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Posts tagged with "video"

Another iOS 5 Concept: Lion-like Dashboard

With speculation running wild about Apple’s upcoming software announcements at the WWDC ‘11 – where the company is expected to showcase the next versions of iOS and Mac OS X – it doesn’t come as a surprise that the Internet is exploding with concepts and mockups of what iOS 5 will look like on the iPhone and iPad, let alone the fan-made renderings that aim at giving us a possible glimpse of the iPhone 5. Jan-Michael Cart, the same guy behind the iOS 5 voice recognition concept we posted two weeks ago, has come up with a new interface idea for the Dashboard, available on YouTube alongside his collection of iOS concept videos.

Of all the videos created by Cart in the past weeks, we think this might be the nicest and most interesting one. By taking inspiration from the Lion Dashboard, which retains the same look of the Snow Leopard one but can be launched with a single swipe to the right from the desktop, Cart imagines an iOS Dashboard that resides on the current Spotlight page on the left of the Home screen, and can be activated with an horizontal swipe. Rather than replacing the Spotlight search with the Dashboard, Cart has conceptualized a way to add widgets to this screen and start a new search by simply hitting the box at the top, like you normally would on iOS. When performing a search the Dashboard screen blurs in the background; Cart has also imagined a variety of widgets that can be placed on multiple pages on the left, such as a Facebook box and a Twitter ticker to stay on top of the latest messages from users you follow. In another video posted on his YouTube channel, Cart also describes how widgets could be created from the dedicated Dashboard page, but also dragged to the Home screen. As to how users would be able to swipe between the Dashboards and Springboard pages, Cart believes the Home button would play a key role in both cases, as seen in the screenshots below.

We have embedded the video after the break. Whilst recent rumors have claimed Apple is focusing on features like location and smart voice recognition for iOS 5, it’s likely that ahead of the public launch of OS X Lion Apple will consider porting over some functionalities from the desktop to mobile devices. The video below is a good example of that.
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Apple’s New iPad 2 Commercial: “If You Asked”

If you asked a child, she might call it magic. And if you asked us, we’d say it’s just getting started.

Apple just posted a new iPad 2 commercial which, following the lead of the first one posted last month, is aimed at showcasing the various functionalities of the product. The iPad 2 is being promoted as an inspiring device for musicians, a “groundbreaking” tool for doctors, or a powerful machine for a CEO. Again, Apple shoots for simplicity, elegance and minimalism in these new iPad 2 commercials. The iPad 2 sure is lighter and thinner than its predecessor, but it’s all about the software when it comes down to the experience. This is what they believe.

Check out the video after the break. [via YouTube]
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White iPhone’s Proximity Sensor and Death Grip Demoed On Video

The saga is over. The white iPhone 4 is finally launching tomorrow in 28 countries after a 10-month delay, and Apple seems to be pretty happy about it so much that they’ve decided to dedicate a special spot to the device on the company’s homepage. Well then, what’s so different about the white iPhone - you may ask. Not much: it’s white, and it’s got a different proximity sensor design, quite possibly due to the use of white paint. But besides this minor design “feature”, it’s just an iPhone 4 running iOS 4.3.1 by default (you’ll have to upgrade to 4.3.2 if you buy one tomorrow) and coming with a fancy new retail box.

Italian website iSpazio, however, decided to test the white iPhone 4 [Google Translation] they managed to buy yesterday ahead of the official launch, to see whether or not the new proximity sensor works better than the one found in the black iPhone. Together with that, they ran the usual “death grip” test – with the obvious result that the iPhone seems to lose one bar, but signal isn’t compromised. Again, since the software updates Apple released last year the “death grip” hasn’t been much of a problem for anyone: though, it’s become part of the unboxing and testing tradition Apple fans rely on for each new product launch.

The demo videos are embedded below. In case you missed it, check out the first white iPhone unboxing video here.
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Watch Youtube Live Streams On iOS Devices

Youtube has been experimenting with live streams for concerts and other events for a few years now, but it was only earlier this month when the service officially unveiled Youtube Live, a new section of the website that integrates live streaming capabilities into Youtube’s standard interface to allow broadcasters to share their live video content similarly to how other platforms like Ustream and Justin.tv enable users to start a live video recording, and share it with the rest of the world.

Youtube Live, however, has one major limitation: the stream is entirely Flash-based and Live videos don’t work on mobile devices like iPhones and iPads. YTLive, a new web app launched this week, aims at fixing this problem by providing live conversion of the Flash stream to generate an embedded live video that’s playable on iOS devices. To use the web app, you only have to paste the URL of a Youtube Live video here, and wait for the YTLive to process it. Once the service has generated an embedded video like the one in the screenshot above, you can tap Play and start streaming. The live feed is the same, but from what I understand the Flash stream is being converter through YTLive’s servers before it’s delivered to an iPhone or iPad. I don’t know how the service will hold up in the coming weeks as more and more iOS users start using it (the Royal Wedding is going to be an interesting first test), but it works fairly well right now.

Head over Youtube Live, pick a channel, and try it with YTLive on your iOS device now. [via TUAW]

Conan O’Brien Introduces The Apple iDea

Brought to you by the minds of Conan O’Brien and TeamCoco, the iDea is the latest product in Apple’s multitouch line-up – except it’s not clear what it is, yet. Clearly inspired by Apple’s latest iPad 2 promo videos and ads, the iDea commercial touches some key parts of Apple’s marketing machine: gestures, voiceover, higher price point for bigger model, thinner design in the second-gen version. It’s got everything the Apple marketing team would be proud of.

Check out the video below. [via TUAW]
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Adobe TV Now Streaming to iOS Devices

Following the announcement of the Photoshop Touch SDK that will enable developers to write Photoshop-compatible iOS and Android apps, the scheduled release date of the CS 5.5 suite and the first demoes of third-party Photoshop software for the iPad, Adobe has also revamped its Adobe TV website (which contains several CS suite video resources and tutorials) to offer native video streaming for phones and tablets. The move came a little unexpected, as the website was well known for working under the Flash format on desktop computers, but incompatible with iPhones and iPads. This is changing today with a complete rewrite of the website that now detects the user agent of a mobile device and serves the proper video content without the need of Flash:

We just launched Adobe TV Mobile, which means you can now watch all your favorite Adobe TV videos on your iPad, iPhone, iPod, Android phone, and Android tablet. Simply visit tv.adobe.com from your tablet or phone and you’ll be automatically re-directed to an optimized experience for your device.

Adobe says the new website has nothing to do with the debate over Flash content on iOS devices, it simply was one of the most requested features and it’s been implemented because Adobe believes in “delivering our  content to all platforms and devices that are meaningful to our audience.” If you’ve been looking for a way to consume Adobe Tv content on your iPads and iPhones, now it’s the time to open Mobile Safari and start streaming. [via TUAW]

Here’s A Digital Whiteboard Running On 40 iPads Simultaneously

Back in January Cody reviewed SyncPad, a collaborative online whiteboard with web, iPhone and iPad applications that allow people to collaborate on sketches, wireframes or PDFs in real-time. SyncPad is a very powerful app, as it lets you create multiple rooms, work locally or over the Internet, share with Dropbox and even import PDFs in seconds to quickly mark up a document and show it to your colleagues. From the review:

As soon as you open SyncPad, you’re asked to enter a room name. You can make up anything, and a URL will be spit out enabling you to share that room with collaborators. With no sign-up required, collaborators can simply plug the URL into a web browser to watch you markup content in realtime. There may be a slight delay between what someone will see in a room as you draw on the screen, but it’s rather minor and personally unimportant. The WOW! factor is immediate as the simplicity behind SyncPad is astounding, and it’s an easy way to impress others on the other end. They’ll tell you, “it’s the future,” and I’m not exaggerating - SyncPad is a great way to share content with others because it’s such a fascinating little tool.

The “WOW” factor Cody mentioned is indeed well visible in the video shared by the developers, in which 40 iPads are running the same whiteboard simultaneously. The devices are on the same local WiFi network (they’re not connected over the air from different countries in the world – like Cody and I did in our tests), but the tech is still impressive. The animations are smooth, everything happens in real-time, and we can only imagine the possibilities offered by SyncPad during, say, meetings or conferences where all attendees have an iPad with the aforementioned app installed.

Check out the video below. Read more

Apple Orders 12 Petabytes (That’s 12 Million Gigabytes) For iTunes Store Video

After all the theories surrounding Apple’s new data center in North Carolina, and the rumors surfaced in the past months pinpointing a complete revamp of iOS and MobileMe with extensive cloud features, here comes an interesting tidbit suggesting that Apple is looking to improve capacity of the iTunes Store by ordering 12 petabytes of storage from Isilon Systems. As reported by AppleInsider, the additional storage will be used for hosting video content on the iTunes Store – although it is not clear whether this storage will also be dedicated to video streaming, future iOS or MobileMe functionalities, or just downloads for the existing iTunes Store. Currently, the iTunes Store hosts thousands of movies, TV shows and video podcasts that are available both in standard and high definition, can be streamed to an Apple TV or downloaded locally on Windows PCs and Macs. Read more

Stephen Colbert Already Wants An iPad 3 [Video]

The iPad 2 came out a few weeks ago and it’s still the hot new gadget among Apple aficionados and average consumers, right? I mean, some people didn’t even get the chance to buy one, as they’re still waiting in line at the local Apple Store hoping for new stock to become available. Stephen Colbert got one though, he loved it as a device to send emails and tweets or check out his photos…and then he got tired of it. “Anyone know when the iPad 3 is coming out?”, he asks. “I just want something new, you know?”

Hilarious. Check out the video below.[MediaMemo via Colbert Nation]
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