minis

Apple has agreed to withdraw patent infringement allegations against Samsung's new Galaxy S3 Mini in exchange for assurances that the South Korean electronics giant will not market the smartphone in the U.S.

Apple disclosed the agreement today in a filing with the U.S. District Court for Northern California. The iPhone maker requested last month that the new smartphone and other Samsung products be added to the ongoing patent dispute between the two companies. Samsung countered that the S3 Mini was unavailable for purchase in the United States, however Apple noted that the new smartphone was listed on … Read more

Apple's iPad Mini is creating a frenzy among Chinese tablet buyers, according to Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White.

Checks of retailers in China and Hong Kong show "an insatiable appetite" for the Mini, leading to a supply shortage, White said in an investors note out today. Stores in China are out of stock, while those in Hong Kong are sold out of nearly all flavors of the 7-inch tablet.

The iPad Mini is proving much more popular in China and Hong Kong than its bigger 4th-generation brother, which remains in stock.

"Prior to the China … Read more

Watchers of Apple and the industry no doubt recall Tim Cook's comments in a recent interview about bringing some Mac production back to the U.S. in the coming year. But which Mac might the Apple CEO be talking about?

DigiTimes thinks it knows. A new report from the Asia-based blog cites "sources from the upstream supply chain" as saying that it'll be the Mac Mini. Keep in mind, however, that DigiTimes' reports aren't always reliable. And then there's this: Earlier in the month, Fortune's Philip Elmer-Dewitt laid out several reasons why he … Read more

Another iPad already?

Apple is prepping a thinner, lighter fifth-generation iPad that shares some of its design cues with the recently released iPad Mini, according to Japanese blog Macotakara. The report was picked up and translated by 9to5Mac.

The report also calls for the next iPad Mini to be released with a Retina display, following other similar reports. The addition wouldn't be surprising, as it was a key missing feature with the original iPad Mini.

The release of a next-generation iPad would drastically shorten an already shortened product life cycle for Apple's main tablet. The fourth-generation iPad was … Read more

Might this have been a case of twisted competitive urges?

Or might the temptation of a box left on a doorstep -- a box containing an iPad Mini -- simply have been too much?

These are the questions rolling through the minds of Al and Sandra Alverson and, surely, 10,000 psychologists in their home town of Houston, Tx.

The Alversons, you see, were told in an e-mail by FedEx that their brand new iPad Mini had been delivered.

But, as KHOU 11 News reports, when they got home the doorstep was bare. Well, bare of the iPad Mini box.… Read more

Xmas is a time for families to be together and share all the tensions they have harbored for the whole year.

So to celebrate family closeness, Apple has just released an ad -- bless you, MacStories -- for the iPad Mini. It features a grandfather and granddaughter.

She is singing to him over FaceTime.

We see her face on a regular iPad and his on an iPad Mini.

Naturally, the viewing public, tired from shopping and eating, are supposed to look at this sweet opus and offer an "aahh" and a "so sweet."

Here at Technically … Read more

The famed iPhone battery drain issue seems have to resurfaced for some people who've made the leap to iOS 6.0.2.

Several users chiming in on Apple's Discussion Forums say the latest iOS update, which was designed to fix Wi-Fi problems, is draining their batteries faster.

One iOS 6.0.2 updater said that "I can usually get through a day with about 75 percent of my battery power remaining. Today I've gone through 90 percent and I've done nothing special with it."

Another said: "Today I barely used my phone at … Read more

A fresh review of a Windows 8 Acer tablet by chip site Anandtech shows it beating ARM-based devices pretty consistently on central processor unit performance benchmarks but not on graphics. The site also noted a "bug" that has delayed the release of some Intel-based tablets.

"The [Intel] Atom architecture is still faster than every single ARM based [processor] core on the market today with the exception of the Cortex A15," -- ARM's newest chip design -- wrote Anandtech when it posted a review of the Acer W510 today.

Intel's Atom z2760 "Clover Trail&… Read more

So, congratulations! Perhaps you're the owner of a new iPad this holiday season. If so, you've come to the right place. Apple's tablet is incredibly easy to use, but there are still plenty of ways to set up and optimize your iPad to take advantage of everything it has to offer. Some of these suggestions may be obvious; others might not.

Regardless, here's what I do when I take a new iPad out of its crisp white box. I think you should do the same. At the least, these tips should help you get on your feet.… Read more