Novothink debuts solar charging case for iPhone

Novothink on Thursday released its Apple-certified hybrid solar charging Surge cases for the iPhone and iPod Touch, along with Solar Planner, an app for estimating charging times.

Barnes & Noble Officially Acknowledges Plans for iPad eReader Application

Barnes & Noble today officially acknowledged that it is developing an iPad-specific application that will provide access to content available in the company's eBookstore.

Designed specifically for the iPad, our new B&N eReader...

Apple iPad — Should You Buy One?

Apple announced the iPad as a magical and revolutionary new product, their most advanced technology ever, and their attempt to grow the widely popular iPhone OS into the troubled tablet marketplace. It becomes available for pre-order this Friday, March 12 and goes on sale on Saturday, April 3 (in the US, international launch in late April).

But should you buy one, and if you should, when? Let’s take a look after the break!

Should You Pre-Order iPad Wi-Fi on March 12?

If, for you, the iPad is the “next big thing”, the ultimate couch and coffee computing appliance, the best way to read everything from email to ebooks, browse the web and your photos, enjoy music and movies, use apps and play games — both current iPhone apps and a glorious new class of iPad apps to come, then yes. Yes, you should order on March 12 and make sure your shiny new iPad is bought and bound and arrives at your door on April 3, or is waiting for you to pick-up at your local Apple Store day and date.

What else can we tell you, you decided to buy the moment Steve Jobs put sneaker to stage at the iPad event in February. And you don’t even care to wait a month for the 3G version, do you? Sigh. Yes, you should pre-order on March 12.

If this isn’t you, however. If you won’t buy without touching it first. If you won’t take the iPad on faith alone and want a chance to handle it first, to try it out, then don’t pre-order. Wait. If you’re really super-eager, Apple has another option for you…

Should You Line Up for an iPad Wi-Fi on April 3rd?

That was a trick question. If you’re camping out or otherwise lining up outside your local Apple Store, you’re hard core fan and just like the pre-orderer above, you already know you want it. And you’ll probably line up and get a 3G version too, won’t you?

Should You Buy an iPad Wi-Fi it on or After April 3rd? And iPad 3G in Late April?

If you’re pretty much sold on the iPad as is but you want to make sure, you want to go into the Apple Store and turn it on, swipe it around, launch the apps and play with it a bit, then this is a good option. It’ll still be Wi-Fi only on April 3rd and until late April, but after that you can try out an iPad 3G as well. It won’t be much different in the Apple Store, of course, but you can think about whether an extra $130 is worth it for on-demand unlocked, no-contract 3G service when and if you need it.

Think about wether you use an iPhone or iPod touch, and whether you’re fine with Wi-Fi at home, at work, at the coffee shop, etc. or if you’re annoyed not having the internet absolutely everywhere. You likely won’t carry your iPad as much as your iPhone or iPod touch (it’s not as pocketable) but the option is worth some consideration.

Should You Wait a Couple Months for a Quick iPad Price Drop?

Probably not. Apple did drop the iPhone price fairly soon after launch, but the outrage was such that they ended up giving every early adopter a $100 Apple Store credit by way of apology. They learned that lesson the hard way. When the iPhone 3G came out, heck when the iPod touch came out, they priced it aggressively and have only dropped the price when newer generation models were introduced (iPhone 3GS came in at $199, pushing iPhone 3G down to $99).

If you really, truly want to wait for a price drop on the first generation iPad, then…

Should You Wait a Year for the Second Generation iPad?

If Apple follows the iPhone and iPod touch model, the 2010 first generation iPad will be eclipsed next year by the 2011 second generation iPad. It will likely have more storage (up to 128GB?), more RAM, a faster chipset (Apple A5?), and maybe even a front-facing camera for video iChat (we dare to dream!). Heck it (or the 2012 third generation iPad) could have a higher screen resolution (1080p?), AMOLED, of course, and longer battery life. And when it does, the currently mid and high end iPad will likely become cheaper (i.e. 32GB will replace 16GB at the low end price point).

So, if you have no problem waiting a year, you’ll likely be able to get more for less. If anything about the current iPad is a camera-lacking deal breaker for you, if it’s lacking the ports, physical keyboard, and camera to make use of the blurry pixel-doubled apps that’ll be available at launch, if you just don’t trust first generation hardware at all, ever, then by all means you should wait until next year (or later) before buying.

Should You Never — Not EVER — Buy an iPad of Any Kind

If, for you, the iPad “just a big iPod”, something you don’t need and have no interest in, is too large to pocket, too limited to run production apps, and has no place between your smartphone and your laptop then you likely shouldn’t buy it.

May we offer you something in a JooJoo?

Conclusion

If you’re still undecided. Interested but not compelled, eager to try Apple’s newest mobile device but wary of being an early adopter, if you’re still undecided, here’s my thoughts.

What’s waiting worth to you? A baseline iPad Wi-Fi in the US will cost you $499. That will work out to $41.66 a month for the next 12 months at which point you could always sell or gift it and buy a second generation unit. Is the usage you get out of a 1st generation iPad between now an 2011 worth $41.66 a month, $1.39 a day to you?

If it is, then get one sooner or later, ordered sight-unseen or after a thorough hands-on. If it isn’t then wait until next February or April for Apple to show off and release a 2nd generation iPad and see if that’s more to your liking.

That’s our advice, but if we missed anything — or just plain got something wrong — let us know yours!

Apple iPad — Should You Buy One? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Review: Tank Raider for iPhone

Tank Raider is a retro tank arcade game by Sunday Solutions that puts you at the controls of an arcade tank pitted against three crafty computer-controlled tanks. Your mission is to capture and hold more gems than the other tanks.

Video iChat References Removed from iPhone 3.2 SDK Beta 4

9to5Mac continues to search the latest iPhone 3.2 SDK beta and have found that Apple has removed all of the video iChat references that were found in the first beta a few weeks back showing icons for accepting and declining video chat, as well as strings referencing the same functions.

Could this be a intentional move made by Apple to hide this feature until the big announcement or has it been scrapped by none other than Steve Jobs himself? The video iChat feature has teased us all in the past, hopefully we find out once and for all this summer if we will be so lucky.

Video iChat References Removed from iPhone 3.2 SDK Beta 4 is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Apple Building Out eBook Categories Ahead of iPad Launch as Developers Update Apps

Forbes reports on information obtained by App Store research firm Busted Loop as part of its AppSlice project, revealing Apple's plans for eBook categories to be rolled out for its iBookstore.<p class="qu...

Motorola to put Bing search on Android phones

Motorola will start loading Microsoft Bing search and map services onto its Android smartphones in China, and possibly elsewhere later.

AT&T Working Hard to Deliver iPhone Tethering Soon?

According to emails sent from AT&T employees to MacDailyNews readers, the network is working hard to enable iPhone tethering as soon as possible. Many of our readers are still waiting patiently to see when AT&T will flip the switch on iPhone tethering and if you contact AT&T the following are the contents of the cookie cutter reply you will receive in your inbox.

“Thank you for your recent email AT&T. Tethering the iPhone is a priority for us and we are working hard to make it available as soon as possible. As you might imagine, we want to make sure that we deliver a quality customer experience from the start. We don’t have details yet but will be sure to make a news announcement when tethering becomes available. Thanks again for your feedback. We appreciate you taking the time to write.”

We know what you may be thinking but lets give AT&T the benefit of the doubt here and lets pretend we see tethering enabled in the near future, would you prefer to have it implemented right the first time or are you simply sick of waiting and want it enabled now? Or could you care less?

Sound off in the comments below!

[Via MacDailyNews]

AT&T Working Hard to Deliver iPhone Tethering Soon? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Review: Knights of Charlemagne card game is simply simple, and we like it like that

Filed under: iPhone, iPod touch, App Review

The clever 2006 card game Knights of Charlemagne has made it to the iPhone and iPod touch as a simple little number placing app [$1.99, iTunes link]. We don't mean simple in that it's easy to beat or uninteresting. We mean that the game is clearly designed and plays quickly. While the beginner level (the Squire) is really only worth playing through once or twice with the tutorial minstrel on to learn the rules, getting to and beating the AI at Knight, and then the King level (which is supposed to be Charlemagne himself) is a good challenge and provides plenty of game for two bucks.

There's a whole lot of math and bluffing in the game. That is something which is better experienced in person and using real cards, but board games on the iPhone are their own experience. So, when you want some light brain-burning with a medieval theme, look no further than this simple app. Read on to find out more.

Continue reading Review: Knights of Charlemagne card game is simply simple, and we like it like that

Review: Knights of Charlemagne card game is simply simple, and we like it like that originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Review: Knights of Charlemagne card game is simply simple, and we like it like that originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Multitasking Support to be Included in Apple’s iPhone 4.0 Software

AppleInsider is reporting that they are hearing from reliable sources to expect multitasking in Apple’s iPhone 4.0 software. This is not the first time we’ve heard about multitasking being included in 4.0 but if it does hold up to be true it should silence many of the iPhone haters out there while making all iPhone owners jump for joy.

The iPhone currently does do some very minimal multitasking with apps such as email and iPod, but those of you with jailbroken devices are well aware that the iPhone can handle full blown multitasking with ease. Apple has just been shy to enable it since day one claiming it would bring poor battery performance along with various security threats.

The sources also claim the 4.0 software is still a long way off from being finished so show some patience as good things come to those who wait.

Anyone else excited for some iPhone 4.0?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Multitasking Support to be Included in Apple’s iPhone 4.0 Software is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Pink Floyd Wins Legal Battle Over Digital Sale of Individual Songs

BBC News reports that Pink Floyd has won a legal battle with its record label EMI over whether the label should be allowed to distribute digital versions of the band's material on a track-by-track basis a...

GDC 2010: Canabalt postmortem

Filed under: Gaming, Software, Other Events, iPhone, App Store

"What kinds of games do you like?" Adam "Atomic" Saltsman asked of his panel audience at the Canabalt postmortem during the Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco. "Role-playing" was yelled out, as was "puzzler," and eventually Saltsman picked "platformer" as the genre. Without another word, he quietly went to work on a laptop. Then, his partner at Semi Secret Software, Eric Johnson, took the podium to tell us all about what it was like to make one of the App Store's most popular games.

He started by saying that the game was originally developed in just "five very long days," and was created for the Experimental Gameplay Project and based around simplicity -- it only uses six colors and, obviously, the one button. For a game that's so simple, it actually had a lot of complex influences. It drew from older games, like Another World and Flashback, as well as modern works, like Half-Life 2 and District 9.

Continue reading GDC 2010: Canabalt postmortem

GDC 2010: Canabalt postmortem originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

GDC 2010: Canabalt postmortem originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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More Claims of Multitasking in iPhone OS 4.0

AppleInsider reports that it has received information from sources claiming that iPhone OS 4.0, likely scheduled for release later this year alongside new handset models, will support multitasking by allo...

Inventor of Cell Phone Gave iPhone to Grandson, Tweets on Droid?!

No doubt a genius, but perhaps also Woz-centric (think eccentric but with technology founding stripes), cell phone inventor Martin Cooper always likes to have the latest and greatest mobile device on the planet. Ish, according C-SPAN:

> Right now I’m using the Droid, because I want to get some experience with the Android operating system, and I, so far have some favorable results.

He also likes to Tweet from it — he’s @MartyMobile if you want to follow along. In his defense, however, he did have an iPhone. He gave it to his grandson. Lucky kid!

[via @ikagirl via Android Central]

Inventor of Cell Phone Gave iPhone to Grandson, Tweets on Droid?! is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

TiPb Apps 4.4 — Business Card Reader for iPhone

While I’m busy editing all the GDC 2010 gaming video we just shot, we’re putting up our second to last look at Macworld 2010. Here Rene and Leanna talk with Alexander Ostroysky, Customer Care at Shape Services about Business Card Reader for iPhone, IM+, and their other apps.

Watch along after the break, and let us know what you think!

YouTube Link

TiPb Apps 4.4 — Business Card Reader for iPhone is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Poynt for iPhone is a mixed bag

Filed under: Freeware, iPhone, iPod touch, App Review

Poynt has come to the iPhone, after having been a very popular free app on BlackBerry phones. Poynt provides local searches of individuals and businesses. It also shares a database with Open Table, so you can use it to make reservations at restaurants. Unlike the BlackBerry app, it has augmented reality, but is missing some features beloved by the Blackberry crowd.

Like some of the other iPhone search apps, you can enter the name of a business, and get a phone number, links to a website (if there is one), a mapped location, or directions. If you use the theater search, you'll find nearby movie houses. You can also search by movie genres, or get a list of the top 10 box office films. You can't buy tickets, but you can stream trailers.

When you search for restaurants, you get similar results to those of the business search. Results include phone numbers, restaurant websites, maps, and directions. You can also narrow your search by cuisine, or by distance.

Continue reading Poynt for iPhone is a mixed bag

Poynt for iPhone is a mixed bag originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Poynt for iPhone is a mixed bag originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Review: Txtagif for iPhone

If you like to send cutesy images with your MMS messages, txtagif will be an iPhone app dream come true, even though the free app has a few flaws.

GDC 2010: How to develop an app with EA Mobile

Filed under: Gaming, Developer, iPhone, App Store

For the first panel of day two here at the 2010 Game Developers Conference's iPhone gaming track, Oliver Miao of Centerscore Studios took the stage to talk about working on Surviving High School for the iPhone as a part of Electronic Arts' Mobile division. As Miao made clear early on, he's an "insider outsider" at EA: his company was started with a few friends, purchased by Vivendi in 2006, created a hit mobile game called Surviving High School in 2007, and was bought by EA in 2008. Last year, they were commissioned to recreate their game for the iPhone. In one of the most interesting iPhone panels at the conference yet, he talked about the ins and outs of working with EA on an iPhone title, and explained both, what it was like to work with the company, and his own philosophies on game design, especially concerning in-app purchases and microtransactions.

Most users seem to believe that microtransactions and episodic content are, at the very least, a pain to deal with (and are, at worst, a scam), but Miao is convinced that they're actually necessary to having a successful game -- he said that every developer, going forward, "will need to have them." Read on to find out why.

Continue reading GDC 2010: How to develop an app with EA Mobile

GDC 2010: How to develop an app with EA Mobile originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

GDC 2010: How to develop an app with EA Mobile originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PRS Guitarbud jacks your axe, ego into iPhone / iPod touch

Whatever happened to that dreamy Line 6 / Apple tie-up? Who knows, right? While those two sort out their future behind the scenes, Paul Reed Smith Guitars is stepping up to take advantage of an obvious market opportunity. The newly announced Guitarbud is a simplistic accessory that allows axe slingers to jack their guitar into an iPhone or second-generation iPod touch, all while providing a headphone output in order to keep the noise making to yourself. We're told that the device works with pretty much any recording-supported app (even Apple's own Voice Memos), though PRS obviously recommends that you check out its JamApp guitar amp simulator / tuner / training tool. Best of all, it's available today for £29.95 (or $29.95 here in the States), putting you just a few yard mowings away from securing your own personal aural sanctuary. Too bad the reviews from early adopters aren't so promising...

PRS Guitarbud jacks your axe, ego into iPhone / iPod touch originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 04:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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