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Product Review: KIDIGI Universal Desktop Cradle for iPad

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When I am doing the GWE podcast or when I am working on content for the website I find it absolutely necessary to have multiple screens in front of me. One of the screens that I love having the most is the iPad. However, I can’t always find the optimal place for my iPad and the outer case doesn’t always allow me to position the iPad in a way that’s comfortable for me while I work. Fortunately, I was recently sent the KIDIGI Universal Desktop Cradle for iPad from MobileFun.

KIDIGIDekstopCradle

The KIDIGI Universal Desktop Cradle works with the iPad (3rd generation)iPad 2, iPad and will also fit the iPod and iPhone. This cradle comes with USB cord to allow you to connect your device to your computer or directly to your Apple charger through the cradle itself. The 30-pin connector in the cradle is adjustable to ensure everything sits firmly in place regardless of what device your using. Another plus for this device is that you should be able to use it without removing your case, a huge annoyance that often comes up with other desk cradles. The KIDIGI cradle also looks really nice, it’s slick design makes it look like an Apple product.

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The only con I found for this cradle is that I feel it could be a little more stable. While using it, I put it to the test and pushed hard and it began to wobble a bit. The cradle held it’s ground well enough and your device will definitely be safe, it’s just not as solid as I would like.

Overall I would recommend picking this up if you’re looking for a nice desktop cradle to use with pretty much any Apple device with a 30-pin connector.

Here are some of the key features:

  • Data Hot Sync and charging on your desk with a cradle.
  • The connector is easy to adjust to fit all ipods & iphones ipad.
  • Keep Silicon case or leather case with your iPad or iPhone in the cradle and can use in stable condition.

 

You can pick one of these up for just $17.49 at MobileFun. Have a device with the new lightning connector? No problem, MobileFun has something for  iPhone 5 as well, so go ahead and check it out.

iTunes 11 Has Finally Arrived

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Yes, Apple has officially released iTunes 11, which I must say is the biggest change to iTunes in sometime. My first impression of the new iTunes is a bit of a surprise, Apple has done a really nice job with this release. Of course with all things that are new, it will take a while for us to truly evaluate the new and improved iTunes, but so far things are looking pretty impressive.

So what’s new? Well, quite a bit actually. iTunes has essentially been completely redesigned and you will notice these changes the moment you first launch the application.

iTunes 11 ScreenShot
(Credit: Apple)

Preview History:

iTunes 11 now features preview history, something that I greatly appreciate. I actually find that I will preview certain songs and then move on with out keeping track of them, then when I want to go back to the one I liked, I completely forget the song name. This new feature gets rid of the guessing game and it does so across all of your devices thanks to iCloud. The preview history is not just for music, it will also store any movies or TV shows you previewed as well.

Saving your place:

You can now pause any movie, podcast, TV show, iTunesU Lesson, or audiobook and pick up where you left off on any device.

New Mini Player:

Apple is all about mini these days and it’s no different when it comes to iTunes. The new mini player offers up a nice way for you to be able to gloss through your library by providing you with a mini version of it. You can also see what song is going to play next by clicking on the new “Up Next:”  button. The “Up Next:” feature is also available in the full size version of iTunes 11 and will also allow you to queue up music ahead of the song your currently listening to. This feature should come in handy when you’re in charge of the party music.

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The New mini Player in iTunes11 (Credit:Apple)

A Clean New Design:

Yeah, I know looks aren’t everything, especially when it comes to software. I use a ton of great apps that for lack of a better word look like, crap, but are extremely useful. iTunes 11, however, looks great. The new redesign is enough to make you feel uncomfortable at first, but once you settle in you quickly realize that things are where they need to be and that everything looks great. The interface just seems to get out of the way and it lets my content shine. This is also true of the iTunes Store which now features a very image rich experience.

iTunes Store Now Features a Gift Card Scanning Feature:

 

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New iTunes11 Card Redemption (Credit:GWE)

You can now just take a photo of your iTunes Store gift card to redeem it, which is actually a really nice little feature that I missed initially, thanks to MacRumors, who pointed this out.

 

Featured App: Smart Aliens

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Smart Aliens is a social hangman-like game that you can play with your friends via Facebook, or 3 random people from all over in real-time. At first you may think..”oh, hangman, okay whatever”, but this game is actually way better than I expected.

You first pick your alien avatar, then you choose to play the arena mode, or duel mode. In arena, you will be asked to make your bet amount, Rookie Arena-5 gold, Gamblers Arena-10 gold, and Psychopath Arena-15 gold. Inside you are joined with 3 other actual players, no CPU. The game will give you a category and letters to choose. You must choose carefully, once you lose all your lives you lose your bet twice! The game’s gold coins are used in the shop to buy bots, different avatars, traps and medikits. These things will help while in the arena with other players to make sure you win, by taking lives away from them, or refilling your lives.

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Arena Multiplayer, SmartAliens

 

The avatars are cute and funny looking, some come at a high price, and there is one that you must have the paid version to get. Although you don’t have to buy the app (since there is a free version) the paid version gives you some perks, like extra gold. I wanted a certain alien, but she was very expensive and the winnings for each round, really don’t add up very fast, so I feel like they know you will definitely buy the full version and more gold to get what you want, otherwise, you would be playing for a pretty long time before you got it. That is the only con that I believe this game has. Overall at $1.99, I think it was a good buy.

Available at the App Store and coming soon to Google Play. You can also check out their website at www.smartaliens.com

Features include:

DUEL mode: Challenge your friends in a turn-by-turn game.
ARENA mode: WARNING! ADDICTIVE GAME! Play against 3 other aliens in real-time!
FACEBOOK: Connect with Facebook, invite and challenge your friends.
TRAPS: Assured victory by trapping your opponents with the lightning, the psycho keyboard or the kidnapping.
SUPER POWERS: Upgrade your alien to reveal letters at the beginning of a round, block lightning or resurrect from death.

 

 

Apple Thinking About Dropping Intel

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Apple has been very successful when it comes to developing  their own chips, like the new Dual Core A6X. These chips are growing more and more powerful with each iteration and soon, according to Bloomberg, Apple feels that they will eventually be able to cram enough power into their chips to run their laptops and desktops as well. In 2005 Apple decided to bring Intel into the mix when it came to processing power for the Mac. Intel makes some of the fastest an most powerful chips on the planet including the i7, which is the current chip used across the Mac experience.

Mac Pro


The idea here is to create a seamless experience across their entire product line up, something Microsoft is also trying to achieve. Having the same chip architecture in each device can make that happen. There’s no doubt that Apple will try their hardest to make everything they can in-house, but how will this impact the Apple community?

Can Apple really create a chip that can do everything just as well as a world class Intel chip can do? After all, were not talking about Angry Birds here. I am trying to imagine running applications like Adobe Photoshop and Final Cut Pro on an Apple CPU, it just doesn’t feel like it’s possible.

Apple can attract the talent needed to design great chips but this is still new territory for them and they will need time to grow and learn as a chip manufacturer. Yes, mobile devices are very powerful these days but the processing demands of pro users is many times that of any current mobile chip and at least for now, I can’t see any immediate change in the near future. As for the the next ten years or so, we could be looking at a much different story.

One of the great benefits of Apple moving to an Intel based machine was the ability to run Microsoft software on Apple hardware. If Apple were to switch chips, would you still be able to run Microsoft Windows on the Mac? How well would other developers receive that new chip line up? I think that this could potentially isolate Apple again and in way that works against them. Could this move be as bad as the decision to abandon Google and release an unfinished Map product? It’s not just the power of the Intel chip, it’s also about the name. Consumers want to see “Intel Inside” their Mac computers, it gives us confidence in that product’s capabilities, it’s a name we have grown to trust over the years.

It’s important to note that these are just rumors at best, but I don’t have any doubt in my mind that Apple is hard at work trying to find ways to put the Apple logo on everything they can inside their machines.

 

 

iOS 6 Rundown

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So, we got the update but.. what changed? I notice a few different icons on the screen but what else has happened? Well, we round up some key features of iOS 6 here so you don’t have to. Apple Logo

Facebook

Facebook is now fully integrated into the OS it self, which is really nice for Facebook users out there as it allows you to connect with Facebook without you having stop what your doing and switch apps. Facebook events are tied directly into Calendar and sharing links is super easy. ‘Likes’ are now part of iTunes and the Apps store.  It almost feels as if Facebook was meant to be a part of iOS from the start.

Maps

Well, no more Google Maps as Apple has decided it’s time to do the map business all by itself. The new map application looks really good and it would seem that, at least initially, Google Maps users should’t miss much. The new maps are quite detailed and look really slick even standard mode. I test drove the the 3D view by flying around Los Angeles and everything seemed to work really well. Turn-By-Turn navigation also makes an appearance with this map update, which has been long overdue.

Siri
Our old friend Siri gets some improvements as well, including movie reviews,facts and trailers from Rotten Tomatoes. Siri can also help you find something to eat by listing restaurants by price and rating. Need to know any sports scores? Siri covers that for you too, simply ask what the score is of a specific team and you’re good to go. You can also open applications by simply asking Siri what to launch.  Siri has seen quite a few improvements with this update and I can see Siri becoming more and more useful in the future, especially if Siri is to be integrated into new automobiles.

 

Safari

Safari gets iCloud Tabs which will allow you to view any open tabs form one iOS device on any other connected iOS device. Safari now features full screen landscape browsing, which looks great. Safari will also save entire webpages so you can view them offline later.

 

Facetime

Facetime will now work over a cellular network. Simple enough but I have yet to see it in action, I am wondering how the overall quality will be.

Phone

Well with everything the iPhone can do I think we tend to forget that it actually makes phone calls. Apple has added some features for the phone including being able to instantly send a text message to a recently declined phone call. You can also set call reminders when you decline a call or use a do-not-disturb mode to completely block all calls or only allow calls from high priority contacts.

 

Mac will also see the integration of Facebook into OSX Mountain Lion along with a few other updates in the new version 10.8.2. These are just a few of the new features on iOS 6, if your interested in everything head to Apple’s official site.