Just as the iPad came out some were complaining that the iPad does not have support for multiple users. You configure an iPad for one person and just one person.  In fact most applications you can use to really take advantage of the mobility of the device will require personal information.  Some examples of applications that you need to connect to a service in order to really take advantage of all functionalities are: Evernote, InstaPaper and all Twitter clients (obviously). I don’t expect that Apple will make any changes to iOS in this regard, however. After using an iPad for a few days I came...

Yesterday Apple started accepting application submitted for running on iOS 4, the operating system of its upcoming iPhone 4.  This same operating system should find its way onto iPads in the second half of 2010. Among the new features of iOS 4 is he ability to run several third party applications at the same time and to organize your applications into folders.   Another improvement that will extend to the iPad when the new OS becomes available are a central Inbox view for multiple email accounts. The new iPhone will be available in stores later this month but no date has been set for the availability...

Microsoft’s board of directors should fire Steve Ballmer, the company’s CEO.  Anyone with a bit of touch with reality and that has been following what is happening in the tech world over the past couple of years cannot think differently after watching Balmer’s interview with Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher at the D8 conference. When discussing tablet computers and specifically the iPad, Ballmer dismissed the explosive sales of the iPad mentioning that eventually there would be a number of devices “…that are light and don’t have a keyboard and will run Windows”....

In the last couple of months several rumors of government interest in Apples activities have surfaced, gone away and resurfaced.  The latest rumor is that either the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) or the Department of Justice would carrying out an investigation into the terms of the development agreement for Apple’s iOS which restrict the sending of user and device information to companies that produce or are controlled by one that produces mobile devices or operating systems. As AdMob was recently acquired by Google, it would fall into that restriction.  Currently AdMob is the largest player...

If you like science-fiction or fantasy books and haven’t checked out the Baen Free Library, do so right now.  For a long time Baen has been making many of their books available for free download.  These are the same books you would otherwise purchase in paper or ebook form and they are available in multiple formats, including ePub which makes them ideally suited for reading on the iPad in any of various reader applications. I’ve been using Stanza on the iPod Touch to read ebooks for quite some time and now that Stanza for iPad is out I just loaded it up with several titles I purchased...

A security breach on AT&T’s website has exposed private emails of about 114,000 iPad 3G owners as well as their ICC-IDs (the IDs of their SIM cards).  This breach was accomplished by exploiting a vulnerability to specially formatted HTTP request which has since been fixed. A hacker group was able to automate the query for information process by creating a script to issue these special HTTP requests and thus obtain the email information for a long list of individuals which would seem to include many highly placed executives, politicians and celebrities which were early iPad 3G...

During his opening keynote at WWDC 2010, Steve Jobs briefly showed the Pulse news reader as one of the applications available for the iPad, on the App Store.  On the same day the application was taken down from the App Store due to a complaint from the Times Company, owner of the New York Times (NYT). Originally I found out about this through Mike Cane’s irate rumblings in his iPadTest blog.  While he is always quite colorful in his writing, he has the great virtue of being direct and to the point.  This was stupid. I started to write this post much earlier when I first learned that the New...

During his keynote at WWDC10 this Monday Steve Jobs mentioned that Apple was going to sell 10′s of millions of FaceTime enabled devices.  Notice that he did not say phones, but devices.  As I don’t think that Apple is going to release a new model of iPad this year, that could only mean new iPod Touch models, equipped with cameras. It would be too soon to replace the first generation iPad, as Apple is barely keeping up with demand.  Adding a cameras and making the iPod more of a communications device Apple will be able to better differentiate the iPad and the iPod Touch (which is being...

During his keynote presentation earlier today Steve Jobs announced a name change for iPhone OS.  The new version is now going to be called iOS 4. When you think about it, it makes a lot of sense as with the iPad and iPod Touch both running the operating system there are actually more types of running it that are not phones than that are. The are some interesting new features in the new version of the operating system but it is too early to tell which of them will be available on the iPad and in which form, due to the hardware difference between the current iPad and the iPhone 4.  The new iPhone has...

The Global Mundo Tapas restaurant in Sydney has replaced all its printed menus with iPads. The application that runs on the iPads is tied directly into the restaurant’s stock control so if something runs out, it just disappears from the menu. The menu is very interactive displaying pictures of selected dishes and providing wine recommendations that go well with the user’s selection.  If you are ordering steak, it provides you with the option of choosing how you would like it done and which sauce you would like to have with it. The orders are sent directly to the kitchen through the...

As every year, right before Apple’s WWDC conference the rumor mill is working overtime.  There are rumors about updates to the Mac Mini, to the Mac Pro and even Apple’s Cinema displays that everyone and his dog has been predicting will get a 27-inch model to match the panels used in the iMacs. Instead of joining in the attempts at predicting what Apple will do, I’ll take this opportunity to describe what I would like to see it release. There area a lot of different uses for a Mac mini and one of them is to used in conjunction with a large TV for watching movies from iTunes, of slide...

Rumors have been floating around all they that AT&T is considering extending the availability of its current unlimited data plan for the iPad, which is being cancelled and replaced by a new plan limited to 2 GB of traffic.   The plan that is being retired was offered for $29.95 while the new plan will be offered at $25,95.  For this difference of $4 you are taken from unlimited data traffic to a mere 2 GB. Its no wonder the unlimited plan is being cancelled.  I seriously doubt that many people would choose to have the limit with such a small difference in cost. AT&T made a huge mistake in...

Wired Magazine made its debut on the iPad recently and seems to have done well for itself.  With 24,000 units sold and downloaded in the first 24 hours, things are looking good for Wired.  But, are they really? There is another number about the magazine that is quite troubling: 527.  The first issue of Wired for the iPad has a wopping 527 MBs of size.   So what?  Well, that is a lot of megabytes for a single magazine issue, specially when you consider it relative to the storage space of a base model iPad: 16 GB. If all magazines were to have similar size a base model iPad would only be able to...

In his recent interview at the D8 conference, Steve Jobs explained that they started out working on the iPad and then decided to put that on hold and apply the technology to creating a phone.  While the phone was probably a more difficult endeavor, as the battery needs to be much smaller, but still be able to power a reasonably large display for many hours, it was certainly a good decision. Mobile phones are a constant in almost everyone’s life in this day and age.  This allowed Apple to bring the iPhone, which is an incredible device, to the attention of a huge number of potential customers as...

It seems that it didn’t take long after the iPad 3G was released for them to realize that they were wrong, and that the iPad would not really be used in Wi-Fi mode most of the time.   Let’s be serious… Who in their right mind would commit to purchasing a much 25% more for a device that can be online all the time, without really planning to use them so. People must certainly be using their iPads to get online through the 3G network, as that is why they bought a 3G model.   The fact is that AT&T will be discontinuing the unlimited plan which now costs $29.99/month and replacing...