iPhone 4S Moves One Step Closer to Mainland China

Apple’s latest smartphone, the iPhone 4S, is arguably the year’s hottest handset. Not only did the company sell 4 million 4S’ during the device’s opening weekend, but the smartphone is still flying off of retailer’s shelves a month later.
The handset is so popular, in fact, that carriers are having trouble keeping up with consumer demand — Apple can’t make them quick enough. And the phone hasn’t even found its way into mainland China yet, but it’s getting closer…
Sina, a Chinese tech publication, is reporting that the iPhone 4S has just been approved by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. MIIT is a state agency in China that oversees the regulation and development of the internet and wireless networks.
This is kind of a big deal because it means that Apple’s new smartphone is getting closer to launching in mainland China. Although the handset is already available in Hong Kong, major carriers like China Unicom and China Mobile have yet to offer the device.
The word on the street is that China Mobile and Apple haven’t finalized a deal just yet, but China Unicom is said to be chomping at the bit to carry the phone. The two carriers combine for nearly a billion subscribers, so needless to say they’re very important.
After a disappointing third quarter, Apple told investors that they expect $37 billion dollars in revenue in Q4. Getting the iPhone 4S going in China would certainly help with that, but it would also add to the handset’s growing supply problems.
[M.I.C. Gadget]
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Amazon’s Kindle Fire All Set to be 2nd Only to the iPad

The iPad may have had it all its own way since its initial inception last year, but if a new survey is to be believed, then it may finally have some real competition in the form of Amazon’s Kindle Fire.
New data from ChangeWave Research points to Amazon’s first entry into the tablet market being the second most popular tablet on the market, behind, you guessed it, Apple’s iPad.
A November survey of 3,043 people yielded the insight which shows that 22% of those questioned planned on picking up the 7? Kindle Fire, with 65% aiming to pick up an iPad. Third choice, the Samsung Galaxy Tab, could only garner 4% of the interest…

As is always the case with these kinds of surveys, people saying they plan to buy a particular product doesn’t always translate into actual purchases. The fact that an iPad competitor is now potentially getting itself into the double figures territory for first time ever may signal a change in the marketplace.
Amazon’s Kindle Fire is the first low-cost tablet to reach US shores from a brand that customers will flock to, and Amazon is undoubtedly a brand that people trust. With all of Amazon’s accompanying stores and online services, the Kindle Fire potentially offers the closest experience to Apple’s ecosystem that we’ve seen yet.
At $200, the Kindle Fire also provides a solution for the more frugal amongst us, costing less than half that of Apple’s iPad.

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Apple Airs New iPad 2 “Love” Commercial

Last night, Apple aired a new TV ad for its iPad 2. The commercial is fairly similar to previous adverts, showing people from all walks of life using the tablet in different ways.
The ads are actually an accurate reflection of how the slate has made its way into several industries. We’ve seen the iPad replace everything from voters ballads to NFL play books…

Apple has dominated the tablet market with its iPad line since it unveiled the original last year. It’ll be interesting to see if it can maintain that dominance in the face of stiff competition like the cheaper Kindle Fire.
What do you think of Apple’s new “Love” TV ad?
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Google’s Search App for the iPad Gets a Facelift

Google has had a rough time with its iOS software over the past few weeks. The search company released a [disappointing] native Gmail app for the iPhone earlier this month, but immediately pulled it due to problems with push notifications.
The app was resurrected in the App Store recently, but many of its problems were not resolved. Today, however, Google has redeemed itself a bit with an update to its Search application, as it brings several welcome changes to the iPad version…
The new UI in the iPad edition of Google’s Search app is actually a joy to use. The main screen features a large search field, and four grey icons. One takes you to your search history, one enables a voice search, one launches Google Goggles, and the other opens the app menu.
The search function works well, as expected, and uses Google Instant to show you live results as you type. The Voice Search feature also works well. The app menu can either mean the world to you, or nothing to you, depending on how many of Google’s services you use.

Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, and other Google apps are built right into Google Search. You can login to and use the services without needing to switch out of the application — very handy. Google+, Google Maps, and Google Offers are also integrated.
The bottom line is that the new Google Search update makes a good app great, especially for iPad users. If you want to check it out for yourself, you can download the new software [for the iPad] from the App Store.
What do you think of the new Google Search for iPad?
[9to5Mac]
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Banners Appear on Apple.com for Black Friday Sales

If you haven’t quite finished your holiday shopping yet, you’ll be happy to know that Apple has announced that it will be hosting a Black Friday sale this week. “Black Friday” is the Friday after Thanksgiving and is generally the busiest shopping day of the year.
On this day, retailers offer [substantial] discounts on their products to attract customers into their stores. Apple participated in the festivities last year by knocking up to $100 off its Macs and iOS devices, and it looks like its gearing up for another sale this year…
Banners have started appearing on Apple’s online store in the UK, Italy and other countries (at the time of this writing, they haven’t appeared on the US site) indicating that the Mac-makers will be holding some kind of sale this Friday.
The text on the banners reads:

“The special one-day Apple shopping event. This Friday, November 25. Mark your calendar now, and come back to the Apple Online Store for the special one-day event. You’ll discover amazing iPad, iPod and Mac gifts for everyone on your list.”

As aforementioned, Apple’s Black Friday sales are generally lackluster in comparison with other retailers. But given that Apple is shooting for its biggest quarter ever, there’s a small chance that we could see it offer some decent discounts online this Friday.
[MacStories]
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90% of the Money Spent on Mobile Apps Comes From the App Store

With the iPad coming under scrutiny as the competition begins its latest assault on Apple’s tablet dominance, new figures suggest that the iPad may still be the best bet for those looking to make a living out of making tablet-based apps.
Piper Jaffray Senior Research Analyst Gene Munster has written in a research note released Monday that Apple’s iPad still accounts for between 85% and 90% of the money spent on mobile applications.
The news comes as Android moves into a new era thanks to the release of Ice Cream Sandwich, the release which Google hopes will combine the tablet and smartphone software in a way similar to the iPad and iPhone. Munster’s claims show that Android may still be suffering from an old issue: Android users just don’t seem to buy apps as much as iOS users…
Munster goes on to say that he believes around 1.3% of Android apps downloaded are of the paid-for variety, while that statistic jumps to a comparatively massive 14% for the iPad and iPhone’s App Store.
With buyers seemingly unwilling to spend money on their Android applications, developers of the Google persuasion are left with an ad-based model as their only source of income. Whether that will be enough to pull the very best iOS developers over to Android remains to be seen, but it isn’t quite happening just yet.
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Hidden Code in iOS 5 Contains Interesting iPad 3 References

They’ve done it again. The folks over at 9to5Mac have uncovered some interesting information hidden deep within the code of iOS 5. The site has exposed several secret features in the new software by code-digging over the last few months — including Siri.
Its recent find pertains to an unreleased Apple product, codenamed J2. The site believes that this could actually be the next version of the iPad. Not only that, but it thinks that this could be the Retina display-equipped tablet everyone has been talking about…
Apparently, the J2 codename matches up with a recent report from Digitimes, which also names a J2 device as Apple’s next tablet.

“Since Apple demands that the new iPad model will need to be thinner than the iPad 2, while raising the machine’s screen resolution to 2048 by 1536, upstream component makers have been working aggressively to adjust the device’s LED and panel module designs to satisfy these demands, but the work has affected the launch schedule fo the new tablet PC. Apple is currently giving two tablet PC projects codenamed J1 and J2 to its upstream partners for development. The sources revealed that the major differences of the new tablet PCs compared to the previous model are their size, specifications and technologies.”

9to5Mac believes that J1 and J2 are similar tablets, with the latter being the 3G model. It also thinks that Apple is already testing the device, as it has been referenced in iOS 5 since the early betas.
We’ve heard rumors that Apple was working on an iPad with a Retina-like quality screen before, but this is the first time we’ve seen any kind of evidence. However, it still sounds like Apple and its supply partners are struggling to produce the hi-res displays.
Due to manufacturing limitations, it’s possible that Apple could have to choose between an iPad with a Retina display that is slightly thicker than its predecessor, or a thinner tablet with a lower screen resolution. Which one would you rather see next year?
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