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...

Read more »

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...

Read more »

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...

Read more »