With much of the internet blacked out today in protest of the pending SOPA bill, you’re probably ready to read about something -- anything! -- else to wind down your mid-week “hump day.” Of course, we’re all waiting to see what Apple will serve up to the educational community tomorrow, but in the meantime they’re busy slapping Samsung with another patent lawsuit aimed at the Korean manufacturer’s smartphones -- so there’s no end in sight. In the meantime, here’s what else is making news for this wonderful Wednesday, January 18, 2012.
It seems that whenever some research firm makes the bold claim that Android is wiping the mat with iOS, another survey comes along that finds the opposite is true. According to TechCrunch, that’s exactly what’s happening this week with a new Nielsen report on smartphones which reveals that the iPhone is a favorite of 44.5 percent of recent buyers, up from a mere 25 percent in October -- good news for the iPhone 4S, which was initially dismissed by many as a modest update from the iPhone 4. Even better news for Apple are Nielsen’s statistics on where Google’s Android lands during the same period, dropping from 61.6 percent to 46.9 percent. The report is quick to note that Android “still leads in total market share with 46.3 percent,” but it would seem the iPhone 4S is definitely a favorite among new smartphone buyers, with 57 percent choosing Cupertino’s latest and greatest.
Noting that “customers are using more mobile broadband data than ever before,” AT&T Consumer Blog has announced that new data plans will be in effect starting this Sunday, January 22. Sadly, it’s not the rumored shared data bucket concept the carriers have been dangling over our heads like a fuzzy cat toy -- instead, the new plans chip away at the wallets of smartphone users, a few bucks per month. Gone are the $15 and $25 data plans we now know and love, replaced with a far more greedy $20 for 300MB (a $5 increase for a lousy 50MB) or $30 for 3GB (a more reasonable $5 increase for an extra 1GB). Users on the DataPro 3GB plan can increase that to 5GB along with mobile hotspot for another $20 per month, which remains the same. iPad 3G owners will now have three choices: $15 for 250MB (which remains the same), $30 for 3GB or $50 for 5GB. Existing users have nothing to fear -- they can keep their current plans for now, but if you’re in the market for a new smartphone or tablet through AT&T, you might want to buy in the next couple of days just the same.
9to5Mac is reporting that Apple quietly slipped out a new beta build of Mac OS X Lion 10.7.3 to developers overnight. The good news is that the release notes cite no known issues, which could point to a public release any day now. The build carries the number 11D46 and follows the previous 11D42 by only a week, with developers asked to focus on iCloud Document Storage, Address Book, iCal, Mail, Spotlight and Safari. If you’re a Mac developer, you already know where to go to download the latest build -- for everyone else, sit tight and you’ll get your chance soon enough.
Catering to both indie films and mainstream movie lovers alike, Fandor Movies has introduced a free iPad app to the App Store today, promising “access to great films that you can’t find anywhere else, including titles often overlooked by conventional movie services.” Does that mean you’ll be stuck with an endless stream of public domain movies from the turn of the century? No way! Fandor’s service includes a “curated library of over one thousand independent and international films and makes it easy to share them with friends on Facebook and Twitter.” The app includes a unique “Spinner” feature that makes it fun to discover new movies, but members can always narrow down their choices by searching by specific genre or even length of a movie prior to spinning. While the iPad app may be free, the service is not -- users can dip their toes in the water with a seven-day subscription for only $2.99 per week, hunker down with a 30-day subscription for $9.99 per month or go whole hog with a $99.99 per year annual subscription.
Still have one of those original 2007 model iPhones hanging around in a drawer somewhere? It might be time to pull that sucker out of retirement, because a new jailbreak app available via Cydia is promising to breathe new life into your iOS device trapped on version 3.1.3. According to TechCrunch, an app named Whited00or manages “to pack in many of iOS 5’s flourishes and features, from app folders and video recording to multitasking and reminders.” If it sounds familiar, that’s because Whited00or has been in beta for a while but is now ready to rock your iOS 3.1.3 world. Keep in mind that Whited00r doesn’t actually allow you to install iOS 5 -- it’s simply a mod offering some of the latest version’s cool features. Best of all, your aging device doesn’t need to be jailbroken already -- Whited00r will happily take care of that for you as it does its magic.
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Bseagull
January 18, 2012 at 7:27pm
Y U NO TALK ABOUT SOPA AND THE INTERNET STRIKE!!!!!
THIS WAS A DAY IN HISTORY!!!!
