Apple unveils updated iPad with lowest-ever price

Apple Inc unveiled an updated version of its iPad tablet with a brighter screen on Tuesday, available to order from Friday and with a $329 starting price that is the lowest ever for a full-sized tablet from Apple.

Apple also said its smaller iPhone SE model will be available in 32 and 128 gigabyte (GB) versions, replacing the 16 GB and 64 GB models.

The hardware updates are incremental improvements that were announced without a major media event. Apple is widely expected to unveil an update to its flagship iPhone this fall that might have new features such as wireless charging, 3-D facial recognition and a curved display.

The new iPad model starts at 32 GB of storage and replaces the iPad Air 2. It will be slightly less expensive than the smaller iPad Mini 4, which starts at $399 for a 128 GB model.

Apple also announced a new app for creating videos and sharing them with friends on its iOS devices. The new feature, along with extra iMessage features released in recent years, pushes Apple closer to competing with the features in social networking apps like Snap Inc.

The new app, called Clips, lets users add captions and speech bubbles to videos and share them on social networks such as Facebook, Instagram or Apple's own messaging app, where videos can be sent to contacts with a single tap. But unlike Snap or other messaging apps, users can add captions to videos using their voice.

(Reporting by Anya George Tharakan in Bengaluru and Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar and Frances Kerry)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Planning to buy an iPad Mini? Here's the #BestDealEver for you

MANILA -- Wanna play Pokemon Go in a much bigger screen? Smart Bro, the country's leading mobile broadband, is offering the #BestDealEver for iPad Mini 2.

Smart Bro offers the #SMARTBROIPAD 599 -- a package that includes an iPad Mini 2 for only P599 per month.

With this powerful gadget, you can play Pokemon in a 7.9-inch high resolution touchscreen that also features advanced Retina display technology. It is also powered with 10 hours of battery life, allowing you to go out and catch 'em all Pokemons!

Currently, it is also the most affordable tablet that you can use to access the iOS App Store and download different apps that suit your lifestyle.

But what's the use of your iPad without a fast and reliable Internet connection? Of course, Smart Bro is never gonna shortchange you. The iPad deal also comes with a 1.7GB monthly data allowance and 1.1GB of video streaming on either YouTube or iflix for the first three months.

This means you only pay an additional P300 to the monthly service fee of Plan 299. To learn more about this offer, visit http://smrt.ph/ipad599.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

New, faster Apple iPad expected next week

SAN FRANCISCO — Apple Inc is hosting a media event next Wednesday, where it is expected to unveil a faster, better-equipped version of its popular iPad tablet to thwart increasing competition from deep-pocketed rivals such as Amazon.com Inc.

The invitation-only event will be held at 1 p.m. EST (1800 GMT) on March 7 at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, where the company also introduced the last two generations of iPads.

Apple, which sent the invitation to reporters by email on Tuesday, did not divulge details of the event beyond saying: “We have something you really have to see. And touch.”

The invitation featured a partial picture of the touchscreen of a device resembling an iPad.

Apple launches are some of the hottest events on the tech calendar, scrutinized by fans, investors, the media and industry insiders alike.

The iPad has dominated the nascent tablet computer market, but Amazon’s Kindle Fire, which sells at half the cost, has chipped away at the lower end of the market.

The third iteration of a device that has helped put pressure on demand for traditional laptops and computers is expected to boast a faster, quad-core processor and a higher-definition screen.

Some analysts and industry experts expect 4G wireless capability, ensuring that the iPad remains current as cutting-edge broadband technology from Verizon Wireless and other carriers gains momentum. Verizon Wireless is a venture of Verizon Communications Inc and Vodafone Group Plc.

“The picture is zoomed in on an icon and I don’t see any pixels in that icon,” Avi Greengart, analyst at Current Analysis, said, underscoring how industry experts pick apart even Apple’s communiques for hints of what to expect.

“You don’t need exceptional foresight to guess that Apple is likely looking at a higher resolution display.”

TAKING ON PCS

The company’s market value has climbed steadily in past weeks, buoyed by anticipation over its latest gadget as well as by hopes that Apple will finally accede to shareholders’ demands it return some of its $98 billion war chest of cash and securities.

On Tuesday, Apple shares closed at a record high of $535.41 in heavy trading on the Nasdaq, up 1.8 percent on the day.

Apple iPad tablet sales doubled in the December quarter to 15.43 million units. The company has sold about 55 million iPads since it introduced the device in 2010.

It may be looking to “make further inroads into the general computing market” with the newest iPad, Greengart said.

Chief Executive Tim Cook has often said that he expects tablets to outsell personal computers eventually. Cook, who took the company’s helm after visionary Steve Jobs died in October, will likely lead the event, with ample help from marketing chief Phil Schiller and other executives.

With the iPad 2 starting at $499, investors will also be watching to see if Apple plans to discount it, creeping farther down the price chain and closer to the Fire, to broaden the iPad’s appeal.

source: interaksyon.com

iOS 5 takes away Multi-Touch from original iPad, says tech site

Amid all the goodies it promises to give, iOS 5 - Apple's latest operating system for mobile devices - may ironically be taking away some goodies from the original iPad tablet.

Users of the iPad 1 may no longer have a “developers only" feature that allowed system-wide four- and five-finger Multi-Touch gestures, according to tech site The Next Web.

"(W)hat Apple giveth, Apple also taketh away. Users of the original iPad will find that iOS 5 takes away the system-wide Multi-Touch gestures that they have grown so used to in the past few months," it said.

With the four- and five-finger multi-gestures, one can swipe up with four or five fingers to raise the multitasking panel.

Similar swipes to the left and right allow the user to switch between running apps. A pinching gesture using those same fingers lead to the Home screen.

"As with Apple’s trackpads and Mac OS X Lion, which prevent you from being able to go back to other trackpads and operating systems once you have gotten used to them, any iPad without these gestures seems much less usable," The Next Web said.

The iOS 5, considered among the most significant in iOS’s history, includes 200 new features including a new notification system, iMessage, Newsstand, Reminders, and Twitter integration.

"If you have never used the Multi-touch gestures I have described above on your iPad and don’t care to start now, or if you have but think you can live without them, by all means, upgrade to iOS 5. If you are using an iPad 2, you should definitely update to iOS 5. Apple has packed it to the seams with some amazing features and the mad rush to update to it that we will be seeing later today will be justified," The Next Web said.

But those who have gotten used to the Multi-touch gestures on the iPad 1 and think they can live without the new "fancy features" of iOS 5, "perhaps you should stick with iOS 4.3," it advised. — ELR, GMA News

Source: gmanews.tv