Apple

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At Apple’s Q4 earnings call today, Apple CEO Tim Cook was asked his thoughts on Microsoft’s new Surface tablet PC. Cook called it “a fairly compromised, confusing product,” and he compared it to a car that flies and floats:

 “I haven’t personally played with a Surface yet… what we’re reading about it is… it’s a fairly compromised, confusing product… the toughest thing you do with a product is make hard trade offs.. we’ve really done that with the iPad.. the user experience is absolutely incredible… i suppose you could design a car that flies and floats, but i don’t think it would do all of those things well.. i think when people look at the iPad over competitive offerings they are going to really want an iPad

Cook also noted that iPhone 5 is still seeing delays but supplies are getting better:
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeGUE__O3w4&feature=plcp]

Bad Piggies version 1.1.0: Rovio has updated its new Bad Piggies title with 15 new levels today, as well as a new free sandbox level. The update also includes its biggest sandbox level yet, called “Field of Dreams”, as an in-app purchase.

 The Bad piggies finally did it — they finally got the eggs! But can they hold on to them with the Angry Birds in hot pursuit? Even under the cover of darkness, they’ll need all of their best machines to stay ahead! 

-Fly through 15 tricky new levels with the birds on your tail!
-Take cover in a brand new moonlit theme!
-Unleash your creativity on a free new sandbox level!
-Introducing the Field of Dreams: Our biggest sandbox level yet, now available for purchase!

National Geographic Magazine version 2.1: With this update the free app is now available to National Geographic subscribers on the  iPhone:

• Now available for iPhone!

Kindle version 3.4: A nice update to the Kindle iOS app comes following Apple releasing new features for iBooks. The app now supports Japanese with vertical text & Manga, an option to read books in the publisher suggested font, and a new “Caecilia” font choice. Also included is X-Ray for Textbooks:

X-Ray for Textbooks gives you instant access to all the most important terms and concepts in a book, with glossary definitions, links to relevant textbook pages, and related content from Wikipedia and YouTube (available on many of the most popular print replica textbooks)

Cut the Rope version 2.0: Popular Chillingo title Cut the Rope is getting updated today with new levels, iPhone 5 and Game Center support, and more. The HD iPad version gets the same update. 
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Apple is all set to announce its fiscal Q4 financial earnings today, during a conference call with company executives scheduled for 2 p.m. PST/ 5 p.m. EST. iPhone 5 sales are expected to be a topic of conversation, of course, while recent predictions from 59 analysts provided an average estimate of 26.3 million iPhones total for the quarter. Today, Forbes posted revised estimates from 36 of the analysts that also includes predictions for iPhone, iPod, Mac, and other product sales.

A few things we already know from CEO Tim Cook’s announcements during the iPad mini event: 5 million iPhones 5s sold during opening weekend, 3 million new iPod nano and touch units sold, and 200 million iOS 6 devices. Cook also noted the company has now sold 100 million iPads in 2.5 years and more iPads in June than any PC manufacturers’ entire PC lineup.

In Q3 Apple reported revenues of $35 billion. As for Q4, Apple predicted during its last conference call that revenues for the fourth quarter would be around $34 billion with diluted earnings per share of about $7.65. Today, Forbes pointed us to updated estimates from Wall Street showing a consensus of $8.81 on sales of $36.02 billion.

Forbes has also posted revised estimates from 36 analysts (below). Among the 20 pros in the group, the average estimate is $8.75 on sales of $35.51 billion. The independents, on the other hand, have earnings of $9.66 on sales of $37.23 billion.

As you can see from the chart of the 36 analysts below (pros in blue), the high-end of iPhone estimates hit the 32 million-unit mark, while one independent has Mac sales as high as 5.70 million units:

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The morning of Apple’s iPad mini event earlier this week, we told you there was a handful of new accessories coming including four new Lightning adapters and a 12W USB power adapter. We didn’t hear much about them during the event, but the new cables and adapters have hit Apple’s online store now, including a Lightning Digital AV adapter and Lightning to VGA adapter, with most shipping in “2-3 weeks”.

On the product page for the new 12W USB charger, Apple confirmed it would indeed ship with Retina iPads. With the new fourth-gen replacing the third-gen iPad—that would essentially cover just the iPad 4. It is, however, selling the adapter by itself for $19 online and listing compatibility with iPad 2, iPhone 4S, and iPod touch fifth-gen and up. Many readers have wondered whether the adapter would allow for faster charging with the iPad 3 and fourth-gen iPad. A big complaint among third-gen iPad users is that the device took up several more hours to charge than previous generations due to its larger battery. Also, on Apple’s discussion forums, some users asked if a software update would be required for the iPad 3 to draw additional power.

When we asked Apple about the 12W adapters, we were told the following:

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Apple’s refreshed Mac mini lineup already received some nice RAM upgrade options from OWC this morning, but now we get a look at the insides of the updated Macs courtesy of a tear down from Mac Mini Vault. The website also published Geekbench scores for the device, showing some impressive performance increases over the 2011 models.

First off, it found minimal changes to packaging and the positioning of the new Mac mini’s internals:

The overall packaging size was unchanged, however marketing specs have been updated and the inside organization has been optimized… Under the hood only minor differences are visible. Most notable are the fan design, Hitachi hard drive, and connections for the antennas. (2012 on left – 2011 on right)

As for Geekbench, the new stock Mac minis were able to record a score of 7433 running 10.8.1 out of the box. In comparison, Mac Mini Vault had a 2011 Mac mini running 10.8.2 clocked at 6583. Mac Mini Vault also noted it will begin testing alternative OS options for the new Mac mini server edition next week:

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So…I have the new iPad, err, the third-generation iPad, and its value tanked by 30 percent to 50 percent in the last 24 hours thanks to the fourth-generation iPad and iPad mini unveiling at the California Theatre yesterday.

I now have a few decisions to make. I can keep my iPad and wait for a larger update in the fifth-generation iPad. I could also trade my iPad for money or credit to buy the fourth-generation iPad, or I can even use the trade-in money for my iPad to get the iPad mini and then keep the extra dough for myself.

I actually decided to take a fourth option: I am going to trade my not-so new iPad and my dusty ‘ole first-generation iPad for credit to go toward the fourth-generation iPad. This way, I will be up to date. I will also get more bang for my trade-in buck when Apple releases the fifth-generation iPad (next fall?), as I will have the latest version. As for the iPad mini, I guess I will have to shell out extra money for it. I could always trade my old iPhones to get cash for it, though…but more on that here.

9to5Mac has you covered, for whichever path you choose, as we have compiled another list of the top trade-in places for cash or credit.

Check out the top 13 list below.

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We knew Apple had a beautiful new glass store planned for Palo Alto when plans were discovered last year, but Apple made things official today by announcing a Oct. 27 grand opening for the new location at 340 University Ave. Apple sent out the email above (via FoneArena) to inform customers the store will open at 10 a.m. local time, and the first 1,000 people will get commemorative T-shirts. The 15,030-square-foot store is located just a couple blocks from the old location, which was Steve Jobs’ neighborhood Apple Store, and was expected to cost $3.15 million. We’ll bring you more this weekend with images of the new store during its grand opening.

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Apple just finished unveiling its all-new iMac design that we previously unveiled leading up to the event. We told you at the time that Apple is shipping two refreshed models of its 21-inch and 27-inch iMacs, but we would unfortunately likely see delays on at least some models. Apple decided to take the wraps off its refreshed iMacs today, but as we predicted, the models will not ship right away.

Apple did not confirm during the unveiling, but it has now listed the new iMacs on its website with availability dates listed as November for the 21-inch model and December for the 27-inch model. You will no longer be able to get your hands on the last-generation iMac, except through Apple’s refurbished section. Hopefully Apple can get enough of these out before the holidays, especially the 27-inch model that will not ship until weeks before.

Also of note for the new iMacs is the fact that the 21-inch model comes with no user accessible RAM slots, while the 27-inch model has 4 slots accessible from the back of the machine. The 21-inch model is configurable up to 16GB through Apple, but the 4 slots on the 27-inch can handle up to 32GB:

The 21.5-inch iMac comes with 8GB of memory and can be configured online with 16GB. On the 27-inchiMac, 8GB of memory comes standard, and you can upgrade to 16GB or 32GB. Configure and buy your iMac at the Apple Online Store and it will arrive with the memory already installed. Or add more memory to the 27-inch model yourself by popping open the easy-to-access memory panel on the back.

You can get full details on the all-new iMacs in our full coverage of the unveiling here.

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Apple just updated its website following the iPad mini media event with some new videos for the device as well as specs and updated product pages for the new 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro and other products. You can also now view a video of the keynote speech via a link from the Apple.com homepage.

Apple also put its store back online with many of the new products it just unveiled, and it appears to have tweaked its online store with a slightly new design.
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Apple Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Philip Schiller is now live on stage at the company’s special media event in California, and he just unveiled the new iPad mini.

“The iPad mini is every inch an iPad,” announced Schiller.

The iPad mini is the much-rumored smaller tablet from Apple, and it just debuted at 7.9 inches and .68 pounds.

“It’s as light as a pad of paper,” Schiller added.

The new Apple-branded tablet boasts a 1,024-by-768-pixel resolution, like the previous-generation 9.7-inch iPad models, but it has a 7.2mm-thick aluminum shell that is 53 percent lighter and 23 percent thinner. The iPad mini also has a dual-core Apple A5 processor, a 5-megapixel iSight camera, 802.11n Wi-Fi, LTE capability, Lightning connector, and a 10-hour battery life. The base model

Full iPad mini specs:

• Comes in Wi-FI and Wi-Fi+ Cellular models
• 7.2mm thick— 23 percent thinner, “as thin as a pencil,” etc.
• 53 percent lighter, 0.68 lbs, “as light as a pad of paper,” etc.
• Colors: black with slate, white with silver
• 7.9-inch diagonal
• Exact same pixels as previous-generation iPad: 1,024-by-768—all software works unchanged 
  
• 163 pixels per inch (ppi)
• Bezels: made of aluminum, where as Android is plastic (Schiller comparing iPad mini to Nexus 7)
• FaceTime HD camera: 1.2MP photos, 720p HD video, FaceTime video calling over Wi-Fi or cellular, Face detection, Backside illumination
• 5MP iSight camera: 5MP photos, Autofocus, Face detection, Backside illumination, Five-element lens, Hybrid IR filter, ƒ/2.4 aperture
• Video recording: 1080p HD video recording, Video stabilization, Face detection, and Backside illumination
• 802.11a/b/g/n, Ultrafast LTE wireless
• Battery: Built-in 16.3-watt-hour rechargeable lithium-polymer battery, charging via power adapter or USB to computer system, 10 hours of battery life (ad: “largest and thinnest single-cell battery we have ever designed”)
• Dual-core A5
• Lightning connector, 3.5-mm stereo headphone minijack, built-in speaker, microphone
• Supports AirPlay Mirroring to Apple TV (second and third-generation) at 720p and AirPlay video streaming to Apple TV (third-generation) at up to 1080p and Apple TV (second-generation) at up to 720p
• Get more details at Apple’s website.

Go to 9to5Mac’s full coverage of the iPad mini for more information on pricing and availability.

An image gallery is below.

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Apple has refreshed its third-generation iPad line today, as expected, with a semi-minor upgrade that includes a new Lightning connector, but the company also included some upgraded internals in what it is calling the “fourth-generation iPad.”

“It is a power house,” said Apple Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Philip Schiller while on stage at the event.

The fourth-generation iPad features faster performance with dual-core A6X and quad-core graphics. It also has a 5-megapixel iSight camera, expanded LTE chipset, front-facing camera with FaceTime and 720p video capture, ultrafast two-times Wi-Fi, and Lightening connector.

Additional specs:

• Next-generation ISP
• Double CPU performance from A5x
• Double graphic performance
• 10-hour battery life
• LTE support
• Colors: black and white

This is the first time Apple has unveiled two versions of the 9.7-inch iPad in one year. The fourth-generation iPad is priced at $499 for the 16 GB model and $629 for the 16 GB model with 4G LTE.

Go to 9to5Mac’s full coverage of the fourth-generation iPad for more information about carrier options and the discontinuation of the third-generation iPad. 

An image gallery is below.

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Apple Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Philip Schiller is now live on stage at the company’s special media event in California, and he just showcased a refreshed, slimmer, and sleeker iMac.

“It is the most beautiful iMac we have ever made,” announced Schiller. “There’s an entire computer in there […] it’s hard to believe there is even a display in here.”

The new eighth model is beautifully thin, but it still touts the iconic iMac shape. Schiller further discussed the iMac’s striking 5mm edge, as well, noting Apple used a “friction stir welding” technique to create the new desktop that apparently boasts less reflection than older displays.

Schiller also mentioned a new “Fusion Drive” option that is a combination of storage and software. It provides a 128GB SDD and 1TB or 3TB HDD melded into a single volume for faster read-and-writes and better performance. Go to 9to5Mac’s full coverage of the Fusion Drive for more details.

More iMac specs:

• Two sizes: 21.5-inch and 27 inch
• Edge-to-edge glass—5mm thinner display, 80 percent thinner than previous generation, extends entire length, super strong and nearly seamless, LED-backlit display with IPS technology
• Removed 2mm air gap, lamintated display directly to glass, 45 percent thinner
• Anti-reflective coating, plasma deposition—apply coating down to nanometer thickness, 75 percent less reflection than previous generation
• FaceTime HD camera, dual mics, stereo sound system
• Sheds up to 8 lbs
• Audio: stereo speakers, dual microphones, and headphone port
• Connections: SDXC card slot, Four USB 3 ports, Two Thunderbolt ports, Mini DisplayPort output with support for DVI, VGA, and dual-link DVI, 10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45 connector)
• Wireless: 802.11n Wi-Fi wireless networking —IEEE 802.11a/b/g compatible; Bluetooth 4.0 wireless technology
• OS X:  Mountain Lion

More specs for each model and images are below.

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We had many of the details for the 13.3-inch Retina MacBook Pro ahead of today’s unveiling, but Apple Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Philip Schiller just confirmed the device’s specs and pricing. As we told you earlier, the new 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro comes in two base configurations (with a third 2.9GHz dual-core i7 upgrade option available) and gets many of the enhancements that the 15-inch version received. Schiller noted that the device is 20 percent thinner than the previous generation 13-inch MacBook, and it includes a 2,560-by1,600 Retina display with 29 percent higher color contrast and 75 percent reduced reflection.

Apple also announced that the device would start at $1,699 for the base configuration, and it will start shipping today. Apple also showed a second configuration would be offered for $1,999. Both options below are configurable to a 2.9GHz dual-core Intel Core i7.

• 2.5GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor (Turbo Boost up to 3.1GHz) with 3MB shared L3 cache
• 2.5GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor (Turbo Boost up to 3.1GHz) with 3MB shared L3 cache

Some of the device’s specs—that Apple is now listing on its website— are below:
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Apple CEO Tim Cook is live on stage at the company’s special media event in California, and he just announced a new version of iBooks.

News and features:

• 400 million iBooks downloads
• Continuous scrolling
• Better integrated with iCloud— purchased books show up on shelf
• Fantastic new ways to share — tap favorite quote and share on Facebook and Twitter
• Supporting over 40 languages— new Korean, Chinese, Japanese
• Available today, free download

Education news and iBooks Author:

• iBooks textbooks reinvent the textbook full screen gorgeous layouts, interactive
• Textbook available for 80 percent of high school
• 2,500 US classrooms with iBooks textbooks
• Publishers can now take own fonts and provide custom look
• Multitouch widgets
• 94 percent of fortune 500 is testing or deploying iPad—seeing similar in smaller business

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Apple CEO Tim Cook is now live on stage beginning the company’s special media event in California, and information about updates and numbers are flying left and right.

Here is a quick rundown: 

• 5 million iPhone 5s sold during first weekend (sold out). Most iPhones ever sold opening weekend, most phones sold ever opening weekend.
• 3 million iPods sold ( new nano and touch)
• In just 1 month — 200 million devices running iOS 6. Fastest upgrade rate in history.
• 124 million docs in the cloud
• 300 billion messages sent (28,000 per second)
• 160 million game center accounts
• Shared over 70 million photos with their friends of family
• Uploaded over 700,000 apps in app store
• Over 275,000 iPad apps
• Now downloaded 35 billion apps from the store
• Paid out $6.5 billion to developers
• 2 weeks ago sold 100 millionth iPad, 100 million in just 2.5 years (sold more iPads in June than any PC manufacturer sold of their entire PC lineup)
• iPad accounts for over 90 percent of web traffic of tablets

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