Archive for the ‘Apple iPad’ Category
New iPad backpacking app no comments
While it has no discernable relationship to ereading, a new iPad app from Trimble Outdoors and Backpacker magazine could make your iPad one piece of tech that you will be happy to pack along on your next trek through the wilderness.
Backpacker Map Maker is a new app designed to help hikers and backpackers plan their next trip to the wilds on the iPad. In addition to aerial, hybrid, street and terrain maps, the app provides access to more than 68,000 USGS topo maps stitched together and enhanced by MyTopo. The app utilizes the GPS of the iPad and includes a number of features and tools including a search function, waypoints, digital compass and the ability to save trips to a backpacker.com account.
Backpacker Map Maker is a free app at iTunes.
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M-Edge releases iPad case for kids no comments
M-Edge has a new cover for the iPad 2 that is designed to protect the tablet
from drops and rough play when in the hands of young children. The SuperShell is made of shock-absorbent foam and is easy for small fingers to grip. All controls and the rear-facing camera are accessible with the cover on.
The SuperShell is currently available in Atomic Green for $30.
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eBook Search for iPad/iPhone no comments
App developer Inkstone Software has several iOS ereading apps to its credit — MegaReader, Young Reader and QuickReader. QuickReader teaches speed reading and Young Reader is a version of QuickReader optimized for kids. Inkstone has just released a new app dubbed eBook Search that is quite interesting. 
eBook Search lets you search for, purchase and download free ebooks from several sources from within the app and will then transfer your ebooks to the installed ereading app of your choice. The app will, for example, load free ebooks you download with it into MegaReader, iBooks, the Kindle app, Nook or another ereading app that can read the format — obviously the Kindle app can’t handle ePub files — where you can begin reading it.
As you know, ereading apps from the ebooksellers (Kindle, Nook, Kobo, etc.) removed their in-app links to their ebookstores after Apple changed their rules for in-app purchases recently. This is irrelevant in this case as the app only lets you shop for free ebooks.
Out of the box eBook Search can access free ebooks from the following sources:
- Feedbooks
- Project Gutenberg
- Baen Books
- Smashwords
- Munseys
- Internet Archive
This is obviously a very convenient tool for getting public domain books, but several of the sources also have indie and contemporary titles. Baen Books specializes in Sci-Fi and Fantasy. There also appears to be the ability to add other sources, though I have not tried doing that yet.
I’ve had a few minutes to monkey around with the app and everything seems to function as advertised. You will see ads on the search pages for Inkstone’s other apps, but these don’t, of course, make their way into the books you download with the app. eBook Search is a free app at iTunes.
(via 148Apps)
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United deploys iPads, launches paperless flight deck no comments
United Continental Holdings, Inc. announced today that it is deploying 11,000
iPads to all United and Continental pilots. The iPads will be loaded with digital navigational charts, operating manuals and other materials that in paper format weigh in at around 38 pounds and amount to around 12,000 sheets of paper per pilot on average.
United estimates the move to a paperless flight deck will save 16 million sheets of paper and 326,000 gallons of jet fuel per year. Since the materials can be much more quickly accessed on the iPad than on paper, safety and pilot efficiency are also improved.
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Android takes 20% of tablet market from iPad over last 12 months no comments
ABI Research reports that Android-based media tablets have taken 20% of the media tablet market share from the iPad over the last 12 months, but no single tablet manufacturer has been able to stand out as a serious challenger to the iPad. While ABI expects media tablet sales to reach 120 million units by 2015, it cites OS fragmentation as an obstacle to faster growth.
ABI Research mobile devices group director Jeff Orr comments, “Many vendors have introduced media tablets, but none are separating themselves from the pack to pose a serious threat to Apple. In fact, most have introduced products at prices higher than similarly-configured iPads. Apple, never a company to be waiting for others, has introduced its second-generation iPad media tablet while keeping product pricing unchanged.”
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Amazon launches Kindle Cloud Reader no comments
Amazon today announced the launch of the newest member of the Kindle reading app family. The new Kindle Cloud Reader is built from the ground up in HTML5 and allows you to read ebooks from your Kindle library whether online or offline.
The new app syncs your library as well as annotations and last page read with other Kindle apps and Kindle ereaders. You can choose to download ebooks from your library to your device to make them available for offline reading.
Currently Kindle Cloud Reader is available for Safari and Chrome, but versions are in the works for Internet Explorer, Firefox and other browsers. The Safari version of the Kindle Cloud Reader is optimized for use on the iPad and includes access to the Kindle Store — a feature the Kindle iPad app and other ereading apps had to remove recently to comply with Apple’s current App Store rules.
On the iPad Kindle Cloud Reader is very smooth and feels just like reading on the Kindle iPad app before the Kindle Store button was removed, except sometimes there is a very small amount of lag as you perform an action that requires web interaction. Once an ebook is downloaded it is just like reading on a normal app. You can even put an icon for Kindle Cloud Reader on the iPad’s homescreen by tapping the share button at the top of the screen when you first connect and selecting the appropriate option. After you do this you only need to tap the icon to launch Safari and go right into the app. I would say that this is a very elegant and effective response to having to remove the Kindle Store from Amazon’s iOS apps.
Amazon says it is developing versions of Kindle Cloud Reader for other mobile devices. This makes me wonder; might we one day have a version that works for the Nook Color? Of course what goes around comes around and we could see Amazon’s tablet, when released, greeted by an iBooks Cloud Reader and a Nook Cloud Reader. Sounds good to me.
To use Kindle Cloud Reader point your Safari or Chrome browser to www.amazon.com/cloudreader.
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Britannica Kids apps go on sale tomorrow no comments
Britannica is putting nine of its educational iOS apps on sale from July1 through July 10. Britannica Kids: Solar System will be reduced from its regular price of $4.99 to $0.99 in honor of the final launch of the US space shuttle on July 8. Other apps in the Britannica Kids series will be reduced to $1.99. Available at iTunes.
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The Great Leader app no comments
Now you too can explore the wonders of the worker’s paradise of North Korea thanks to a free new iOS app. Fotopedia North Korea includes more than 1,000 photos by photographer Eric Lafforgue. It is available in seven languages, including Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, Korean and Spanish.
“I traveled to North Korea four times between 2008 and 2010, always under strict supervision. Taking pictures was a constant game of cat and mouse,” said Eric Lafforgue, professional photographer. “I chose to photograph everything I could, without passing judgment, even if some images could be considered shocking from the point of view of the rest of the world.”
Lafforgue’s work has been featured in many publications, including Time, National Geographic, New York Times and Le Monde.
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Apple changes its rules for in-app content sales no comments
Apple’s refusal at the beginning of the year to approve the Sony Reader app for iOS and its demands that any content accessible by an app also be offered for sale through the app, where Apple would get a 30 percent cut off the top, did not seem to bode well for the future of Apple’s ‘magical device’ as an ereader. The impact of Apple’s policies went well beyond ebooks in fact — it could have even meant the loss of popular content providers such as Netflix from the App Store.
Under Apple’s guidelines, content providers would be giving up their whole profit margin — and in some cases more then their profit margin — for the privilege of offering an iOS app. It seemed likely that popular ereading apps such as Kindle and Nook for iOS would be disappearing from Apple’s platform as the deadline for compliance, June 30, drew near.
But it now appears that Apple has blinked. Last week the Apple Store Review Guidelines were again quietly changed. App developers are no longer required to offer any and all content that is accessible by an app for sale through the app at the same or a lower price as it is available elsewhere. The new rules simply disallow a ‘buy’ button or other method that enables users to go directly from within an app to a website store, thereby bypassing Apple’s in-app purchasing mechanism.
Pricing is also now left up to the content sellers. We will likely see more apps like the digital textbook app released by Kno last Monday. You can purchase textbooks from the Kno bookstore directly from within the app. But if you instead point the iPad’s browser to the Kno store you will be able to buy the same textbooks for a lower price and then access them from the app. Publishers may now charge a higher price for items sold from within an app to offset Apple’s take.
To me it seems that Apple should obviously be entitled to make money from content sold on its platform. But 30 percent seems usurious, as most publishers make 30 percent or less from the content they sell. Google offers publishers a better deal on its Android platform by taking 10 percent, which still leaves a profit margin for content sellers.
It does not seem in Apple’s best interest to drive developers away from the App Store. After all, one of the most attractive features of the iPad and iPhone is the rich diversity of content available through them. Apple’s change of heart is a win not only for app developers and publishers, but also for consumers. And possibly even for the continued success of the company’s products.
(via MacRumors)
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Apple unveils iCloud no comments
At its developers conference today Apple unveiled its expected cloud services, most of which will launch in the fall. Apple negotiated licensing with the music companies, so it is able to offer more features for the music streaming aspect of its cloud services than either Amazon or Google.
This fall Apple will also be releasing iOS 5, which will have around 200 new features for users of Apple’s mobile devices.
The details of the iCloud from Apple’s press release:
The free iCloud services include:
- The former MobileMe® services—Contacts, Calendar and Mail—all completely re-architected and rewritten to work seamlessly with iCloud. Users can share calendars with friends and family, and the ad-free push Mail account is hosted at me.com. Your inbox and mailboxes are kept up-to-date across all your iOS devices and computers.
- The App Store™ and iBookstore? now download purchased iOS apps and books to all your devices, not just the device they were purchased on. In addition, the App Store and iBookstore now let you see your purchase history, and simply tapping the iCloud icon will download any apps and books to any iOS device (up to 10 devices) at no additional cost.
- iCloud Backup automatically and securely backs up your iOS devices to iCloud daily over Wi-Fi when you charge your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. Backed up content includes purchased music, apps and books, Camera Roll (photos and videos), device settings and app data. If you replace your iOS device, just enter your Apple ID and password during setup and iCloud restores your new device.
- iCloud Storage seamlessly stores all documents created using iCloud Storage APIs, and automatically pushes them to all your devices. When you change a document on any device, iCloud automatically pushes the changes to all your devices. Apple’s Pages®, Numbers® and Keynote® apps already take advantage of iCloud Storage. Users get up to 5GB of free storage for their mail, documents and backup—which is more amazing since the storage for music, apps and books purchased from Apple, and the storage required by Photo Stream doesn’t count towards this 5GB total. Users will be able to buy even more storage, with details announced when iCloud ships this fall.
- iCloud’s innovative Photo Stream service automatically uploads the photos you take or import on any of your devices and wirelessly pushes them to all your devices and computers. So you can use your iPhone to take a dozen photos of your friends during the afternoon baseball game, and they will be ready to share with the entire group on your iPad (or even Apple TV®) when you return home. Photo Stream is built into the photo apps on all iOS devices, iPhoto® on Macs, and saved to the Pictures folder on a PC. To save space, the last 1,000 photos are stored on each device so they can be viewed or moved to an album to save forever. Macs and PCs will store all photos from the Photo Stream, since they have more storage. iCloud will store each photo in the cloud for 30 days, which is plenty of time to connect your devices to iCloud and automatically download the latest photos from Photo Stream via Wi-Fi.
- iTunes® in the Cloud lets you download your previously purchased iTunes music to all your iOS devices at no additional cost, and new music purchases can be downloaded automatically to all your devices. In addition, music not purchased from iTunes can gain the same benefits by using iTunes Match, a service that replaces your music with a 256 kbps AAC DRM-free version if we can match it to the over 18 million songs in the iTunes Store®, it makes the matched music available in minutes (instead of weeks to upload your entire music library), and uploads only the small percentage of unmatched music. iTunes Match will be available this fall for a $24.99 annual fee. Apple today is releasing a free beta version of iTunes in the Cloud, without iTunes Match, for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users running iOS 4.3. iTunes in the Cloud will support all iPhones that iOS 5 supports this fall.
iTunes in the Cloud is available now. The iTunes Match program will be available for $24.99 annually (in the US only).
