On Monday, a press release from News Corp noted that their news and entertainment division would be spitting up and there would a new CEO for the publishing division. In this separation of businesses, News Corp has proposed a plan to entirely shut down its iPad-focused newspaper, The Daily.

The Daily launched on February 11th last year, in an attempt to focus on online publishing, specifically for tablets such as the iPad. The news division will keep the name News Corps, while News Corp’s entertainment division will split and be named Fox Group. Also in the separation the editor-in-chief of the Daily,Jesse Angelo will become publisher of The New York Post. Angelo was Executive Editor at the New York Post, and will now be moving up.

As part of a digital restructuring initiative, the company will cease standalone publication of The Daily iPad app on December 15, 2012, though the brand will live on in other channels. Technology and other assets from The Daily, including some staff, will be folded into The Post.

From its launch, The Daily was a bold experiment in digital publishing and an amazing vehicle for innovation. Unfortunately, our experience was that we could not find a large enough audience quickly enough to convince us the business model was sustainable in the long-term. Therefore we will take the very best of what we have learned at The Daily and apply it to all our properties. Under the editorial leadership of Editor-in-Chief Col Allan and the business and digital leadership of Jesse, I know The New York Post will continue to grow and become stronger on the web, on mobile, and not least, the paper itself. I want to thank all of the journalists, digital and business professionals for the hard work they put into The Daily.

The Daily was a sort of test to try out digital publishing aimed specifically at tablets, however, it seems that it has not yet reached the level of popularity as expected by News Corp. News Corp notes that much of its staff and technology from The Daily will be moved over to The Post, which will allow the company to retain its employees and the ideas proposed with The Daily. With this split, and major transitions, it will be interesting to see what News Corp plans to do in the future as their next big project.

{Via iMore — Image Credit: TabTimes}

Early last week, following the announcement of the new iPad mini, Apple began airing the first television ad for the 7.9 inch device. Apple’s SVP of Industrial Design, Jony Ive mentioned that the company focused on creating the iPad mini from the ground up rather than shrinking down the full sized iPad.

He also mentioned that Apple’s reason for doing this was because if the iPad mini was a shrunken down version, users would only be aware of the limitations of the device, as opposed to embracing the device as an entirely new product. The ad, called “Piano” focuses on exactly that, showing the full sized iPad next to the iPad mini playing the popular song “Heart and Soul”, which suggests that the iPad mini is capable of doing everything the full sized iPad does and runs full sized iPad apps.

The ad begins with the full sized iPad playing the song, and the iPad mini chiming in with the tune. The ad then ends with the Apple logo, followed simply by “iPad mini”.

Early Wednesday, Amazon released an iPad app for its Instant Video service, Amazon Prime Instant Video. The service allows subscribers to rent and buy movies and television shows for offline viewing and competes with other major streaming giants such as Netflix. Amazon’s streaming also gives users the option to stream Prime Instant Video titles when connected to the internet.

Currently, other services such as Netflix only allow users to stream on the internet and do not provide an offline option. Now, these services will be available on the iPad, allowing Amazon to not only keep many of the customers they have but lure in new customers with the offerings on Apple’s popular tablet. With content on Amazon’s Prime Instant Video now available on iPad, users can stop streaming on one device, and resume on numerous others such as TV’s, a Mac or PC, and Amazon’s own Kindle Fire.

With Amazon Instant Video, you can:

– Stream thousands of titles available from Prime Instant Video at no additional cost with a Prime membership, or watch over 120,000 videos available from the Amazon Instant Video store
– Download purchased and rented videos from Your Video Library
– Shop over 120,000 videos available from the Amazon Instant Video store by visiting Amazon
– Add videos to your Watchlist from a PC, Mac, or Kindle Fire for later viewing on your iPad
– Subscribe to a TV Season Pass by visiting Amazon and episodes will automatically be available on your iPad the day after they air
– Start watching on your iPad, and resume watching right where you left off on a Kindle Fire, PS3, PC, Mac, or hundreds of models of connected TVs and Blu-ray players with Amazon Whispersync.

With this new service, it seems that Amazon is trying to get a leg up on Netflix and build a similar service but is using its Kindle Fire device to grab market share. Amazon Prime is available for $79 a year and also offers its customers free two day shipping and discounted overnight shipping.

Overall, this comes out to be a much cheaper and more convenient option when considering Netflix’s $7 a month charge which adds up to be more money and does not offer discounts on other products.

Amazon Instant Video is currently free {Direct Link} in the App Store and requires a subscription for log in.

{via MacRumors}

Music streaming service, Spotify, gained popularity in Europe before debuting in the United States last July, allowing users to stream music from major music labels on their Macs, PC’s, and portable devices. Spotify is one of the first streaming services to combine users music libraries, as well as online streaming and allow them to sync their devices.

Today we’re extremely proud to present our native iPad app in all its green-hued glory. Features include:

– Retina graphics for iPad – dazzling display, razor sharp images, richer colors
– Even easier to browse and explore Spotify’s entire 18 million* song catalogue
– New ‘Now Playing’ full-screen view with high-definition cover art
– Search for playlists, users and music – all from the same view
– Check out what’s hot and find trending playlists & songs amongst your friends
– Inbox grouped by user for easy searching
– Gapless playback and crossfade
– AirPlay integration

Spotify has long been available on the iPhone since its release, operating on a pricing model, as opposed to the free model on the desktop computer. On Tuesday, Spotify announced that their new iPad application is now available in the App Store, utilizing the iPad’s 9.7 inch screen. The app is available via an upgrade to the existing app, which will be downloadable as both an iPad and iPhone app.

Spotify Premium is currently offering a free 48-hour trial for new users , allowing them to extend for up to 30 days if they sign up on the website. Premium users who use the service on the iPad, iPhone, and other mobile devices are the option to sign up for a subscription for $9.99 per month.

{via MacRumors}

With Apple’s New iPad 3 sporting a Retina Display and most developers updating their apps to accommodate the higher resolution screen, it was only a matter of time before major apps such as the Netflix app and Apple’s own apps got the upgrade to Retina Display quality.

Apple has approved the update for the Netflix application which will now utilize the new display in all of its menus, its app icon, and many other small parts of the app. Netflix also promised via their Twitter account that they will also be including HD streaming very soon.

The @Netflix iPad App now has high resolution icons and images, enhancing Netflix on the new iPad, HD video to follow later. Enjoy!

Alongside the Netflix application, Apple’s iTunes Movie Trailers app was also updated, bringing full Retina quality to the HD movie trailers in the app. Apple’s movie trailer service was strictly limited to iTunes, but Apple released an app to bring movie trailers to the iOS platform. Apple’s iTunes Movie Trailer works on both Wi-Fi and LTE, however, users on a limited data plan could find themselves running out of data rather fast if used for long duration.

Apple’s App Store was released to the public in 2008, and started off with only a handful of apps. The App Store has since grown to become one of the largest online services in the world, suppling millions of iOS users with fun and intuitive applications. On Friday, Apple’s App Store finally hit the 25 billion downloads mark, making it the highest number of apps ever downloaded.

The winner of the promotion, who has not yet been announced, will be awarded a $10,000 gift card valid for App Store, Mac App Store, or any other iTunes Store content. Apple has conducted similar promotions in the past, for the App Store and iTunes Store and offered a range of products from iPod touch to Macbook Pro. The prize for 25 billion downloads is a $10,000 giftcard for online purchases with no hardware.

Apple has approved a total of nearly three quarters of a million apps for the App Store, with over 550,000 of them currently available in the store.

After its introduction in 2008, it took roughly two and a half years to reach 10 Billion downloads, and another six months to 15 billion downloads. With the latest 25 billion milestone, the iTunes Store acheived over 10 billion of the 25 billion mark in only 8 months, the fastest downloading period ever for the App Store.

The winner of Apple’s App Store promotion is expected to announced in the coming week once the company has verified the results and contacted the winner.

{via Mac Rumors}

Ultralingua’s tag line is ‘For people who love language’ and I can’t argue with that as long as your language is English or Spanish as it is a quality English/Spanish dictionary.

If you’re looking for an iPhone/iPad app to specifically learn Spanish then this is not the app for you, however if you are looking to supplement your learning or be able to quickly look up and translate words between English and Spanish and vice versa then Ultralingua for the iPad the ideal solution.

The application is well laid out clear and easy to use. As you start typing three different panels will instantly update with the word that you are searching for, an alphabetical list appears in the left hand panel while possible alternatives are shown across the centre bar.

Selecting either word from either area will load the word details in the main panel on the right had side. This panel is where the translation takes place including word variations , pronunciations and context.

Small details can make ok apps turn into good apps and the switch between English to Spanish translation to Spanish to English translation is one of those small details that shows how much attention to detail has been applied to this app. To switch between the two is a simple task of pressing the button in the top right hand corner of the screen but the smooth animation of the button as well as the instant switch is a pleasure to behold.

Talking of small details, there are other items that didn’t need to be added but have been and again help raise this app from ok to good.

All previously searched words are available via the history tab for quick, easy access and it can also be cleared completely or edit individually.

Then there is the number pad which is accessible from the 123 button at the top of the screen. This is great for translating numbers, as you type the number on the numerical keypad the word form is printed below and you can then switch instantly between the two languages.

Ultralingua is a really good English/Spanish translator app and it comes highly recommended, however at a cent under $19 and with no ‘lite’ version to try out before you buy you probably need to be pretty sure that it’s an app that you can make use of.

Pros

• Simple controls and navigation
• In-built help
• Clear and concise layout

Cons

• None!

Price: $19.99 (iTunes Store)
Category: Reference
Updated: May 25, 2010
Reviewed Version: 1.3.1
Size: 7.5 MB
Language: English
Seller: Ultralingua, Inc.
© Ultralingua, Inc. 2010
Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later.

iPhone WiFi sync

iPhone Wi-Fi sync is an upcoming app which does exactly what the name suggests. It allows you to sync your information from your desktop computer (Apple or Windows) via iTunes, with your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad (and visa-versa), much the same way that you can do right now via USB. It will never be as fast as USB, but it’s certainly a convenience people will want, definitely usable, and something other platforms have had for a while now.

Without actually trying the app out, or without any technical details, we can’t with absolute certainty say whether or not it breaks any of Apple’s iPhone Development rules. But on the surface of it we cannot see any reason why it should.

Apparently there is a desktop client and an iPhone app, and the two work together to talk to iTunes, and spoof it into thinking it is connected to a device via USB in some way. There are various ways this can be done. But then end effect is an iPhone or iPad is talking to iTunes using the protocols it is supposed to. Unlike the Palm hacks to get their non-Apple smart-phone to spoof iTunes into thinking it is an iPod.

Being pessimistic I can certainly see Apple taking a close look at how this desktop client bridges the connect between iTunes and the iPhone, and how the files are transferred. But it is certainly possible it is not breaking any rules that Apple has set, or are that concerned about enforcing. But app approvals are a rocky unpredictable road sometimes with Apple. And reasons given for rejection are not always very clear or transparent initially.

Bearing in mind Apple have not provided this functionality themselves it would seem unfair to block an app of this sort. But that may be a reason for them doing exactly that under the guise of SDK rules related to the sand-boxing of Apps and how file transfers are done. Plenty of other apps on the iPhone do allow file transfer between the iPhone and Safari for example. But most rely on specific API calls that Apple prescribe.

The developer, Greg Hughes, a 2nd year Computer Science student at the University of Birmingham, says via his Twitter account that it doesn’t “break any rules”.

On his website he states he will submit the app to the App Store shortly. And we wish him the best of luck with it!

Do you think this App will be approved? Let us know in the comments.

Wi-Fi Sync: Wirelessly sync your iPhone with iTunes

Apple is now notifying iPhone developers that they are accepting iPad apps! The notification email had the following details.

iPad will begin shipping soon and your opportunity to be part of the grand opening of the iPad App Store starts today. Submit your iPad app now for an initial review by the App Review Team and receive feedback on its readiness for the grand opening.

Submit Your App by March 27.

• Build and test your iPad app using iPhone SDK 3.2 beta 5 available on the iPhone Dev Center. Only iPad apps built with iPhone SDK 3.2 beta 5 will be accepted for this initial review.
• Upload your distribution signed app through iTunes Connect by Saturday, March 27, 5pm PDT.
• The App Review Team will review your app on iPad and email you details about the readiness of your app.
• You will also receive additional information about submitting your app for final review before iPad ships.
• Only apps submitted for the initial review will be considered for the grand opening of the iPad App Store.

iPhone developers who have been working their iPad apps since the day SDK was made available now have a very good opportunity to be a part of the ‘grand opening’ Apple certainly wants to make sure that a large number of iPad apps are available from day one!

If you have already pre-ordered your iPad and are waiting for it get delivered on April 3 then it might be a good time to prepare a list of apps and games that you will buy or re-download for the iPad.

The fact that iPad will be capable of running  almost 150,000 apps from the App Store will allow you to enjoy the apps and games you bought for your iPhone and iPod touch without any additional cost.

The iPad OS features a redesigned user interface and apps developed specifically for iPad might be more enjoyable than just expanding the iPhone apps to fit the screen.

Twitter apps are one of the most popular social networking apps and Tweeterena for iPhone has proved to be one of the successful twitter clients for iPhone and iPod touch. The developer of Tweeterena posted a new teaser recently to show the upcoming Twitter app for the iPad which will be available soon.

Tweeterena 2 for iPad

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