Free Baseball Tickets for iPad Owners
We featured a story earlier this week about the New York Yankees forbidding iPads in their stadium. Well move over Yankess, the Hudson Valley Renegades will not only let their fans in with iPads, but give them free tickets to boot. This minor league baseball team, located at Dutchess Stadium about an hour and a half outside of New York City, is encouraging fans to bring their iPads. Every Monday night, for this short-season Class A ball club, is “iPad Monday.” Anyone arriving with an iPad will receive free general admission tickets (while supplies last of course), as well as help setting up or updating Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare accounts. Now that gives new meaning to the song – “Take me out to the ball game!” via TUAW Tags : baseball , Hudson Valley Renegades , New York Yankees Category : iPad News , iPad for Fun , iPad for Gamers Powered by WizardRSS | Full Text RSS Feeds
Gameloft Announces Seven New Games
The iPad celebration continues after what appears to be quite a successful international launch. The iPad madness descended today on nine countries internationally. Huge lines were reported in Japan, Germany, UK, Australia and other countries.
To continue the festivities, Gameloft, a leading international publisher and developer of downloadable video games, announced the release of seven new titles for your iPad.
Gameloft’s new titles for the iPad are: Blokus, GT Racing: Motor Academy, Real Football 2010, Chess Classics, Brain Challenge, Real Tennis, and Gangstar: West Coast Hustle. The new games should be available on the App Store in early June.
“The iPad is the most user-friendly portable game platform available that will once again transform your experience with digital and downloadable games. We’ve supported the iPad since its launch in the U.S. in early April with titles that have garnered critical acclaim. We’re eager to expand our selection of games for the launch of the iPad in these new territories,” commented Michel Guillemot, president and founder of Gameloft.
We know Gameloft very well. They have established a solid reputation as a game developer. They are one of the first major publishers on the App Store with sixty-five iPhone games launched since July 2008 and fifteen games available on the iPad.
iPads go on Sale in Europe and Canada
Following the release in Australia and Japan , the iPad is now available in Europe and Canada. Customers started lining up 24 hours in advance in most European countries with many lines stretching several hundred people long. One of our French readers, Laurent from VIPad.fr , shared pictures of the iPad launch in Paris and Montpellier . iPads went on sale this morning in a total of six European countries; France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Canada was the second North American country to receive the iPad after the April 3 launch here in the United States. There was some initial outcry over the higher pricing customers outside the US had to pay for the iPad. However, after factoring in VAT / sales taxes , the difference in price between the US and other countries is often less than $20. The next set of countries Apple plans to release the iPad in will be Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore some time in July. Tags : Apple Store , Canada , France , Germany , Italy , Spain , Switzerland , UK Category : iPad News Powered by WizardRSS | Full Text RSS Feeds
123 World HD Geography for iPad – First Look
Our friend Steve Glinberg, creator of 123 Color HD , is at it again! His latest app, 123 World HD Geography , just appeared in the What’s Hot section of the App Store. With the world we live in becoming increasingly interconnected, it’s important for today’s kids to learn about countries, languages and cultures from around the globe. This new educational app allows kids to learn numbers and letters in English, Spanish, French and German. It also teaches kids about different cultures and geography through the use of artwork, animation, live Google maps and musical selections from around the world. If 123 Color HD is already among you favorite iPad apps, you have the option of purchasing World HD maps directly within 123 Color HD . The main difference between purchasing in-app and purchasing 123 World HD Geography in the App Store is the music. The traditional children’s song selections in Color HD are geared toward younger children (preschool), while musical selections from around the world target older kids (elementary school) in World HD. If 123 World HD Geography is anything like Steve’s other apps, 123 Color HD and the KidCalc series, he’s got another hit on his hands. I’ll let you know for sure next week when I post my full hands-on review. Tags : coloring , Foreign language , geography , math , What's Hot Category : iPad News , iPad for Moms , iPad for Students Powered by WizardRSS | Full Text RSS Feeds
NBC, Time Warner Say No To iPad?
Yesterday was a successful and tumultuous day for Apple. First, Apple celebrated the fact the company had surpassed Microsoft as the world’s largest tech company. But later, Apple was dealt a blow by a couple of large media companies as part of the ongoing fight with Adobe. The New York Post reported that big media heavyweights Time Warner and NBC told Apple they will not retool their video libraries to accommodate the iPad. In other words, they will continue to support Adobe’s Flash, arguing that it would be too expensive for them to reformat their videos into a iPad-friendly format. Is this a tactic to reduce Apple’s power with the media? According to market research firm NPD, 28% of all music is being purchased on iTunes. NPD has reported that Apple controls 70% of the entire digital-music market. Perhaps, some of the large media companies have noticed Apple’s control, and want to push for a more balanced market. Think about this more carefully. By keeping their web video libraries in Flash format, some media companies could be giving a bit more power to upcoming iPad competitors such as HP Slate and Dell Streak. In addition, some media companies may not like Apple’s walled-garden approach and would like to push for a content agnostic approach, as long as you are a “Pay-TV” customer. But, will NBC and Time Warner be at a disadvantage by ignoring the iPad? We already know about other powerful media companies like ABC, CBS and Fox who made adjustments and have already implemented some or all content in a iPad-friendly format (for free). And, they have done it via HTML5 or native iPad apps. Let’s not forget about Netflix, who quickly joined the iPad and has experienced a lot of success with their app. Also, keep in mind that as a Netflix subscriber you can watch some NBC content on your iPad. The HTML5 and Flash battle will continue to make headlines. It will be an interesting fight for months to come. However, we should not be surprised to see native iPad apps from different media companies. We already know about the rumors of an upcoming Hulu app . After all, you do not want to alienate iPad consumers. Media companies will need to find a way to coexist with all the new devices available to us. Tags : Adobe Flash , HTML5 , NBC , Time Warner Category : iPad News Powered by WizardRSS | Full Text RSS Feeds
BBC’s iPlayer Service Says Yes To iPad!
It is official! The iPad is available overseas, at least across nine countries. One of those countries is United Kingdom (UK).
With the iPad’s arrival to the UK, a lot of speculation surfaced as to whether the BBC iPlayer service would be made available in 2010. For those not familiar with the BBC iPlayer, it is an Internet and cable television service, developed by the BBC to extend its former RealPlayer-based “Radio Player” and other streamed video content.
Up until now, the BBC iPlayer has relied heavily on Flash. But, BBC’s Director of Future Media and Technology had expressed his intent to join the iPad. “We’re not wedded to Flash. Let’s be really clear about that.”, said Erik Huggers.
Huggers also shared his perspective on the iPad. “Having over 25 devices out there for the BBC iPlayer means we are quite flexible about the technologies we use to get our service out to consumers. Not all of our services are powered by Flash. The iPad is a very interesting device, the screen size is right, the battery life is right, and we will make iPlayer services available.”
BBC made a promise and they have delivered. New iPad owners in the UK, can now browse over to bbc.co.uk/iplayer (beta version) to enjoy the last seven days of the BBC iPlayer content. The new website has been designed specifically for the iPad. The site offers some nice features. For example, you will be able to browse via TV Channels, Categories and Most Popular. The service also offers radio support.
International iPad Sales Begin
Apple’s iPad went on sale in 9 new countries beginning today at 8:00am. The first two countries to begin selling the iPad outside of the US were Japan and Australia. The scene was similar to what occurred in the US when the iPad first went on sale this past April. At the Ginza Apple Store in Japan, Apple employees counted down the seconds until the store opened and customers were able to purchase iPad. The press was out in force to get pictures of the gadget craved Japanese waiting in line and getting their hands on the first iPads. In Australia, Apple Store employees began the day by doing a motivational routine to get everyone pumped up before the Bondi Junction store opened. As expected, lines started early and grew very quickly. The first customer camped out over 30 hours to be the first person to buy an iPad in Australia. Later today, iPad will go on sale in Germany, France, Switzerland, Spain and Italy and then become available in the United Kingdom and Canada as stores open later in the day. Tags : Apple Store , Australia , Japan , Launch Category : iPad News Powered by WizardRSS | Full Text RSS Feeds
BOGGLE For iPad Just Released
Remember the game Boggle, where your goal is to find words in a 4×4 grid of letters? Electronic Arts just released a version specifically designed for the iPad, called BOGGLE For iPad , and the game is a blast. In a nutshell, simply shake your iPad to scramble the letter dice on your screen, and come up with as many words as you can in 3 minutes. Words have to be sequences of letters on adjacent dice (you can only go up, down, left, right, or diagonally). BOGGLE For iPad also offers a multiplayer mode, a feature that was missing on the iPhone version of the game. You can go head-to-head with Pass ‘n Play, or email friends and challenge them to a word duel. BOGGLE For iPad is available at the App store for $4.99. Tags : boggle , electronic arts , released Category : iPad News Powered by WizardRSS | Full Text RSS Feeds
