Anyone holding off on buying an iPad mini because it doesn’t have a Retina display might not have to wait much longer. Topeka Capital analyst Brian White sent out a research note on Friday claiming that Apple (AAPL) plans to release both a fifth-generation iPad and a second-generation iPad mini this March. White said that unnamed sources at the Consumer Electronics Show indicated that “the iPad 5 is expected to be lighter and thinner than the iPad 4 that was released in October, while the form factor of the iPad mini should be similar to the first generation iPad mini that debuted in October.” White didn’t mention whether the new iPad mini would have an upgraded display, although previous rumors have indicated that Apple plans to use Retina displays supplied by AU Optronics for the next version of its 8-inch tablet.
If you haven’t already ordered that iPad mini, be prepared to wait: Shipping times on the new tablets are already slipping.
Estimated shipping times for the new iPad mini have stretched to two weeks. Pre-orders for the new tablet opened on October 26, with the promise that first buyers would receive their Wi-fi-enabled iPad minis on November 2. But online buyers can no longer expect such quick turnaround: Apple’s website now estimates shipping times on the new tablet will take as long as two weeks. (via iPad mini shipping times delayed | Macworld)
Between Apple’s presentation at its Tuesday press event, the press releases and spec sheets that followed, and our all-too-brief hands-on session, we’ve been able to get a pretty good first impression of the new iPad mini and, to a lesser extent, the fourth-generation iPad. So while we wait for our review units to arrive, here’s what we know so far. (via The new iPads: What you need to know | Macworld)
On Tuesday, just six months after unveiling the third-generation iPad, Apple unveiled the long-rumored iPad mini along with a fourth-generation of the standard model. Despite the 100 million iPads Apple sold in just 2.5 years, Apple CEO Tim Cook said, “we’re not taking our foot off the gas.”
Apple senior vice president of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller showed off both devices on Tuesday. “You can hold it in one hand,” Schiller said of the iPad mini, as he highlighted its aluminum and glass enclosure. “It’s incredibly thin…and beautiful from every angle.”
The iPad mini is 7.2mm thick—23 percent thinner than the new, fourth-generation iPad—“thin as a pencil,” as Schiller put it. It weighs 0.68 pounds, which is half the weight of the previous iPad. “It’s as light as a pad of paper.” (via Apple unveils iPad mini and fourth-generation iPad | Macworld)
This week’s roundup of new iOS gear offers items to make music, keep your hands warm, look at tiny things, and keep track of your Apple TV. Here are the accessories that caught our eye this week. (via The Week in iOS Accessories: Microscopes and cassettes? | Macworld)
The next-generation iPhone is rumored to bring some radical changes for users, and it will also mark a very public break-up between Apple and Google. Much-loved Google products on iOS will now disappear or be replaced with Apple variants, while hardware design changes will bring long-term improvements, but short-term headaches for some users.
The latest beta releases of iOS 6 are now giving a clearer indication of which of Google’s services Apple will drop or replace with its own, with several reports indicating upcoming design and hardware changes that you’ll have to keep in mind. Until the new iPhone is announced on September 12, as reports indicate, here are the changes being discussed and what they mean. (via Four things Apple will eliminate with iPhone 5 and iOS 6 | Macworld)
Apple recently released a Podcasts app for iOS. This application has a number of performance and interface issues, but some podcast listeners may find it superior to using the Music app (though many standalone podcast apps have far more features than Apple’s app).
When you look at the Podcasts app, it seems as though you can only subscribe to podcasts that are in Apple’s store. This is not true, but the way to subscribe is unintuitive.
When you’re in the Podcasts app and viewing your podcasts, there’s a black bar at the bottom of the window with a Search field to the right. Paste a podcast URL into this field and tap on Search. A dialog will display asking if you want to subscribe to the podcast. Tap Subscribe to add it to your podcasts.
We’re all very familiar with the concept of All You Can Eat, from the artery-clogging Vegas buffet to the less-literal digital equivalents such as Netflix for TV shows/movies, the various digital music subscription services, and even Audiobooks.com for audiobooks.
In April, Next Issue Media launched with a similar idea for magazines. Pay a monthly fee and get access to a bunch of digital magazines from Conde Nast, Hearst, Meredith, News Corp., and Time Inc. The problem? It was only available for some Android tablets. As of Tuesday, iPad users get to join in the fun with a catalog of nearly 40 magazines, and the promise of more to come. (See the complete list at the end of this story.)
As an avid reader of magazines on the iPad—I subscribe to several through Apple’s Newsstand, with individual apps, and via Zinio—I was excited to get a chance to play with the iPad version of Next Issue prior to its release. (via Hands on: Next Issue all-you-can-read magazine iPad app Review | Macworld)
This is a "tumblog" I created in less than five minutes in class, when I was trying to help students in my "Internet, Society and Everyday Life" figure out what Tumblr is.
It seems to be a microblog.
