Hasta La Gadget!

Now that Apple has announced that it will hold a special event on Tuesday, just about everyone believes that the show will be used to unveil the iPad Mini. That device, which has been rumored for months, will complement the current iPad and take on the Nexus 7 from Google and Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD.

As with every other Apple announcement, the excitement surrounding Tuesday’s event is palpable. Both Apple lovers and haters are wondering what the company will offer up, and chances are, many of those folks are getting their wallets ready to plunk down cash to preorder whatever it is the iPad Mini becomes.

I recently held impromptu discussions with iPad owners I know to see if they’ll be buying an iPad Mini. I figured that they wouldn’t, since they already own an iPad, but thought it was worth asking. The results of my informal survey were shocking, to say the least.

Nearly every person I spoke to, including those who bought an iPad just months ago, said that they would at least consider buying an iPad Mini. I was shocked. Why in the world would folks who own high-end iPads want to buy a cheaper, low-end iPad?

Surely thinking that it had something to do with my friend list, I surfed the Web to see if others in Apple forums held the same beliefs. Once again, I came across many folks who said that although they already own an iPad, they would likely buy the iPad Mini.

Those responses have led to me a simple question: how many tablets do we really need?

“Some said their kids constantly play with their expensive iPads, so a cheaper mini is worth it”

Admittedly, I understood some of the points the could-be buyers were making. A few respondents said that their children are constantly playing with their expensive iPads, and they’re concerned that more use might render it useless after a bad fall off the counter. To those folks, buying a cheaper iPad Mini for the kids is worth it.

Although that was the best reason I’ve heard, I was willing to accept that some folks like the idea of having a smaller, lighter iPad with them on the road, and then switch over to the bigger model at home. To those users, it’s about convenience. And as someone who enjoys convenience as much as the next guy, I can appreciate that.

But beyond those reasons, I can’t justify buying a smaller, underpowered iPad if I already own the larger model. What is the benefit? The device will ship with iOS 6 and its feature set will likely be sub-par compared to its bigger brother. Plus, it’ll cost at least a few hundred bucks, making the addition to the tablet family awfully pricey.

The way I see it, for the vast majority of customers, having a single iPad is just fine. The device is extremely capable and helps folks get work done without much fuss. To have another iPad handy for no other reason but to have it makes little sense.

It’s an amazing feat when a company can get customers to buy a product they don’t really need. But time and again, Apple has done it. And before long, Apple will be touting preorders or sales to current customers.

My hat’s off to you, Apple. If nothing else, you’re a capitalist inspiration.

How Many Tablets Do You Really Need? is written by Don Reisinger & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Projectors are certainly cool, but they can be a bit on the expensive side. If you’ve been keeping an eye out for a projector that won’t break the bank, you might want to give AAXA Technologies’ new P300 Pico projector a look. Announced today, the P300 projector will only set you back $419 (provided you pre-order it), which isn’t too bad considering that other projectors can cost thousands of bucks.

Of course, with that low price tag, you aren’t going to be getting a lot of top-of-the-line features. The P300 has a native resolution of 1280×800, though it can upscale to 1080p resolution. The whole unit comes it at 5.9” x 3.9” x 1.6” and weighs just 1.3 pounds, so it’s quite portable, and it also features HMDI and USB ports, a microSD slot, composite video input, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

AAXA says that the P300 is capable of 300 peak lumens when its plugged in, but that goes down to 160 lumens when you’re running it off the battery. Speaking of the battery, AAXA says that we can expect 75 minutes of use from a single charge, and the triple RGB LED bulbs (which use Vibrant Color Technology) will last more than 15,000 hours. As you can see from the images in this post, the P300 comes with a color scheme of white and black.

So there you have it. The P300 certainly isn’t the best projector around, but it should get the job done for someone who is looking to pick up a projector on the cheap. You can order one now from AAXA’s website, but they won’t be shipping out to customers until October 26 – one week from today. Has the P300 caught your eye, or will you belooking elsewhere when it comes to purchasing a projector?

AAXA Technologies launches P300 Pico projector is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

With the introduction of the iPhone 5 come the introduction of a slew of cases. Some are totally new, but some simply adapt previous generations to the new iPhone form factor. And while all protect your phone, few actually enhance the phone.

Meet iZZi Gadgets, makers of the Orbit. The Orbit offers a trio of interchangeable lenses – fisheye, wide-angle and telephoto – right on the case. Changing lenses is as easy as twisting the iDial. And the case is no slouch either. The duraluminum dual layer protection offers ample cushion for the inevitable blows. iZZi’s Sure Hand Stabilizing Grip gives it a true camera feel too – easier for holding on. And for the videographer the Orbit comes equipped with three tripod mounts to meet your need. The Orbit costs a little more than the average case, going to show the quality of the lense systems. The iPhone 5 version runs $239.99 and the 4/4S version $229.99 on iZZi Gadgets site. Included for the price are the case, protective sleeve, wrist lanyard and cleaning cloth. And yes, replacement lenses are available at a cost should you need them. If the quality of the case interests you, but you don’t need 3 lenses try the Solo, which saves about $100. Whatever you do don’t let your iPhone’s camera limit your photo and video capabilities. Augment them with the Orbit or Solo.
[ So Much More Than a Case copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Last time we checked in with the 3D printing upstarts over at Formlabs, their Kickstarter was doing splendidly, having over doubled its initial funding target. Well, less than a month later, and with the money still rolling in, the current total stands (at time of writing) at a somewhat impressive $2,182,031 — over 20 times its initial goal. When we heard that the team behind it, along with some all important working printers, rolled into town, how could we resist taking the opportunity to catch up? The venue? London’s 3D print show. Where, amongst all the printed bracelets and figurines, the FORM 1 stood out like a sore thumb. A wonderfully orange, and geometrically formed one at that. We elbowed our way through the permanent four-deep crowd at their booth to take a closer look, and as the show is running for another two days, you can too if you’re in town. Or you could just click past the break for more.

Continue reading Formlabs FORM 1 high-resolution 3D printer spotted in the wild, we go eyes on (video)

Filed under: Misc

Formlabs FORM 1 high-resolution 3D printer spotted in the wild, we go eyes on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Oct 2012 15:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’ve worked with a non-profit organization before, then you undoubtedly know what a funding goal thermometer is. It’s essentially a giant thermometer drawn onto a poster board and colored in with red marker whenever a non-profit gets a donation. Today, YouTube added something similar to that to some of its videos.

Through the site’s Non-profit Program, YouTube has added a new feature called Campaigns, which allows non-profits to create campaigns in order to achieve goals like increasing views or subscribers. With this new feature, they can track their progress with a new completion bar that shows how many views a video has gotten — similar to a giant thermometer.

Multiple videos can be added to a single campaign, and these videos will feature an overlay that shows the completion bar, as well as a custom message that encourages viewers to share the video, or even donate and contribute time or money for whatever campaign a non-profit might be running. The completion bar will also be displayed in the non-profit’s YouTube channel.

YouTube says they have more than 18,000 non-profit organizations in their Non-profit Program and that the site is “always looking for ways to help nonprofits turn video views into greater awareness, petitions signed, laws changed, dollars raised, and lives saved.” Since a lot of users hate any kind of pop-ups or annotations on YouTube videos, hopefully the non-profit overlay will at least get a little bit of respect.

YouTube launches Campaigns, a “digital thermometer” for non-profits is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.