Less than two months after announcing a smartphone trade-in program, Walmart is taking yesterday’s announcement of the new iPad Air and upgraded iPad Mini as a good reason to add tablets to the offer. [More]
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How The Heck Do I Decide Whether The New iPads Are What I Want?
October 22, 2013
While the smartphone market has become much more diverse in recent years, Apple’s iPad still dominates the tablet business in the U.S. Today, the company announced the latest iteration of the full-sized iPad — the iPad Air — along with an improved iPad Mini, hoping to continue this dominance. But many consumers aren’t fully informed of how these devices compare to already available Android and Windows tablets. [More]
This iPad Child Potty Represents Everything Wrong With America
By 10.10.13
Some kids may need coaxing to get on the potty, but we’re pretty sure that there is never any justification for any kind of system that combines tablet computing and pooping. What adults do once they’re fully potty-trained is their own business, but there’s something terribly wrong about combining screen time and potty time. [More]
Six-Year-Old Twins Playing iPad Game Rack Up $1,600 Worth Of Virtual Pets
By 10.2.13
While adults have the ability to pause and reflect on whether or not a virtual pet is a necessity, a six-year-old is probably going to see that digital dog and immediately want it, and need to have it. Or a pair of twins that age managed to spend $1,600 of their parents’ money through in-app purchases while playing a game on an iPad. [More]
L.A. Schools Now Taking Back iPads From Students Who Dare To Use Them For Purposes Of Fun
By 10.2.13
We mentioned last week that the Los Angeles Unified School District somehow thought it could hand out hobbled iPads to thousands of students without any of these kids figuring out a way to use the device as something other than a really expensive, incredibly fragile textbook. But now that it’s realizing that the temptation to use iPads the way they are intended (and marketed) can be too great for some students, the school district is taking them back. [More]
Is iOS 7 Giving Some iPhone & iPad Users Motion Sickness?
By 9.30.13
Of all the design tweaks and updates to the latest iPhone and iPad operating system, did Apple forget to mention “free motion sickness”? Some users claim the update has left them feeling nauseated, and some experts believe there might be something to it. [More]
Martha Stewart Is Still Waiting For Someone To Come Pick Up Her Broken iPad, Fix It
By 9.27.13
Martha Stewart has an iPad, a gift from Steve Jobs, and it is broken. Shattered, after she dropped it on the ground. But no one has come to pick it up, prompting her to tweet about it and wonder where in the world the Apple rep is that is supposed to rescue the broken device. Twitter loves this. [More]
L.A. School District Shocked That Kids Would Figure Out How To Use iPads For Purposes Of Fun
By 9.25.13
If you hand out iPads to a bunch of adult employees and tell them the devices can only be used for work purposes, some of them will abide by those guidelines. Do the same thing with a school full of kids and most of them will be Tweeting and on Facebook in a matter of seconds. And yet the nation’s second-largest school district is shocked that several hundred students have taken advantage of a simple work-around that turns a boring school tablet into a fun tablet computer. [More]
FAA Panel To Recommend Allowing Use Of Electronic Devices During Takeoff & Landing
By 9.24.13
Since last June, a Federal Aviation Administration Panel advisory panel has been gearing up to finalize its recommendation on how the agency could maybe perhaps allow the use of personal electronic devices during flights. That means you could be listening to music, texting, emailing and otherwise tapping away on your whathaveyou during landing and takeoff instead of gripping the armrests like your life depends on it. If that’s your thing, that is. [More]
Researchers Find Way To Sneak Malicious Apps Through iOS App Store
By 8.20.13
Considering Apple’s steely grip on the distribution of apps for iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad, it’s small wonder that only a very small number of malicious apps have slipped through the company’s screening process over the years. But researchers at Georgia Tech say they have figured out a way to create an app that looks fine when being vetted but can wreak havoc once it’s up and running. [More]
Apple Offering $10 Discount To Customers Trading In Third-Party USB Adapters
By 8.6.13
After reports surfaced that iPhone chargers have been shocking, and in one case, killing a customer who answered her phone while it was charging, Apple is offering a discount to customers who trade in third-party chargers. In an announcement on the company site, Apple says third-party adpaters and counterfeit versions might not be designed correctly, so in the interest of customer safety, it’ll dispose of those adapters and set you up with an authentic one. [More]
DOJ Proposal: Apple Must Let Amazon, Barnes & Noble Sell E-Books Through iOS Apps
By 8.2.13
Though there are Kindle and Nook apps for iPhone and iPad, restrictions put in place by Apple prevent users from actually making e-book purchases via those apps without those companies having to pay a hefty commission to Apple. You can’t even see the prices Amazon and Barnes & Noble charge for e-books, thus making it difficult to comparison shop. But as part of the proposed remedies following Apple’s loss in the recent e-book price-fixing case, the Justice Dept. says consumers should have the option of buying e-books on iOS devices from Apple’s competition. [More]
Apple To Refund $6,000 Spent By 8-Year-Old On In-Game Purchases
By 7.22.13
Another day, another story of a youngster racking up a massive bill on some unlucky adults’ iPad. This time, it’s an 8-year-old in England who tallied up £4,000 (around $6,100) on in-game purchases over the last few months — half of it in just a six-day period. The girl’s dad thought he’d have to sell his car to pay the bill, but Apple says it has decided to refund the money. [More]
Did Your Kid Make In-App Purchases On Your iPhone Without Asking? You Might Be Due Some Cash From Apple
By 6.24.13
A couple years back, Apple came under fire from parents and regulators after reports that kids were making in-app purchases, sometimes to the tune of four figures, on their folks’ iPhones and iPads. The company has since changed its policy to prevent children from draining their parents’ wallets in this fashion, but that didn’t stop the class-action lawsuit from the people who’d lost money before the policy change. [More]
Best Buy Handing Out iPads Customers Didn’t Order Again
By 6.19.13
Ryan ordered an iPad camera connection kit from Best Buy for in-store pickup. The employees of his local Best Buy store apparently only read the first word of any order now, and instead packed up an iPad Mini. It sounds wacky, but Ryan says that he somehow missed this discrepancy, picked up his order, and went home. He sent an email and got a form letter in return. [More]
2.8 Million Reasons Why Smartphones Need To Come With Kill Switches
By 6.12.13
Earlier this week, Apple made a lot of customers happy when they announced that the next iteration of its iOS operating system for iPhones would integrate a so-called “kill swtich” technology that enables the owner to cripple the phone remotely when it’s lost or stolen. And that’s a good thing, because a lot of you are being careless with your wireless devices. [More]
Apple To Reportedly Offer Its Own Trade-In Program For iPhones, Other Products
By 6.6.13
While retailers and wireless carriers have long offered trade-in programs for iPhones, and Apple has an existing recycling program to take your old wireless devices, iPods, and computers off your hands, but now the electronics company is reportedly set to launch an in-store trade-in program that pays customers cash for used Apple products. [More]
Grocery Store Workers Replace Child’s iPad After It’s Stolen Inside Store
By 4.9.13
While his mother grocery shopped, someone stole an iPad out of the hands of a 6-year-old boy with Down syndrome. The store’s security cameras didn’t capture anything, and the only information the family had was the testimony of his twelve-year-old sister, who also has Down syndrome: “The blonde lady took it.” The story could have ended there, and made everyone sad. Mean person steals expensive but important educational tool from special needs child. Only that wasn’t the end of the story. [More]
