Hasta La Gadget!

Apple aired a new iPad advertisement during the NFL playoff game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Carolina Panthers today, and it’s all about creativity. It’s no secret that Apple wants to push the creative aspect of its mobile devices, which are still seen largely as consumption gadgets, and this new ad embraces a grand vision of iOS as fertile ground for inspiration and creation.

“What will your verse be?” is the tagline for the ad, and the idea is that each person gets to contribute one verse to the overall poem of human experience (which is a terrible poem by the way). The iPad in the commercial is used in a number of different creative capacities, including as a filming accessory, as a prototyping tool, as a means for writing, and as a way to 3D prototype and work in the depths of the ocean.

It’s telling that many early iPad commercials depicted users in familiar settings using the gadget on their laps, on their couches or in other similarly mundane situations, while this one takes the tablet to the far corners of the earth. Apple also lists the uses depicted in the commercial in greater detail on its ‘Your Verse’ microsite to give more context.

The message is not only that the iPad is capable of true creativity, but also that it’s an aspirational device: This is a lifestyle ad akin to the kind of thing you see from Lexus and other high-end car manufacturers, and that’s a good marketing strategy for the iPad in terms of capitalizing on Apple’s brand cachet. The perceived superiority of Apple tablets in terms of quality is a key weapon the company retains in its ongoing battle with Android slates, after all.

Planning on getting your hands on a Retina iPad mini for Christmas? Well if you are, you might just be in luck because according to Apple’s online store, the shipping times for the tablet have since been improved and now show a 1-3 days shipping estimate, an improvement over the previous estimate which was set at 5-10 days. In fact earlier on supply was so tight that the tablet even saw a shipping estimate of a few weeks, but presumably Apple has since managed to get its supply under control to the point where customers won’t have to wait too long to get their hands on the tablet.

It had been speculated that there would be supply constraints for the Retina iPad mini with reports that LCD burn-in could be one of the reasons behind the delay. These constraints applied to not only the WiFi models, but the cellular models as well, but now it seems that both WiFi and celluar variants of the Retina iPad mini are back on track. So, if you were thinking about getting your hands on the latest iPad mini tablet, you best hurry as Apple has since suggested that for those who want the tablet by the 24^th of December should place their orders by the 16^th of December if they are hoping to avoid disappointment.

Retina iPad Mini Sees Shipping Times Improve To 1-3 Days original content from Ubergizmo.

We have heard not only does the iPhone account for 76% of all smartphones in Japan, but they are leading the US in terms of app revenue as well. Now it turns out that not only are Apple’s iPhones popular in Japan, but it turns out that Apple’s tablets are just as popular too. According to Japan’s BCN, they have revealed that out of the top 10 tablets in Japan, Apple’s iPads are taking six of those slots, with the iPad Air taking four slots, and the iPad mini taking the remaining two. Interestingly enough the streak was broken at third place by none other than the Nexus 7 tablet, making it Japan’s most popular non-iOS tablet.

While one could argue that the Nexus 7’s price could have played a part, it should be noted that Apple’s iPad lineup is more expensive compared to the Nexus 7. Of course this does not paint a complete picture as the numbers originate from BCN alone, and BCN only counts sales from about 2,400 stores in Japan, which reportedly only accounts for 16% of the sales channel. This also does not take into account sales from the Apple Store. Will Apple be able to maintain their dominance? We guess only time will tell, but so far so good.

Apple’s iPads Account For Six Spots In Japan’s Top 10 Tablet List original content from Ubergizmo.

When Apple announced the iPad mini with Retina display, many rejoiced. After all this was one the most wanted features for the iPad mini’s successor. However it was discovered not too long ago that the Retina iPad mini actually displays less color when compared to the likes of the iPad Air, and now according to the experts at DisplayMate, they have ranked Apple’s Retina iPad mini as a “distant third” when compared to the likes of the Nexus 7 and the Amazon Kindle Fire HDX. This apparently due to Apple deciding to use “old technology” rather than new.

According to DisplayMate, this is because the display on the Retina iPad mini is too much like its predecessor, meaning that its color gamut remains almost the same which is essentially almost 3 year old technology since the iPad mini used the iPad 2’s display tech. It also means that it’s not as power efficient and not as bright, and also more reflective compared to other tablets of similar size. In fact DisplayMate found that the Kindle Fire HDX’s display was the most impressive overall, stating, “Two innovative Tablet manufacturers, Amazon and Google, have significantly leapfrogged Apple by introducing Tablet displays using LTPS (in the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 and the new Nexus 7), and they are significantly outperforming the IGZO and a-Si displays in the current iPads.”

Retina iPad Mini’s Display Ranks A “Distant Third” Compared To Nexus 7 And Kindle Fire HDX original content from Ubergizmo.

Apple announced a new iPad Mini with Retina Display a few months ago, but as you’d probably know by now, a new product announcement never stops the company’s rumor mill from working around the clock. Today, we’re hearing rumors regarding the next-generation iPad Mini, which is being called the iPad Mini 3 at this time. (more…)

Apple iPad Mini 3 Prototype With Touch ID Spotted [Rumor] original content from Ubergizmo.