Issue 4 of iPad-only mag Project available for free - Phone Arena

Phone Arena - Good news for all of you who want to try out Project - the iPad-only magazine - and try it out for free. That's because the new issue of Richard Branson's offering is now available in the App Store and it costs... well, not a single cent.

It's not often we feel like we want to thank the guys at American Express, but it seems the right time has come, as the Project folks say this promotion is only happening because of AmEx. Anyway, the really important part is that issue 4 of this mag features Eric Bana on the cover, and you can download it for free from the iTunes link below.

Besides Mr. Bana, here's what else you can expect from this Project issue:

Continue ►

Apple iPad 2 Gaming Test - Phone Arena

Apple iPad 2 Gaming Test - Phone Arena: "Already deemed as a venerable gaming machine in its own the regard, the iPad 2 will undoubtedly kick things up a notch, as it should, thanks to upgraded internals found under the hood. If 3D gaming is more your kind of thing, then the 1GHz dual-core Apple A5 processor is an inviting evolutionary step forward that should bring along some graphically rich titles down the road once developers begin to take advantage of it. In the meantime though, we decided to check out the kind of graphics prowess that the iPad 2 has to offer – and more importantly, how it compares to its brethren."

Continue ►

Apple iPad 2 Digital AV Adapter Demonstration - Phone Arena

Apple iPad 2 Digital AV Adapter Demonstration - Phone Arena: "When so many devices nowadays are increasingly making it very easy to share content via wired connection to high-definition television sets, it’s only fitting that we’re seeing it coming aboard with the iPad 2. If there’s one ideal accessory worth shelling out for with your cold hard cash, it has to be none other than Apple’soptional digital AV adapter that sells for $39! Come to think of it, this doesn’t only enable you to quickly play 1080p videos and music stored on your iPad 2, but it doubles as an HDMI mirrored video output.

As much as it would’ve been nice to see an HDMI port built into the iPad 2, the optional adapter is still nonetheless not all that obtrusive – although it does seem to just dangle on there. Regardless, you basically connect your standard HDMI cable to the adapter, and from there, it’ll output the iPad 2’s display onto the big screen. So whether you're holding the tablet in portrait or landscape, it’ll mimic every action to the teeth with almost very minimal evidence of lag.

Obviously, you can do just about anything on the iPad 2 as it keeps up in displaying all your actions on the big screen. From navigating between the homescreens to browsing a complex web site, it’s effortlessly accomplished and really shows the added functionality that is experienced by using the adapter. Furthermore, we’re able to even play videos and music stored on our iPad 2 through our television.

Interestingly enough, the biggest use for the adapter in our opinion comes in the gaming department since you can basically rely on the iPad 2 to act as the gameplay controls – while viewing your actions on your television set. Without a doubt, there are some interesting things that developers will be able to concoct at this point in getting the most out of the adapter’s usage. Even more, we were able to comfortably place a FaceTime call while sitting back on our couch as we relied on chatting it up with friends on our television.

So for only $39, it’s almost a no-brainer in picking it up – albeit, it’d be beneficial to have a lengthy HDMI cable on hand if you want to sit back far enough from your television. Well, that’s unless you can tolerate being up close and personal instead."

Continue ►

Apple iPad 2 Unboxing & Hands-on - Phone Arena

Apple iPad 2 Unboxing & Hands-on - Phone Arena: "Precisely after it was unveiled to the public not too long ago, we only had to wait a short period of time before we found ourselves finally here at the launch of the highly anticipated Apple iPad 2. Setting the bar in terms of coming to market the fastest soon after it was officially announced, consumers all around have the opportunity starting today to purchase the follow up to last year’s model that seemingly revolutionized the industry in many ways. Packing some upgraded hardware under the hood, it’s naturally impressive to see all of the upgraded internals packaged into a slimmer body – while retaining the same price points as before."

Continue ►

Apple's Jobs: The tablet PC 'crashed and burned' | Nanotech - The Circuits Blog - CNET News

Apple's Jobs: The tablet PC 'crashed and burned' | Nanotech - The Circuits Blog - CNET News: "Apple CEO Steve Jobs had some choice words today for the tablet PC, a relatively obscure PC product category that never caught on with consumers. What is the tablet PC exactly? While there's a long history of this product category and thus not a hard-and-fast definition, it's probably best exemplified today by hybrids like Hewlett-Packard's EliteBook 2570p (which starts at a whopping $1,599) or the Fujitsu Lifebook T900 Tablet PC (which starts at an even higher $1,899).

The tablet PC has been largely a vain attempt--certainly compared with the popularity of the iPad--to meld the laptop with a tablet, based on the Windows tablet interface."

Continue ►

Google Latitude now available for iPhone, iPad and iPod | Daily iPhone Blog

With Google Latitude, see where your friends are right now. Latitude lets you stay in touch with your friends and family by making it easy to share where you are and see each other on a map.

With Latitude, you can: See your friends on a map – find out who’s nearby and meet up. Share your location continuously with whomever you choose – help friends and family stay in touch with you, even when you can’t take out your phone. Control your privacy – share only city-level location, hide your location, or turn off background updating at any time.

Latitude lets you share your location in the background, even when the app is closed or your device screen is locked. Background updating requires an iPhone 3GS or iPhone 4 with iOS 4 or above.

Continue ►

U.S. chip manufacturing in the age of the iPad | Nanotech - The Circuits Blog - CNET News

Behind the fly-off-the-shelf popularity of products like Apple's iPad and iPhone are hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs--mostly overseas. Is it possible to create more of those jobs here in the U.S. to combat chronically high levels of unemployment? Personal computing is moving rapidly beyond the laptop. And there's no better example than Apple, whose most popular products are now the iPhone and the iPad. The surging demand for anything Apple is causing a seismic shift in chip manufacturing to Asia, the hotbed of new silicon ecosystems. Though companies like Hewlett-Packard and Dell also play a role, they are still primarily Intel-centric PC makers, while Apple is morphing into a maker of smartphones and tablets, which is creating the alternative non-Intel silicon manufacturing ecosystems overseas. Thus the focus on Apple.

So, is there anything a U.S. gadget supplier like Apple can--or should--do to help maintain a chip manufacturing base in the U.S.? Seeking an answer to that question I recently sat in on a Stanford University class taught by Andy Grove, the former Intel chief executive, and talked to Vivek Wadhwa, director of research at the Center for Entrepreneurship and Research Commercialization at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering.

Continue ►