Chrome for iOS gets wireless printing, full-screen browsing

Chrome for iOS now lets you print Web pages via AirPrint or 

Google Cloud Print. The latter also supports print-to-PDF via 

Google Drive.

(Credit: Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET) 

The latest update to Google's mobile browser also provides a save-as-PDF option for Google Drive users.

CNET - It seems like just last week that Google was rolling out updates for its Chrome browser for iOS.

In fact, it was: Last week, Google added sharing and history features to Chrome for iOS.

Yesterday, Google brought a few more worthwhile features to its mobile browser: support for AirPrint, Google Cloud Print, and full-screen browsing. Version 26.0.1410.50 also lets you save any Web page as a PDF to your Google Drive account.

Full-screen browsing works just like in Safari: When you scroll up, the Omnibox (i.e., address bar) disappears to give you a bit more viewing area. When you scroll back down (or tap the top of the screen), it reappears. Simple, but effective. The feature is good for video and Web-based games, where you don't want distracting user-interface "chrome" getting in the way of what you're seeing.

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iPotty for iPad - Just One of the Oddities From CES 2013

From iPad toilets to alien apps, CES brims with oddities

The completely self-explanatory iPotty for iPad.

(Credit: Amanda Kooser/CNET) 

 

CNET - LAS VEGAS--CES is a bizarre proposition: thousands of people trying to digest news from thousands of exhibitors sandwiched between casinos and punctuated by taxi rides narrated by the I-can't-believe-it's-not-butter voice of Steve Wynn.

And there are random bursts of heavy metal music.

Add to that ginormous booths, loud booths, babe-filled booths, swag-filled booths, and even booths with nothing in them.

But at the heart of CES are ideas, the lifeblood of innovation. And you don't have to go too far to find the far-out.

Just claw your way to the back end of the South Hall and you'll find purveyors of one-handed keyboards and smartphones with medical apps developed with alien assistance.

Sometimes these ideas are from lone inventors who seem on the fringes of common sense. Men and women who are convinced that their idea, no matter how unusual, will meet a need we never knew we had.

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iPad mini may be in the pipeline, says analyst

 
(Credit: Apple)

 

CNET - Apple's long-rumored 7-inch iPad might be more than just a rumor, according to Barclays analyst Ben Reitzes.

Discussing the iPad in a research note yesterday, Reitzes said the investment firm is still holding out hope that Apple will add a 7-inch tablet to its lineup.

"Our global research team still sees some evidence of this product in the supply chain -- and we wouldn't be surprised if it wound up in the iPod Touch category if it indeed sees daylight," the analyst said.

Given some uncertainty on the part of Barclays, an iPad mini doesn't factor into its sales forecasts for the tablet. But either way, Apple is on track to have more bang-up quarters thanks to its current iPad lineup.

Reitzes estimates that 14.2 million iPads will ship in the second quarter, a 20 percent jump over last quarter. And another 15.9 million will ship in the third quarter.

Apple will be counting on strong sales from the iPad over the next couple of quarters as the company transitions to a new iPhone, according to the analyst.    More

Top accessories for your iPhone and iPad: gallery

ZDNet - Summary: Dozens of iPad and iPhone accessories tested across a variety of categories, whittled down to a handful of the very best you can buy for your iDevice.

The iPhone and iPad are both considered by most to be the best devices in their class, but you can dramatically improve upon both of them buying the right accessories. However, given the incredible popularity of these devices, there are an overwhelming number of accessories available for both. Finding the best accessory in a particular category can be very difficult.

Over the course of this gallery, I will work my way through several categories of accessories and highlight “best of the best” that you can buy for your iPhone or iPad.

Read More & Browse the Gallery!

New iPad owners reveal their likes and dislikes

CNET - The Retina Display topped the list as the most liked feature, while the iPad’s cost was the biggest complaint, says a new survey from ChangeWave.
The new iPad scores higher in customer satisfaction than did previous models, but it comes with its own unique set of pros and cons.

A full 82 percent of new iPad owners polled by ChangeWave last month said they were very satisified with the tablet, while 16 percent were somewhat satisifed. Only 2 percent were somewhat unsatisfied, while no one was very unsatisfied.

Those results compare with 74 percent of owners of the previous model iPad surveyed in February who were very satisifed and 23 percent somewhat satisifed.                   More

New iPad set to disrupt video game industry

With its faster processing speed, Apple's new iPad will take on console makers like Microsoft and Sony says Thomson Reuters Tech Correspondent Liana Baker. 

 

Here’s who should buy the new iPad

These are the times that try men’s souls.

Never has a tablet purchase so vexed the collective nerd consciousness of this great nation. And Apple doesn’t make it easy, does it? Its “new” tablet looks a hell of a lot like the old one, only heavier! It’s like Apple is toying with us.

But have no fear. Using a bracing mixture of logic and cheapskate wisdom, I’ll walk you though this paralyzing first-world dilemma.




For the first-timers

If you’ve never owned a tablet and you’re considering the new iPad for your first fling, think twice. You may be buying more tablet than you need.

Many of the new iPad‘s updated features are difficult to appreciate as a newcomer. If I showed you an iPad 2 and told you it was the new iPad, there’s almost nothing about the device to indicate that I’m lying to you. Without a frame of reference, the iPad 2′s screen and graphic performance are dazzling in their own right.

I know this sounds condescending, but the new iPad will be best appreciated by those who are upgrading from a previous model. It’s for us poor strung-out tech junkies who’ve built up a tolerance for iPad “magic” and need something stronger.

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The Short, But Storied History of the iPad

“Is there room for a third category of device in the world, something that’s between a laptop and a smartphone?” Steve Jobs asked before he introduced the world to the iPad early in 2010. With a wait time of two to three weeks for even those who were among the first to order the new iPad, it would seem the obvious answer is “yes.” But just two years ago, it wasn’t so.

At the time, Dan Lyons, writing for Newsweek, said “[F]or some of us who sat in the audience watching Steve Jobs introduce the device, the whole thing felt like a letdown.” It got criticized for its lack of camera, multitasking, and Flash. Even its name and its looks were fair game.

“It’s a nice reader,” Bill Gates said.

To be fair, the critics were no more harsh than Steve Jobs once was. Even while the iPad was being developed at Apple, Jobs was not only denying its existence, he was denouncing its purpose. “We have no plans to make a tablet,” he said to Walt Mossberg at 2003′s D: All Things Digital Conference. “It turns out people want keyboards. Tablets appeal to rich guys with plenty of other PCs and devices already.”          

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OnLive Desktop Plus Hands On: They Put Windows on My iPad

Gizmodo - How impressive is the Desktop Plus version of OnLive’s iPad software? For $4.99 a month it basically lets you run full Windows on your iPad, and at blazing speeds to boot. This is the cloud done right. Mostly.

OnLive is a cloud-based gaming company, and what it has done is to take the same technology that shoots first person shooters to your screens and apply it to running apps over the cloud. The company leverages countless servers in data centers connected to gigabit ethernet to run various programs for you—including Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Internet Explorer—and then it sends that video to your iPad. Essentially, it turns your iPad into a display for one of its servers.

What’s that mean in practice? First and foremost it means you can have Office on your iPad right now, today, and free, which was the promise of the original OnLive Desktop. You can edit documents, run video in PowerPoint presentations and basically do anything that you could if you were using Office on a desktop. You can use a software keyboard for input (which includes a Windows-centric keyboard layout) or hook up a bluetooth keyboard. It also recognizes handwriting, which is a neat trick.          More

Apple iPad 3 may get March release date, 4G

Will the next iPad be 4G-friendly? (Credit: Apple )

CNET - Apple’s iPad 3 will reportedly hit the market in March and work with Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks.

According to Bloomberg, the iPad 3 will land in the calendar first quarter. Bloomberg cited manufacturing partners in Asia. In addition, the iPad 3 will sport a quad-core chip.

The iPad 3 is expected to be one of Apple’s big revenue drivers for the upcoming year. While the iPad 3 is critical, most analysts expect the iPhone 5, which is also expected to be 4G friendly, to drive sales more.

Volume manufacturing is expected to ramp up in February, according to Bloomberg.          

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iPad 3 To Hit in 3 Months?

 

iPad 3 rumor roundup

 

CNET - With the success Apple is enjoying with the iPad 2, I’m not sure it even needs to make an iPad 3.

It will, of course. Just as it’s done over the past two years, Apple will likely unveil its latest, greatest tablet around April 2012. Until then, it’s open season on iPad 3 rumors.

In this ongoing blog post, we’ll be collecting the best, most interesting rumors and predictions for the Apple iPad 3. Which of these rumors will pan out? Only time will tell.

December 12
iPad 3 expected in March/April 2012
After a supply chain analysis, DigiTimes predicts that Apple’s iPad 3 will be ready for retail in three to four months. Given that the original iPad was released in April and the iPad 2 released in mid-March, the timing of this prediction seems consistent with Apple’s history.

December 12
iPad 3 expected in March/April 2012
After a supply chain analysis, DigiTimes predicts that Apple’s iPad 3 will be ready for retail in three to four months. Given that the original iPad was released in April and the iPad 2 released in mid-March, the timing of this prediction seems consistent with Apple’s history.

November 22
iPad 3 will be thinner with low-power non-IPS display
Forbes claims that Apple will ditch its IPS technology for a lower-powered Sharp display with a higher resolution and a thinner profile that will allow for a thinner overall design.

November 16
iPad 3 to use Qualcomm 4G LTE Gobi 4000 chip
Qualcomm is the current manufacturer for the 3G mobile chip inside the iPhone 4S, so it stands to reason that Apple may take advantage of its latest and greatest chip for use in the iPad 3. Using the 4G-compatible mobile chip would make the iPad 3 the first 4G device Apple has produced.

October 26
iPad 3 QXGA display
Of all the iOS devices out there (including the iPhone and iPod Touch), the iPad is the last to receive the upgrade to Apple’s Retina Display technology. The problem is that touch-screen manufacturers simply cannot yet make panels at the iPad’s size with the same 326ppi pixel density. They can get close, though. QXGA resolution (2,048×1,536 pixels) gets you a pixel density of 264ppi, which is twice that of the iPad 2.              More

How to get started with Apple AirPlay

AirPlay–a technology built into the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch–brings wireless media streaming from your iOS device to your home theater. Although it has limitations, it’s one of the most seamless ways to get your favorite YouTube videos, music, and home videos onto the big screen.

Watch the Video

 Get started with Apple AirPlay

What you need:

• An Apple TV. At $99, this is the most inexpensive way to use AirPlay. Other options include AirPlay-enabled speakers, Apple AirPort, and some receivers.
• An iOS device running iOS 4.2 or above. To check your software, go to Settings > About on your device and look at the number next to Version.
• A solid wireless network. This is important, as media from your iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch will be streamed to your TV over your home network. Ensure that you’ve optimized your wireless network before streaming content.

If you meet the requirements, streaming is easy.               More

The Best Apps of the Week

Gizmodo — In this week's app roundup: songs, made by speech; Sketchbook Pro, on Honeycomb; workouts, Videofied ; infographics, explained; Google+, ported to the iPhone; Cube Dogs, played with; iPod app, replaced; dominoes, strategized; live wallpapers, photo'd and much, much more.

The week's best iPhone apps

 

Watch Video

Songify: It turns basic speech into awesome songs. You don't even have to try to sing! Made by the Gregory Brothers, the dudes behind Bedroom Intruder, Auto-Tune the News, Double Rainbow and more hilariously awesome songs, the app pretty much gives you their powers. For example, I recited Gizmodo article titles and the app imposed it on the Double Rainbow soundtrack to create something way more fun than it should be.
See the rest of this week's best iPhone apps
 

The week's best Android apps

 

 

Sketchbook Pro: It's the uber-popular Autodesk SketchBook Pro that's already invaded iPads, iPhones and Androids but now on Honeycomb tablets as well. It's a canvas for you to draw and paint on, with virtual tools and brush styles that can be really used to create art. You can save up to six layers per file and export files to photoshop for further working. Great for professionals who want to use their tablets for ideas and amateurs like me who can only hope to draw a straight line. $5

See the rest of this week's best Android apps
 

The week's best iPad apps

Full size

Infographics: The app has about 50 different infographics created by the design company for its clients. There's trivia-filled images for technology, sociology, learning and more. Perfect for those moments when you have a few minutes to spare and want to read something besides boring news.  

See the rest of this week's best iPad apps

The Best Apps of the Week

Gizmodo - In this week's app roundup: Spotify, finally here; Android apps, shared; GIFs, created; Warhol, recreated; music, Played; Gossip Girl, streamed; Tivo, iPhone controlled; Scrabble, Androidified; Zombies, sliced by ninjas and much, much more.

The week's best iPhone apps

 

Spotify: Released to much fanfare, Spotify is as close to a great streaming service we can get. The iPhone app lets you listen to all of Spotify's 13 million track library and with an offline mode, can even do it without a connection because you can wirelessly sync your local files to your phone, create and sync playlists and more. See the rest of this week's best iPhone apps

The week's best Android apps

 

SuperNinjaSkydivingPlusZombies: You control a skydiving ninja who chops the heck out of flying zombies and eats as much bread as he can. It's a race to the bottom so balance the chopping of zombies with the speed of falling. High scores to does it the fastest. $1

See the rest of this week's best Android apps
 

The week's best iPad apps

 

Cosmo for Guys: Cosmo for Guys is designed to give sexy advice to men, which I'm sure ranges from fair to patently bananas. Because let's face it: Cosmo is a little ridiculous. But they add the social element in the skeeviest of ways: "Looking for suggestions on what kinds of sexual activities women in your geographical area prefer? Cosmo for Guys culls responses from questionnaires on Cosmopolitan.com and feeds them through Google Maps based on where a woman has written her response."

See the rest of this week's best iPad apps

This Week’s Best Apps

Gizmodo - Kyle VanHemert and Casey Chan — In this week's app roundup: Cut the Rope, finally on Android; videos, edited with different sources; coding, done on the iPad; grills, made; calls, filtered; cars, unlocked; Wacom, iPadified; and much, much more.

The week's best iPhone apps

 

 

The week's best iPhone apps

 

Flixlab: It's an app that lets you edit movies using clips on your phone AND clips from your friend's iPhone too. If you're in the same place as one of your Facebook friends, you'll be able to automatically see and use all the clips and pictures they've taken with Flixlab. Editing is easy and more footage means more angles means better story, you know?


See the rest of this week's best iPhone apps
 

The week's best Android apps

 

 

Cut the Rope: An iOS game mainstay, it's finally available on Android. And it's Free at GetJar! The premise of the game, if you've been living under a rock, is to feed Om Nom his candy by cutting ropes in strategic fashion and also gathering as many stars as you can. Trust me, it's not as boring as it sounds. You'll be addicted in no time. Free.

 

See the rest of this week's best Android apps

 

The week's best iPad apps

 

 

Invisibility App: The app uses the iPad's rear camera and gyroscope to display the background image on your screen, even when you move the tablet around. It's so seamless that it makes the iPad look almost invisible. $1

 

See the rest of this week's best iPad apps