From the fine folks at the Wi-Fi Alliance, in collaboration with the Wireless Gigabit Alliance, comes WiGig, the the awkwardly names but drool worthy new standard that aims to take our cable-free data transfer into the next generation:

At a speed of 7 gigabits per second, WiGig can easily handle the transfer of high-def video. That positions it as a replacement for wired HDMI connections or optical audio cables. [...] The WiGig standard, which runs on the 60 GHz spectrum, could be made compatible with existing devices that support Wi-Fi, but those gadgets wouldn’t see the speed benefits of WiGig.

Apple is seen as a likely candidate to implement the new spec-to-be as they embraced even the draft 802.11n early on in its life cycle.

Those hoping this gives us truly wireless iPhone and iPad sync, and video streaming to our living room TVs, well, we’d love that too but the realities of battery technology probably means there’s still a charger or plug in the equation somewhere…

[LA Times Blog, thanks Steph for the tip!]

Will WiGig make future iPhone, iPad Wi-Fi faster? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

Gowalla for iPad is a social app from some fine folks in Austin, TX that allows you to check-in to locations, see where your friends are checking-in, collect items and complete trips. Gowalla for iPad is available now in the App Store for free [Free- iTunes Link]

Gowalla is the newest entry into the whole “check-in” craze. Why check-in? With Gowalla the main goals are to see where your friends are and to collect items. However, this process is mainly reserved for the iPhone app. The iPad version of Gowalla provides beautiful access to view your activities (where you and your friends have checked-in), see what spots are in your area (spots are places to check-in) and your Passport (a summary of where you have checked in, stamps, pins and items collected.

This app is an excellent companion app to its iPhone cousin. The large screen really gives you great access to view where your friends are in real-time across the world. You can pinch and zoom from your city to the whole world in a breeze. You can learn more about a location or friend by tapping on their name on the map. Spots also dynamically appear when the map is moved to a new location, very slick.

One of the nice advantages of Gowalla compared to its competition is that Gowalla’s main focus is not becoming a Mayor’ but rather on collecting items left behind by other users. When you check-in with Gowalla you have an opportunity to swap an item you have with an item you are checking-in at. If it is a new location, there may not be an item but you can leave an item behind for another user and you then become the founder for that location.

If you are up for a challenge you can complete a Trip in Gowalla. Trips consist of checking into a series of locations in a city. Once complete, you get a trip badge to add to your collection. If you don’t have trips in your city, you can create your own and submit it to Gowalla. Regretfully, trips are not accessible at this time in the iPad app.

Gowalla renders all of this with beautiful icons and graphics that really allows you to enjoy the experience of the application. It is important to remember that this really is not meant to replace the iPhone version of Gowalla, at least in its current state, but to enhance your experience with Gowalla. There is a substantial amount of functionality missing from this application and we look forward to what Gowalla will bring in future versions. Check out the video and pics below!

Pros

• Wonderful artistry
• Get directions to a spot
• Check-in
• View leaderboard
• Save items to your vault
• Awesome companion app to the iPhone version

Cons

• Trips are not viewable
• Cannot edit Spots
• Cannot create trips

Gowalla for iPad – App Review is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

TiPb contacted Rogers to get some clarification about that $20 “add to existing data plan” option that was listed on Apple.com today as part of the Canadian iPhone pre-order launch, and Rogers was kind enough to respond:

We’ve confirmed that we have two iPad data plans available for our customers. Both the 250 MB for $15 and 5 GB for $35 include free unlimited access to all Rogers WiFi Hot Spots.

At this time, we do not have a sharing plan to announce. The reference to a sharing plan on the Apple website was an error and is being removed.

Please visit RedBoard for more information on iPad data plans

On the RedBoard, Rogers further notes that their Fido subsidiary will not be supporting the iPad at launch.

Rogers: No $20 iPad “sharing” plan. No Fido. is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

How do you place calls on your iPhone? To be frank, I’m usually so busy doing other things I sometimes forget my iPhone is in fact a phone — until it rings and yanks me out of whatever game or social network or website I’m engaged with. But when I need to reach someone else, that ability to place calls is suddenly the most important aspect of the device again. That’s why we’re curious how you use it.

• Do you stick with Favorites? Currently you can double click the home button to bring up your call favorites then tap to call. It’s fast-ish and a fairly traditional way to call on a phone.
• Is Recents the real Favorites? Steve Jobs joked about this when he introduced the iPhone, but ironically for many of us the people who we call, and call us, the most are the ones we want to talk to and they’re always only a couple taps away via the Phone app’s Recents tab.
• Old school type out the number? There’s a dialing pad for those who still manage to remember phone numbers on their own, and some people still like to actually tap out those numbers in full. If you’re a speedy dialer, just tap Phone, then the dial pad, then the digits. Hey, it works for one of our writers!
• Are you all about Spotlight? Switch the double-click preference or just swipe left from the main home screen and Spotlight pops up. Start typing a few letters of the name, or a couple letters of the first, space, a couple letters of the last name and your contact pops up, tap that to get a list of their numbers and tap a number to call. Not super fast but if you have a huge number of contacts to manage, it can be super efficient. You can even do a combo – tap the Phone app or Contacts app to bring up the contacts list, scroll to the top to get a dedicated contact search on.
• VoiceControl for the iPhone 3GS? It’s only available on the latest model, but if that’s the one you have you can hold down on the home button, or tap the call button on supported Bluetooth headsets, to bring up the iPhone’s VoiceControl. Then you just say “Call”, the person’s name, and the number you want (mobile, home, work, etc.). Mostly, it gets it right. Mostly.
• Is there an App Store app for that? The iPhone lets third party App Store apps plug in to the Contacts database so there are a number of apps that offer different ways to organize and approach your contacts, from social circles to business or friend groups. Some are smart enough to narrow down who you want to call more often or in what context. If you have a favorite app for calling, let us know.
• Google Voice or VoIP the only option? Is your iPhone’s Phone app for decoration only, with all your calls being placed via the Google Voice web app or a VoIP app like Skype?
• Data detectors — sometimes. The iPhone helpfully turns any phone numbers it finds in emails, notes, calendars, etc. into links that can start a call. For business people especially, just tapping the phone number to follow up with a phone call can be a time saver.

Let us know how you use your iPhone as an actual-to-Alexander-Graham-Bell phone, and if you have any special tips or tricks, let us know!

How do you place calls on your iPhone? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

Once again Steve Jobs is setting new standards when it comes to CEO-level customer service, this time addressing printing on the iPad.

The question:

Why no printing on the iPad? What gives:

Steve Jobs’ reply:

It will come.

Sent from my iPhone

So there you have it, a very specific answer with no time commitment about when the iPad will get printing, functionality essential to many productivity-based use cases.

[MacRumors]

Steve Jobs: printing will come to the iPad is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

Orange was first out the gate with iPad 3G data plans in the UK, and now O2 and Vodafone are finally showing their hands as well. The plans certainly look more flexible than AT&T’s US plans, though the lack of real unlimited data is apparent. No ability to add the iPad to an existing account like Rogers in Canada either.

Orange UK iPad data plans

• 5p (per MB)
• £2 200MB/day
• £7.50 1GB/7 days
• £15 3G/month
• £25 10GB/month

The last two plans also include access to Orange’s Wi-Fi hotspots.

O2 iPad data plans

• £2 500MB/day
• £10 1GB/30 days
• £15 3GB/30 days

All plans are recurring and include access to O2’s Wi-Fi hotspots.

Vodafone iPad data plans

• £10.00 250MB per month
• £25.00 5GB per month

[Apple Online Store UK, O2, thanks for the details, Chris!]

If you’re picking up an iPad Wi-Fi + 3G in the UK, let us know which carrier and what plan you’re picking up with it. And what you think of the rates.

Orange, O2, Vodafone UK iPad 3G data plans is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

Apple’s online store in Canada is now open for iPad pre-orders and along with them are Rogers data plans for both new and existing users.

• $15 for 250MB
• $35 for 5GB
• $20 to add iPad to an existing data plan

There’s also an option to pre-order your Rogers MicoSIM for $0.20 (limit 1 per customer). We’ve got to hand it to Rogers, however, while the base plans are a tiny bit more expensive and/or limited than AT&T’s US plans, the ability to add $20 to an existing Rogers data plan is fantastic and combined with the recent extension on free tethering for iPhone users makes us think Canadians are finally out of the data dark ages.

UPDATE: Rogers replied to TiPb saying the $20 was an error and is being removed.

Apple has links to Rogers for more info, though they’re currently being redirected to a request form. There’s also a link for additional carriers which doesn’t list any, not even Rogers subsidiary Fido, though its hard to imagine Bell and Telus, along with new upstarts like Wind sitting Apple out entirely.

If you’re on Rogers, let us know what you’re going for.

[Apple Online Store Canada]

Updated: Rogers Canada iPad 3G data plans detailed is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

Best of Smartphone Experts, 9 May 2010 is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

As the clock hits 12:00am local time, Apple is bringing international Apple Online Stores in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK back up with their iPad pre-orders ready to rock.

If yours hasn’t updated yet and you just can’t wait, keep hitting refresh on the hour every hour and its bound to show up eventually.

And when you do get your order on, drop a comment and tell us which country and what model you get, and whether its for delivery or if you’re reserving to go pick it up at an Apple Retail Store near you (provided that’s an option in your area).

Then sit back, relax, and if you’re anything like me tear your hair out waiting for it show up on May 28.

International iPad pre-orders start now for Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland, and UK! is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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