Now that iPhone is available on MTN, it means that we are starting to see more iPhones on our shores, and it is no longer only available on a very expensive contract. The last few updates to these devices have been pretty great, and iPad users got a huge update in the form of iOS 4.2.

Apple has just released the beta version of its next update, iOS 4.3. Even with 4.2, there are certain things that Android seems to do better these days – and one of them has been “hotspot” functionality. This allows your phone to create a Wifi network to which other devices can connect to. Up to now iPhone allowed “tethering” only, but soon you will be able to share your wifi connection to those devices that only have a wifi connection available. Good examples of this is the Wifi-only iPad models, or if you got one of the new Wifi-only Kindles. To be honest, I will have decide whether I should keep on paying for 3G on my iPad…

Here are some other great features to expect:

• New Multitouch gestures: You can swipe four fingers left and right in order to switch between running applications. Almost like a “Alt+Tab” for iPad. You can also pinch with five fingers to bring up the home screen.
• Lots of evidence of Facetime arriving on the next iPad. Its littered all over the code. Looks like the iPad screen resolution would stay the same in iPad 2G, so forget about a “retina” displays on the iPad.
• iPad users can now choose whether the switch on the side of the device is for orientation-lock or muting the device.
• Airplay is being shifted to other applications as well, provided they play videos in very specific H.264 and AAC standards.

Other things include small interface and usability changes, and bug fixes. However, being in Beta, there are probably a few new bugs. One thing which is not so great is that this beta release has not been made available for iPhone 3G and iPod Touch 2g, which might indicate that these devices might not get any more updates. Which is not totally unexpected – the iPhone 3G is not a happy camper with iOS4, but 4.2 seems te run a bit better.

And if you are someone who wants to get an iPad because of all these updates coming soon, I would say hang on a while. While the iPad is not a waste of money, the 2nd generation iPad should be out within the next 3 months.

Now that CES is over and done, we can finally relax after the flood of tablet related news. Or can we? Clearly many companies believe that tablets are the future of computing, or at least the untapped goldmine that only one company seems to have captured until now. With the iPad selling at a phenomenal rate (Steve Jobs told Walt Mossberg they currently sell an iPad every 3 seconds, and still cannot keep up), other manufacturers have been showcasing what they have been working on for the past year, and Google showed off Honeycomb, the next release of its Android Mobile operating system.

What is interesting is how people have shifted their attention from netbooks (which were very hot sellers up until now) to tablets – and the statistics show that tablets are negatively affecting netbook sales at present. What makes this amazing is that the netbook market is highly commoditized with just about every PC manufacturer out there having a few netbook models in their PC range. On the other hand, tablets are currently dominated by one company and one device. Pretty amazing.

Charl came across this pretty great infographic showing the “Tablet Takeover”, and it perfectly shows what is going on, and why other manufacturers want to get in on this market. The question still remains however – are they maybe too late? The iPad has a year’s headstart, and iPad 2 is on the way. If the iPad 2 is a more evolutionary device with not a lot of OS changes, I reckon Apple might have some trouble on their hands. Android 3.0 looks like a much more full fledged operating system than iOS, but thats just my opinion. On the other hand, perhaps the very thing that makes iPad so popular is the simplicity of the operating system…

Anyway – here is the infographic (I recommend you download it and view it in full screen – it is pretty detailed)

The iOS Appstore has been one of the greatest success stories in software distribution, and it revolutionized the way we used our mobile phones. It was universally “borrowed” for other platforms as well, some with greater success than others. The advantages to using an Appstore are plenty – users can instantly see the most popular applications available for a platform, and a central location to download apps from is great. Instant installs and easy payment methods just improve it even further.

Apple will now be bringing this functionality to Macs as well, and first to those running OSX 10.6 (Snow Leopard). The idea is simple – instead of going to the edge of the internet to find apps, you will find a curated store which can easily be searched to find the software you want. Software will be licensed per user, and if you have multiple Macs, the software can be put on all your machines with a single purchase, as long as the machines are linked to a user account (I suspect there will be a limit to this though).

Your account will be connected to your Apple ID, which is in turn connected to your credit card. So you do not have to go type in your payment details into some site you do not trust. One aspect of the Appstore I find exciting as well – centralized updates. Just like on iPhone, you can click one button to instantly update all the apps at once. No more checking for updates within every app or using obscure utilities to the job.

Apple is currently opening the Mac Appstore to developers, and a lot of the same rules as the iOS Appstore exists here. Developers will get 70% of their asking price, but then Apple would host the app for them, and charge no additional fees. For certain software houses 70% might be too little (do you think Adobe would give away 30% of the asking price of CS5?), whereas for smaller developers this might be a great deal (think some small company making a utility who does not want to spend extra on hosting fees). Once again Apple would curate all apps, so if the app is of limited use, or does not function as advertised, it will not arrive on the Appstore. Some people do not like this, but the quality of apps inside the appstore would hopefully then be of a higher quality…

Despite the authorization process by Apple, the potential advantages for new computer users will be great. Its clear to see that iOS and Mac are moving closer and closer together…

Last week on Memeburn Matthew Buckland wrote a piece entitled “5 reasons why the iPad is a fat waste of money“, and it was subsequently passed around on Twitter. Now, the iPad is not perfect, granted. In the past I mentioned my top 10 grievances with the iPad (which are mostly now fixed with the new software update), but not once would I say it is a waste of money. In fact, I believe it is a very valuable platform, and (excuse the cliche) a good indication of what the future of computing is all about.

Here is my opinion on Matthew’s reasons for stating that the iPad is waste of money:

1) It’s too expensive. OK, the iPad starts at $500 for the entry level Wifi one, and $630 for the 3G one. True, first generation devices are typically more expensive, and yes the iPad 2G will most probably be cheaper, granted. But even at $500 the iPad is still coming in at a lower price than similiar devices which are only being released 8 months after the iPad. Samsung’s Galaxy Tab is coming in at a higher price, despite having a smaller screen and plastic construction. And this is not a Android vs iOS thing – in terms of cost and build quality, the iPad looks like pretty good value in my opinion. (If you want an Android user’s opinion of the iPad, read our review) And do not try to compare it with Netbooks either, the iPad is pretty cutting edge technology compared to the highly commoditized netbook market.

2) No Front Camera. Have to agree with that one (even though I do not miss it at all). I think they need to do it.. not that they want to do it. The Facetime camera would be perceived ”nice to have” feature, and would probably be part of the next iPad. Apple’s renewed focus on video calling should be a good indication of that. Rear camera – yes, I would like one to quickly take pictures of slides in meetings. Even though lifting up the iPad to take a photo will probably look a little silly.

3) No USB port: This was one of the big criticisms of the iPad when it was announced, and somehow most of those critics have calmed down. Why? Because we are living in the cloud era – our media does not have to be stored on our devices. Case in point – I use Dropbox on my devices, and just like that I have access to all my files.

In terms of video – just use ZumoCast. You can instantly watch videos that are stored on your network, or alternatively, quickly select the video ou want to take with. Also – if you forget to bring with a file, you can always download it from anywhere, provided you have an internet connection connected to your PC. That seems pretty easy to me.

If you want to transfer files for safekeeping on your iPad, you can use iTunes and select files to do that. iTunes is pretty common these days, so just carry around the dock connector cable. Those are pretty common these days as well.

4) Not enough capacity. True, 16GB might not be enough if you are a big media gatherer, but it is most certainly enough for people who will use the iPad as a simple internet device. But 32GB and 64GB is plenty for people who have a lot of music and photos. If you are someone who has a very large photo library I would think that 64GB is awful lot of storage for it – remember, iTunes compresses (or “optimizes”) images to a little more than 1MB per photo before storing them in the iPad photo library as well.

5) Flash support. Yes, this is one of those areas that some people feel the iPad has fallen short. But be honest – how often do you access Flash-only websites? I do not like to have Flash on my mobile devices – in fact I also switch it off on my laptop as well using a Firefox plugin. Why? Because 90% of Flash usage on the web is for intrusive, animated ads. I can do without those, thanks. And online video is already quickly changing to H.264 format.

Like Matthew mentions – yes, there will be a new iPad around April next year, if Apple does stick with its yearly upgrade cycle. I would like to see if Apple would indeed drop the prices somewhat, and also if they will keep the current iPad next year  as a lower cost version (like they currently do with the iPhone 3GS). If I do have to choose a reason not to get an iPad, it would be this – if you are someone who would look longingly at iPad 2G once it arrives, maybe you should wait. But by no means is it a waste of money.

Remember we told you that Find My iPhone was a free surprise with the iOS 4.2 update (you can read the full iOS 4.2 rundown here)? It is currently free for all iPhone 4, iPad and latest iPod Touch users, but with some effort, anybody can activate in older iPhones as well. We will show you how.

If you have an iPhone 4, iPad, or latest iPod Touch:

1. Go to Settings
2. Mail, Contact, Calendars
3. Add Account
4. MobileMe
5. Type in your iTunes account details (the same account you use to buy apps)
6. After Agreeing to the Terms of Conditions and verifying, simply slide the Find my iPhone setting to “On”.

Now if you actually want to track your phone, go and download the Find my iPhone app from another iDevice, enter your Apple ID, and just like that you can track your device, make it ring, make it display a message or even remotely wipe it once you have given up hope of finding it.

You can also track your phone from any internet connected PC – fire up your browser, go to http://me.com, and log in with your Apple ID. It works remarkably well.

Now Apple gave this functionality to only the latest devices in its lineup, so how do activate it for your older iPhone? Pretty easy – get a friend’s iPhone 4, activate the Find My iPhone just as explained above, and then enter your own Apple ID. Once activated, you can go to your own older iPhone and simply enter then again use the above registration procedure. If its activated on your older iPhone, the iPhone 4 can still be switched back to another Find My iPhone account. Just remove the older MobileMe account, and start from scratch.

(Just one thing – any iPhone 4 can only register only 3 Apple ID’s, so make sure with your friend if its OK…)

Enjoy!

Related: If you want to be able download Apps, Music, Movies, TV Series etc from the US iTunes store, even if you live in SA, here is how to do it.

(Update: if you want to know how to set this up on your Apple device, simply read our Find my iPhone how-to guide)

So apparently iOS 4.2.1 is rolling out today, and it is finally giving iPad users all that multitasking goodness that us iPhone users have had for a while. Folders are also welcome on the iPad, as well as a few small changes (you can read the full iOS 4.2 rundown here). But one part thats really nice is that Apple is finally offering “Find My iPhone” as a free feature now.

In the past you had to pay $99 a year to get Mobile Me, which was the only way to get hold of Find My iPhone. Find my iPhone is really handy, and was a major reason why I got MobileMe in the past. Users can track any device that is registered to their username, so you add quite a few devices to the same user account. You can actually see the device on a map with remarkable accuracy, provided its outdoors and within cellular data range.

If you cannot seem to find your phone inside your house, you can also ask the phone to make a noise, even if it is in silent mode. Good for those times you lose your phone in between the couch cushions! Finally you can also lock the phone, let the phone display a message (e.g. Please phone xxx xxx xxxx, reward if found!), and then finally once you give up hope, remotely wipe the device.

Find my iPhone will be available for iPhone 4, iPad and the latest iPod Touch (and to older iPhones with some effort), and will be rolling out tonight as part of iOS 4.2.1, which will go live at around 7 o’clock. I would recommend you download iTunes 10.1 beforehand (you need it). Expect the servers to be hammered tonight, it will be a very popular update!

For more info on 4.2, read our review, or go look at Apple’s info page.

Soon iPads will become much more useful – iOS 4.2, which is being released this month will include multitasking, folders and a number of new features. Today Apple released the gold master release, which means that iOS4.2 is just about done. In the past a GM version of iOS was typically released a week before the official version became available…

The iPad’s biggest criticism up to now has been the lack of multitasking, and that the iPad seems to have to play catchup with the iPhone up to now, which has been running on iOS4 for a few months already. I went through my biggest iPad issues a few weeks ago.

Initial reports says that the great new Airplay feature is working in this latest release, which enables you to stream your video to close-by AppleTV. Its as easy as starting the video on the iPad – then click the Airplay icon, then select the device you want to push the video to. This will work with videos stored on the iPad, as well as the Youtube app.

Airprint is also ready – which will enable you to print to any shared printer on your network. Apps will need to be aware of Airprint – but it will be a very much demanded feature, so expect support from your favourite applications soon enough. The printer would have to shared at present, but HP is currently developing printers that will support iOS.

Small changes are everywhere – the pop up multitasking tray would also get the brightness and volume controls. The orientation switch on the iPad is changing to a mute switch as well, with the orientation lock switch shifting to the taskbar.

Off course all of these features will also be made available to iPhone4 and iPhone 3GS. If you want a more detailed rundown of all the new iOS 4.2 features, I recommend you go look at iLounge‘s brilliant post.