iPad mini

Flipboard iOS app now lists curated iBookstore content

Flipboard, the popular social news reader platform, has partnered with Apple to launch a new section in iOS apps called Books which, surprisingly, highlights select books the iPhone maker sells on its own iBookstore. The new Books section is now live in Flipboard iOS apps in ten countries. It's customized with 25 new sections containing the most popular books from Apple’s iBookstore. "It’s like browsing in a bookstore, right from your Flipboard", the company says. The new section is localized for the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Italy and Spain...

Belkin unveils new keyboard case for iPad mini

The iPad mini, because of its size and lack of high-end features, has been informally dubbed a consumption device. It seems like more folks are using it more for web surfing and media than they are for getting work done.

But those of you who are using the mini for work purposes may be happy to hear that Belkin has just taken the wraps off its new Portable Keyboard Case. It's slim, lightweight, and has a removable Bluetooth keyboard...

Here is your second chance to win an iPad mini

A few weeks ago, we ran one of our awesome giveaways, which allowed one lucky winner to go home with an iPad mini. With thousands of entries, it was a very popular giveaway, to say the least.

Today, we team up with the fine folks at Big Fish Games to offer you a second shot at winning an iPad mini. Big Fish Games is a huge iOS game developer that has dozens of apps under its belt, and not only will they give away an iPad mini to one of you, but they also decided to give a copy of Fairway Solitaire to all of you.

Now let's find out the details of this giveaway, shall we?

Few are buying an iPad mini as an iPad replacement, survey claims

In another edition of our long-running 'quit your worrying' series, we present why the iPad mini won't take a bite from larger Apple tablet sales. You may recall, when the smaller iPad was introduced, experts offered wide-ranging estimates on how many sales the 7.9-inch tablet would cost the original iPad. A new survey suggests the number of cannibalized iPad sales will be very, very small. More than half of people who intend to purchase an iPad mini within the next 18 months have never owned a tablet, according to a survey conducted before Apple's new device hit stores.

Of that group, roughly 17 percent said the mini would replace another device, according to the Cowen and Co. numbers. Of the portion of people intending the mini as a replacement, 29 percent said it would be the iPad. However, 42 percent of the replacers were targeting their Windows PC...

Scosche unveils new Lightning accessories

It's been nearly two months since Apple released the iPhone 5, and accessories for the handset are still extremely hard to find. So far all we've seen, as far as Apple-approved add-ons, are a car charger and sync dock from Belkin.

Good news this morning though. The California-based Scosche Industries has announced its own official lineup of Lightning accessories, which includes a wall charger, a car charger, and a retractable USB charging/sync cable...

iPad mini gets the 24kt gold treatment

If you though the iPad mini was overpriced at $329, wait until you see the tablet dipped in gold. As it does with all new Apple products, the folks over at Gold & Co. have given the new mini the 24kt gold treatment. And although it's the definition of ostentatious, we have to say that it looks magnificent...

Despite Android growth, iOS accounts for 60 percent of mobile videos

More evidence that our hunch was right: most mobile video traffic comes from iOS devices. Indeed, a new study finds that 60 percent of video not shown on PCs appear on iPad or iPhone screens. This despite a growing number of Android devices becoming a third screen for video consumers.

The news follows an earlier study in May by the same video monetization firm Freewheel. That research found iOS devices displayed 80 percent of mobile videos, hinting at inroads made by Android players...

iPad growth puts breaks on PC replacement cycle

Memo to PC makers: Your best days are over. That's the word from one Wall Street observer who says tablets such as Apple's iPad are reducing the need to regularly replace laptops and other computers. Indeed, the PC replacement cycle relied upon by computer makers will be one to two years longer, resulting in a loss of 50 million to 100 million PCs shipped annually, by 2015. By contrast, tablet sales are expected to skyrocket from 182 million in 2013 to 300 million by 2016 - with Apple the major beneficiary...

First LTE iPad mini pre-orders are now en route to US customers

During the September 12 iPad mini unveiling Apple vaguely indicated that the Wi-Fi + Cellular model would start shipping “a couple of weeks after the Wi-Fi models”. Then, when it started accepting pre-orders and announced opening weekend sales of three million iPads, the company reiterated that the cellular version of both the fourth-gen iPad and the smaller one will be available in the US on AT&T, Sprint and Verizon “in a few weeks”.

We’re now receiving reports that some customers who pre-ordered a Wi-Fi + Cellular iPad mini are receiving shipping notices from their courier service. Many are seeing delivery dates of this Friday, November 16, or the following Monday, with some deliveries reportedly set for as early as tomorrow, November 15...

Grab yourself a MOBiLE CLOTH, the king of cleaning cloths [giveaway]

We at iDB are big MOBiLE CLOTH fans as you can see from our previous review and multiple giveaways. "Who would get excited about a cleaning cloth," you may be asking yourself. Well, after testing the cloth, we were pretty blown away. I recently tried my hand with a MOBiLE CLOTH and it certainly lived up to expectation. Without any additional cleaning agents or sprays, the dry cloth effortlessly destroyed all of the finger prints and smudges I accumulated while killing baddies playing one of my new favorite apps, ARC Squadron during my review. What impressed me the most is the effortless cleaning process.

To celebrate the launch of the iPad (4th gen) and iPad mini, we teamed up with MOBiLE CLOTH to also giveaway a 24 cleaning cloth gift set...

Apple airs two new iPad mini ads highlighting iPhoto and iBooks apps

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdmkhzGD-ZA

Apple Sunday afternoon posted a pair of television commercials for the iPad mini. Unlike the inaugural ad which focuses on the GarageBand app, these new clips highlight Apple's own iPhoto and iBooks apps for the tablet, the former provided as a $5 download. Using the effective side-by-side format, the first commercial, named Photos and see above, takes us through the various photo management and editing capabilities of the iPhoto app.

The other is called Books and shows off various iBooks. As you'd expect, both apps behave exactly like on full-sized iPads. The ads are available as QuickTime streams from Apple's home page and via Apple's YouTube channel. I've included the Books commercial right after the break...

If only this iPad mini parody clip was the real deal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaW6IiWKHAk

After watching this, I'm beginning to wonder if somebody at Apple should seriously consider hiring Cinesaurus, a Seattle-based creative team "obsessed with telling stories through video and animation". They're also behind an excellent Surface parody video that teaches Microsoft how to advertise against the iPad...