Hasta La Gadget!

Back when Apple’s third-gen slate was originally unveiled to the world, the company very quietly slashed down the prices of its first and second generation refurbed iPads. Now, some five months after its triumphant launch in the US of A and other countries, Cupertino’s started selling the pixel-packed new iPad for 50 bucks less than the original price — that’s if, of course, you don’t mind a refurbished unit. Still, as we’ve said before, Apple includes a one-year warranty with each iPad sold via its “Certified Refurbished” online store, which is considerably better than any Craigslist deal you might find out there. Currently, stock appears to be quite loaded, but you never know how long that’s going to last. In other words, you may want to get ’em while they’re hot.

Filed under: Tablet PCs

Apple starts selling refurbished ‘new’ iPads for $50 less than MSRP originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Aug 2012 14:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Welcome to Engadget’s back to school guide! The end of summer vacation isn’t nearly as much fun as the weeks that come before, but a chance to update your tech tools likely helps to ease the pain. Today, we’re leaning back with our tablets — and you can head to the back to school hub to see the rest of the product guides as they’re added throughout the month. Be sure to keep checking back — at the end of August we’ll be giving away a ton of the gear featured in our guides — you can hit up the hub page right here!

Your back may be straining from the textbooks, laptop, gym gear and lunch in that dangling overstuffed messenger, but you’re still gonna want to save room for one more item — a tablet. After all, while you can surf, tweet, play games and watch video from your other devices, there’s nothing like doing it from a simple glass window that sits in the palm of your hand. As the hardware gets more powerful, these devices are rapidly becoming versatile enough to let you justify leaving the laptop at home on less-intensive days, so why not check out our picks of the finest devices you should be using and abusing before, during and after class.

Continue reading Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: tablets

Filed under: Tablet PCs

Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: tablets originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Aug 2012 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Amazon‘s Instant Video app for iPad has arrived in the App Store, offering subscribers to Amazon Prime a way to stream content as well as download it for offline viewing. The app, a free download though membership in Amazon Prime – currently $79 per year – is required for streaming, also supports rented and purchased digital content such as movies and TV shows.

There’s also support for Season Pass, with episodes of TV shows automatically arriving on your iPad the morning after they air. Amazon currently has over 120,000 videos to buy, and “thousands” through Prime Instant Video, with Whispersync used to synchronize downloaded content between the new iPad app, Kindle Fire, PC, Mac, PS3 or smart TV.

A watchlist for potentially interesting titles is supported, and can also be maintained on different platforms. So, you can see a movie you might like while at work and add it to the watchlist from your browser, with it arriving on your iPad to check out when you’re back home.

Unfortunately, Amazon isn’t supporting full AirPlay streaming with the app, which means no renting or purchasing a movie on the iPad and then wirelessly playing it back via an Apple TV. Whether that’s something that will be added in future is unclear.

You can download the new Amazon Instant Video app for iPad here [iTunes link]

Amazon Instant Video for iPad takes media mobile is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Apple’s new iPad launch in China proved smooth and hitch-feee, with the company’s pre-registration rationing system helping prevent the violent crowds that marred the iPhone 4S release earlier this year. Rather than accept walk-in sales, Apple has insisted on a pre-purchase system that requires new iPad buyers to register online the day before they want to collect their iPad in-store; as a result there was no line outside Chinese Apple Stores, and no overnight waiting.

Concerns had been voiced about the release of the new iPad in China after the release of the iPhone 4S back in January was overshadowed by violence. Apple responded to concerns that gangs of scalpers were planning to strip iPhone 4S stock and sell the handsets on at a profit on the grey market by freezing sales of the smartphone; in the process it triggered near-riots outside Chinese Apple Stores, with would-be buyers insulting staff and pelting the glass facades with eggs and other objects.

“My friend came here last year and queued for the whole day” new iPad buyer Wang Yue told Reuters. ”So I think the process now is much more convenient.”

In fact, a mere twenty people were waiting for the Shanghai Lujiazui Apple Store to open. “I’m very surprised that there is no line” queuer Sun Xufei said. “I thought there was going be a long line so I came over a bit earlier to pick it up.”

However, that didn’t stop Chinese buyers from complaining at the amount of time it took Apple to bring the third-generation iPad to their country, the WSJ reports. Having gone on sale in initial markets back in March, it has taken around four months for the tablet to launch in China, ironic since the slate is actually manufactured there.

Analysts blamed launch tardiness for the iPhone 4S release, suggesting Apple had fueled tensions by withholding it from the growing Chinese market, and suggested that prompter availability and better communication was needed. Apple CEO Tim Cook agreed, saying that the company had underestimated the scale of demand for iOS products.

Chinese new iPad launch sidesteps mayhem is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The talk is weighing up: Apple’s iPad mini, the smaller “tweener” slate to slot in-between iPhone and new iPad, looks increasingly like a case of “when” and not “if”. Another high-profile and trusted source has jumped on the iPad mini bandwagon, taking the count of “insider confirmation” to three, alongside numerous other leaks and even some sneaky engineering sample photos.

The New York Times is the latest to speak up on the long-standing speculation, with its own clutch of sources saying that the tinier tablet is, indeed, in the pipeline. The paper joins the WSJ, which recently pointed to a September release date, echoing comments earlier again from Bloomberg that suggested a screen size “between 7- and 8-inches” and a pre-October launch.

Specifics are, in all cases, in short supply. The consensus so far has been on a 7.85-inch display, though none of the big three have settled on an absolute number. Chatter among the blogs and those blessed with insider-access has indicated a 1024 x 768 resolution might be enough to satisfy the “Retina” requirement, and there are mutterings of a new 19-pin dock connector too.

The big deal is price. Again, specifics are too much to hope for; the NYT instead says it will be “significantly less” than the existing $499 new iPad. That’s unsurprising, given it’s a smaller model altogether, and the real deciding factor will be exactly how much less it is. Google’s Nexus 7 is convincing reviewers – ourselves included – in no small part by virtue of its $199 price tag, and though Apple isn’t expected to dip quite that low, a $249 or $299 tag and the Cupertino cachet could be sufficient to encourage buyers to spend a little more than on Android alternatives.

As for focus, while Apple has been pushing the content creation talents of the new iPad in recent months, it’s Amazon’s success with the Kindle Fire in promoting content consumption that is believed to be Apple’s primary lure for joining the 7-inch segment. Amazon’s cheap 7-inch Fire hasn’t exactly helped Google, with its heavily-customized Android OS, but its helping the retailer push ebooks, movies, music and apps at a rate of alacrity.

With a couple of months to go before Apple is tipped to be making the iPad mini official, expect plenty more rumors and “anonymous sources” fleshing out the tablet. Is the prospect of a sub-$300 iOS slate enough to get you to open your wallet? Let us know in the comments.

[Image credit: Ciccaresedesign]

iPad mini: Cheaper, more focused and, oh yes, smaller is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.