The authors of blog Apple.Pro have posted a photo of what appears to be the shell for the upcomingt weaked third-generation iPad with a Lightning port. No other changes appear to be shown in this image. That is in line with expectations of this being a very minor refresh. Apple.Pro is known to have a fairly reliable track record when it comes to sharing images of parts for upcoming Apple products.
[Source: 9to5Mac]
When it comes to evaluating the next big thing, we turn to our secret weapon: the TUAW braintrust. We put the question to you and let you have your go at it. Today's topic is the iPad 2.
First introduced in March 2011, it's been a brilliant standard-bearer for Apple's tablet tech. Offering a total redesign from the original iPad, it lacks only a few bells, whistles, and pixels compared to the current "new" iPad.
In fact, it's still Apple's budget choice for many consumers with limited discretionary funds. Starting at $399, it offers a hundred dollar break compared to the low-end current generation model.
[Source: TUAW - Click here to read the full story]
A week before the expected launch of the much-rumored "iPad Mini," Apple has been granted the design patent for the original iPad. Filed a day before the initial announcement in 2010, the patent references older patents going back to the 1940s and lists Steve Jobs and Jonathan Ive among the inventors. As our sister site Engadget says, it gives Apple one more tool in its ongoing patent litigation against Samsung and other companies.
Other iPad-related patents have been approved by the USPTO, including an unused one that has an extra USB slot for connections in landscape mode.
[Source: TUAW]
If the 16.7Whr/4490 mAh iPad Mini battery images that MacRumors reported last night are authentic, it would place the power at almost exactly three times more than the iPhone 5′s 5.45Whr and one-third of the massive 42.5Whr battery of the third-generation iPad. Seems pretty logical.
The battery runs at 3.72 volts, and it shows a model number of A1445 and an Apple part number of 616-0641.
[Source: 9to5Mac]
I was at the dentist the other day, where I was talking to Laura-the-receptionist about tablets. "I'm sick of paying for rebinding [my kids' textbooks] every year," she told me. "My kid's teacher suggested we buy a tablet and purchase textbooks from Amazon instead of fixing them. Which tablet should I buy?"
Although schools pay a nominal fee per rebinding, parents often have to cough up a significant amount more. Cherry Creek High School charges $28 to rebind a single book. The eBook text costs just $14.99. It's a bargain until you start considering the tablet overhead.
[Source: TUAW - Click here to read the full story]
Rumors about the iPad mini are really starting to heat up and alleged leaks of the body are hitting the web with machine gun-like regularity. Now All Things D claims to have another piece of the puzzle -- when. According to "people familiar" with the matter, Apple is scheduling a press event for October 23rd, where it will likely take the wraps off its latest (and smallest) tablet offering. The outlet reported a similar rumor ahead of the iPhone 5 launch, insisting that the littlest slate would be held until October. Now, here we are -- it's October -- and we're still waiting for our invitations. As usual, you'll be the first to know when ours arrives and we can confirm the when and where (and we think you already know the what). As for the how and why? Well, that we're just going to have to wait and see.
[Source: Engadget]
In an age of grab and go eating, it seems somewhat odd that a fast food restaurant would feature an attraction that causes its patrons to drop anchor and stay. However, the house with well over one billion served is doing just that. A Virginia Beach McDonald's has leveraged the popularity of another Big Macmaker, by stocking its location with free to use iPads. Yes, the tablets are mounted on tables, but after polishing off a hearty array of Mcfixings, you're likely to be bolted to your seat as well. Franchise owner Hugh Fard got the idea while attending the annual worldwide McDonald's convention in Florida. While it's great to see major eateries incorporating the use of new technology, we can only wonder just how greasy shiny those fancy Retina displays will be after spending a day under the golden arches.
[Source: Engadget]
The Wall Street Journal is adding its voice to claims that the iPad Mini is being mass produced en route to a launch later this month.
Apple Inc.’s Asian component suppliers have started mass production of a new tablet computer smaller than the current iPad, people with knowledge of the situation said, as the Silicon Valley company tries to stay competitive against rivals such as Google Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.that are offering smaller, less-expensive alternatives to the iPad.
The report says LG and AU optronics are making the 1,024-by-768 7.85-inch display, and they began production last month. More Mini parts including shells have appeared recently which could indicate finalized parts are in production. The biggest mystery remaining is price. Some speculate that it could be offered as low as $199 in the United States, while more conservative estimates point to $299 for the low-end model.
Google released Google Drive in April, which gives users 5 GB of free online storage for their Google documents, photos, videos, PDFs and more. There's a Mac appavailable, and earlier this month, Google updated Google Drive for iOS (free, universal) to include rich text editing.
This update, version 1.1.0, lets you create new documents, edit existing ones and style text. There's more good news if you use Google presentations, as this update will let you view your decks complete with presenter notes. If that's not enough, you can also create, modify and move folders.
You still can't edit presentations or spreadsheets within the app, but the functionality should be on the way.
Pretty sweet! Check out this free app now and get to work.
[Source: TUAW]
Whilst Dave is away on business, the Apple world never sleeps. The founder of Geekanoids still finds time to keep you up to date with the lates products launched by Apple Inc. Check out the videos below and leave a comment on YouTube with your views on the new products.
Instapaper developer Marco Arment has spotted two new iPad device codes in his logs that he believes represents the long rumored "iPad mini". The new identifiers found were "iPad2,5" and "iPad2,6". As Arment notes, the iPad2,1 through iPad 2,3 designations are known to represent the iPad 2's WiFi, GSM and CDMA models. The iPad2,4 represents a die-shrunk/cheaper version of the iPad 2 that was released alongside the 3rd generation iPad. Finally, the 3rd Generation iPad carries a designation of iPad3,x.
[Source: To read the full article visit Mac Rumours]
We're still not sure about the Sci Fi / Syfy Network name switch, but whatever you call it the network is the latest to jump on the trend of second screen features. Currently available on the latest version of its iPad app (and listed as "coming soon" for Android tablets on the official page an in the demo video embedded after the break), Syfy Sync will work with certain shows to pull up interactive content on your mobile device along with whatever is playing on TV. The first show to get the treatment is the season premiere of Face Off airing August 21st. Naturally, there's a social media element as well, with sharing to Facebook and Twitter, as well as integrated GetGlue check-ins. Whether or not you dig the second screen aspects or are just waiting for some better shows to come on, there are other upgrades with a new UI as, show related photo galleries and support for AirPlay to play the app's video clips on your TV. Syfy for iPad 2.0 with sync is available for free in iTunes, we'll let you know when the Android version is upgraded and if similar features head to any other mobile platforms soon.
[Source: Engadget]