Apple WWDC 2012 scheduled for June 11 – 15
Apple just sent out emails to let everyone know that their annual world wide developer conference (WWDC) 2012 is scheduled for June 11 – 15 in San Francisco. The conference is primarily aimed at developers who want to interact with Apple engineers, however, many iconic Apple products have been launched at the conference in the past. As is the case with Apple, we will not know until the conference if the next iPhone will be released at the time or not.
Apple TV Updated to Support 1080p Full HD Videos
The much awaited refresh of the Apple TV is here. The 3rd generation Apple TV retains the same form factor as its predecessor, but supports 1080p full HD video playback, thanks to the upgraded Apple A5 processor. The UI has also got a facelift and looks closer to iOS. The 2nd generation Apple TV also got the UI upgrade with the new software update (though the maximum resolution supported is still 720p owing to the old Apple A4 processor inside).
In addition to enabling 1080p video playback from the iTunes Store, the Apple TV should be able to play 1080p videos shot using the iPhone 4S directly, without needing any downconversion, thus improving Airplay speed. Also, photos should look a lot better with more pixels available on the screen.
To top it all, Apple has enabled streaming of previously purchased movies directly from iCloud with this update. Previously, this feature was only available for purchased TV shows and music.
The 3rd generation Apple TV is priced at $99, the same price as its predecessor which makes this refresh totally worth upgrading.
iOS 5.1 Lets You Delete Photos from Photostream, Among Other Improvenents
Apple released the latest version of the mobile operating system, iOS 5.1 yesterday after their iPad event. Among a long list of bug fixes, improvements and enhancements, lies a tiny little feature which everyone has been wanting since the day apple announced Photostream – the ability to delete photos from photostream on your iOS device. Many a times, we take multiple pictures of a subject in order to get it right. If you enable Photostream on your iOS device, it will automatically push all the photos you take from the camera to your Photostream. Thereby pushing all the non perfect shots you might have taken. And there was no way to delete them from your Photostream on your iOS device. In iOS 5.1, you can delete individual photos from the Photostream, so that you just have the perfect shots in there. Photostream is synced on all your iOS devices and your Apple TV as well.
Here are the complete release notes for iOS 5.1:
OS X Mountain Lion is Coming this Summer
It looks like Apple can never run out of surprises for us. When the whole world is busy speculating on rumors around iPad 3, Apple announced that the next version of their OS X, Mountain Lion is coming this Summer. If Lion was 1st base between iOS & OS X, Mountain Lion is pretty close to the 3rd base with things like iMessages, Reminders, Notes, Notification Center, Airplay Mirroring, Sharing Sheets & Game Center baked right into it.
Lets have a glimpse of the touted features:
Students build amazing way to flip pages of a book on iPad
Although iBooks offers an awesome way to flip pages of books on the iPad, its not good enough. While nothing can ever replace the tactile feedback of flipping pages on a, you know, a real 3D book, some students at the KAIST Institute of Information Technology Convergence have used some of Apple’s private iOS API to build these awesome ways to flip the pages of a book on an iPad:
Pretty cool eh? However, as they have used the private APIs of the iOS SDK, they will not be able to release it to the App Store. No issues, we would rather want Apple to buy these designs and incorporate in iBooks 
.
[via TUAW]
Watch Apple Keynotes in HD
Apple has launched an HD version of their podcast channel on the iTunes store. The podcast has HD versions of their keynotes starting from their WWDC keynote in 2011 where Steve Jobs unveiled Lion, iOS 5 & iCloud. Apple’s keynotes are probably the best way to launch new products to the world. It would be great to watch them in glorious HD. We just hope that they add more Steve Jobs keynotes to the podcast.
Here is the link to the podcast: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/apple-keynotes-hd/id470664050
Get NFS Undercover for iPhone FREE (India AppStore Only)
Grab your copy of NFS Undercover for your iOS device from the India AppStore before the EA Mobile deal expires. It’s definitely a game you don’t want to miss.
The game is really fun. But don’t expect any new tracks/cars though, the last update to the game was 2 years back in 2009.
[Via EAMobile Deals]
Hacked Siri Can Even Turn Off Your Thermostat
Siri is one of the most useful and advertised features of iPhone 4S. Siri offers interactive conversations with applications like weather, email, SMS and more. Although this feature is officially only available on the iPhone 4S, jailbreak enthusiasts have been successful at porting Siri to the iPhone 3GS/4 and iPod Touch.
Applidium, a french mobile development company (which brought us the famous iOS game Falldown 3D) has been successful at reverse engineering how Siri communicates with the Apple servers. The findings are pretty interesting.
Aircel and Airtel Start Pre-order for iPhone 4S today, Price it Insanely High
As promised, Aircel and Airtel have started pre-order for the iPhone 4S today – 18th November 2011. The prices come as a surprise/shock to all Apple Fans who were expecting it to be priced <40,000 INR.
Aircel & Airtel bringing iPhone 4S to India, Unlocked iPhones Available For Pre-order in the US
It’s time for iPhone fans to rejoice once again with the iPhone4S finally coming to India and I just can’t wait to get my hands on one. Aircel has announced that it’ll launch the phone soon. We are yet to see a similar announcement from Airtel.
The exact release date and prices are not officially out yet. BGR.in earlier reported that the release date will be November 24/25th 2011 and the prices would be
16GB – 40,000 INR
32GB – 45,000 INR (Not clear, but seems logical).
64GB – 50,000 INR
Let’s all hope that this time, they get rid of the crappy “Reverse Subsidy” plans and really offer something for a discount. Psst… I don’t mind a free bluetooth headset.
In other news, in case you’re not really happy with these prices. The much awaited Unlocked iPhone4S is now available for pre-order in the US. Call your friends who’re returning from the US and can smuggle one for you.
16GB – 649$ (around 32,500 INR + taxes)
32GB – 749$
64GB – 849$
So are you going get an iPhone4S or will you wait for the “real iPhone5″? BTW, did you know that Siri works great with Indian accents too.
Update 13th November 2011
Aircel has confirmed 25th November 2011 as the release date. The pre-orders are starting on November 18th. Don’t be late. Also Airtel has confirmed to be launching the iPhone4S too in an email communication.
