• app store,  games,  ipad,  iphone,  itunes,  mac os x,  popcap,  touch

    Plants vs. Zombies HD on Sale

    May 29, 2011 /

    PopCap’s popular game Plants vs. Zombies HD for iPad and iPad 2 is on sale right now for $1.99 (iTunes link).  PvZ, as it is often referred to, is normally $6.99.

    If you haven’t played before, the premise is that you control a variety of plants and mushrooms to stop the zombie horde that is invading your yard from the cemetery across the street.  Oh, and your neighbor, Crazy Dave shows up every now and again to sell you more seeds and other important upgrades.  The best part of the game, for me anyway, are all of the wonderful plants and things in your zombie busting arsenal.  It’s hard to look cute and slightly irritated all at the same time.

    Sounds weird, I know.  Until you play it.  My kids and I started off playing the web version, and I decided that we like the game enough to buy the Mac OS X version.  For a while there, I was super addicted to the game because I wanted to make it all the way to the end of the game and not get stuck on a tough level.

    PopCap also has a version of PvZ for the iPhone/iPod touch for $2.99 (iTunes link).  You can also purchase the Mac OS X version from the Mac App Store for $9.99 (App Store link) or, if you’re on a Windows PC, you can purchase the game directly from the PopCap website.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98v7Jq6IFrE]

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  • android,  apple,  blackberry,  google,  ipad,  touchpad,  web os,  windows

    Forget the iPad! The HP TouchPad Will Be the #1+ Tablet!

    May 24, 2011 /

    Chalk this one to drinking too much marketing Kool-Aid(tm), but Eric Cador, HP’s senior VP of Personal Systems Group in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, said that the HP TouchPad, powered by webOS 3.0, will surpass all of the tablets on the market today; including the Apple iPad.

    Mr. Cador, in an interview with The Telegraph, stated:

    “In the PC world, with fewer ways of differentiating HP’s products from our competitors, we became number one. In the tablet world, we’re going to become better than number one. We call it number one plus.”

    Are you kidding me?!  I think that it is going to take a little more than HP willing that their new TouchPad will beat out the growing number of tablet devices in the market running Google’s Android, Windows 7, RIM’s QNX, and, well, Apple’s iOS powered iPad 2.

    Don’t get me wrong.  I’m sure webOS 3.0 and the TouchPad are going to be a great platform, but with webOS hovering around 3% market share in the smartphone OS category, HP is facing a long hard up hill battle.

    [Via AllThingsD.com…]

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  • apple,  ios,  ipad,  retail

    Apple Launches ‘Retail 2.0’ Store Format

    May 22, 2011 /

     Rolling out across all of Apple’s Retail Stores this morning is the “Retail 2.0” make over.  As seen from the picture above, Apple has replaced the paper details display with interactive iPad 2 displays.  Cool!  Not get-out-of-bed-super-early-on-a-Sunday-morning-and-drive-an-hour kind of cool, but cool none the less.

    In addition to the changes to the retail displays, Apple is expected to deploy a new Apple Store iOS app that will allow you to customize your online order, something that is not possible with the original app.

    Apple retail employees are getting some new toys also.  They are suppose to be outfitted with iPads to help manage the large numbers of customers that come to the store each day.  9To5Mac.com writes:

    “The new iPads are imaged with: RetailMe, Apple Connect, Apple Directory, Concierge, and strangely enough, the Easy Pay application (huge credit card readers on the way?!), as well as the standard Mobile Genius and iRepair.”

    Click the Read More link for more photos.

    [Via MacStories.net, 9To5Mac.com…]

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  • android,  games,  google,  hp,  ios,  ipad,  iphone,  palm,  touch,  web os

    Angry Birds Rio Updated With Beach Volley Levels

    May 14, 2011 /

    Rivio’s Angry Birds Rio has been updated to include the 30 new Beach Volley levels.

    The update is available now for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.  Angry Birds Rio for iPhone/iPod touch is $.99; the Angry Birds Rio HD edition for iPad is $2.99.  The upgrade with the new levels is free to all existing Angry Birds Rio customers.

    Angry Birds Rio, like other versions of the Angry Birds franchise, includes Game Center achievements and new hidden fruits to find.  Once you have completed episode one, Blu and Jewel will be added to your avian arsenal. 

    Rovio has also released a free edition of Angry Birds Rio which features three levels per episode.

    Google Android and HP webOS users, unfortunately, still have to wait for Rovio to release the Beach Volley update.

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  • apple,  ios,  ipad,  iphone,  itunes

    Apple Releases iOS 4.3.3 to Address “Locationgate” Bug

    May 5, 2011 /

    Today, Apple released the iOS 4.3.3 update for iPhone 4 (GSM), iPad, and iPod touch alongside of iOS 4.2.8 for the iPhone 4 (CDMA).

    Today’s updates are intended to address the location tracking issues around the consolidated.db file that contacts a large amount of cellular and Wi-Fi hot spot location tracking data that is used by an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to help the device locate itself.

    Specifically, iOS 4.3.3 and iOS 4.2.8 address:

    • Reduces the size of the cache
    • No longer backs the cache up to iTunes
    • Deletes the cache entirely when Location Services is turned off
    Today’s updates can be applied to the iPhone 4 (GSM model), iPad and iPad 2, iPhone 3GS, iPod touch (4th and 3rd edition), and iPhone 4 (CDMA model).

    Use iTunes 10 on your Mac or Windows PC to download the software and update your device.

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  • android,  google,  ipad,  motorola,  sprint

    Motorola Sells 250,000 Xoom Tablets

    April 29, 2011 /

    Motorola Mobility, the handset and tablet device making spin off company from the Motorola mother ship recently announced their Q1, 2011 financials.

    According to BGR.com, Motorola shipped something north of 250,000 Xoom Android powered tablets.  Not too bad for a device that doesn’t have a fruit logo on the back, and certainly better than the ugly sales figures that are being tossed around by analysts for RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook.

    Motorola’s press material reads:

    “The Company shipped a total of 9.3 million mobile devices, including 4.1 million smartphones and more than 250,000 Motorola XOOM™ tablets. In the first quarter of 2010, the Company shipped 8.5 million mobile devices, including 2.3 million smartphones.”

     The good news for Motorola Mobility is that they are selling more Droid devices, smartphone and tablets, than they were a year ago and is holding their own against the pack of iPad wanna be devices.

    If you are looking to pick up a Moto Xoom, Sprint announced today that they will begin selling Wi-Fi only version of the Android 3.0 Honeycomb powered tablet starting on May 8 for the “low” price of $600.

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  • apple,  ipad,  iphone,  macbook pro,  mobileme

    MobileMe: Paid, Free, or Somewhere in the Middle?

    March 29, 2011 /

    MobileMe is an online service provided by Apple that provides you access to a “me” email account, online storage for documents, music, and photos, plus, Mac specific features to keep all your Mac settings in sync across multiple Mac OS X computers.

    In 2011, many people are hoping for a major revamp of the service, thanks to a brief email from Apple CEO Steve Jobs that said MobileMe will, “get a lot better in 2011.”

    Mr. Jobs’ statement touched off the rumor mill that MobileMe would get new services, become free to compete with other offerings from Google, DropBox, and the like, or get a new mix of “free-mium” options.

    With the introduction of iOS 4.2.1, Apple chose to make the Find My iPhone service free to their iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch customers.  It is a great feature for any iOS device owners, specifically for iPhone owners.  Again, this change to MobileMe, which allowed anyone with an iOS device and an Apple ID account could now use the service which typically required a $99 annual subscription to use.

    Most recently, Apple stopped shipping boxed “copies” of MobileMe to their retail stores and authorized resellers.  Many people, myself included, thought that this change signaled the impending switch to a free service or some other free or build your own package service offering for MobileMe.

    Today, TUAW.com has a report up that Apple could be changing the way you pay for MobileMe, which sounds like MobileMe isn’t going to be a completely free service.

    Up until now, I haven’t feel a need to have a MobileMe account, a side from the Find My iPad app.  Having already made the decision to switch from my Palm Pre to an iPhone 5 this year, I am revisiting my decision to subscribe to MobileMe or not.  With two MacBooks, and iPad, and a new iPhone 5 in the cards for this year, albeit maybe later than I planned, a MobileMe subscription looks to be a good way to keep all of my Apple gear in sync.

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  • apple,  ios,  ipad,  iphone,  touch

    Apple Releases iOS 4.3.1 Update

    March 27, 2011 /

    On Friday evening, Apple released a minor update to iOS, 4.3.1.  The update address the following issues:

    • Fixes an occasional graphics glitch on iPod touch (4th generation)
    • Resolves bugs related to activating and connecting to some cellular networks
    • Fixes image flicker when using Apple Digital AV Adapter with some TVs
    • Resolves an issue authenticating with some enterprise web services

    Notably, the CDMA iPhone 4 for Verizon and the iPad 2 did not receive the update.

    I have been using iOS 4.3.1 since Friday evening when it was released and I have not noticed any changes for better or worse.  Some people have claimed that the battery life on their iPhone 4 was decreased after applying the iOS 4.3 update on March 9.

    The update is also rumored to address a security flaw uncovered during the security and hacking event Pwn2Own, which too place earlier this month.

    The software update is available now for most current model iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch models.   

    To upgrade your iDevice, make sure that you are running the latest version of iTunes on your Mac or Windows PC, and then connect your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, and follow the on screen directions.

    Need Help Upgrading to iOS 4.3.1?  Check out our iOS upgrade directions!

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  • apple,  att,  ipad,  verizon

    Apple Sees Strong Sales of iPad 2 During Launch Weekend

    March 13, 2011 /

    Apple enjoyed long lines and strong sales of their new table device, iPad 2 this weekend.

    The iPad 2, which went on sale this past Friday at 5pm, generated the kinds of lines that the previous iPad and iPhone 4 created.  According to a post this weekend on AppleInsider.com, Piper Jaffray researcher said that there where over 1,000 people in line at Apple’s 5th Ave retail store in Manhattan, New York City. Friday afternoon hoping to get their hands on the new device.

    Throughout the weekend, “supply checks” at various Apple retail locations and other authorized resellers indicated that the iPad 2 had been selling well and that some models had already sold out.

    Orders placed online for any of the Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi + 3G models of iPad 2 are listed as shipping in 3-4 weeks.

    In the days leading up to the iPad 2 launch, Apple was not taking online reservations or pre-orders as they had done with the original iPad and the Verizon iPhone 4.  As a result, the launch of the iPad 2 generated the kind of customer lines that have become almost common place for an Apple mobile device product launch.

    For competitors hoping to finally get product out on the market this year who had been chasing after the original iPad, the bar has just been raised that much higher.

    [Via AppleInsider.com…]

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