Posts Tagged ‘iPad’

Apple’s got their head in the clouds!

Tuesday, June 7th, 2011

This week at the Apple World Wide Developers Conference a new cloud based storage service was revealed: iCloud. Apple’s iCloud is a new system that will automatically synchronize and backup all of your files across all your apple wireless devices. For the multidevice lifestyle we have all embraced with Apple products, this new way of storing and sharing information will revolutionize how we communicate with each other and how we interact with our devices.

iCloud will be a free service available for users to download this fall. The user will be able to automatically synchronize all their information including music, photos, documents, apps, and books to all wireless devices within range. This will create an automatic backup system similar to Google Docs and Dropbox.

By including the user’s iTunes library in iCloud, when a song is purchased on one device it will automatically be available on up to 10 other devices. So that means you can be listening to a song in a cafe, purchase it on your iPad and then go for a run later that day and listen to it on your iPod touch or iPhone without ever connecting your devices. All of the music purchased through iTunes will be automatically saved to the user’s cloud locker. For £25 a year Apple also has iTunes Match which will scan through all your music not purchased through iTunes and find a copy in their music library of over 18 million songs to replace your song with an iTunes Plus quality copy at 256 Kbps, even if your original copy was of lower quality.

Synchronizing your playlists is just one of the new features of iCloud. All your photos will also be synchronized and updated to each device immediately. With iCloud users can easily share photos and even upload directly to Facebook and Twitter from any device. It will be easier than ever to capture baby’s first beach day and send photos and video to grandma and grandpa immediately from any device.

Music and photos can take up a lot of memory on the iPhone and iPad, but Apple’s thought of that too. There will only be a rolling stream of 1,000 photos saved directly on the smaller devices at any time; the rest of the photo stream will be accessible through the cloud locker through a Wi-Fi or 3G connection. This does pose a problem for users who frequently travel in zones with weak wireless signals. It does not appear that iCloud will be able to stream music from the iTunes library, so there may only be a limited cache of songs accessible when on airplane mode.

iCloud will protect even the laziest users from losing their data. Apple does all the work for you constantly updating and syncing your data. All documents can be easily shared and edited so you are always working on the most up-to-date version no matter what device you use. Sharing and updating calendars and email accounts is another new feature. Text messages and SMS messages are also saved in your cloud locker along with saved ringtones and apps.

We all remember Mobile Me and how that system never really lived up to our Apple expectations. We at MadBid think iCloud is a very different product and will become a formidable competitor in the cloud based storage industry.

We can’t wait to try iCloud out on our Apple products this fall. Which Apple products will you be synchronizing? The benefits of cloud storage and synchronization can only really be optimized when you have more than one device to update, so why not pick up another i-something? At MadBid.com users have picked up the iPad 2 for just £2.52 and the iPhone 4 for £2.34. Those are just a few examples of the deals our users are wining every day, see for yourself.

What will the iPad 2 have in store for us?

Thursday, February 17th, 2011

Rumours  always abound when it comes to Apple and new products and everyone is eagerly waiting the next product whether it’s the iPhone 5 or the iPad 2.

With only weeks to go till the expected unveiling of the iPad 2 and all the secrecy around it, it seems that everyone is speculating about the new features it will have.

Will there be two cameras, one at the front and one rear facing as on the iPhone 4? This would hopefully mean that iPad 2 users might have use of the excellent FaceTime video calling software developed by Apple for iPhone 4. Their rival tablet the Galaxy Tab already has two cameras – a rear-facing 3.2 megapixel camera and a front-facing 1.3 megapixel camera for video chatting.iPad

Some others think there will be a USB port added but with Apple strongly headed towards wireless technology (the current iPad already has wireless printing) we are not sure whether these users will get their wish.

Also, at MadBid.com, we wonder if the new iPad will be smaller and slimmer, the current iPad has a screen size of 9.7 inches, but rivals the Galaxy Tab and, the soon to be released, Blackberry Playbook both have optioned for a smaller 7 inch screen. This difference means that tablets like the Galaxy Tab are significantly lighter at 0.84lbs instead of the iPad’s hefty 1.6lbs.

When I asked around the Madbid.com offices for what features we’d like to see we got a loud shout out for official support for Adobe Flash and an almost equally loud shout out for them to be cheaper – you’ll get the latter by bidding on MadBid.com soon!

Being expensive is not something the Madbid.com users have to worry about though as our prices of the first iPad show – it looks like some people will be getting a bargain! On average customers bought the iPad 32GB for £56.16 (plus cost of bids)!

We will be offering plenty more iPad’s this year so if you want join in the bidding then make sure you sign up for a MadBid.com account and check out our forthcoming auctions.

The New iPod Nano

Tuesday, October 19th, 2010

Apple have release their newest iPod: the Nano 6. The new design is even smaller than the previous Nano models; now a compact square complete with a touch screen.

The new Nano is perfect for those simply wanting a small and fast music playing device. It obviously has far fewer features than the much larger iPod Touch, but comes with a handy and practical clip allowing you to fix it to clothes or bags. The Multi-Touch screen now presents the contents in a similar style to the iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad, providing continuity throughout the product lines.

The Nano 6 does miss the voice and video recorders found on the previous model, but Apple are happy to market it as ‘100 percent made for music’, and those looking for a more multi-functional model will find the Touch more pleasing.

Available in seven bright colours, the new Nano is everything you need from an iPod, for those wanting a tiny, easy to use yet stylish device, the new Nano 6 is for you.

Top 4 Apps for all iPad users!

Tuesday, June 1st, 2010

ipad_rgbIf you are one of the lucky owners of an iPad or are looking to add one to your collection of gadgets. Here we list the top 4 apps that you can’t live without:

1) Facebook – With 1 in 3 people in the world registered on Facebook, the app for the iPad is a must for many. The Facebook app for the iPad offers a much more in-depth experience than the iPhone app. It is free and is much more streamlined than the iPhone.

2) Air Video – With the size of the screen coupled with the quality of the display the iPad really is a great media player. Although you can transfer movies and music to your iPad via iTunes it can be a long and complicated process. That’s where Air Video comes in, just install the free app on your iPad and then download the free server client on your PC and tell it what you want to transfer and in no time at all you will be watching your favourite movies on the go.

3) KindleApples IBooks app is good but when it comes to to content selection, Amazon is still king. Kindle for the Ipad is a really good e-reader app, and makes it easy to browse through books. It seamlessly launches the web-based book store to make purchasing a snap.

4) Mondo Solitaire – Mondo solitaire comes in two varieties, a pack of the most popular games or the whole shebang. If you like card games, we recommend getting the full package and then having a blast playing through tons of your favourite games.

PC Giant Dell joins tablet PC market

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

_47049669_tablet-threesome-bodThe world’s No 3. Computer manufacturer Dell has announced its new tablet PC known as the ‘Streak’ and the ‘Mini 5’. Dell has confirmed that this is the first of many new products planned.

The streak runs on Google’s Android system and is a bit smaller than most tablets with just a 5” screen, although reports suggest Dell also has a 7” and 10” tablet in the pipeline. Tavis Butler of Dell told the BBC that “This is the first in a family of devices”.

According to analyst firm CCS insight over 1.3 billion mobile devices will be sold around the world in 2010.  Dell obviously wants to move into this space much more prominently although it appears as if they will be targeting business users more so that mainstream consumers.

The ‘Streak’ was first shown off at the Consumer Electronics show earlier this year. The product seems in a unique position as it is larger than a smart-phone such as an iPhone but smaller than an iPad and as such offers an alternative to both these products.

The first ‘Streak’ comes with 3G and wi-fi connectivity, 16GB of storage, GPS and two cameras. It will be available in the UK from June and will be distributed exclusively through the Carphone Warehouse on O2 service plans.

There are ‘two aspects’ to iPad sales

Thursday, April 8th, 2010

There are two ways to look at the first-day sales of the iPad, either in a positive or a negative light, it has been suggested.

More than 300,000 iPads were sold on Saturday April 3rd, according to electronics, software and computer giant, Apple.

Paddy Smith, online deputy editor at online gadget guide Stuff.tv, said the figure is encouraging as it is “30,000 more than the original iPhone sold on the first day” and the iPad represents significantly “better value” than the iPhone did.

However, as the iPad is “much more affordable as a piece of gear”, from one respect initial sales can also be viewed as “slightly disappointing”, according to Mr Smith.

He added that the quick publication of sales figures by Apple appeared to say that the company was “happy” with them.

Steve Jobs, Apple’s chief executive officer, recently said that the iPad is going to be a “game changer”.ADNFCR-2524-ID-19710830-ADNFCR

Over 300,000 iPads sell on first day

Tuesday, April 6th, 2010

Apple claims that it sold more than 300,000 iPads on the device’s first day of sale, including deliveries of pre-ordered ones to customers, those going to channel partners and sales at Apple Retail Stores.

In addition, iPad users downloaded more than one million applications from App Store and over 250,000 ebooks from its iBookstore during the first day.

Steve Jobs, chief executive officer of Apple, said: “It feels great to have the iPad launched into the world – it’s going to be a game changer.”

He explained that iPad users, on average, downloaded over three apps and around one book within hours of getting their iPad.

The iPad will be available in the UK and numerous other countries in late April.

Zach Epstein, writing for IT PRO, recently said that the iPad is the best device for eBook reading that the publication has ever had the pleasure of testing out.ADNFCR-2524-ID-19705625-ADNFCR

iPad the ‘best tech toy’ around

Tuesday, April 6th, 2010

The new Apple iPad is without doubt the “best tech toy” that money can afford, according to a reviewer.

While no one “needs” and iPad and people will still need a laptop or netbook as well as a phone, the device is great as an ebook reader, a web tablet and a fun gadget, said Zach Epstein, writing for IT PRO.

“The iPad is a product that sits well outside of Apple’s comfort zones. With the iPad, Apple is attempting to create a new range of products rather than improve an existing product,” the reviewer claimed.

He suggested that the iPad, which is 9.5 inches tall and 7.5 inches wide, is the finest piece of hardware that Apple has ever developed.

Web surfing on the iPad is particularly simple and enjoyable on the device, Mr Epstein added.

Apple announced it had sold over 300,000 iPads in the US over its first day on sale.ADNFCR-2524-ID-19705620-ADNFCR