ipad

Dear Apple, stop overcharging for extra iPad memory

First, an admission: I preordered an iPad Mini. But I wasn't happy about the price I was paying.

You see, I've been around iOS devices long enough to know that 16GB of storage space just doesn't cut it -- throw a couple of high-res games and an HD movie or two on the thing, and you're starting to hit the limit. That put me at $429 for the 32GB model. Tack on the extra dough for sales tax and suddenly I was over $450. And that doesn't include the $29 Apple wants for Lightning-to-30-pin adapter … Read more

iPad mini: $329, 7.9-inch screen

On November 2nd, Apple will release the iPad Mini Wi-fi model in three memory configurations. $329 for 16GB, $429 for 32GB, and $529 for 64GB. Two weeks later on November 16th, we'll see Wi-fi + 4G model hit the shelves at $459 for 16GB, $559 for 32GB, and $659 for 64GB.

The new tablet is 7.2mm thick and weighs 0.68 pounds. It comes in white and black and kind of looks like a larger iPod Touch at first glance.

Apple: Lower margins on iPad Mini, iPhone 5 to dampen profits

Apple's decision to introduce new lineups for its phones, tablets and computers will result in lower earnings per share in the holiday quarter, CEO Tim Cook told analysts today.

Last year the company earned $13.87 per share in its first fiscal quarter. This year the company set its price target at $11.75.

The reason, executives said, is the high costs associated with producing a wide range of products at Apple's large scale.

"With each new product we see learning curves with ramping products," Cook said during a conference call with analysts. "The difference … Read more

iPad sales miss estimates as rate of adoption slowed

The rate at which consumers bought the iPad slowed for the quarter compared to expectations.

Apple said today that it had sold 14 million iPads in the most recent quarter, compared with 11.12 million iPads a year ago. That's a 26 percent increase on the year; in the same quarter in 2011, iPad sales increased by 166 percent.

That's significantly less than analysts expected, though.

Apple previewed its tablet sales during yesterday's iPad Mini unveiling, saying it has sold 100 million iPads to date. In a note this morning, Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu had noted … Read more

Get prepared for Windows 8

Thursday's CNET Update prepares for a new era:

Windows 8 arrives at 12:01 a.m. local time Friday -- are you ready? CNET has everything you need to prepare for the new system, including a buying guide, as well as tips and tricks to navigating the new interface.

Microsoft's Surface RT tablet also arrives Friday, but Surface is just the start of a new line of devices from Microsoft. CEO Steve Ballmer has said Microsoft will build more devices under its name. So maybe we'll see a Surface Mini someday, or even a Microsoft Phone.

Google … Read more

For some tablets, iPad Mini is a big threat in a little package

Apple's introduction of the iPad Mini this week generated two lines of thinking about competition in the tablet space.

The first, articulated by some analysts, holds that lower-cost tablets have nothing to worry about. Reuters collected their comments in an article giving shape to their general lack of concern. The reason? The entry-level Mini's $329 price, enough to give it distance from cheaper tablets on the market. A note from Nomura Equity Research indicated that "demand for Google's Nexus 7 and Amazon's Kindle Fire is unlikely to be much affected by the launch of the … Read more

The logic of Apple's premium-priced iPad Mini

On Tuesday, Apple unveiled its well-received holiday lineup of products and saw its stock continue to sink. Stock analysts are predicting that like Google, Apple will miss consensus estimates for the current quarter, mostly due to lower-than-expected iPhone sales and production delays for the iPhone 5. Apple reports its quarterly earnings after the bell tomorrow.

Read: Apple earnings preview: All eyes on iPhone, iPad

But now the analysts have some fresh meat, and are considering how the iPad Mini will impact Apple's fortunes, especially its pricing. The mini-tablet space is becoming a hot spot, one crowded with competitors. … Read more

iPad Mini Wi-Fi version lacks GPS found in similar tablets

The iPad Mini Wi-Fi version is missing one key feature found in many other 7-inch tablets -- GPS.

Looking at the Location specs for the iPad Mini on Apple's Web site, the cellular edition shows built-in GPS. But the Wi-Fi version doesn't include that feature.

At yesterday's iPad launch event, Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller seemed to enjoy comparing the iPad Mini with Google's Nexus 7 tablet. Schiller proclaimed the iPad Mini the winner due in large part to its bigger 7.9-inch screen size.

But the Nexus 7 comes with GPS. I've used the … Read more

Get a refurbished iPad 3 (16GB) for $379

Mea culpa: In yesterday's post about the free Inpaint program (now expired), I neglected to warn users about the big, blue, fake Download button on Giveaway of the Day's cluttered download page. That's a commonly used adware ploy found on a lot of sites, and I know some people clicked it and got stuck with unwanted toolbars and other junk.

For the record, I did include a direct download link within the post (meaning you needn't have visited GotD at all), but I still feel awful about what happened. It's really important to look before … Read more

That was fast: The iPad gets a new chip, the A6X

Apple was quick to obsolete the "new" chip in the third-generation Retina iPad -- not to mention the iPad itself. So the question is, why so fast?

But before we answer that question, let's look at some of the improvements. Apple says the A6X "delivers up to twice the CPU [central processing unit] and graphics performance of the A5X chip" -- the A5X being the processor Apple just announced back in March when it rolled out the first Retina iPad.

A lot of that improvement comes from the goodness of Apple's new A6 chip … Read more