Google Sync, the nifty ActiveSync-powered service that lets iPhone and iPod touch users get instant, “push” access to their Gmail, Google Contacts, and Google Calendar seems to be suffering a bit lately. According to Google:

As many of you have noticed, Google Sync is having some difficulties due to an extended problem with one of our datacenters. This has been going on over the weekend, but it's got significantly worse today, so I'm just letting everyone know what's happening.

None of your information has been lost, and you will still be able to get your data through Sync, but you will find that Push isn't working very well. This is because we're batching up fetch requests to be able to cope with the traffic we're seeing while this problem is ongoing. As soon as we've got the problem fixed, push should seamlessly start working properly again.

We're working flat out to get this fixed, but unfortunately we don't have an ETA at the moment. We're doing everything we can to improve the situation in the meantime, and I'll post here again when I have more news.

Finally, I want to apologise to everyone – we're feeling your pain too, and we will get this sorted out as soon as we can.

If you’re having problems with your Google Sync, let us know!

[DailyMobile.se via WMExperts]

Google Sync Down? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

TiPb is giving away an iPad!

It’s officially March now and Apple still hasn’t announced the exact day we’ll be able to get our hands on their magical new device, the iPad! So, to help us countdown to the big day, we’re running a little give-away. Actually, an iPad sized give-away! Every week from now until the iPad is officially released, the TiPb Store is going to give away awesome iPhone accessories, and every time you enter the give away of the week, you get another entry into our big iPad give away as well. And don’t worry, we’ll clearly tag every qualifying weekly give-away with “iPad Give-Away Qualifier” so you can be extra certain you’re all nice and entered.

If that’s too complicated, let us simplify — enter as many TiPb give aways as you can and you’ll have the best chance possible at the iPad. Clear?

The first qualifying give-away will be posted tomorrow, but you may just want to head on over and subscribe to our TiPb YouTube channel now, if you know what we mean…

Full iPad give-away details after the break!

Them iPad Give-Away Details

• Grand prize is one (1) $499 US Apple Store gift certificate towards purchase of a 16GB Wi-Fi iPad.
• Only one entry per weekly give away.
• Contest starts now and ends… when the iPad is released!
• Not open to Smartphone Experts employees or contractors

TiPb Countdown to iPad Give-Away! is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

For those of us with fond memories of the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn comes Rayman 2. Yes, one of our favorite Mario 64 clones has made it to the iPhone [$6.99 - iTunes link].

Rayman has to escape the evil clutches of pirates that have taken over your world. Rayman plays in a 3D environment running, jumping and shooting energy to take down foes and restore peace to the world.

From the little time I have played with the title, the graphics and frame-rate are great, as well as the music. Controls are fine but could benefit from a sliding directional pad as I often found my thumb moving out of control range.  However, I am getting used to it. If you are looking for some old-school 3D action platforming, check out Rayman 2 and let us know what you think!

Rayman 2: The Great Escape now in App Store! is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

UPDATE 2: Apple confirms the late March ship-stimate to Wired [via @arsinfiniteloop].

UPDATE 1: Seth Weintraub at 9to5Mac puts up a thoughtful reminder about the nature of analyst notes:

If [analysts] do produce something publicly, that means one of two things: (1) Their clients have had the information for weeks and have had time to invest accordingly. (2)They are trying to artificially change the price of Apple’s stock because they have previously told their clients to invest based on the good/bad news that they are about to relay.

ORIGINAL: Digital Daily is reporting that, according to Canaccord Adams analyst Peter Misek, Apple might be facing manufacturing problems that will lead to constrained supplies of the iPad, or even a delay in its launch:

"We have … heard that the upcoming iPad launch may be somewhat limited as a manufacturing bottleneck has impacted production of Apple's newest device. An unspecified production problem at the iPad's manufacturer, Hon Hai Precision, will likely limit the launch region to the US and the number of units available to roughly 300K in the month of March, far lower than the company's initial estimate of 1,000K units. The delay in production ramp will likely impact Apple's April unit estimate of 800K as well. It is also possible that, given the limited number of units available in March, the launch will be delayed for a month."

Chief Operating Officer, Tim Cook runs Apple’s supply chain with more precision than an aluminum unibody chassis, however, so would a problem this large really be allowed to happen? DIgital Daily claims it’s a “big if” as to whether or not Misek is correct. Best case he isn’t. Worst case, despite Apple’s still current claim of the iPad shipping in late March, we may only see it in April.

Does this affect your odds of buying one either way?

UPDATED: Manufacturing Problems to Lead to Constrained iPad Supplies, Launch Delay? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

The interwebs are once again lit up with speculation about the iPad’s new Apple A4 chipset, this time because Ars Technica is saying that instead of the next-generation multicore ARM Cortex A9 unveiled at CES 2010, the iPad is using a variation of the last-generation AR Cortex A8 that powers the 2009 iPhone 3GS.

This is based on 1) Apple being secretive about the chipset and not bragging like other companies would 2) “multiple sources who are certain for different reasons that this is indeed the case.”

First things first. Apple being secretive proves nothing. Apple is secretive about everything, and they’ve said before they don’t discuss chipsets because they don’t think it matters to consumer electronics users (and, hey, Apple is secretive). They didn’t talk at all about the iPhone 3GS chipset — all they said is it was twice as fast. We only know that it uses an ARM Cortex A8 because people bought it and tore it apart to find out.

As to the multiple sources, if one of the “different reasons” is direct knowledge of the chipset, then they could be exactly right. If not, then… eh, maybe, but we’re back to waiting for the iPad to ship and people to tear it down.

In the interest of being complete, however, Ars speculates that if the iPad is indeed running the Cortex A8, this might be what’s making it so fast:

it turns out that the the A4 is a 1GHz custom SoC with a single Cortex A8 core and a PowerVR SGX GPU. The fact that A4 uses a single A8 core hasn’t been made public, but I’ve heard from multiple sources who are certain for different reasons that this is indeed the case. (I wish I could be more specific, but I can’t.)

In all, the A4 is quite comparable to the other Cortex A8-based SoCs that are coming onto the market, except that the A4 has even less hardware. The iPad doesn’t have much in the way of I/O, so the A4 itself can do away with the I/O that it doesn’t need. In contrast, the typical Cortex A8-based SoC has more I/O hardware than a mobile phone can use, because you never know what customers will need which interface types.

Ars, like Venture Beat, also thinks Apple’s PA Semi team may not be involved in the iPad because they’re working on a variant for the 4th generation iPhone. Either way, they believe software will ultimately be more important than hardware — which is something Apple’s been saying for a while now.

So, do we care if the iPad has an ARM Cortex A8 rather than a Cortex A9? Do we want Apple pushing the hardware, or are we happy with them prioritizing software?

Regarding Apple A4 Using iPhone 3GS Cortex A8 Processor is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Live from Macworld 2010, Leanna and Rene talk with Calvin Gaisford and Boyd Timothy of Appigo about Todo [$9.99 - iTunes link] for the iPhone, and their plans for the iPad.

Watch along and let us know what you think!

UPDATE: The awesome folks at Appigo were kind enough to pass along ten (10) Todo promo codes for our TiPb readers. If you want one, just jump over to the TiPb App Forums and let us know what features you’d like to see in the next version of Todo — for iPhone or iPad!

Note: Promo Codes can only be redeemed in the US App Store (Apple’s rule, not ours). They also expire, so if you get one, redeem it ASAP! Contest starts now and ends Wednesday, March 3 at 12pm PST. Good luck!

TiPb Apps 3.1 + Give Away! — Appigo Todo for iPhone (Macworld 2010) is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog