iPad Camera Connection Kit adds USB headset, keyboard, camera support

The Apple iPad doesn’t have a webcam, so you can’t use it to take photos or videos or engage in video chats. But Apple does offer a $29 adapter that lets you import photos and videos from a digital camera or SD card. And it turns out that’s not all the Camera Connection Kit is good for.

The kit began shipping recently, and users are reporting that you can use the USB attachment to plug in a USB keyboard or a USB audio headset. The keyboard support isn’t a big surprise, since Apple also offers a keyboard dock for the iPad. But this is the first time I’ve heard anything about support for USB audio peripherals.

TidBITS reports that you can use a headset to make VoIP calls over Skype, and that the audio quality is excellent. You can also use a Bluetooth headset with the iPad.

While the connection kit will help the iPad recognize some peripherals, it doesn’t offer full USB support. External hard drives aren’t recognized. And even with the SD card adapter, you can only import photos and videos to the iPad. You can’t copy files from the iPad to the SD card.

iPad international launch pushed back to the end of May

Apple is bearing (some relatively) bad news today as it just announced that the planned iPad international release has been pushed back by a month and is now scheduled for late May. According to the Cupertino-based company, this move is required due to high demand in the US, the only market in which the iPad is currently selling.

In order to not stretch its supply lines too far, Apple basically figured that the world outside the US can get the short end of the stick wait some more for the shiny tablet. International prices for the iPad are set to be (officially) revealed on May 10, day on which Apple will start taking online orders from customers around the world.

Apple Store Down, New MacBooks incoming

Apple fans have waited a long time for the MacBook line of notebooks to get some needed upgrades. Rumors were swirling last week that the update to the new 2010 Intel processor line was set for today. The Apple Store is down right now and reports are that the long awaited new MacBooks are coming.

AppleInsider reports that someone close to the new machines has stated that each new model will ship with 4GB of RAM and the 13-inch machine will have 2.4GHz and 2.66GHz CPU options. The 15-inch MacBooks are claimed to have 2.4GHz, 2.55GHz, and 2.66GHz CPUs options.

The 17-inch MacBook reportedly gets a 2.53GHz CPU. The line will also get new screen options including Glossy, high res glossy, and high-resolution glossy with anti-glare. Some of the models will also reportedly have a 512GB SSD option.

Apple approves Opera Mini 5 on the iPhone

There’s nothing much to say here other than: WTH? Opera Mini 5 on the iPhone? Hell as frozen, pigs are flying and….Apple is obviously doing this a a PR move after all the negative press its getting with tha new coding restrictions in the OS 4 SDK and the Adobe fistfight. Here’s Opera’s press release:

Approved

Opera Mini App approved for the App Store
Oslo, Norway – April 13, 2010

Opera today announced its popular mobile browser, Opera Mini has been approved for iPhone and iPod touch on the App Store. Opera Mini will be available as a free download within 24 hours, depending on market.
Opera Mini, with more than 50 million users worldwide, enables fast mobile Web browsing by compressing data by up to 90 percent before sending content to the device, resulting in significantly improved page loading. Users of the app will notice an uptake in speed, especially on slower networks such as the 2G Edge network. Surfing the Web with the Opera Mini App on iPhone and iPod touch will also help users save money because of its data compression capabilities. This will hold especially true while the user is incurring roaming charges.

“We are delighted to offer iPhone and iPod touch users a great browsing experience with the Opera Mini App,” said Lars Boilesen, CEO, Opera Software. “This app is another step toward Opera’s goal of bringing the Web to more people in more places.”

The Opera Mini App is available for free from the App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at http://www.itunes.com/appstore/.

Apple to hold iPhone 4.0 preview Thursday

Apple today surprised the media by sending out a teaser for an iPhone 4.0 event at its Cupertino campus on Thursday. The event notice says little but offers a “peek into the feature of iPhone OS” with a large “4” casting a shadow, clearly pointing to the next major revision. Although Apple has said nothing about 4.0, most expect it to center on Expose-style multitasking that involves a double-tap of the home button. It may also bring a generalized file system that lets users save and open documents from outside of a particular app and should roll in many of the iPhone 3.2 developments seen with the iPad, such as a home screen with a custom background and icons that rotate regardless of context.

Apple posts up iPad Guided Tours… lots of Guided Tours

iPad pre-orders are just starting to ship out and Best Buy is getting prepped, but Apple’s just posted up a whole slew of its Guided Tours to hold you over until April 3. Sadly, we’re not seeing any entries for “How Do You Type While Standing Up” or “Why Do I Need A $30 Dongle To Get A USB Port On This Thing,” but the entries for Mail, Safari, iBooks, and the rest do include some revealing new information — and it certainly seems that tap-and-hold will be a big part of the UI paradigm. We’re still watching them all — let us know if you see anything interesting in comments.

Update: Okay, here’s the new stuff we’ve seen so far:

• iBooks has an integrated search feature, a built-in brightness control, and a dictionary that can pull up any word just by tapping on it. The same dictionary is in Pages, too — we’re assuming it’s a system-wide feature available to any app, just like on Mac OS X. We’ve been told in the past that it supports user dictionaries and spellcheck, but we’ll see what actually ends up shipping.
• There’s a quick mention of connecting the iPad to your home stereo in the iPod video, but no mention of streaming to the Airport Express or an Apple TV. There’s a big missed opportunity.
• Typing with one hand on the portrait keyboard in Pages looks just as silly as you’d expect.
• Numbers has a special formula keyboard.
• Tap and hold is everywhere, and unlike the iPhone, the UI has “windows,” which are detailed info panes that float above the main app interface. The iWork apps also all have a “menu bar” area in the upper right that contain several options. You can see how interacting with an iPad will be familiar but still quite different than using an iPhone — depending on the apps, of course.

Apple job posting hints at LTE for a future iPhone?

What could possibly come after the iPhone 3GS? The iPhone 3GSS, of course! Joking aside, Apple‘s dropped the 4G bomb on one of its latest job postings while seeking for a “Cellular Technology Software Manager” with “expert knowledge of… WCDMA/UMTS, HSPA, HSPA+, LTE etc.” That’s right, LTE. Now, we’re not saying this means a 4G-powered iPhone is next in line in the annual product cycle, nor does this listing confirm Apple’s favored 4G radio, but given AT&T’s interest in LTE plus its prolonged love affair with Cupertino, it’s pretty hard not to consider LTE as a realistic option on future portables, be it iPhone or even iPad. Frankly, it won’t be the end of the world if a 4G iPhone fails to turn up this summer — most of us here would rather have something with improved battery life, real multitasking, and 720p camera over those insane data speeds. No, really.

Opera Mini for iPhone submitted to Apple for approval (video)

Can you feel the tension? The wait is on to see if Apple will loosen its grip and approve the fast (very fast) Opera Mini browser for iPhone app we checked out at MWC. Remember, Opera Mini relies on Opera’s servers to render and compress pages before sending them back to the iPhone for display. As such, there’s no code interpretation being done by the software — a definite no no for approval. So the only thing that could cause Apple to reject the app would be a perceived duplication of core iPhone functionality. Whatever happens, this is going to be good.

Apple iPhone sells contract free at Apple.com

Apple announced this week that they are ready and set to begin selling their iPhone series of devices at full price (meaning sans the carrier subsidies) directly from their stores.

The iPhone 3GS will hit the shelves at $499 for the 8GB edition, 16GB for $599, and 32GB for $699.

This announcement was of course quickly circulated amongst blogs and media outlets, and to a great amount of embarrassment all around was misinterpreted as the sale of unlocked, sim-free devices, but this is of course not the case.

Instead, Apple have clarified that Apple stores will be selling their devices at full price with no contracts – however the devices are still locked to AT&T.

Apple no longer requiring proof of AT&T contract for iPhone purchase

reports that Apple has changed the requirements for buying an off-contract iPhone in the USA. US buyers have been able to purchase off-contract iPhones at “list price” for quite some time, but they still had to present proof of an AT&T plan at the time of purchase. That requirement has been removed.

For twenty brief, shining minutes, this sounded like the iPhone was being offered unlocked by Apple, which would have been truly huge news — if you wanted to use the iPhone on another GSM carrier (meaning T-Mobile, in the States), you could have done it without jumping through any extra hoops. According to both 9to5Mac and Engadget, however, it appears those initial reports were incorrect: the iPhone is still locked to AT&T, though according to one source (supposedly an Apple retail employee), “it takes like 2 minutes to unlock them.”

iPhones have been available unlocked in other countries for some time now, but the US is definitely the iPhone’s biggest market. Having the iPhone available for sale unlocked, officially, via Apple, would have been a huge deal. But that day, unfortunately, doesn’t seem to have arrived quite yet.