Posts Tagged ‘ipad’
Video: ‘Optical Tweezers’ App Lets Users Manipulate Microscopic Particles With an iPad
Using a simple, intuitive iPad touchscreen interface, the new app links to an optical tweezers system that uses finely tuned lasers to manipulate tiny particles. Most optical tweezers rely on more cumbersome user interfaces, requiring a joystick or mouse to move particles. The touch-based interface relies on commands users already know innately, like pinching the screen or tilting the entire device to move particles around using spatial intuition.
Such a system should make the iPad a handy tool in molecular biology labs, where optical tweezers are an important tool. Moreover, while most people may have never operated optical tweezers, most have used a touchscreen interface like the iPad’s, lowering the technological barrier to entry in the lab. But perhaps the biggest selling point of this new app: it makes molecular biology look like fun.
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Video: Lions, Tigers, Servals, and Other Wild Felines Playing With an iPad
Start your weekend off right with playful, tech-savvy wild cats
This video, which features one of those ear-piercing songs that come built-in to those 15-key Casio electric pianos that can only play one note at a time, is the result of a collaboration between the app's developer and the Conservator's Center in North Carolina. The Conservator's Center is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving these animals as well as other non-feline animals like wolves, lemurs, binturongs, kinkajous, and deceptively cat-like genets. You can read more about the Conservator's Center here.
[via Gizmodo]
Cognito Comics launches its first graphic novel for the iPad
A few months ago, and gaming company demonstrated one of the coolest media experiences that I’ve seen on the iPad — . At the time, the idea was still very much in development, but today the Operation Ajax application has gone live in Apple’s App Store.
The major startups in digital comics, and , have focused their energies on making deals with publishers to transfer existing comics to the iPad or other devices. Operation Ajax, on the other hand, was created with the iPad in mind, avoiding some of the issues that come with transferring from print (the iPad screen is slightly smaller than a standard comic book page, for starters), and also making the supplementary material that can’t be delivered in print a natural extension of the experience.
In this case, the comic in question is based on Stephen Kinzer’s nonfiction book All the Shah’s Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror, which recounts the 1953 coup in Iran. Cognito gives the story dramatic shape by telling it through the eyes of a fictional CIA operative, but the company says it worked with Kinzer to make sure that the underlying facts are correct.
Operation Ajax is a comic, but it features lots of animation to move readers from panel to panel and page to page. Like I said, it’s an impressive experience, but it’s not a perfect one — it can be hard to figure out exactly when each animation is over and it’s time to turn the page. Readers can also tap on drawings to see extra material like character biographies and photos of real-life locations. They can refer to all that material later on through folders that they can access from anywhere in the story.
The Operation Ajax app is free () and includes the prologue for the story. After that, each chapter (which is about the length of a normal comic book) will cost $2.99, and Cognito plans to release a new chapter each month (or slightly more frequently).
Tall Chair, meanwhile, built the underlying platform and says that it could be used to create iPad-centric content beyond the political comics that Cognito is interested in — but we’ll have to wait for an announcement sometime early next year to hear the details.
Cognito and Tall Chair are both based in San Francisco.
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The best and worst in mobile 2010: It’s all about Apple and Android
It’s been a big year for mobile news. Android continued its strong growth in the smartphone market, Apple shook things up with the iPhone 4 and completely rejuvenated the tablet market with the iPad, and former mobile titans like RIM, Palm and Nokia struggled to maintain their relevancy.
I may be a little biased as VentureBeat’s lead mobile writer, but this year made it clear to me why mobile is one of the most exciting and vibrant areas in technology right now. The research firm IDC predicted in September that this year over last, and it doesn’t look like that will slow down anytime soon. Come next year, we can expect cheaper and more capable smartphones, and tablets that can finally stand up to the iPad.
But before we enter 2011, let’s take a look back at some of the best and worst stories in mobile news this year.
The Best
The iPad finally gets the tablet right, others follow suit
Apple’s wildly successful tablet was one of the worst kept secrets in the technology industry by the end of 2009, when multiple reports pointed to the fact that Apple was gearing up to introduce a tablet device. But not everybody was excited for yet another computing platform (). But, Apple being Apple, it managed to defy expectations , and it continued to do so as the tablet sold like crazy, .
Mere speculation of the iPad sparked an entirely new wave of tablets earlier this year, but most of those early entries failed, like the HP Slate and (more on the latter below). As it was becoming clearer that the iPad was a success, pretty much every major technology company threw their hats into the tablet arena, with the majority adopting Android as their tablet platform of choice. While is the only legitimate Android iPad competitor right now, we can expect even stronger competition next year. RIM also , which looks cool, but didn’t do much to negate the company’s failure to innovate this year (see below).
Android adoption grows like wildfire thanks to killer devices
Google’s Android platform wasn’t truly successful until the release of the Motorola Droid in November 2009, which was buoyed by a strong anti-Apple marketing campaign. Verizon apparently spent $100 million advertising the Droid, an investment which went on to help the entire Android platform in 2011. Earlier this month, Google’s every day (nearly 10 million a month), up from around 50,000 activations at the beginning of the year. In comparison, in its last quarter.
We can also point to the slew of great Android devices this year as a driving force behind the platform’s success. The year started off with the first true “Google phone”, the Nexus One, which Google attempted to sell on its own through an online store. That plan , but the Nexus One heralded other superpowered Android phones like the Evo 4G and Droid X. In the second half of the year, Samsung unveiled its ambitious Galaxy S line of phones across all major US carriers, which we’ll discuss further below.
Basically, if you were on the lookout for an Android phone this year, it was tough to be disappointed.
Apple’s iPhone 4: Its most polished entry yet
Despite the many great Android phones that hit the market this year — which brought a sexy new design, high-definition video recording, front facing camera and FaceTime for video conferencing, and a high-resolution “Retina Display.” Apple didn’t increase the iPhone’s screen size to compete with larger Android phones, but the iPhone 4’s display looks so good it didn’t seem to matter that it was still 3.5-inches.
But while the iPhone 4 is definitely one of the best phones to come out this year, it isn’t without it’s problems, as we’ll discuss below.
Samsung comes out of nowhere to become a major Android manufacturer
Samsung has been building mobile phones for years now, and it’s also released a couple of low-end Android phones. So you can imagine the surprise when, seemingly out of nowhere, featuring its droolworthy 4-inch Super AMOLED screens and its powerful 1-gigahertz Hummingbird processor. And the company didn’t just focus on hardware — Samsung also managed to bring its Galaxy S phones across all major U.S carriers.
The company’s ambition has seemed to pay off. Samsung announced in November that it , and earlier this month we reported that . Much of the hardware in the Galaxy S phones went into Samsung’s Galaxy Tab tablet, which has sold 1 million units two months after it launched. And of course, Samsung’s Galaxy S experience , the second Google phone and Nexus One successor.
Front-facing cameras for mobile video chat
Before we knew the official specifications of the iPhone 4, it was widely known that it would pack a front-facing camera for mobile video conferencing. At the time, I argued that , something I believed would be the next killer feature in smartphones. When Apple finally unveiled the iPhone 4, its was one of the biggest announcements. Finally, we had a simple way to initiate mobile video chats from our phones as easily as making a standard phone call.
While FaceTime is certainly restricted by only working on WiFi networks, Apple made the technology even more useful and the most recent iPod Touch version (which also sports cameras).
Android phones like the Evo 4G, MyTouch 4G and Nexus S also feature front-facing cameras, and I suspect the feature will become even more common next year. The new wave of front cameras also opened the doors for , which has created mobile video chat apps that will work across the iPhone and Android.
Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 is surprisingly cool
Perhaps it was the low expectations going in, but count me as shocked that Microsoft was actually able to make a desirable smartphone platform in Windows Phone 7 — one that offered some key difference from its competitors, as well as an attractive and refreshing user interface.
Microsoft , but didn’t until October. And by that point, it was obvious that to regain its relevancy in mobile devices. The company , and a few weeks after the phones hit shelves. Microsoft announced yesterday that , which doesn’t tell us much about actual users, but it’s a sign that consumers definitely want the phones.
Microsoft knew what it needed to succeed: Attractive high-end smartphones, a strong app community and a modern OS. With Windows Phone 7, it managed to put together all of the right pieces to deliver a platform , even if it is several years too late.
Worst
Microsoft’s Kin: The phones nobody wanted
Kin. Need I say anything else? From the moment , its misguided attempt at capturing the youth market, it was clear that Kin was an idea several years too late. They were severely restricted phones that had subscription plans just as expensive as real smartphones. So it was no surprise when Microsoft, surely with plenty of egg on its face, several weeks after the phones hit stores.
At the time of the Kin’s death, I wrote:
What started as an ambitious attempt to justify Microsoft’s purchase of Danger, the company behind the popular Sidekick messaging phones, turned into a misguided attempt at trying to figure out what young people find cool. Never mind that many teenagers and twenty-somethings had already moved on to legitimate smartphone platforms.
The Kin phones lacked an application store and seemingly basic functionality like a calendar and instant messaging software — a glaring omission for something aimed at “connected” youth. Ultimately, the Kin’s failure is one Microsoft needs to remember: Instead of trying to force-feed a lackluster product to consumers, perhaps it should devote more time on creating something people actually want — like it did with the Xbox 360.
Microsoft kills the Courier dual-screen “digital journal”
At a time when every company seemed hell-bent on taking on the iPad with tablets of their own, was a breath of fresh air. Courier was a dual-screened “digital journal” that was touch-screen capable, but also featured a stylus pen for hand written text, diagrams and more. Video demonstrations of the product made it seem like the evolution of the digital planner, combined with a personal journal and web-enabled tablet.
It was an ambitious move for Microsoft — so before the project even got off the ground.
iPhone 4 design issues: Antennagate, glassgate and the elusive white iPhone 4
As beautiful as Apple’s iPhone 4 may be, it became clear over the course of the year that Apple may have actually over-designed the phone to the point where its looks was interfering with its functionality.
The first big issue was antennagate: As soon as the iPhone 4 started getting into consumers’ hands, many began to notice that they could repeatedly kill their iPhone’s reception by holding the lower-left corner of the device. This time around, Apple made the device’s antenna an integral part of its design, and it appeared as if that allowed users to easily block reception. The issue became so widely known that to address the issue, where he mentioned that in a similar manner. Jobs , and instituted a program to offer free cases to every iPhone 4 owner.
But the iPhone 4’s troubles didn’t stop there. Several gadget sites eventually reported on another phenomenon, , where certain cases that slid onto the back of the iPhone could trap dirt and debris, eventually leading to scratches and cracks on its rear glass panel. Apple never admitted to the issue, but ended up removing sliding cases from its online stores and retail locations. The company is reportedly investigating just how widespread the issue is. It doesn’t appear to be affecting as many users as antennagate, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple is keen on avoiding any further controversy with the iPhone 4.
The iPhone 4’s design was . Apple showed off white iPhone 4s when it was first announced, but that version never found its way to stores. Apparently, the white iPhone 4’s glass back was leaking in light — to the point where it was washing out pictures taken by the device’s camera. The issue was apparently discovered at the last-minute by Apple. The company ended up delaying the release of the white iPhone 4 three times without explanation– now .
HP buys Palm … and does nothing with it
Following lackluster sales of the Palm Pre and Pixi, former mobile leader Palm was in a tough spot at the beginning of the year, and it quickly became obvious that the company was looking to sell. after from four other major companies. The acquisition showed that HP was serious about becoming a player in the smartphone business, and we argued .
That may still happen eventually, but for now it doesn’t look like HP has done much with Palm. In October, of Palm’s innovative webOS operating system, but at the same time it revealed the Palm Pre 2, which was nothing more than a speed upgrade to the original Pre. At a time when killer Android phones were coming left and right, it seemed downright crazy that Palm still didn’t have a major new handset. At least early next year with the “PalmPad.”
RIM and Nokia continue their downward spiral into irrelevancy
I suppose it was too much to ask to see some spark of innovation from either Research in Motion or Nokia this year. Both companies managed to release new flagship devices that somehow feel several years too late.
, it’s first attempt at combining a multitouch screen with its beloved BlackBerry hardware keyboard, which ran its new BlackBerry 6 operating system. Unfortunately, the new OS wasn’t the major upgrade that RIM needed to compete with more modern competitors, and the Torch was hampered by a slow processor and low display resolution. In the end, it was a minor release when RIM needed something major. Next year RIM may release a phone featuring the next-generation OS on its PlayBook tablet, but who knows when that will actually happen.
Nokia faced similar software problems with its N8 smartphone. In my review, . Nokia too is gearing up to release a next-generation OS next year, dubbed Meego, together with Intel. But Meego has seen some serious delays, and unless it comes out early next year, it risks being too little, too late, for Nokia.
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HP to show off its PalmPad webOS tablet next month?
HP is gearing up to unveil its long-awaited tablet running Palm’s webOS software. It will show off the device at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next month, according to , who also managed to dig up some details on the device.
We reported in September that HP was abandoning its plans for an Android tablet and was . A CES debut would fit into the company’s schedule, and it would also give Palm a leg up on Apple’s second-generation iPad announcement. At the same time, CES will definitely be filled with tablets of all shapes and sizes, so it’s going to be tough for Palm to stand out.
Morris says that HP will debut three tablet models, each running a new version of the webOS operating system (version 2.5.1). They will likely feature screens around 10 inches, front and rear-facing cameras (at 1.3 and 3 megapixels) and compatibility with Sprint’s 4G wireless network. For video output, the PalmPads will sport a mini-HDMI connection. They may also have a USB 3.0 port, which doesn’t make much sense to me on a tablet but should allow for extremely fast data transfer between the tablet and other devices.
A fourth version won’t be shown at CES and will be customized for university students. It may feature a smaller 8.9-inch screen, according to Morris, and will also “have access to a university’s internet educational software.”
Morris describes the PalmPad designs as a spin-off of the “never released” HP Slate tablet. Actually, HP did release the Slate, which ran Windows 7, for $799 in October — it’s just that nobody cared. VentureBeat’s Dean Takahashi .
I wouldn’t be surprised if HP decided to reuse its Slate hardware for the PalmPad, but I hope that it gets a redesign so it doesn’t appear too similar to the failed tablet.
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Apple secures future iPhone displays, joins Sharp for $1.2B LCD expansion
Sharp is gearing up to spend around $1.2 billion on expanding its product lines for small and midsize LCD panels, most of which are meant for Apple’s iPhone, .
Apparently, Apple will cover a large portion of the $1.2 billion investment and is going to purchase much of Sharp’s LCD output for the iPhone. Apple is clearly securing more displays in anticipation of high demand of it’s next-generation iPhone. It’s also likely trying to avoid display supply issues and other display manufacturers faced this year.
On Monday, Japan’s Nikkei business newspaper reported that Toshiba was making a similarly large investment in LCD production and that Apple would also be benefiting from it. Toshiba that Apple would invest in the production of its new factory, but that still leaves the door open for Apple to be the primary buyer of its LCD panels from that plant.
Both Sharp and Toshiba’s plants will focus on midsize displays, in addition to smaller displays for the iPhone, meaning they could also be producing supply for Apple’s iPad. By diversifying its suppliers, Apple is ensuring that issues with one plant won’t kill its ability to make iPhones and iPads completely.
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Surprise, surprise: Apple’s iPad expected to dominate tablets into 2012
Even though we’re seeing a slew of Android tablets on the horizon, Apple’s iPad is expected to maintain its leading place in the tablet market into 2012, according to J.P. Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz.
This, of course, should surprise no one. The iPad sparked the most recent tablet craze when it was announced early last year, this after the tablet market saw several false starts over the past few decades.
Moskowitz predicts tablet revenues will rise to $24.9 billion in 2011 (up from $10.2 billion this year) and that they’ll hit $34.1 billion in 2012. The iPad, which will make up for 89.4 percent of tablet revenues this year, will still account for a significant portion of total tablet revenues in the next few years. In 2011, he predicts the iPad will account for 71.6 percent of tablet revenue, and by 2012 it will still lead with 61.4 percent.
Apple in the iPad’s first six months, and some analysts predict . The iPad has a significant head start on its rivals, and it also boasts more polished software — Android isn’t expected to be optimized for tablets until its version 3.0 release in the first half of 2011. Moskowitz also expects Android 3.0 to be released some time around the release of the second generation iPad, which should dull the impact of Android tablets even further.
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