Apple May Reintroduce Discontinued iPad 4 Alongside 8 GB iPhone 5c Tomorrow [iOS Blog]
Apple may have plans to reintroduce the discontinued fourth-generation iPad alongside the 8 GB iPhone 5c tomorrow, giving customers a lower-cost iPad option with better specs than the existing iPad 2.
A source that spoke with 9to5Mac has indicated that shipments of the fourth-generation iPad with Retina display are arriving at Apple retail locations, with notices that they’re to be opened tomorrow.
Reliable KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo initially predicted the shift from the iPad 2 to the iPad 4 back in February, suggesting Apple would wind down iPad 2 production during the first quarter of 2014, replacing it instead with the more powerful iPad 4.
Apple originally ceased selling the fourth-generation iPad when the thinner, lighter iPad Air was introduced in October of 2013 and continued to offer the 2011 iPad 2 as its lower-cost tablet option instead. Priced at $399, the iPad 2 is currently offered for $100 less than the $499 iPad Air.
Apple has presumably opted to keep the iPad 2 in its lineup because of its position as the last Apple tablet using a 30-pin adapter, but with its A5 processor and 512 MB of memory, it is significantly less powerful than the iPad 4, which includes Apple’s A6X chip with 1 GB of memory.
With the iPad 2 being replaced by the fourth-generation iPad, Apple’s tablet lineup will be all Lightning for the first time. It’s also possible Apple’s current low-cost iPhone option, the iPhone 4s, will be discontinued at the same time in favor of the 8 GB iPhone 5c, marking the end of the 30-pin adapter in all non-iPod mobile products. Apple’s iPod Classic will be the sole device using the adapter if the iPhone 4s and the iPad 2 are replaced with updated options.
Pricing for the 8 GB iPhone 5c and the reintroduced fourth-generation iPad have not yet been revealed, but it is likely Apple will make an announcement on the new products tomorrow.
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Play Movies & TV Update Adds 37 New Countries and Offline SD Content
Google’s Play Movies & TV app has updated today. The update brings a few nice little details for those of us that already had access to the movie and tv collection. Here is what is new for current users.
- Get your content offline faster – now HD movies and shows may be downloaded in HD or SD.
- Improved video streaming performance for select KitKat devices.
- Additional app improvements and bugfixes.
Bug fixes and improvements are good to see, especially for select KitKat devices. They don’t mention which ones though. The addition of getting your content offline in SD (Standard) format is new. Previously you could only download HD content for offline viewing. We all love HD content, but when you are pulling a huge movie to your device you are going to tun into storage issues in a hurry.
The big win with the update though is the addition of 37 new countries who now have access to the service.
Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Finland, Gabon, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Ivory Coast, Luxembourg, Mali, Mauritius, Namibia, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Niger, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Rwanda, Senegal, Sweden, Togo, Uruguay, Venezuela and Zambia.
That really opens things up for Google and for consumers. However, there is still a catch. You all have access to the movie side of things, but TV availability is still only available the U.S., United kingdom, Japan and Australia.
If you happen to live in one of the aforementioned countries, be sure to head to the Play Store and grab the app. Alternatively you can head to Gappsearly and grab the APK and load it yourself.
via 9to5Google
Chromedrop brings challenging, yet beautiful casual gaming experience
One of the things that Google has really focused on with Android is trying to inspire developers with its Holo design guidelines. One of the most recent games to Google Play that sticks to those guidelines is Chromedrop.
Chromedrop combines elements from trading card and casual games, while taking gamers to a world of primary colors.
In the game, gamers must tap the dots on the screen when the outside dot is the same size as the inside, shaded dot then they gain “a drop” of that color. These drops can be “sacrificed” for a special drop that can either lower your opponents health or increase your speed or health.
With such a simplistic concept, it packs a difficulty near Flappy Bird, with a “Googlely” design that Matias Duarte would be proud of.
Chromedrop features over fifty specials drops, including the elements, the sun, the moon, swords, birds and many more that can be used in the game. Specials can also be unlocked by completing tasks in the game.
The game is free and the developer notes that it can be played all the way through without paying for anything, but there are in-app purchases if you want to buy more special drops to use against your opponents.
What makes Chromedrop the most challenging is that you not only need to be quick to tap the dot at the correct time, but also have to watch you health. I may not have been that great at this game, but it’s a fun experience and being this developer’s first game, it’s very impressive, so it will be interesting to see what they come up with next.
If you’re ready to move on from Flappy Bird and need a simplistic game with great design, reminiscent of the game ‘Dots,’ be sure to check this out.
The post Chromedrop brings challenging, yet beautiful casual gaming experience appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Google Hangouts service restored after earlier problems
Google has issued an update stating that the reason many were experiencing issues with Google Hangouts is that the service was experiencing a service disruption.
In a rare event, Google published a status update on their service dashboard at 4:22PM GMT stating there were initial issues with the service, which then followed with an update at 5:15PM GMT advising that Google were investigating.
As of 6:15PM GMT, Google issued an update stating the service had restored for many users, and by 7:28PM GMT, Google Hangouts was back up for everyone.
he problem with Google+ Hangouts should be resolved. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience and continued support. Please rest assured that system reliability is a top priority at Google, and we are making continuous improvements to make our systems better.
Unfortunately it doesn’t seem to explain what the outage was caused by, or what Google have done to prevent a future occurrence, but if you were experiencing issues with Google Hangouts today around the above mentioned times, then you know why.
Drop us a comment if you were affected.
The post Google Hangouts service restored after earlier problems appeared first on AndroidGuys.
ADD52 gives Samsung another reason to ask Galaxy owners if they “Got Milk”
On the heels of launching Milk Music, Samsung has just announced a partnership with Russell Simmons and Steve Rifkind, co-founders of All Def Digital (ADD) and All Def Music, along with Narrative_today, and the world’s leading music entertainment company, Universal Music Group (UMG) to launch the new ADD52 service that will be a platform for emerging artist. .
Singers around the world can take their shot at stardom simply by posting their tracks to ADD52.com. The only requirements are that the musicians have an original song and a dream for a record deal. Several tools are made available online to help the emerging artists promote on the site and across various social media.
“For artists, it’s the place to be discovered. For music lovers, it’s the place to discover,” — Russell Simmons
Using Samsung’s new radio streaming service as the core platform, the curated ADD52 station will be exclusively on Milk. Selected artists will get more than just exposure and airtime on ADD52; production budgets will be extended to a select few in order to create their own music videos and remixes. Other perks include access to world-class studios, mentorship from industry legends, and the ADD52 TV show hosted by DJ Skee. The new ADD52 service gives Samsung another reason to ask all of it’s users if they “Got Milk”.
Milk Music is a free and ad-free streaming radio service launched by Samsung launched for select Galaxy smartphones (currently U.S. only) and is available in the Google Play Store.
Source: BusinessWire
The post ADD52 gives Samsung another reason to ask Galaxy owners if they “Got Milk” appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Send notes to OneNote with your Livescribe 3 smartpen
Shortly after the news that OneNote will be free starting today, Livescribe has announced a collaboration which will see its newest smartpen integrate with Microsoft’s service. Using the Livescribe+ application, Livescribe 3 owners can now easily send notes, drawings and other stuff to OneNote. Better yet, once your scribbles and doodles show up in OneNote, they can also be synced across multiple devices by way of OneDrive (formerly known as SkyDrive) — Livescribe states this is all part of its strategy to “make smartpens a ubiquitous and valuable tool.” You’ll need to have your pen running the latest software, version 1.1.0, for this to work — and in case you need any assistance with that, take a look at Livescribe’s help page here.
Filed under: Misc, Internet, Microsoft
Source: Livescribe
Microsoft Office for iPad to Launch on March 27
Microsoft will launch its Office suite on the iPad at a media event on March 27 according to a report from The Verge. The suite — including Word, Excel and PowerPoint — has been in the works for years, with recent reports saying the lack of Office on the iPad was costing Microsoft as much as $2.5 billion per year.
The company released a version of Office on the iPhone last year, part of its Office 365 subscription service, and The Verge says the iPad version will also require a 365 subscription.
Microsoft has been working on the software for a number of months now, having first introduced an iOS version of Office for the iPhone in June last year. We understand the iPad variant of Office will be similar to the iPhone version, and will require an Office 365 subscription for editing. We’re told that document creation and editing is fully supported for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps. Overall, the interface and features are expected to be similar to the existing iPhone version.
The site says new Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella will expand on his “mobile first, cloud first” strategy, something demonstrated by the free launch of the Mac version of OneNote earlier today.
Microsoft is also said to have an update for Office for Mac coming in the Spring of 2014.
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