FaceTime

iPad mini window display from NorthStar Mall, San Antonio (via @alanweinkrantz)

Apple just announced 3 million new iPads sold in just three days, doubling its previous first weekend record of 1.5 million Wi-Fi-only units sold for the iPad 3 launch.  Apple is of course not including cellular iPad models in its numbers, but it confirmed those models “will ship in a few weeks in the US and in many more countries later this year.” CEO Tim Cook confirmed the company is “practically sold out of iPad minis,” and he noted it is “working hard to build more quickly to meet the incredible demand.”

“Customers around the world love the new iPad mini and fourth generation iPad,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We set a new launch weekend record and practically sold out of iPad minis. We’re working hard to build more quickly to meet the incredible demand.”

However, Apple did not specify how many of the 3 million iPads sold were made up of iPad 4 and iPad mini units. Apple also said in the press release that many pre-orders for new iPads have already shipped, but some are “scheduled to be shipped later this month.”

Apple’s full press release is below:

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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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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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AT&T just ran out of Sept. 21 stock for the iPhone 5. The delivery page has now pushed sales to “14-21 business days,” which equals almost three to five weeks. Verizon ran out of stock earlier today, but it is hard to determine if this shows demand per carrier since AT&T is such a big legacy iPhone carrier and Apple obviously gave it a lot more stock than others.

[tweet https://twitter.com/9to5mac/status/246631458775646208]

Both big carriers have downsides: AT&T will not run FaceTime unless you buy a Mobile Share plan, while Verizon will run FaceTime on all of its iPhones—but new customers must sign up for a Mobile Share plan (no matter what). In addition, the CDMA version of the iPhone, which Verizon and Sprint both carry, will not support simultaneous talk and data. Speaking of Sprint, it is still advertising ship dates of Sept. 21.

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In the lead up to Apple’s Sept. 12 media event, where most expect the next-generation iPhone to be unveiled, there are still some things —believe it or not— that we don’t know about the device. The new iPhone is rumored to sport a longer, four-inch display, a smaller dock connector, an overall thinner design, updated RAM, and other internal components. But we have not heard much about the camera, which is one of the most important parts of any smartphone.

There is some evidence that Apple has now centered the FaceTime camera, such as the next-generation iPhone backs that we posted in May, and Apple seems to be moving toward FaceTimeHD, but we also expect the device’s rear camera to receive an upgrade over the previous-generation iPhone 4S.

While the iPhone 4S introduced a redesigned 5 lens camera system with a new sensor and 8-megapixels, the game has definitely been stepped up with a number of camera-related product announcements from Sony, Nokia, Motorola and Samsung. If the next-generation iPhone’s camera is to keep its lead with the most recent devices announced by these manufacturers, Apple is likely planning an improved camera system for the ‘iPhone 5’.

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The next-generation iPhone is set to launch in just three weeks and trade-ins are peaking, so now is the perfect time to start exchanging those soon-to-be old models to earn some cash for Apple’s upcoming smartphone. 9to5Mac compiled a list of reliable places to help you trade in that ole’ dusty iPhone for cash or credit—up to $500s worth in some cases! That is enough to buy a new iPhone and cover the AT&T early termination fee for moving to a carrier that fully supports FaceTime.

Before browsing the options, take a moment to identify the condition, features, and model of the swappable iPhone. This will help determine its potential value, because most online programs use a survey to calculate the iPhone’s estimate. Moreover, it is prudent to act now, as retailers will likely drop their prices as the launch date draws nearer.

Check out the top 10 trade-ins list below.

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From 9to5Toys.com:

It appears that Apple is offering $50 off across the board yielding savings of 6-10% depending on the original price.  This is the first time Apple has offered the 3rd generation iPad refurbished at the Apple Store.

Apple’s refurbished iPads get a new battery and encasement and come with the same 1 year warranty as new iPads.
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The New York Times reported in December that a small group of people at Apple were “conceptualizing and even prototyping some wearable devices,” so we posted Federico Ciccarese’s creepy take on a wearable, curved-glass iOS device last week. Now, Swedish designer Anders Kjellberg introduces his iteration of the tech with an “iWatch” concept featuring FaceTime.

The mockup touts a Retina display, an 8-megapixel camera with HD and FaceTime capabilities, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Airplay support, a built-in, rechargeable Lithium-ion battery, 16 GB of storage, accelerometer, proximity and ambient light sensors, and eight customizable wristbands. Oh, and iTunes and apps—of course.

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Almost three years before Apple launched the original iPad in 2010, a company by the name of Axiotron unveiled the first “Mac tablet” with the launch of the Modbook—a stylus-based tablet running OS X that is made from a converted MacBook Pro. Today, the Modbook is officially returning thanks to one of its original developers and designers. Former co-founder of the now-defunct Axiotron, Andreas Haas, and his new company LA-based Modbook Inc., today announced the new Modbook Pro- “the world’s most powerful and largest-screen tablet computer.”

Like past generations of the Modbook, the Modbook Pro uses the guts of one of Apple’s new MacBook Pros. The company will offer two configurations, both with a 13.3-inch, 1,280-by-800 flush-mounted display, based off the specs for the recently refreshed non-Retina MBPs running Mountain Lion:

The Modbook Pro’s configurable base system includes a 2.5GHz dual core Intel® Core™ i5 processor or 2.9GHz dual core Intel Core i7 processor, up to 16GB of RAM, a 2.5–inch SATA drive (up to 1TB HDD or up to 960GB SSD), an 8X SuperDrive® DVD burner, an Intel HD Graphics 4000 chipset, 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 wireless connectivity capability

The company is promising seven hours on a full charge from a built-in 63.5-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery (Modbook will also utilize a 60W MagSafe adapter). As for the digitizer and included stylus, Modbook will once again use Wacom tech:

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Not available yet on Apple’s Dev site, developers are pinging us that a 299MB -iPhone4S/322MB iPhone 4 update is available for iOS 6 via OTA update.

“WOW, when you Download and Install 6.0 Beta 2 OTA, the Settings Icon Animates!”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuaDOtjil30]

Apple also updated Xcode 4.5 developer preview 2, Apple TV beta 2 as well.

We will look for interesting changes, but do not be shy at tipping us (tips@9to5mac.com) if y’all find anything interesting.

Update: the OTA got a much more official looking screengrab, and the changelog has been posted to Dev center (below):

[tweet https://twitter.com/markgurman/status/217312366608646146]

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We posted high-resolution images of both the black and white versions of the next-generation iPhone back plate yesterday. Although we could determine many new features of the device, such as the redesigned speaker grills, repositioned earphone jack, and FaceTime camera, the exact display dimensions are still unknown. We noted one of our images depicted what appears to be the next-generation iPhone front glass with enough room for the much-rumored, roughly 4-inch display, but new schematics surfaced today (via Cydia Blog) that show a diagonal opening of just slightly over 4-inches. The designs also shows the repositioned FaceTime camera above the earpiece.

Although calculations of the display show an opening less than 0.1-inch over 4-inches, the display could likely measure a flat 4-inches diagonally as the front panel is typically slightly larger than the display. We noted yesterday that our sources informed us that the next-generation iPhone front glass images we posted feature the same width of the current iPhones, which would comfortably allow for an approximate 16:9 aspect ratio. We cannot confirm the schematic is 100 percent legit, or not just a past prototype, but also all the recent evidence points to a 4-inch next-generation iPhone that we expect to see this October.

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