Category: I-phone

Netherlands-based audio/video mount manufacturer Vogel’s first introduced their iPad mounting solution in October of 2010. Now the company has brought its universal mounting system for the iPad 2 — named RingO — to American soil for the first time. I recently had an opportunity to try out the complete system, which consists of an iPad 2 holder, a wall mount, a car mount, and a table stand. How did RingO work as an all-around mount?

Design

I tested the RingO All-In-One Pack for iPad 2 (US$119.99), consisting of the four parts mentioned above. The company sells RingO through Amazon.com in the U.S., and the street price is correspondingly lower — about $82. The individual components are also available separately, with the iPad 2 holder and wall mount going for $59.99, a separate wall mount for $29.99, the car mount for $59.99, and a table stand or flip stand for $19.99 each. Vogel’s is also set to release a Flex Mount ($59.99, on an extendable arm) and an adhesive-backed wall mount ($29.99) in September of 2011.

Update: According to a spokesperson for Vogel’s, the only products currently available in the U.S. are the Starter Pack (wall mount and holder at $69.99) and the Car Pack ($99.99). The product is available in the physical and online Apple Stores today.

The most important part of this system is the iPad 2 holder, so I’ll look at it in detail first. As befitting a European design firm, Vogel’s provides a very IKEA-like set of diagrammatic instructions showing how to install and remove the holder. Unlike the HandStand case, which I needed to force onto my iPad 2 with a spudger and muscle, the Vogel’s case snapped right on. It’s also open on the left side of the iPad 2, so the Apple Smart Cover still works.

The holder is basically a hard plastic shell with cutouts for the various iPad controls and a circular cutout on the back where the various mounts click in. Let’s talk about the functionality of those mounts.

Functionality

The wall mount can be mounted anywhere that you can safely attach it to a surface with an included wood screw. It’s a small aluminum and plastic cylinder — pulling off the top of the cylinder reveals the hole for the screw. Once it’s mounted on the wall, you put the top back on and there’s just an unobtrusive aluminum fixture on the wall.

The car mount is incredibly useful and absolutely the best (and safest) iPad car mount I’ve seen so far. It consists of a two-part tough plastic molding that locks to the headrest uprights in a car. One part has a RingO mount on a combination swivel and pivot, while the other can be released with the push of a large button to install or remove the mount from the seat. When the RingO car mount is installed, the iPad is held very steady and there’s no concern about it flopping about in case of sudden car movements.

Even if you’re just in the market for a car mount, it would be worth it to buy the RingO Car Pack (about $70 on Amazon). The pack consists of a holder, the car mount, and the table stand. Seriously, this is an excellent car mount for iPad 2.

The final piece is the Table Stand, which is the most overpriced piece of the product line. It’s basically a $20 piece of plastic that snaps into the RingO holder. The Table Stand is well-designed, working in either landscape or portrait orientation, but $20? C’mon, Vogel’s.

Conclusion

The Vogel’s RingO mount system is incredibly well designed and manufactured. However, I have to wonder if the high price tag on the system compared to other stands and mounts might dampen the enthusiasm of some potential buyers.

I like the fact that the Vogel’s RingO mount is a system that makes it easy to go from room to table to car without having to remove the iPad 2 holder. The system will grow in September with the addition of the Flex Mount and the adhesive-backed wall mount — the latter will be great for those who live in leased space where putting screw holes into walls might be frowned upon.

As I noted before, the RingO Car Pack on its own would make an excellent solution for anyone who wants an easy-to-install and durable iPad car mount. Being able to install the mount securely in seconds is worth the cost.

Vogel’s RingO iPad mounting system: The versatile iPad 2 mount (Updated) originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 28 Jul 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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According to Taiwan Economic News, Taiwan-based Pegatron has outbid Foxconn for production of Apple’s next-gen iPad (or “iPad 3” until/unless Steve Jobs gives it a better name). While other news outlets such as BGR are reporting this as an exclusive contract (meaning Foxconn would no longer produce the iPad 3), our interpretation differs. Instead, it seems Apple is diversifying production of the iPad 3 across both Foxconn and Pegatron.

“Hon Hai is likely to turn Apple’s another contract order for iPad 3 manufacturing over the Taiwanese counterpart, as the customer has considered looking for a second iPad supplier to reduce over-dependence on Hon Hai,” the Taiwanese report indicates (emphasis ours). The wording here seems to point to two factories producing the iPad 3, not just one.

Spreading iPad 3 production over two contractors makes more sense than shutting Foxconn out completely. Having two contractors manufacturing the iPad 3 should theoretically go a long way toward lightening the supply constraints that have plagued the iPad line from the beginning. Apple execs have repeatedly said that iPads are being sold “as fast as we can make them,” and the only thing holding the iPad back from raking in even more profits for Apple has been Foxconn’s inability to churn them out fast enough to satisfy demand.

Rather than abandoning Foxconn, adding Pegatron to the mix means iPad production should increase enough to satisfy the great demand for the device. Earlier reports indicated Apple was indeed looking for a second supplier for iPad 3 units, not an outright replacement for Foxconn. A later report indicated Hon Hai (owner of Foxconn) said it would be able to handle production of the iPad 3 all by itself, but if the latest report from Taiwan Economic News is accurate, Apple apparently disagrees.

Apple allegedly approves Pegatron for iPad 3 production, but is not replacing Foxconn originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 28 Jul 2011 17:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple has updated the packaging on several Macs after the debut of OS X Lion, according to MacTrast. The site’s managing editor compared a Lion-running MacBook Pro and a Snow Leopard-running model he purchased earlier this year; other than the new machine running Lion, the two Macs had identical specs.

The most obvious change to the packaging is that rather than featuring Snow Leopard’s aurora desktop background, images have been updated with the Andromeda Galaxy wallpaper that comes standard with OS X Lion. It turns out that part numbers and SKUs differ from the pre-Lion MacBook Pro as well, with the updated numbers likely reflecting the changes in OS, keyboard differences, and included supplemental material.

MacTrast also found that the build number of OS X Lion preinstalled on the MacBook Pro differs slightly from the version downloaded from the Mac App Store — 10A511a rather than 10A511. The new machines also have the keyboard changes that were initially discovered a few days ago.

The biggest change? New Macs are shipping without restore media of any kind. Before Lion, Macs shipped with two packages: “Everything Mac,” and “Everything Else.” These two packages included all the hardware-specific restore discs (including Snow Leopard and iLife), warranty information, Apple stickers, and the tiny pamphlet that gives users the bare-bones info they need to get started on their Mac. Those restore discs are nowhere to be found in post-Lion Macs.

This turns out to be problematic, as according to MacTrast’s investigations these newly-shipping Macs don’t have the ability to restore Lion to a bare hard drive over the internet. Installing a blank hard disk in the new MacBook Pro showed the dreaded flashing question mark folder with no options for Internet Restore, and without any restore media it was impossible to get Lion running on the new drive.

We’ve covered a couple methods for creating your own Lion recovery disk here at TUAW, so there are workarounds for this issue. MacTrast ran into a problem attempting to download the Lion installer from the Mac App Store, but even if the Store is telling you the software is already installed, you should be able to download it anyway by holding down the Option key and clicking “Installed.” From there, it’s a matter of following online instructions (either here or elsewhere) to create a functional install disc of your own.

Apple updating some packaging after OS X Lion release originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 28 Jul 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Trover joins the ranks of free GPS-powered apps for the iPhone that can guide you intelligently to places of interest near you or while traveling the world. It has some interesting twists that make it unique, giving it kind of a feel of Instagram meets Yelp. Trover had a limited release that required a Facebook login, but an update allows you to sign up using email or Twitter.

Developer Rich Barton told me the app tries to simulate the experience of walking around a neighborhood looking for food, or retail stores, or even a park as you discover things you might not otherwise notice. When you open the app you’ll see thumbnails of pictures listed in order of distance to you. You can also take a picture yourself, add a description and comments, and it will be uploaded for the world to see. If you find friends or users who have similar interests, you can choose to share in their discoveries. I was surprised to find quite a few entries in my little corner of southern Arizona, and as more people sign up there will be more usable content.

If you read about a location, you will see it on a map and your own location so you can navigate to it. If you tap on the map you’ll get directions from Google Maps.

There are some potential security issues with the app. If you take pictures around your home, or your backyard, your location is exposed to people looking at your messages. Your email remains private, but people can comment on your uploads. There’s nothing to prevent the upload of offensive pictures, but the developers say any upload can be flagged by users, and if it is inappropriate it will be removed.

Trover is iPhone only, but an iPad version should appear early next year. I liked using the app, because it gives an extra dimension to search beyond what apps like FourSquare, Instagram and Yelp can provide. If you’re interested in socially based discovery apps, Trover is free and worth a look.

Trover Mobile Discovery app re-launched today originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 28 Jul 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There are few games quite as relaxing to play as Mahjong solitaire. Moonlight Mahjong is a great free solitaire game for the Mac, that’s tuned for using a trackpad.

Not to be confused with classic game of mahjong, Mahjong solitaire is a tile matching game where you’re presented with a pile of tiles taken from mahjong (hence the name), with the task of matching pairs to whittle down the pile. The tiles are stacked on top of each other, making only a limited number available for matching at any one time.

Moonlight Mahjong gives you the choice of four different playing modes: Scramble and Challenge modes, where you compete against the computer, aka “Tilebot” to clear the board; Puzzle, which is classic mahjong solitaire without Tilebot; and finally Relaxation, which is like Puzzle mode but there are no time limits and your tiles are automatically reshuffled.

The 3D tiles give you a bit of depth perception, while the pile is displayed atop one of its gorgeous backgrounds. You’ve got the choice of some beautiful Hubble images, paintings or photos, while the sound effects have a wind-chime style to them. Having come from iOS, the developers have given the game a touch-like feel by implementing decent multi-touch trackpad controls. You can select a tile by just lifting your finger off the trackpad, while you can move the pile about with standard gestures (pinch-to-zoom etc).

Moonlight Mahjong looks great, plays well and adds a little competitive element with the introduction of your Tilebot playing partner. If you’re looking for a relaxing game for your Mac and like matching tiles, the free Moonlight Mahjong is definitely worth a look.

TUAW’s Daily Mac App: Moonlight Mahjong originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 28 Jul 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MacWorld has published a nice little tip that allows Lion users to reveal the Dock while in fullscreen apps. To do so, while in any fullscreen app, simply move the pointer all the way to the edge where the Dock is pinned. Once your cursor is resting on that edge of the screen, swipe or move the mouse in that same direction again, as if you were trying to move beyond the edge. The Dock will then spring right up. Pretty cool, huh?

MacWorld also points out that Apple didn’t simply go with the “Hide Automatically” Dock feature in fullscreen app mode because many fullscreen apps may have buttons at the bottom or on the sides and automatically displaying the Dock when moving your cursor to the edge of the screen could cause the Dock to block the buttons you are trying to click.

[via MacStories]

Reveal the Dock in Lion’s fullscreen apps originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 28 Jul 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dear Aunt TUAW,

I live in New Zealand. Internet costs a lot here. I want to install Lion on my wife’s MacBook without downloading it again. Where can I find the “Install OS X Lion” application on my MacBook Pro? Not seeing it in /Applications/.

Hugs,

Cousin Chris R.

Dear Chris,

Auntie has some bad news for you. The best thing to do in these situations is Save Your Installer Before Installing.

Auntie knows how tremendously unhelpful that is.

She tried really really hard to work out a solution based on retrieving the installer from the Recovery partition but when it came down to the wire, the Recovery installer prompted: “To download and install Lion, your eligibility must be checked with Apple.” After all that work, it was only a partial installer.

Sure, the installer might save you a few bytes — but it’s not a full working install so you’ll still be doing some downloadage. So while Auntie wasn’t able to find a way to make a full Lion install that you can transfer between machines, she did find a means to create a basic Lion recovery disc that you can use in case one of your Macs’ hard drives goes to the bit bucket in the sky.

Here are the steps Auntie took to retrieve her installer and put it on a USB drive.

1. Launch Terminal. This is a command-line-heavy solution.

2. Run diskutil list. Your primary drive should be disk0, and the Recovery partition (Recovery HD) should be the third partition on that drive.

3. Mount the drive: diskutil mount /dev/disk0s3

4. Navigate to the right folder: cd /Volumes/Recovery\ HD/com.apple.recovery.boot

5. Copy the dmg you find there to the desktop: cp BaseSystem.dmg ~/Desktop. Then Reveal the dmg: chflags nohidden ~/Desktop/BaseSystem.dmg.

6. Change directories out of the recovery volume.

7. Eject the recovery volume in Finder’s sidebar.

8. Open Disk Utility (in /Applications/Utilities).

9. Insert a 2GB or larger USB thumbdrive, wait for Disk Utility to load it, and choose the Restore pane. Drag the BaseSystem.dmg into the Source field. Drag the thumbdrive’s partition to the Destination field.

10. Click Restore, read the warnings, and cautiously agree to move forward. Wait as Disk Utility transfer the data to the USB thumbdrive.

11. When the restore is finished, eject the USB thumbdrive, and transfer it to the new computer. Restart it and press Option as it boots. Select the drive to boot from it.

12. Install Lion.

You will need to authenticate, agree to become a centipad, and sell the soul of your first born child. From there it’s just a matter of waiting for your data to download at NZ$Insane per GB and hoping the installer makes that bottom line slightly less expensive. A proposition that Auntie cannot guarantee or verify.

In the end, the USB drive created by these instructions can come in handy for any pre-Summer 2011 Macs with hard drive failures, but Auntie isn’t convinced that all that work will save you a big trip to Internet Bucket Land on your next month’s bill.

Hugs right back atcha,

Auntie T.

Dear Aunt TUAW: Help me retrieve the Lion installer originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 28 Jul 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Today Sprint released their quarterly earnings and things could be better. How? They could be selling the iPhone. That’s not me saying that either. It’s Sprint. Shares in the non-iPhone provider are down almost 15% today after the company announced larger than expected Q2 loss per share. The reason for this was while Sprint did add 1.1 million new customers for the quarter, they lost over 101,000 of them. Many of those jumped ship to Verizon or AT&T for the iPhone 4 or the $49 iPhone 3GS.

There are rumors that Sprint will be carrying the iPhone later this year, and for Sprint investors’ sakes I hope those rumors pan out. The only other major US cellular provider that doesn’t carry the iPhone is T-mobile, which AT&T is trying to buy. Understandably, Sprint doesn’t want that to happen. Who wants to be the only big three cellular provider that doesn’t sell the hottest phone on earth?

Sprint feels strain of not carrying the iPhone originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 28 Jul 2011 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yesterday we told you that this Saturday will see the opening of Apple’s second Glendale, California store — one that is only 600 feet away from the other Glendale store. If that alone isn’t enough to give the first store feelings of inferiority, perhaps the features of the new store will push it over the edge.

According to 9to5Mac, the new Glendale store will feature a floating Apple logo suspended in the store’s glass front. This is the same treatment New York’s Fifth Avenue cube store got. The second Glendale store will also have a massive Genius Bar — a full fifty seats. In addition, the new store will feature a briefing room for business customers and a few tables dedicated entirely to Startup Sessions. To top it off, at 7000 square feet of retail space, the new Glendale store is Apple’s largest store in a mall.

Apple is definitely an out with the old, in with the new company. However, at least they decided not to shutter the existing Glendale store. Though it was the second Apple store in the country, I’m sure it’s got many years of life left in it. Then again, reports are that it is so busy it could be in business for some time.

New Glendale, CA Apple Store to boast unique features originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 28 Jul 2011 13:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Being a carrier partner of Apple can help drive your bottom line. As reported on The Apple Blog, Japanese cellular carrier Softbank’s fiscal first quarter results showed an almost 500 percent increase in net income over the same quarter in 2010. To what did Softbank attribute the spectacular jump in income? Intense demand for the iPad and iPhone.

Softbank still has an exclusive deal to sell the iPhone in Japan, and with Apple currently the leading smartphone in the country, sales of the iPad and iPhone helped to drive net income in the quarter ending June 30 from ¥19.44 billion to ¥94.79 billion.

Japan was previously the land of text messaging, but it’s obvious that the smartphone revolution being driven by Apple’s products is increasing data use dramatically. Softbank reported that the average revenue per user (ARPU) for their customers is now at an all-time high of ¥2,440 per subscriber per month. That puts Softbank at the top of the heap among mobile operators worldwide when it comes to the ratio of data to traditional cellular services ARPU.

Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son had nothing but good words to say about the iPhone, stating that “the iPhone’s strength is standing out the more people come to use smartphones.” It’s certain that Softbank will do what it can to remain the sole source for Apple’s 3G products in Japan.

iPhones, iPads drive Softbank’s huge Q1 profits originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 28 Jul 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Like it or not, Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac is the most widely-used office suite for Mac users in the enterprise. While the existing version doesn’t support OS X Lion features like Auto Save, Versions, and full-screen mode, MacNN is reporting that Microsoft’s Mac Business Unit is hard at work adding those and possibly other features to Office.

Don’t expect an update tomorrow, though. According to Microsoft Office team member Pat Fox, the wait for an updated Office 2011 will be “measured in months.” If you’re a user of Communicator for Mac, you can get an update right now that resolves some crashing issues in Lion. It’s available through Microsoft’s AutoUpdate, and can also be downloaded from the MS Download Center.

The company also noted that Office for Mac 2004 will never be Lion-compatible, since it was originally written for PowerPC-based Macs. If you’re still trying to coax that old copy of Office for Mac 2004 along as you move forward to Lion, it’s time to make the upgrade to Office 2011 … or consider alternatives like Apple’s iWork suite.

It will also be fascinating to see if Microsoft decides to bring Office 2011 to the Mac App Store, either in whole or as separate parts à la iWork. Only time will tell.

Microsoft working to add Lion features to Office 2011 originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 28 Jul 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The BBC has extended beyond the shores of the UK and is now offering its iPlayer subscription service in 11 other countries across Europe. The service will cost €6.99 (US$10) a month or €49.99 ($71) annually and will initially debut in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Ireland, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland.

The iPad app will let you watch all the great BBC shows including Fawlty Towers, Pride and Prejudice and the Doctor Who archive. One nice feature in the BBC iPlayer app that is not often seen in a video streaming app is the ability to download content for offline viewing. Folks in the above countries can download the app and sign up for the service today. Enjoy!

[Via Engadget]

BBC releases iPlayer app in 11 European countries originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 28 Jul 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ION recently announced a new piano accessory for the iPad that will let you play and learn piano on a mini-keyboard. While piano-playing apps on the iPad are fun, they are not useful for instruction as the 9.7-inch display of the iPad is too small for a reasonably sized keyboard. ION solved that problem with its new Piano Apprentice, a dock for an iPad, iPhone or iPod touch that includes a 25-note lighted keyboard with touch-sensitive keys.

The keyboard dock includes an iOS app that teaches you how to play piano with the help of instructor Scott Houston. You can follow his hands on the screen while you play on the keyboard. The keys on the dock will even light up while you practice your tune. The Piano Apprentice will arrive this fall for US$100.

[Via Engadget]

Turn your iPad into a mini-keyboard with ION’s Piano Apprentice originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 28 Jul 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TaskRabbit is a unique service that lets busy people offload their tasks to those willing to do them. It costs a small fee, but you can have your groceries delivered, laundry done and dogs walked before you return home from a busy day at work.

When it launched, the service was web-based only, but TaskRabbit recently developed an iPhone app that lets you manage your tasks on the run. You can create a new task, monitor the progress of a task and even price a task using information based from the TaskRabbit service. It lets you add descriptions using a voice recording or images so the person completing your task knows exactly what to do.

It’s an interesting use of modern technology that melds your mundane routine with the power of the crowd. And it’s now on the iPhone.

[Via TechCrunch]

TaskRabbit iPhone app lets you crowdsource your tasks originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 28 Jul 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The June Nielsen numbers are out for the US smartphone market and they uphold the trend we have been seeing for the past several months. Android is the leading smartphone platform with a 39% marketshare, while iOS grabs 28% to claim second spot. RIM’s BlackBerry OS slides into third with a 20% marketshare.

When these numbers are broken down by manufacturer, Apple is the clear leader. Though Android grabs a majority 39% of the overall US smartphone market, its share is spread among more than four manufacturers with leader HTC (14%) edging out Motorola (11%). Apple is the sole manufacturer of iOS devices and doubles HTC’s 14% share with a 28% market grab.

[Via AllThingsD]

Nielsen: Apple is the leading manufacturer, iOS the #2 platform originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 28 Jul 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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