iPad is a nuisance for many Chinese parents

A report from the Beijing Evening News suggests Chinese parents are scuffling with their kids over iPads. It seems the iPad was the gift of choice for many children this past Chinese New Year, and now those youngsters are having a hard time putting their tablets aside. Exasperated parents don't know what to do when their tots refuse to hand over the iPad, and they're afraid iPad use may impede their children's education.

It may seem silly to non-parents, but as a parent myself, I can confirm this report. My kids are enthralled with the iPad. They will creep into a corner, turn down the volume and play games. They will even sneak the iPad to bed and read play games under the covers.

Instead of fighting against the machine, parents should consider embracing the iPad. Get an OtterBox case, disable Wi-Fi, and set up a password so you can restrict access to the device. Remove the time-waster type games and fill the iPad with learning apps. You may discover this system gives you the ideal balance; the kids get their iPad fix, and you can rest easy knowing their use is solely educational.

If you're a parent whose children use an iPad, how do you manage their usage? We would love to hear what works (or doesn't work) for you.

[via TUAW via M.I.C. Gadget]

Pegatron receives notebook orders from HP

Pegatron executives must be pretty pleased with themselves for having received notebook orders from HP, which will definitely add to the company’s bottom line for the year after also accepting earlier orders from Toshiba and Acer. Just in case the name Pegatron sounds very familiar to you, this is because it is one of Apple’s manufacturing partners, and was linked to the iPhone 5 sometime last year – which eventually as we know, did not arrive, as the iPhone 4S made its debut instead.

While Pegatron shipped around 15.7 million notebooks (maximum last year), their projected figure would be anywhere from 19 to 20 million units for this year. Asustek maintains their position as Pegatron’s largest client, with Toshiba right behind, followed by Acer, Fujitsu and Lenovo. I guess HP must have been rather pleased to see Pegatron’s work with their Ultrabooks to offer them even more work this time around. Well, Pegatron also has a stranglehold on Apple’s iPad and iPhone orders, biting into Foxconn’s orders, which will certainly see company revenue rise as Apple’s two most popular products continue to garner interest worldwide.

Sony Xperia S camera wins cowboy shootout against the iPhone 4S, Nokia Lumia 800 and the Galaxy S I

In a shootout designed to determine whose camera can capture a photo the fastest, the Sony Xperia S lived up to its maker's claims. The cowboy shootout against the iPhone 4S, Nokia Lumia 800 and the Galaxy S IIwas organized to measure the time it takes the phone to focus and take a snap from a cold start.

The Xperia S with its 12MP Exmor R sensor took 1.8 seconds, a tad over the 1.5 that the commercials claimed, while the Nokia Lumia 800 came up pretty close to that as well. The iPhone 4S and the Galaxy S II both took over 5 seconds, when the cowboys counted the time needed to start the camera app with the on-screen button, and then use the virtual shutter key to take a picture.

Of course, both the Xperia S and the Lumia 800 have dedicated camera buttons on the side that take you directly into snapping a picture, without having to go through icons, which worked aggressively in their favor. Watch the funny shootout video below, Clint Eastwood would be proud.


source: Phones4u

Source: http://goo.gl/s3Zbc

How To Set Up Super Quick Web Searches In Alfred [OS X Tip]

The latest update to Alfred adds a selection of smart new features, one of which is a new way of grabbing selected text from any Mac app and pushing it straight into one of your other Alfred actions – such as a web search, for example.

It’s a cool little feature but a little hard to find, so here’s how to set it up. You’ll need to have paid for the Alfred Powerpack to make it work

In Alfred’s preferences, go to Hotkeys and click the little plus symbol at the bottom-right. In the list that appears, click General, then Show Alfred (as shown above).

Now you’ll be able to configure an alternative way of invoking the Alfred command window.

At the top, you can choose a keyboard combo. I usually call up Alfred with Command+Space, so for this alternative I’ve set up Shift+Command+Space.

This grabs whatever text I’ve selected and puts it into Alfred. The other options below the key combo setting allow you to add a keyword in front – in my case, I’ve used the letter ‘l’, which is already set up inside Alfred as a shortcut to Google’s “I’m Feeling Lucky”.

Result? I can select text anywhere, hit four keys in rapid succession, and see the top Google result. (Which, despite Google’s flaws in other areas, is still almost always the one I want.)

Got any useful Alfred tips or shortcuts of your own? Share them in the comments.

Users want more control in iPhone 5

Apple's mythical iPhone 5 is rumored to be revealed this June. ZDNet Asia finds out from users and market watchers what they would like in the device.

Last week, reports surfaced that the next iteration of the Apple smartphone could be announced at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June. The latest edition, the iPhone 4S, which was launched last October was an improvement to the line of devices but none of the features would "blow users away", said an analyst in a past ZDNet Asia report.

For the next edition of the iPhone, there are hopes that users will be allowed more control of the device. "Apple should give consumers opportunities to use their phone more," said Jayesh Easwaramony, vice president of ICT Practice for Asia Pacific, Frost & Sullivan.

This means improvements to battery life and a bigger screen display so consumers can play more games and videos, he said in his e-mail.

Concurring, Pallavi Patel, business development manager at Faqden Labs, who currently owns an iPhone 4 said she would like to see extended battery life, sleeker design and a shatterproof screen in the next Apple smartphone. "These three things can make it the best!" she said.

Besides hardware improvements, Easwaramony said Apple needs to boost its software to accommodate a wider variety of apps. "Especially since a lot of consumers want to use their iPhone for enterprise-heavy apps and some emerging market consumers want apps that download faster," he said.

More enterprise control
One IT manager hopes to see more enterprise management tools in iPhone 5. Ray Payne, director of information technology at Bento Sushi, said he wants "at the very least the ability to remotely control an iPhone to offer some degree of centralized remote support".

"I have many users that ask for an iPhone over a Blackberry. Without being able to centrally manage them it just isn't going to happen," said Payne. He added that remote management tools only work on a jailbroken iPhone as Apple currently restricts the functionality.

However, he believes there might be a chance that Apple will include the enterprise-friendly feature in the next phone. He pointed to how the Wi-Fi hotspot feature was included in iOS 4.3 when previously Apple had blocked the tethering function.

Even users want finer control in iOS. Debra Chan, a public relations executive, said she would like to be able to better customize the setting of an event's frequency in the Calendar application, instead of the current "Never, Everyday, Week, 2 Weeks, Month and Year".

Anti-Apple user remains unconvinced
However, even if there are improvements in iPhone 5, some remain adamant about resisting the brand. Bill Wright, senior recruiter at SourceRight Solutions, said: "There is nothing that can be put on an iPhone that would ever entice me to buy one."

"Truth be told, I am just not an Apple fanboy. Never really was and I doubt I ever will be," he said.

The executive, who owns Google Android devices such as a Motorola Droid 1 and an Amazon Kindle Fire, said he would instead buy devices running on the latest Android operating system, Ice Cream Sandwich, when prices comes down.

Apple Appeals IPad Trademark Decision in China

Apple has appealed a Chinese court ruling last December that rejected its ownership of the iPad trademark in the country, and could expose the company to trademark infringement lawsuits from a local company.

The maker of the iconic iPad filed the appeal on Jan. 5 with the Higher People's Court of Guangdong Province, according to a statement from Proview International, a little known Chinese display monitor company that claims control over the iPad trademark in mainland China.

Apple had originally filed a lawsuit against Proview to assert its control of the trademark. But In December, the Shenzhen Municipal Intermediate People's Court announced it had rejected Apple's claim.

In its lawsuit, Apple claimed that a Proview subsidiary in Taiwan had sold the iPad trademark rights to a U.K.-based company called "IP Applications". The trademark rights were then sold to Apple in 2010.

The Shenzhen court, however, ruled that the transfer of trademark rights were only made through Proview's Taiwan subsidiary. Proview's Shenzhen-based company, did not attend trademark negotiations, and did not formally transfer any trademark rights, according to the court.

Apple did not respond to a request for comment on the legal action.

Xie Xianghui, a lawyer representing Proview, said that Apple had asked for the transfer of the iPad trademark to it in the appeal. It is also asking for compensation from Proview to the tune of 4 million yuan (US$636,204/MYR1,936,605) in legal fees.

Apple's appeal claims that Proview's Taiwan subsidiary was acting as a representative for Proview's 

Shenzhen-based company, he said. But Proview maintains it had no such relationship with the Taiwan subsidiary, and was not in any talks about transferring the iPad trademarks, Xie added.

Apple is making the appeal as Proview has has already filed two lawsuits in Chinese courts, demanding that Apple and local vendor Gome Electronics stop selling tablets using the iPad name. The cases are still pending, Xie said.

Urge for iPhone 5 with NFC

Earlier this week we spoke about the idea of the next generation iPhone featuring exciting features such as wireless charging, but now we have some interesting details regarding another feature which is top of 

Apple fan’s wishlists – NFC support for iOS devices.

As most of you will be aware, the iPhone 4 or its successor the iPhone 4S does not support NFC or Near Field Communication technology and it is an issue which many consumers would like to see rectified by the time the next iPhone arrives, which could be at the end of 2012.

A number of Android devices already tout NFC support, the most recent of which is the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. NFC support is seen as the next big step in eliminating the need for physical purchases, as support from leading credit card companies mean that consumers can complete transactions with the simple swipe of a barcode using their handset, providing they have enough ‘credit’ with a selected card company.

An example of one company which already ultilizes NFC payments is MasterCard and we have some interesting comments to share with you now, as it has been noted that MasterCard would like Apple to include NFC support in their next iPhone, in order to make their PayPass service much more accessible 

to consumers.

Here’s a quote from Ed McLaughlin, head of emerging payments at Mastercard from an interview with FastCompany. He was asked if Apple were on the list to support PassPass via NFC in their next iPhone and he said:

“Well, anytime someone with a major base moves forward, it advances what you’re doing. So of course.”

An additional report from 9to5Mac also claims that Apple will be using NFC in the iPhone 5, but don’t forget it doesn’t rule out the possibility of Apple opting to form their own card-less payments system and completely overlook existing services from Mastercard and Visa.

Is NFC a vital feature for you in the next iPhone, or are you yet to jump on the NFC craze that is already present on Android devices?