Google+ Adds iPad Support in Latest App Update

Google+ is now available on the iPad, with Tuesday's release of the latest version of its iOS app. And Google says with this new version, you won't be able to put your device down.

Previously only offering support for iPhone, the new app will allow users to do Google+ Hangouts from their iPad as well. It also supports -- a potentially useful feature where users can pool and display event photos.

Google notes that it designed the new app with the iPad in mind. In its blog post, the company pointed out some new, interactive features:
Pinch and expand posts right in your stream to add your comments
Use two fingers to drag a post from your stream to easily re-share it
Start a Hangout from your iPad and stream it to your TV using AirPlay

Google announced at its developer conference last month, , that an iPad-friendly version of the app would be coming soon. It's now available in the .

This article comes from:http://news.yahoo.com/google-adds-ipad-support-latest-app-142118626.html;_ylt=A2KJjb09Yf1PPAYAqWnQtDMD

Google Nexus 7 vs iPad: Which One's For You?

The Google Nexus 7 was unveiled earlier last week and with it shaking up the tablet market with its great specs at bargain basement prices. So how does the Google Nexus 7 tablet compare against the current king of the hill, the New iPad? Let's take a quick look.

Google Nexus 7 vs New iPad: quick overview
Screen: The screen of a tablet is hugely important, and there are few better than the Retina display on the New iPad. The Nexus 7, as per the name, has a 7” HD 1280x800p screen, which is good, but not as good as the iPad.

Processor: For its price, the Nexus 7 is very powerful, with a Tegra 3 chipset, a quad-core CPU and a 12-core GPU; it’s amazing when playing games on it. The iPad has the A5X chip and a quad-core GPU however with benchmarks showing it is well ahead of any other tablet on the market at the moment.Weight: The new iPad weighs more than the iPad 2 and also the Nexus. The Nexus 7 weighs half as much as the iPad, at 340g compared to 680g. So if

Connectivity: The iPad has it in terms of connectivity. The Nexus won't be available in a 3G version just yet, so the iPad is unchallenged in non-Wi-Fi terms. It also has added LTE support on networks like Verizon.Price: The Nexus wins out on price - $199 for the 8GB entry model is well below the base 16GB New iPad '3' at $499.

Google certainly has thrown some serious punches with the Nexus 7 – the price alone will tempt many – plus its impressive power, the 600,000+ apps and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. However it is more aimed to compete with the likes of other 7-inch tablets and not the 9.75-inch New iPad 3. So if you're looking for something very portable and won't break the bank, the Nexus 7 is a better bet. Otherwise by all means go for the New iPad 3 which still remains the king of tablets.

This article coms from:http://www.motoringcrunch.com/news/mobile-tech/11168-google-nexus-7-vs-ipad

Box Brings 50 Apps Partners To Android

The Box cloud file-sharing service is introducing an Android upgrade that offers 50 new app integrations, bringing Android up to par with the Box OneCloud service first offered to iPhone and iPad users.

Box OneCloud for Android allows apps to read, write, and update files fetched from Box, and an apps gallery promotes the available apps that take advantage of those features. A new SDK for Android developers is also being released on thedevelopers' site.

Box introduced OneCloud for iOS as part of a series of platform and API updates announced this spring. Chris Yeh, VP of platform at Box, said the announcement of the first 30 OnCloud partners for iOS was met with a flood of complaints from Android users feeling left out. OneCloud is now up to 50 iOS partners, and it hopes to smoothen ruffled feathers in "Android land" by matching that number on Android from the launch of this program. Among the most popular of the Android apps are iAnnotate, Breezy, Docusign Ink, and Fetchnotes.

"Android actually has the most users for us of any mobile platform," Yeh said in an interview. However, the demand for productivity apps on the iPad in particular drove iOS to the top of Box's priority list initially. Android tablets have not been as widely adopted, but Android on phones is very popular, he said. Although Box would ideally have pursued both at the same time, "we're still not big enough as a company to do all those simultaneous launches."


Android makes file management easier than does iOS, but Box still had to invest in adding the security required by its enterprise customers, Yeh said. "We've done a lot of work around apps to handle the roundtrip cleanly."
Box assures that files downloaded to the device are never stored in an unencrypted form on the device, meaning they can be accessed only if the user is authenticated to the service, he said. OneCloud extends that assurance to the third-party apps it works with, so that they also leave nothing behind where it could be easily extracted from a lost or stolen device, he said."We can't have files leave Box, ever," Yeh said.

Box is pursuing a vision of productivity tools built around the storage service, which it is delivering first to mobile users, although similar families of apps might be built up over time around the Box Web application, Yeh said. Box research shows that 40% of its users access Box from a mobile device. Upon further examination of the usage statistics, Box recently discovered that 35% of users access Box exclusively from a mobile device. "That was super surprising," Yeh said.

This article comes from:http://www.informationweek.com/thebrainyard/news/file_sharing/240002645

Microsoft tablet and iPad to duke it out at large companies

Windows 8 Pro tablets have a shot at slowing iPad adoption at large companies, said Deutsche Bank -- though an analyst tempered the assessment with reservations.

Microsoft Surface tablets running Windows 8 Pro can "leverage" the large existing base of Windows customers, giving them a better chance at checking the "penetration" of Apple's iPad at large business accounts, Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore wrote in a research note on Monday.

But Whitmore quickly qualified this as a "best case scenario" because Microsoft is "swimming upstream against the consumerization of IT," referring to employees who bring their own iPads to work.The Intel-based Pro version will likely be priced in the range of $900 to more than $1,000. "Or roughly in line with similarly configured ultrabooks," he wrote.

That's roughly a 20 percent premium over the most expensive 64GB iPad with 4G, according to Whitmore. And Windows Pro Surface tablets must also contend with the iPad's superior battery life and the iPad's large number of third-party apps, he said.

RT tablets -- less expensive Surface tablets built around Windows RT and ARM silicon -- have even less chance against the iPad, Whitmore said.

Below is a Deutsche Bank breakdown of iPad and Surface tablet pricing and configurations.

This article comes from:http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-57460277-92/microsoft-tablet-and-ipad-to-duke-it-out-at-large-companies/

Win an iPad! But take our smartphone survey first

Network World is conducting a survey of its readers’ smartphone preferences – both in their personal and work lives. Everyone who participates will be eligible to win a free Apple iPad.

Participation is limited to one entry per person. All participants must be 18 years or older and must reside in the United States or Canada. Only those who have filled out the registration form and the entire survey will be eligible to win the iPad.

The survey is meant to gain an objective view of what devices, software, apps, and carriers Network World’s readers are using and how they use them. Especially with so-called consumer devices making their way further into the enterprise, now is as good a time as any to take a step back and see how people are using their smartphones and what they think about them.

Network World will independently aggregate the data you provide us and publish the results. Any personal information submitted on the registration page will be used for no purpose other than contacting the prize winner, and will not be handled by anyone outside of Network World.

The results of the survey will be published within the coming weeks, and the winner of the iPad will be contacted directly via the email address provided in the survey’s registration page.

The survey can be accessed here, and has also been distributed on our Facebook, Twitterand LinkedIn pages. Thank you for your participation, and we hope you’re the one taking our next survey on a brand new iPad.

This article comes from: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2012/062512-smartphone-survey-260423.html

Local iPhone, iPad apps meld music lessons, video games

Don't kid yourselves, guitar heroes: Racking up mega-scores with that fake guitar won't get you any closer to playing the real thing.If you really want to learn the guitar or another instrument, though, a number of apps for the iPad and iPhone can help -- and you'll feel like you're still playing a video game.


In fact, some music experts have dubbed this the "gamification" of music education, a means for making sometimes-grueling music learning more palatable and enjoyable.A handful of apps with St. Paul connections are a part of this high-tech music-education surge.

Tone Target, developed by J. Anthony Allen at the McNally Smith College of Music in downtown St. Paul, is a dead ringer for Guitar Hero.Dots representing tones endlessly flow on an iPad screen, similar to how the video game behaves. Replicate each of the tones on cue using an instrument or your voice and you become a music titan. (Just don't smash your poor guitar on the floor when you're done.)

AtPlayMusic Recorder, partly the brainchild of St. Paul Chamber Orchestra musician "Skip" James, is a music course with the trappings of a video game. Aimed largely at children, it shows users the basics of playing the simple wind instrument known as the recorder.

Would you rather learn to play the electric guitar, all you Mark Knopfler wannabes? Ah, the next title in the AtPlayMusic series will tackle the instrument with input from another (local) guitar guy, the downtown music academy's co-founder, Jack McNally.Stillwater app developer Troy Peterson, meanwhile, is working on a "Ninja" series of music apps such as Guitar Ninja, Piano Ninja, Mandolin Ninja and so on. The first in this series, Guitar Ninja, is scheduled to be released in the coming weeks.

Peterson, a St. Paul native, believes such apps and the touchscreen devices they run on will be "ubiquitous" parts of music education in the coming years."You still need a music teacher," Peterson said, but he believes that apps and tablets can help music teachers do their jobs better, too.

Many such teaching jobs and music programs at U.S. school districts have been the victim of cutbacks, however. This makes music education ripe for digital disruption with apps and other tools that can be used anywhere, not just in the classroom.

The stakes could not be higher, said Bill Haertzen, vice president of business development at Eden Prairie-based AtPlayMusic."A culture that doesn't have music is a culture that has lost its soul," Haertzen said. "Music is something that binds people together."

This article comes from:http://www.twincities.com/life/ci_20894921/ipod-apps-are-teaching-users-how-play-instruments

Apple's iOS 6 Hints That The Next iPhone Will Have A Bigger Screen

The beta version of Apple's new mobile operating system, iOS 6, has been in developers' hands for about a week now. As they begin to pick apart iOS 6, we're learning a lot more about Apple's future plans for iPhones and iPads.

Aside from all the cool new user-facing features such as Facebook integration and the new 3D maps app, TechCrunch points out one addition that could hint at Apple's plans for a new iPhone with a larger screen.

It's called Auto Layout, a new tool for iPhone and iPad developers that helps them adjust their apps for different types of screen layouts. For example, if you're making an app with multiple language support, Auto Layout will help make sure navigation buttons, and other design elements are placed correctly.

But more importantly, Auto Layout will help developers make sure their apps will support multiple resolutions. That means if Apple decides to pull the trigger on an iPhone with a 4-inch display or iPad with a 7-inch display, it won't be too much work for developers to prepare their apps for the new devices.

This article comes from:http://www.businessinsider.com/ios-6-sdks-auto-layout-hints-at-larger-iphone-screen-2012-6

PreSonus AudioBox Gets iPad Control

PreSonus is shipping AudioBox 1.2, a free update that significantly enhances the performance and versatility of their AudioBox 1818VSL interface and also provides a number of new features for its AudioBox USB, AudioBox 22VSL and AudioBox 44VSLaudio/MIDI interfaces.

One of the biggest enhancements for the AudioBox 1818VSL is that support has been added for AB1818VSL Remote for iPad. With this free app, you can control virtually every parameter in Virtual StudioLive for AudioBox 1818VSL from an iPad, including volume, pan, aux sends, FX buses, and Fat Channel parameters.

As a result, users can use an AudioBox 1818VSL and USB-connected laptop as a full-featured mixer/recorder for small gigs, rehearsal spaces, and mobile churches, with the iPad serving as a touchscreen mixing surface. In the studio, manage the monitor mixes from your iPad while dedicating your computer screen to a DAW.

A firmware update rescales the preamp tapers on the AudioBox 1818VSL to add more headroom; Virtual StudioLive for 1818VSL now sends all channels to outputs 7/8 (headphones) by default.With the AudioBox 1.2 update, all AudioBox-series interfaces become compatible with USB 3.0-a rarity among audio interfaces.

This update also provides enhancements for specific AudioBox-series models:
The AudioBox USB gains a new, optimized Windows driver for improved performance and a new Windows control panel to adjust buffer size and sample rate.
The meters in Virtual StudioLive for all AudioBox VSL-series interfaces have been recalibrated to match the RMS meters in PreSonus' Studio One DAW.

All AudioBox VSL-series interfaces have been integrated into Studio One™ Cue Mix, providing volume and pan control over monitor mixes with the same near-zero latency that Virtual StudioLive software provides.

This article comes from:http://www.sonicstate.com/news/2012/06/13/presonus-audiobox-gets-ipad-control/

Helic Releases its VeloceRF Inductor Synthesis EDA Tool for iPad and iPhone

Helic Inc., the technology leader in Electronic Design Automation (EDA) solutions for RF and high-speed IC design, announces the availability of its VeloceRF™ tool for Apple's iPad® and iPhone®. VeloceRF is an industry-acclaimed tool providing rapid modeling and synthesis of integrated inductors and transformers, with signoff accuracy for electromagnetic effects such as mutual inductance, skin effect and substrate losses.

VeloceRF for iPad and iPhone can be downloaded from the App Store(SM).
Helic aimed this to become a first-of-a-kind app, bringing the functionality of a commercial-grade EDA tool to a mobile platform. The app leverages the company's acclaimed inductor synthesis and modeling engine, which has been ported to the cloud, while providing an intuitive user experience on the iPad and iPhone.

Based on the reception of VeloceRF for iPad and iPhone by the IC design community, Helic will consider adding more functionality to the app. The initial version of VeloceRF for iPad and iPhone uses generic technology files for 65 nanometer and 28 nanometer silicon processes.

Helic will be demonstrating VeloceRF for iPad and iPhone, along with the company’s regular EDA products, at the forthcoming Design Automation Conference in San Francisco (4-6 June 2012). To arrange for a demo of Helic products please visit http://www.helic.com/demos.

iPad and iPhone are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.

About Helic
Helic, Inc. develops disruptive EDA technologies for RFIC and high-speed SoC design. We provide our customers with a comprehensive offering combining design tools, silicon IP and applications support, greatly reducing the development cycles of chips for wireless communications, broadband networking, PCs, tablets and other segments. We provide technology for rapid electromagnetics modeling, RF component synthesis, and signal integrity of silicon ICs and Systems-in-Package. Our solutions have been adopted by several major semiconductor companies since 2000.

This article comes from:http://www.virtual-strategy.com/2012/06/02/helic-releases-its-velocerf-inductor-synthesis-eda-tool-ipad-and-iphone

iBooks author:Create and publish amazing Multi-Touch books for ipad

 

Available free on the Mac App Store, iBooks Author is an amazing new app that allows anyone to create beautiful Multi-Touch textbooks — and just about any other kind of book — for iPad. With galleries, video, interactive diagrams, 3D objects, and more, these books bring content to life in ways the printed page never could.

This article comes from:http://www.apple.com/ibooks-author/