starts at $499 at the base model and goes up to $829 for the 64GB WiFi + 4G + 3G model.
4G LTE
As rumored, the new iPad now has support for 4G LTE. 4G-enabled devices will be available through both AT&T and Verizon in the US. Advantage of LTE? Blazing fast download and upload speeds, therefore you can rest assured that your webpages, tweets, emails etc. will fly off in a snap! It supports HSPA+ for up to 21Mbps, and dual-carrier HSDPA for up to 42Mbps. LTE for max up to 72Mbps.
Form Factor
Third-gen iPad “remains amazingly thin at 9.4mm and light at 1.5 pounds”. The design remains unchanged, and looks exactly like its predecessor which is the iPad 2. Battery life also remains same at 10 hours, and 4G is at 9 hours.
Retina Display

Retina Display – a feature that, to some criticism, was not implemented in the ipad 2 – has made its way into the new iPad. While the screen is still 9.7 inches in size, it certainly packs more pixels than that of its predecessors with a notorious screen resolution of 2048×1536. As everything on the screen will be far more crisp, things such as browsing the web and reading an iBook will be far more pleasant. This will also appease those of us who were spoiled by the Retina Display on the iPhone 4 and 4S; it will be nice to no longer notice the pixels starting at me. We’re guessing that the Retina Display will be an instant hit in high defers who crave for 1080p movies on a tablet.

A5X: Dual-Core CPU, Quad-Core GPU

We’re also seeing improvements being made to the device on the hardware front. As rumors suggested, the device is packed with a new A5X processor. This new CPU will provide greatly-improved performance over the already-phenomenal A5 chip. The iPad third-gen also offers 4 times the graphical performance of the iPad 2, thanks to the new Quad-Core GPU, while still maintaining the same battery life that the iPad is known for. On top of these improvements, the new iPad also likely sports 1GB of RAM, which is double the amount currently inside the iPad 2.

Improved Optics

One flaw with the iPad 2 has been its sub-par camera. The new third-gen iPad now sports a 5MP rear-facing camera, allowing it to take far better pictures than its predecessor, and it also supports 1080p video recording, while the front-facing cam is likely same as the iPad 2. The iPad 2′s lack of a proper camera is something that I didn’t mind as I never use my iPad for photography purposes – holding one up to take a photo in public has been the source of quite a few funny pictures on the Internet – but improvements are welcome nevertheless. The front-facing camera improvement is surely great for users who frequently use Face Time on their device.
iOS 5.1
An incremental update to iOS, iOS 5.1 will be bringing Siri dictation to the third-gen iPad, among various other improvements. There have been quite a lot of people that have wanted Siri on the iPad, but at the moment, it look like they will have to settle with dictation feature only.
Availability
Pre-Ordering
If you’re itching to get your hands on the new iPad, you better act fast; it’s sure to be extremely difficult to purchase physically, so your best bet is to pre-order. You’ll still have to act fast though; pre-orders are available starting today. If you don’t put in your order early, it’s likely that you’ll have to wait longer for your ipad to ship. However, if you plan to pick your iPad from a physical Apple Store, then the official date given by Apple is March 16th, be sure to be early otherwise you’ll be facing an ultra long wait in line.

Hello Google Play, RIP Android Market - by aby benedict

Today Google has rebranded its massive set of markets into one: Google Play, “Pure Entertainment, Anywhere You want it to be.” This new market is taking the place of the Android Market, the Music store, Books, and Video stores as well. Google has taken this evolution of their market structure and put it at the forefront of not only their digital sales for each of these different medias, but for their cloud storage services as well. What you’ve got here is not just a store, but a place you can access your purchases at any time from whatever device you’ve got that can hook in.

We’ve got Google Play Books, Google Play Movies, Google Play Music, and more. This store is set to work on both the mobile platform and in-browser for all devices able to run a web browser. This new market will be sent out to Android devices running Android 2.2 FroYo over the next few days and will be replacing the Android Market name in the Google sandbar soon as well. The biggest difference for most people here seems to be the logo and the name, with the actual store and stores looking and feeling essentially the same.

You’ll be syncing like a madman with your music, your videos, and books, your ability to stop working with one of these bits of media in one place and start again on a different device now yours to wield. Your Apps will of course work the same way they have before, with you able to purchase them online and sent them automatically to the devices of your choice.

With Google Play you can:
• Store up to 20,000 songs for free and buy millions of new tracks
• Download more than 450,000 Android apps and games
• Browse the world’s largest selection of eBooks
• Rent thousands of your favorite movies, including new releases and HD titles

Beyond the cloud capabilities of this re-imagined portal then, The only thing that’s really changed therefor, truly, is the branding scheme. The lovely new Google Play logo with the multicolored arrow akin to a Play symbol is up, the store is rolling out now, and Google is once again getting stronger with a simplification of terms. Tighten it up, Google!

iPad 3/HD To Hit Shelves On March 16 [REPORT] - by aby benedict

We are nearly at that point where all of the speculation over the last few months will eventually come to an end and we will eventually see just what the guys from Apple have in store for the public with the eagerly anticipated next-generation ipad. The actual announcement of the product will finally bring an end to the wild rumors that we have seen cropping up on an almost daily basis, meaning the sources who have predicted an array of features will either sink or swim by the predictions.

It wouldn’t be a normal day before the announcement if we didn’t top it off with a yet more speculative chatter that is emanating from previously reliable sources. Our friends over at 9to5Mac are citing a source who is involved with apple retail Stores, claiming that the new ipad will see the official public launch on Friday, 16th March, which is nine days after the San Francisco based announcement. This doesn’t go down as earth shattering news, considering the launch generally is on a Friday, but it also coincides with the a couple of high-profile Apple Retail Stores opening in Houston, Texas and a new store popping up in the plush Harrod’s store in London.

he source has also stated that the Apple Retail Outlets are preparing for a big store based event which will come to an end of the purported launch date. The same report is informing us that during March of last year, Apple opened up a temporary store in Austin, Texas which had stock of the ipad2 and related accessories. It would seem that this is not a trend which is set to continue, and although the SXSW event is being held in March, it is happening during the 9-13 of this month.

So, with Apple all set to take over the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco tomorrow, and looking likely to hand the latest iPad over to the public just nine days later, what is it that you are most looking forward to from the device? We have been seeing increased speculation in the last few days which points to the inclusion of 4G-LTE connectivity in the device, something which has been built upon today with Verizon applying a small teaser to their official website saying that "Something Is Coming" and inviting users to register for updates. We have also seen reports that Apple could introduce the world to the iPad HD tomorrow, and not the iPad 3 as many believed would be the case.

Regardless of what Apple pull from their sleeves, we are sure to be in for a treat.

Official Android 4.0 ICS Update For Galaxy S II Coming March 15 - by aby benedict

With Android 4.0 being publicly available since November 2011, users might be forgiven for wondering why their device can’t benefit from the features that Ice Cream Sandwich brings. After all, when Apple releases an update to iOS, users can generally grab the latest version immediately as long as the hardware supports the update. Users of several premium handsets, such as the Samsung Galaxy S II have been waiting for a number of weeks for Samsung to finally announce when they will be allowing users to update to Android 4.0 ICS.

The official Facebook page of Samsung Israel seems to be giving users the long awaited good news that Ice Cream Sandwich is at last coming to their Galaxy S II devices. The guys over atAndroidCentral have provided a rough translation of the post from Samsung Israel:

We promised we were working on it. You waited patiently. And on 15 March it’ll arrive: Android version 4, ICS, to tens of thousands of GALAXY S II devices purchased from cellular companies in the country or directly from us. We are very excited for the launch, hope you are too 

The news coming from Samsung Israel is obviously promising and should be taken in a positive light. But the fact remains that it is well overdue and only specifically applies to Galaxy S II handsets which were purchased in Israel, with no word about owners in other worldwide markets set to receive the update. The update process has to start somewhere however, and the fact that samsung have officially announced that it will begin in ten days time in Israel is definitely a positive move.

Owners who are located in the United States, and other territories may find themselves having to wait a little bit longer due to fact that the hardware varies from carrier to carrier, but we will stay alleagle eyes for further announcements coming out of Samsung’s official channels. Certain tech reporters are also suggesting that Samsung actually had the Ice Cream Sandwich update ready since the middle of February, but has been unable to push it out until they get the green light from Google to do so. If this is the case, it certainly doesn’t represent a positive experience for users of these devices.

iOS iPad 2 Vs Windows 8 Tablet (Video) - by aby benedict

Windows 8 is coming soon. Microsoft knows too well the iPad should be given much of the credit for the shooting up in Apple’s Market share. The previously released Microsoft tablets did not come as a success in the market. So with the release of Windows 8, which is just designed around tablets, we found it interesting to compare it with iPad 2 which of course runs with iOS 5.

iPad 2 Vs Windows 8 Video:

Windows 8:

Windows 8 however appears to have quite a number of gestures such as pinching on the home screen where all the tiles are to give you an overview of your apps, swiping up to get your app menu which is different for each app, swiping down from the top to close an app and many more. This might seem to be too many gestures and many would find it quite confusing at first. However, it might turn out to be quite handy once you get used to it! With Windows 8, you can do many tasks at once easier than ever before with its new type of multitasking with side-by-side apps!

Moreover, Windows 8 having live tiles on the home screen enables you to easily launch apps that are pre-loaded with the device and downloaded from the Windows Marketplace. As clear in the video, there appears to be minimal lag while using the device and the browser loads almost immediately! However, we have to mention that you will find a few things missing like for instance the ability to save images.

Do you think that Microsoft has got it right this time? Will Microsoft’s new tablet operating system pass the Apple iPad in the market share? Tell us what you think in the comments section.