NerdBeach

Be in Two Places at Once Thanks to Your Double

Wouldn’t it be great if you could be in two places at once? You would probably need your own double to make that happen. And that is exactly the thinking behind the Double, a device designed to empower you beyond your physical presence.

The Double is a virtual presence (telepresence) device that could be described as a Segway with an iPad. You control it via tablet (iPad, no doubt), and it allows you to virtually roam halls, carry on conversations, and do everything you might need to do otherwise in person. The device even allows you to adjust your viewing angle and/or height, giving you the chance to have those important face to virtual face conversations.

The beauty is that much of the required communications hardware is found within the iPad, making it easier to produce and get onto the market. In fact, the first run of the $2000 device is sold out, but they are taking orders now for 2013 delivery. Check out the video below for an example of Double in action, and you just might come to the same conclusion I have – I need my own Double.

Segway

The Segway PT is a two-wheeled self-balancing battery-powered electric vehicle invented by Dean Kamen. It is produced by Segway Inc. of New Hampshire, USA. The name Segway is a homophone of the word segue, meaning “smooth transition”; PT denotes “personal transporter”.

source:wikipedia

2012 iPad Rumor Roundup

Well, the end of a year usually means one thing for sure – new Apple product rumors. At NerdBeach we have been collecting those rumors, and trying to sift through the information to try to get to the base rumors that at least seem to make sense. So, what have we dug up for the next iPad? Let’s take a look.

Two iPad Models

It is rumored that the next iPad will be offered in two different models in order to hit the widest possible market. One of the models will, logically enough, compete with the Kindle Fire as a more entry level priced unit. The other will be a more upscale version in the price range we are used to seeing to day. It is hard to determine the distinguishing factors between the two models, but at this time both appear to be coming with a 9.7 inch screen, not a smaller 7 inch model as reported elsewhere. This would also make sense if Apple was trying to minimize the impact the new display would have on developers.

5 Megapixel Camera

The higher priced iPad is rumored to be sporting a new camera, capable of 5 mp. Samsung is providing the CMOS image sensor for the device. At this point it looks like the more economical iPad would still have a camera, but a lower resolution version.

Dual LED Light Bars With QXGA Display

The next iPad will sport dual backlighting to make the screen even sharper than it is now. Reportedly both Sharp and Samsung are participants in the supply chain to produce the 1536 x 2048 QXGA displays. This gets the next generation iPad close to a Retina display quality, and would definitely make full screen PDFs and magazine pages more pleasurable to read.

Quad Core Processor

The quad core A6 processor should find its way into the next iPad. This should boost computational power above the current model, which is itself no slouch. Of course, this extra power will come at the expense of at least a little more battery power, which brings us to the next rumor:

High Capacity 14,000 mAH Battery

The next iPad will carry a 14,000 mAH battery, which should power the advancements with no problem. Simplo Technology and Dynapack International Technology are lined up to supply the power cells.

When Will We See it

Some sites are reporting that the new models could be revealed as early as January 26th at iWorld. However, I don’t see this happening given the recent history with Apple. Of course, anything is possible, but I would look for the unveiling to be somewhere in the March – June timeframe. Then again, it’s Tim Cook’s show now, so maybe there is a change in the air.
Please note that rumors are subject to change, and nowhere is this more true than with Apple products that have not hit the market yet. Last minute deals or issues beyond the control of the suppliers can change plans quickly, and Apple has shown in the pat that it can roll with the punches as needed. But far as we can today, this is what you might come to expect in the next iPad. And, I’m not ashamed to say, I would like one.

iPad 2 Tech Specs

Display

  • 9.7-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen Multi-Touch display with IPS technology
  • 1024-by-768-pixel resolution at 132 pixels per inch (ppi)
  • Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating
  • Support for display of multiple languages and characters simultaneously

Processor: Apple A5 Processor

 

Who Buys iPads (Infographic)

There is no doubt that Apple’s iPad is a runaway hit. Millions of the devices have been to on the market, and it has ushered in a new computing paradigm that others are still struggling to compete in. But who exactly buys iPads, and where do they use them?

The infographic below attempts to answer these questions, and the results are encouraging. While I find some of the numbers might have been skewed (70% iPad use is in front of the TV?), it is nonetheless a very interesting collection of information.

 

iOS Over The Air Update Is A Welcome Change

Today Apple released their first official over the air (OTA) update for iOS devices, letting iOS 5.0 move up to 5.0.1 The fixes included a battery drain issue that iOS 5 created, and a security fix that had allowed non-signed code to be ran from a trojan app.

My experience with the update was pretty straightforward. Just go to settings/general/software update and the availability of the update should show (if you haven’t already updated and you have network access).

On my WiFi network connection it took about a minute to download the update and about two minutes to prepare for the update. Then the device (an iPhone 4 in this case) restarted, and a progress bar along with the infamous Apple logo displayed for about 3 minutes. This happened twice, then the iPhone booted up like normal. For the record, I did this on battery power alone.

Users of the original iPad will want to grab the update for the return of the multi-touch gestures that iOS 5 removed. Plus, with the battery life fix and the security update I would suggest that all users of iOS 5 do the update.

As far as the OTA version of updating goes, I think it is a welcome change. In the past I would have to hook up the device to a host machine and update through iTunes. In the process iTunes would insist on doing a backup and copying over every app that had changed on the device, despite having the “Sync Apps” option off. Now it is finished faster than the backup itself would take.

One of the biggest issues for iOS 5 users has been battery life, and on this particular phone I did not see the severity of problems that many report. However, for the hour or so since the update the battery has seemed to be on par with what it was before the upgrade to iOS 5. Everything else works as expected, but I’ll make a note if any problems arise.

Apple continues to tweak iOS, making it better with each iteration. But in my opinion OTA updates has just made iOS devices much more capable machines that stand on their own merit, no host machine required – even for an update.

iOS

iOS (formerly known as iPhone OS) is Apple’s mobile operating system. Originally developed for the iPhone, it has since been extended to support other Apple, Inc. devices such as the iPod touch, iPad and Apple TV. Apple, Inc. does not license iOS for installation on third-party hardware. As of October 4, 2011, Apple, Inc.’s App Store contains more than 500,000 iOS applications, which have collectively been downloaded more than 18 billion times.

source:wikipedia