Opinion Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

iPad mini impressions, four months on

by Matt Tinsley (Feb 21st, 2013)

Can you believe it? The iPad mini has been with us for four months. That may not sound like a long time, but in the tech world, where tablet updates are happening sometimes twice a year, the mini has become well and truly established in Apple's tablet line up. In fact, some might say it's already ...

Does it matter if the iPad mini cannibalizes iPad sales?

by Erica Sadun (Oct 31st, 2012)

On October 23rd, Apple introduced its fourth-generation iPad, the iPad mini and a slew of Mac refreshes. Somewhat lost in the reaction to those launches and refreshes was what I think is the most interesting story of all: the iPad 2, and how competitive it has been in this market. Today, a bit ...

The emerging reality of Apple's leaked products

by Megan Lavey-Heaton (Oct 24th, 2012)

The magic of "One More Thing" is truly dead. If there's anything that Apple's iPad mini event showed us on Tuesday, it's that the anticipation of an unknown product to be unveiled at the end of an Apple event has faded into the past. With a wink and a nod, Tim Cook and Phil Schiller ...

Updated iWork, iLife, iTunes missing in action

by Steven Sande (Oct 23rd, 2012)

Missing today from Apple's exciting Mac announcements was any mention of updates to the in-house apps that power those devices. In particular, many Apple fans had hoped for a long-awaited update to iTunes -- not just an update, but more of a total rewrite to reflect the fact that the app is for ...

Why Amazon's Whispercast matters

by Erica Sadun (Oct 19th, 2012)

Apple's upcoming media event isn't scheduled until next week. I've already gone on record about my views about the so-called iPad mini's potential. I think with the mini, Apple has a big chance to push forward the education initiative the company introduced earlier this year. That's why ...

You're the Pundit: What will we get with the mini?

by Erica Sadun (Oct 12th, 2012)

When it comes to evaluating the next big thing, we turn to our secret weapon: the TUAW braintrust. We put the question to you and let you have your go at it. Today's topic is the (presumed) iPad mini. In order to compete in the 8-inch tablet market, most rumors have hinted that the iPad mini has ...

Skitch 2.0 is like Skitch 1.0 without all those pesky "features"

by TJ Luoma (Sep 20th, 2012)

I knew that when Evernote purchased Skitch they were destined to screw it up. Sure enough, it didn't take long. First they started pushing people to use Evernote accounts. Skitch had done this too, insisting that you keep a Skitch.com account in your "sharing" options, even if you had no ...

New iPhones? How about the TUAW crew?

by Mel Martin (Sep 14th, 2012)

Many of our readers are asking themselves if they should spring for the iPhone 5. Early reports look like it's flying off the shelves. I asked my colleagues if they plan to buy an iPhone 5. You might think, MacHeads that we are, that we'd all be buying. Not necessarily so. Kelly Guimont: ...

Apples and Orange: the Kindle Fire HD

by Erica Sadun (Sep 10th, 2012)

A year ago, I compared the new Kindle Fire with the Apple iPad. Fast-forward to last week, when Amazon introduced its new, larger HD model. With low-cost, built-in LTE, and a $50/year data plan that gives users 250 MB of data per month, it provides a budget alternative to the iPad. I've used ...

Making money in a crowded App Store: it's dog eat dog and Spy vs Spy

by Richard Gaywood (Sep 4th, 2012)

On the 25th of July, a shiny iOS remake of the 8-bit classic Spy vs Spy launched on the App Store for $1.99. The next day, the price dropped to $0.99 in a launch sale. On the 30th, it went up briefly, then developer Robots and Pencils announced that "to show our appreciation, we are extending ...

Considering the iPad mini as a developer

by Erica Sadun (Aug 17th, 2012)

I give up. An "iPad mini" seems to be a good possibility despite my protestations. Many Apple watchers expect to see a small iPad being announced sometime Fall-ish. Although I'm somewhat convinced that I've wandered into a figment of John Martellaro's imagination, it's worth thinking through the ...

The dawning of the age of Pass Kit: virtual ID on the iPhone

by Erica Sadun (Aug 16th, 2012)

As iOS 6 gets ready for its Autumn debut, many users look forward to Passbook, Apple's "new way to organize boarding passes, tickets, gift cards, and loyalty cards." It promises to help empty your wallet of a multitude of small items, replacing them with a single iPhone interface. Just flash your ...

The Apple TV's increasing importance

by Megan Lavey-Heaton (Aug 6th, 2012)

A weekend feature from Gizmodo's Brian Barrett explores the Apple TV's increasing importance with the recent addition of Hulu Plus and other features. The interesting part of the article is the numbers: 1.3 million Apple TV units sold in the previous quarter along with US$2 billion in sales of ...

Dear Aunt TUAW: Which iPad should I buy?

by Erica Sadun (Jul 29th, 2012)

Dear Aunt TUAW, I decided to sell my iPad 1 and pick up an iPad 2 or 3. not sure which one yet. I will see what the [next iPhone] launch brings. Also, in your opinion will the iPad 2 be supported longer than the iPad 1 was? Just trying to decide what to buy next. Your loving ...

Local notification spam: Devs, please don't do that

by Erica Sadun (Jul 16th, 2012)

Want to know a quick road to a bad app review from your users? Local notification spam. Frankly, we're sick of it. You spam us, we'll toss your app off our phones like *snap* that. Just because local notifications don't require opt-in doesn't mean that developers should abuse them for marketing. ...