iPad

iPad Mini buyers waiting for the LTE version of the tablet will have their chance to buy a device in Sprint carrier stores beginning Friday. Sprint also will start carrying the fourth-generation iPad.

The LTE iPad Mini will be available in black and white versions, but will cost significantly more than its Wi-Fi-only sibling. The 16GB will sell for $459.99, the 32GB for $559.99, and the 64GB for $659.99.

Though Apple began taking orders for the LTE iPad Mini on November 2, it advised buyers that their devices would ship and appear in stores in two weeks. … Read more

Various accessories that include Apple's new Lightning connector are gradually trickling out onto the market, and JBL is the first to announce Lightning-equipped speaker docks.

The smaller $99 battery-powered model, the JBL OnBeat Micro, which gets about 5 hours of power from four AAA batteries, retails for $99 while the $199 JBL OnBeat Venue LT offers wireless Bluetooth connectivity and its dock can also accommodate the iPad Mini and the fourth-generation iPad with Retina Display. Unfortunately, of course, the docks aren't compatible with older iPhones unless you use an optional adapter. … Read more

The iPad Mini has been boosted in New York, but not in a good way.

The New York Post is reporting that thieves have stolen $1.5 million worth of iPad Minis from a building at JFK airport. Police told the paper the crooks somehow gained access to the cargo storage area late Monday night and used an airport forklift to load two pallets containing about 3,600 tablets in total into a large truck.… Read more

The iPhone 5 and new iPads will trigger a surge in sales for Apple this quarter and next, says Morgan Stanley's Katy Huberty.

In an investors note out today, Huberty pointed out that key suppliers for both devices say their own revenue will be higher than anticipated for the current quarter. They're also seeing above-average orders from Apple for next year's first quarter. And demand could rise even higher before the year is over.

The analyst believes the iPhone 5 will drive more customers to upgrade this quarter and on into next year. At the same time, … Read more

The Nintendo Wii U comes out in just a few days, just in time for Thanksgiving-time shopping. Look at its signature feature: the GamePad. It has a 6-inch touch screen. It has a gyroscope. It has buttons. It's more than a little like a supertablet.

But it's not. I've tried using the Wii U. Nintendo's upcoming console is clearly a nod toward the fusion of handheld tablets with TV set-top boxes, a second-screen device if ever there was one. It can play games on its little screen even when the TV that the Wii U is plugged into is turned off or doing something else. And it can even move to another room and be used wirelessly. It's not a tablet, however. A lot of people will wish it were. And that's exactly where Nintendo needs to eventually head.… Read more

The biggest rumor of the week insists that Apple is going to have a surprisingly exciting first quarter next year. We discuss whether it makes any sense to flout the patterns of history and release three brand-new devices at the start of the year so soon after the holidays and hot on the heels of the iPad 4 and iPhone 5 releases. Are you willing to bet on it? Vote in the polls in our interactive video player, and here in the blog post.

We also discuss a rumor about Facebook that Emily thinks is the epitome of creepy, and … Read more

An activist group has organized an online petition to press Apple to stop blocking Drones+, an iPhone app that maps locations where U.S. drone strikes have occurred.

Apple had earlier described the app as "objectionable" and "not in compliance with the app store review guidelines." Apple's rules govern what apps can and can't contain in order to be made available in its proprietary App Store.

"Drones+ is an application that shows no depictions of the carnage of war and reveals no secret information. It simply adds a location to a map every … Read more

Apple's iPad Mini won't cannibalize too many fourth-generation iPad sales, a new study has found.

Analyst Cowen and Co. recently conducted a survey of 1,225 U.S. adults on their upcoming tablet buying preferences. According to All Things Digital, which obtained a copy of the survey's results, just 12 percent of respondents said that they would buy an iPad Mini within the next 18 months. Out of that group, just 16.6 percent said that they were buying the tablet to replace it with another tablet. Moreover, just 29 percent of those folks said that the … Read more

OK, I'll admit it. The iPad Mini hasn't left my hands in the last three weeks. It's been no contest, really. While the larger fourth-gen iPad has sat alone by my bedside table, the Mini has gone on field trips on the bus, gotten dragged in my jacket pocket while I dropped my kid off at school, been coddled at the cafe over breakfast, and slipped alongside my laptop on work excursions.

As I predicted when I reviewed it, the Mini's had a hard time leaving my hands, because few places seem inappropriate for it. At a Kindle size, it's bedroom-friendly. It'll set up nicely on a kitchen counter. It slides into otherwise lesser-used front pockets on backpacks. And it might be the best gaming handheld Apple's ever made, based on the sheer size of the screen and its thin, two-hand-friendly frame.

But, what does that mean?… Read more