Just like the old Trapper Keeper, the STM Dux iPad case keeps all your notes (which are actually inside your iPad, safe within the Dux’s covers). You can plaster photos all over the inside of the clear plastic back. And it even has a little flip-open clasp that keeps the front cover from opening.
With Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year all now firmly in our rear-view mirrors, Apple is focusing on the next big sales holiday of the year: Valentine’s Day.
Describing the iPad Air and iPad mini as “two ways to your valentine’s heart”, Apple has posted a new ad campaign on the main page of its online store — advising that users take advantage of Apple’s free custom engraving to “include a few love letters on any iPad”.
As with many of Apple’s more prosaic advertisements lately, Apple’s recent Dead Poet’s Society inspired ad for the iPad Air and iPad mini, “What will your verse be?”, has alternately been praised and ridiculed by critics who were either touched or wanted to barf at the idea that buying an iPad is heling you write a living human poem.
Even if you love the ad, though, you have to admit that the ad shows a very different use scenario for the iPad Air than the one you have. In the ad, it’s used by helicopter rescue pilots, storm chasers, ice hockey coaches, musicians, Bollywood filmmakers, scuba divers, rock musicians and artists. You? You mostly just use it on the toilet. Admit it. You’re reading this on the toilet right now.
Source: Doghouse Diaries
When Apple unveiled the iPad Air back in October, they curiously decided to keep the iPad 2 around for another generation at a $399 price point… the exact same price as an entry-level iPad mini with Retina Display.
In theory, Apple’s idea here seems to have been to price the vintage iPad 2 at a sub-$400 price point so as to have a cheaper 9.7-inch tablet available for educational institutions, budget shoppers and the like. But it looks like no one’s really all that interested, with only one customer in twenty opting to buy an iPad 2 in the latest quarter. Despite this, though, average price of a purchased iPad fell for the second year in a row.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiyIcz7wUH0
During the NFL playoff game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Carolina Panthers today, Apple has posted a new advertisement for the iPad, emphasing their tablet’s creative powers and the iPad’s ability to inspire and create.
The tagline is “What will your verse be?” The notion is that all of human life is a poem, and our individual lines are a verse in that poem. Depending on your own predisposition, you’ll likely either find it a little sappy and breathless or moving, but either way, Apple is right that far from just being for media consumers, the iPad is a profound creator’s device which can be used for filming, writing, 3D prototyping, and more.
There’s also a new Your Verse microsite, explaining the uses depicted in the commercial in greater detail. What do you think? How are you using your iPad to write your verse?
In news to be filed under L for “late to the party” Staples is finally selling the iPad Air and iPad Mini on its physical store shelves.
Phone up your local Staples, and you’ll hear a message informing you that the iPad is available both online and in the chain’s brick-and-mortar outlets. Prior to this, the tablets were only available through Staples’ online ordering service.
LAS VEGAS — For years now, Olloclip has been making stellar lenses that slip over the iPhone’s camera lens and enhance iPhoneography with the ability to take fisheye, telephoto and macro photos. But there has apparently been a struggle within Olloclip about whether or not to offer an iPad lens. Now the struggle is over, and iPad-loving photographers have won: The first Olloclip lens for iPad will be available soon.
Chong Pak, the company’s design director, told us there were only a few hurdles to clear before Olloclip went iPad — but those hurdles were tall.
If you upgraded your old iPad for an iPad Air late last year, you probably did so for several reasons — but I’ll bet one of the biggest was its new form factor, which is substantially thinner and lighter than any of its predecessors. The last thing you want to do with it, then, is slap a big chunky case on it that makes it even bigger than the iPad you owned before it.
Thule took that into consideration when designing its new Gauntlet folio case for the iPad Air. Although its main focus is clearly on protection, so the case is tough and robust and ready to absorb any impact, it’s also surprisingly light, and much thinner than you’d expect a case of this ilk to be.
It’s also practical, with rubber grips that provide a built-in stand for typing or watching movies, and a “stability clip” that keeps its front cover securely closed when your iPad’s not in use. There’s a soft interior lining that prevents scratching, and the Gauntlet provides easy access to all of your iPad’s buttons and ports.
There’s much to love about the CEO Folio and its accompanying web page. It’s the modern-day equivalent of a Filofax, and I guess even the “CEO” part of the name is a kind of upgrade to the mountain of “executive” faux-pleather crap that fills the pages of the Sky Mall catalog.
Anyhow, let’s ridicule it:
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Unlike LifeProof‘s iPad Air case, Pelican’s new ProGear Vault iPad Air case isn’t waterproof. Also unlike LifeProof’s iPad Air case, the ProGear Vault iPad Air case actually exists, now (since LifeProof’s iPad Air case isn’t here yet, we’re obviously assuming it’ll be as fully waterproof as all the other LifeProof cases).
While Android may be running away with the lion’s share of the smartphone market, there’s still no doubt about what rules the roost when it comes to tablets. New data from InfoScout reveals that roughly 40% of iPads sold on Black Friday were purchased by Android smartphone users.
Breaking with the tradition of Friday launches in India — and despite rumors that it would take place on November 29 — Apple has announced that customers in India will be able to buy the iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina Display as of Saturday, December 7.
The euphoria of Black Friday is over, and like the comedown after any spend-heavy holiday it’s time to look at the receipts.
According to analytics firm InfoScout, the iPad Air and iPad mini were two of the day’s big winners.
Amazon has a new ad out for the Kindle Fire HDX that uses the new iPad Air as a scapegoat. It brags about how the HDX has more pixels (hardly any more), weighs less, and costs less.
Ho-hum. Microsoft, Nokia, and every other competitors make plenty of ads based on practically the same formula. What makes this new one from Amazon special is the iPad Air’s narrator. “This is the magical new iPad Air,” says the male voice with a slightly British accent—perhaps a subtle dig at Sir Jony Ive?
There are far more egregious examples of anti-Apple ads from other tech companies, and Amazon does make good points about the HDX weighing and costing less. Not sure why the narrator for the HDX has such a weird twang, but oh well. At least Amazon won’t have to pull this ad out of embarrassment.
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Hoping to get a nice discount on your next Mac or iOS device this Black Friday? Then you’d better buy it from a third-party retailer. Apple has taken a new approach to its Black Friday deals this year and decided to give away gift cards rather than discount its goods.
Recent reports have claimed that Apple’s had some difficulties manufacturing the new iPad mini with Retina display, which is why it didn’t shout too loudly about its launch earlier this month, and why the device hasn’t been too easy to get hold of in many markets.
But now that the initial supply constraints are easing, the Cupertino company will produce 4 million units during November alone, according to supply chain sources in Taiwan.
While Android hardware manufacturers were busy trying to pack as many cores as they could into their smartphone and tablet processors, Apple took a different route and decided to go 64-bit instead. It’s a move that makes the iPhone 5s and the latest iPads some of the fastest mobile devices on the market, and so it’s no surprise that its rivals are getting ready to follow suit.
Intel has promised that you’ll be able to buy Android-powered tablets with 64-bit “Bay Trail” processors next year.
Rickshaw Bags, the finest bag-maker in San Francisco, will now sell you a plush-lined sleeve for your iPad Air. I have tested the mini version and I loved it, although I’d say it’s actually better suited to the bigger iPad thanks to the fact that the mini looks after itself so well, even when left naked and cold in the basement of a dark messenger bag.
eBay’s Black Friday sale is set to start a day early this year, on Thursday, November 28 — and it includes a whole bunch of tablets, smartphones, consoles, and cameras. So whether you’re into Android or iOS, there’s a great deal to be had, such as an original iPad mini for $239, a Nexus 7 for $199, and the new iPad Air for $469.99.
Tim Cook admitted that the iPad mini with Retina display will be in short supply for the next few weeks, but while Wifi-only units seem to be in-stock at Apple Stores across the country, it looks like Apple is having a hard time keeping a steady supply of 3G/4G units rolling out to developers.
Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile are all reporting shortages of iPad mini with Retina display stock with most orders being backed up for weeks, according to a report from CNET.
Just looking at it, it’s clear that the iPad mini with Retina Display has improved upon its predecessor down to the pixel. But what about the pixels you can’t see? The ones inside the built-in iSight camera?
The bad news is the iSight Camera hasn’t changed from last year from a hardware perspective. It’s still a 5 megapixel, backside-illuminated, five-element, hybrid IR file red camera with a f/2.4 aperture. But the good news is it does a little better with low-light performance anyway.
Word on the street (and by “the street” we mean Tim Cook himself) was that Apple might not have enough iPad Minis to see it through this quarter — with Cult of Mac even opining that, “Good luck getting one of these before Christmas.”
Remember Apple Tracker, the web app that checked Apple’s inventory in order to help you find new iPhones and iPads in your area? Apple killed it off ahead of the iPad mini Retina launch , but now it’s back… just not on the original site.
The Retina iPad mini suddenly went on sale this morning, and the device’s benchmarks have been posted online. Apple chose to put the same 64-bit A7 processor in the iPhone 5s, iPad Air, and new iPad mini. The result is a hardly noticeable change in performance across the three devices.