iPad mini

As smaller tablets catch on, IDC expects Android to overtake iPad in 2013

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 28, 2017

Research firm IDC today updated its tablet shipments forecast to reflect the growing popularity of low-cost tablets coming from the Android camp.

IDC now predicts that Android tablets will overtake the iPad in terms of volume during the course of 2013.

The firm pegged Apple's share of the global tablet market in 2012 at 51 percent, with Android-driven tablets accounting for 41.5 percent of shipments. The new forecast calls for Android’s share hitting a peak of 48.8 percent in 2013, mostly at the expense of Apple’s iOS predicted to drop down to 46 percent this year.

But why stop there, IDC futurists project tablet shipments nearly four years into the future: in 2017, they expect Android to own 46 percent of the market, with the iPad dropping to a 43.5 percent share. As we know all too well, Apple isn't one to blindly pursue market share, as evident in smartphones where it captures three-quarters of industry profits with barely one-tenth of total handset shipments...

Twelve South launches sleek BookArc stand for iPad mini

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 19, 2019

Twelve South makes some of the finest and most beautifully designed accessories for Apple gear, such as its highly-regarded BookBook case series for the MacBook Air, iPad mini, iPhone 4/4S and iPhone 5, the premium, nearly invisible SurfacePad iPhone sleeve or the charming PlugBug charging kit.

Today, Twelve South announced an iPad mini variant of its iPad stand. The arc-shaped BookArc stand looks like a piece of sci-fi furniture and is designed (like its MacBook Air counterpart) to support your iPad in either portrait or landscape on a bunch of flat surfaces...

HiddenApps lets you disable iAds and hide stock Apple apps, no jailbreak required

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 22, 2018

Occasionally, an app escapes the watchful eye of Apple's review team and gets released on the App Store despite ignoring Apple's stringent rules for third-party iOS development. HiddenApps by David Goelzhaeuser, a 15-year-old German iOS developer, is one such example.

The whole point of this free application is to let you hide Apple's stock apps from your Home screen, like Passbook, Newsstand or Stocks - no jailbreak required.

It can also disable Apple's iAds altogether and give you access to a Field Test mode which gives you precise readings of your cellular signal strength. You better download as it's going down in 5, 4, 3, 2...

New Apple supplier concerns drag share down

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated June 13, 2016

Spring is just around the corner, the sun is shining and new concerns about Apple suppliers appear like so many dandelions. Never mind CEO Tim Cook said it's impossible to determine the health of the iPhone maker simply by looking at suppliers.

Just as Washington, DC trades in political rumors, Wall Street and Silicon Valley are back with new scuttlebutt about Apple's supply chain.

As a result, Apple's stock dipped lower Monday on word that orders to suppliers were the worst on record - at least for one analyst. Others believe higher sales of iPad minis versus the larger tablet is cause for concern, while still others forecast a slow summer and then return to profitability...

Rovio to air Toons series through Angry Birds apps

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_7JjB0At_s

As we told you, Finland-based Angry Birds maker Rovio continues to milk its franchise with the announcement of an animated series titled Angry Birds Toons. It's premiering on the weekend of March 16 and 17 and today Rovio revealed that it will be airing the episodes directly via its Angry Birds apps, in addition to other more traditional distribution channels.

That's a clever move considering more than 1.7 billion Angry Birds downloads across devices and operating systems. If they offered a standalone Toons app, I don't think many people would download it. The first episode titled 'Chuck Time' will be airing in the Angry Birds Toons channel this Sunday, March 17, with a trailer for it included right after the break...

Apple rules the skies: 84% of in-flight Internet use comes from iDevices

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated December 20, 2017

In-flight Wi-Fi provider GoGo yesterday released an interesting infographic based on its real-world data on what devices passengers are using to access its service and what they are doing online. Apple's iPhones and iPads dominated 2012 with a commanding 84 percent share, which sounds about right even if the figure is a bit higher than Apple's other web usage stats.

Android is gaining some ground in the air, so to speak, and in 2012 accounted for sixteen percent of in-flight Internet use, sharply up over just 3.2 percent in 2011. Apple's share in 2011 was 96.8 percent so clearly the company lost some ground to Android.

Five Apples for every Android on Gogo's networks is in stark contrast to other surveys highlighting Android's unit sales lead. Nonetheless, this is a real-world data point, therefore suggesting that either other market share estimates are inherently flawed or that Android-totting passengers are just not as fond of using their devices on a plane as their Apple peers are...

The original Angry Birds game goes free for the first time on iOS

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

It appears as if Angry Birds maker Rovio is changing strategy lately and switching away from paid downloads to free ones. Having briefly experimented with a massive 99-cent sale of its iPad titles last month and adding free, ad-supported downloads to its puzzler Amazing Alex, today the company has made the game that started it all - the original Angry Birds - free for the first time ever on Apple's mobile platform. Unlike free Angry Birds downloads on Android, this one doesn't come with in-app advertisements and Rovio also has added 15 new levels to keep you going...

The VersaCover for iPad mini knows when to hold or fold

Jim Gresham ∙ March 7, 2013

Personally, I am not fond of folding, origami-sytle cases for iPad. Yet, there are a decent amount of them on the market. You know them. They have a folding back that props your iPad in any number of different angles to increase or decrease the viewing angle. Big deal. Up until now, I have never given an origami case a glance. In fact, sometimes I refuse to review them, but I had a hard time telling Moshi 'no' for their VersaCover. Finding myself happily surprised, look past the fold to see if these cases are the right fit for you...

Twitter refines iOS app search, but also removes Vodpod, Posterous and Mobypicture

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 6, 2013

After discontinuing its mobile TweetDeck apps for iPhone and Android in favor of the web client, the micro-blogging service Twitter today refreshed its iOS client with better search, refined layouts, support for traditional Chinese and other perks.

Unfortunately, this update also kills off support for external video services like Mobypicture, Vodpod and Posterous as the company supposedly is building a rumored video uploading service of its own.

Note that Posterous, a micro-blogging platform Twitter bought a year ago, is shutting down for good on April 30. Twitter also recently acquired Vine and launched a corresponding brand new app for recording and sharing short 6-second clips that can be easily tweeted out and viewed in-line on Twitter. With this update, TwitVid and yFrog are now your only video uploading choices in Twitter’s iOS app...

And the winner of our iPad mini giveaway is…

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Ladies and gentlemen, we have found the winner for our iPad mini giveaway. First of all, we want to thank everyone who entered, your participation has been nothing short of impressive. We'd also like to lend a huge thanks to our giveaway sponsor, Big Fish Games, for helping us with this giveaway, and for creating awesome iOS games like Fairway Solitaire.

Now, the moment you've all been waiting for. We've randomly selected one of our many YouTube subscribers who followed our giveaway instructions to a tee. Now it's time to tell you who won. Congratulations to....

The best iPad jailbreak tweaks

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

I’m going to be honest with you — jailbreaking an iPad hasn't been nearly as appealing to me as jailbreaking my iPhone. But as I started working on this list, I realized that there really are some awesome, and I mean awesome ways to trick out your iPad once it's jailbroken.

Considering that I do a lot of writing on my iPad, I found that a many of these tweaks immensely helped my writing workflow. Tweaks like BeeKeyboard, and SwipeSelection are absolute essentials for iPad writers, even if you're not really into the jailbreak scene.

Obviously that's not all, as virtually everyone will find a jailbreak app or tweak that suits their fancy. Yes, the iPad jailbreak scene is alive, and it's better than ever. Despite my initial doubts, I was able to come up with this solid list of 15 best jailbreak tweaks for iPad running iOS 6. There's no filler here, and no fluff — each of these tweaks represent, what in my opinion, is the best of the best. Take a look inside, and see for yourselves.

Chrome for iOS with Messages sharing and back button history now available

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 4, 2013

Google on Monday announced a new version of Chrome for the iPhone and iPad containing two new features. In addition to the obligatory stability and security improvements and bug fixes, Chrome build 25.0.1364.86 has brought out the ability to re-visit previously visited web pages by long-taping the back button.

This invokes a drop-down menu listing a history of the web pages you visited in the current session. The feature is also available on the desktop version of Chrome as well as on desktop and mobile version of Apple's Safari browser. Another nice-to-have enhances Chrome's Sharing menu with a new option for sending a web page via Messages...