Apple’s fifth-generation iPad is expected to finally ditch the existing design and adopt a new form factor that’s said to be much like the iPad mini’s, according to a new report that has surfaced today. A physical model of the device indicates it will be significantly smaller in almost every way, with virtually no bezel down the sides of the display.
As for the iPhone 5S, that’s expected to be very similar to the iPhone 5 — as you may have guessed; while Apple’s new low-cost iPhone, which will reportedly launch some time this year, will be built with China Mobile’s 700 million customers in mind.
An iOS 6 jailbreak has been in the works since Apple released the iPhone 5 last fall, and it’s taken a long time for hackers to crack the enhanced security measures in Apple’s latest mobile operating system. After many months, the pieces have finally been put together. There is a full jailbreak for Apple’s latest iOS devices, and iOS 6.1 is the key to unlocking it.
While the jailbreak could be released for everyone now, trusted hackers behind past jailbreaks are waiting to see if Apple squashes any of their exploits in the final version of 6.1. If the bugs that form the jailbreak are still working, the iOS 6 jailbreak will be unleashed on the world after 6.1’s release.
Samsung vice president JK Shin has confirmed that the company will be announcing the Galaxy Note 8.0 at Mobile World Congress next month, but you don’t need to wait until then to see what it’ll look like. Thanks to these pictures of the device out in the wild, we can see that the iPad mini competitor looks a lot like a giant Galaxy S III, with a traditional button setup that’s unlike other Galaxy tablets.
When I’m not seated in front of a computer, I use my iPad mini for almost everything I need to do online. Checking my emails, banking, streaming movies and music, and reading the day’s news — it’s all done on a tablet. And it turns out I’m not the only one who’s abandoning my PC for a handheld.
Perion, the creator of IncrediMail, today unveiled the results of its latest survey of 4,400 iPad owners in the United States. The majority of respondents said they consider Apple’s popular tablet their favorite device for reading and writing emails, beating PCs and smartphones by a wide margin.
If you’ve just realized your iPhone takes better photographs than your dedicated point-and-shoot, but you miss a traditional viewfinder, check out the new iPhone Viewfinder from Photojojo. Using a screw-on suction cup, the Viewfinder sticks to your iPhone’s display and allows you to block out the rest of the world while you’re taking snaps. It sounds crazy, and at $30, that’s exactly what it is.
Apple celebrates the Chinese New Year by offering its fans in Asia one-day “Red Friday” deals, similar to the Black Friday sale it holds for customers in the United States. And the Cupertino company has today begun teasing the event via its online store with a big red advert that promises “great gifts for everyone on your list.”
The Galaxy Note 10.1 is about to get a little brother.
Samsung Mobile vice president JK Shin has confirmed to a Korean news outlet that the company will unveil the Galaxy Tab 8.0 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month. The device, which is believed to be an iPad mini competitor, is expected to offer an 8-inch display with a 1280×800 resolution, coupled with a 1.6GHz quad-core processor.
Sharp has “nearly halted” its production of 9.7-inch iPad displays as consumers shift their demand towards the smaller iPad mini, Reuters reports. Sources familiar with Sharp’s plans have claimed that production of the larger panels at Sharp’s Kameyama plant in central Japan has fallen to the “minimal level” this month following a gradual slowdown that began at the end of 2012.
Team Cult is back from Vegas, baby! Yes, we’re still a little, um, foggy minded, but with plenty of new Apple news to discuss, the show must go on.
On this episode of The CultCast, we discuss rumors of iPhone 5S, and ponder how some recent Apple acquisitions means the mystery phone could have some very radical new features.
Then, has Apple lost its mojo? And what about all those rampant rumors that iPhone 5 just isn’t selling? Bollocks! On our newest episode, we sort it all out for you.
Eager to listen but not sure how? Easy! Subscribe to The CultCast now on iTunes, or easily stream new and previous episodes via Apple’s free Podcasts App.
The Galaxy Note 10.1 could be about to get a little brother.
Samsung looks to be preparing to take on the iPad mini with the Galaxy Note 8.0, a smaller version of the Galaxy Note 10.1, which is expected to be priced very aggressively. In addition to an 8-inch display, the device will reportedly offer a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera, a 1.3-megapixel front facing camera, and of course, Samsung’s S Pen stylus.
Apple stock took a battering this week when it was reported that the iPhone 5 wasn’t selling as well as the Cupertino company had expected it to, and it appears analysts aren’t going to let it recover just yet. JP Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz is now reporting that iPad sales won’t meet expectations due to supply constraints during the fourth quarter of 2012.
The iPad may be the king of tablets in some markets, but Apple’s device cannot compete with the Nexus 7 in Japan. Its premium price tag is causing tablet buyers to opt for Google’s 7-inch slate instead, despite its smaller display and lack of a rear-facing camera. One survey of Japanese electronics stores has found that the Nexus 7 has claimed 44.4% of the tablet market.
We know that Apple’s product roadmap for 2013 will consist of new iPads, iPhones and Macs. That’s nothing new. Apple is always working on new stuff, and if 2012 is anything to go by, we’re about to see an onslaught of new products.
Martin Hajek is a successful designer, and his work has been featured multiple times here on Cult of Mac. His iPad mini and iPhone 5 concepts from last year were spot on, and Hajek has published renderings for the less-expensive ‘iPhone mini’ that Apple reportedly has planned for later in 2013. Some think the seventh-gen iPhone (‘iPhone 5S’) could come in multiple colors, and it will probably look a lot like the 5.
Hajek also has some great renderings of what the iPad 5 may look like should Apple tweak the design to look more like the iPad mini.
Oddly enough, I bought the case for my iPad mini years ago, before even the full-sized iPad was a real thing that existed. It’s the back pocket of my jeans, and unless I’m sitting down or riding a bike, it’s just about perfect. And it’s even Smart Cover compatible.
But there are those who maybe like to protect their investment a little more, or who just really, really hate the sound of exquisitely hewn aluminum scraping against a rough-topped table. For you, there’s the CoverBuddy.
Apple just sent out a press release confirming that cellular models of the iPad mini and fourth-gen iPad will officially go on sale in China this Friday, January 15th. During a trip to China last week, Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed that WiFi + Cellular models of the company’s newest iPads would arrive this month. The WiFi-only versions went on sale December 7th, a little over a month after U.S. sales began.
LAS VEGAS, CES 2013 – With seven groovy, psychedelic colors to switch between for backlighting, Luvvitt’s new Ultra Thin Keyboard Cover would no doubt have been Timothy Leary’s keyboard of choice — had iPad Minis, iPads or technology in general been around in the ’60s.
Third-generation iPad owners became understandably upset last November when Apple announced a new sixth-generation iPad eight months after theirs went on sale. It was the first time the Cupertino company had launched an iPad within 12 months of its predecessor, but it looks like we’d better get used to it.
Rumors have this week suggested that Apple is now looking to update its iOS devices every six months, introducing two every year. And according to one analyst, that’s exactly what’s going to happen with the next-generation iPads.
LAS VEGAS, CES 2013 – We’re always a bit stumped at how PhoneSuit is able to stuff so much battery in to their batteries. Their new Flex line is another great example; those little battery logs above each contain 2600 mAh of juice, which is more than any iPhone battery case I can think of. And that’s not even the coolest thing about them.
I’m a big fan of Loop Attachment’s Mummy cases for iPhone 4/4S and iPhone 5; I’ve reviewed them both in the past and found them to be two of the best silicone cases you can get for Apple’s smartphone. And so I’m delighted that the Mummy for iPad mini has finally be unveiled at CES in Las Vegas this week — alongside a nifty clip for the latest iPod nano.
Tim Cook is on his second visit to China as Apple CEO this week, and during an interview with local reporters on Thursday, he confirmed that the cellular version of the iPad mini will be arriving in the nation in late January. The Wi-Fi only model arriving in China on December 7, just over a month after it launched in the United States.
LAS VEGAS, CES 2013 – When Steve Jobs first unveiled the 9.7 inch iPad back in 2010, he made a specific point of telling how many endless hours, how many prototypes had been rejected determining the perfect size for an onscreen keyboard. 9.7 inches, he claimed, was the minimum device that you could accurately and comfortable type on. Any smaller tablet, he later elaborated, was a “tweener” you would need sandpaper to whittle down your fingers to type upon.
For Steve Isaac, CEO of Touchfire, those words are a challenge. If anything smaller than an iPad is a “tweener,” how can you enable a satisfactory typing experience on the 7.85 inch iPad mini? And Isaac thinks he’s got an answer.
At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas today, Speck expanded its family of CandyShell accessories with two brand new cases for the iPad mini. The CandyShell and CandyShell Grip both sport Speck’s patented dual-layer design, which combines a rubbery, shock-resistant interior with a hard plastic exterior to protect your iPad mini from accidental dings and drops. The cases are also available in an array of “on-trend” colors for 2013.
A lawsuit claims the battery of an iPhone 4s is responsible for a house fire. Photo: Apple
Digitimes has today published one of its more questionable rumors regarding Apple’s upcoming low-cost iPhone. Citing sources in the Cupertino company’s supply chain, it claims the cheaper device — believed to be called the “iPhone mini” by one analyst — will make its debut later this year, aimed at China and other emerging markets.
But it won’t be smaller to cut costs. Instead it’ll boast a larger screen to meet the “prevailing trend for the adoption of 5-inch displays.”
iGuy is a new iPad and iPad mini case from Speck that’s built for one thing: taking a beating from sticky little kids. It’s design buries your device inside a bed of flexible foam that ensures no matter how many times its thrown, dropped, or sneezed on, it will come out looking as good as new.
The iGuy’s handles make the iPad easy to hold onto — not matter how small the user’s hands are — and the feet allow the device to be stood up when watching movies and cartoons. And despite all that EVA foam, you can still access all your iPad’s ports and buttons, as well as use its cameras.
iGuy comes in four colors — orange, green, red, and purple — and it’s likely to be the best iPad accessory you buy.
Apple was on fire in 2012. Along with the incredible iPhone 5, we saw the first retina tablet and the pocketable iPad mini. This was also the year in which Apple let the iPod touch out to play, giving it features on a par with the iPhone 4S instead of using leftover components from Google’s leftover Nexus parts bin.
But not everything from Apple made it into our top ten. The Retina MacBook Pro, despite being an amazing machine, is still a laptop, albeit one with a hi-res screen and no DVD player. And the new iMac’s most interesting contribution to tech is the HDD/SSD Fusion Drive. Sure, it’s skinny, but who really cares about a thin desktop machine? It’s like making the world’s thinnest lawnmower.
Most of the rest of my picks reflect the fact that high-tech consumer electronics are now as utterly mainstream as the iron or the microwave oven. Sure, us nerds still love to play with the latest crap, and there will always be plenty of ill-informed consumers who are suckered into buying cheapo Android tablets, but these days gadgets generally Just Work, and the differences are in the little details.
That’s why we have fitness widgets alongside fancy portable speakers and implausibly good-for-the-price headphones.
So, should you be in the mood to read yet another end-of-year best-of list, carry on.
