Macgasm

In the past, only the hardcore knew what kind of silicon powered their machines. These days, the processor — especially in mobile devices like smartphones and tablets — is a huge selling point.

For the most part, these categories of devices are powered by these processors:

• Texas Instruments — the OMAP processor, found in Motorola’s Droid 2 and Droid X
• ARM — Apple’s “A4″ system,  Samsung’s “Hummingbird” processor, and Qualcomm’s “Snapdragon” processor

To be clear, ARM is winning. Most of the well-known processor packages — systems on a chip — are ARM-based.

Notice that the desktop processor giant Intel is missing from that short list. However, the company is hoping to change that. According to Computerworld’s Matt Hamblen, Intel plans on unveiling several tablets powered by its Atom processors, followed by smartphones powered by Atom chipsets later in 2011.

Atom should be another familiar name to consumers, as it is the processor of choice when it comes to netbooks. However, Intel has been slow to move to other products, giving ARM little resistance  on their way to dominance. It is estimated that almost 80% of Android devices run on ARM-powered chips. Every iPhone, iPad and iPod touch are powered by ARM-powered chipsets as well.

There’s a good reason for this. ARM’s offerings take very little power and run very cool — both important factors in tablets and smartphones. Intel hasn’t quite figured that out yet, but we’ll know for sure after CES.

The history of ARM is a fascinating one. In 1990, the company was founded under the name “Advanced RISC Machines Ltd.” by the now-defunct Acorn Computers and a little California-based group named Apple Computer. The group created the processors used in the very first tablet computers — the Newton.

The Newton was mind-blowing for the time. All of its handwriting recognition, IR-blasting, green goodness would have been impossible without ARM.

According to Jay Yarow at Business Insider, owning ARM saved Apple in the “Dark Ages” of the 1990s. When Apple sold its holdings in what would become ARM, it made a cool $800 million. Without that money, there is a very real chance Apple would not have made it.

Back in the summer, rumors were floating around that Apple was considering buying its old spin-off. However, those rumors died out after a few weeks in circulation. Such an acquisition would significantly change the landscape of mobile technology.

Probably more than Intel will.

First thing I check when the family says “let’s go to a movie” – Fandango.

I’m not into standing in lines and waiting around in the cold. With Fandango, I see when and where a film is playing and I can quickly and easily purchase my tickets from my iPhone.

Well, now life has gotten even easier as Fandango just released their iPad app.

The Fandango app for iPad takes all the goodness of the iPhone app and brings with it some key user experience updates. Most notable are:

• “The Pulse,” a visual representation of the hottest ticket sellers, viewable in both list and map formats
• Movie reviews from professional critics and film fans alike, plus movie-related tweets, all on one large Multi Touch screen
• Map integration that knows your location and helps you find titles, theaters, showtimes and tickets
• Expanded video, photos, trailers, clips and exclusive interview features that take advantage of the iPad’s display

“It was important for us to create an app that was tailor-made for iPad, taking advantage of its large, high-resolution display and Multi Touch interface,” says Jessica Yi, head of product for Fandango. “We think film fans will enjoy browsing from their couch or the local coffee house for showtimes, fan reviews, exclusive clips, trailers, and tickets for True Grit, Little Fockers, Gulliver’s Travels, TRON: Legacy, Black Swan, The King’s Speech and many other movies throughout the holiday season.”

There are two major iPad 2 rumors that surfaced today, and instead of putting them both into their own posts, we thought we’d sum them up for you in our “rumor du jour” post.  The rumor du jour might become a thing around here if iPad 2 rumors keep rolling in at this pace.

Rumor One: Small version coming

The first rumor about the iPad 2 that rolled into our inbox today was regarding the miniature iPad version that we’ve heard about in the past. We were going to let this one slide, but then realized that it’s hard to pass up considering it’s being held by a race-car driving popstar from Taiwan. Jimmy Lin is “apparently” holding an iPad mini in a picture that surfaced on the internet.

Could be real, or… it could be that he’s the world’s biggest man from Taiwan, and he’s actually holding a Shaq edition of the iPad in his left-hand (our right). At this point it could go either way. Personally I’d prefer to see 40 icons at one time on the Shaq edition, but that’s just me.

Rumor Two: iPad 2 gets a giant honkin speaker

I understand that these two rumors are a paradox. After all, how can a mini iPad also have a giant “honkin” speaker? Consider this Exhibit B in the Shaq iPad edition I mentioned before. All kidding aside, Electronista is reporting that the iPad 2 will get a bigger speaker, as well as an iPod-style shell. They’re basing the rumor on a report from Mac Otakara, who’s in turn reporting the news based on a “Chinese” contact.

Rumor One Via Slash Gear
Rumor Two Via Electronista

It you want to try out virtualization, but don’t want to shell out the cash for Parallels or Vmware, you might be interested in VirtualBox. Oracle has been offering up the free program for a couple of years now, and it’s still being maintained. Today Virtual Box has reached 4.0, and there’s a ton of new and overly complicated sounding features.

In addition to redesigning the UI, there’s also now support for systems with more than 2GB of RAM on a 32-bit host, New “Virtual” hardware, and a ton of other things that probably won’t stand out to you unless you’re deeply involved with the virtualization process.

If you decide this holiday season to take Windows 7 for a spin, you can do it for free with Virtualbox 4.0. If you’re interested in the thoughts of one of our writers, Grant took both VirtualBox and Parallels for a spin and provided a brief overview of his experience.

You can get the changelog here.

MobileRSS HD 3.0 is a recently updated RSS feed reader for the iPad. It has a good feature set and a great new UI … that is totally stolen.

That’s right. Stolen. The original UI is that of Reeder for iPad, one of the best RSS readers on the App Store. Sadly, the developers at NibiruTech have included the UI as a “theme” for the newest version of their app.

The ripoff is pretty shameless. The coloring is close, but the UI controls are so similar, it is hard to believe this is a coincidence. It’s also hard to believe that someone would be so bold. The App Store is a difficult market for many developers, but cheating is not the way to sell apps.

We’ve reached out to NibiruTech on Twitter, but haven’t heard back. If we do, we will let you know.

Both MobileRSS HD and Reeder are $4.99, but we can only recommend the latter. The link to Reeder for iPad is below — if you’re looking for a great iOS Google Reader client, it’s a good choice.

Article Via Marco

Apple today updated its free Remote app, a universal iOS app that allows control of iTunes libraries and Apple TVs from any iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.

Updates include:

• AirPlay video support to control iTunes on your computer to stream videos to an Apple TV
• Internet radio control to play thousands of internet radio streams in iTunes on your computer
• The ability to control iTunes on your computer to play Movies and TV shows that are rented from the iTunes Store
• Addresses issues connecting to an iTunes library or Apple TV
• Includes stability and performance improvements

This really is a great app. It offers far better control than Apple’s IR remote, especially with an AppleTV in the mix. Plus, free is always good!

Article Via Mac Stories

Note from the Editor: We were working on a series of “best of” posts, but figured it might be best if we reached out to someone who’s had a lot more hands on time when it comes to iOS gaming. We reached out to Corey, and figured that the Editor in Chief of MacGamer might be more than qualified for a top-ten list. Corey Tamas has been Editor in Chief of MacGamer.com since 1998, and he has also worked for MacHome magazine, as games contributor for The Mac Bible and he co-hosts the iGame Radio Podcast.

From the first glimpse of iOS back in 2007, the world got a pretty good sense of just how much gaming awesome could be packed into that little smooth device we called the iPhone. Even so, the most optimistic gamers couldn’t have foreseen what was to come; from major-league players like Epic Games, Electronic Arts and id Software to little game houses that grew like Telltale, Freeverse and Popcap, talent and product flocked to iOS and turned it into a gamer’s paradise. If 2010 proved anything, it wasn’t just that the iOS is a great mobile gaming platform… it’s that iOS is a great gaming platform, period. Let’s take a look at what set the stage for time-wasting in 2010:

5. Mirror’s Edge

Mirror’s Edge was a modest console hit from Electronic Arts which put you in the role of the very limber female protagonist Faith, who performs split-second jumps, slides and acrobatic moves over the tops of skyscrapers. Consensus on the iOS version is that its side-scrolling adaptation is actually superior to the console version, and we agree. The interface is pure touchscreen, using swipes and taps to perform elegant moves through fast-moving, treacherous, but beautiful levels that will have your heart in your mouth the entire time.

4. NBA Hotshot

Some people believe that the best iOS games are the ones you can get into quickly and get out of just as quickly. The glorious simplicity of NBA Hotshot isn’t just a testament to this maxim; it perfects it. Very simply: You swipe the ball to throw shots at the hoop. You can either set yourself a limit with number of missed shots or until a timer runs out. Doesn’t sound like much? Trust Freeverse. They know how to take a simple concept and make it own your soul. Just try to quit after one round. I dare you.

3. We Doodle

Ngmoco’s never ending stream of “We do this” and “We do that” titles yielded a particularly sweet little gem in We Doodle… a sort of online Pictionary that is surprisingly fun. Get a word and draw it with your finger on the touchscreen (with surprising ease, thanks to the slick interface) and others take their guesses. Meet up with random players on the Plus+ network to have impromptu games or do a turn-based “I go, you go” style exchange with folks on your friend lists. The Free To Play business model means you can get it for free, play it for free, and beef it up with colored pens, backdrops and other doo-dads if you’re up for spending a bit of cash.

2. Infinity Blade

When Epic Games showed off Epic Citadel (a free-of-charge tech demo for iOS released earlier this year), it was pretty exciting: Gorgeous, smooth 3D environments which are unmatched in the iOS game realm. But what of the game? Epic made good on Citadel’s promise by turning that eye candy into a simple yet nuanced iOS game that pits you against a never-ending parade of foes who want to bust your skull in half. Parry, dodge, block and strike with a surprisingly well-designed interface (no virtual d-pads, thank God) and collect treasure to level up and take on the next foe. You’ll be surprised at how Infinity Blade is more than just a pretty face.

1. Plants vs Zombies (iPhone and HD)

What makes a great game? Some people say balanced gameplay, some say great artwork. Some say numerous and varied game modes, others say achievements, and yet others think it’s a sense of humor. Popcap’s Plants vs Zombies is one of the few games out there that has it all and more. Defend your lawn against encroaching zombies in a variation on the Tower Defense theme. As if that weren’t enough, PvZ feels like a game that was simply made for iOS; its touchscreen interface outclasses mouse point-and-click by light years. If you had to go to a desert island with only one iOS game, this would be the one.

Think we missed something? Let us know in the comments.

Looking for games 6 through 10? You can get it here.

Camera+, the photo app developed by tap tap tap in collaboration with Lisa Bettany, is now available in the App Store at version 2.

The app was pulled, if you’ll recall, because the developers left in a way to enable the volume switch as a photo shutter button, which is against the rules. It seems that’s all behind them now, as the app is back and enhanced with new features:

• sliders to adjust effect amount
• improved launch time
• export of geolocation and metadata when saving to the Camera Roll
• new user interface
• improved borders and effects
• timer and burst shooting modes
• white balance lock
• improved stabilizer mode
• new scene modes
• in-app purchasing of new effects packs

Camera+ as a photo app offers may other features to make picture taking easier, including a separate touch points for focus and exposure, an onscreen grid, and a digital image stabilizer.

Camera+ is available in the iTunes App Store for a special re-launch price of $0.99 for a limited time, and is a free upgrade for existing users.