Retailers Aren’t Ready For iPad Shopping Trend

New data from Compuware finds conclusive proof of the popularity of iPads as a shopping device. The firm took a look at the website traffic for 70 U.S. retailers’ delivered to an iPhone or iPad over the start of the holiday shopping season (November 14th through Cyber Monday). On Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, specifically, there were peaks in traffic with a high of 6,475,354 iPad pageviews on Black Friday alone, based on a statistical sample of more than 140 million pageviews.
To be clear, because this data was pulled from a sampling of tests, it does not indicate the totalnumber of pageviews delivered to these 70 retailers’ sites. But because the sample is large enough to be statistically significant (140 million pageviews), it does show the impact of iPad traffic on e-commerce websites. In addition, the second chart (below) shows how the sites’ response times are impacted when the influx of iPad users hit.

Now for the bad news. Despite the increases in tablet traffic, many retailers are not prepared to accommodate these new mobile shoppers. Compuware also prepared a chart showing the top retailers’ sites, and whether or not they offered an iPad-optimized website. Surprisingly, none of them do, not even Apple.com. What’s worse, Apple is also among the retailers who don’t offer a native iPad application. (The iPhone Apple Store app runs on the iPad, of course, but it’s not a universal app). For shame!
Apple is not alone though. Around half of the 30 top retailers Compuware looked didn’t have an iPad application, either.
Want to see what a missed opportunity looks like? Check out the chart below:

Source:http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/05/retailers-arent-ready-for-ipad-shopping-trend/

iFaith v1.4 allows downgrade to iOS 5.0, jailbreaker's dream come true

In the game of Apple versus the jailbreakers, Cupertino threw the community a curveball with iOS 5's newly restricted downgrade system which blocks devices from restoring to old 5.x firmware. With the help of his noble steed iFaith (a custom Windows tool), hacker iH8sn0w has found a way around the firmware block, making it possible for dumped iOS 5 signature hash blobs (SHSH blobs) to permit unsigned restores. Why all the fuss about downgrading to prohibited firmware? Prominent iOS hackers MuscleNerd and pod2g have stated that the first untethered jailbreak will arrive on iOS 5.0 and, as such, may require iFaith's downgrade process to facilitate user restores. While the jailbreak is still under construction, iFaith should assure disheartened users in the community that all is not lost. Want to learn about blobs, blobs, and more blobs? Continue past the break to view iH8sn0w's informative video.

Source:http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/05/ifaith-v1-4-allows-downgrade-to-ios-5-0-jailbreakers-dream-com/

Crapgadget: iStation woos Apple romantics with the glory of the late '70s, fails

Some people buy tablets for their portability and convenience. Others get sucked into the pitfalls of gadget lust, snatching up the latest tech. But for the dedicated fanboy, there's a whole world ofunnecessary kitsch just waiting to relieve'em of those hard-earned greenbacks. Enter M.I.C.'s iStation: an iOS dock in sorta, kinda Apple I / II clothing (their claim, not ours) that's ready and willing to cash in on your tech industry nostalgia. Alright, so this $85 setup won't exactly ape those Jobs / Woz lovechildren of the late '70s, but it does pack stereo speakers, a subwoofer, Bluetooth keyboard, USB port, microSD card slot and a 3.5mm headphone jack into its wood-paneling. Feeling spendthrifty? Good, then you can fork over the dough at the source below. Or, if you still need convincing, peep the video after the break and soak up the heavenly choral music. 

Source:http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/01/crapgadget-istation-woos-apple-romantics-with-the-glory-of-the/

iOS 5.1 beta seeded to developers (Update: iPhone 5, new iPad and Apple TV revealed?)

The latest update to iOS 5 is drawing near, folks, as the beta of version 5.1 was just released on Apple's developer site. You can grab the build if you're in possession of an iPhone 3GS or later, either iPad or the third and fourth generations of the iPod Touch. We're hoping to see some fixes to the battery life issues on the iPhone 4S, as the company has acknowledged the concern and promised a fix in the near future. Stay tuned as we learn more about the new refresh.

Update: A little digging has already revealed a new product ID contained in the update, referencing an "iPad 2,4". There's some speculation that this could be a reference to a tablet with a modem from Sprint built in, but even if that's the case, who knows if it would actually be released prior to the next generation iPad.

Update 2: More leaks! Now 9to5Mac is reporting on a new device, codenamed "J33", which it believes refers to a new model of the Apple TV box. Hit up the link for a few more well-reasoned rumors, we'll let you know if any more details surface.

Update 3: Ok, now we're starting to think someone in Cupertino is just screwing with us. One more time, sleuths have uncovered a reference to the elusive iPhone 5 (aka "iPhone 5,1") in the code, as shown above. Check the third link for more details from 9to5Mac, and prepare for a whole new round of next gen iPhone rumors incoming any minute now.

Source:http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/28/ios-5-1-beta-seeded-to-developers/

iOS 5.1 beta seeded to developers (Update: iPhone 5, new iPad and Apple TV revealed?)

The latest update to iOS 5 is drawing near, folks, as the beta of version 5.1 was just released on Apple's developer site. You can grab the build if you're in possession of an iPhone 3GS or later, either iPad or the third and fourth generations of the iPod Touch. We're hoping to see some fixes to the battery life issues on the iPhone 4S, as the company has acknowledged the concern and promised a fix in the near future. Stay tuned as we learn more about the new refresh.

Update: A little digging has already revealed a new product ID contained in the update, referencing an "iPad 2,4". There's some speculation that this could be a reference to a tablet with a modem from Sprint built in, but even if that's the case, who knows if it would actually be released prior to the next generation iPad.

Update 2: More leaks! Now 9to5Mac is reporting on a new device, codenamed "J33", which it believes refers to a new model of the Apple TV box. Hit up the link for a few more well-reasoned rumors, we'll let you know if any more details surface.

Update 3: Ok, now we're starting to think someone in Cupertino is just screwing with us. One more time, sleuths have uncovered a reference to the elusive iPhone 5 (aka "iPhone 5,1") in the code, as shown above. Check the third link for more details from 9to5Mac, and prepare for a whole new round of next gen iPhone rumors incoming any minute now.

Source:http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/28/ios-5-1-beta-seeded-to-developers/

eBay Sold Four iPad 2s Per Minute This Cyber Monday Morning

Online commerce giant eBay this morning ran a Cyber Monday deal for a white Apple iPad 2 WiFi 16GB, selling the popular tablet for $449 or exactly $50 off the MSRP (+ free shipping). Turns out a lot of people figured that was a great deal.
And they were right, too. After all, Apple only discounted the iPad 2 16GB with $41 on Black Friday, so you would indeed have been better off waiting until today and buying it on eBay … if you could get your hands on it quickly enough.
An eBay rep tells me that the iPad 2 was on sale for a mere two hours before it was sold out. At that price, people picked up four iPad 2 tablets per minute (or about 480 in total) during that time.
There were other deals on eBay that were worth breaking out your wallet for. The company sold a Microsoft Xbox 360 250GB Kinect Bundle for $259.99 – all 1,500 of those on sale were gone in 20 minutes (or 75 bundles sold per minute).
eBay also sold a HP 3105m laptop for $199.99, and sold nearly three units per minute to sell out the notebook PC in just over three hours.
It also knocked a whopping 58 percent off a RIM BlackBerry PlayBook 32GB ($249), but it hasn’t sold out yet today – which I guess says a lot more about the tablet than it does about eBay
Source:http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/28/ebay-sold-four-ipads-2-per-minute-this-cyber-monday-morning/