Here Comes The Ipad 5
We don’t know the exact date that the Ipad 5 will be out, but we know its on its way. The new Ipad will robably be announced in the middle of 2013 and go on sale in October 2013. The Ipad Mini 2 will probably be on the same release schedule.
Some of the rumors on the fifth generation Ipad include a 16:9 screen ratio which would be awesome for movies. We also think it will be a little thinner, due to a single LED light and smaller battery.
One thing we do know is that we are always excited to see Apple’s final product.
Read MoreApple Ipad Mini
There have been rumors flying about the iPad Mini for quite a while, but now we have what appear to be pictures of a working iPad Mini.
The photos were leaked on a Chinese website called BoLoPad and appear to show a working 7.85-inch iPad Mini. The photos they have available look very similar to the 9.7-inch iPad, were obviously smaller. The back of the apparent iPad Mini looks to be aluminum and has the Apple logo clearly added.
The device appears to have two speaker ports at the bottom, with a small Lightning Connector in the middle. There are two volume buttons on the side, and a lock button and headphone port at the top. From the front, the pictured tablet has a black rim and a physical home button at the bottom.
This isn’t the first site to leak photo’s of the much anticipated iPad mini.
Even though Apple has not officially announced a smaller version of the iPad, rumors are still circulating that Apple will release it and name the device the “iPad Mini”.
If Apple does release the device this year, we are expecting an announcement sometime in October so that it can be on shelves in time for the Christmas season.
Read MoreIpad Etch A Sketch Case
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ThinkGeek has one of the coolest Ipad cases I have seen so I thought I would give them a plug. It looks just like an Etch A Sketch case for all you 80′s children. 
You can visit their page at http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/cellphone/e6e2/
Read MoreWhat to expect in the Ipad 3
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Apple is expected to unveil the iPad 3 sometime in Q1 of 2012. There’s no concrete launch date in place as yet – there never is with Apple until the eleventh hour – but this little nuance, as per usual, hasn’t stopped the inevitable tirade of rumour, conjecture and speculation about the next iPad reaching fever pitch online.
Allegedly the iPad 3 will feature an up-scaled version of Apple’s famous Retina display, along with a quad core – A6 – processor and an upgraded graphics processor, which will apparently be twenty times more powerful than the iPad 2’s.
It’ll also support LTE 4G network connectivity – not that it’s any use in the UK – and a slightly thicker chassis as well as a significantly improved battery life. These are the chief reoccurring rumours about the iPad 3 – although none of these wonderful additions have been officially confirmed.
So what else can Apple bring to the tablet table? What has the company, until now, been neglecting from its iconic device?
The most obvious improvement for Apple’s tablet we can think of would be high-end camera setups, both the primary and the front-facer for video calls. The sensors Apple used on the iPad 2 are sub-par and have already been out-classed by Asus and Samsung with their respective efforts.
Fortunately, we’ve heard reports that the new iPad 3 will feature an 8-megapixel primary similar to the iPhone 4S. The thing is I think this should be a bare minimum. For me, the argument that tablets don’t need decent cameras just doesn’t hold water and, despite advances in digital camera technology the mobile world seems remarkably slow to progress in step. It’s seemingly not a high priority and that doesn’t make much sense to me.
Companies like Nokia, which put a lot of time and effort into mobile camera setups, have the right idea but as Apple is truly a trend-setter for mobile tech it should be doing something bold to distinguish itself from the pack.
I also think the way in which people use tablets now, particularly the iPad, means higher spec cameras would be well received. For things like video calling between family members, and even from an enterprise perspective for things like conference calls, the upgraded camera hardware would no doubt get plenty of use.
The increased real estate of an iPad means that it’s far more suitable for things like shooting, recording and editing than, say, a smartphone. Have you ever tried editing a picture or video on the iPhone? It’s not fun, trust us.
Granted there are many users that would never dream of taking their slate out of the house for fear of losing it, or because it doesn’t have 3G connectivity. But for everyone of these types of users there’s about three who take their tablet everywhere with them – this means lighter tablets are always something manufacturers should be striving towards.
And while we know it’d be difficult to get the iPad 3 much lighter than the last iteration of Apple’s iPad, we would like to see some weight savings – even if it is only a gram or two.
I’d be very impressed if Apple did something that no one is expecting, like included an 8-megapixel camera on the front and a 12-megapixel, or even 16-megapixel, primary on the back. Of course it’s not just about the megapixels, but Apple has demonstrated it can handle cameras holistically as it did with the iPhone 4S’s increased aperture size and additional lens. More of this sort of thing would be great.
What I’d really like to see in the next iPad is more support for either current standards or a nod to future ones. We saw plenty of wireless HD streaming at CES this year (WDMI) and I have a feeling this is going to become popular in a big way, just as HDMI output ports did.
Streaming capability generally appears to be gaining traction and it would be prudent for Apple to get onboard the stream train. Now we know that Apple already has AirPlay, which is all well and good (providing you’re a fully fledged member of the Apple cult and have an iPad, iPhone, Apple TV and MacBook Air). But what about people that don’t have or want Apple TV?
Simple: they’re screwed. In Apple’s world you’re either 100 per cent in or 100 per cent out – it doesn’t have time for tourists.
So, to reiterate the point further: we’d like to see some additional streaming options on the iPad 3, like DLNA or WDMI. It’d be an excellent feature and one that would help Apple maintain its competitive edge in a market that’s about to be flooded with lots of cool, open-source, streaming technology, such as Android Beam and the aforementioned WDMI – but, of course, we’re not holding our breath.
And wouldn’t it be great if Apple considered a re-design of its iOS interface. Obviously this would need rolling out across the board but iOS’s face is really showing its age now. I’m really bored of looking at it.
Functionality doesn’t need to change, but overall things are looking a bit too bubbly and cartoony in my view. Something slicker and more interesting, a complete makeover, would be well worth it.
But sadly, I know it’s wasted words to say these things. If there’s one thing which characterises Apple as a company it’s the determination to ignore criticism and suggestion for its products and instead to simply forge on ahead with its own decisive actions. Not only that but, if rumours are to believed, Apple is probably too far along in the development process to change the iPad 3 spec now.
We’re expecting an iPhone 4S-like launch and nothing more.
Read MoreIs the Amazon Fire an Ipad Killer?
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Amazon released their highly anticipated “Ipad Killer” this week to the excitement of millions of people. With a $199 starting price, how can consumers justify purchasing the much more expensive Ipad 2? Lets dig in a little deeper to see if the Amazon kindle Fire is truly a better buy.
The first thing we noticed when we examined the Kindle Fire is that the onboard storage is significantly less. Amazon only offers 8gb which is towards the bottom of all tablets on the market. We also see that there is no camera, no microscope, no gyroscope, no 3g or 4g wireless (they only offer wifi). The screen is much smaller at 7″, although Amazon will release a 10″ in the future.
There are a few advantages to the Amazon Fire over the Ipad. They have an awesome e-book reader with a huge selection of e-books. Their Silk web browser uses Amazon’s servers to help with browsing. Plus they have some great streaming video options in their app store.
For people on a budget it’s worth investigating the Kindle Fire. For $199 you can have a decent media viewer that will offer you enough entertainment options to meet most people’s needs. At this point, I can’t say it’s an Ipad killer, but Amazon id definitely on the right track.
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Facebook Ipad App to be Announced October 4
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(Mashable) — Facebook will launch its long-awaited iPad app at Apple’s iPhone 5 launch event on October 4, Mashable has learned. In addition to the iPad app, Facebook is also expected to release a revamped version of its iPhone app and may unveil an HTML5-based mobile app marketplace.
The Facebook iPad app, which leaked earlier this year, has been in limbo at Facebook for the past few months. That much was made clear in a blog post Monday by former Facebook engineer Jeff Verkoeyen. In that post, he revealed that he left the company (for Google) partially because Facebook has been sitting on the completed app since May.
The problem, according to two sources familiar with the situation, has been a combination of timing and a strained relationship with Apple. It’s no secret that the two companies have been at odds over various issues during the past two years.
For example, the social network pulled the plug on Facebook Connect in Ping because Apple didn’t give Facebook any warning about the feature, which would have eaten a great deal of bandwidth on Facebook’s side.
We’ve also heard rumors that Facebook was supposed to be integrated into iOS. This was meant to happen years ago, but disagreements on both sides eventually led to Apple integrating Twitter into iOS 5.
The relationship between the two technology giants is warming up, however, thanks to the shared goal of beating Google — and the simple fact that Facebook and Apple may need each other. The former doesn’t have a mobile platform while Apple doesn’t have a social platform. The culmination of this renewed friendship: the launch of Facebook for iPad at Apple’s iPhone 5 media event.
At this event, our sources also expect Facebook to unveil a new version of Facebook for the iPhone, with design and speed improvements that mimic the iPad app.
Facebook has also been working on a project to bring the Facebook Platform to mobile devices. The project, labeled “Project Spartan” by some (a name not used internally at Facebook, according to one of our sources), is designed to be a platform where developers can bring their Facebook apps to mobile devices via an HTML5 platform.
What we’re hearing is that Apple is actually working with Facebook on perfecting the HTML5 platform. This could also launch at Apple’s upcoming iPhone event, though our sources wouldn’t commit to a specific launch date for the platform. Facebook decided not to launch it at f8, as it didn’t want to water down the announcement of the new Facebook Open Graph and Timeline.
When we said last week that Facebook would be profoundly changed, we weren’t just referring to the new Facebook Open Graph and the “frictionless sharing” touted by Mark Zuckerberg. We were also talking about its secretive effort to become a mobile platform for the social web. And thanks to Apple, it looks like that effort is about to come to fruition.
We’ve reached out to Apple and Facebook for comment.
Mashable’s Jennifer Van Grove contributed to this report.
© 2010 MASHABLE.com. All rights reserved.
Read MoreIpad Competitor Won’t Be Here Until 2012
It appears that Amazon’s new 10-inch tablet won’t reach the market until 2012. They reportedly will be releasing their 7-inch tablet first and the 10-inch version sometime in the first quarter of 2012.
Amazon is expected to target the same price range as the Nook which retails for $250. They want to price the 7-inch version at a couple hundred below the price of Apple’s Ipad. The greatest challenge Amazon will have is the app market. The Ipad currently offers significantly more apps than any of it’s competitors. This may be the reason that the 10-inch competitors have not taken much market share away from Apple. Amazon will reportedly be heavily modifying the Android software to make sure that their tablet is a “finished” product compared to some of the other Android tablets on the market.
In other tablet news, HP has reported that they will make another run of their HP Touchpad line. While it is unclear why they are building more of these tablets to sell at a significant loss, it does show that there is a significant market for cheap tablets. Savy shoppers will be able to find Touchpad models with the 16gb harddrive for $99, and the 32gb versions for $149. Best Buy recently confirmed that they will be selling their remaining inventory at these discounted prices.
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