In just 48 short hours, Wednesday’s Apple media event will be a memory, and we’ll be making those important life-or-death decisions. (“Buy an iPad 3? Wait for an iPad 4?”) Tech journalists are having a field day packing in all the last-minute rumors they can get their hands on ahead of Apple’s 10am PST event on March 7, so let’s catch up on those and the rest of the day’s news for this fine Monday, March 5, 2012.
The Associated Press has had a checkered history with iOS users -- the news outlet’s iPhone app has run the gamut from good to absolutely terrible over the years, and the iPad version is still a mystery to us, nearly two years later. But that may all change with today’s release of AP Mobile 5.0, a complete reworking of the original app with a new look and feel -- not to mention a more consistent experience across devices now that the app is universal for the iPad as well as the iPhone and iPod touch. AP Mobile 5.0 now utilizes a Facebook-style sliding panel for accessing news categories, touting an “Innovative redesigned layout with improved navigation, more compelling AP content, and new features.” Of course, you’ll be the judge when you hit the App Store and download the free 12.2MB app onto your own device.
The Verge is reporting that Facebook Messenger has finally come to the desktop -- that is, assuming you’re running Microsoft Windows. And hey, there’s some good news for us Friends of Apple, too: “According to Facebook, the previous version of Messenger was ‘a test,’ and is now rolling out to everyone. Also, a Mac version is on the way, but the company declined to give us a timeframe for that one.” That said, if you’re already rocking the iOS or Android app on your smartphone, there may not be much to interest you here -- there’s no video chat (Skype or otherwise), nor group chat, which is available from the Facebook website. Other than that, it appears to do its (admittedly limited) job quite well.
We wouldn’t be surprised to see this come to fruition on Wednesday, but a new report from iMore.com claims that 4G LTE will indeed be part of the next iPad. The website claims this tidbit comes courtesy of the same source who revealed the March 7 Apple event in the first place, which would seem to give the rumor a bit of weight. The question is, with Verizon’s 4G LTE so far ahead of AT&T, will the feature be limited to strictly one carrier? And what about international versions, where LTE is even further behind the United States? Guess you’ll have to find out on Wednesday along with everyone else, folks...
Having issues restoring your Lion-equipped Mac from a Time Machine backup? Apple may have just the thing for you, courtesy of a 24.55MB download for OS X 10.7.3 users entitled simply Mac OS X 10.7.3 Supplemental Update. So what does it do? Quite literally: “This update resolves an issue when restoring a Mac from a Time Machine backup. This update is recommended for users running 10.7.3 with Time Machine backups.” Your mileage may vary -- we ran the update on our iMac here via Software Update and it was a mere 38KB, with no restart required.
The clock is ticking on those iPad 3 rumors, but AppleInsider is reporting that popular international courier DHL may have signed a new air cargo deal with Apple to facilitate getting your new tablet from China to the U.S. faster than ever before. “One person who contacted AppleInsider said that changes to the price of air cargo through DHL have signaled a major planned Apple shipment from China to the U.S.,” the report reveals. “Evidence of this can be seen in a ‘big change’ in shipping costs, as Apple has taken up freight capacity on flights from the Far East to America.” MacRumors is reporting a similar issue, noting that DHL shipping rates increased “as much as 20 percent in one week.” So what does that mean for your precious next-generation iPad? You might be holding it in your cold, clammy hands a few days earlier than last year’s model, but still no word on exactly when that might be.
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