It wasn’t too long ago that we didn’t need to worry about our cellphones dying at inopportune moments. In fact, the batteries could last us for days without needing a charge.
But now that our smartphones are, well, smarter, and we use them for dozens of functions, their batteries drain a lot faster.
From time to time, when a discussion is taking place about ways to implement responsive images, someone comes along and says, “Hey, guys! What we really need is a media query that enables us to send high-resolution images to people on a fast connection and low-resolution images to people on a slow connection.” At least early on, a lot of people agreed.
At first glance, this makes a lot of sense. High-resolution images have a significant performance cost, because they take longer to download. On a slow network connection, that cost can have a negative impact on the user’s experience. Users might prefer low-resolution images if it means that pages will download significantly faster. On the other hand, for users on a high-speed connection, the performance cost of delivering high-resolution images diminishes, and users would probably prefer better-quality images in this case.
If only we had a media query (and the HTML element that allows us to use that media query) that enables Web developers to have that degree of control over served images as a function of bandwidth, life would be peachy.
As it turns out, accurately implementing such a dream media query is not a whole lot easier than implementing a machine that can accurately predict how much it will rain two weeks from next Tuesday. And even if it were possible to implement, its side effects would result in a worse user experience, rather than a better one.
It’s true — kids love tablets and laptop games and apps. At Mashable we’ve seen a ton of tablets made just for kids, and more and more developers are creating apps just for kids. Some of these apps offer pure entertainment (the tablet babysitter) while others are educational. But what developers are missing out on, according to a company called OutThink Inc., is the opportunity to make educational games for children ages 8-13.
You can see in the infographic above that app stores are lacking in games for this age range. And it’s not as though children in this age range began to dislike tablets and computers — the iPad was the most requested present by kids ages 6-12 during the 2012 holiday season.
OutThink Inc. points out that 100% of game apps in the Apple App Store are for preschoolers and 10% of that number also include early elementary school students.
The company has a Kickstarter campaign with 15 hours left to pledge, as of writing. And it’s a little more than $7,000 away from reaching its funding goal of $75,000.
Check out the infographic above and tell us, do you notice a lack of educational apps for middle school children?
AirPlay mirror your iPhone 4S, iPad 2 or the new iPad to any Mac or PC, wirelessly.
Apple already appears to be testing its next iPhone and mobile operating system.
Multiple developers of Apple apps say they have begun to see references to “iPhone6,1″ hardware running iOS 7 in their app data usage logs, according to the Next Web.
App data usage logs help developers identify the kinds of devices and operating systems that are using their apps. The current iPhone — the iPhone 5 — is identified with either an “iPhone5,1″ or “iPhone5,2″ designation.
Let’s face it, a lot of folks spend their days using their iPads to play Angry Birds and read their email. But your iPad can get you through the day in other ways, augmenting what you do with creative apps for both work and play.
We assume you’ve already got some of the basics covered. But these 10 excellent apps take you a bit further into the thick of things than Pages and Instagram alone.
Losing your wallet is the ultimate inconvenience — credit cards, I.D., money are all gone in an instant.
The Wallet TrackR and accompanying iPhone app aim to prevent this problem through the power of tech. Here’s how it works: Place the “TrackR card,” a rectangular Bluetooth device, into your wallet; when it gets separated from your iPhone or iPad, the app alerts you. In case you don’t hear the alert, the app also photographs your wallet’s location at the time it was lost.
For those prone to losing their phones, the technology works both ways: Your wallet can also alert you if you’re leaving your phone behind.
Wallet TrackR works with the iPad mini, the iPhone 4S and 5, as well as the latest iPad and iPod Touch.
Its official website looks similar to a Kickstarter page, with the company asking for $250,000 in funding with “27 days left.” So far, Wallet TrackR has raised just over $9,200.
Do you find this product useful? Tell us in the comments below.
So you’ve pre-ordered the iPad mini. Now what?
Like most tablets and smartphones, the case you choose for your device is what really makes it your own. With the right one, you can personalize it to match your fashion, lifestyle and — yes — even eating habits.
A beautiful display, powerful A5 chip, FaceTime HD camera, iSight camera with 1080p HD video recording, ultrafast wireless, and over 275,000 apps ready to download from the App Store. iPad mini is an iPad in every way, shape, and slightly smaller form.
Perfectly sized LED-backlit display.
iPad mini makes one thing clear: Its 7.9-inch display more than measures up to the complete iPad experience. View web pages in Safari. See where you are and what’s around you using Maps.1 Flick through your photos and watch videos in vivid detail. And wave hello to the family on a FaceTime call. The iPad mini display uses the same LED backlight technology as iPad to give you plenty of pop per square inch. And it’s perfectly sized to work with hundreds of thousands of apps made for iPad.
Apple is wasting no time to create demand for the iPad Mini. Launched Tuesday, the product appears in a newly released ad, above.
Developed by agency TBWA\Media Arts Lab, the spot features no narration — just a shot of the larger iPad playing “Heart and Soul” on a piano app. The camera then reveals the smaller iPad, playing along in a piano duet. It concludes with black text against a white background that reads: “iPad mini.”
Apple also debuted a new ad for its 13-inch MacBook Pro, below; in it, narrator Peter Coyote describes the product’s Retina display as being “for the pro in all of us.” The 13-inch Pro is available now, while the iPad Mini goes hits stores Nov. 2.
