Hasta La Gadget!

If you’re following along with the iPad mini and its imminent release, there are a collection of details you can readily assume to be true – even without Apple revealing the release date, the models, and the specifications in each device. This release will be primarily a filing of a market hole: where there’s no tablet in the market other than the iPad to placate the masses addicted to the idea that Apple’s solution is best, there will soon be two – or three, depending on how you look at the situation. If you want an iPad that costs less than $399 and you want it soon, you’ll only have to wait until November 2nd – if several sources saying the same thing are accurate.

With rumors abound that 24 models of new iPad-like devices have appeared in the Apple SKU listing in the sky, it would seem that there are two kinds of iPad mini on the way. You’ve got two different color combinations (black and white) up front, three different internal storage capacities (16GB, 32GB, and 64GB), and the option to have wi-fi-only or a mobile data connection. There being four different distinct code combinations (P101, 3, 5, or 7), we might be seeing four different color combinations instead of just two.

So that’s black, white, red, and green, six iPad minis in each category, three for wi-fi, three for mobile-data-equipped, with each of the three being 16, 32, or 64GB capacities. How does that sound to you? Another possibility is a fourth internal capacity size: 8GB.

With the iPad mini appearing to be looming with an October 23rd event date now on the books, it’s not out of the question that each of these units could be coming out on the 2nd of November. With a tablet made with the specifications that’ve been tipped many times over, we can assume we’ll have a device with a 7.85-inch display, a screen resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels and the same ratio as each iPad on the market today, and a bezel that’s significantly smaller than the current model.

These devices will appear larger than the Amazon Kindle Fire HD (the 7-inch version, at least), and will be larger than the Google Nexus 7 as well. With a price point somewhere between $200 and $300 based on estimations done with component costs, we’ll likely be seeing a competitor for the 7-inch tablet market that doesn’t beat their cost, but certainly does beat their desirability for the Apple-loyal fans in the world today. Expect a device that’s not going to rock the tablet world to its knees like the original iPad did, but one that fills the gap for Apple users who want to work with a slightly smaller device on a regular basis.

You’ll get the full lowdown when we hit up the main event on the 23rd – expect live updates from us right here on SlashGear from morning until night – you shall know all!

iPad mini release date and details splatter is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
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If you’re an maniacal villain, please stop reading now. Apparently pacemaker transmitters can be reverse-engineered to deliver deadly shocks. More »

The explosion of touchscreen devices have not made the mouse obsolete. But what if you could use your finger as a mouse on any surface? That’s the point of Magic Finger, a concept device made by a team from Autodesk Research and the University of Toronto that can sense touch, motion and texture.

The Magic Finger is basically a micro RGB camera, an LED and an optical mouse sensor cobbled together. Talk about ripping off the mouse. Contrary to its name, the magic here seems to be in the software. Aside from letting you point and click on any surface, the camera can also recognize different textures, which the researchers use in a variety of ways, such as reading data, launching applications and controlling other devices. Watch the dorky demo in the video below:

I’m not too sold on the Magic Finger for a couple of reasons. First of all the Magic Finger is intrusive; the finger or hand wearing the device will be of limited use because you don’t want to damage the Magic Finger. Second, I don’t think the data matrix or the Morse code transfer is practical. That said, the shortcuts and its use as a mouse could be very practical. Perhaps those two functions could be integrated in a less intrusive device like Google Glass or Digits.

[via Autodesk Research via MAKE]

GoPro just announced their newest action camera, the GoPro Hero 3, which comes with some excellent new improvements—it’s smaller, lighter and faster. Plus, they’ve thrown in (wonderfully useless) 4k recording at 15 frames per second. It’s a nice piece of kit, but what does this mean for deal hunters? You can now get the Go Pro Hero2—which Brent Rose called possibly “the best sports cam ever“—for a significant discount. More »

Cricket’s parent company, Leap Wireless, announced earlier last week its intentions to start blanketing more customers with LTE service, though it didn’t say which markets would be the ones to get the same experience as folks in Tucson, Arizona. Today, however, Cricket’s claiming that subscribers in the Las Vegas area can finally get a taste of savory Long Term Evolution, making this the second market where the newfangled network’s now present. To go along with this, Cricket has said a revamped, LTE-ready version of that $150 Huawei Boltz modem will be available online and at retail stores around Sin City (and Tucson) for customers eager to try out the new service. No word on when the carrier plans to bring its “true 4G” network elsewhere, but, according to Leap CEO Doug Hutcheson, the idea is to have “approximately 21 million covered POPs by the end of the year.”

[Image credit: Cricket Wireless Premier Dealer]

Continue reading Cricket brings 4G LTE to Las Vegas, outs new Huawei Boltz modem in celebration

Filed under: Cellphones, Misc, Wireless, Mobile

Cricket brings 4G LTE to Las Vegas, outs new Huawei Boltz modem in celebration originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Oct 2012 14:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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