Why the iPad mini? One word: Textbooks

I was at the dentist the other day, where I was talking to Laura-the-receptionist about tablets. "I'm sick of paying for rebinding [my kids' textbooks] every year," she told me. "My kid's teacher suggested we buy a tablet and purchase textbooks from Amazon instead of fixing them. Which tablet should I buy?"

Although schools pay a nominal fee per rebinding, parents often have to cough up a significant amount more. Cherry Creek High School charges $28 to rebind a single book. The eBook text costs just $14.99. It's a bargain until you start considering the tablet overhead.

[Source: TUAW - Click here to read the full story]

Apple likely to reveal iPad mini on October 23rd, reports All Things D

Rumors about the iPad mini are really starting to heat up and alleged leaks of the body are hitting the web with machine gun-like regularity. Now All Things D claims to have another piece of the puzzle -- when. According to "people familiar" with the matter, Apple is scheduling a press event for October 23rd, where it will likely take the wraps off its latest (and smallest) tablet offering. The outlet reported a similar rumor ahead of the iPhone 5 launch, insisting that the littlest slate would be held until October. Now, here we are -- it's October -- and we're still waiting for our invitations. As usual, you'll be the first to know when ours arrives and we can confirm the when and where (and we think you already know the what). As for the how and why? Well, that we're just going to have to wait and see.

[Source: Engadget]

Virginia Beach McDonald's adds free iPad use to its menu, McRib still seasonal

In an age of grab and go eating, it seems somewhat odd that a fast food restaurant would feature an attraction that causes its patrons to drop anchor and stay. However, the house with well over one billion served is doing just that. A Virginia Beach McDonald's has leveraged the popularity of another Big Macmaker, by stocking its location with free to use iPads. Yes, the tablets are mounted on tables, but after polishing off a hearty array of Mcfixings, you're likely to be bolted to your seat as well. Franchise owner Hugh Fard got the idea while attending the annual worldwide McDonald's convention in Florida. While it's great to see major eateries incorporating the use of new technology, we can only wonder just how greasy shiny those fancy Retina displays will be after spending a day under the golden arches.

[Source: Engadget]

WSJ: iPad Mini mass production has begun, launch within weeks

The Wall Street Journal is adding its voice to claims that the iPad Mini is being mass produced en route to a launch later this month.

Apple Inc.’s Asian component suppliers have started mass production of a new tablet computer smaller than the current iPad, people with knowledge of the situation said, as the Silicon Valley company tries to stay competitive against rivals such as Google Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.that are offering smaller, less-expensive alternatives to the iPad.

The report says LG and AU optronics are making the 1,024-by-768 7.85-inch display, and they began production last month. More Mini parts including shells have appeared recently which could indicate finalized parts are in production. The biggest mystery remaining is price. Some speculate that it could be offered as low as $199 in the United States, while more conservative estimates point to $299 for the low-end model.

[Source: 9to5Mac]

Google Drive for iPad adds rich-text editing for docs

Google released Google Drive in April, which gives users 5 GB of free online storage for their Google documents, photos, videos, PDFs and more. There's a Mac appavailable, and earlier this month, Google updated Google Drive for iOS (free, universal) to include rich text editing.

This update, version 1.1.0, lets you create new documents, edit existing ones and style text. There's more good news if you use Google presentations, as this update will let you view your decks complete with presenter notes. If that's not enough, you can also create, modify and move folders.

You still can't edit presentations or spreadsheets within the app, but the functionality should be on the way.

Pretty sweet! Check out this free app now and get to work.

[Source: TUAW]

Apple iPhone 5 & New 2012 iPod Nano & iPod touch ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW

Whilst Dave is away on business, the Apple world never sleeps. The founder of Geekanoids still finds time to keep you up to date with the lates products launched by Apple Inc. Check out the videos below and leave a comment on YouTube with your views on the new products.

Possible 'iPad Mini' Spotted in iOS App Developer Logs

Instapaper developer Marco Arment has spotted two new iPad device codes in his logs that he believes represents the long rumored "iPad mini".   The new identifiers found were "iPad2,5" and "iPad2,6". As Arment notes, the iPad2,1 through iPad 2,3 designations are known to represent the iPad 2's WiFi, GSM and CDMA models. The iPad2,4 represents a die-shrunk/cheaper version of the iPad 2 that was released alongside the 3rd generation iPad. Finally, the 3rd Generation iPad carries a designation of iPad3,x.  

[Source: To read the full article visit Mac Rumours]

Syfy for iPad app adds Sync feature, second screen content launches Tuesday with Face Off

We're still not sure about the Sci Fi / Syfy Network name switch, but whatever you call it the network is the latest to jump on the trend of second screen features. Currently available on the latest version of its iPad app (and listed as "coming soon" for Android tablets on the official page an in the demo video embedded after the break), Syfy Sync will work with certain shows to pull up interactive content on your mobile device along with whatever is playing on TV. The first show to get the treatment is the season premiere of Face Off airing August 21st. Naturally, there's a social media element as well, with sharing to Facebook and Twitter, as well as integrated GetGlue check-ins. Whether or not you dig the second screen aspects or are just waiting for some better shows to come on, there are other upgrades with a new UI as, show related photo galleries and support for AirPlay to play the app's video clips on your TV. Syfy for iPad 2.0 with sync is available for free in iTunes, we'll let you know when the Android version is upgraded and if similar features head to any other mobile platforms soon.

[Source: Engadget]

Amazon's Instant Video app for iPad adds search functionality with latest update

When Amazon's Instant Video app made its way to the iPad earlier this month, it gave users yet another way to stream content to their mobile devices, but was lacking some key features. Fortunately, an update to the app has rolled out to fix one of the major omissions: search functionality. The added tool provides instant results when typing a name or title, and the search can be filtered to display all videos or only those available for Amazon Prime subscribers. Prior to the update, users were only able to browse through "a selection of top Prime Instant Video titles" or items added to their Watchlist. With over 120,000 videos available for streaming, the lack of a search function was a major downside to Amazon's app. The update also includes various bug fixes and an improved notification bar, but unfortunately does not add AirPlay support or resolve the issue of requiring Wi-Fi connectivity to stream videos.

[Source: The Verge]

Perfect: Steve Jobs’ Stolen iPad Ended Up With Kenny The Clown

I’ll admit — at times in my working life, I’ve had to use some imagination to make certain bits of tech or business news seem interesting (not at TechCrunch, of course, because weonly ever write about incredibly interesting things.) But once in a while something comes along that is just perfect as it is.

The story of Kenny the Clown and Steve Jobs’ stolen iPad is one of those things.

So, you’ve heard about how the Palo Alto home belonging to the family of the late Steve Jobs was burgled recently? And more than $60,000 worth of personal items and computers were stolen by a 35-year-old man named Kariem McFarlinwho was eventually caught — and apparently had no idea at first whose home he was breaking into?

Well, it turns out that McFarlin is old buddies with Kenneth Kahn, a San Francisco Bay Area resident who is also known as Kenny the Clown. And after spending hours having a five finger discount free-for-all Chez Jobs, McFarlin was apparently feeling generous — so he gifted Kahn with one of the purloined iPads, a 64GB silver one.

[Source: TechCrunch - Read more here ]

iPad mini will look like a large iPod touch with smaller side bezels

We received a number of tips over the last few weeks from sources that we have reason to believe hold knowledge about Apple’s plans on the upcoming iPad mini. A recurring theme of late is that the iPad mini will “look like a big iPod touch” with smaller bezels along the sides in portrait mode and separate volume buttons and not a “rocker” and a mic on the back.

In addition, we received a number of different iPad mini back plates with the best quality being these from case maker Devicewear.

[Source: 9to5Mac - Read the full story]

BBC iPlayer for iOS gets Retina display support for iPad

The BBC has just finished what was probably the best coverage of the Olympic games in the world, but the corporation is not slowing down. Today the BBC released an update to its wildly popular BBC iPlayer app for iOS.

The major feature improvement in this update is support for the new iPad's Retina display. Other changes include improved video performance for better playback, bug fixes and "general tidying, so you'll notice even smoother performance," and more Voice Over controls for better accessibility.

BBC iPlayer version 1.3.2 is a free download from the UK App Store. Now let's just hope BBC and Apple can agree to get iPlayer on the Apple TV.

[Source: TUAW]