iPad Atlas

Imagination Technologies, a graphics-chip designer that supplies the graphics tech in the iPad and iPhone, offers some tantalizing insights into what could power the next iPad.

CNET spoke Wednesday with Tony King-Smith, vice president of marketing at Imagination Technologies, about what's coming down the pike. While he would not confirm what's inside future iPads, it's a safe bet that Apple -- which has a 9.5 percent stake in the U.K. company -- will continue to tap its technology.

Q: Imagination chips are inside the newest iPad and iPhone, correct? King-Smith: The [graphics] core currently in … Read more

QR codes haven't exactly set the world on fire, yet most people know what they are, and most phones can scan them, either out of the box or with a third-party app.

The Findables Case takes that idea to heart by emblazoning a unique QR code on each hard-plastic shell, the idea being to use that code to share information about yourself or help recover your lost phone.

In other words, your case can now take the place of your business card, while at the same time offering good Samaritans a means of contacting you (that doesn't involve poring through your address book).

When someone scans the code, they'll see one of three profiles (chosen by you via a companion app or the Findables Web site): Business, Social, or Lost.… Read more

An iPad Mini Retina looks possible this year. But will it duplicate the first Mini's success and dimensions?

Production of the display for the Retina Mini should start by July with a product likely in the third calendar quarter, DisplaySearch analyst Richard Shim recently told CNET. (That said, delays are not unheard of in the annals of new product schedules.)

Which raises some questions about the Retina Mini -- no matter what quarter it makes its debut.

At only 7.9 inches, are the demands of an insanely pixel-dense 2,048x1,536 display compatible with the design of today'… Read more

It was barely two weeks ago that Lego Batman: DC Super Heroes made a wonderful iOS debut, and suddenly there's another Lego-themed game in the App Store: Lego Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles. Woot!

The bad news: This isn't a port of any of the classic Lego Star Wars games that have appeared on consoles over the years. Instead, it's something new and original, a real-time strategy/action blend set in the "Clone Wars" universe and aimed at younger players. (Arguably, all the Lego games have a similar audience, but most of them are fun … Read more

The race is on to build a better e-mail client for iOS, with apps like Incredimail and Mailbox all vying to deliver a better experience than Apple's own Mail.

The latest entrant: Evomail, which promises a better Gmail experience than Google's own Gmail app. But does it deliver?

Yes and no. Evomail closely resembles the latest Gmail app, which is to say it's attractive and smartly designed, with a simple expanding-panel layout that's admirably easy to navigate.

Evomail brings a couple of neat tricks to the table, including color-coded labels, a gesture-based reply option (just swipe … Read more

Code is king at Google, and a Google-made software module for iOS released on Tuesday allows you to go from third-party app to Chrome for iOS and back again with a simple tap.

The module, called OpenInChromeController class with x-callback, is the second end-run around core Apple restrictions in as many days. On Monday, Google updated Gmail for iOS with the ability to open links from Gmail in Google's other iOS apps. Once developers incorporate the new software module, it will open links from the app in Google Chrome, provided that the user has Chrome for iOS installed.

Both … Read more

It wasn't very long ago that for a developer to make a successful weather app, it had to have the most information possible. This meant developers would compete to pack tons of graphs, maps, diagrams, written forecasts -- and even forums where people could talk about weather -- into busy, confusing apps that tried to cover it all. But what you ended up with were long, listlike menus when the only information you probably wanted was what the weather might be like for the weekend.

Don't get me wrong, the feature-packed weather apps have their place, particularly when … Read more

Production of the display for Retina iPad Mini should start in the coming months, boasting one of the highest tablet resolutions to date, NPD DisplaySearch told CNET Monday.

"We should see the start of mass production of the panels in June or July," said Richard Shim, an analyst at NPD DisplaySearch.

LG Display will be one of the major manufacturers of the display, he said, adding that Samsung is not a supplier for the Mini.

"Samsung is currently not in the iPad Mini and they won't be in the next generation. LGD is becoming a much … Read more

Last week, Apple announced that its App Store is approaching 50 billion app downloads. In celebration of the milestone, Apple is giving away a $10,000 App Store gift card to the lucky person who initiates the 50 billionth download.

As part of the celebration, Apple listed the top 25 apps -- both free and paid -- for iPhone and iPad. None of the apps listed is particularly surprising (especially to someone who studies the most popular list every day), but one thing that did strike me is that a lot of the all-time best sellers still sit near the … Read more