iPad

Steve Jobs, has died, Apple said. Jobs was 56.

Steve Jobs, the mastermind behind Apple’s iPhone, iPad, iPod, iMac and iTunes, has died, Apple said. Jobs was 56. Jobs died “peacefully,” surrounded by family members, his family said in a statement. Neither Jobs’ family nor Apple revealed where he died or from what cause, though in recent years Jobs had fought a form of pancreatic cancer and had a liver transplant. Steve Jobs was the Chairman of the Board of Apple, which he co-founded in 1976. Apple is leading the consumer technology world with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, its family of iPod media players and iTunes media store, and its Mac computers and iLife and iWork application suites. Apple recently introduced iPad 2 which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

Steve also co-founded and was the CEO of Pixar Animation Studios, which created some of the most successful and beloved animated films of all time including Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars and Ratatouille. Pixar merged with The Walt Disney Company in 2006 and Steve now serves on Disney’s board of directors.

Steve grew up in the apricot orchards which later became known as Silicon Valley. If you would like to share your thoughts, memories, and condolences, please email rememberingsteve@apple.com

Sparkling Apps launches Picture Surprise for iPhone, iPod and iPad

Sparkling Apps has launched Picture Surprise, a new way of sharing photos and messages. With Picture Surprise, you can select a picture or take a photo, add a voice message to it, and ‘hide it’ under a wrapper that you can select. After that, you can send the Picture Surprise to any of your contacts by email. When you receive a Picture Surprise, you will first see the wrapper. Then you can scratch the wrapper away with your finger, and the image itself will appear. After revealing the image, the voice message will be played.

‘This is a wonderful way of sharing experiences’, says Martijn van der Spek, director at Sparkling Apps. ‘It is extremely simple to use, yet flexible and just a lot of fun.’
Picture Surprise combines the element of anticipation while unwrapping a present with the sending of a picture and a voice message. ‘It is an ideal way to liven up the sending of a photo to friends and family. They need to play with the image to make it appear, and they hear the voice of the sender after they do.’ It’s something for all ages, anyone who can send an email can use Picture Surprise.

Picture Surprise is available for any iPhone, iPod or iPad. It requires iOS 4.0 or later. See http://www.picturesurprise.com for more details. It is available in the Apple App store here.

Sparkling Apps focuses on mobile technology and social media that offer unique opportunities and develops applications that cater to these opportunities. For more information, see http://www.sparklingapps.com

Gorillaz to release free album on Christmas Day

Gorillaz to release free album on Christmas Day. Gorillaz have one hell of a Christmas present for you. Their fourth album will be released as a free download on December 25. Undercover previously reported the band were giving the Christmas gift that keeps on giving with an online advent calendar, well now, according to newspaper Perth Now, the behind the final panel will be a full album, recorded on Damon Albarn’s iPad. Jamie Hewlett, of the band, told our source ’On Christmas Eve a video for one of the new songs from the iPad album will be released. Then, on Christmas Day fans get the whole album downloaded to their computer for free as a gift.’