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Christmas and holiday season

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Review: Drop Scale makes baking foolproof w/ Bluetooth scales & companion iPad app

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As a dedicated fan of kitchen gadgets, a Bluetooth scale linked to a companion iPad app that walks you through recipes step-by-step was too much to resist. Besides, it was a chance to bake some cookies and call it work (though I’m not entirely convinced the taxman is going to allow me to deduct the cost of the ingredients).

The scale is very compact – a little under 6.5 inches across with the front lip, and around 5.5 inches wide. There are no visible controls or display, but the lip contains a button and a hidden LED which lights up briefly when the scale connects to the app. Otherwise, it’s entirely featureless … 
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Holiday gift guide: apps and products for students and teens

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Holiday Gift Guide students

Technology has totally changed the lives of teenagers and students in this generation, both for the good and the bad. There are apps and products that dramatically make our lives easier and more efficient, but also things that kill our productivity. I’m generally more favorable to the latter of those two, but I’ll breakdown the best of both worlds and exactly what gift the teens and students in your life today might be interested in this holiday season.


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KGI: iPad Pro pushed back again to Q2 2015, Q1 to see under 10M iPads shipped

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The latest report from KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims Apple will delay its expected launch of a 12.9 (or 12.2)-inch iPad ‘Pro’ as it predicts a 50% decline for iPad shipments heading into next year. Specifically, KGI thinks Apple will sell just under 10 million units in Q1 2015 following a busy holiday season in the last quarter of this year. That would be a 54.5% drop from quarter to quarter with KGI predicting 21 million iPad units sold during the Q4 2014 Holiday quarter:
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Apple to report Q1 2013 earnings on Jan. 23

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tim cook

Apple just announced on its Investor Page that it would report its Q1 2013 earnings Jan. 23. As it does once a quarter, Apple will issue a press release at 4:30 p.m. EST with the numbers and follow with a conference call at 5 p.m. EST to discuss the results with CEO Tim Cook, CFO Peter Oppenheimer, and more. The report will give us a close look into how Apple fared during the holiday shopping season and its outlook for 2013. As of the last earnings report in October, Oppenheimer said he expected revenue of about $52 billion and diluted earnings per share of about $11.75 for Q1 2013. Past numbers, questions from investors on the conference call typically bring out new, interesting pieces of information from Apple, and you bet 9to5mac will provide full coverage. [Apple]


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Flurry: Holiday 2012 sees new 1-week record with 50M iOS & Android activations and 1.76B app downloads

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Flurry today released its stats for worldwide app downloads during the 2012 holiday season. It recently released some stats for Christmas Day, including a huge 332 percent increase over previous years to 17.4 million new iOS and Android activations and 328 million app downloads. Today it shared some stats for the entire week starting on Christmas and ending New Year’s Day, noting it recorded the highest number of activations and app downloads for any week in history. As highlighted in the images, Flurry estimated 50 million devices activations and an increase of 65 percent to 1.76 billion app downloads:

The final week of the year, between Christmas and New Year’s Day, grew by 65% over the early-December baseline, historically breaking through the largest single week record previously set during the same week of 2011.  While several weeks since late November delivered billion+ week download levels, the holiday week delivered a record-shattering 1.7 billion downloads… Looking forward to 2013, Flurry expects the trend of one-billion-download weeks to become the norm, and that the industry will surpass the two-billion download week during Q4.

iMacs delayed until 2013? Update: Nope

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Update: Our own Mark Gurman seems to have put the kibosh on this one.

French language website MacBidouille claims to have some bad news from its retail sources. While they were expecting to see iMacs arrive Nov. 27 (we also heard a similar time frame—with availability beginning around Black Friday) for the 21.5-inchers and later in December for the 27-inchers, both may now miss the all-important holiday shopping season.

The source blames a welding process for the delays, which would push the iMacs into 2013. The new iMacs also have a redesigned display that features a new thinner lamination process.

We first noted the delays in new iMac production in October and questioned whether the devices would be announced at the iPad mini event. Interestingly, we also heard that Apple might introduce an updated Thunderbolt Display in the not-so distant future that may be tied to the launch of the 27-inch iMac. Stay tuned for more information on that soon.


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Apple decks iTunes with holiday cheer: Iconic Christmas movies available as downloads, albums, audiobooks and apps

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Apple offers a wide variety of digital content for those looking to find their Christmas spirit this holiday season. Classic flicks adorn iTunes and the App store as digital downloads, audio books, albums and applications, and each media selection gives global users the opportunity to find good cheer…

[vodpod id=Groupvideo.10664228&w=650&h=420&fv=]


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Very last-minute Christmas shipping deadlines for tech shoppers; Apple offers free next-day shipping

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Apple is one of the only online retailers left to offer free next-day shipping during the holiday season.

Still haven’t finished shopping this holiday season? Well, luckily for you, most online retailers are catering to slackers looking to spend an extra buck on gifts.

Those who are down to the wire can still get their gadgets delivered before Dec. 25, and 9to5Mac has put together a list of popular places to order these tech toys before it is too late.

First, and foremost, is Apple. The 2 to 3 day shipping option passed yesterday, but the technology giant is now offering free next-day shipping on all products across the board. The cutoff date is Dec. 21, but iPods and iPads can no longer be engraved, nor can a Mac be customized. The Apple TV is also available for complimentary next-day shipping.

Best Buy is second on the list. Standard shopping ended today at 11 a.m. However, expedited delivery is available until tomorrow at 11 a.m. Express delivery is guaranteed until Dec. 22 at 11 a.m. Both services cost additional, but after that, customers will need to rely on free store pickup.  You can always buy online then pick up in store


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Did the Kindle outsell the iPad at Best Buy last weekend?

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Some are saying that just because the Kindle sits atop the BestBuy.com “Best Selling” tablets category, it is outselling the iPad 2.

Not so fast.

There is exactly one model of Kindle Fire, while there are about 16 models of iPad, two of which are second and third on the list and iPads make up a majority of the top 15 list.  Did number 1 outnumber #2+#3+#5+#6…?

Could the Fire be the top selling tablet at Best Buy still?  Sure (unlikely), but there is no way to tell from the data provided.

And that’s before you get the to the whole $199, making money on the razor blades business model.
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Nielsen Survey: iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone are the three most desired consumer products among kids this holiday season

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According to a survey done by Nielsen, kids in the U.S. are Apple crazy for the holidays this year. Apple’s iPad tops the list as the most desired consumer electronic among kids between the ages of 6-12 with 44% of kids showing interest in the device. The iPod Touch and iPhone also come in right after as 2nd and 3rd most desired products. In 2010 the same survey was taken among this age group, and although all three of these products made it onto the list, only the iPad and iPod Touch got into the top 5.
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Apple gets ready for the holidays early with the new Holiday Gift Guide

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With this year’s holiday season looming, the online Apple Store is ready with the new Holiday Gift Guide section. Holiday gift ideas include Apple’s most popular mobile devices and computers as well as a hand-picked selection of third-party products, add-ons, device accessories and even fashion cases to carry your products around in style.

The gadget maker teases:

All kinds of gifts for all kinds of lists. Shop the season’s finest accessories for iPad, iPod, iPhone, and Mac.

All products on offer in the Holiday Gift Guide come with free shipping, Apple notes. And with gift wrapping and free personal laser engraving, plus in-store pickup, it gets even better. If you were planning on making anyone’s season bright, including your own, shop the Holiday Gift Guide section over at the online Apple Store. Or just use the updated Apple Store app to shop from the palm of your hand or use the self-checkout option in-store.


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