I firmly believe that the reason that the iPad has found success is a direct result of its similarities to the Etch-a-Sketch, the world’s first tablet computer. Well, it probably wasn’t technically a computer, but it did bring the ability to draw squares, rectangles and staircases to the masses. Now, Headcase is selling an official Etch-a-Sketch iPad case which allows you to feel as though you are Etch-a-Sketching when you are really only Doodle Jumping.

Is it worth $39? Yes. That is, if you have $39 to spend, if you ever used an Etch-a-Sketch, and you asked your wife first.

Via Dvice.com

The special announcement that many users have been pondering about since last week has finally been revealed: the Parallels Mobile app for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch is here!

From today’s press release:

“The Parallels Mobile app, a client and a service built upon the MyParallels services platform, is complementary with either edition of Parallels Desktop 6 and can be downloaded from the iTunes App Store after 12:00 p.m. PT today.

With Parallels’ new mobile app and MyParallels service, people can freely perform tasks that have been unavailable or limiting to iPad users such as printing, viewing Flash-based websites and full use of productivity applications like Outlook.”

EDIT: But of course, how could we forget the iTunes store link?

The last couple of days rumors have been floating across the internet that the iPad will be receiving a front-facing camera and FaceTime capabilities. Although it may initially seem to go contrary to Apple’s usual product cycle, it actually makes a lot of sense. If I were Steve Jobs, I would do the same thing. (Note: I am not Steve Jobs, although I do love jeans and New Balance kicks.)

Putting a quality front-facing camera in a device is expensive. When coming out with a new product, you have to mitigate as many risks as you can. Although the iPad has been a smash hit, there was no guarantee that it would be. I mean, it could have been the next Apple TV. If Apple were to include a front-facing camera for a feature that could have been a flop (FaceTime) in a product that potentially could flop (iPad), it could have been risky. So what Apple needed to do is test both first, then bring them together based on their individual success. Launching it in the iPhone made perfect sense since there is no way that the iPhone would have been fallen on its face(time), antenna issues or no.

Now that they have both the iPad and FaceTime have been successful, why not bring them together in one tasty, gooey video-chatting tablet? What’s more, why not bring them together for the Holiday selling season when scores of other tablets (some which include front-facing cameras) would be attempting to poach the iPad’s sales? To me, thinking as Steve Jobs, it makes a lot of sense. We’ll see what the actual Steve Jobs decides to do.

Via Geek.com

At the Apple Press Conference last week Steve Jobs mentioned that
every day, 230,000 iPhones are being activated. I don’t know about
you, but I don’t really understand how many iPhones that really is.  I
can’t hear that number and conjure up an image in my mind of 230,000
phones. This problem exists in any situation involving very large
numbers. From space travel (it is almost 26 trillion miles to Alpha
Centauri) to population of the United States (312 million), it is very
difficult to truly understand numbers like these because we have no
frame of reference.

We can relate to numbers like “fifteen” because we’ve had that many
people in a meeting before. We can relate to four, because that’s how
many times we’ve had to fix the leaky sink. We even have a pretty good
understanding of the number one hundred, because that’s about how many
M&M’s are in a bag. But we have never seen 230,000 people, leaky
sinks, or M&Ms. To help you understand how many iPhones are being
activated every day, here are a few examples to help you develop a
frame of reference:

…If 230,000 gallons of water were in a cube shaped tank, each side
would be almost 10 meters long.

…If 230,000 people wanted to go to a Dallas Cowboys game, it would
take a three stadiums to seat all of them.

…If you wanted to travel 230,000 miles, you’d have to make more than 9
trips around the Earth. But you wouldn’t even make it once around
Jupiter.

…If a person was a mile tall, it would take almost 230,000 people,
standing head to toe, to reach the moon.

…If 48 Mt. Everest’s were stacked on top of each other it would only
be a little taller than 230,000 6ft tall men and women standing
head-to-toe.

…If you go back 230,000 days, a feudal lord would just be waking up to
start the work week on a Monday in December of 1380.

Today the makers of the popular Mac virtualization software Parallels announced the release of the latest addition to their product line, Parallels Desktop 6, and according to numerous sources, it just plain rocks.

Many may be familiar with previous versions of Parallels Desktop software which allow users to run multiple operating systems on a Mac without having to reboot. The newest version adds a host of impressive features which have never before been seen in the virtualization world. Here’s a few of the new features as seen on the Parallels website:

-A 64-bit engine allowing users to utilize all of their Mac’s power

-5.1 surround sound capabilities (a personal favorite)

-Improved network, hard drive and Transporter performance

-Enhanced 3D graphics that are 40% better than previous versions

-The ability to launch Windows 2x faster than any other solution

-Smoother import of VMware, Virtual PC virtual machines and Boot Camp partitions

To get a hold of PD6 you may have to wait until the official release date, Tuesday, September 14th. However, for all faithful Parallels users (those who are already running a version of Parallels Desktop) you can upgrade to Parallels Desktop 6 as of today!

Here is the pricing layout: Parallels Desktop 6 will cost $79.99 for the standard version, and $39.99 for the student version. Parallels Desktop 5 owners will be able to upgrade for $49.99 (promotional pricing will be available for prior versions of Parallels Desktop). Those who purchased Parallels Desktop 5 on or after August 15, will be able to upgrade for free.

With this ground-breaking new version, Parallels solidifies itself yet again as the undeniable leader in virtualization software. Dare we say this new version is… unparalleled?

Here are some of the latest reviews: PCWorld, BetaNews, DigitalTrends, Tuaw

[via Parallels]