New iPad Hits 3 Million Sales

When Apple first started making iDevices, some thought it was a phase that would soon grow old. Yet, as Gizmodo's Jesus Diaz puts it, "they're unstoppable now." And unstoppable is the right word; for Apple just hit 3 million sales of the new iPad. Already.

Phil Schiller, Apple's SVP, says this is the "strongest iPad launch yet." Apple wouldn't release intitial sales numbers for the iPad 2 because they had quite a low supply, but it took 28 days for the iPad 2 to reach one million. The first iPad took 80 days to reach 3 million sales, an accomplishment the new iPad completed in 4 days. It still couldn't beat the iPhone 4S sales, however, as those topped 4 milllion in its first weekend.

The new iPad is currently available in only 10 countries, which makes this number even more impressive, but Apple plans to release the new iPad in 24 more countries on March 24th.

Foxconn Was Hiding Underage Workers During Audits

That's where your iPhone comes from

 As much as people love their iPhones, they can't help but wonder how they were made. And recent reports revealing employee treatment at Foxconn made them feel even worse about their purchase of an iDevice. Now, an interview with the Hong-Kong based Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM), has produced one of the most frightening reports yet; Foxconn has been hiding their underage workers during audits.

Apple allows 16 and 17 year-olds to work in Foxconn factories if the local laws do, but they can't work in particularly dangerous fields, and they can't work overtime. According to SACOM's representative, Foxconn doesn't follow these two rules, so when they found out, probably through intelligence, that the Fair Labor Association was going to inspect their procedures, they tidied up, but only for the duration of the inspection.

Two Foxconn workers in the town of Zhengou said that Foxconn was "prepared for inspection." One even said that "all underage workers, 16 or 17, were not assigned any overtime work, and some were even sent to other departments." Other reports found that this isn't the only thing Foxconn does to prepare for inspections. They often tell their employees that if they tell the inspectors how badly they're being treated, they'll be fired immediately.

New Trick Fixes Unresponsive Home Buttons on iOS Devices

A new three step trick has been discovered that can recalibrate your home button on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch to make it more responsive. So, if your home button isn't responding well, try using this easy trick:

1. Open the Weather app or the Stocks app.
2. Hold down the sleep/wake button until you see a slider at the top of the screen saying "slide to power off"
3. Release the power button, then hold down the home button until the slider disappears and the app you are running force quits.

While nobody knows why this trick works, it is quite helpful because the home button on iOS devices has been known to lag or become unresponsive after a lot of use.

The next iPod Nano and iPod Touch

There's been so much talk about iPhones and iPads that even though it's less than a month until Apple's iPod media event, there's very little talk about iPods! But, for those like me who would rather be reading iPod rumors than the fine print on Apple's lawsuit against Samsung, Tech n' Cars provides the full scoop, with percentages:

Next iPod Nano:
- Camera on back: 80% chance
- Same tiny form with touchscreen: 95% chance
- Slightly larger screen w/video capability: 30% chance
- Mounts (for bikes, steering wheels, etc.): 30% chance

iPod Classic:
- Chance of the iPod Classic leaving the iPod line: 60%

iPod Touch:
- Chance of iPod Touch being updated later: 35%

If iPod Touch is updated in September:
- A5 processor: 90% chance
- 3MP camera: 50% chance
- Price drop to $200: 40% chance
- 4" screen: 35% chance
- iOS 5: 95% chance

Apple iPod media event to be held September 7?

Kodawarisan has given us the first rumored date for Apple's annual iPod media event. They claim that this year's event will be held on September 7. In the last three years, the event has been held on September 1st once, and twice September 9th. This year we can expect to see 3 or 4 of the iPod lines refreshed (will the iPod Touch be refreshed?), as well as the iPhone 5 released.

Update: The Loop reports that sources have denied this date.

Data for iPhone, iPad, and Mac App Stores; Average Mac app is 7x as much as average iPhone app, 3x as much as average iPad app!

Now that there are apps for three different devices- iPhone and iPod Touch, iPad, and Mac- we can compare the prices of these apps against each other. This concludes that Mac apps are very pricey compared to iPhone and iPad apps; in fact, they are cost 7x as much as iPhone apps and 3x as much as iPad apps. Studies also show that 11% of Mac apps are free, compared to 33% of iPhone apps.

The Mac App Store is also not as popular as other app stores. 2 months since launch, it has 2,225 apps. 2 months after the launch of the iPad, there were 8,099 apps avaliable. Yet more studies have calculated the average price of apps for all three devices. These are $1.57 for iPhone, $4.19 for iPad, and $11.21 for Mac.

I have to say, however, that these prices will probably drop. Designers making the first apps to appear on the Mac App Store probably thought that they could bump up the price a little, as they didn't have as much competition. Now that the number of apps should soon hit 4,000, designers will have to reduce the price of their apps. However, Mac software is far more complicated than iPhone software, so expect average prices to stay above $8.

Google makes a TV app for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad!

In December, Google made a Google TV remote app for Android. Now, Google has finally made one for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad! It has all the features found on Android including Voice Search except that it won't let you share web pages from your iOS device to your TV. If you've got a Google TV and iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad, I recommend grabbing the free app from the App Store.

Get every March Madness game on your PC or iOS device- free!

If you're one of the many Tech n' Cars readers who has caught March Madness, you'd probably like to keep up your Tech Madness. Well, CBS and Turner Sprts are letting you keep up both at the same time, by streaming every March Madness gave to PCs, iPhones, iPod Touches, and iPads... for free! (Sorry, Android phone owners, only iOS) The free iOS apps will hit the App Store March 10th.

The next iPod Touch: An accurate preview!

There's all kinds of information about the iPad 2, which can all be found in one post on Tech n' Cars, but you'll find nothing about the iPod Touch 5 on the web. Nothing! So, Tech n' Cars will present you with... a preview of the next iPod Touch. 5 or 6 of these will probably be correct.

- 1GHz dual-core A5 processor
- 4", 5", 6", or 7" screen
- Attachable SD card slot and camera connector
- Larger screens will have same pixel density
- Thinner bezel
- Possibly a glasses-free 3D screen
- iOS 5

The Sony PSP2, a 4-core, 5" OLED touchscreen, SIXAXIS controls, 3G connecting powerhouse is here.

The Sony PSP2 has arrived under the code name NGP (Next Generation Portable). In my opinion, it will be better than the Nintendo 3DS. It features a 5" OLED touchscreen (comparison: an iPod Touch only has a 3.5" screen, and the biggest smartphone screen is 4.3"). The specs are truly remarkable: a quad-core Cortex A9 processor paired with a quad-core PowerUR SGX534MP4+ GPU. Sony claims it will be as powerful as the PS3! I wonder how long the battery can last, powering such a big screen and such powerful processors. Probably not too long. It also has 3G internet connection, Bluetooth, GPS, and Wi-Fi. That allows you to login, see who's playing what games around you, view the highscores in a certain area, and even connect with other gamers. You can also browse the web using its beautiful 5" screen. That screen has 1080p resoloution, 4x higher than on previous PSPs. Another new thing on this PSP will be a rear touch panel. This takes up as much space as the screen, and can respond to multiple fingers at once. If you touch a spot on the rear touch panel, it will register on the same spot on the screen. In a demo, the rear touchpad was used to fling beach balls in the air. The PSP2 even adds SIXAXIS controls, allowing for motion gaming found only in iPod Touches and some smartphones. For those who like the regular gaming style, there's still a D-Pad, a 4-button cross layout as well as left and right shoulder triggers. When the PSP2 arrives by Christmas 2011, it certainly shall be a HUGE hit. But, how about the price tag?

The Sony PSP2!

Nintendo, your 3DS is getting some competition! (see post "The Nintendo 3DS!") On January 27th, Sony should reveal the PSP2. This will offer a larger OLED touchscreen. That touchscreen should appeal to phone/iPod Touch gamers. It will also support 3G data supplied by NTT DoCoMo. My opinion, however, is that as of now, the iPod Touch remains the best portable gaming system. This is because the games are ridiculously cheap ($5 vs. $40), and it has other fun features like HD video recording, a 5MP camera, FaceTime video chatting, and Game Center. Sony and Nintendo are both trying to take over the iPod Touch. Will they? That will solely depend on the PSP2 and Nintendo 3DS.

iOS 4.3 Beta has been released!

Apple has just released iOS 4.3 Beta! It is available as an update for the following devices: iPad, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPod Touch 4, iPod Touch 3, Newest Apple TV. Apple has confirmed that it will bring the "personal hotspot" feature, letting you connect 5 Wi-Fi enabled devices to your iDevice's network. It will also allow recurring billing on apps, which means you will be able to subscribe to magazines and newspapers. It even adds more multitouch gestures for the iPad including 4 and 5 finger swipes allowing you to go to the home screen, bring out the multitasking tray, or switch apps. Another relief is that at first Apple said they would change the switch on the iPad from locking the screen rotation to muting it, but they decided to give you the option of which function it has. What will iOS be like in 2030? Ugh...

Why Apple Shouldn't have made the iPod Nano 6G

Apple made a huge mistake when they introduced the Nano 6G. They took away the speaker, the video playback ability, the video camera, the larger screen, the clickwheel, Cover Flow, just to make it half the size. Well, if you're looking for a small iPod, there's the iPod shuffle right under your nose! Oh, and it costs three times less. The Nano looks like iOS, but actually there's no apps and you can't download apps. And by the way, paying just $80 gives you a much bigger screen capable of watching video, an HD video camera, a front-facing camera, an actual app store, and internet connection. It's called the iPod Touch. Hmmm... which is a better deal? Apple's always seemed to make the best moves, but this, unfortunately, is their first mistake.