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New Media News Every Morning

One Million iPads Sold in 28 Days, Shall We Call it a Success Now?

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Barring any doubts that you may have on Apple’s intent for announcing this remarkable feat achieved by the iPad, we could not escape the fact that indeed this new Apple product has reached the pinnacle of success. Alright, call me an Apple fanboy. I wouldn’t mind it, but you can’t stop me from proclaiming that the iPad is a big success for Apple.

First, let’s lay down the numbers. One million iPads sold in 28 days just for the U.S. market alone. Well of course you can also count in the thousands of iPads which slipped out of the country and landed into the hands of scalpels in Asia or those who are resourceful enough to get the iPad the legit way.

Next, iPad users have downloaded over 12 million apps out of the current 5,000+ available apps from the App Store. Plus 1.5 million ebooks bought from the iBookstore.

According to Steve Jobs – “Demand continues to exceed supply and we’re working hard to get this magical product into the hands of even more customers.” And I couldn’t agree more.

There shouldn’t be no doubt in our minds right now as to whether Apple was successful with its new product venture. By all means – Yes, the iPad is a big success!

Non-US Apple fanboys who were not brave enough to import the iPad into their countries are still eagerly awaiting for the end of May, the date when Apple promised to deliver the iPad to the international market.  While those who went out of their way to get the iPad on their hands are probably thinking of getting the iPad 3G right now  as some folks have confirmed that it will work with international SIM.

One million iPads sold. Do you have one of these one million iPads? Or perhaps more than one?

Originally posted on May 3, 2010 @ 11:03 am

OS 6.0 is Upon Us All BlackBerry Users

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It’s only been a few months since I got my BlackBerry Bold 9700 and I haven’t fully maximized and enjoyed its current OS. But it seems I wouldn’t be able to do this after as RIM seems to be preparing to release its latest BlackBerry OS  – version 6.0. BGR managed to obtained some “official” screenshots of the BlackBerry OS 6.0, running of course on a BlackBerry device.

So, what are we looking at here? First up is the new BlackBerry default browser which if you can see from the screenshot below shows tab switching functionality, new favorites and – multitouch!  The new browser is of course banking on RIM’s WebKit.

What else should we expect from BlackBerry OS 6.0? BGR got them pointed as follow:

New Media Player – Not really as good as the iPhone or Android OS media player, but certainly RIM is working doubly hard to make their device’s media player at par with those two smartphone rivals.  So you got finger browsing capability and touch-enabled playback.

Better Scrolling – More fluid scrolling through lists, web pages, emails and the like thanks to system-wide kinetic scrolling with rubberbranding

Cleaner Message Inbox – Yes, the outdated message inbox of BlackBerry phones are finally getting a redesigned to make it more in tune with the times.

Customizable Homescreen – Again, this may not be as good looking as other smartphones but certainly RIM is doing great in enhancing BlackBerry devices’ homescreens.

Modal Popups Using Gestures – BGR explains this very well, “ If you tap and hold (obviously a touchscreen device is required), you’ll get a 9 icon group centered on the screen which is basically a pretty context menu. For instance, you could be composing an email, and instead of pressing Menu + Send, you could tap and hold on the email, see the popup window, and hit the send icon there.”

Improved Photos App – The new photo app takes some cue from how good the iPhone photo app is. If you’re like me who is also using an iPhone, you’d feel comfortable and familiar with BlackBerry’s new photo app.

So, what time frame are we looking at here? Around June or July perhaps? Oh common RIM, release it earlier. I know you can do so much faster than what you’re doing right now.

Originally posted on April 20, 2010 @ 9:13 pm

Oprah Mobile Goes Live on Android, iPhone, BlackBerry and Palm Pre

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Are you a fan of Oprah? Well, now you can check out your fans whereabouts as well as connect with her whenever and wherever through Oprah Mobile. Developed by Hands-on Mobile, Inc. Oprah Mobile is a suite of mobile applications that you can use whether you have an iPhone, Android phone, Palm Pre or BlackBerry.

Oprah Mobile will let you access video clips and previews of  The Ophra Winfrey Show as well as quickly find out what time and channel the show is playing in your current location anywhere within the U.S. The app also lets you participate in exclusive weekly polls, listen to audio clips, read articles and view photo galleries and highlights from Oprah.com, the Oprah magazine and Oprah Radio. Yes, even keep with up Oprah’s tweets.

Additionally,  if you’re keeping an eye on show tickets, the app can also alert you whenever these become available. And for its social sharing features, Oprah Mobile also lets you share your favorite items via email, Facebook and Twitter, search by guests and contributors, sign the pledge to make your car a No Phone Zone and customize the menu to keep your favorite sections with easy and quick reach.

Excited about this app? Get it for your iPhone, BlackBerry, Palm Pre or  search for it from the Android Market on your Android phone.

Originally posted on April 23, 2010 @ 6:46 pm

Israel Bans the iPad Due to Strong Wireless Signal

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If you’re travelling to Israel and plans to bring your iPad with you – don’t. Chances are you’re not going to get pass through airport securities as Israel has been blocking travelers from bringing the iPad into the country. The reason? – the iPad interferes with other wireless products in the country.

Many were actually puzzled by this move by the Israeli government, not only the folks at Silicon Valley but people in the Israel as well.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Israel’s Ministry of Communications officially banned the iPad from entering the country this week due to its strong Wi-Fi signal which the Ministry thinks will compete with other products built in Europe and Israel and have weaker Wi-Fi signals than the iPad. This is because the iPad was built-in U.S. standards.

“This device’s wireless strengths violate Israeli law and will overpower other wireless devices in Israel,” ministry spokesman Yechiel Shavi said.

Additionally, Mr. Shavi said that if Apple will release an iPad version built according to European wireless standards, then that’s the time that the iPad will be allowed in the country.

Reacting to this statement, an Apple spokeswoman said that the iPad complies with international industry standards for Wi-Fi specifications.  And that specifications covers Israel.

As of today, Israel local Custom authorities have confiscated 10 iPads from travellers who arrived in Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport where they were asked to pay for storage fees while they are in the country.

The decision also caused some wave of discontent among local Israel folks, especially those who wants to have the iPad.  These Israeli consumers are afraid that once again they will be left in envy of the rest of gadget loving consumers worldwide who will be enjoying Apple’s magical device.

So, if you’re travelling to Israel anytime now, it would be better to leave your iPad at home to avoid problems when entering the country.

Originally posted on April 17, 2010 @ 5:13 pm

Surprise! iPad Selling Well in Other Countries, Thanks to the Gray Market

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Believe it or not, the Apple iPad is selling like hotcakes in some Asian countries despite the fact that it is not yet officially available in those countries. PC World, via Yahoo News is reporting that the iPad appears to be selling well in Asia despite the fact that Apple’s official release won’t be happening until end of May.

The report also mentioned about two stores near Taipei’s main electronic Bazaar which are both selling iPad units. And guess what, the two stores are not even competing with each other so much so that one doesn’t even need to lower the iPad’s price.  No matter how pricey the mark up they put on the iPad, it will still sell – like hotcakes. In fact, the store owners want to buy some more because demand is becoming too much as against the supply.

Any idea how much these two stores in Taipei are selling the iPad? Hold your breath folks because the 16GB iPad WiFi sells for around $800, $925 for the 32GB WiFi and $1,020 for the 64GB. In Apple Store U.S. , the prices of these iPads are only $499, $599 and $699.

Interestingly, despite the unavailability of official distributorship, estimates of iPads sold outside the U.S. are already around tens of thousands.

What’s even more surprising is the fact that Asians still buy the iPad despite some possible setbacks of having an unofficially released iPad.  For one thing, there will be no available technician and in case they encounter problems with their iPad, they have no choice but to send it back to Apple.

Aside from Taipei? Where else could the iPad has possibly arrived? In the country where I am right now, there are probably less than 500 owners of the iPad right now.

Originally posted on April 22, 2010 @ 11:16 am