Apple is rumored to add a Retina display to its second generation iPad Mini. However, the addition is most likely to raise the production cost of each unit by almost $12. This addition comes with just upgrading the display to a Retina display and keeping the rest of the components of the iPad Mini same. (more…)
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Apple Grabs 20 % Of All US Technology Sales For 2012, Apple MacBook Air Equipped with Retina Display [Rumor],
Apple has started airing two new iPad commercials this week called “Alive” and “Together” that don’t focus on their iPads’ hardware specs since there hasn’t been a new iPad since November 2012. Instead, both commercials focus on the applications that were built to take advantage of both the iPad and iPad Mini’s unique features.
Not only do both commercials focus on a number of iOS applications, but they also are littered with such adjectives as “bright,” “loud,” “together” and “deep.”
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Netflix iOS App Update Adds New Player, Controls, Facebook Sharing Toggle and More, Never Offer an iPad to Grandpa [Video],
There is another report that the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 will be heading to Europe by the end of March. The device will be heading to Bulgaria with a price tag that will compete directly with the likes of the iPad Mini. The Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 will come in 3 variants: Wi-Fi only, 3G + Wi-FI, and 3G + LTE + Wi-Fi. You will also have the option to choose from a 16 GB or 32 GB version of each.
The price will be around 699 leva in Bulgaria, which comes to around 358 euros, or $478.93. That’s the price for the 16GB Wi-Fi version of the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0, the cheapest model. The 3G + Wi-Fi version of the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 will be around 869 leva, so about 445 euros, or $595.32. It can also be assumed that the pricing for the tablet should be the same throughout the other European countries as well.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 is rumored to have an 8-inch 1280 x 800 TFT (Super Clear LCD) display, 1.6GHz Exynos 4412 quad-core processor, 16 or 32GB built-in storage with a microSD card slot, 2GB of RAM, 5MP rear-facing camera, 1.3MP front-facing camera, 4,600 mAh battery, and Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.
Samsung will officially announce the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 next week at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. So with the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 heading to Europe around the end of March, we should be looking at U.S. release date sometime in April. It’ll be nice to see how well the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 will compare against the iPad Mini.
[via Unwired View]
Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 may head to Europe in March is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
According to Piper Jaffray, an investment research firm, Apple will most likely be hosting an event between March and April. An analyst at the firm, Gene Munster, analyzed the time frame of launch events held by Apple, and he believes that Apple’s full-sized iPad is due for a major redesign. He also believes the iPad Mini may receive an update of its own as well, but considering that it had just launched last October, it would be unlikely.
By analyzing the previous launch events held by Apple, Gene Munster believes that the Apple always holds a launch event in the Spring time. Combing through the 11 major product launch events held by Apple since the launch of the iPhone 3GS, Munster believes that the Spring event always centers around iPad updates, and that with it being the first Apple event of the year, it is going to feature something major. The ‘something major’ is speculated to be a complete redesign of the full-sized iPad that resembles the design of the iPad Mini. He also believes that the next iPad mini could be introduced at the event, and this time it will carry a Retina display.
Munster goes deeper into the details, and found that the average time between Apple’s launch events is 123 days, or about 4 months. He also analyzes that the longest time between events was about 216 days, or 7 months, and that was the gap between the iPad 2 launch in March 2011 and the iPhone 4S launch in October 2011. By taking those times into consideration, and also considering that every other company will be holding major launch events around that time, he believes that the event will be held in between March and April.
Apple TV is also due for an update sometime within the next 6 months, and Munster believes it will be updated to ‘prime the pump for the ultimate television’. Considering that Apple has just launched the iPad Mini and 4th gen iPad in October, there could be a change in the schedules of its launch events. We all remember how upset iPad 3 owners were when the 4th gen iPad was release just 7 months after they bought their devices.
[via AppleInsider]
Analyst believes the iPad will see a complete redesign by the end of April is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Taking a page from its Thunderbolt cable book, Apple has released a shorter Lightning-to-USB cable that measures just 0.5 meters long. Aimed at those who only need a couple feet of cable to charge their devices, this shorter offering will still set you back the same $19 that the 1-meter Lightning cable costs.
While it’s odd to see no price different between the two cables with different lengths, it provides users another option if they’re seeking out less cable clutter. This shorter cable is half the length of the regular Lightning cable that ships with newer iOS devices. Of course, while a shorter cable could be handy in some situations, we personally don’t see the problem with just wrapping up your normal Lightning cable in order to make it shorter.
Nevertheless, if you’re after a shorter cable, similar to the Thunderbolt offerings, Apple has you set. Furthermore, the company also updated its in-ear headphones with a redesigned mic switch to make it match the design Apple’s recently-released EarPods. The in-ear headphones will still cost you $79, and there doesn’t seem to be any changes to the headphones themselves.
While Apple is known for holding special events when announcing updates to their product line, it’s also not rare for them to quietly make changes and update their products without telling anyone for the most part. Case in point: the company recently updated its MacBook Pro and Air lineup yesterday, stuffing in faster components and cutting the price down a bit.
[via MacRumors]
Apple releases shorter 0.5-meter Lightning cable for $19 is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
The launch of the iPhone 5 not only brought an iPhone with a larger screen, but it also introduced the Lightning connector. Since then, Apple’s new Lightning connector has made it to the iPad Mini and fourth generation iPad, which means accessory makers have been scrambling to provide updated accessories to help support the new connector.
Scosche is one accessory maker that has yet to provide official Lightning connector compatible cables, but starting today, that will change as the company is announcing its line of Lightning connector cables. (more…)
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Apple Plans To Fix iOS 6.1 Passcode Lock Bypass Exploit, New Zealand Frontline Police To Receive iPhones And iPads,
LinkedIn CEO Jeff Wiener announced today to give employees free iPad minis. Roughly 3500 iPad minis were passed on to employees. “We wanted to acknowledge the hard work and accomplishments of all of our employees in 2012. During today’s biweekly All Hands meeting, we surprised our employees with iPad Minis as a small gesture of the company’s gratitude for their contributions” a spokesman confirmed the gift after a communications manager from LinkedIn UK tweeted about it.
The move comes in with LinkedIn reporting greater profits for the last quarter. The minis given out are 32 gigabyte and cost $429. According to Business Insider the total cost comes around $1.5 million. That’s a nice way of sharing the profits with employees. The idea is good as employees are not only happy, but the iPad’s can be used for greater productivity as well. LinkedIn CEO Jeff Wiener might have gotten the idea from Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of YouSendIt, who gave iPad Mini’s to all of his employees over the holidays. At this point it doesn’t matter how he got the idea, we can surely say LinkedIn employees would be excited to say the least.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: iPhone 6 Rumored To Have Been Delayed To 2014, New Zealand Frontline Police To Receive iPhones And iPads,
After using an iPad, I had a hard time understanding the need for a smaller tablet, until I played with an iPad Mini at an Apple Store. They are very light and compact compared to a regular-sized iPad. If you’ve been itching to GTD, but were missing a physical keyboard for your iPad Mini, check out this one from Logitech.
The Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Mini magnetically attaches itself to the iPad Mini, kind of like the version they make for the iPad. It’s supposed to transform the iPad Mini into a functional mobile computer. It also serves as a display stand.
While the keys aren’t full-sized, this is still a good option if you really need tactile keys to get your work done.
The Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Mini sells for $79.99(USD) and will start shipping later this month in both black and white versions.
[via Dvice]
As Tim Cook spoke at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference this week, a question of “cannibalization” came up, prompting the Apple CEO to speak about the first time he’d ever been asked such a question. Believe it or not, it wasn’t when the iPad mini was introduced – it wasn’t even when the iPhone or the iPod nano was introduced. In fact it was back when the iBook was revealed back in 1999.
The question asked of Tim Cook was about market share – about what the trade-off is for working to keep a product like the iPad the hero of the market. Cook made it clear – Apple is here to win. Cook noted that “the truth is the first time I got asked about cannibalization was when Apple came out with the iBook. Portables went on to be three quarters or more percentage of the Mac and Mac did an all-time record last year.” Cook made clear that information like the analysis reported last month that the iPad was 1 out of every 6 PCs sold in the fourth quarter of 2012 is particularly striking.
Cook continued, speaking about the iPad: “If you look at when we came out with iPad, what did people worry about: they worried, oh my god you’re going to kill the Mac. The cannibalization question raises its head a lot. The truth is, we really don’t think about it that much. Our basic belief is, if we don’t cannibalize, someone else will.” Continuing to speak on the market working with PCs and computing power in general, Cook spoke: “In the case of iPad particularly, I would argue that the Windows PC market is huge and there’s a lot more there to cannibalize then there is of Mac, or of iPad.”
Note also that the iPad mini has been projected to both cannibalize AND drive iPad sales through 2013 – doesn’t seem possible, does it?
Then came the big hit – a gouge at future companies looking to swallow up the industry by following alone: “I think if a company ever begins to use cannibalization as a primary or even a major factor of what products to go to, it’s the beginning of the end.” Have a peek at the timeline below for more information on what Tim Cook spoke about at the conference and be sure to hit up our massive Apple portal for more iPhone, iPad, and Mac than you can handle!
Apple CEO: “if we don’t cannibalize, someone else will” is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
You might say the week is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workweek, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Weekly Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 7 days — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
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