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Add an iPad mini with Verizon 4G to an existing Family Share Plan
Many of you may be receiving your iPad mini with WiFi + Cellular today or in the next few days, and there was some concern that people who already had a Verizon Family Share plan and were adding the mini to the plan would have to wait for postpaid SIM card to arrive from VZW prior to being able to use it. Well, David Chartier crossed his fingers and tried adding the mini to his plan from the Verizon website, and it worked just fine. While Chartier has all of the necessary screenshots and verbiage over on his website, here's the short version of how it works: Log onto My Verizon and select Activate or Switch Device. Add a new line. Type in your device ID, also known as the IMEI for the iPad mini. Chartier noted that he couldn't find it under Settings > General > About, and Megan Lavey-Heaton here at TUAW verified that it's no longer listed there (see screenshot below). You can get the IMEI from the box that your iPad mini came in ... you did keep the box, didn't you? Verify your current plan and that you want to add the line. At one point, you'll be asked if you want to upgrade your shared data plan to account for that extra data you'll be using. That decision is up to you. You'll be asked to verify your billing information and -- lucky you -- you'll get to pay another $35 activation fee. Verizon only shows that they'll charge you the standard $10 fee at the time you add the iPad mini to your plan, but they will also list the full charge that will be added to your next bill. Restart your device. At that point, your iPad mini will be on your Family Share plan and you'll be able to use your little device on Verizon's LTE network all you want. Thanks, David Chartier, for pointing out how to do this.
iPad mini and fourth-generation iPad available in Sprint stores today (Update: AT&T and Verizon, too)
Update: Verizon Wireless and AT&T also announced that the iPad mini and the fourth-generation iPad will be available starting today. Sprint announced today that the cellular versions of the iPad mini and the fourth-generation iPad will go on sale in select retail stores. The carrier will sell the devices off-contract with data plans that are compatible with its 4G LTE network. Sprint lists the LTE mini with a starting price of US$459 for the 16 GB version. Prices climb $100 for the 32 GB version ($559) and $200 for the 64 GB model ($659). The fourth-gen iPad is priced similarly with the 16 GB model selling for $629, the 32 GB for $729 and the 64 GB for $829. 4G LTE plans compatible with the two iPads start at $15 for 300 MB and go up to $80 for 12 GB. If you're a Sprint customer with a smartphone plan, you can add a 1 GB iPad data plan for a very reasonable $15 per month. Sprint says the iPads will be available in limited quantities, so you may want to visit your local Sprint store today to pick one up. If they sell out before you get to the store, Sprint will let you reserve one from future inventory by purchasing a $50 gift card. Show full PR text 16 November 2012 Sprint to Offer iPad mini OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (BUSINESS WIRE), November 16, 2012 - Sprint today announced it is now offering iPad mini and fourth generation iPad. Sprint is offering these new iPads with a range of attractive data plans that allow customers to connect to its 4G LTE network. The data plans are available without a contract providing customers with the freedom to activate or cancel a plan at any time. iPad mini, a completely new iPad design that is 23 percent thinner and 53 percent lighter than the third generation iPad, features a stunning 7.9-inch Multi-Touch display, FaceTime HD and 5 megapixel iSight cameras, ultrafast wireless performance* and an incredible 10-hours of battery life.** The fourth generation iPad features a gorgeous 9.7-inch Retina display, new Apple-designed A6X chip, FaceTime HD camera and ultrafast wireless performance. Both iPad mini and fourth generation iPad come with iOS 6, the world's most advanced mobile operating system with over 200 new features. "iPad mini and the fourth generation iPad, combined with Sprint's 4G LTE network and our aggressively priced rate plans, offer customers an outstanding tablet experience," said Fared Adib, senior vice president, Product Development, Sprint. "Sprint doesn't put its customers on shared pricing plans like some carriers. With Sprint you get the best pricing for all the data you need without the worry of overages." Limited quantities of the new iPads are now available at select Sprint retail locations. For more information on plans please visit www.sprint.com/iPad or www.sprint.com/iPadmini For more information on iPad please visit www.apple.com/ipad. * LTE is available in select markets. See sprint.com/4glt3 for details. ** Battery life depends on device settings, usage and other factors. Actual results vary.
iPad Mini, 4th generation iPad hit Sprint retail stores in limited quantities, (update: Verizon and AT&T, too!)
Eager to size up Cupertino's latest tablets on the Now Network? Better call your local retailer -- Sprint is now offering the iPad mini and Apple's 4th generation revision at select brick and mortar locations. Existing smartphone customers who make the trek down to their local mini-mall will be able to add the slates to their account at a discounted rate, scoring a 1GB data plan for $15 per month or 100MB for $10. Sprint will also be enacting a waitlist system for customers who miss out due to the company's admittedly limited stock, asking customers to purchase a $50 gift card in exchange for a guaranteed device when the next wave of tablets hit stores. Check out the official press release after the break for Sprint's full announcement. Update: Looks like Verizon and AT&T have the mini on shelves starting today as well.
LTE iPad mini pre-orders begin arriving
If you've been waiting on the delivery of a shiny new iPad mini with LTE capability, you should probably get ready to sign for it. That's because, as MacRumors and some of our readers report, pre-ordered LTE iPad mini units are starting to arrive at the homes and businesses of Apple aficionados. Unless, that is, a thief happened to snag yours somewhere along the way. LTE fourth-generation iPads are also said to be showing up as well. There's still no firm date for when you should be able to stroll into your nearest Apple Store and buy an LTE iPad Mini or fourth-generation iPad, however. AT&T stores are expected to begin selling on Friday.
Daily Update for November 15, 2012
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Thieves steal 3,600 iPad minis from JFK airport
Those new iPad minis are popular -- everybody wants them. In fact, two thieves wanted them so badly that they stole 3,600 of the little tablets in a well-organized heist at New York's JFK airport. The pair showed up at a cargo building at the airport around midnight on Monday, November 12 and used a forklift from the facility to load two pallets loaded with US$1.5 million worth of iPad minis into a white tractor trailer truck marked with CEVA on the side. According to an exclusive report in the NY Post, the crooks would have probably made off with three more pallets, but were "challenged by an airport worker returning from dinner." Investigators believe that the theft of the minis was an inside job, and have been questioning airport workers. Three of the workers have been given polygraph tests. Someone apparently let the thieves into the secured area, then let them out after the iPad minis were loaded onto the truck. The cargo facility is the same one where almost $5 million in cash and $900,000 worth of jewelry were stolen in 1978 in a heist that was the inspiration for portions of the gangster flick Goodfellas.
Belkin bulks up iPad mini with $80 Portable Keyboard Case
If you decided to go small by getting an iPad mini but find yourself needing to do some serious work (like blogging, for instance), Belkin may have just the accessory: the Portable Keyboard Case. The removable chiclet-style keyboard marries up wirelessly with the 7.7-inch tab via Bluetooth and has "well spaced keys for its size," including custom iPad shortcuts, according to the peripheral maker. The battery lasts a whopping 155 hours between charges, and when the Starbucks staff finally kick you out, you can fold all your kit up into the built-in folio, complete with a camera-lens cutout. If that sounds like your cup of chai latté tea, hit the PR after the break.
JBL intros first Lightning-equipped speaker docks, we go ears-on
That larger JBL speaker dock looks familiar, doesn't it? Near the end of September, Harman gave us a peak at its latest consumer audio products. Curiously, however, a slew of new iOS-focused speaker docks were shown off, each lacking a Lightning connector. Today that's changed, as JBL has announced a duo of systems that are equipped with Lightning docks. To start, the larger unit is dubbed as the OnBeat Venue LT ($200). This speaker is essentially a Lightning-enhanced version of the 30-pin loaded Venue we recently spent time with, featuring the same 30 watts of power and Bluetooth connectivity with Apt-X support. Like it's sibling, the dock can be set flush with the front, and better yet, you'll even be able to dock your iPad mini into it. Sizing things down a bit is the OnBeat Micro, a $100 bedside system that'll play nice with the iPhone 5 and the new iPod nano. While it doesn't benefit from Harman's Bluetooth know-how (a pricing consideration, as we're told), it can be loaded with four AAA batteries for quick bouts away from wall power. Based on a quick listening session, we can report that the Venue LT sounded very full and clear. Even with the optional bass- or vocal-boosts enabled, it didn't seem like the speakers were having trouble pushing out high levels of volume. The Micro on the other hand sounded decidedly tinny, which we're frankly not surprised about given the size. Both systems are compatible with JBL's MusicFlow app as well, giving you some extended options for tweaking EQ. The rigs felt fairly sturdy, but we were immediately able to notice some niggles with the Lighting connector. Our iPhone 5 and Harman's iPad mini and iPod nano clicked into place easily with the connector, but the hinge it's built on is very loose without any tension. A slight knock could potentially send an iOS device leaning forward, which would have us concerned in a party situation (the problem is more apparent on the Venue). Secondly, the docks won't play nice with common cases like Speck's CandyShell, so you'll need to have your devices naked before docking. JBL noted the quirks, stating that they have little control over the behavior of connector itself, as it's supplied by Apple. %Gallery-170981% JBL expects that the OnBeat Venue LT and Micro will be the only Lightning-packing speaker docks for at least the holidays, so check out the press release after the break for more details if you're interested. As for us? We'd say the Venue LT is definitely worth a look, but we'd just as easily pass on the Micro given the myriad options out there for smaller Bluetooth-equipped speakers.
Scosche is next up with Lightning accessories, brings chargers for iPads and iPhones alike
If you've snagged one of Apple's new iThings complete with 30-pin dock connector-replacing Lightning ports, Scosche is the next manufacturer (after Belkin) to offer up a compatible line of accessories. The variety of car and wall chargers come in several 12W and 5W variants, with the more powerful ones pushing enough juice to quick charge those fourth generation iPads and iPad minis. Of course, while they can provide design alternatives like multiple ports that Apple's official hardware doesn't cover, there's not a price break coming with the cheapest strikeDRIVE car charger starting at $29.99, while the most expensive item listed is the strikeBase pro dual USB wall charger (pictured above) and lightning cable setup for $49.99. There's more details at the source link if you're interested in purchasing. Apple users let us know what your plan is -- making do with just the one new charger, slapping on a $29 adapter, or sticking with old hardware for now / switching to a new platform to avoid the new connector altogether?%Gallery-170859%
Why no Retina on the iPad mini? Money and power
Marco Arment, Instapaper creator and publisher of The Magazine, has enough time in his busy schedule to write on his personal blog Marco.org. Yesterday he took the time to put some thought into why the iPad mini doesn't have a Retina display, and notes that it comes down to two things: money and power. It's not that he dislikes the iPad mini. He loves the small form factor and external design, how cool it runs, the fast charging of the device and how the "Smart Cover even sticks to the back better when it's flipped around." But the lack of a sharp Retina display is apparent to him when he turns on the device. That's why he refers to it as a "conflicted product." He notes, however, that the "Retina iPad screen is a much bigger power hog than a non-Retina screen of the same size," and the practical result of what a Retina screen would do to an iPad mini is: "Its battery life, portability, or performance would suffer significantly. (Probably all three.)" Add to that the higher component prices required for a more powerful battery, the Retina display itself and the heftier GPU required to drive the display, and the price would possibly start at $399 instead of $329. So, as Arment concludes, "That's why we don't have a Retina iPad Mini yet. It's not only about price: it's because the resulting product would suck in at least two other important ways."
New iPad mini commercials debut
Apple has released two new TV ads for the iPad mini. Following on the success of the popular "Piano" commercial, "Photos" and "Books" (seen below) both capture the idea that the iPad mini can do everything that its bigger sibling can do, just in a smaller form factor. "Photos" features the voices of Bobby Darin and Johnny Mercer in a 1960 recording of "Two of a Kind," as related photos are displayed on an iPad and iPad mini. "Books" pairs up books on the two screens -- The Sun Also Rises alongside The Valley of the Moon, East of Eden next to How the West Was Won and Moby Dick facing off with Gone Fishing. The ads are sure to be in heavy rotation leading up to the holiday gift-buying season.
Talkcast tonight: Make mine mini edition, 7 pm PT / 10 pm ET
We're back live tonight at 10 pm, and we want to hear from all of you: iPad mini, iPad full-size, or none of the above? The newest members of the iOS family are out in the wild (and in FedEx trucks), so it's time for first-hand reports. Also, Angry Birds Star Wars. Since it's really all about you, the community, do see if you can join us, won't you? To participate, you can use the browser-only Talkshoe client, the embedded Facebook app, or download the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for +5 Interactivity, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the Talkshoe Web button on our profile page at 4 HI/7 PDT/10 pm EDT Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VoIP lines (viva free weekend minutes!): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *8. If you've got a headset or microphone handy on your Mac, you can connect via the free X-Lite or other SIP clients (aside from Skype or Google Voice), basic instructions are here. Talk to you tonight!
A week with the iPad mini
I wasn't sure how I would get along with an iPad mini. I wavered back and forth on it from the day it was announced. First, it was the price. US$329 is easier to swallow than $499, but I had a perfectly good iPad 2. Then, after deciding I'd give it a shot, I wondered if I made the right call. Like Jim Dalrymple, I wanted to see if I could fit the iPad mini in my life without it being forced. After a week with the iPad mini, here's what I love about the device. The smaller form factor: I didn't think I would love a smaller iPad more than I loved the original one. However, from the moment I first held my iPad mini -- you can see the unboxing on the British Tech Network's latest Mac Show, which was hosted by our own Kelly Guimont -- I knew it was going to be different. It easily fits in one hand, which was amazing since I have small hands. Even my Android-loving husband was impressed with the mini and said it was the perfect form factor for a smaller tablet. While I mostly used my full-sized iPad in landscape mode, I tend to keep my mini in portrait mode. I tried out a Nexus 7, and while I felt it was a very good Android tablet, it was too small. The .9-inch size increase on an iPad mini really does make a difference. It fits in my purse: This is a huge thing for me. I tend to go for scaled-down messengers as my day-to-day bag, such as a Timbuk2 Metro Mini (sadly no longer made) or a Tom Bihn small cafe bag. I want my purse to fit my iPhone, wallet, a Moleskine and a Kindle or paperback. Everything else is icing on the cake. However, I can easily tuck the iPad mini in the either bag and find myself reaching for it more than I do my Kindle. If I wanted to take the iPad with me, I needed a larger bag. It easily integrates into my work routine: The picture above shows my desk at The Patriot-News on election night: iPad mini with Twitter feeds, my MacBook Pro streaming NBC, various page dummies and my work computer. It takes up far less room on my desk, which helps when looking at paper proofs and using the iPad to browse the AP stylebook. I've used my full-sized iPad for managing paperwork at work for months, and the smaller footprint makes taking from desk to desk easier. I've found within the past couple of days that I'll grab the iPad mini to quickly check my work email or references while discussing work in progress with an editor. It's easier to manage in the kitchen: I like using Paprika as a digital cookbook, but I have a small kitchen. The iPad mini is small enough to where I can prop it up on something else and have a little more counter space to work with than the regular iPad. Relaxing at home or working on crafts: When I'm in bed, I can hold the iPad mini with one hand or lay on my side and read, just like with my Kindle. Instead of automatically flipping it to landscape mode, I find myself mostly using it in portrait mode because it's narrow enough to where I can comfortably type on it with my thumbs, like my iPhone. I've long used a full-sized iPad for storing knitting patterns and other project instructions, but it wasn't as easy to toss in my knitting bag and take with me. The iPad mini is the perfect size to fit in my knitting bag in one of the size pockets or underneath yarn so it's not such a tempting target for would-be thieves. The battery life is amazing: The iPad mini is my only Lightning-powered Apple device at the moment, but the battery life is so good that I'm comfortable with leaving my adapter at work. I didn't charge the device from early Tuesday evening through early Thursday evening, and the battery life had only dropped to 69%. I could probably tote this around for a week or more without needing to charge it. But here are some things I don't like about the iPad mini: The selection of cases to date: The Smart Covers are too expensive for the smaller form factor (more on that below), and the back (just as scratchable as the iPhone 5) is exposed. Third party companies had to guess at the size, and the one company that nailed the first batch of third party cases was Belkin. The Targus case I picked up from Best Buy didn't latch properly, and the other cases on display were poor fits. I'm currently using the Belkin Classic Tab cover ($29.99 on its site, it was $39.99 at Best Buy), and it's a perfect fit. My one quibble with you, Belkin: I wish there was more colors other than pink, purple, and black. Sadly, my Best Buy didn't have black. The picture above shows the Belkin cover next to a Moleskine notebook for size comparison. The cost of the iPad: I think Apple could have done a solid and dropped it to $299, and expect the refurbished models to be around that price. While $30 doesn't make much of a difference in the long run, psychologically it makes a difference. I understand, and I didn't mind paying it. Try telling that to my parents, who just want to know why it isn't $299. The cost of the Smart Cover: The iPad mini Smart Cover is $39, just like its larger sibling. While I felt $39 skated around the edge of costing too much for the larger Smart Cover, it was the best cover for that price-point for awhile. But not now, and definitely not for the iPad mini. There are a number of good case options in the $30-$40 range, starting with the Belkin I referred to above. Once Targus and other case makers get their sizes tweaked, their cases will be just fine. Macworld's Lex Friedman took a look at the cover and found it frustrating to use. I'm not even going to bother. Things I'm ambivalent on: No Retina display: The lack of a Retina display isn't a problem for me. I never used a Retina-enabled iPad to begin with, and the screen is still crisper than an iPad 2. If I had used the iPad 3, I'm sure I would be singing a different tune. While the iPad changed the market, the iPad mini is going to do what the iPod mini (and later iPod nano) did -- put it into the hands of the masses. I think $329 is still too high, and that Apple could have dropped it down to $299, even if it was just to hit a psychological price point. The full-sized iPad will not fade into the distance, but like what a number of reviewers have said, the iPad mini will become Apple's big seller. Am I going to keep mine? I knew by the end of the first hour I was going to. My iPad 2 will be making its way to a new home in Canada shortly.
Reality Absorption Field: Sizing up the iPad mini
Welcome to Reality Absorption Field, a new bimonthly column where veteran industry analyst and occasional TUAW TalkCast contributor Ross Rubin will discuss industry developments and how they relate to Apple. On October 23rd, following presentation of slimmed-down Macs and a beefed-up iPad, Apple introduced the long-anticipated iPad mini. With its 7.9" diagonal screen, the smaller iPad doesn't seem dramatically smaller than its bigger brother. Indeed, it's screen is a bit more than 80 percent as large as that of the iPad 2, with which it shares the same screen resolution. And at $329 (up to double that stuffed with 64 GB of flash memory and LTE), it's also a bit more than 80 percent of the iPad 2's starting price. At $329, the iPad mini starts at $130 more than the 16 GB Kindle Fire HD or ASUS-built Google Nexus 7. The displays on these 7" devices are about 70 percent of the size of the iPad 2's display, but they cost only half of what the iPad 2 costs. Perhaps in part to justify the price premium, Apple played up both the hardware and software differences between the iPad mini and the Google Nexus 7 at the iPad mini's introduction. On the hardware side, Apple highlighted the iPad mini's lighter weight and premium materials versus the plastic competition. On the software front, Apple showed off the impact of the larger display of the iPad mini on Web content. Apple, which promotes the importance of pixel counts on its Retina displays, ignored raw pixel counts versus the Nexus 7, which has more than a million pixels as opposed to the iPad mini's 786,432 pixels. But taking into account Chrome's tabs and Android's ever-present soft-buttons as well as the iPad mini's 4:3 aspect ratio, the diminutive iPad was able to show more of a Web page's length in landscape mode. The other card Apple (again) played was the optimization of iPad apps as opposed to scaled smartphone apps. One issue, though, is that many of the companies that Apple has highlighted in these comparisons, particularly Yelp and Twitter, compete at least partially with Google and may be less inclined to optimize for a platform it controls. There's no definitive answer as to whether the iPad mini is too expensive as buyers have different budgets. It's certainly more expensive than smaller competitors, but is made of more expensive materials that Apple regularly claims are more valued by recyclers. Also, if one is looking for a tablet close to the iPad mini's size that can access LTE networks, the Nexus 7 is out although one could look to the Galaxy Tab 7.7 or the Droid Xyboard 8.2, Those tablets and the iPad mini round out the 8" class of tablets from major vendors, (although Archos also has an offering there). They give up some portability while creating a larger canvas for apps and movies. The initial reception appears to be very warm. While Apple did not break out iPad mini sales, it noted that, in the first weekend of availability it sold three million iPads, a notable bump from its usual run rate. Most of that was probably due to the iPad mini, which opens up the iPad to less affluent buyers. The fourth-generation iPad, while mostly a dramatic spec bump in terms of processor speed, surely contributed a bump as well as "new" goes a long way with consumers. Apple certainly would have sold even more iPad minis had it launched them at $299. However, it seems likely that Apple, which has brought retina displays to two MacBooks, iPhone, iPod touch and flagship iPad, will eventually bring it to the iPad mini and may want to leave some margin for the more expensive display. Until then, though, the tradeoff between the iPad mini and certain Android tablets such as the Nexus 7 and Barnes & Noble Nook HD, is one of screen size for resolution. Of course, what you can do on those pixels also matters, and the iPad mini has a broad selection of optimized apps. But with its size and especially price so far removed from the likes of the Nexus 7 and Kindle HD, the real question for most buyers who value the iPad experience likely won't be between the Nexus 7 and the iPad mini, but between the iPad mini and its favorable competitive position against the iPad 2. Ross Rubin is principal analyst at Reticle Research, a research and advisory firm focusing on consumer technology adoption. He shares commentary at Techspressive and on Twitter at@rossrubin. Views expressed in Reality Absorption Field are his own.
Daily iPad App: Art Authority K-12 presents historical works of art in a kid-friendly package
Art Authority from Open Door Networks is a stellar iOS app that lets you browse through major works of art on your iPad or iPhone. Though teachers may want to use Art Authority in school, the app presents nudes and other art that may not be suitable for classroom use. Open Door Networks recognized this deficiency and recently released a kid-friendly K-12 version of their popular art-filled application. The developers scanned through 55,000 western paintings and sculptures and marked those that could be inappropriate for kids. Rather than remove the historic works, the team cropped them to remove any offensive parts. In Michelangelo's Creation of Adam on the Sistine Chapel, for example, children will only see the outspread fingers and not the nude figures. The K-12 version is equally as informative as the full version and the artwork is pleasing to view. The app also looks great on both the Retina iPad and the iPad mini. Art Authority K-12 is available in the iOS App Store for US$3.99 and is worth the download if you have children at home or in the classroom.
Comparing the iPad mini, Kindle Fire HD and Nexus 7 displays
Now that the iPad mini has hit the market, choices for consumers have become a bit more complex. After all, the iPad mini (US$329), the Kindle Fire HD ($199) and Google Nexus 7 ($199) are all small tablets that are targeting the same market, each with its own app ecosystem (Apple App Store for the iPad mini, Kindle Appstore for Kindle Fire HD, Google Play for the Nexus) and fan base. One real difference to consumers is where the eye meets the app -- the display. DisplayMate Technologies Corp. did a "Display Technology Shootout" for Gizmodo comparing the displays on the three tiny tablets, and the results were ... interesting. The full results of the shootout are here for your viewing pleasure, but TUAW will provide you with a couple of highlights. First, the iPad mini placed third in the comparison behind its competitors, but still managed a "B" in terms of "overall display grade." Next, the iPad mini received a "poor" score for reflectance (the amount of light reflected from a pencil beam of light). Finally, the iPad mini has the shortest battery life of the three devices tested, although at 6.1 hours it's still rated as good. An informal tally of personal results from a weekend of iPad mini usage compiled from tweets seems to show that most owners are quite happy with the display. A number of those tweeting said that the light weight more than compensates for the non-Retina display. What's your take on the iPad mini display?
Daily Update for November 5, 2012
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Belkin fills the void with first third-party Lightning accessories for Apple devices
When Apple dropped the 30-pin connector in favor of Lightning for the iPhone 5, new iPods and new iPads, it also dropped much of the current accessory market: short of an expensive adapter, years of collecting docks and more exotic peripherals were for nought. Belkin is stepping into that vacuum with what it says are the first officially sanctioned third-party Lightning accessories. Neither its Charge + Sync Dock (seen at left) for the iPhone 5 nor its Car Charger for Lightning (right) are what we'd call revolutionary, but they both cover missing pieces of the puzzle -- including Apple's, as the tech firm skipped making an iPhone dock of its own for this generation. Should either the audio-supporting dock or the iPad-capable charger sound appealing, both are up for pre-orders today and will ship in mid-November for $30.
"iMac touch" parody video is pretty cute
By now, just about everyone who's been watching TV or visited the Apple website lately has seen the iPad mini ad. It shows someone tapping out the counterpoint to Heart and Soul on an iPad, with another hand joining in on the melody on an iPad mini. It's clever and cute, and now someone has come up with a parody video that's even more fun. Without killing the punchline by telling you what the video's all about, here it is: [via Gizmodo]
Apple halves number of licensed distributors in China
The opening of two new Apple Stores, one in Shenzhen this last weekend and the Wangfujing store in Beijing in late October, is a sure sign of Apple's strengthening control of its distribution channels in China. Now Patently Apple is reporting that the company has reduced the number of licensed distributors from four to two, relying on its own stores, electronics retailers and premium resellers. Two nationwide licensed distributors, Beijing Founder Century Information Systems and Beijing Hanlinhui Information Industry, confirmed with Shanghai's First Financial Daily that they had lost their distribution deals. Century Founder is now serving as a premium reseller, opening its own stores in Henan, Hebei and Hanlinhui rather than distributing Apple products to other resellers. Those stores tend to make most of their income off of Apple product accessories, which have a profit margin of more than 30 percent, while the margin on Apple equipment is a slim 8 percent. First Financial Daily also reported that the iPad mini launch drew smaller crowds in the Asian market than for other Apple products in the past. The Hong Kong Store reportedly had fewer customers than staff on hand, the Sydney, Australia store had about 50 people in line, and the Tokyo and Seoul stores both had about 100 customers in line at the opening.
