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iPad's 'Mute' Switch Replaced With Screen Rotation Lock

Very nice last minute change. I was going to add an extra button for this in my game (and I'll probably still add it for iPhone).

As for the guy who sent an email to Steve Jobs and got a reply about this very feature, I don't doubt it. I had a similar experience WAY back during the original Mac OS X beta and was sent gifts, even. Sorry if you don't get a gift. :D

The "mysterious" button question has been answered correctly earlier in the thread at least a couple times: picture slideshow.
 
MacRumors said:
Apple appears to have decided that this issue is important enough on the iPad to dedicate one of the device's few hardware buttons to addressing it. Users wishing to quickly mute their iPads will apparently have to use other methods than a hardware button, such as onscreen controls or holding down the volume rocker switch to reach zero volume.
Click to expand...

Apple should create an audible motion sensor where one can look into the iPad and say... "Sshhhhhhhhhh" for instant mute. Kind of like the 'Clapper" uses sound for lights on, lights off, but Apple can call this the 'Husher'! And not to worry if you can't say it, but spray it, for the iPad glass is easy to clean! :D
 
What are the chances this feature will find itself in the next gen iPhone? I can't count the number of times that I have been laying in bed or on the sofa and the screen rotates when I don't want it to.
 
It seems that perhaps Gruber might've been right -- a one week delay seems about right for something like re-routing a button from Mute to Screen Rotation Lock and proper testing. Even though later he was unsure if he was right about it being software, it seems that now he was most likely on the right track.

It's ironic that when the iPhone was introduced, Steve Jobs said the problem with current smart phones was "in the bottom 40 (%) -- buttons fixed in plastic" and that the great thing about the iPhone was the UI could be changed for every application. Funny that they now needed another physical button but really couldn't due to timing (and probably design reasons: "a Volume rocker and one button... that's IT! Two buttons would look ugly!"

John Gruber said:
My sources suggest that Misek is wrong. It was the software, not the hardware, that took a week or two longer to finish than they’d hoped. Nothing extraordinary or unusual, just the usual hard-to-predict timing of turning software that’s almost ready to ship into software that’s ready to ship. In the grand history of major OS release date slips, one week is pretty tame.
Click to expand...
 
I have the same problem with my iPhone. Lying on the couch or in bed trying to read web pages and they rotate on me. The algorithm is a bit stupid to be honest. It should ONLY rotate if the device is at an angle of 45 degrees to flat or more. If it's less than that, then it should lock the rotate state in as you bring it to the vertical. Thus - holding it in portrait, you could tilt away, rotate 90 degrees, then tilt back up and NOT have it rotate on you.
 
I wish my iPod touch had this. When it's playing music, turning the screen causes it to get confused. Sometimes the orientation switches to portrait but the menu bar remains in landscape. Or sometimes the display shuts off entirely, requiring several button pushes to get it back.
 
Kwill said:
Great. Send him a message about the glare displays because he sure isn't listening to me! ;)
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I'm still disappointed in Apple's obvious neglect in their "Pro" lineup. The Apple Cinema Displays haven't been touched in over 7 years, with the exception of the 24" LEC LCD, which is marketed as a display for portable devices. I can not believe that Apple sells the 30" ACD for close to $2k as a formidable device. Now it's iPhones, iPad's and the occasional MacBook update. Sorry Apple, I love ya, but get back to what made you Apple, OS X and your "Pro" lineup.
 
Software setting in the next iPhone OS update?

"funtion of upper left toggle switch: mute / screen rotation lock"
 
supremedesigner said:
I know this is random but I've noticed that Apple updated their navigation bar by adding "iPad" in there. http://www.apple.com/
Click to expand...

Yeah I noticed that too. Here's a screen grab of the old and new bars. They got rid of the "Downloads" tab and separated "iPod+iTunes". Like a friend says, iTunes graduated! LOL

applenavbar.png
 
.avi on the iPad

is this NEW!! We can Now use .avi


http://www.apple.com/ipad/specs/


TV and video

* Support for 1024 by 768 pixels with Dock Connector to VGA Adapter; 576p and 480p with Apple Component AV Cable; 576i and 480i with Apple Composite AV Cable
* H.264 video up to 720p, 30 frames per second, Main Profile level 3.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280 by 720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format
 
So glad this had been done (giving the user the option to lock the screen)

But tell me one thing (and perhaps this may be a bit too obvious)

Why not (in the options) just have say a list of say 6 things you can set this button to?

Then different users can select different features THEY would fine most useful.

Too obvious?
 
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Asif said:
is this NEW!! We can Now use .avi


http://www.apple.com/ipad/specs/


TV and video

* Support for 1024 by 768 pixels with Dock Connector to VGA Adapter; 576p and 480p with Apple Component AV Cable; 576i and 480i with Apple Composite AV Cable
* H.264 video up to 720p, 30 frames per second, Main Profile level 3.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280 by 720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format
Click to expand...

Only in audio!! Don't get too excited !!
 
Tastannin said:
Yeah I noticed that too. Here's a screen grab of the old and new bars. They got rid of the "Downloads" tab and separated "iPod+iTunes". Like a friend says, iTunes graduated! LOL

applenavbar.png
Click to expand...

Yes, it must have been very recently, because this morning the iPod tab on the Canadian site resulted in an error saying you cannot have access to this page on this server, but now it is working again.:)
 
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