The next iPad might use a 7-inch screen, but it might not. It might get released on Steve Jobs’s birthday, but it might not. One thing we can be sure of, though: iPhones are used more for gaming than Android phones—or else they’re not. The remainders for Friday, December 23, 2011, can’t make up their minds.
Apple viewed as unlikely to launch 7-inch iPad in 2012 (AppleInsider)
One Wall Street analyst says that, despite the rumors, Apple won’t release a 7-inch iPad nano. Or a 7-inch iPod touch Pro. Instead, this analyst predicts that Apple will drop the price of the iPad 2 to the mid-$300 range when the company releases the iPad 3. What this analyst won’t say, but I’m boldly predicting here, is that the iPad 3 will move from a 10-inch display to a 10-foot one. You heard it here first.
Apple may be rushing to launch the iPad 3 on Jobs’s birthday (BGR)
Speaking of rumors about unreleased Apple products, Boy Genius Reports… er…. reports that Apple may well be aiming to get the next iPad on store shelves by February 24, Steve Jobs’s birthday. Of course, perhaps the even greater tribute to Jobs would require Apple wait one more day, so that the iPad 3 can launch on George Harrison’s birthday—making it the second Apple-sponsored day we’ll never forget.
Study finds ‘iPhone is for games, Android is for apps’ (Appolicious)
A new study from app search site Xyologic claims that iPhone owners use their devices more for gaming, while Android devices are used more for other apps. Writes mobile app discovery service Appolicious, “This is because of the top 150 apps in the iTunes App Store, Xyologic found that 100 of them were games. Meanwhile, in the Android Market, only 85 of the top 150 apps were games.” In a related story, a recent Macworld study has concluded that the researchers at Xyologic use silly statistical analyses nearing 100 percent of the time.
Peek Into Apple Store’s Wi-Fi Network Finds 335 Devices (ifoAppleStore.com)
A Hawaiian tech writer, Todd Ogasawara, discovered more than 300 devices were connected to the free Wi-Fi at the Honolulu Apple Store. (Note that, in Hawaii, they call it Wi’Fi’alai’akai’ano.) Ogasawara also claimed that Apple Stores use Cisco enterprise wireless base stations, but I won’t believe that report until he can provide the Cisco router’s longform birth certificate.
Product News:
Air Dictate – In what’s quickly becoming a burgeoning marketplace, Avataron software released Air Dictate, an app for using your iPhone 4S to dictate to your Mac. You need a free Mac utility app for the transcription to work. ($1)
WritePad – PhatWare released WritePad 6.0, an update to its note-taking and handwriting-recognition software for iOS devices. With the app, users can create and edit text documents using the handwriting or text entry; email, tweet, print, or post Facebook updates directly from WritePad; sync documents with Dropbox, Evernote, and iTunes; translate documents to 13 supported languages; and more. $4.
Quickoffice – Quickoffice has released an update to its Office suite for the iPad. The latest version of the Quickoffice Pro HD iPad app includes additional font options, word-counting capabilities, and the ability to create and edit merged cells in Excel. The app is now also iOS 5 compatible. $20.
Geo Walk – Vito Technology has released Geo Walk 2.4, an iOS app features selected content and articles on an interactive globe. Users can browse through the app to learn more about places, animals, and plants. The latest updates includes a new Search feature, a redesigned interface, and links to Wikipedia. $1 until December 29, $3 after.