That’s what one Macenstein reader seems to think. The guy points to a small moment in Wednesday’s presentation that, frankly, got past me.

Steve Jobs, rattling off a list of things that the iPad is getting in November with iOS 4.2, slips in HDR. As in photography. As in, something that would use a camera that the current model does not possess.

Normally, I’d say there’s no way Apple or its CEO could make the huge goof of referring to something that wasn’t intended to be revealed. Then again, did you catch the one about Ping and Facebook Connect? So I guess anything’s possible.

Check out the video and tell us what you think: Accidental major leak or just a slip of the tongue?

Via: Macenstein

In case you missed it, iOS 4.2 is coming to all iOS 4-compatible devices in November — including the iPad. To help spread the word, Apple has posted a new “Coming Soon” page on its website, along with a little more information on what the software update will bring.

If you were rubbing your eyes, unable to believe that your tablet is finally going to get folders, take heart. It really is happening. You’ll get all the multitasking and app folder goodness other iOS 4 devices have been enjoying all summer. The list of things to look forward to follows (as described on the site):

Multitasking
Run all your favorite apps — and switch between them instantly — without slowing down the performance of the foreground app or draining the battery unnecessarily.2

Folders
Organize apps into folders with drag-and-drop simplicity. Get faster access to your favorites and browse and manage thousands of apps.

Printing
Print mail, photos, web pages, and more directly to a printer on a wireless network.

AirPlay
Wirelessly stream videos, music, and photos from iPad to the new Apple TV, and stream music to AirPlay speakers or receivers, including AirPort Express.

Game Center
Experience social gaming on your iPad. Find friends or use auto-match to play multiplayer games against new opponents. Track achievements and compare high scores.

Even better Mail
See messages from all your accounts in a unified inbox, organize messages by threads, and open attachments in third-party apps.

Find text on web pages
In Safari, easily find and highlight specific words and phrases on large web pages.

Enhanced enterprise support
Businesses can take advantage of stronger security features, new device management capabilities, and improved enterprise integration.

Accessibility enhancements
Control VoiceOver using a wireless keyboard. Output in braille to over 30 supported wireless Bluetooth refreshable braille displays in more than 25 languages.

Keyboard and dictionary enhancements
Choose from more than 30 new keyboards and dictionaries, including Arabic, Greek, and Hebrew.

Being able to search a keyword on a Safari webpage? That’s an unexpected bonus! Googling a search term, clicking on the link, and then scrolling through a crazy long webpage has been extra un-fun on an iPhone. (My fingers get tired from all the flicking.) Finally, some relief! That and wireless printing is making me fall in love with this platform all over again.

Have you got any favorites on this list you’re most looking forward to? Hit us up with a comment, or to see the page for yourself on Apple online, click here.

JiWire, an advertising company that focuses marketing specifically through Wi-fi networks, recently released a report with some interesting numbers. They say 55.1% of public Wi-fi locations available are free, outnumbering paid Wi-fi hotspots in the US for the first time. While Starbucks and McDonalds have provided free access for a while now, this growth may be due to retailers now also offering free internet (one recent example being Sam’s Club).

JiWire’s Insights report for 2010’s second quarter show that a growth of free Wi-fi spots isn’t only happening in the US. Seven of the top 10 countries worldwide (ranked by the number of public hotspots) have even added more locations recently, with France taking the lead in this growth. France took the UK’s number three ranking this last quarter by boosting its total number of publicly available internet access points by 12.8%.

The data collected by JiWire suggests that approximately 1 in 4 Wi-fi networks around the world is now free. (That’s a leap of 20% from just a year ago.) This seems to be a trend that could continue to grow further still. It also poses the question: Is 3G data connectivity needed anymore? Seeing as a lot of mobile internet usage is done in an eating, drinking or sitting area (where free internet is easily available), is this slowly becoming an end to sales of Mi-fi and other mobile internet solutions?

And what about the iPad 3G? Will this sway users to go for a less expensive Wifi-only model? If you have either one, let us know if you’re regretful or satisfied with your purchase and its connectivity options.

Via: Gigaom

When the iPad came out in April, many people were a tad upset that a tablet device with HD playback didn’t offer any a HDMI output. Surely, it would have made sense to design a media centric device with the option to plug it easily in to your HD TV. It apparently made no sense to Jobs, and now we know why. Sneaky Steve has something up his sleeve all along.

Apple TV has always been Steve-o’s pet project, or “bit on the side”. The device was almost like Cupertino’s dirty secret. It couldn’t be bragged about too much, or the Macs and iPhones would get upset that they were, somehow, being cheated on. If the previously expensive and unnecessary toy had been promoted too heavily, no one would ever take Apple seriously. Let’s face it, the old device was way overpriced considering it was practically just an external hard-drive with Wi-Fi. Now though, a refreshingly low price point has been brought in, along with its ability to make friends with iDevices and Macs, making it much more of a drool maker.

So, Apple’s task was to somehow create a TV device, with useful extra features that fanboys everywhere would likely fall over their feet running after. Airplay plus the box costing one hundred bucks means that Jobs can reveal his little secret to everyone without  fear of mocking, and public shame. The new set-top box streams directly from the net, and includes access to YouTube and Netflix. Also, it takes a huge swing at cable TV’s offering of older movies, with tons of ads blasting at your senses every 15 minutes. There are no ads with Apple TV, and movies are all current.

Jobs&Co, however, may have pulled the wool slightly over our eyes. With no HDMI out on the iPad, what the company is basically saying is: “if you have an iPad, and want to stream HD videos over to your nice, big HD TV, pay us $100 and we’ll send you a plastic box that does it.”

It has to be said however, that I personally think the new re-formed TV is a great adaption of the old clunky model. It takes up no room, it wirelessly streams from any of my Apple products whenever I like and doesn’t need syncing. But, I sympathize with iPad owners who would have loved to have this capability from the get go.

What do you guys think about this? Will you purchase the lean, mean Apple TV machine? Is it another waste of money? Comment below or Tweet me: @TiP_Cam

Jack Bauer may sure be able to save the world in a day, but Apple comes pretty close. Since its release earlier this year,the iPad has been the center of intense controversy, speculation and admiration. It’s been so popular that many nations abroad had their release dates pushed back an entire month. In the States the expected delivery time from order online to your door has gradually reduced from weeks, to days and now it will get to you in one day. Sure, Cupertino may have hashed up the original production, but, I’m actually starting to believe Steve-o when he says “we’re doing everything we can”. The only question now is, will you get finally order yours or wait until the next generation tablet in 6 months?

Via: Apple

It looks like “Smart Pad” is just the moniker for Toshiba’s product category, claims Netbook Italia. The site published new renders of the iPad-like Android device, now dubbed the Toshiba Folio 100, as well as a dock with Toshiba branding. It also posted some new specs to boot. So let’s get down to business and find out if this truly is an “iPad Killer.”

As of now, we haven’t heard anything straight from the horse’s mouth, but based on the supposed specs, it’s shaping up to be a real iPad killer. It boasts some features (below) that the Apple tablet doesn’t have and most likely will never have, such as a USB port or external memory slots. There is no wording on price yet, but you can expect it to be in the general range of the iPad.

Features:

• Android 2.2
• NVIDIA Tegra 2
• 10.1-inch 1024 x 600 display
• 16GB internal memory
• 802.11b/g/n wireless
• Bluetooth
• 3G
• SD and MMC card readers
• HDMI
• USB 2.0 ports
• 1.3 megapixel webcam
• 1020mAh battery with 7 hours of mixed use (perusing the web, watching videos, etc.) battery life

As far as software goes, it has Opera Mobile as the browser, Flash 1.0, an e-book reader, and some general office productivity applications.

So there you have it, the Folio 100, in all its glory. Will this tablet be enough to knock the iPad down a few rungs on the ladder, or is it too little and too late? Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Via: Engadget

SAI reports that companies are “breaking free of the vice-grip lock” that Microsoft and Intel has had on their business for the past two decades. It seems that multiple corporations are now beginning to purchase iPads and develop applications for them, possibly starting a huge trend across the corporate market.

WSJ reports that Chicago-based law firm Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal “offers access to its internal systems for more than 50 iPad-toting attorneys, and anticipates issuing iPads as an alternative to laptops as soon as next year.” The firm pre-ordered 10 iPads before the device was initially released so that they could test and learn how the device could be used with the company’s internal systems. Now, 4 months down the line, the firm supports more than 50 attorney’s with iPads, with that number potentially growing soon as the plan to provide them as a cheaper alternative to laptops in the near future.

500+ applications of the 11,000 developed for the iPad are in the Business category of the App Store, and this number could grow rapidly very soon should the iPad’s presence make an impact on the corporate market. One free app in particular from Citrix Systems Inc. that allows people access to internal corporate programs from the iPad has been downloaded more than 145,000 times.

Can iPads really be taken seriously in businesses? Yes, they very well could be, for a few reasons:

• iOS supports Microsoft Exchange
• They are a lot more portable than most laptops
• Many developers (an example being networking service company Cisco, among many others) have developed for iOS to allow the same easy communication    software in the corporate that is used on many Windows laptops to be used on iPads.
• They are a cheaper alternative to laptops
• They “boot instantly” and run from flash memory, making them a lot quicker for many uses when on the go.

Right now, the biggest obstacle seems to be software: Enterprise-level programs just simply aren’t as available for this platform yet. That could, however, change in time, as adoption of this platform spreads.

Do you use the iPad for work? Are there any particular barriers you’re facing with that yet, or has it been a more productive platform so far? Weigh in with your thoughts below.

Via: SAI

In Japan, the authority responsible for the entire Sumo community has decided to give out iPads to all 51 Sumo stables in the country. This came about due to struggles in communication, as the wrestlers find phone keypads too small and fiddly. The Sumo Association is of the opinion that because of the iPad’s large on-screen keyboard, the device is ideal for the oversized digits of the fighters. The problem has come to the forefront during an investigation in to drugs, illegal gambling and assault by some of the wrestlers. As the authorities couldn’t make any headway with communication, the SA decided the only option was to buy Apple’s 9.7″ device for its stables.

Via: Fortune

Those of you with the Kindle app for iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch will be pleased to hear that the highlighting problem has been dealt with. Version 2.2.1 of the software has been released to fix issues users had with the sensitivity of the app, causing many to accidentally highlight text, and often caused the app to crash. The app is available here for free, for those of you unhappy or wanting a change to Apple own iBooks app.

Via: iLounge

You may remember a while back, we told you all about the ClamCase keyboard for the iPad, which was the first we heard of a keyboard that offers the look and feel of a laptop on the tablet. Well, it seems it may not be the first one available in stores though.

We could see another clamshell-designed Bluetooth iPad keyboard arrive pretty soon. The BL-BKB76 by Shenzhen Paoluy Silicone Technology Co. Ltd. passed through the FCC on Friday, and claims to have 100 days of standby time and a 90-hour max of battery life during continuous usage. In addition to the U.S. market, it’s also set for release in the UK under the name “KeyCase iPad Folio with Integrated Bluetooth Keyboard.”

Not only does the accessory double as a leather casing to protect that iPad, but the clamshel loverall looks pretty polished, which would allow users to show off their “professional” side. For me, that’s probably the bigger selling point. Who wants a product that doesn’t look good, right?

It also offers some other nice little features, like a magnetic fastener (so it doesn’t just flip open at will) and a sleep mode that kicks in after 10 minutes of non use. The keyboard charges via the same USB cable that comes with the iPad, making it easy to switch from powering up the device to juicing up the accessory.

So what do you think guys? Is the BL-BKB76 good enough to make your iPad the ultimate mobile computing device? Or are you torn between using the tablet and saving those pennies for a brand new MacBook, like Justin? Let us know in the comments.

Via: AppleInsider