Hasta La Gadget!

BMW hasn’t been quite as aggressive in pushing smartphone app integration as American counterparts like Ford or GM, but it certainly knows how to make up for lost time: the Munich automaker just greenlit tie-ins with the iOS apps from Audible, Glympse, Rhapsody and TuneIn. Plug in a device and it will be possible to wield the apps’ respective audiobook, location sharing, subscription music and live streaming radio services from a BMW Apps-capable BMW or Mini, with an interface optimized for the center stack. Each of the developers will need to update their app to make everything click, which we’re told may take weeks. There still shouldn’t be much wait before fans of Teutonic (and British) rides can get lost while streaming favorite songs — and tell everyone just how far they went off-course.

Filed under: Cellphones, Transportation, Mobile

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Source: BMW

The iPad Mini’s form factor needs a bit of getting used to, but it doesn’t take long before your forget that it’s smaller than an iPad and that you start trying to get things done on it. In order to type quicker than with the touchscreen, you’ll want a keyboard of some kind. This folio combines a sturdy case with a diminutive keyboard, just for the iPad Mini.

The iPad Mini Leather Bluetooth Keyboard Case is made out of leather. The folio holds the iPad Mini tight and it’s quite secure. The keyboard isn’t the slimmest that I’ve seen, but it works well. It can be recharged via mini USB cable. The keyboard is waterproof, and dust and water resistant. While it’s not the thinnest, when combined with the iPad Mini, it’s still about the size of a book, which is actually a pretty nice form-factor.

You can get yours for $39.95(USD) over at iPad Mates, which is a lot cheaper than some of the name brand Bluetooth iPad keyboards out there.

Mophie’s Juice Packs are all the rage when it comes to giving a meaningful power boost to popular slabs like the iPhone 5 and Galaxy S III, but let’s not forget others outside that group may need some help, too. Here’s where the California-based firm Jackery hopes to come in. The company’s just introduced its Bar and Mini external batteries, touting rather portable and peculiar designs as some of the main features present. More importantly, both of the USB-equipped power packs are loaded with 5,600 and 2,600mAh, respectively — and, according to Jackery, this is enhanced by the peripherals’ ability to hold a charge for up to six months, thanks to the company’s own “unique power lock technology.” Jackery’s 5.4-ounce Bar is available starting today for $40, while the more petite Mini (which weighs in at less than three ounces) can be yours for 10 bucks less than its heavier sibling.

Filed under: Misc, Peripherals

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Source: Jackery

The TiVo Mini has yet to make its retail debut, but cable provider Suddenlink is now serving up the DVR extender for use with its own services. According to Zatz Not Funny, the outfit is pricing rentals of the boxes between $6 and $12 depending on a customer’s location, and presumably their service package as well. That rental fee nabs users the privilege of slinging live TV from a TiVo Premiere DVR on their network to another television set, in addition to searching for and watching recorded shows. While dynamic tuner allocation is on the hardware’s roadmap, it doesn’t appear to be switched on just yet. Waiting to pick up the hardware from retail shelves rather than take Suddenlink up on its offer? TiVo’s pint-sized offering is slated to ship this spring.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

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Source: Zatz Not Funny

It is Apple picking time today, and here we are with a spanking new iPad for the mass market. In fact, you can say that if the late Steve Jobs were to be around today, there might not be an iPad mini, or he would unapologetically claim that there is a need in the 7” tablet market that Apple wants to create upon the iPad mini’s announcement, never mind the fact that he did insinuate that the 7” tablet market is dead in the water right from the get go, which was why Apple came up with the iPad in the first place. Well, the new iPad mini sports a totally new iPad design that makes it 23% thinner (some say it is literally pencil thin) and 53% lighter than the third generation iPad. Sporting a stunning 7.9-inch Multi-Touch display, FaceTime HD and iSight cameras, you know that the iPad mini is a bundle that was made to sell. The thing is, is the target market those who have yet to jump aboard the iPad bandwagon, and will current iPad owners bite as well?

Sporting up to 10 hours of battery life, it is small enough to hold in one hand. Meh, nothing new here, as 7” tablets from other hardware manufacturers have been able to do that for the longest time already. Apple claims that the 7.9-inch Multi-Touch display delivers a similar iPad experience that we all know and love, offering 35% more screen real estate compared to Android-powered 7-inch tablets, in addition to having 67% more usable viewing area when browsing the web. A dual-core A5 chip runs the show from underneath the hood, while the front-facing FaceTime HD camera and a 5 megapixel iSight camera at the back with advanced optics ensures you are able to capture amazing images on the move.

Not only that, theiPad mini comes with dual-band 802.11n Wi-Fi support, while Wi-Fi + Cellular models will be able to support ultrafast wireless standards, such as LTE and DC-HSDPA. The iPad mini with Wi-Fi models will come in black and slate or white and silver colors from November 2nd onwards, where the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models will go for $329, $429 and $529, respectively. Top up $130 if you want the Wi-Fi + Cellular iPad mini at its respective storage space.

Press Release
[ Apple unveils the iPad mini copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]