Survey Shows 85% of Tablet Owners Use Them While Watching TV

According to a new Forrester survey, 85% of people who own tablets use them while in front of the television. TIME Techland reports.

In fact, 30% of tablet use in general happens in front of the boob tube. That would explain the proliferation of social TV apps, from independent apps like GetGlue that let you “check in” to TV shows to branded apps from television shows like TBS’ Conan.

Read more

Global Trends in Tablet and Smartphone Use while Watching TV

Watching TV while using a tablet or smartphone is more common than not according to a Q4 2011 Nielsen survey of connected device owners in the U.S. , U.K., Germany and Italy.

Key findings by Nielsen include:

-- In the U.S., 88 percent of tablet owners and 86 percent of smartphone owners said they used their device while watching TV at least once during a 30-day period.

-- For 45 percent of tablet tapping Americans, using their device while watching TV was a daily event

-- Device owners in the U.K. also logged heavy usage for tablets (80%) and smartphones (78%) while watching TV.

-- Italians and Germans were the least likely to use a device while watching TV.

Read full press release.

Are Personal Apps the Next Step in Celebrity Branding?

Looking beyond Facebook and Twitter platforms, app developers are teaming up with Hollywood to create a new type of celebrity branding and public relations – the personal brand app. TIME Techland reports.

Last month HBO Entourage star Adrian Grenier announced the launch of an iPad app, Reckless Adrian Grenier, in conjunction with video app developer Mobivo. The app is cross-branded with the actor’s film company, Reckless Productions, driving his indie flick audience and Entourage fans to the same content.

The app allows users to engage with Grenier and Reckless Productions, providing a more thorough user experience including access to films, live signings, picture sharing and autographs. “It is more authentic than 140 characters,” says Trevor Doerksen, Mobivo founder and CEO.

The collaboration enters a new realm of branding for celebrities, professional athletes and politicians, and gives them a chance at controlling their public images.

Read full article.

iPad (concept) game for bored pigs

File under fun, this iPad concept game aims to keep pigs entertained.

Since 2001, according tot European law, farmers have to do something to "entertain" their pigs - so they don't get bored in their stable and start eating each others tails...

Now some Dutch researchers and artists came up with an iPad concept game you can play with the pigs. The game called 'Pig Chase' lets you project lights on the wall of the stable (how this is done is not exactly clear), which the pigs like to follow with their nose... so they're entertained.

[via PortableGear]

EBay iPad App Allows Viewers to Buy Products Seen in TV Shows, Movies

EBay's iPad app is now allowing users to browse products from TV shows and movies as the company pushes into the TV commerce space, in which companies have so far failed to hit a homerun, Bloomberg News reported via The Hollywood Reporter.

The new commerce service works with TV guide data that enables the app to show relevant merchandise in eBay’s store. In the first version, users must tell the app which channel they are watching, but the goal is to eventually automatically sync the app with the TV, according to Bloomberg.

That would allow the app to recognize the brand of clothing and props in each scene, such as a jacket worn by a character on AMC’s Mad Men, and let users buy the item on eBay. To make this happen, easy is looking to strike partnerships with cable providers, studios and networks, Yankovich told Bloomberg.

Read full article.

Related:

-- Glamour’s iPad Series to Let Viewers Buy Clothes From Gap - Glamour announced in March 2011 that it was launching an original reality series produced exclusively for the iPad called "Glamour Girls" allowing viewers to pause the program and buy clothing worn by the characters, directly from Gap.com.

-- Shop for "Gossip Girls" - The New York Daily News via YPulse in 2007, reported on a new TV show which emphasized the growing trend of TV networks partnering with designers and retailers, for online commerce. Coined "Web Shopping 3.0", TV viewers are able to purchase what the characters wore in a TV series, or even buy the furniture from the sets they are filmed in from merchant websites.

-- Shopisodes enable you to Dress Like Your Favorite TV Character - The E-Commerce Times reported in 2007 on an ever-growing collection of interactive videos called Shopisodes, that allow consumers to shop for items directly from a clip of their favorite show. As the clip is playing, visitors can select and purchase the products that appear in the video.

Notice Internet connections in hotels are slowing down? blame it on iPads

If you've noticed unusually poor Internet service in hotel rooms lately, you can blame it on the broad use of Pads and other mobile tablets, which are heavy users of video streaming.

According to New York Times, the guest room Wi-Fi networks that most hotels thought they had brought up to standard just a few years ago are now often groaning under user demands.

... David W. Garrison, the chief executive of iBAHN, a provider of systems for the hotel and meetings industries says hotels will have to choose “either to not increase the amount of bandwidth, so everybody will get much slower service to the point where you’ll think you’re on a dial-up connection,” or upgrade and essentially put in a metered fee-based system.

Read full article.

Tablets turned into Braille keyboard by US researchers

A team of US researchers from New Mexico University has devised a way for people with impaired vision to use the touchscreen of a tablet such as an iPad as a Braille keyboard. The BBC reports.

Instead of using a keyboard or mechanical writer, users type directly onto the flat glass.

Instead of having fingers that find the buttons, we built buttons that find the fingers," said Stanford's Sohan Dharmaraja, one of the researchers on the project.

Users place eight fingers on the screen and the keyboard appears. Shaking the device activates a menu, and further interaction is achieved by regular touch gestures.

Read full article.

Disney Appmates toys will let kids use their Disney character toys with the iPad, like a board game

Disney Appmates toys will let kids use their favorite Disney character toys with the iPad the way a game piece is used on a board game. But in this case it is more interactive. The first Disney brand to get the Appmates treatment is Pixar's Cars which will go on sale in October, according to The Guardian.

How it works is pretty simple. Each toy has a unique footprint, so the iPad can tell which toy is being used. The app then delivers an interactive experience that goes with that toy.

[via Technabob]

iPads, connected TVs lead to explosion in encoding

IPads, connected TVs and TV Everywhere services will be the biggest drivers of the global transcoding business, which is expected to grow to nearly half a billion dollars over the next few years. That kind of growth has a number of startups (and investors) excited about taking advantage of a wide-open market opportunity.

[via GigaOM]

BBC iPlayer launches 'international' version

The international version of the BBC iPlayer has landed - at least if you live in Europe and own an iPad, writes stuff.

Fans of British TV in continental Europe can access a large library of content for the first time through the BBC's iPlayer app for Apple's iPad.

The 11 launch countries are Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, The Republic of Ireland, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland.

Read more.

Fring Launches Group Video-Chat App For The iPad

With Skype launching on the iPad this week and services like FaceTime already available, is mobile video chatting the next big thing?.

That's certainly the hope of London-based company Fring, which today launched an iPad group video-chat app. The service allows users to chat simultaneously with four friends, over Wi-Fi or 3G, and see friends on other devices including the iPhone and Android-based smartphones.

Read full article in FastCompany.

Video of Skype's iPad app

TUAW reports that Skype is finally releasing an official version for the iPad. The company hasn't announced a date for release yet, but the app is expected to be approved soon.

Skype posted this video of their official iPad client to their channel, then took it down. A Razorianfly viewer managed to grab a screen recording, you can view it above - no sound though.

Chinese teen sells kidney for iPad 2

A Chinese teenager has reportedly sold one of his kidneys for 20,000 yuan ($3778) so he could buy an iPad2.

"I wanted to buy an iPad 2, but I didn't have the money," the boy told Shenzhen TV. He also bought an iPhone and a laptop with the proceeds from the sale, his mother said.

[via The Sydney Morning Herald]

New Study Finds iPad is Cure for Adultery

Popwuping reports on a new scientific study - released May 19 in The Borowitz Report - that claims iPad owners are less likely to commit adultery "because they stop noticing other people altogether."

According to the study, commissioned by Apple, Inc., iPad use disrupts what scientists agree are the necessary first stages of extramarital sex: "noticing, admiring, and talking to other people."

And not only did iPad use make them thoroughly uninterested in extramarital sex, "their nonstop talking about the amazing features and apps on their iPads made them completely unattractive to potential sex partners as well."

... The study also indicated that iPad owners are far less likely to have sex with the people they are married to, but that in two-iPad couples “neither partner seems to care.”

In Europe, the International Monetary Fund announced that the iPad would be “mandatory equipment” for any candidate who hopes to take the helm of the IMF.

Fun. Read more. Via The Borowitz Report.

HBO Lets iPad Users Watch Game of Thrones A Week Early

This weekend, subscribers to HBO will be able to watch the seventh episode of Game of Thrones a whole week early.

The seventh episode of the series, entitled “You Win or You Die,” will go live on the network’s HBO Go online platform. In addition to the HBO Go website, subscribers can also tune in through the service’s recently released mobile apps.

The HBO Go apps were teased in a YouTube ad released last week, promising a May 2 launch date. But they appeared a few days early.

[via GigaOM]

Cablevision unveils iPad app

Cablevision Systems released an iPad app today that lets subscribers use the tablet at home--instead of just using their television--to view programs carried by the cable-TV distributor. News.com reports.

The Cablevision app, which is free, differs from the Time Warner offering in that it serves up about 300 live channels, in addition to other features.

Read full article.

Dispute Over Time Warner Cable’s Streaming to iPad

Companies like Time Warner Cable and Cablevision buy the rights to beam channels to customers’ television sets. But do those rights extend to iPads?

The New York Times reports.

Adobe Unveils Wallaby: Flash to HTML 5 Converter

Adobe introduced a new experimental tool on Tuesday called Wallaby that converts Flash content into HTML 5.

Right now Wallaby can handle a limited selection of Flash components, but it does offer a way to get at least some of the content developers are creating with Adobe’s multimedia tools onto devices like Apple’s iPhone and iPad.

Wallaby is available as a free download at the Adobe Labs Web site and requires Creative Suite 5.

[The Mac Observer]

Glamour’s iPad Series to Let Viewers Buy Clothes From Gap

Media Decoder reports.that Glamour is launching an original reality series produced exclusively for the iPad called "Glamour Girls" allowing viewers to pause the program and buy clothing worn by the characters, directly from Gap.com.

How it works: an iPad user downloads Glamour’s app, watches an episode of “Glamour Girls” and pauses it at will to buy the clothes the characters are wearing.

Read full article.

Glamour may be the first app for iPad to offer TV series product placement shopping, but it's been done before on the Web:

-- Shop for "Gossip Girls" - The New York Daily News via YPulse in 2007, reported on a new TV show which emphasized the growing trend of TV networks partnering with designers and retailers, for online commerce. Coined "Web Shopping 3.0", TV viewers are able to purchase what the characters wore in a TV series, or even buy the furniture from the sets they are filmed in from merchant websites.

-- Shopisodes enable you to Dress Like Your Favorite TV Character - The E-Commerce Times reported in 2007 on an ever-growing collection of interactive videos called Shopisodes, that allow consumers to shop for items directly from a clip of their favorite show. As the clip is playing, visitors can select and purchase the products that appear in the video.

iPad 2 video up on apple.com

@Scobleizer: iPad 2 video is up on apple.com so you can see it for yourself.

Sofa-Friendly iPad Reading Could Eat Into Primetime TV's User Attention

A study says the iPad isn't only changing how people read online but when they're doing it, including during traditional TV prime time hours. Fast Company reports via UPI.

Internal data acquired by ReadItLater, a Web service that tracks Web content use, show the main bulk of iPad text content consumption is from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m., FastCompany.com reported Friday.

As well as settling back in the living room to watch TV during prime time hours, people are apparently taking their iPad with them, too.

The data can't reveal if people are multitasking with TV and the iPad or are ignoring the TV altogether, but the findings will no doubt be of concern to TV executives who depend on uninterrupted attention from TV viewers to maximize ad revenues, FastCompany said.

Read full article.

The iPad Not a Savior of Magazines, as Digital Sales Continue to Fall

If publishers are looking to the iPad to help revive (or extend) magazine sales, recent figures released by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) aren't good news. While not all magazines that are available on the iPad release their digital single-issue sales to the ABC, those that do all show a significant year-end drop. ReadWriteWeb reports.

WWD reports that:

-- Vanity Fair sold 8,700 digital editions of its November issue, down from an average of about 10,500 for the previous three months.

-- Glamour sold 4,300 digital copies in September, but sales fell by 20% in October and then another 20% to 2,775 in November.

-- GQ's November edition sold 11,000 copies, its worst sales figures since the iPad was released.

Read full article.

Related:

GigaOM: If an App Is Your Content Strategy, You Are Doomed

Venture capitalist Fred Wilson makes a point in a blog post Thursday, in which he argues that the economics around mobile platforms such as the iPhone and the iPad — and other tablets, presumably — will likely come to look a lot like the economics of the web itself, in which closing off access to content via paywalls and walled gardens has not proven to be a very successful long-term approach (with a few notable exceptions such as The Economist and the Wall Street Journal). As Wilson puts it:

I don’t understand why anyone would ever think that adding a presentation layer on top of web based content would make it something people would want to purchase when they are not willing to purchase the same content directly on the web.

Read full article.

Skyfire Shows Off iPad App with Flash, Facebook Features

Skyfire, which offers an app that brings Flash to the iPhone, provided a sneak peak this week at a version for the iPad, "coming soon." PC Mag reports.

Like its iPhone counterpart, Skyfire for iPad will function like a Web browser, converting Flash video into HTML5 and playing it back in a separate window. That window can be expanded to full-screen mode to take advantage of the iPad's 9.7-inch screen.

The iPad version will also include many of the social-networking components Skyfire recently added to its Android app. The bottom menu bar will include links to Facebook, Twitter, and Google Reader, so users can read and interact with their news feeds or followers within the Skyfire app.

A "Fireplace" option, meanwhile, will pull up all the links Facebook friends have shared, so you can open up news stories or watch videos within Skyfire.

Read full review.

FilmOn offers free broadcast TV on your iPad

Interested in watching broadcast television—for free—on your iPad? Just point Safari to FilmOn.com. MacWorld reports.

FilmOn is streaming broadcasts of several network affiliates in the Los Angeles area, including those of NBC, CBS, ABC, and Fox, in an effort to entice users to purchase subscriptions to their service.

... If you’re wondering how the networks feel about all this, well, they’re not very happy with FilmOn—nor are they excited about ivi TV, which streams live broadcasts from network affiliates in Seattle and New York.

They’re so unhappy, in fact, that they’ve sued both outfits.

Read more.

New York City Marathon live-streaming online and with iPad and iPhone apps

New York City's Marathon is this Sunday, Nov. 7, drawing over 100,000 runners from all over the world, including world-class professional athletes and celebrities. [via huliq]

Approximately two million spectators and 315 million television viewers world-wide will cheer on this year’s runners, who will be competing for more than $600,000 in prize money.

Fans can get live streaming of the men’s, women’s and wheelchair races on UniversalSports.com, New York Road Runners NYRR's Marathon Channel as well as with NYRR's first-ever iPhone and iPad app.

Find out more.

Mr. President, sign my iPad

Spotted on intomobile, President Obama signing Sylvester Cann's iPad.

Neiman Marcus enables commerce in catalog via iPad app

Upscale retailer Neiman Marcus is letting shoppers jump from the pages of its catalogs directly into its online shopping platform in one tap via a new iPad application.

[Luxury Daily via Mobile Commerce Daily via @Mobilefringe]

Apple Said to Negotiate With Publishers Over Digital Newsstand

According to Bloomberg, Apple Inc. is developing a digital newsstand for publishers that would let them sell magazines and newspapers to consumers for use on Apple devices, said two people familiar with the matter.

The newsstand, designed particularly for the iPad, would be similar to Apple’s iBook store for electronic books, said the people, who declined to be identified because the negotiations are private. The newsstand would be separate from Apple’s App Store, where people can buy some publications now, they said.

Read full article.

iPad App Listens To Your TV, Provides Additional Content

PSFK reports on a new iPad app released by ABC that syncs with their new TV show, My Generation, to provide real time content on the tablet device.

By listening to the audio coming out of the TV, the iPad app, with the help of Nielsen, is able to identify where the viewer is within each episode and provide additional content.

Behind the scenes and interactive media will then be pushed to the tablet as viewers watch TV.

Apple to introduce wireless printing for iPad

Apple said Wednesday it is releasing a beta version of its AirPrint wireless printing for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch to members of Apple's iOS developer program. The program will also be included in the free iOS 4.2 software update in November.

"AirPrint automatically finds printers on local networks and can print text, photos and graphics to them wirelessly over Wi-Fi without the need to install drivers or download software," said Apple in a statement.

[via MarketWatch]

First ever iPad premiere for Warner’s Nikita

At a secret launch of Nikita last night in London, CW's new action show Danny Wallace appeared and told the assembled journalists that this was the first ever iPad première of a TV show.

Nikita will air in the UK in October.

[via BeehiveCity]

iPad as Retro TV

Spotted on boingboing, this iPad dock shapped like an old-fashion TV.

[via Design Mind]

Discover - Wikipedia in a magazine

Spotted on Gizmodo, a cool app for the iPad that arranges Wikipedia entries (in English for now) into magazine articles for easier reading.

UK soldiers use iPad app to train for Afghan operations

For the first time, UK troops are using a special app developed for the iPad to learn how to handle a fire mission. The BBC reports.

In early trials at the Royal School of Artillery in Wiltshire, troops have learned the jargon and procedures more quickly than before, when they were sat listening to lessons from instructors.

It's hoped smartphone and tablet technology could be used to speed up training across the army.

Read full article.

Apple sued over iPad overheating in sunlight

The suit, filed Friday in federal court in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, is seeking class-action status and asks for unspecified damages because the device "overheats so quickly under common weather conditions." The suit says Apple's iPad "does not live up to the reasonable consumer's expectations created by Apple.

[Bloomberg via News.com]

Study: iPad Owners Are "Selfish Elites"

According to a new study the psychological profile of iPad owners can be summed up as “selfish elites” while have-not critics are “independent geeks.” Wired reports.

Consumer research firm MyType conducted the study, in which opinions of 20,000 people were analyzed between March and May. The firm’s conclusion was that iPad owners are six times more likely to be “wealthy, well-educated, power-hungry, over-achieving, sophisticated, unkind and non-altruistic 30-50 year olds". In other words, “selfish elites.”

Read full article.

Flipboard Launches IPad App to Adulation, Rush of Users

PC World reports on Flipboard, a new iPad application that presents the news links in a user's Twitter and Facebook media streams in the style of a magazine.

The app, which is free, attempts to help people make sense of the huge amount of news content that is now shared through social media networks and links directly into a user's Twitter and Facebook feeds. It also contains several channels programmed by the company containing tech news, culture, music and other subjects.

Click on a channel and articles are presented as they might look in a magazine, with headlines and a few paragraphs of the story next to a picture. Clicking on any part of a story opens up a page with the entire article. If nothing on the page is of interest then a swipe across the screen will flip the page to the next screen.

By inputting a Twitter or Facebook stream into the application, the user automatically gets previews of the stories being passed around by their friends and sources and so doesn't have to rely on a subject line or URL to make a decision on whether to open a link.

Read full article and a glowing review from Scobleizer with an exclusive first interview of Flipboard CEO Mike McCue by Robert Scoble on YouTube.

Turn Your TV Into An iPad

Spotted on YankoDesign DarkDesignGroup's iPad TV.

Also: The iMouse Pad

Italian priest develops iMass app

An Italian priest has developed an app that will let priests celebrate Mass with an iPad on the altar instead of the regular Roman missal.

[via The Telegraph]

Apple tweaks iOS rules for developers, but still no Flash

According to CNET, Apple has slightly revised the rules. Currently the rules read:

Unless otherwise approved by Apple in writing, no interpreted code may be downloaded or used in an Application except for code that is interpreted and run by Apple's Documented APIs and built-in interpreter(s). Notwithstanding the foregoing, with Apple's prior written consent, an Application may use embedded interpreted code in a limited way if such use is solely for providing minor features or functionality that are consistent with the intended and advertised purpose of the Application.

While that still excludes Flash, it does allow, with Apple's express written permission, for the use of reusable code engines or libraries that many iPhone and iPad games use.

What prompted the change? It's not entirely clear, but it's probably to encourage and not restrict further development of iPhone and iPad games, which have proven extremely popular in the App Store.

Read full article.

iPad app library passes 10,000 milestone

Apple's iTunes App Store now lists more than 10,000 universal and iPad specific apps, with nearly 1,000 more being added every week, reports Apple Insider.

... The growth of the iPad apps library has outpaced the original iPhone App Store, which took almost five months to reach the 10,000 app milestone in 2008.

FBI investigating iPad security breach

The Federal Bureau of Investigation says it has opened a criminal probe into the security breach that exposed the e-mail addresses of thousands of iPad owners.

AT&T on Wednesday acknowledged a security breach that exposed the e-mail addresses of some 114,000 high-profile users of the Apple iPad.

[via USA Today]

iPad suit

Spotted in Newsweek, an iPad suit. One of six strange iPad accessories.

For casual Fridays:

-- iTee: T-Shirt for iPad

-- Pants for iPad

AT&T Is Said to Have Exposed iPad Owners’ E-Mail Addresses

A hacking group has obtained the e-mail addresses of 114,000 owners of 3G iPads by exploiting a security hole on AT&T’s Web site, according to a report by Gawker via Bits.

The group also obtained the identification number that those iPads use when they communicate over AT&T’s network, known as an ICC-ID. It is not clear what that information could be used for.

Read full article

Magazine apps: costly

Three interesting articles raise questions on the future success of magazine and newspaper apps for the iPad:

From New Ledger:

Why the iPad Won’t Save Newspapers. ... The WSJ app pricing doesn’t make sense. A WSJ.com subscription costs less than half as much—$8.62 a week. A print subscription delivered to your door costs just $9.92 a month. A print and online subscription costs $11.66 a month. But you’re going to charge $18 for the iPad app?

From GigaOM:

The big question is whether publishers will convince people to pay for magazine content through an app, rather than just using the web browser on their iPad to consume the same content free of charge. Wired’s app is $4.99, and that’s just for a single issue of the monthly magazine, the same as the print version.

From Business Insider:

Consumers who think iPad editions should cost no more than print editions and perhaps should cost less -- given all the money publishers save on paper, printing and distribution -- are going to be disappointed. IPad subscriptions to Popular Science, Popular Photography and Sound & Vision will cost at least twice as much as they do in print.