Everything you need to know about buying iPhones, iPads and other iOS devices
Apple
iOS 4.2 Beta 3 announced
Oct 12th
So I was pleasantly surprised to see an announcement in my developer email inbox for the release of iOS 4.2 Beta 3.
iOS 4.2 Beta 3 announced
I started to download it instantly.
I’ve already installed iOS Beta 4.2 releases 1 and 2. I was glad to have App. Folders and multitasking on my iPad. The beta releases have worked fairly well. The one glitch that I ran into was with the Netflix App.
It would select you movie and when you pressed “Watch Instantly” it would pause for a minute and “Crash Instantly”. Sometimes restarting the iPad and selecting a new movie would fix it. Sometimes not. But again, this was with the iOS 4.2 Beta releases.
So hopefully they, Apple and Netflix are getting this useful diagnostic information that they require and Netflix will work great when the the final version of iOS 4.2 is released.
-Update-
One way to fix NetFlix App. crashes, is to uninstall the application. Then, reinstall the application again.
You’ll have to reenter your credentials but that is a small price to pay to get NetFlix working on the iPad again.
iOS 4.2 Beta 3
They are working towards a November release date. One of the other noteworthy features included is Wireless Printing or AirPrint. It looks like there will be updates to the MacOS 10.6 Snow Leopard and iTunes 10 as well to support the printing feature. There will also be enhancements for Enterprise deployments and Accessibility Enhancements.
5 to 7 days for delivery of iPhone 4 in the States. 3 Weeks in Canada.
Oct 5th
The supply situation for iPhone 4s in the US is improving.
American iPhone 4 shoppers can expect to get their new iPhone 4 in as little as 5 to 7 business days.
I’m sure that placing that order and waiting for over a week must feel like an eternity waiting in anticipation for the package to arrive by courier.
So things are improving in the States in contract to the situation in Canada.
The ETA from order to delivery of your new phone is 3 weeks.
And White iPhone 4s are still unavailable. Imagine the prestige of walking around with one of those.
Analyst had reported that production increases in August would yield to larger supplies by now and this is proving true.
iPhone 4s are reportedly being made at a rate of 90 per minute or 137,000 per day.
iOS 4.1 released
Sep 9th
Apple’s recently released iOS 4.1. It has a number of bug fixes and some significant additions.
Those fixes include remedies for the proximity sensor issue which some iPhone 4 users have experienced.
There are also some fixes for Bluetooth, and iPhone 3G performance.
There are also brand new features like High Dynamic Range photos, a feature to insure that you don’t get washed out images from your iPhone 4 camera.
HD video uploads over WiFi allows you to upload your videos to your YouTube account with a new ‘Send to YouTube’ button.
You can rent TV shows through iTunes.
And last but not least is Game Center. it adds new capabilities for multiplayer gaming including the ability to challenge friends, keep track of scores and achievements, and the ability to find new games by looking at what your friends are playing.
Apple’s recently released iOS 4.1. It has a number of bug fixes and some significant additions. Those fixes include remedies for the proximity sensor issue which some iPhone 4 users have experienced.
There are also some fixes for Bluetooth, and iPhone 3G performance.
There are also brand new features like High Dynamic Range photos, a feature to insure that you don’t get washed out images from your iPhone 4 camera.HD video uploads over WiFi allows you to upload your videos to your YouTube account with a new ‘Send to YouTube’ button.
You can rent TV shows through iTunes.
And last but not least is Game Center. it adds new capabilities for multiplayer gaming including the ability to challenge friends, keep track of scores and achievements, and the ability to find new games by looking at what your friends are playing.
iOS 4.1 released
Apple TV is a Sure Hit
Sep 3rd
Apple TV is a Sure Hit
Apple is definitely thinking differently about Television than the Cable Companies.
They realize that people don’t really have time to watch 100s of Channels.
People just want to watch the good quality content and not the fluff and etcetera of television programming. There is only so much time in a day.
People are willing to pay a reasonable price for good content. I know I am. I often rent videos from BlockBuster or Rogers Videos. But that could be a thing of the past. Just like my HD Cable and Basic Cable bill. Now I can have a cable TV company and Video store in a little black box that fits in the palm of your hand.
iTunes has thousands of video titles and is also promising top television shows from ABC and FOX studios.
Netflix content will be available on Apple TV as well and HD YouTube videos.
Here is the only problem I foresee with this product especially in Canada. Cable companies like Rogers and Cogeco set limits for the amount of data that you can download in a month. 60 GB is typical for a monthly high speed internet service account. But the average HD video downloaded from itunes is 2 to 3 GB. So if you downloaded 1 movie and a TV show every day of the month you could easily go over 60 GB.
Cable companies have been known to terminate the service of customers that exceed their limits or charge a premium on extra data used above your amount included in your plan.
Heavy use of the Apple TV is discouraged then unless you can get an unlimited data plan from your Cable company for a reasonable rate.
Introducing Ping
Sep 2nd
Ping the Social Network for Music Lovers
When you install iTunes 10, here’s what you can expect
Introducing Ping – an effortless way to follow your favorite artists and friends – and discover the music they’re talking about, listening to, and downloading.
New in iTunes 10
• Introducing Ping. Use Ping to follow your favorite artists and friends or connect with the world’s most passionate music fans. Discover the music everyone is talking about, listening to, and downloading.
• Rent HD TV episodes for just 99¢ each. Watch them on your Mac or PC, on-the-go with iPhone or iPod touch, or in your living room with the all new Apple TV.
• Play your favorites on the all new iPod touch, iPod nano, iPod shuffle, and Apple TV.
• Play music wirelessly with AirPlay on AirPlay-enabled speakers, home theater receivers, and iPod accessories.
• Explore many look-and-feel improvements throughout iTunes.
• Enjoy performance improvements which make iTunes faster and more responsive.
• Additional voice support with VoiceOver Kit for iPod.
There is also a link about security:
For information on the security content of this update, please visit: support.apple.com/kb/HT1222
Apple Music Event announcements
Sep 1st
At Apple’s September music event, the company announced iOS 4.1 for iPhone and iPod touch and also previewed iOS 4.2 for iPad.
iTunes 10 and Ping were announced.
Ping is a social network for iTunes users to replace the need for Google Buzz and Twitter in our lives. It may also be a Pandora rival in that you can see music recommendations based on your listening and buying habits.
They announced the following hardware updates:
iPod Nano
iPod Touch
iPod Shuffle
Apple TV
iOS 4.1
All bugs have been fixed!
That includes the proximity sensor on the iPhone 4, Bluetooth bugs across the iPod touch and iPhone, and lastly the much talked about iPhone 3G performance issues have been fixed.
HDR
iOS 4.1 also provides a new feature called High Dynamic Range Photos (HDR).
HDR is a new camera-based feature where the device camera improves the colour range of the photos you take..
HD Video & Game Center
iOS 4.1 will give us HD video uploading over WiFi to YouTube for example and also the new Game Center.
Apple’s Game Center is like Microsoft’s Xbox Live where users can play multiplayer games and be matched against anyone of similar skill in a particular game.
Availability
iOS 4.1 is available for iPhone and iPod touch as a free download next week.
iOS 4.2
During this morning’s event Apple also provided a sneak peek of iOS 4.2! There seems to be a trend there where the X.2 version is releaseed for the iPad.
iOS 4.2 is available for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad but the real focus is for iPad. Essentially, iOS 4.2 is bringing every single feature of iOS 4.1, such as folders and multitasking, to the iPad.
Printing
iOS 4.2 is also bringing wireless printing to the iPad in the form of Print Center. We’ll be able to view print jobs, cancel them, and reprioritize them right from the iPad.
AirPlay
For all three iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, iOS 4.2 is bringing a feature called AirPlay which is a renamed AirTunes feature but can now stream photos and videos along with audio to your AppleTV from any iOS device via WiFi.
Availability
iOS 4.2 is available for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad as a free download in November 2010.
The new iPods can be pre-ordered today and will ship next week.
Apple Music Event with Live Streaming 01 Sep. 2010
Sep 1st
Apple Music Event Sept 1 2010
Apple has announced it will be holding a “special Music event” in San Francisco on September 1 2010, and although the company has not preannounced the agenda, for the last several years the company has used late-summer/early-autumn events to introduce additions to its iTunes application and service as well as new iPods in time for the end-of-year holiday buying season.
Rumoured release items include:
- Longer Song/Video Previews with iTunes Music Store
- Syncing iTunes over the air or in the clouds (Apple is building a $1 Billion data center to handle this)
- New iPod touch with front and back facing camera and LED Flash that is facetime capable
- New Apple TV
- New iPod Nano
You can follow the announcements via a live stream feed available at http://apple.com at 10 AM PST Sept. 01 2010. They usually keep the broadcast and make it available in iTunes University after that.
