As the fifth generation full-sized iPad, users likely know what to expect from the newly-released iPad Air. And while the device doesn’t try and reinvent the wheel by radically altering the iPad’s genetics in either abilities or form factor, the mere fact that Apple has proven able to further hone what was already a winning concept — by decreasing the size and weight, upping the speed and power, all while maintaining battery life — is reason enough to mark down the iPad Air as an assured winner in the tablet category. This verdict is more than backed up by the reviews which have begun flooding in over the past 24 hours, with reviewers now having had around a week to test Apple’s newest tablet.

In the Apple world, records tend to be exponentially shattered. For example, if it took three hours for WWDC to sell out last year, it’ll probably sell out in three minutes this year. Last year, it took five weeks for OS X Mountain Lion to be installed on more than 10% of all Macs. Guess how long it took this year?

Intel has been rumored for years to start building ARM chips. Now they actually are doing so, and will begin fabrication of 64-bit ARM processors in 2014, but not for Apple.

The fourth-generation iPad with its dual-core A6X processor was certainly no slouch, but it looks like one when you put it up against the new iPad Air. Thanks to that new 64-bit A7 chip, the iPad Air is an incredible 80% faster than its predecessor in Geekbench tests, and over five times than the iPad 2 (which is only $100 cheaper).

If you switched from an iPhone to an Android-powered smartphone because you felt a 4-inch display was just too small, then Apple may give you a reason to switch back next year. Several industry experts are predicting that the Cupertino company will step up its pursuit of high-end Android smartphones by finally introducing a larger 5-inch display with the iPhone 6.

We reported it back in July and now there is confirmation: Steve Jobs-actor Ashton Kutcher has joined Lenovo to help launch its new Yoga tablet.

“This is not just another ‘me too’ tablet.” Kutcher said at a launch event for the Android device Tuesday night.

Somehow, Adonit and Evernote have together managed to solve the biggest problem in iPad styluses: the size of the tip. Instead of a big fat pinkie-sized blob of rubber, the new Jot Script has a point that’s more or less the size of a regular rollerball ball.

And best of all, the latest version of Penultimate, Evernote’s note-taking app – has been developed in tandem with the pen to work like, well, to work like an Apple product.

I’ll be honest: I’m writing about Olympus’ new Stylus camera mostly based on its look. Because frankly, I usually hate superzoom cameras for the ugly non-compromises that they are. They want to give you everything, and usually they deliver nothing.

Apple has released a statement to The New York Times confirming that a “small number” of iPhone 5s devices in the wild have a manufacturing defect that results in battery drainage. The 5s is supposed to have slightly improved battery life over the iPhone 5, but Apple says that these affected devices have subpar performance.

“We recently discovered a manufacturing issue affecting a very limited number of iPhone 5S devices that could cause the battery to take longer to charge or result in reduced battery life,” said Apple in the statement.

The good news? You don’t have to do anything if you’re worried your 5s is affected. Apple will be contacting you to offer a replacement.

Source: The New York Times

Think you’ve seen the last of The Walking Dead on your Mac or iOS device? Think again.

Telltale Games, the award-winning developer of recent hit games The Walking Dead: Season One and Fables: The Wolf Among Us, announced Tuesday the coming premiere of the second season of The Walking Dead video game series for Mac, iOS, PC, and home game consoles later this year.

The Walking Dead: Season Two is available for pre-order right now from Steam and the Telltale Games Online store.

Twitter has released an update for its iOS and Android apps today that adds the ability to preview video and photos directly in your timeline.

Users can now view a preview of Twitter photos and Vine videos in your home timeline without having to tap out of the main feed. You can still view a full screen version of photos and videos by tapping on the image. While the update may seem minor, it opens the door for users to try new forms of tweeting – like posting a picture with no commentary that’s automatically previewed in your timeline – but only as long as other tweeters are using its homegrown app.

If you hate the new preview feature you can simply turn it off in Settings. Twitter also updated its UI so that users can easily reply, retweet, favorite, or follow someone directly from a tweet in your timeline.

Here’s a Vine from Twitter showcasing the new features:

The term “planned obsolescence” has achieved negative connotations, but it originally referred to a long-standing tradition of changing designs to sell more products.

It was coined by the car industry in the 1930s to refer to annual model updates. Over the years, however, the term has taken on a darker meaning. But planned obsolescence is a good thing. It’s the driving force behind much innovation.

This morning, New York Times reporter Catherine Rampell accused Apple of breaking her old iPhone 4 with the iOS7 update, which made it unbearably slow. “It seemed like Apple was sending me a not-so-subtle message to upgrade,” she wrote in a piece entitled, Why Apple Wants to Bust Your iPhone.

According to Rampell, Apple is feeling the heat from Samsung, HTC and others, and is resorting to sabotaging older iPhones with a software update and force users to upgrade their hardware.

This is bullshit from every angle. The iOS7 upgrade isn’t obligatory, it’s voluntary, and pissing off customers isn’t a good way to keep them as customers. There’s no mention that Apple sold a record-smashing 33.8 million iPhones last quarter.

Truth is, Apple’s products are so far ahead of the curve, it’s a constant criticism leveled at the company: that it is a willing practitioner of planned obsolescence.

One of the much touted features of iOS 7 is the new organization feature of the Photos app. When I opened it for the first time, back in the beta, I was dismayed to see the Year view.

The photos? They’re tiny! How the heck am I supposed to find the photo I want? I’m old and need glasses. Sheesh.

Ahem.

It turns out to be much simpler than you’d think to scan through the photos in this view.

While Google was busy spilling all the new details of its new Google+ photo editing features this morning, the company also announced that Snapseed will be getting some sweet new features of its own. True to Google’s word, Snapseed 1.6 just hit the App Store is includes a new HDR scape filter that brings a stunning look to photos.

Snapseed users will find the HDR Scape filter next to the old Drama filter that provided similar HDR filters for photos, however HDR Scape’s results are a great deal more impressive. To adjust the strength of the filter users simply swipe left to right. Google also added a Shadows slider in the Tune Image section that will brighten dark areas naturally.

Here’s a look at HDR Scape in action:

At first look, the new Olloclip 4-In–1 isn’t something you’d buy if you already own the original. After all, it only has an extra macro lens to add to the existing macro lens, the fisheye and the wideangle.

But if you’re the kind of person who already bought an Olloclip, you clearly value the iPhone as more than a snapshot camera. And the optical improvements to the Olloclip might just tempt you to upgrade.

Pixelz is a puzzle game because the developer Dariusz Cieśla says it is. The playing field is a autumnal spread of colored blocks, and a little indicator in the top right of the screen says “target 19.”

Pixelz wants nothing from you (it’s free), offers no instruction on how to play it, and exists in a soundless tranquility many commuter gamers might appreciate.

Apple may have just released OS X Mavericks and made it available to all for free, but it comes with a major flaw that you may not have noticed: it doesn’t run MacPaint… or MacDraw. But don’t worry — thanks to James Friend, you can run Mac OS 7 (System 7) — complete with MacPaint and MacDraw — right in your web browser.

Amazon announced this morning that it has updated its desktop Cloud Player to include support for Mac, after launching the desktop app earlier this year on PC only.

Cloud Player for Mac allow Mac users to manage their entire music library regardless of whether you’re online or offline. The app also lets you shop for music on on Amazon’s catalog of over 25 million songs. 

Save Drives — Navigation — Free

You can prepare all you want, but accidents happen. When they do, Save Drives thinks that you should have documentation. It’s an app that turns your phone into a dashboard camera to log your drives. It maps your courses, tracks your distances driven, and records the last 30 minutes of your drive. You can cut the video into 10 or 30-second chunks as needed, which could come in handy if you need to present something in court or if something crazy happens in front of your car that you want to show your friends later.

If you are in an accident, it’ll even send out some e-mails or post something on Twitter to let people know, which is simultaneously handy and random. It’s handom.

Save Drives

Halloween is coming soon, which means you need a costume to show off how incredibly awesome you are. Maybe you’re still undecided and need a little bit of inspiration. When it comes to Apple-themed costumes there are a lot of great ideas out there and you don’t have to spend a lot of money to make them.

We’ve rounded up some of the best Apple Halloween costumes from the past few years to help you decide what you should be. Check them out:

If that headline reads like the tag for a family-friendly animated film — possibly one released during the holiday season — it’s because Mimpi, an adorable platformer from developers Crescent Moon Games and Silicon Jelly, has all the charm of those movies. The good ones, I mean. The bad ones aren’t charming at all.

But a cute visual style isn’t enough, so Mimpi also has puzzles, hidden items, and items to unlock. And it all happens across eight big levels, each with their own visual and play styles.

In short, it’s a cute game and plenty of it.

Have you ever wanted to copy and send files to and from your Mac at any time…and from any device? Cult of Mac Deals has got you covered – thanks to Spotdox.

With Spotdox, you can access any file on your Mac from anywhere. Spotdox is an add on for Dropbox that gives you remote access to all of your files, any time, from any device so you’ll never get stuck without that important file or folder again. And Cult of Mac Deals is offering Spotdox for life for only $19 – a savings of 66% – during this limited time offer.

Write it off as a smokescreen to cover sliding profit and margins if you want, but Tim Cook’s belief in the culture of Apple came across loud and clear during Monday’s conference call with analysts and reporters.

Speaking about Apple as a “force for good in the world beyond our products” Cook claimed that, “Whether it’s improving working conditions or the environment, standing up for human rights, helping eliminate AIDS, or reinventing education, Apple is making substantial contributions to society.”

The Los Altos family home that Steve Jobs grew up in has now been designated as a site of historical significance, thanks to the seven-member Los Altos Historical Commission  that unanimously approved a recent historic property evaluation on the home.

Steve Jobs and his foster parents moved into the house on 2066 Crist Drive in Los Altos, California, when he was in 7th grade and continued to live there though his high school days. The decision to mark the house as a historical site gives the single-story, ranch house protection from builders seeking to demolish it, although Steve Jobs step-mom, Marilyn Jobs, still  lives there, so good luck getting her out anytime soon.

Regarding the reasons for why the Jobs house is worthy of being historicized, the property evaluation cited the following:

If you thought BBM was going to be a massive flop on Android and iOS, then you thought wrong. BlackBerry has today announced that the service has added 20 million active users since making its debut on the two rival platforms, taking its total number of monthly active users across Android, iOS, and BlackBerry to 80 million.