Hasta La Gadget!

A couple of weeks ago, an analyst predicted that Rockstar’s upcoming Grand Theft Auto 5 will be dropping come March 2013. Well thanks to what appears to be leaked promotional items for the game, it looks like that March 2013 timeframe could be right on the money, or at least close. The promotional material (pictured) above is thanks to Polish website, gta-five.pl, who managed to get their hands on the photos. As you  can see, the poster reads “pre-order now” followed by “Spring 2013”, which we are taking to mean a possible release date. We have seen many retailers hedge their bets on when the game will be released, along with a slew of analysts who offered up various dates, but so far these leaked promotional materials seem to be the most legit piece of evidence we’ve seen to date. However since there is no official word from Rockstar yet, we suggest you not read too much into this for now and take it with a grain of salt.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Rockstar unveils first official Grand Theft Auto 5 artwork, Rockstar launches official Grand Theft Auto 5 Facebook page,

Apple’s iPad mini shipping times have slipped to a minimum of two weeks across the board, including for Wi-Fi only versions, which were the only ones initially set for an earlier, November 2 delivery. The white version actually sold out fastest, with pre-order ship times dropping to two weeks just 20 minutes or so after pre-orders began Friday morning at 12 AM PT/3 AM ET.

How does that compare with previous product launches? Well, the initial stock of iPhone 5s sold out in just about an hour, but pre-orders of the 3rd generation iPad with Retina Display released in March took a couple of days to sell out completely. Apple began taking pre-orders the day it unveiled the  ”new iPad” on March 7, and they were out of initial stock by March 9. In other words, the iPad mini seems to be on pace with Apple’s tablet sales standards so far, though we won’t know about how much stock was available at launch for at least a little while yet.

On Thursday’s conference call discussing Apple’s quarterly earnings, CEO Tim Cook came back again and again to the challenges of iPad mini manufacturing, and how that affected gross margins. That might also indicate that we’ll see supply constraints early on, with demand outpacing supply (nothing new for an Apple product launch, of course). But regardless of initial shipping volumes, the iPad mini selling out initial supplies over a weekend provides some early evidence that some critics’ claims of Apple pricing itself out of market with the $329 iPad mini are likely unfounded.

As for why the white mini was so quick to sell out, judging by how long it took the black and slate version to get there, it looks like Apple could have a much more limited supply of the white version. It’ll be interesting to see in what ratios the different versions hit stores, and whether perhaps there are supply or manufacturing challenges around the white model.

If you own an iPad, then the company AU Optronics might be one familiar to you as they are one of the suppliers for Apple’s iPads’ display. Well recently the company has announced a 4.46” HD display with 317ppi and a 1mm border surrounding it, giving the impression that the display is larger than it really is. This is possible thanks to the company’s proprietary super narrow border technology and low-temperature poly-silicon method. As for the quality of the display, it uses AMOLED, IGZO and AHVA technologies. At the same time AU Optronics has also revealed a 10” IGZO display with a rather impressive resolution of 2560×1600 and a border of 1.5mm, which could lead to some pretty thin devices. We’re not sure who will be picking up AU Optronics’ displays, but perhaps we could be seeing them used in next year’s iPad.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: AU Optronics rumored to supply Apple with 7.85″ displays for the “iPad mini”, Century unveils LCD-8000DA auxiliary display,

Back in April we mentioned that word surfaced that designer Philippe Starck was working on a project for Apple. The fact that the famous designer was working on a project by Apple was quickly denied by Starck himself who admitted that he was working on a project involving Steve Jobs’ private yacht. The yacht has been under construction by a Dutch company known for custom yachts called Feadship.

The private yacht is now apparently complete and has been spied for the first time in the Dutch city of Aalsmeer. The gigantic boat certainly looks like something Steve Jobs would have designed with a minimalist look, lots of glass, and very clean lines. The yacht has reportedly been christened the Venus.

It rather looks like a floating Apple Store with lots of glass and shiny metal. The yacht appears to be quite massive dwarfing the people around it looking more like a cruise ship than a personal yacht. The Jobs family was said to be on hand for the unveiling of the massive ship measuring 80 m long.

Naturally, the command deck of the ship where the controls are housed uses iMac computers to show virtual gauges. There are seven of the 27-inch iMac computers in the wheelhouse. I’ve seen some impressive yachts over the years packed with technology, but the Venus is certainly my favorite.

[via The Verge]

Steve Jobs’ yacht makes its first official appearance is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Google’s incoming 32GB Nexus 7 may be one of its worst kept secrets, with most estimates (and those leaks) pointing to a $249 price tag and a launch date later this week. However, it also appears that the 16GB model will drop its price down to $199, according to leaked images from both Office Depot and GameStop — great news for anyone who’s so far held off from grabbing the first Nexus tablet. While an official announcement’s been delayed by the forces of nature, we expect to hear more from Google sooner rather than later.

Filed under: Tablets, ASUS, Google

Office Depot and GameStop drops Nexus 7 16GB price to $199 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Oct 2012 06:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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