Apple

iPad Mini launches in Sandy's wake: CNET's live coverage

For the Apple faithful in the East Coast, the iPad Mini couldn't have come at a worse time.

Apple's newest tablet, the smaller 7.9-inch sibling to the larger 9.7-inch iPad, launched today, just days after Hurricane Sandy ravaged the East Coast and left millions without power and many others without water or access to public transportation.

Sandy's damage forced the closure of most shops in Lower Manhattan, including Apple's SoHo and West 14th Street stores. Both cited the extreme weather and posted signs that they were closed until "conditions improve."

CNET's … Read more

iPad 4 hard to fix and wastes space, says iFixit

Anyone attempting to repair Apple's 4th-gen iPad will face a rough job, according to the folks at iFixit.

Examining the innards of the iPad 4, the fixit site found that the unit is glued shut through adhesive. Taking apart the tablet required iFixit to apply heat to soften the adhesive and then pry it open with guitar picks, which fortunately didn't damage the device.

As with the iPad 3, the battery is adhered securely to the rear case, making it hard to reach and difficult to remove. But that's par for the course, as Apple specifically designs … Read more

Analyst: iPad Mini to hurt sales of Windows 8 devices

The iPad Mini will cause major agita for Windows 8 device makers, according to Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu.

In an investor's note out yesterday, Wu said that the iPad's main rivals are not 7-inch Android tablets, as other analysts have asserted, but rather Windows 8 PCs and tablets.

"We continue to believe iPad Mini is the competition's worst nightmare and will likely slow down adoption of competitor tablets," Wu said in the note. "In particular, we believe this could end up being a very tough holiday season for Windows 8."

The analyst … Read more

iPad 4 charges faster thanks to new power adapter

Apple's iPad 4 charges quicker than previous iPads courtesy of its new power adapter.

Plugging the new iPad into a watt meter through the new adapter, Apple news and reviews site Insanely Great Mac recorded 12 watts of juice. Previous iPad adapters deliver just 10 watts.

Those two extra watts may not sound like much, but they'll trim a good 30 to 45 minutes off the charge time, according to IGM.

Unfortunately, owners of previous iPads and the iPhone are out of luck. Though the new power adapter is compatible with older units, it won't provide more … Read more

Apple: The iPad Mini has stereo speakers

Apple's new iPad Mini does have two stereo speakers, despite Amazon's attempt to fudge the facts.

On Sunday, the retail giant unveiled a comparison chart on its home page pitting its own Kindle Fire HD against Apple's iPad Mini. With all the stats stacked in favor of the Kindle, Amazon said that its tablet offers dual stereo speakers while the iPad Mini is stuck with just mono sound.

Though Amazon has since taken down the chart from its home page, another chart contrasting the two 7-inch rivals now says the iPad Mini has a single speaker.

But … Read more

Microsoft upgrades Windows Phone sync app for Mac users

Mac owners who use a Windows Phone device now have a new and improved app for syncing their information.

Released yesterday in the Mac App store, the Windows Phone 3.0 app lets users sync movies, videos, documents, and other files between their Macs and Windows Phone handsets. The latest version now supports Windows Phone 8.

Users can drag and drop files between their Windows Phone 8 devices and the Mac desktop or the Finder file manager. They can see the state of the phone's battery charge and take advantage of better support for ringtones. The new app also … Read more

iFixit tears into iPad Mini, finds assembly a lot like iPod Touch

iFixit got its hands on an early iPad Mini delivery, and it is quickly tearing down the device to examine the components and other features.

The site has found a lot of assembly similarities to the iPod Touch, particularly in how many screws and metal plates it has to remove to dig deeper in the gadget.

"All this prying and disconnecting is reminding us a lot of our recent iPod Touch teardown," iFixit said. "But remember, the Mini and the Touch are, in fact, different devices."

One big difference from the iPod Touch is the battery'… Read more

iStat for iOS now monitors Windows machines, too

Software utility maker Bjango has released a new $5 version of its iStat app for iOS that now lets people remotely monitor their Windows machines, not just Macs.

I've been a big fan of iStat Menus, a $16 utility that uses the OS X menu to show a variety of usage details such as CPU utilization, upload and download speeds, free storage space, and fan temperature.

iStat for iOS shows statistics such as free storage space, battery life, and network usage for iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touches. And if you have an agent called iStat Server installed on your … Read more

Defense Department drops exclusive contract for BlackBerry

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion has been dealt another blow by the U.S. government. The U.S. Defense Department recently announced that it is opening its exclusive contract with the company to other device makers, including Apple and Google.

According to Reuters, the Pentagon said it would still use "large numbers" of BlackBerry smartphones but that it was also asking other companies to apply for a government contract to provide software that is capable of monitoring, managing, and enforcing U.S. military security requirements.

A Pentagon spokesperson told Reuters that it was broadening its reach with device … Read more