mini

Compact snaps: Five speedy compact cars

Automakers, recognizing some buyers' need for speed, oblige by tuning up their inexpensive compact models, delivering more power and better handling. At the same time, most of these cars retain their basic practicality, whether it is the stylish and easily parked Fiat 500 Abarth or the cargo-friendly hatchback design of the Focus ST.

Not only do these cars cost less than top performance models, they can also work as your only car, good for the daily commute, a road trip, and maybe even a track day.

Here are five cars designed to perform. … Read more

Why the next Nintendo portable needs to be a tablet

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

iPad Mini won't eat into its big brother's sales, analyst says

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

Living with the iPad Mini: Three weeks and counting

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

iPad will lose market dominance to Android next year, says analyst

Android will finally knock the iPad off its throne next year, at least according to one analyst.

Apple's iPad has remained the king of the tablet market for the past few years but has gradually shed market share to the onslaught of Android devices. For the third quarter of 2010, the iPad enjoyed an 87 percent cut of the market, according to IDC. For this year's third quarter, that number had fallen to just 50.4 percent.

That trend will continue as the share collectively owned by Android tablets surpasses that of the iPad in the first half … Read more

LTE iPads arriving this week, reports say

Some fourth-generation iPad buyers may receive the LTE version of the device as soon as Friday, according to new reports.

MacRumors and 9To5Mac are reporting that pre-orders of the cellular-enabled model iPad are now on their way to customers and should arrive at their homes this week.

The expected arrival date is largely in line with what Apple said when announcing the device last month. The Cupertino, Calif., electronics giant released the Wi-Fi-only version of the tablet on November 2, but the 4G LTE wireless model was slated to hit shelves a couple weeks later. The same was true for … Read more

iPad Mini ads play up tablet as e-book reader and photo viewer

The iPad Mini is the star of two new TV ads that also promote Apple's iBooks and iPhoto apps.

Both ads speak nary a word and rely just on visuals and music to convey their message.

With a piano jauntily playing in the background, the first spot displays a Mini and a full-sized iPad side-by-side as someone taps and swipes through iBooks to scour the bookshelves, open various books, and page through one of the books.

Accompanied by a jazzy rendition of "Two of a Kind" by Bobby Darin and Johnny Mercer, the second ad features a person browsing a library of photos … Read more

The iPad Mini design explained

So, why did Apple go with an unremarkable display for its iPad Mini and how is this related to the overall design? An IHS iSuppli analyst explains.

The iPad Mini sports an average-resolution display that falls short of the super-high-resolution Retina displays on most of Apple's other mobile products like the 9.7-inch iPad, iPhone, and iPod.

I asked Vinita Jakhanwal, a display analyst at IHS iSuppli, to give me her thoughts about Apple's design decisions.

"I think there are a lot of other issues involved in creating a new form factor device," Jakhanwal said.

"… Read more

In your FaceTime: Apple gets sued by VirnetX -- again

VirnetX, which has already won $368.2 million in damages, isn't quite done with Apple.

The patent holding and security software company, which earlier this week won an earlier suit against Apple in a Texas court, has now slapped the electronics giant with a new lawsuit. As in the prior complaint, VirnetX is accusing Apple of infringing four of its networking patents through the use of FaceTime.

Those patents, Nos. 6,502,135, 7,418,504, 7,921,211 and 7,490,151, cover advancements for secure communication over the Internet. That includes technology for creating a virtual private … Read more