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Don’t Buy an iPhone 5 Dock Because It’s a Chinese Scam (http://gizmodo.com/5955327/dont-buy-an-iphone-5-dock-because-its-a-chinese-scam)

Click here to read Don't Buy an iPhone 5 Dock Because It's a Chinese Scam

Apple doesn’t make a standup dock for the iPhone 5, which sucks. Normally we’d turn to our friends in China to do what Apple can’t (or won’t), but in this case, no: purported Lightning docks are complete broken fakery. More »

iPhone 5 to launch in India, elsewhere Nov. 2 (http://www.tuaw.com/2012/10/26/iphone-5-to-launch-in-india-elsewhere-nov-2/)

iPhone 5 to launch in India, elsewhere Nov 2 Apple fans eagerly awaiting the iPhone 5‘s broader worldwide release will have a reason to look forward to November 2 — India, Greece, Bulgaria, Malta, Romania and Thailand will all score the new smartphone on that date. Additional countries are also likely included in that new rollout, though no more have been confirmed.

App Store customers in India will also gain country-specific pricing on that date, with app prices being displayed in Indian rupees for the first time. Pre-orders of the iPhone 5 are expected to begin in India within the next few days through third-party regional distributors, as the country’s retail market makes the opening of official Apple Stores an unfavorable proposition for the company.

[Via: MacRumors]

iPhone 5 to launch in India, elsewhere Nov. 2 originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 26 Oct 2012 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple Stores Now Have Lightning to 30-pin Adapters in Stock (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/iphoneincanada/~3/aBk37WlEfZw/)

Last week we told you about Lightning to 30-pin wired cables hitting Apple Stores, but now it appears the standalone adapter is widely available too. Numerous readers have notified us the standalone adapter which retails for $35 is available at Apple retail stores (Metrotown and Pacific Centre locations in Vancouver). Online availability at Apple.ca is still backordered, as it still shows it will be available in 2-3 weeks.

Let us know if you managed to grab an adapter at your local Apple Store and at which location.

Thanks Teng!

Apple Stores Now Have Lightning to 30-pin Adapters in Stock is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog – Canada's #1 iPhone Resource

Apple CEO Tim Cook Clarifies Steve Jobs’ Decision to Avoid 7-Inch Tablets (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/iphoneincanada/~3/5MLBySel5PA/)

During Apple’s 2012 Q4 earnings call, Apple CEO was asked a question about the company’s old position on dismissing 7-inch tablets made by their competitors, which the late Steve Jobs said would “dead on arrival”. Cook clarified that stance was aimed directly at precise tablets of 7-inches in diameter–whereas the new iPad mini is at 7.9 inches and a screent ratio of 3:2 which provides 35% more screen area (via the WSJ):

Q: Why launch the iPad now? Was the time right?

Cook: On your question about iPad Mini, the comments you’re referencing are comments Steve had made before about 7-inch tablets. Let me be clear, we would not make a 7-inch tablet, we don’t think they’re good products. One of the reasons is size. The difference on just the real estate size is almost 30%. When you look at the usable area, it’s much greater than that, it’s 50-67%. The iPad Mini has the same number of pixels as iPad 2 does, so you have access to all 275,000 apps that are in our App Store that have been custom designed to take advantage of the full canvas. iPad Mini is a fantastic product, it’s not a compromised product like the 7-inch tablets.

That 35 percent Cook is referencing has been part of Apple’s marketing strategy as a plan of attack against 7 inch rival tablets like the Google Nexus 7 and Amazon Fire HD.

Steve Jobs first made the comments about 7 inch tablets during Apple’s 2010 Q4 earnings call:

“7-inch tablets are tweeners: too big to compete with a smartphone and too small to compete with the iPad”

[...]

“These are among the reasons that the current crop of 7-inch tablets are going to be DOA — dead on arrival,”

Jobs also noted competing manufacturers were struggling to meet the pricepoint of the iPad at the time. Since then, we’ve seen the demise of the HP TouchPad and BlackBerry PlayBook. This afternoon, Amazon announced a quarterly loss of $274 million dollars. The company admits it sells its Kindle Fire line up at a break even price (or even a partial loss) and would rather make money by having customers consume their content.

Apple CEO Tim Cook Clarifies Steve Jobs’ Decision to Avoid 7-Inch Tablets is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog – Canada's #1 iPhone Resource

iMessage Outage Being Experienced by Numerous Users [Update] (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/iphoneincanada/~3/2UtcBkJqG6E/)

Looks like Apple’s iMessage is down for the count, as noted by numerous users. Messages look like they are about to finish sending, but they don’t completely go through. Our own experience trying to send iMessages on our Mac gives us a message that particular users “aren’t registered with iMessage” (which isn’t true):

The last time an iMessage outage hit was back in mid-September. During times like these we usually fall back to WhatsApp or even Skype. Is iMessage down for you?

Update: The outage appears to be over for the majority of users.

iMessage Outage Being Experienced by Numerous Users [Update] is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog – Canada's #1 iPhone Resource

iPad Mini’s DITO Film Touch Screen Technology Is Responsible For Its $329 Price Tag [DigiTimes] (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/iphoneincanada/~3/FMIEcXtd0yE/)

DigiTimes is reporting through its anonymous industry sources that iPad Mini’s DITO film sensor is having mass production issues, which is why the device is approximately 40-50% more expensive compared to other 7-inch tablets.

The iPad Mini features the GF2 (DITO film) touch screen technology, which according to the source, has extremely low yield rates as a result of which it has a higher entry price of US $329. In contrast, other 7-inch tablets like Amazon Kindle or Google Nexus have OGS or G/G structures which cost almost half of GF2.

The US$329 price tag for Apple’s iPad mini is largely due to low yield rates for the device’s GF2 (DITO film) touch screen technology, according to industry sources. The sources said that GF2 touch screen modules are only about roughly US$5 cheaper than G/G ones for the 9.7-inch iPad models.

The report also claims that iPad 2 production orders are now extending into the first quarter of 2013 due to the tablet’s steady market demand.

The sources also said iPad 2 orders have a visibility until as late as the first quarter of 2013, which has been an extension compared with previous market predictions due to the device maintaining steady sales.

iPad Mini’s DITO Film Touch Screen Technology Is Responsible For Its $329 Price Tag [DigiTimes] is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog – Canada's #1 iPhone Resource

The Week in iOS Accessories: The iPad mini arrives! (http://www.macworld.com/article/2012868/the-week-in-ios-accessories-the-ipad-mini-arrives.html)

That didn’t take long—within hours of Apple’s Tuesday announcement of the iPad mini, accessory makers began announcing products that would go perfectly with the new device. Here are a few that landed in our in-box in the first couple days, as well as the other new iOS accessories we saw this week.

iPad mini-specific gear

These products are designed specifically for the iPad mini—note that shipping dates haven’t been announced for most.

Gear4′s Cover Stand

Dr. Bott: This company said it would sell 74 different accessories for the iPad mini—including the $40 Cover Stand from Gear4. Most of the rest of the products are so new that Dr. Bott doesn’t yet have pictures available, but they largely run the gamut from protective films for the tablet’s screen to folios to prevent scratches all over.

iLuv: This accessory maker said it would adapt its entire line of iPad cases to fit the iPad mini, with that lineup led by the $65 CEO Folio, a plush case that lets you carry the tablet on one side, along with pens, documents, and styluses in the other. The $55 Snoopy Folio is aimed at a younger crowd, while the $40 Epicarp provides a slim case that offers both protection and a kickstand.

Kensington: This company announced three new products for the new tablet: A $20 protective back cover; a $35 cover and stand; and a SmartCover-compatible back cover that also comes in at $20.

The Rubata Mini

Padacs: The $40 Rubata Mini is a scaled-down version of Padacs’s Rubata hard-shell keyboard case. The 59-key keyboard connects to the tablet using Bluetooth; the case itself is made from synthetic leather for rugged durability.

Other iOS accessories

Not all the new accessories this week were pegged to the iPad mini announcement.

The WeMo Baby

Belkin: The $90 WeMo Baby is an iOS-linked baby monitor for your home, relaying audio from your infant’s room directly to an app on your iPhone or iPad. You can even sign up to get “cry notification” text alerts. There’s no word on when the WeMo Baby will be available, baby—Belkin’s website says only that the device is “coming soon.”

Chef Sleeve: Among its many attributes, the iPad often a great replacement for paper cookbooks. But sometimes it’s scary to take your favorite iOS device into the kitchen where crumbs, gravy, and boiling sweetmeats can make a mess. Chef Sleeve offers a variety of products to keep your tablet safe, including our favorite, a $70 cutting board with iPad stand—you can follow cooking instructions while you chop vegetables (see the picture at the top of this article), or you can watch your favorite cooking show. If you’re still worried about the mess, you can buy a $20 pack of disposable iPad sleeves or iPhone sleeves, which let you use your device in the kitchen while protecting it from foreign substances.

The GameDock

GameDock: The $89 GameDock is pretty much exactly what it sounds like: Plug in your iPhone or iPad, and you suddenly have a 1980s-style Nintendo gaming system on your hands. You can play games on your iOS device’s screen, or plug it into a TV for big-screen gaming. After a successful Kickstarter campaign, the GameDock is now available for pre-order; units are expected to ship in December.

Griffin’s Moto TC Monster

Griffin Technology: SUNDAY! SUNDAY! SUNDAY! Well, ok, you can actually play with the $60 Moto TC Monster any day of the week. You can control this “app-powered monster truck” using your iPad or iPhone, and you can do it from the comfort of your own seat—BUT YOU’LL ONLY NEED THE EDDDDDDDDDGE!

NewerTech’s NuStand Alloy

NewerTech: Maybe the Apple TV is evolving into something more than a niche product. Why do we say that? Because we’re starting to see accessories for the device. The latest is the $18 NuStand Alloy, an aluminum Apple TV stand with a silicone rim for a safe, secure grip, and a rubberized black finish for scratch resistance. The stand weighs in at just 3.5 ounces, and it can also hold Apple’s 2012 Airport Express.

The FlexiCharge

Padacs: Just because the iPhone 5 has arrived doesn’t mean it’s time to stop making—or introducing—accessories for the iPhone 4 and 4S. (Apple’s still selling these models, after all.) The $80 FlexiCharge is a wireless-charging system for those two phone models: Just attach the slimline receiver and place the phone on the charging pad. The device shuts off when the phone’s battery is full, preventing overheating and overcharging.

uNu Electronics: This company is offering three new rechargeable batteries compatible with your iOS devices: the $40 Enerpak Tube, the $80 Enerpak Book, and the $80 Enerpak Vault. uNu claims the devices are compatible with iPhones, iPads, and—most cheekily, since the devices were introduced last week, before this week’s Apple event—the iPad Mini.

Atari announces iOS lineup for the rest of the year and beyond (http://www.tuaw.com/2012/10/25/atari-announces-ios-lineup-for-the-rest-of-the-year-and-beyond/)

Atari has dropped a press release announcing its mobile game lineup for the rest of 2012 and first part of 2013, and there are some really interesting titles in there. Here’s the full list, for your viewing pleasure:

RollerCoaster Tycoon (Q1 2013, iOS and Android)
Dungeons & Dragons: Warbands (December, iPad)
Atari Casino (Q4 2012, iOS)
Outlaw (November, iOS)

RollerCoaster Tycoon should be a fun addition to mobile platforms. Dungeons and Dragons Warbands is a D&D-themed game that sounds nice and tactical, and Outlaw is presumably either a port or an update of the old Atari game from back in 1976. Atari Casino is another old Atari title, but given how popular poker and other casino games have been on iOS, it’s more likely that Atari is working on its own freemium gambling simulation rather than remaking the old classic.

One thing you might not notice on this list is any of the Pong variants that won Atari’s developers challenge earlier this year (for which I was a judge). Atari’s reps have confirmed to us that those games are still under development, and not yet ready for a release announcement. But even without those Atari-published indie titles on the slate, this seems like a nice lineup for the company. We’ll keep a lookout for the first two especially, and let you know when they drop.

Atari announces iOS lineup for the rest of the year and beyond originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 25 Oct 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How Apple’s iPad mini compares with Android tablets (http://www.macworld.com/article/2012954/how-apples-ipad-mini-compares-with-android-tablets.html)

Now that Apple has unveiled its long-awaited iPad mini, we can see where it fits within the broader small-tablet market based on facts, not rumors.

Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD.

There are a slew of Android-based tablets with screens in the 7-inch range. Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Google (manufactured by Asus), Samsung, and Toshiba each have a tablet that size.

How does the iPad mini compare with them? While Apple’s new 7-inch tablet entry will likely find buyers because of the iPad name and the strength of the iOS app ecosystem, the iPad mini’s specs and pricing are in many cases uncompetitive with those of other tablets its size.

Click to enlarge

The screen

In size, the 7.9-inch iPad mini display is just a bit larger than the one found on the previous leader in this class, Toshiba’s Excite 7.7. (That “7.7″ refers to the screen’s dimensions.) Most other Android manufacturers have stuck with garden-variety 7-inch tablet displays, which may be more economical, but also deliver less screen area and therefore (for many) a less satisfying experience. I’ve loved using the Toshiba Excite 7.7; that extra bit of display real estate makes a surprisingly big difference. And Toshiba, like Apple, has managed to achieve the extra space without making the tablet as a whole meaningfully larger in size.

Where the mini's screen comes up short is in pixel density. After Apple released its third-generation iPad with a high-resolution Retina display in March of this year, one might have hoped that Apple would stick with a high-res screen on the iPad mini. But it didn't, going instead with a standard 1024 by 768 display. Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Google have all released 7-inch tablets with higher resolution.

The high-resolution Barnes & Noble Nook HD.

Put another way, the iPad mini’s screen provides 163 pixels per inch. That’s better than the iPad 2′s 132 ppi, but less than every other 7-inch tablet in our comparison. The Kindle Fire HD 7, Nook HD, and Nexus 7 each offer more than 200 ppi. If one of the primary uses for these 7-inch tablets is reading, and if your eyes have grown accustomed to sharper screens, the iPad mini’s lower pixel density could be an issue for you.

Weight, storage, and price

One of the big advantages to a 7-inch tablet is that its size and weight is conducive to extended use in one hand; this comes in particularly handy for reading. As noted earlier, Apple now is the lightest of this size class, in most cases by a substantial amount. (It’s lighter than the Nook HD by the narrowest of margins: just 0.01 of a pound.) The mini is also thinner than most: 0.28 inch versus 0.4 or more for all but the Toshiba Excite 7.7 (0.31 inch).

As for storage capacity, the iPad mini’s 64GB model has more capacity than any other 7-inch tablet. Other tablets max out at 32GB. The base model starts at 16GB; others start at 8GB. And a couple of the other 7-inchers—the Amazon Kindle Fire and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2.0—go to 8GB and no further.

Then there’s the issue of price: The 16GB Kindle Fire HD (with its high-res screen) goes for $199; the 16GB iPad mini is $329. Google is expected to introduce a 32GB version of the Nexus 7 that could well replace the current 16GB at the high-end of that product line but still cost $250; the 16GB version would then bump down to $199. Meanwhile, for $230 you can buy the 16GB version of Barnes & Noble's high-res Nook HD.

The bottom line

Of course, with any tablet, you aren't just buying a quantity of pixels and storage. You're also buying into the manufacturer's application ecosystem. Amazon's and Barnes & Noble's tablets support only those apps found in their respective app stores; the Nexus 7 supports every Android app available through the Google Play store. The iPad mini, meanwhile, can take advantage of the unbeatable breadth to be found in Apple's App Store.

In the end, of course, none of this may matter to you. You may already have made the choice to go with Apple’s tablets, in which case the only question is: Which one? But if you’re shopping for a small-screen tablet generally, you’ll have to weigh the mini’s advantage on apps against its disadvantages in pricing and screen quality.

Apple and its competitors: the circle game (http://www.macworld.com/article/2013001/apple-and-its-competitors-the-circle-game.html)

Apple competes against other companies; that’s a part of doing business. But today, more than ever before, Apple faces increasing—and fascinating—competition from companies that aim to recreate and then build on Apple’s own innovations. Apple’s responses to those competitors and the products they create are even more interesting.

The original iPhone

In 2007, Apple introduced the original iPhone. There was nothing like it in the marketplace: a multi-touch screen that took up almost the entire face of the device, a user interface based on discrete apps. The competition responded, at first, by trying to recreate the iPhone. “We too can make phones that uses full-size screens with apps,” the competitors seemed to say.

But those competitors—and their customers—initially found that simple iPhone knockoffs weren’t very exciting. Part of the problem was that, as late CEO Steve Jobs promised and as Samsung has found out all too well, Apple had “patented the hell out of it.” Perhaps even more significantly, simply copying the iPhone wasn’t such a simple or straightforward task; even today, some competitive platforms struggle to do smooth scrolling and zooming.

Once Apple’s competitors realized that creating another version of the iPhone wasn’t enough, they took what to them must have seemed the next logical competitive step: They made the screens bigger. They made phones with screens that hit the four-inch mark, then the five-inch mark; the Samsung Galaxy Note II includes a 5.55-inch screen so large that it ships with a stylus—human fingers simply aren’t long enough.

The iPhone 5

For many years, Apple ignored such competition. The company remained convinced that the original iPhone’s 3.5-inch screen was sufficient and stuck with what it knew; it didn’t get sucked into the screen-size race. When Apple finally did embrace a larger screen size with the iPhone 5, it didn’t follow directly in its competitors’ footsteps. Rather, it implemented the new phone’s larger screen in a way that clung to the original iPhone’s design goal of being usable with one hand. By stretching the iPhone’s screen size vertically, and leaving the width unchanged, Apple added screen real estate in its own way, without mimicking its competitors.

The iPad and its competitors, interestingly enough, followed a nearly perfectly mirrored path: Apple unveiled the iPad, competitors released knockoff tablets that failed to gain traction, then the competitors started playing around with screen size. Amazon and Google in particular found success by making tablets that weren’t shot-for-shot remakes of the iPad, but rather were smaller devices with 7-inch screens, unique in their own right.

And what happened? For a time, Apple ignored the smaller tablet size; Steve Jobs, of course, said that 7-inch tablets weren’t “sufficient to create great tablet apps.” When the company unveiled the iPad mini, it did finally introduce a smaller iPad—but still eschewed duplicating what its competitors had done. The mini’s screen is just shy of 8 inches diagonally, probably in large part so that scaled-down apps built for the original iPad would remain large enough to be sufficiently tappable, without sacrificing too much on the pixel density front.

The iPad mini

It’s worth noting that when Apple responded to the iPad’s undersized competitors, the company didn’t feel compelled to compete on price. Anyone who’s followed Apple for any amount of time can’t have been too surprised by that decision. Though Apple stunned many when the original iPad’s price tag came in at the relatively low $499 mark, Apple—like Jaguar and Tiffany’s—has never seen fit to compete directly on price. The iPad mini is $329, while the Kindle Fire costs $159 and the Google Nexus 7 starts at $199.

This is a new phase in Apple’s competitive picture, though. Apple never got caught up in the megahertz or megapixel race, struggling artificially to match every move its competitors made. Instead, the company pushed the idea that the value of its products couldn’t be measured by such specs.

The difference now is this: When Apple’s competitors responded to the original Bondi blue iMac, they added blue plastic inserts to their PCs—and then they stopped. Today, Apple faces a more nimble and wealthier cadre of competitors who might start with a similar knockoff approach, but then keep iterating on it. So it’s interesting to see Apple’s product plans being influenced by competitors who are in turn taking their own spins on Apple’s innovations. Larger phones, smaller tablets: Both were introduced to take bites from Apple’s market share. And then both were implemented by Apple itself, but in that company’s own way.

Don’t Buy an iPhone 5 Dock Because It’s a Chinese Scam

iPhone 5 to launch in India, elsewhere Nov. 2

Apple Stores Now Have Lightning to 30-pin Adapters in Stock

Apple CEO Tim Cook Clarifies Steve Jobs’ Decision to Avoid 7-Inch Tablets

iMessage Outage Being Experienced by Numerous Users [Update]

iPad Mini’s DITO Film Touch Screen Technology Is Responsible For Its $329 Price Tag [DigiTimes]

The Week in iOS Accessories: The iPad mini arrives!

iPad mini-specific gear

Other iOS accessories

Atari announces iOS lineup for the rest of the year and beyond

How Apple’s iPad mini compares with Android tablets

The screen

Weight, storage, and price

The bottom line

Apple and its competitors: the circle game

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