Apple to Launch 12.9-Inch iPad in Early 2015
Apple is planning to launch its much-rumored 12.9-inch iPad in early 2015, reports Bloomberg. Hints of the tablet, which has been dubbed the “iPad Pro” in rumors, first appeared in mid-2013, with a prospective 2014 launch date. Recent rumors, however, suggested plans for the tablet had been put on hold.
Mockup of a 12.9-inch iPad next to a 13-inch MacBook Air
The new iPad will have a screen measuring 12.9 inches diagonally, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the details aren’t public. Apple currently produces iPads with 9.7-inch and 7.9-inch displays. The Cupertino, California-based company has been working with suppliers for at least a year to develop a new range of larger touch-screen devices, said the people.
According to rumors, the larger 12.9-inch iPad will include a high pixel density with a display that nears ultra high-definition quality. It will likely adopt many of the design elements offered in the current iPad Air and iPad mini, like an ultrathin chassis and narrow side bezels.
Bloomberg suggests that the larger tablet is an effort to “shake up the iPad line” as sales of the iPad have been on the decline for the past two quarters. The larger tablets may appeal heavily to businesses, a market that Apple is also aiming for with its recent IBM partnership.
Along with a larger “iPad Pro” Apple is also working on a second-generation iPad Air and Retina iPad mini, both of which are expected to include upgraded processors and support for the Touch ID fingerprint sensor.
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Apple CEO Tim Cook: Drop in iPad Sales Just a ‘Speed Bump’
Just before news of Apple’s upcoming 12.9-inch iPad Pro was reported by Bloomberg, Re/Code‘s Walt Mossberg shared a snippet of an interview with Apple CEO Tim Cook commenting on the recent state of the tablet market, which has been on the decline. According to Cook, the dip in iPad sales over the past two quarters is just a “speed bump” for Apple.
In a brief interview about tablets I had this week with Apple CEO Tim Cook, he said, “We couldn’t be happier with how we’ve done with the first four years of the iPad,” and added that, “I’d call what’s going on recently a speed bump, and I’ve seen that in every category.”
The sentiment echoes comments that Cook made during the company’s third quarter earnings call, where Apple announced iPad sales of just 13.3 million, down from 14.6 million in the year-ago quarter. The drop followed a Q2 sales dip that saw sales of 16.35 million iPads, down from 19.5 in Q2 2013.
During the call, Cook pointed to overall sales of more than 225 million iPads over the course of the last four years and suggested the tablet market itself was still “in its infancy.” The CEO said that “significant innovation can be brought to the iPad,” and pointed towards plans to bring improvements to Apple’s tablet lineup.
Part of those plans includes the introduction of a larger 12.9-inch iPad Pro, which will launch in early 2015. Rumors have suggested the larger tablet will include an ultra high-definition display and that it will be marketed towards Apple’s enterprise customers.
12.9-inch iPad mockup (left) with fourth-generation iPad (right) and iPad mini (bottom)
While Apple has seen a serious drop in iPad sales over the past two quarters, the company continues to be the world’s leading tablet vendor, holding 26.9 percent of the total tablet market. The company’s iPad Air and iPad mini have hit 98% and 100% customer satisfaction rankings, respectively, and the iPad holds an 85 percent share of the U.S education market.
Apple is not the only company experiencing a drop in tablet sales, as noted by Mossberg. Microsoft and Samsung have also seen slumping sales, possibly due to the fact that people see less of a need to upgrade their tablets on a regular basis, as suggested by Samsung, or the tablet’s position as a want rather than a need.
In addition to kickstarting iPad sales with the introduction of a larger iPad, Apple may see a jump in iPad sales during the last few months of the year, as the company is said to be introducing both a new iPad Air and a new Retina iPad mini with improved processors and a Touch ID fingerprint sensor. Touch ID proved to be a major draw for the iPhone, and its inclusion in the iPad may entice both new buyers and upgraders.
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Interactive map shows you where internet censorship is strongest
If you’re reading this, you probably enjoy open internet access as a matter of course. However, other countries aren’t quite so liberal. How do you know where you’re truly free? IVPN’s new interactive censorship map might just answer that question for you. The site lets you click on a given country to quickly learn about its tendencies to block free speech online, attack critics and shred anonymity. Not surprisingly, very authoritarian governments like China, Cuba and Iran don’t score well — they tend to insist on real names when you post, and will throw you in prison for challenging the internet status quo. Many other countries, like Russia and Venezuela, walk an awkward line between freedom and trying to crush dissent.
The map is far from perfect. There are quite a few gaps, although that’s partly dictated by countries that can’t or won’t offer data (North Korea isn’t exactly the sharing type). Also, you may scoff at the nations deemed truly free — the info comes from 2012, before we knew about Australia’s proposed anti-leak measures, American surveillance revelations or the UK’s hit-and-miss porn filter. Still, the guide should make it at least a little bit easier to understand where it’s safe to speak your mind.
Filed under: Internet
Via: BGR
Source: IVPN
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Google News and Weather joins the modern age with Now-like cards
The stock Android faithful have been peering at the same UI inside its News and Weather app for quite some time, but today there’s a welcome update. Folks carrying the unskinned version of Google’s OS are now privy to Now’s card-based organization for recent headlines with the weather forecast for the current location situated up top. You can toggle that meteorology widget off and on, or set it to stay with a locale of your choosing or track conditions in multiple places. Swipe through sections with ease, and as you might expect, those handy home screen widgets got a refresh of their own to match. The update seems to be rolling out to compatible devices now, so if you can’t snag it yet, sit tight ’cause it’s on the way.
Via: Android Central
Source: Google Play
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NPR One and WatchABC toss in Chromecast streaming Support
The $35 media stick from Google, the Chromecast, keeps gaining more and more supported apps. In the beginning it was pretty easy to keep up with them all. After Google released the API and SDK to the developer world, the number of apps that take advantage of the media has grown steadily. Today a couple new higher profile apps have received updates that add in support for casting to your bigscreen.
First up is the addition of WatchABC. This app lets you watch live and on demand ABC broadcast shows. However, the live streaming is limited to specific locations and specific TV providers. If that isn’t annoying enough, the update that brought in Chromecast support is a gaining terrible reviews of it being extremely laggy. I installed it just to see and it was pretty bad. Hopefully they don’t take months to update it and solve the issues.
Next up is NPR One. This app is fairly new audio app that connects you to a variety of local and national public radio news and stories curated for you. The NPR One app isn’t just loaded full of news either, there is access to some pretty funny radio shows too like Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me.
Both apps are free to install and enjoy, for the most part. WatchABC is
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T-Mobile continues the Uncarrier push with new 10 line Family Plan ews
Yesterday T-Mobile announced that they were offering 2GB of 4G LTE data for the Simple Starter customers for just $5 more a month starting September 3rd. Today T-mobile has made another announcement, this time centered around their Family Plan offerings.
Starting tomorrow, August 27th, adding a line to your Simple Choice plans gets even better. At least for those larger and extended families out there. As of tomorrow T-mobile is expanding its line limit from the current 5 to 10 per account. I remember when I worked at T-Mobile many years ago I used to get plenty of calls where a family had to have two accounts to accommodate the number of devices in the home. This move is certain to please those people out of convenience, management of the accounts and of course the price. Price being the most important really. Each line after the first 2 still remains at just $10 per line all the way up to 10 lines. That doesn’t mean 12 lines, it’s the first 2 and then 8 additional. There is more though.
“I’ve always maintained that shared data plans are a source of customer pain. And, it’s becoming clear now that they are,” said John Legere, president and CEO of T-Mobile. “The old carriers’ shared data plans are just another ploy to push customers over their data limits and suck money out of their pockets with overage charges they can’t see coming.”
Every line will have its own dedicated 4G LTE high-speed data allotment. By default every line gets 1GB out the gate no matter what. Any of the lines can add unlimited data for $30 a month. The press release doesn’t mention any other options that they offer now, like 3GB for $10 more ect.
There is a promotion running right now that takes that 1GB to 2.5GBs per line for no additional charge through 2015 if you buy 4 or more lines. I certainly hope that promotion keeps running after tomorrow.
Source: T-Mobile
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T-Mobile will ‘Double your data’ when you add a tablet starting September 3rd
Oh look, more outstanding news from T-Mobile. Just a bit ago we told you about the new Family Plan offerings that let you put up to 10 lines on one account for just $10 per line. They also made sure to point out that they are keeping the data as a per-line basis rather than silly share buckets. Another announcement was pushed out today that expands on that news slightly.
Starting September 3rd if you add a tablet to any Simple Choice plan for just $10 a month. Currently if you add a tablet you get 200MBs of free data for the life of your tablet. That alone is a pretty sweet deal, but we are data hungry monsters who need MOAR! So T-Mobile is delivering it. When you add a tablet to your plan they will match your phones data plan up to 5GBs just for your tablet. Yes, that is also on top of the free 200MBs, although the 200MBs is really kind of mute at that point.
“The old school carriers make you pay for the privilege of connecting your tablet to their network−just to tap into the same limited pool of data you already bought for your smartphone,” said John Legere, president and CEO of T-Mobile. “With the Un-carrier, you can now get double the data on a network designed for data for one simple price. It couldn’t be simpler or more straightforward.”
The comparison chart makes short work of the competition in terms of data access. I’m all for paying less for more, but I am also all for paying the same for more. The press release doesn’t mention anything about the unlimited package though, I imagine that you can only max your tablet at 5GBs, but I could be wrong. Looks like I just might have to head to T-Mobile on the 3rd and do a little plan revamping. Maybe even pick up a new 4G LTE tablet while I am at it.
Source: T-Mobile
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T-Mobile offers more data to tablet users and the budget crowd
T-Mobile isn’t about to stop tweaking its phone plans any time soon; in fact, it just overhauled three of them with data in mind. To start, you’ll get twice as much full-speed data on your phone plan if you add a tablet to the mix from September 3rd onward; if you currently get 3GB, for example, adding the $10 monthly tablet access fee will give you 6.2GB (including the 200MB of free tablet data) to play with. It’s potentially a much better deal than what rivals offer if you intend to use your tablet a lot while on the road. On Sprint, you’d be paying $75 per month for both phone service and 4GB of shared data.
The other plan changes don’t necessarily give you as much data, but they may be a better value if you’re cost-conscious. If you’re on a $40 Simple Starter plan, an option arriving on September 3rd will let you pay $5 more per month to quadruple your max-speed data from 500MB to a much healthier 2GB — not quite as good as Cricket (which delivers 2.5GB for $45), but close. Whole households, meanwhile, can put as many as 10 lines on a family plan as of August 27th. It still costs $10 per person like the previous five-line option, and everyone gets their own data. Sprint currently has the advantage in family plans if you’re only looking to get as much data as possible for the money, but T-Mobile’s expansion may be handy for returning students and anyone else who’d rather not shoulder the full cost of phone service.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Wireless, Mobile, T-Mobile
Source: T-Mobile (1), (2), (3)
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iTunes Festival app arrives on Apple TV for London’s month of music
Apple’s annual month-long concert series in the UK kicks off next week, and to make sure that you’re properly equipped to stream the performances, there’s a new Apple TV app that’ll do just that. Starting Monday, September 1st with deadmau5 and lasting through the end of the month, sets will be beamed to your living room right from the stage of the Roundhouse in London. Of course, should you find yourself away from home, tunes are also available on iPhone, iPad and iPod to catch the latest. While you can peruse the full list of acts here, scheduled artists include Beck, Pharrell Williams, Ryan Adams and Mary J. Blige.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Software, Mobile, Apple
Via: 9to5Mac
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Square Cash lets you swap dollars via text message
Late last year, Square introduced a service called Cash that lets you send money to anyone in the US with just their email address. You could either do so with a regular ol’ email app — simply CC cash@square.com in an email to the recipient with the dollar amount in the subject line — or you could download the Square Cash app to make the process easier. With the latest Cash app update, however, there’s a special bonus feature if you decide to use the app to send money — you’ll be able to send money with their phone number as well. Just enter in the number manually or you can let the app access your contacts list. The recipient will then get a text message with a link to download the Cash app if they haven’t already, and with just a few steps, they’ll get their money. In addition to this new feature, you can now track payments and requests via push notification. Plus you’ll now be able to link all of your email addresses and numbers to a Profile account so it’s that much easier for folks to send you funds.
[Image Credit: Getty/Don Bayley]
Filed under: Cellphones, Software
Source: Square Cash
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AIVAnet 