Apple has yet to release an iOS 6.1 update, which is currently still in beta mode but has already released a new update for the new iPhone 5 and iPad mini. The update, called iOS 6.0.2 was released to fix a bug which sometimes caused the WiFi connection to falter or to not operate at all on the iPhone 5 and iPad mini.

There have been numerous WiFi related complaints for the iPhone 5 and iPad mini, which will likely subside if the update does in fact fix the bug. This is the second update for the devices after Apple released iOS 6.0.1 on November 1st to patch up issues pertaining to OTA software updates as well as cellular network issues.

iOS 6.0.2 Software Update

This update contains improvements and bug fixes, including:

• Fixes a bug that could impact Wi-Fi

For information on the security content of this update, please visit this website:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222

As far as the release of this update goes, Apple only notes that it fixes the WiFi bug, however, it is unclear if the update fixes any other issues or if the company is awaiting the release of iOS 6.1 to fix any remaining major issues in iOS 6. During the initial release of iOS 6.0.2, many users noted that they were having issues downloading it over-the-air while other users mentioned that downloading through iTunes yielded a higher success rate.

{Via MacRumors}

Sprint has already confirmed that they will not charge extra and will continue unlimited data and Verizon is stilll unsure what to charge. However, AT&T announced on Friday that customers will need a new Mobile Share plan in order to enjoy FaceTime over cellular. Although the company did not initially mention anything about the change, they are now publicly addressing the new plans:

AT&T will offer FaceTime over Cellular as an added benefit of our new Mobile Share data plans, which were created to meet customers’ growing data needs at a great value. With Mobile Share, the more data you use, the more you save. FaceTime will continue to be available over Wi-Fi for all our customers.

With almost every carrier except Sprint introducing tiered data plans, there is no doubt that FaceTime would use up incredible amounts of data, more than some networks can handle. Some iOS developers have noted that when trying to use the service in the beta, they were urged to call and activate it.

AT&T is forcing its customers to purchase the new Mobile Share in order to use the new feature, while Sprint is already laid out. Verizon is now the only carrier yet to introduce any pricing, although it may be waiting to see a response from both Sprint and AT&T customers before introducing anything.

{via iMore}

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.

Rumors earlier in the week suggested that Apple Inc. (AAPL) was looking to roll out their iTunes in the Cloud services to its Japanese users, and on Wednesday, Apple did exactly that. This allows Japanese users to freely download previous content from the iTunes Store.

A report from 9to5Mac also revealed that AAPL included a number of other features to the Japanese iTunes Store, including iTunes Plus, 3G downloads, Ringtones, and Complete My Album. Apple has posted a What’s New page [Google translation] on its Japanese iTunes site, highlighting some of the new features:

– 3G downloads: Music downloads from iOS devices had previously been restricted to Wi-Fi only, but users can now access content over 3G networks.

– iTunes Plus: The Japanese iTunes Store now supports the DRM-free 256 kbps iTunes Plus format, up from the previous 128 kbps versions carrying usage restrictions. Labels will need to upgrade their content to the new standard, so it may take some time for all music to become available in iTunes Plus format.

– Ringtones: Music ringtones are now available for purchase in the Japanese iTunes Store.

– Mastered for iTunes: Rolling out on a worldwide basis, Apple is now featuring songs and albums that have been specifically mastered for the iTunes Store to provide the best sound quality for the format.

– Complete My Album: Users who previously purchased individual tracks from an album can now purchase the entire album for a discounted price based on a credit for their individual-track purchases.

With the latest update, Apple has not brought over almost all of the new features, except the iTunes Match service, currently available in only 37 countries. The iTunes Match service allows users to match or upload their entire music libraries to access from any iCloud-enabled device.

Apple has not commented as to whether they will bring over that service to the Japanese iTunes Store, but reports suggest that Apple is looking to bring over the service during the first half of 2012. A large part of Apple’s revenue stream now comes from Japan and China, only two of the countries in Apple’s Asian market.

{via MacRumors}

Customers are using more data than ever before,” said David Christopher, chief marketing officer, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. “Our new plans are driven by this increasing demand in a highly competitive environment, and continue to deliver a great value to customers, especially as we continue our 4G LTE deployment.

AT&T is making its data services even better, and is competing with data plans offered by Sprint and Verizon by offering unlimited access to AT&T Wi-Fi Hotspots alongside the new data offerings, which will be replacing the current $15 and $25 plans. Smartphone data plans will be offered with the following plans:

AT&T DataPlus 300MB: $20 for 300MB, additional 300MB for $20.
AT&T DataPro 3GB: $30 for 3GB, additional 1GB for $10/each
AT&T DataPro 5GB: $50 for 5GB, with mobile hotspot/tethering, additional 1GB for $10/each

iPad users with the 3G model will be given an option of choosing from 3 plans, as follows:

The current 250MB for $15 plan
AT&T DataConnect 3GB: $30 for 3GB
AT&T DataConnect 5GB: $50 for 5GB

The new smartphone and data plans will go into effect this Sunday, January 22, however, current users of AT&T’s data network will be able to keep their existing plans, but have the option of switching to a newer one.

{via MacRumors}

Omnifocus for iPad Review: The End All Be All of Time Management Apps

Omnifocus is a great Task Management app for iPad that helps you get everything you have going on organized and put together in a manageable fashion. Omnifocus couldn’t have come along at a better time for me as my wife is due to have our first child soon and I have been running around trying to get everything at work and home in order. This app has made it a cinch to organize my tasks and develop a plan of attack.

Omnifocus for iPad has an amazingly sleek interface that is very intuitive yet in depth. It allows you to easily add tasks and projects in a quick method or in depth method. The quick method is great for just simply getting tasks down so that you don’t forget them. Omnifocus allows you to then come back later to add detail or add additional tasks with detail so you can develop a method of carrying out the tasks.

Projects and Contexts are two things that you will quickly become familiar with in Omnifocus. Projects are a way of organizing several smaller tasks beneath one main goal to make that goal easier to obtain. The contexts give you a way to associate the tasks with something, be it a task for home or for the office. There is also a “Map” option that helps you find out when you are near where a task needs to be carried out.

Perhaps my favorite options are the Forecast and Review options. Forecast takes all of the tasks that you have due and organizes them on a calendar and lets you know what you need to get done today. This helps me so I am not stuck looking at some looming task down the road. The review option allows you to review completed tasks and evaluate them which is often a part of the task management process that is overlooked that can be invaluable. This really helps me be more structured and organized and has been greatly beneficial to my productivity.

The true beauty of this app is that it can sync up with my iPhone app as well as an app for my Mac. Thus making me just as productive on those devices as when i have my iPad in front of me. You are given several syncing options: Sync with Omni Sync Server, Sync with MobileMe, Sync with OmniFocus for Mac via Wi-Fi and Custom Sync with WebDAV. You don’t have to sync as the app is great on the iPad on its own but i suggest giving the iPhone and Mac app a whirl if you like the iPad app as they are all amazing.

I have only found two cons in my dealing with Omnifocus. First the price is going to be an issue for some and I get that. It’s not cheap but I feel that the app performs up to its price tag so I would be glad to pay it. Second, is that there is no PC support. It works well with the Mac but for those of you that love iDevices but use a Windows machine due to cost constraints, you’ll have to use only the iPad flavor. However, I will say, the iPad version is like a full on computer version.

Overall, I have been very impressed with how much this app has helped me become more organized as I thought I was a pretty organized person to begin with. The downfall to many productivity apps is that you spend more time trying to make them do what you want them to do than you save from actually using it.

• Highly Functional
• Intuitive
• Sync

What to know:

• Cost
• Have to purchase on each device
• No Windows support

Apart from the lack of 3G and GPS in Apple’s Wi-Fi only iPad 2, the rest of its internals are identical to those packed into its 3G-capable counterpart, so you’ll be surprised to find that iLounge have discovered differences in the quality of audio recorded by each device. The Wi-Fi only iPad 2 achieves higher quality audio recordings, and it’s believed that it’s the differences in materials of the two tablet models that makes the difference.

In both models of the iPad 2, the microphone is housed at the top of the device near the FaceTime camera. On the Wi-Fi only device, the housing around the microphone is aluminum, and is said to offer “markedly cleaner audio than that of the 3G,” which has its microphone embedded within the plastic antenna strip. Audio recorded on this device is said to sound “slightly muffled and echo-prone.”

iLounge noted in their report:

“Curiously, we found the GSM 3G model’s audio to be slightly preferable to that of the CDMA model, which seemed to suffer the issues more severely. The problem is particularly evident when the iPad’s screen is facing the user, as is the case when using FaceTime and a great many other apps.”

On the first-generation iPad, the microphone is located close the headphone jack and housed in aluminum in both the 3G and Wi-Fi models, so the quality of audio recording is identical on both devices.

Although iLounge claims that this is a “particularly evident” problem for the 3G iPad, it’s hard to establish at this time whether it’s enough of an issue to avoid this model for the time being. It’s possible that Apple will modify the iPad 2’s design mid-production if this proves to be a significant problem, however, if you’re an early adopter, you may be stuck with it.

One of the downsides – although there aren’t many of them – to Apple’s new iPad 2 is that if you purchase one of the Wi-Fi only models, it doesn’t come equipped with a GPS chip to pinpoint your location. So, if you purchased a pricey navigation application to use as a big, beautiful sat-nav on your iPad, you’re not going to get accurate results unless you go for a 3G model. However, there is a workaround; it seems that when you tether your iPad 2 to your iPhone, you can use its GPS as well as its data connection.

The feature was discovered by Kyle Carmitchel on a recent road trip, who was tethering his iPad to his iPhone 4 using the new Personal Hotspot feature introduced in iOS 4.3. Carmitchel found that when the two devices were hooked up to each other, the iPhone was feeding its GPS data to the iPad:

It is clear I am being fed GPS information from the phone, at what appears to be an interval of once a minute or so between refreshes (likely they didn’t do real time updating so as to go easy on the phone’s battery).

Without a GPS chip, the iPad is still able to locate itself using Wi-Fi hotspots; by taking the MAC address of the router the it’s connected to and looking it up in a database of router locations, the iPad can come up with an approximate location, but it’s not at all very accurate. However, by gathering an iPhone’s location data over a Personal Hotspot connection, the iPad can take advantage of the same pinpoint GPS accuracy as the iPhone.

At present, it’s hard to say whether this is compatible with the original iPad, or any iPhone earlier than the forth-generation device, but if it works well, you could save yourself a few bucks on the iPad if you were planning to pay extra for the GPS chip. However, if the location data is only fed to the iPad once a minute as Carmitchel describes, it still may not be accurate enough for some navigational purposes.