• iPad 2 Runs WebOS Twice as fast as HP TouchPad

    // Gradly // Apple, blog, iPad, News 1 Response

    Hewlett-Packard engineers hacked iPad 2 to install webOS only to find out Apple’s hardware runs their mobile operating system more than twice as fast compared to their own TouchPad hardware, according to The Next Web:

    The hardware reportedly stopped the team from innovating beyond certain points because it was slow and imposed constraints, which was highlighted when webOS was loaded on to Apple’s iPad device and found to run the platform significantly faster than the device for which it was originally developed.

    It should be pointed out that webOS  runs on single core Qualcomm ARM chips while iPad 2 runs on dual core Samsung silicon.

    With a focus on web technologies, webOS could be deployed in the iPad’s Mobile Safari browser as a web-app; this produced similar results, with it running many times faster in the browser than it did on the TouchPad.

    TNW also details how the news went down within HP.

    Almost everyone at HP found out about the death of the TouchPad and Pre hardware as the public did, in the press release. Only the top executives knew anything about this decision and even senior staff as high as Ari Jaaksi, the Vice President of webOS software, didn’t know about the shuttering of hardware before it happened.

    After the press release came out, there was a company wide meeting filled with a bunch of ‘corporate speak’, in which staff were told that they were going to be in limbo for 3-4 weeks.

  • Qualcomm Releases Augmented Reality SDK For iOS

    // Gradly // Apple, blog, Download, iPhone No Responses

    Qualcomm has released its Augmented Reality Software Development Kit (SDK) for iOS. The SDK allows iOS developers to create impressive augmented reality applications, and is available to download now. The technology is impressive, and we’re looking forward to seeing Qualcomm AR SDK apps hit our own iOS App Store soon.

    Qualcomm’s new SDK is available for Android developers, and one example app is Inch High Stunt Guy, which allows users to control a bike-riding stuntman as he cruises across a tabletop. Check out the video below:

    The Qualcomm Augmented Reality SDK is available to download from here, and supports the iPhone 4, iPad 2 and fourth generation iPod touch.

    [via appadvice]

  • Apple Preparing Thinner and Lighter iPhone 5 to Launch This Fall

    // Gradly // Apple, blog, Cloud, Featured, Gadgets, iPhone, News, Rants & Raves, Rumors, Tech. 3 Responses

    Citing a new report from WSJ today indicates that Apple is indeed gearing up with a new iPhone for a launch this fall, with an initial production target of 25 million units through the end of the year.

    “Apple’s sales estimates of the new iPhone is quite aggressive. It told us to prepare to help the company meet its goal of 25 million units by the end of the year,” said another person at one of Apple’s suppliers. “The initial production volume will be a few million units… we were told to ship the components to assembler Hon Hai in August.”

    The various iPhone 5 rumors have been going back and forth on whether or not a significant redesign is coming, but the new report seems to suggest that iPhone 5 will have a completely redesigned case after all:

    According to some suppliers of components to Apple, the new version of the iPhone is expected to be thinner and lighter than the iPhone 4 and sport an 8-megapixel camera. One person said the new iPhone will operate on Qualcomm Inc.’s wireless baseband chips.

    Apple’s manufacturing partner Foxconn/Hon Hai is said to be having difficulties with the new device due to it being “complicated and difficult to assemble.“

    Two of the people, however, cautioned that shipments of the new iPhone could be delayed if Hon Hai can’t improve its yield rate as the new iPhone is “complicated and difficult to assemble.”

    Reports over the past few months have been pointing to a September release for the next-generation iPhone, carrying Apple’s A5 processor with an 8-megapixel rear camera, and a Qualcomm baseband chip for both GSM and CDMA networks. iOS 5 and iCloud are also to be released this fall as well.

  • iPhone 5 in September With A5 Chip, 8MP Camera. iPad 3 to Get Higher Resolution Display

    // Gradly // Apple, blog, Featured, Gadgets, iPad, iPhone, News, Rants & Raves, Rumors, Tech. No Responses

    A new report by Bloomberg has backed up rumors from the past few months and says that Apple’s upcoming fifth-generation iPhone will make its debut in September and will boast a stronger chip for processing data and a more advanced camera and will closely resmeble the current iPhone 4 unlike many reports that hinted about a teardrop shaped build, The device will include the A5 processor, the more powerful chip that Apple added to the iPad 2 earlier this year, along with an 8-megapixel camera, up from the 5-megapixel model in the iPhone 4.

    Apple is also said to be testing a new version of the iPad that has a higher resolution screen, similar to the one now used in the iPhone 4. The screen resolution on Apple’s new iPad would be about one-third higher than that of the iPad 2 and will sport a more responsive touchscreen.

    The new iPhone will also come preloaded with iOS 5, which features Notification Center, new camera features, Twitter integration, iCloud support, an updated mail application, a location-based reminders application, iMessages, and much more. iOS 5 previewed earlier in WWDC and will be a unified OS for all Apple mobile devices:

    The new phone will run the iOS 5 operating system Apple previewed at a developer’s conference earlier this month. Codenamed “Telluride,” it will feature already-announced features such as improved messaging and photo-sharing, one person said. It’s also designed to run on all of Apple’s mobile devices, this person said. Until late last year, iPads, iPhones and iPod touches used slightly different versions of iOS.

    And the idea of a cheaper iPhone version seems to be valid after all:

    Apple is also working to finish a cheaper version of the iPhone aimed at attracting customers in developing countries, the people said. This device would use chips and displays of similar quality to today’s iPhone 4, the people said. Apple’s work on a smaller, lower-priced version of the device was discussed by people familiar with the matter in February.

    The next generation iPhone is expected to pack a new cellular chip from the Qualcomm that can support both GSM and CDMA networks.