Review: SwitchEasy’s CoverBuddy Protects Your iPad Pro and Holds an Apple Pencil (Plus Giveaway)
Apple offers protection for the iPad Pro in the form of a Smart Cover and a Silicone Case for the back of the device, but Apple’s products are priced rather high at $59 and $79 respectively, for a total price of $138 for complete iPad Pro coverage.
Luckily, third-party manufacturers have already started coming out with some clever cases and covers for the iPad Pro, and one of the first available rear shells comes from popular accessory maker SwitchEasy. The iPad Pro CoverBuddy is SwitchEasy’s first product for Apple’s tablet, and it’s designed to work alongside Apple’s own Smart Cover and Smart Keyboard.
SwitchEasy funded the iPad Pro CoverBuddy through Indiegogo, but now it’s ready to ship out to customers. While the Indiegogo campaign was still ongoing, SwitchEasy sent me a prototype CoverBuddy to check out, which I’ve been using for the last week.
Made of a thin but rigid polycarbonate, the CoverBuddy snaps onto the back of the iPad Pro. Since it’s only 1.5mm thick, it adds very little additional weight and bulk. The polycarbonate of the CoverBuddy is textured and it’s super grippy. The grip on the CoverBuddy is probably my favorite aspect of the case because it makes the unwieldy iPad Pro a lot easier to hold on to.
CoverBuddy’s polycarbonate material isn’t going to protect the iPad Pro from serious damage, but it feels sturdy enough to protect it from the scratches, dings, and minor drops that occur from day-to-day use and travel.
The CoverBuddy leaves all of the ports and the rear camera accessible with precise cutouts, and it has a Lightning port cutout that’s able to accommodate the Apple Pencil for charging purposes. On the back, there’s a removable plastic Apple Pencil holder, which is actually quite versatile.
Results mixed for Android, iOS growth in October report
Kantar Worldpanel released their report on smartphone market share through the end of October 2015 showing the battle between iOS and Android is both stable and in flux at the same time. Android continued to maintain a lead position with Samsung showing signs of a comeback, although Apple showed strong growth in some unexpected areas.
In Europe, results were a mixed bag as Android surged in Italy, France and Spain. However, interest in Great Britain and Germany cooled off, leading to a gain of 1.6 percent for the top five European markets, the EU5. At the same time, iOS declined in the EU5 for the first time since the August 2014 period. Android also saw some surprising growth in the U.S. where it surged by 9.5 percent year over year to 62.8 percent of the market. Traditionally, the U.S. market has been a nice stronghold for Apple’s iOS.
One area where Apple is enjoying some significant success is in the Chinese market. Android still controls a whopping 74.2 percent of the market, but that is down around 8 percent compared to a year earlier.
For manufacturers, Samsung posted its first period of year-over-year growth in 2015 for sales of their smartphones. The U.S., U.K. and French markets were especially strong improvements for Samsung. LG and Huawei also continued to grow their shares. In Europe, Apple unexpectedly lost some ground in Britain and Germany. Kantar Worldpanel notes that in Britain, Apple’s losses were at the hands of LG and Samsung.
Analysts looking ahead to the results of the holiday shopping season will be keeping an eye on how many smartphone owners decide to replace their devices with newer ones and whether they stick with their current platforms and manufacturers.
source: Kantar Worldpanel
via: PocketNow
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Smart Battery Case Teardown Confirms Battery is Difficult to Replace
iFixit has completed a Smart Battery Case teardown, providing a closer look at the case’s brushed aluminum inner shell, rechargeable lithium-ion battery and tiny logic board housing two Lightning connectors.
The inner aluminum plate serves as a door for the battery compartment, which houses a 1,877 mAh battery (7.13 Whr) that more than doubles the iPhone 6s battery capacity of 1,715 mAh. iFixit says the battery is “very strongly adhered in place” with a connector rather than soldering.
Much of what makes Apple’s Smart Battery Case “smart” is powered by the iPhone, as the case only has a few other components, including a NXP NX20P3 load switch, also found in Lightning to USB cables, and a NXP 1608A1 charging chip.
iFixit awarded the Smart Battery Case a repairability score of 2 out of 10, with ten being the easiest to repair. While the battery pack can technically be replaced, the case has a strong adhesive lining, and all other repairs would destroy the accessory.
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Tim Cook is unimpressed by Chromebook’s lead in the classroom
Google’s Chromebooks may have come under fire from student privacy groups recently, but there’s no denying that the push into the education sector has been a success for the company. Apple’s Tim Cook certainly didn’t seem very happy about Google’s lead in the classroom during a recently interview with Buzzfeed.
He avoided mentioning the Chromebook by name, but stated that the low cost computers used in schools were only proving popular because they were the cheapest option around for testing students. He also preferred to simply refer to them as “test machines”.
By this Cook is referring to the transition that many state schools have seen from paper to computerised testing, which is one reason why low cost Chromebooks have seen such speedy adoption. Cook apparently doesn’t think much of standardized testing either, suggesting that Apple’s products instead help kids to “engage on a different level”.
“Assessments don’t create learning … We are interested in helping students learn and teachers teach, but tests, no. We create products that are whole solutions for people — that allow kids to learn how to create and engage on a different level.” – Tim Cook
Although testing may be a part of it, the appeal of Google’s educational platform likely extends beyond lower cost hardware. Google’s Apps for Education software includes Gmail, Calendar and Docs, offering a comprehensive set of tools for educators and students.
I suppose it’s not so surprising that Cook failed to appreciate that schools may have actually weighed up the wider opportunity costs when opting for Chromebooks and Google’s Apps for Education over iPads. He doesn’t seem to offer any alternatives to bring cost effective educational tools to the student masses either, although he does hope to host coding events at Apple stores nationwide to encourage kids to get into programming.
Read more: Report: Chromebooks make up more than half devices found in schools
Apple is going to have its work cut out for it in the education sector if Google’s forecast that there will be more Chromebooks in schools than all other devices combined by the end of 2015 turns out to be correct.
Bumpy ride for Apple at expense of LG, ASUS tweets
Apple usually receives accolades for the design of their devices, from computers to phones to tablets. However, the new Apple Smart Battery Case is raising some eyebrows as it seems to stray from the typical clean lines produced by the company. The accessory also provided LG and ASUS some fodder to take some potshots at Apple in some tweets.
The Apple case does not bring much new to the market that third-party vendors are not already providing. It packs in an external battery that can be used to extend the life of the device between charges. In doing so, Apple introduces a distinctive bump to house the battery itself within the case.
LG takes a shot at Apple by calling out the bump and offering a moment of silence for anyone who has to deal with it. They contrast the bump and the case with the LG V10 that is sleek and only offers “goosebumps” thanks to its design.
A moment of silence for those experiencing a bumpy ride. Life's Good. #TheHump #LGV10 pic.twitter.com/OX9i4Bo4UE
— LG Jordan (@LGJordan) December 9, 2015
http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Meanwhile, ASUS focuses more on the lack of innovation the battery pack brings. They go so far as to point out the battery pack does not even provide users with the battery life available from the built-in battery of the ASUS Zenfone Max.
You don’t need that extra pack when you have the maximum power in one. #ZenFone #Max pic.twitter.com/McjMJbzij5
— ASUS (@ASUS) December 9, 2015
http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
source: LG (Twitter), ASUS (Twitter)
Come comment on this article: Bumpy ride for Apple at expense of LG, ASUS tweets
Product Hunt App for iOS Updated With ‘Popular’ Feed, Podcast Player and Live Chats
Popular product discovery site Product Hunt is today updating its iOS app, adding new features to bring it in line with the Product Hunt web experience. The Product Hunt site itself was updated with a more visual look a few weeks ago, which is now coming to the Product Hunt app.
Moving beyond tech, the app now offers an “Explore All Categories” option that lets users see products that are trending in categories like books, games, and podcasts. There’s also a new “Popular” feed that surfaces a range of content including products and collections, organizing it into an Instagram-style visual layout.
Product Hunt for iOS is gaining Live chats, letting users view, subscribe to, and participate in the Live chats hosted on the site. Upcoming chats will be conducted with people like Quora co-founder Charlie Cheever and Braintree founder Bryan Johnson.
It’s now possible to listen to podcasts posted and upvoted by the Product Hunt community directly within the Product Hunt iOS app, thanks to a new built-in podcast player, and users can also follow and create curated collections of products, games, books, and more, directly within the app. The app’s search tools are also being expanded with Apple Spotlight integration, and it offers support for 3D Touch with Home screen Quick Actions for searching, accessing live chats, viewing the popular feed, and more.
For those unfamiliar with Product Hunt, it’s a community-based website that lets people post and discuss new and interesting products. While it originally focused on technology-oriented products, it has expanded to encompass other categories like books, games, and podcasts.
Product Hunt can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]
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GoPro Updates iOS App With Streamlined Design and Apple Watch Integration
GoPro today announced an update to its iOS app that will bring Apple Watch integration to users of the popular outdoor recording hardware. The new Apple Watch features will give users access to a GoPro camera’s controls, letting them preview their shot, toggle between capture modes, begin and end recording, and even add HiLight tags to important moments in a video.
Also introduced in the 2.11 version of the GoPro app is the ability to browse frame-by-frame through a video and capture still images from it. The company has streamlined media browsing in the app as well, with easier-to-discover photos, videos, HiLights and clips, along with some expanded iOS abilities that make “nearly everything” available on the Apple version of the software that was previously restricted on mobile.
New and Improved:
+ Now compatible with Apple Watch: Preview shots, control your camera, and add HiLight Tags all from your watch.
+ Pull still images from videos: Quickly flip through a video frame-by-frame to find that epic moment and download a high-quality still image.
+ Find your media faster: Locate that awesome shot by filtering your media to display only photos, videos, HiLights, or clips.
+ Nearly everything is viewable on iOS: Enjoy your shot on the spot with a generated preview that allows you to view high frame-rate video on your phone.
The GoPro App is available to download from the App Store for free [Direct Link].
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Walmart Announces Apple Pay Competitor ‘Walmart Pay’ for iOS
Walmart today introduced its own mobile payments service called “Walmart Pay” built into its Walmart app on iOS and Android. The new Apple Pay competitor will roll out in select Walmart stores in the U.S. this month, followed by a nationwide launch within the first half of 2016.
Walmart Pay’s QR code-based checkout process will involve opening the Walmart app, selecting Walmart Pay, activating the camera, scanning the code displayed at the register and waiting for the cashier to finish bagging your items. An electronic receipt will automatically be sent to the Walmart app.
The new payments solution will only work in Walmart stores and supports any major credit, debit, pre-paid or Walmart gift card. Walmart says that 22 million customers actively use its Walmart app each month, placing it among the top three retail apps in the App Store and Google Play.
Walmart is among a handful of retailers that have refused to support Apple Pay since its U.S. launch in October 2014. The retailer is instead one of over a dozen retailers committed to the Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) consortium and its yet-to-launch rival payments service CurrentC.
Walmart’s future plans to support Apple Pay or CurrentC remain undisclosed, but the company’s senior vice president of services Daniel Eckert said Walmart Pay allows “for integration of other mobile wallets in the future.”
“The simplicity and ease of Walmart Pay comes not only from how it works, but also in how it’s been built,” said Daniel Eckert, senior vice president, services, Walmart U.S. “We made a strategic decision to design Walmart Pay to work with almost any smartphone and accept almost any payment type – even allowing for the integration of other mobile wallets in the future. The result is an innovation that will make the ease of mobile payments a reality for millions of Americans.”
Walmart App is free on the App Store for iPhone and Apple Watch. [Direct Link]
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T-Mobile Offers Verizon Customers Free Year of Hulu to Switch
T-Mobile has announced a fourth “Un-carrier Unwrapped” holiday promotion that offers Verizon customers 12 months of Hulu’s Limited Commercials plan for free, a value of $7.99 per month or $96 annually.
The offer is valid for Verizon customers that switch any phone number to a T-Mobile Simple Choice postpaid plan between December 11 and December 17.
Verizon customers who switch to T-Mobile will receive a text message with a $100 Hulu subscription gift code, enough to pay for more than 12 months of Hulu’s Limited Commercials plan.
Verizon customers can combine the offer with T-Mobile’s Carrier Freedom promotion, which provides up to $650 towards a balance owing or to pay off early termination fees (ETFs) with an eligible device trade-in.
T-Mobile is also offering Verizon customers that switch up to half off its lineup of financed in-store accessories:
That could mean as much as a $125 discount on the hottest mobile gifts, like the latest smartwatches, UE Boom and JBL Bluetooth speakers, top-of-the-line headphones, Fitbit fitness trackers, Guitar Hero Live for iOS and more.
This limited time offer is part of T-Mobile’s monthlong “Un-carrier Unwrapped” holiday promotion that offered three months of free unlimited LTE data to Simple Choice customers, a $200 bill credit for Sprint customers and $200 off a 128GB iPhone 6s for AT&T customers.
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Pixelmator for iOS Updated With Support for iPad Pro, Apple Pencil and 3D Touch
The team behind popular image editing app Pixelmator for Mac and iOS today announced a major update to its Pixelmator app for iOS, introducing full support and optimization for Apple’s iPad Pro and Apple Pencil.
There’s a new palm rejection feature that allows users to rest their palms on the screen when sketching and editing images with the Apple Pencil, which works with more than 50 brushes in the Pixelmator app. Pixelmator also takes full advantage of the iPad Pro’s speed, with 16K image support for editing images up to 100 megapixels.
“User feedback about the desktop-class features of Pixelmator for iOS has been amazing, and today we’re excited to make all those features available on the iPad Pro,” said Saulius Dailide, one of the founders of Pixelmator Team. “Pixelmator on the iPad Pro gives you more space to create thanks to the large 12.9-inch display, allows you to paint more naturally than ever with full Apple Pencil and palm-rejection support, and lets you edit incredibly large images up to 100 megapixels.”
Today’s update also introduces support for 3D Touch on the iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s Plus, adding Quick Action shortcuts when using a force touch on the Pixelmator icon on the home screen. 3D Touch support also brings 3D Touch-sensitive painting to Pixelmator, letting iPhone users vary the pressure on the screen to change the thickness of a brush stroke.
Pixelmator 2.2 includes a few other improvements, like a new collection of artist-designed basic brushes, improved crop performance, an auto-straighten feature, and the ability to increase font size up to 1000 pixels.
Pixelmator can be downloaded from the App Store for $4.99. [Direct Link]
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