O'Grady's PowerPage

Tag: August

AT&T to require Mobile Share plan to use FaceTime under 3G, 4G connections

You’ll be able to do FaceTime over 3G and 4G connections, you’ll just need the right kind of account to do so.

Per AppleInsider, wireless carrier AT&T on Friday announced it will be limiting FaceTime over 3G and 4G networkds to iPhone who sign up for the carrier’s upcoming Mobile Share plans, which are slated to launch later this month.

While the wireless carrier will be providing FaceTime for free over its network, the catch is that subscribers will have to add sign up for the new Mobile Share data plans announced earlier in August.

Oddly, AT&T said iPhone owners can still use FaceTime for free on Wi-Fi networks, though that particular feature is not under the control of wireless providers.

From the statement:
“AT&T will offer FaceTime over Cellular as an added benefit of our new Mobile Share data plans, which were created to meet customers’ growing data needs at a great value. With Mobile Share, the more data you use, the more you save. FaceTime will continue to be available over Wi-Fi for all our customers.”

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson in July said it was “too early” to talk about FaceTime over the company’s network. The statement was made in response to a error message discovered in Apple’s iOS 6 beta, prompting speculation the service would be fee-based.

In a subsequent report, Sprint noted it would be offering the feature for free when the next-gen iOS 6 launches this fall.

Speculation that FaceTime would be offered over cellular networks first began when a warning message in iOS 5.1.1 regarding 3G network data settings appeared to hint at the unannounced service.

Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

August 20, 2012
AT&T to launch shared data plans in late August, offer base price around $45 per smartphone

You can’t argue with a bit of competition.

Per AppleInsider, wireless carrier AT&T on Wednesday announced its new shared data plans, ranging from 1 gigabyte to 20 gigabytes of cap space, and starting at US$40 for 1 gigabyte of data plus an additional US$45 per smartphone.

The cost per gigabyte and smartphone decreases as customers add more data to their plan, so 4 gigabytes of data has a base price of US$70, plus US$40 per smartphone, all the way up to US$200 for 20 gigabytes of data per month and US$30 per smartphone.

Cellular capable tablet-style devices like Apple’s iPad are less expensive, and will cost US$10 per month to add to a shared data plan. Laptops and mobile hotspot devices are another US$20 each month, while basic and messaging phones can get shared data, unlimited talk and text for US$30 each month.

The new shared data plans allow customers to choose open of AT&T’s existing individual or family plans, and current customers are not required to switch to the new plans. Those who decide to switch to AT&T’s shared data plans can do so without a contract extension, and the rates are also available for business customers.

Customers can choose up to 10 devices to attach to their shared plan, and at least one of those devices must be a smartphone. The plans include tethering and unlimited domestic calls and texts for smartphones.

Competing U.S. carrier Verizon launched its own shared data plans on June 28, called “Share Everything.” With it, line access for smartphones like Apple’s iPhone run US$40 per month, while tablets like the iPad are US$10 per month.

Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

July 18, 2012
Microsoft announces October release date for Windows 8

You’ve been waiting for the new Windows for a while.

And it’s due in October.

Per Macworld, Microsoft revealed Monday that Windows 8 will be in the hands of its OEMs during the first week in August, with a general release in October.

The announcement that a Release To Manufacturers (RTM) edition of the program would be available next month was made by Tami Reller, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of Windows, at a conference for the company’s partners held in Toronto Monday.

Microsoft’s partners will get an early release of the operating system so they can have it on their hardware when the OS becomes generally available in October.

Reller also noted that Microsoft’s enterprise customers with Software Assurance benefits will have access to Windows 8 bits in August, too.

At the time the RTM is released, she continued, Microsoft will turn on the commerce platform for its Windows app store so developers will be able to start earning money for their apps. Up to now, apps at the store have been free.

Earlier this month, Microsoft made its intentions to make Windows 8 a swift hit once it’s released by announcing that legacy Windows users will be able to upgrade to the new OS for US$40 via an online connection.

Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

July 9, 2012
Apple to shut down iWork.com on July 31st, advises users to be ready

With MobileMe now shuttered, it’s time to move on to the other technologies due for retirement.

Per AppleInsider, Apple’s next online service set to go dark is iWork.com, and the company sent out an e-mail on Monday reminding customers to download their documents by July 31.

Come August, users will no longer be able to access documents stored on the iWork.com website. Those who participated in the iWork.com public beta must back up their documents by July 31 if they wish to keep them.

Instructions are available on Apple’s website informing users how they can save a copy of their documents on their computer before the deadline passes. Users are also encouraged to migrate to Apple’s new iCloud service, which allows remote storage of documents and data in the cloud.

iWork.com users were first notified in early March that Apple will shutter the website on July 31. The iWork.com service first launched as a beta in early 2009, offering iWork users on the Mac the ability to more easily collaborate with others using Windows and Microsoft Office.

Since then, the iWork suite of applications has also become available on iOS, with Pages, Numbers and Keynote among the most popular downloads on the iPad App Store.

The iWork suite and iOS 5 now offer integration with the iCloud service, which launched last October. At the iCloud.com website, users can access their up-to-date iWork documents, synced through iCloud’s Documents & Data service.

The full e-mail text sent out to iWork.com users on Monday is included below:

“Dear iWork.com user,

Remember, as of July 31, 2012, you will no longer be able to access your documents on the iWork.com site or view them on the web.

We recommend that you sign in to iWork.com before July 31, 2012, and download all your documents to your computer. For detailed instructions on how to save a copy of your documents on your computer, read this support article at Apple.com.

Moving forward, you can use iCloud to store your documents and make them available across your computer and your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. Learn more about iCloud.

Sincerely,
The iWork team”

Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

July 2, 2012
Apple patent shows effort to develop thinner keyboards

Remember your Apple keyboard?

It might just be about to go through a training montage and get thinner in the process.

Per Free Patents Online, Apple may be looking to make its notebook computers and keyboard accessories even thinner and lighter with a brand new take on the classic input method.

Apple’s interest in reinventing the keyboard was revealed in a new patent application entitled “Single Support Lever Keyboard Mechanism,” it describes a handful of ways that a keyboard could be shrunk in size without affecting its performance.

In the filing, Apple notes that the size of existing keyboards presents a challenge for the company as it attempts to design thinner, lighter and more attractive devices.

“It would be beneficial to provide a keyboard for a portable computing device that is aesthetically pleasing, yet still provides the stability for each key that users desire,” the application reads. “It would also be beneficial to provide methods for manufacturing the keyboard having an especially aesthetic design as well as functionality for the portable computing device.”

One of the most common keyboard types is the “dome switch,” in which the key pushes down on a rubber dome located beneath the key. Other types of keyboards include capacitive, mechanical switch, Hall-effect, membrane, and roll-up, and each offer their own strengths and weaknesses in terms of two important categories: response (positive feedback that the key has been pressed) and travel (the distance needed to push the key).

Apple’s solution is a single support lever keyboard mechanism, which the proposed invention says would allow the keyboard cap to be formed of almost any material, but would also provide stability to each key.

The application notes that the material chosen for the key caps is very important, not only for the appearance of the keyboard but also how it feels on users’ fingers. The application includes a number of potential off-the-wall materials that could be used, like glass, wood, stone, and even “polished meteorite.”

Regardless of the material, Apple’s keyboard key caps would be held in place by a rigid support lever. With its design, the keys could have a total travel range of as little as 0.2 millimeters.

In another method, Apple describes a support lever holding the key cap that would be made of a flexible material. This support lever could be made of spring steel that could allow good tactile feedback to the user when they are typing.

The key cap and support lever would have an “elastomeric spacer” between them and a metal dome positioned below. The spacer would be made of a material such as rubber or silicone that would “provide a desirable and distinctive feel to the user when pressed,” in addition to reducing rattling on the keyboard.

“The advantages of the invention are numerous,” the filing states, adding: “One advantage of the invention is that a low-travel keyboard may be provided for a thin-profile computing device without compromising the tactile feel of the keyboard.”

The filing, made public this week by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, was first filed by Apple in August of 2010. It is credited to Patrick Kessier, Bradley Hamel, and James J. Niu.

Cool stuff if it happens and stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

February 23, 2012