10 best apps to watch TV on your iPad

Some might lament the lack of Flash compatibility on the iPad, which makes it very difficult to watch video directly from websites, but that doesn't mean there aren't alternative options to watch good content by way of apps. The apps in this story are available at Apple's Canadian Apps Store  SlingPlayer If you have a Slingbox set up at home with your cable or satellite box, you basically have your entire channel list and PVR at your disposal. It can even empower your mobile phone. If you don't have a Slingbox, enter for your chance to win one at WhatsYourTech.ca. Netflix The selection for TV shows may be lacking, but if you're already a Netflix (http: //netflix.ca) subscriber, you can make good use of this app to either continue a show or movie you already started watching,...

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Apple Updates iPad 2 Smart Cover Offerings with Color Tweaks

Alongside today's quiet MacBook Pro refresh, Apple has also updated its iPad 2 Smart Cover offerings, perhaps most notably discontinuing the orange polyurethane cover and replacing it with a new dark gray cover.  New dark gray Smart Cover Other changes include:  Interior color now matches exterior color. The interior side of the Smart Cover facing the iPad screen had previously been a uniform gray color on all models with the exception of the (PRODUCT) RED version. All Smart Covers are now a consistent color inside and out. Smart Cover showing tan color on outside and inside More vibrant colors for polyurethane covers. Aside...

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Android Got More App Downloads Than iPhone, iPad & iPod Touch in Q2 2011

Android has taken the lead in application market downloads, according to reports by by market analysts. This is the first time for the platform to overtake iOS, although Apple still trumps Google in terms of revenue and per-user downloads ABI Research recently revealed market findings during the 2nd quarter of 2011. According to the analysts, Android Market downloads have surpassed those of Apple’s App Store. During that period, Android got a 44% market share in app downloads, while Apple’s share slid to 31%. ABI credits this trend to Google’s open approach to Android and application development, citing how the platform is open for use by multiple manufacturers, while Apple’s iOS is a closed ecosystem. Also, quarterly shipment figures point toward a decline in iPhone sales...

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Siri Can Work on iPhone 4 and all iOS 5 Devices, claims Hacker

A developer claims to have got the voice-activated personal assistant Siri fully working on an iPhone 4 and promises that the app will be made available soon. Siri is the headline feature of the iPhone 4S, and lets users send e-mails, conduct Web searches, find local businesses and more; the app is available exclusively on the iPhone 4S, but the developer claims he has made it work on all iOS 5 devices. The developer, who goes by the name of @Jackoplane on Twitter, has got Siri to work on an iPhone 4 and believes that it will work on all iPod touch and iPadmodels running the recently-released iOS 5 firmware. Previously, hackers have been able to run Siri on an iPhone 4, but the results were poor and the app was unable to contact Apple's servers, making it mostly useless. Jack states that...

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Ahead of the Bell: Analyst says iTV coming in 2012

A Jefferies analyst is predicting that Apple Inc. will launch "iTV," an integrated television set that lets people access their music, TV and videos stored remotely in "the cloud," in the second half of 2012. The analyst, Peter Misek, said he thinks Apple will initially make about 5 million to 10 million of the iTV. He is basing this on quotes from Steve Jobs' new biography by Walter Isaacson, which went on sale Monday. In it, Jobs tells Isaacson he has come up with a way to make TVs as easy to use as the iPhone or the iPad. He says: "I finally cracked it." Jobs died on Oct. 5 at age 56 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. Misek thinks that in addition to making money from subscription revenue, Apple could benefit from a "halo effect" of increased sales of its other products because...

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Circumstances likely to see Apple push MacBook Pro refresh to November

A refresh to Apple's professional line of notebooks once anticipated for an introduction as early as September may not roll out until early next month.The late-2011 MacBook Pros, first detailed by AppleInsider back in September, will deliver marginal speed bumps to the notebooks' Core i-Series of Sandy Bridge processors but will otherwise introduce no material changes over the existing models, according to a person familiar with the products.That person said that the notebooks' planned introduction in late September was put on the back burner once the release dates for iOS 5.0 and iPhone 4S were solidified, as Apple pooled all available resources to support the launch -- the largest and most rapid yet in the Cupertino-based company's history.Since then, the launch date for the Late...

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Microsoft boasts patent licenses with over half of Android market

Microsoft announced on Sunday that a new patent license agreement with original design manufacturer Compal means that companies accounting for more than half of all Google Android-based devices now have agreements with the software giant.On the heels of the Redmond, Wash., Windows maker's announcement that it had reached an agreement with Compal to receive royalties in exchange for patent coverage for the Android or Chrome platform, the company's General Counsel Brad Smith and Deputy General Counsel Horacio Gutierrez posted an official blog post touting the new statistic.The deal marks Microsoft's tenth license agreement with an Android partner. Momentum appears to be in the company's favor, as nine of the ten licenses have come in the last four months alone. Some pundits...

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Steve Jobs told biographer he 'cracked' the secret to a simple HDTV

The forthcoming biography of Steve Jobs reveals that he worked to build an integrated, easy-to-use Apple television set, and that he felt he had "cracked" the concept for such a device.The details from Walter Isaacson's book, set to arrive next week, are the latest indication that Apple plans to eventually release a connected HDTV set, as has been rumored for some time. According to The Washington Post, Jobs's vision was for a connected TV that would be synced with all of a user's devices, and with Apple's iCloud service.The simplified HDTV would spare users from having to use complex remotes for multiple devices like DVD players and cable boxes. Isaacson wrote that Jobs "wanted to do for television sets what he had done for computers, music players, and phones: make them simple...

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Inside Apple's iPhone 4S and its improved antenna: 'S' is for Signal

The new iPhone 4S features a redesigned antenna design that allows for better reception and faster wireless data speeds, a tweak that should further distance Apple from the "antennagate" controversy that occurred around the launch of the iPhone 4.Leading up to Friday's launch of the iPhone 4S, AppleInsider will offer a closer look at some of the features of the next-generation handset. Given that the 'S' in the device's moniker was never officially defined by Apple, we offer five potential definitions. Today: 'S' is for Signal, with a newly redesigned antenna. 'Antennagate:' A brief historySoon after the release of the iPhone 4 in 2010, it was discovered that covering the bottom left of the phone, where two separate antennas meet, could reduce cellular reception with the device....

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iOS chief Scott Forstall profiled as a 'maddeningly political' mini-Steve Jobs

Apple senior vice president of iOS software Scott Forstall is hailed in a new interview as a polarizing genius, and potentially what company needs to continue its remarkable growth story in a post-Jobs era.In a comprehensive look at how the company's youngest senior executive rose through the ranks at Apple,Businessweek contrasts Forstall's many attributes with, what the magazine calls, his "polarizing" features. He is a man who has both won the loyalty and respect of his staff, and the ire of several current and former Apple executives. The magazine describes him, in many ways, as a mini-Steve Jobs.The magazine notes that while Forstall is brilliant at identifying what he wants, and how to get it, the senior VP is difficult to work with, and has allegedly prompted...

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IPad Apps Help Kids Master the Alphabet

For kids, learning the alphabet isn't exactly as easy as A-B-C. While you and I may have mastered the alphabet from books or television, children today are just as likely to study letters and their sounds with the magical multitouch device that is the iPad. My daughters (ages 4 and 2) helped me test three ostensibly educational apps. Our questions: Are they really teaching the kids anything? And perhaps even more importantly, are they fun? What to look for My kids are iOS pros. They can unlock an iPad, swipe between screens, and launch the app they're after. The best kid-focused apps offer simple navigation, clear instructions, and easy targets for little hands to manipulate. Apps that purport to help my kids master the alphabet should do all that and more. Beyond offering fun, engaging...

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IPod Accounts for One-Third of Apple Sales

The iPod Touch makes up one-third of Apple's total device sales, according to a filing as part of its lawsuit against Samsung, indicating the importance of the music player in the iOS ecosystem. pple has never before released numbers on iPod sales, but thanks to its pending suit against Samsung, a public filing by the Cupertino, Calif.-based company indicates it has sold over 60 million of the devices since 2007. In this last quarter alone it sold 10 million, lending credence to CEO Steve Jobs' assertion that the music players are one of Apple's most popular products. Compared to the 108 million iPhones purchased to date, the iPod Touch ranks a close second in Apple's list of devices, while iPads come in third at 19 million sold. Apple regularly releases its phone and tablet sales, but...

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Apple to begin production of Thunderbolt MacBook Airs next month

Apple next month will reportedly begin manufacturing the first updates to its rejuvenated MacBook Air line as the company looks to maintain the impressive sales momentum generated by the ultra-thin notebooks and limit the market opportunity for would-be competitors hoping to wedge their foot in the door. Sales of the aggressively-priced 11.6- and 13.3-inch MacBook Airs got off to a hot start following their introduction last October, with Apple assembling roughly 1 million units within their first quarter of availability. During those three months, consumers reportedly chose the new MacBook Airs at a one-to-two ratio to the company's more established MacBook Pro offerings, making for one of the company's most successful Mac product launches ever. However, shipments of the Airs declined 51...

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Thinner iPad 2 glass: Will it break?

Apple's decision to shave the iPad 2's profile and reduce its weight may mean a slight increase in broken screens, a repair expert said today.But other analysts who have torn apart the iPad 2 said that the new design will prevent shattered screens because Apple's using a new, more flexible material.As part of its work to slim down the iPad 2, Apple reduced the thickness of the tablet's glass overlay by 25%, from 0.8 millimeters to 0.6 millimeters, according to teardowns by the likes of IHS iSuppli and iFixit.com.The move will translate into a small increase in broken screens, said Aaron Vronko, CEO of Portage, Mich.-based Rapid Repair, a repair shop and do-it-yourself parts supplier for the iPhone, iPod and iPad. Vronko also pulled apart an iPad 2 to get an idea of how Apple designed its...

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