Quickly sketch out class or meeting schedules with Weekly Schedule for iPad

With so many ways to share calendars and schedules, sometimes it's nice to go a little bit old-school with a blank sheet of paper, a Magic Marker and a little bit of time. Mobile Simplified's $0.99 Weekly Schedule app, just released to the US App Store for iPad, delivers some of that hands-on feeling as it lets you create sharable weekly agendas, monthly calendars and task lists.

Weekly Schedule inherits most of its features from the $1.99 iTeach Pad, which also includes student management and lesson plan options; both apps share a UI aesthetic with a more "classroom" feel than most iOS offerings.

The core schedule features are simple: on a time grid for the week, you add your event blocks and build out your schedule. If you want a specific event to repeat all week long (a morning meeting, for instance) just tap and hold to duplicate it.

Blocks get a specific duration, color and name when you create them, and they hold onto that indefinitely. (You can also edit the names of the days, and it's easy to accidentally edit Friday when trying to tap the "add event" button.) The quick drag-and-drop rearrangement of the blocks -- almost as if you had paper cutouts on a cardboard schedule -- makes it easy to fit all the necessary schedule elements into your week, and know that you're not skipping anything.

In the monthly calendar mode, you're actually getting an alternate view of your iPad calendar data one month at a time. It's not as flexible as dedicated apps like Agenda or Readdle's Calendars, but it's a nice overview. The Lists view gives you a basic task manager, with folders to group lists of individual to-dos. Each task can be checked off with a single tap.

Sharing and exporting is an interesting -- and very constrained -- feature in Weekly Schedule. Nothing is cloud synced, dynamic or remotely editable (except events in the Calendar view, if your native calendars are shared); it's all local data, all on your iPad. For the weekly view and the calendar view, there's one way to get your work out to your colleagues -- you email an image of the schedule or calendar. Yep, that's it. For task lists, the email is text instead of an image, which is appropriate for that data type.

I'd love to see some next-gen features (AirPrint, flexible export options) make it into Weekly Schedule down the road. In the meantime, though, if you have a weekly planner to make and only your iPad handy, it's a solid tool.

[Source: TUAW]

Box offering 25 GB for free in promotion

Filesharing service Box is offering up 25 GB of free cloud storage in a new promotion (supposedly for "Gameday," but it seems to still be in effect anyway). To qualify, you must be a new customer on a free plan, or just sign up for a new account with a new email address. The deal is also for non-commercial use only, and because it's free, there's a file-size cap of 250 MB that you'll have to duck in under.

But even with those catches, who couldn't use some extra storage, right? Box's deal is as up for as long as they leave it up, so definitely jump on it soon if you're interested.

[Source: TUAW]

Apple Working on iOS Watch, Says Report

Rumors are circulating once again that Apple is looking into the possibility of launching an iOS-based wristwatch.

Citing anonymous sources at Apple’s offices in Cupertino, The New York Times reports that Apple is experimenting with a wrist watch that would be powered by iOS. This potential move by the company has been rumored ever since wristwatch bands appeared for the last generation of the iPod Nano, and occasionally word leaks out that Apple is playing around with the concept. Apple of course declines to comment on the rumors, but it does appear the technology is there and that it could fill in some holes in Apple’s technology.

“You can certainly make it wrap around a cylindrical object and that could be someone’s wrist,” Pete Bocko, the chief technology officer for Corning Glass Technologies, said for the report. “Right now, if I tried to make something that looked like a watch, that could be done using this flexible glass.” However, Bocko isn’t saying it would be easy. “The human body moves in unpredictable ways,it’s one of the toughest mechanical challenges.”

Bruce Tognazzini, founder of Apple’s Human Interface Group, is no longer with the company, but you have to throw a suspicious eye his way that he may know something. Just last week he published a lengthy post on his blog about what an iWatch could mean for the company and consumers. He sees it as filling an important gap in Apple’s ecosystem that would allow consumers to control all of their other devices purchased from the company right on their wrist. And, enticingly, he also speculated on how Apple could integrate NFC and Passbook into the watch, something that was also mentioned in the report from the Times.

Apple hasn’t introduced an entirely new product since the iPad in 2010, could wearable technology be where Apple is casting its research and development next?

The evidence certainly seems to be there that Apple is at least exploring the possibility of wearable technology, but that doesn’t always mean it will definitely hit retail shelves. From the sounds of it, though, an iWatch would definitely fill in some gaps in the overall Apple product line.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]

Is The 128GB iPad Really Necessary?

Apple recently released an iPad with 128GB of storage onboard. However, is this really necessary? Have Apple gone overboard, and added another chapter into their iBook of failures?

The new 128GB iPad is identical to the fourth-generation iPad. That's the one they released this year with the Retina Display. Except that it has double the storage. You can buy a Wi-Fi version of the monster tablet today directly from Apple at a price of £639.99. The 64GB tablet, is £559.00. That's a £80.00 price difference for double the storage. Furthermore, for the Wi-Fi and Cellular version, you are going to be a whopping £729.00. And £659.00 for the 64GB. Again, with a £80.00 price difference between the two.

For starters I can see plenty of positives for owning a 128GB iPad. Who needs one? Doctors as they have a great deal of charts and reference material that they would use. I can see architects & photographers using it too, as they have very large files, that they use everyday for work. Thus, having a device with a large amount of storage is a requirement for them.

Does that mean that we will see a 128GB version iPad mini in the next refresh? Let us know your thoughts by leaving them in the comments below.

Microsoft sells out of 128GB Surface Pro models online and in some stores

If you were wondering how well the public would take to a Microsoft-made tablet costing $899 or more... quite well, at least from initial impressions. The 128GBSurface Pro has sold out at Microsoft's US online store, and checks suggest a lack of stock at both the company's retail stores as well as Best Buy and Staples. Canada is facing similar shortages at Best Buy and Future Shop. Not surprisingly,storage worries (since partly alleviated) have left the 64GB tablet as the only one in consistent supply, and we suspect that the 128GB model in Microsoft's Canadian store won't last for much longer. We'd be cautious before declaring the Surface Pro a runaway hit, however -- there's no word on how many units each store had, and Microsoft has refrained from reporting Surface sale numbers to date. Still, the early uptake is good news for Microsoft's first foray into designing an x86 PC, and it shows that many early adopters aren't hung up on the price.

[Source: Engadget]

Vodafone UK advising iPhone 4S owners against iOS 6.1 update

If you're a Vodafone customer in the UK and own an iPhone 4S, you've probably received an SMS message from the carrier cautioning you against updating your device to iOS 6.1. If you somehow missed the alert, consider this your heads up.

Vodafone issued the SMS, which advises customers to "hold off for the next version while Apple fixes 3G performance issues," amidst reports of call dropouts and other network-related problems by iPhone 4S owners who've already updated. The wording of the alert suggests that Vodafone expects Apple to address the issues in iOS 6.1.1, the first beta of which just went out to developers this week.

If you've already updated to 6.1, well, hopefully we'll get word of when you can expect 6.1.1. to hit soon.

[Source: TUAW]

Is this the first 'ultrapixel' photo from the HTC M7/One?

The HTC leaks continue. Just yesterday, we heard the forthcoming HTC M7could be known as the HTC One when it goes on sale, and now comes what could be the first photo taken with the device's camera.

The snap was uploaded to Flickr and linked to by Twitter account @evleaksPocketnow reports. It's listed as being taken with the HTC One, though it could have been cropped and compressed for uploading to the web.

According to the Exif data, the aperture is f/2.0, with a focal length of 3.6mm, and ISO speed of 103.

HTC has said it'll "kick off a new sound and camera experience" this year, which many think is a reference to the new imaging skills of the forthcoming flagship. Earlier in the week, Pocket-Lint claimed the new handset would ditch megapixels in favour of ultrapixels. Sources told the site that the device's camera would be made up of three 4.3-megapixel sensor layers that would combine to give a single image. Which would yield better results than just shoving a 13-megapixel sensor into the mobile.

The sources said three lots of data would combine to make a crisper, cleaner image, with more accurate colours.

The HTC One/M7 is due to be announced at an event on 19 February. HTC head honcho Peter Chou has already showed off the device at a company knees-up, where he whipped it out and started snapping away. He also led a chant with the crowd. "M7! M7! M7! HTC One! HTC One! HTC One!"

[Source: CNET]

Galaxy Note 8.0 Will Reportedly Come in Three Different Iterations

When Samsung releases the Galaxy Note 8.0, it should arrive in three iterations: Wi-Fi-only, Wi-Fi + 3G and Wi-Fi + 3G + LTE. And, according to Bluetooth SIG information, the devices will at the very least arrive in Europe. Of course, we’d expect such a big name Android device to also come to North America and Asia as well, though no such announcement has been made for any continents.

The alleged device has shown its 8-inch face on more than one occasion, so it’s safe to say the device is coming. And the likely platform Samsung will use to introduce the device will be Mobile World Congress, which begins at the end of this month. Specs are still cloudy, but reports suggest we can expect the device to come with Jelly Bean, an S Pen, quad-core processor, 5-megapixel camera and  a1280 x 800 display.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]

BBC iPlayer to stream shows ahead of broadcast

The BBC is looking at debuting some of its programming over iPlayer before it airs on television. The projected yearlong trial will test a variety of programs, Radio Times reports, but the BBC hasn't specified whether that will include established series or new ones. The BBC says there were more than 187 million requests for content through iPlayer last month and is hoping it will be a boost in overall viewing figures.

The BBC's first attempts in streaming online-only content includes the pilot of the BBC Three comedy Impractical Jokers. Prior to the first part ofDoctor Who series 7 airing in August 2012, the five-episode prequel "Pond Life" also was made available online-only. "Pond Life" also appeared on the BBC's YouTube channel at the same time it appeared in iPlayer. The first part currently has more than 1 million views just through YouTube.

[Source: TUAW]

Pirate Bay documentary now streaming, up for download on (surprise!) The Pirate Bay

Way back in 2010, filmmaker Simon Klose petitioned folks on Kickstarter for $25,000 to hire a professional video editor. The pro's task? Sifting through and editing over 200 hours of footage Klose had recorded that chronicles the journey of The Pirate Bay's three founders throughout their trial. Now, over two years later and after the case's conclusion, the documentary has premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival and is now available for your viewing pleasure. Sure, you could watch the whole hour and twenty minute-long affair in 1080p on YouTube, but what would be more fitting than legally downloading it (thanks to a creative commons license) through The Pirate Bay? Hit the neighboring source link to start downloading TPB AFK: The Pirate Bay Away From Keyboard, or head past the break for the full film.

[Source: Engadget]

Xbox 720 makes Internet connection mandatory, report says

Microsoft could be working hard to suck all the bargains out of gaming, if fresh rumours concerning the next Xbox are to be believed.

Citing "sources with first-hand experience of Microsoft's next-generation console", Edge reports that the Xbox 720 (said to be code named 'Durango') will require an Internet connection in order to function, and will see games shipping with single-use activation codes.

That would put the kibosh on buying or selling second-hand games, forcing you to always pay first-hand prices. It would likely also rule out lending games to a friend or sibling.

This is only a rumour for now, so take this report with a pinch of salt. These anti-second-hand measures are already being taken by a number of games publishers however, who bundle one-use codes with games in order to make the discs less valuable to sell. Sony's upcomingPlayStation 4 is rumoured to feature the same locked-down technology.

The report also reckons that the next Xbox will use Blu-ray discs, taking advantage of the format's high-capacity discs, and will come packing a quad-core processor.

The next Xbox and PlayStation 4 are both expected to go on sale this year, to combat the Wii U, which was released before Christmas. Sony has already teased a PlayStation event on 20 February, so we could be less than a fortnight away from glimpsing the fourth PlayStation console.

[Source: CNET]

O2 pushing out Xperia T Jelly Bean update

Following Sony's official announcement yesterday, British network O2 has revealed that it's now pushing out the Xperia T Jelly Bean update. As well as bringing the device up to Android 4.1.2, the upgrade brings various Sony software improvements, including new music player, gallery and video apps, and some tweaks to the stock launcher.

It's a quick turnaround for O2, which in the past has spent weeks certifying major Android OS updates for its branded devices. If you've got an O2-branded Xperia T, head to Settings > About > Software Updates to grab the latest OTA.

[Source: AndroidCentral]