The iPad is set to launch this Saturday. In preparation for the launch, Apple has already posted two related files to its download servers: the final iPad firmware and its EULA. Based on some language in the EULA it has been widely reported that the iPad will require users to pay for OS upgrades like on the iPod touch. However, looking closely at the language reveals that paid upgrades aren’t necessarily a foregone conclusion.
AMD’s 12-core Magny-Cours Opterons are now shipping, and Intel has officially launched its new 8-core Xeon 7500 series.
Full-time students at Seton Hill University will get an iPad this fall to complement a supplied MacBook for e-textbooks “from the iBookstore,” note taking, and communication.
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Macworld, Seton Hill University
Apple plans to release new iPhone hardware this summer—this is widely accepted among the Apple community despite the lack of any announcement from Apple. But more rumored details about the hardware and its expected launch date supports Steve Jobs’ promise that it will be an “A+ update.” This new hardware will supposedly launch on AT&T in the US, but yesterday we heard from the Wall Street Journal that a CDMA-based version was destined for Verizon sometime this year. Several analysts are less certain than WSJ’s sources, but Apple may be ready to make the CDMA leap to stave heated competition from Android.
With the pending release of the iPad, Apple will have outgrown its iTunes software yet again. According to MacRumors, however, iTunes 9.1 will drop around the same time as the iPad launch this Saturday. The release will make a couple of changes to the iTunes Store’s categories, improve its Genius Mix feature, and change around the device management interface.
With 9.1, the “Audiobooks” subhead in the iTunes Store will be absorbed into a new source category, “Books,” presumably catering to the iBooks app on the iPad. Likewise, MacRumors mentions that Books (as well as other categories) may start displaying content that caters to the capabilities of connected devices—iPad, iPod, or iPhone—in hopes of making content management smoother. There’s been no mention of whether the newspaper and magazine deals Apple probably hopes to cut will fall into the (perhaps not-so-aptly-named) Books category.
It’s probably not warm enough yet, but I feel as the temperature increases it’s my job to give you some good ideas of things to do out of doors, away from the computer. We’ve talked about Nerf swords, and now it’s time to look at the most efficient way to create water balloons.
Less than a week after CBS let the cat out of the bag on its own iPad HTML5 tests, more media companies appear to boarding the HTML5 video train. Video services company Brightcove announced Monday morning that it will support HTML5 for its customers, offering “high quality, interactive, and advertising-supported Web video experiences for HTML5-compatible devices.” Two major Brightcove clients, the New York Times and Time Inc., are participating launch partners, meaning that these two sources will have the option of ditching Flash in some cases in order to be more iPad compatible.
Brightcove’s announcement comes just days before the iPad launch, and the company makes no attempt to hide the fact that this is a major reason for the HTML5 support. More than 1,000 Brightcove customers will be able to “easily expand the reach of their online video initiatives to popular consumer devices including the Apple iPad, iPhone and iPod touch,” wrote the company. Brightcove currently provides support for device detection, playlist rendering, and playback of H.264 content, but plans to add support for customization, advertising, analytics, social sharing, and other features over the next year.
Less than a week after CBS let the cat out of the bag on its own iPad HTML5 tests, more media companies appear to boarding the HTML5 video train. Video services company Brightcove announced Monday morning that it will support HTML5 for its customers, offering “high quality, interactive, and advertising-supported Web video experiences for HTML5-compatible devices.” Two major Brightcove clients, the New York Times and Time Inc., are participating launch partners, meaning that these two sources will have the option of ditching Flash in some cases in order to be more iPad compatible.
Brightcove’s announcement comes just days before the iPad launch, and the company makes no attempt to hide the fact that this is a major reason for the HTML5 support. More than 1,000 Brightcove customers will be able to “easily expand the reach of their online video initiatives to popular consumer devices including the Apple iPad, iPhone and iPod touch,” wrote the company. Brightcove currently provides support for device detection, playlist rendering, and playback of H.264 content, but plans to add support for customization, advertising, analytics, social sharing, and other features over the next year.
The iPad Camera Connection Kit is finally available to order online, though it won’t ship until “late April.”
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TUAW
The latest Mobile Metrics Report from mobile advertising firm AdMob confirms what we’ve been seeing over the last year or so: the smartphone market largely belongs to Apple and Google from a platform perspective. It also reveals that “feature” phones have capitulated to smartphones for mobile ad requests, reflecting the growth of smartphones as they slowly begin a march toward dominating the overall mobile market. However, non-phone mobile Internet devices, like the forthcoming iPad, are beginning to be an increasingly important part of the mobile landscape.
