https://touchreviews.net iPhone, iPad Games, Apps, Reviews, News Thu, 30 Jul 2015 08:09:28 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.3 Apple iPad Not Quite Ready for US Universities https://touchreviews.net/apple-ipad-us-universities-ban/ https://touchreviews.net/apple-ipad-us-universities-ban/#comments Sat, 17 Apr 2010 05:29:35 +0000 https://touchreviews.net/?p=6149 Read More]]> More iPad Banninations!

Earlier in the week news came in of the Israeli authorities confiscating iPads from their owners as they entered the country. The argument they gave was that the iPad used Wi-Fi frequencies that “could interfere” with Israel’s own Wi-Fi infrastructure. I wonder if those same authorities know about iPhones, iPods and Apple’s laptops? Or other mobile devices?

We are hearing now that certain US Universities are banning the iPad also. Namely Cornell University, George Washington University and Princeton University. The reasons given are similar in some cases to Israel’s reasoning.

Some of the universities refer simply to Wi-Fi network load problems, while others are citing “security issues”. It’s all a little vague at the moment, but reports state that at George Washington University iPad, iPhones, and iPods have all been blocked from their networks.

This is something of a blow to Apple who are touting the iPad as a must-have device for students. My first reaction to this news is that Apple is a victim of its own success. iPhone, iPods and iPads don’t do anything that differently from other similar mobile devices. But there are a lot more of them out there in students’ hands these days. Hence iPad, iPhone, and iPod touches are likely to become the focus of attention as networks become log jammed in these institutions.

Therefore it seems to me that this is more an issue of University network infrastructure not being able to keep up with the increasing number of mobile devices that students carry and use on a day to day basis (and the growing bandwidth that they require).

Perhaps Universities should insist that students download Opera Mini and use that for web surfing from their iDevices instead of Mobile Safari? But then Opera Mini allegedly has it’s own issues with security due to the cached nature of its compressed web pages. But that is a story for another day.

We’ll keep you posted as further news comes in.

Has your University banned you from using any mobile device on their network? Let us know in the comments. We’d be particularly interested to hear if this is just affecting Apple devices or any others?

]]> https://touchreviews.net/apple-ipad-us-universities-ban/feed/ 1 Apple iPhone OS 4.0 Keynote Event Roundup https://touchreviews.net/apple-iphone-os-40-keynote-event-roundup/ https://touchreviews.net/apple-iphone-os-40-keynote-event-roundup/#comments Thu, 08 Apr 2010 19:20:34 +0000 https://touchreviews.net/?p=5998 Read More]]> iPhone OS 4 Live keynote event

Apple has certainly been on a streak lately. The public release of the iPad has been a complete success and now the details of the much anticipated iPhone OS 4.0. The new operating system has been the main object of speculation and rumor since the unveiling of the Apple tablet in January. Today’s announcement finally threw back the curtain and gave us all a vision of the future of the iPhone and iPad platforms. While the tech media machine discerned and speculated most of the features beforehand, there were still a few surprises no one saw coming.

Let’s review the seven main features of the announcement:

This was the big feature everyone has been waiting for. While it remains to be seen whether this is true multitasking in the sense that the application runs in the background or is preserved in some kind of frozen state, this feature should enhance the iPhone experience greatly. What we do know is multitasking will support audio, VoIP, location and navigation applications running in the background. In addition to this multitasking will include enhanced push notifications, local notifications, task completion, and fast app switching.

One of the main complaints about the iPhone user interface is the endless succession of home screens full of icons. The Folders feature allows a user to create a pile of icons that appear as a folder on their home screen. Tapping the folder provides access to all of the apps in the folder.

iPhone OS 4.0 will enhance the native Mail app in several significant ways. The most significant is a unified inbox. All of a user’s e-mail can now be delivered to one location. On the e-mail side, messages can now be organized by thread and attachments opened with an external app identified for that purpose or file extension.

Apple will bring the iBooks application to the iPhone.

iPhone OS 4.0 will bring a number of enhancements relevant to Enterprise users. They include increased data protection, mobile device management, wireless app distribution, multiple Exchange accounts, Exchange Server 2010 support and SSL VPN support.

This was an enhancement no one saw coming. GameCenter provides an Xbox Live type interface for iPhone gaming. It integrates social gaming, friend invites, matchmaking, leaderboards and achievements. It will be interesting to see how developers use this enhancement and how much it cuts into the business of applications like OpenFeint.

iAd is Apple’s entry into mobile advertising. While this may seem like a rather mundane enhancement, iAd will feature rich, in-app interactive and video advertisements. The advertisements demoed at the presentation seemed more like applications than static ads. Apple will sell and host the ads and split revenue 60/40 in favor of developers.

Multitasking was easily the most exciting and interesting announcement. The single criticism most used against the operating system is now gone and if Apple is prepared to release it, you know it has been tested and works extremely well. It may not be the full, preemptive multitasking users are familiar with from a desktop computer paradigm but I think it will be enough to make users happy without running into the problems encountered on mobile platforms like Android.

The move to version 4.0 seems like more of a major upgrade than the move to version 3.0 a year ago. I think this has a lot to do with the fact the iPhone OS now supports a major device in the iPad. I think it’s also indicative of Apple’s vision for the future, a vision where the iPhone OS and its ancestors are the future of Apple computing. Sure, Mac OS will always exist as a full operating system, but as Apple shifts focus from computers to consumer electronics the iPhone OS represents the lightweight operating system required to make such a change. Version 4.0 will be available in the summer for the iPhone and iPod Touch and in the fall for the iPad. The iPad, iPhone 3GS, and 3rd generation Touch will be able to run all of the new features. The iPhone 3G and 2nd generation Touch will run most features but notably multitasking will not be available. No word on pricing as of yet.

What are your thoughts on today’s announcements? Did Apple fill some of the major gaps in the iPhone OS? Would you be compelled to buy a product that runs the new operating system? Are you encouraged by Apple’s vision of the future based on the new OS? Leave us a comment and let us know.

You can read our complete  live coverage here.

]]> https://touchreviews.net/apple-iphone-os-40-keynote-event-roundup/feed/ 3 Live Coverage. Apple iPhone OS 4.0 Sneak Peek Keynote Event https://touchreviews.net/live-coverage-apple-iphone-os-4-keynote-event/ https://touchreviews.net/live-coverage-apple-iphone-os-4-keynote-event/#comments Thu, 08 Apr 2010 12:40:44 +0000 https://touchreviews.net/?p=5983 Read More]]> apple iphone event OS 4 live coverage

With less than a week after a major product launch Apple’s announcement of iPhone OS 4.0 event was quite unexpected. Apple will give us a sneak peek into the future of iPhone OS later today. The event will be live at Apple’s Infinite Loop campus in Cupertino.

There have been many rumors suggesting different features which could possibly be announced today. The iPhone has been often criticized for not supporting multitasking for third party apps and iPhone OS 4.0 might add this highly anticipated feature. The next generation of iPhone OS could also support Apple’s new mobile Ad network (iAds?)

Apple ‘future of iPhone OS’ Event will begin on Thursday, April 8th at 10AM PT. We will start broadcasting the Live feed by 9:00AM.

Bookmark and share this page as we bring you the all-in-one live feed from all popular news sources. We will be updating you with the latest images and features of iPhone OS 4.0 and all other announcements.

No need to refresh the page!

Don’t miss this event, check your time zone:

07:00AM – Hawaii
10:00AM – Pacific
11:00AM – Mountain
12:00PM – Central
01:00PM – Eastern
06:00PM – London
07:00PM – Paris

News source: Engadget and Gizmodo
]]> https://touchreviews.net/live-coverage-apple-iphone-os-4-keynote-event/feed/ 2 B&N eReader for iPad Coming Soon https://touchreviews.net/barnes-and-noble-bandn-ereader-app-for-ipad-coming-soon/ https://touchreviews.net/barnes-and-noble-bandn-ereader-app-for-ipad-coming-soon/#comments Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:04:33 +0000 https://touchreviews.net/?p=5378 Read More]]> Apple is taking the e-book business very seriously and the iPad will certainly prove to be a serious threat to Kindle from Amazon. By developing eReaders major publishers want to make sure that people always have access to their favourite books in digital format.

Today Barnes & Noble updated their blog with some information about their upcoming iPad app.

The app will be designed specifically for the iPad and will feature more than one million eBooks, magazines and newspapers in the Barnes & Noble eBookstore.

B&N eReader for iPad is expected to be made available in the first week of April.

Source: B&N Unbound

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