Hasta La Gadget!

We all know the drill by now, and if you forget there’s usually a warning: please turn your mobile devices off / silent, the movie is starting. For a special Second Screen Live showing of Disney’s The Little Mermaid however, it’s going to be different as moviegoers are encouraged to use their tablets for an augmented experience. Disney has created an iPad app for viewers to download before they get to the theater, which mirrors apps we’ve seen for home viewing with synchronized games, sing-a-longs and trivia. That’s no coincidence, since the movie’s return to theaters is timed ahead of its Blu-ray release on October 1st.

Viewers shouldn’t worry about this encroaching on their Oscar-season previews however, as it’s limited to a monthlong run at the El Capitan in LA starting on the 15th, and limited showings at select other theaters (listed after the break) nationwide starting on the 20th. This is Disney’s first public use of the tech after a trial run last fall alongside Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, which had a response it described as “positive.” For a family movie likely loaded with kids we can see where this might be more enhancement than distraction and maybe even for certain niche midnight screening-type environments — but if anyone whips out a slate at Machete Kills, Her, 12 Years A Slave or Gravity we’re calling the usher.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

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Source: iTunes, Disney

While we were busy gawking at the iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s, Apple was quietly expanding the reach of its AppleCare+ extended support program. The service is now available in France, Italy and the UK, giving locals two years of iOS and iPod hardware support (including two accident claims) beyond the European requirements. Customers pay £79 (€99 in Europe) to cover an iPad or iPhone, and £49 (€59) to safeguard an iPod. Unfortunately, the expansion comes at a cost for Americans — Apple is quietly hiking its AppleCare+ accident repair fee in the US from $49 to $79. While that’s still cheaper than regular service, it’s expensive enough that some may simply prefer to take better care of their gadgets. May we suggest a case?

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio/Video, Tablets, Mobile, Apple

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Via: TechCrunch

Source: Apple (UK), (US)

After developers spent months calling out the bugs and bemoaning the bad battery life, iOS 7 is finally ready for the public. If you haven’t seen iOS 7, be excited. It’s beautiful, feature-rich and just like Apple promised us at WWDC last June, it will make your device feel like a new phone (or tablet).

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In a very short amount of time we’ll be headed to Cupertino to have a look at what Apple will be offering up in their newest event – starting at 10AM PST. You’ll be able to follow along with SlashGear the whole event long through our SlashGear liveblog portal, complete with all the content you’ll […]

Just the other day we saw a video where the iPad 5 was compared against its predecessor, followed by another video comparing the iPad mini 2 to its predecessor, and now thanks to Sonny Dickson who seems to be on a roll these days when it comes to obtaining Apple components, we have some high quality photos showing off the fifth-gen iPad that is pictured alongside its predecessor.

The fifth-gen iPad is expected to retain the same display size as the current iPad, but as you can see in the photo above (and additional photos at Sonny Dickson’s website), the fifth-gen iPad appears to be slightly smaller, possibly due to its bezels being shrunk, and with the overall tablet design taking on a look that is akin to the iPad mini where the curves are more dramatically tapered compared to the previous iPad model.

In fact in one of the photos, the new iPad can be seen being held with one hand which would have been pretty hard to do with the previous models. Apple is rumored to announce the new iPads later this year, although it will not be done at Apple’s 10^th of September iPhone event. No specific dates were mentioned but if Apple were to follow the trend from last year, we expect it should be towards the end of the year.

New Fifth-Gen iPad Photos Surface original content from Ubergizmo.