AllThingsD: Apple will announce iPad mini on October 23

Posted by Jason Diaz Categories: Apple, Handhelds, Rumors,

AllThingsD is reporting that it's been informed by "people familiar with Apple plans", by which they might mean Apple PR, that an invite-only event is being held for October 23rd for the much-rumored  and highly-anticipated iPad mini. The report also speculates that the event will be held at a smaller venue like Apple's Town Hall. The timing makes sense since the new revamped user interface iTunes was promised by Apple to be released at an unspecified date in October. Likewise, it is a perfect competitive maneuver against the Microsoft Surface Tablet which is slated to launch on the 26th.

The iPad Mini is rumored to house a 7.85-inch IPS display with the same resolution of the iPad 2 and a new Lightning connector. The starting price is expected be around $199-249. Details of the wireless connectivity are vague, yet some are speculating it will be Wi-Fi-only, forgoing a cellular option. If I were a betting man, the iPad mini will be very thin, light, easy for one-handed use and perfectly sized as a stocking stuffer for the upcoming holiday shopping season. In addition, AllThingsD has a good track record forecasting past Apple events. So, fingers crossed. 

Read More | All Things D

The ever-shrinking SIM card

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Editorial, Features,

What you see in the image above is the evolution of mobile phone SIM card design over the past four years. The largest in the image, known as the mini-SIM, was used for quite a while as the standard in GSM cell phones. However, as smartphones began to rise in popularity, drop is cost, and brought increased functionality, it was determined that the mini-SIM just wasn't mini enough. It took up too much of the precious real estate that mobile phone manufacturers needed for other things. Thing like a GPS radio, Wi-Fi, larger batteries, dock connectors, graphics chips, and more. And so began the start of the shrinking SIM card.

Click to continue reading The ever-shrinking SIM card

Samsung announces Galaxy S III mini with 4-inch Super AMOLED display

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Google, Handhelds,

We knew that the Samsung Galaxy S III mini was coming, and now it's official. The 4-inch smartphone was announced earlier today in Frankfurt, Germany, sporting Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, 1GB RAM, and a 1GHz dual-core processor. Other specs include the ability to choose between an 8GB and 16GB model (both are expandable with an extra 32Gb microSD card,) 4-inch Super AMOLED display, 5-magapixel rear camera, VGA front camera, and a bunch of wireless support (802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, FM radio, and NFC. Aside from pricing and availability, which is nowhere to be found just yet, we're wondering--when did 4-inch smartphones became referred to as "mini"?

Apple granted patent that can disable your iPhone 1984-style

Posted by Jason Diaz Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Corporate News,

Apple is not shy about submitting patents on its creations, but this one is a little different. This particular filing attempts to patent the essence of 1984, and would give the Cupertino-based company the sole right to disable a user's iPhone camera app in restricted areas, such as at a concert venue or movie theater. However, it appears that the now-granted patent may disable far more than just your ability to take snapshots.

Click to continue reading Apple granted patent that can disable your iPhone 1984-style

Read More | Business Insider

Comic Book Circulation: 1965

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Independent,

Comic Book Plus has loaded up a ton of old stuff, including complete copies of Capa-Alpha, the legendary (and still publishing) apa (amateur press association), of which I was once a member in reasonable good standing. This is from K-a #20 (May 1966), pages 21 and 21 at the link. It’s from a zine by Andy Zerbe called Saraband.

Zerbe collected the circulation reports from the various comics that published them and posted them in a list. These should be referring to the average sales from 1965. And not every title is listed; Zerbe reminded in his introduction that not every publisher and not every title had a circulation report.

There are some Marvel and DC titles included, but you’ll have to go to the link to check them out. I find this kind of thing fascinating as a snapshot of the industry at a specific time.

Naturally, looking at the numbers, any publisher today would kill to have sales like these, but it was a different era, newsstand only and there’s no going back. Here are four of the publishers Zerbe tracked: Charlton, Archie, Dell and Gold Key.

Click to continue reading Comic Book Circulation: 1965

Read More | The Comics Chronicles

Comic Book Jobs: University of Texas

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials,

The Unviersity of Texas at Austin isn’t the kind of place you’d ordinarily find a comic book job, but there’s a slight one over there.

The school is looking for an Administrative Associate ($2,430/month) for all of the usual functions, with this one tossed in:

“Assist with the Comic Book, Trailblazer, Math and Science Competitions and executive breakfast events.”

I don’t know about the rest of the stuff - details at the link - but the competition sounds like fun.

Good luck, job seekers!

[Artwork: University of Texas]

Read More | University of Texas

iPod touch (5th generation) teardown

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Handhelds, Portable Audio / Video,

When a major Apple product hits stores, you can count on iFixIt to take it apart, and that's just what it did with the new fifth-generation iPod touch. The new iPod touch features the same 4-inch display found in the iPhone 5, and began shipping to customers earlier this week. Here's what's inside:

Click to continue reading iPod touch (5th generation) teardown

iPad mini may not offer cellular option, relegated to Wi-Fi only?

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Handhelds, Rumors, Wireless / WiFi,

Apple's current worst-kept secret is the impending announcement and arrival of the iPad mini, a 7.85-inch version of the world's most popular tablet. What we don't know are all the details like price or specific features. The current rumor being circulated is that the iPad mini will be available in a Wi-Fi-only configuration, with no cellular option. We're on the fence on this one. On one hand, leaving out the LTE chip allows Apple to price these competitively without making the top-end model cost more than the entry-level new iPad. This keeps things more in line with the $199 price points of the Kindle Fire HD and Google Nexus 7 tablets. However, having cellular in the iPad mini seems to be the killer setup. Just slide one into your suit jacket pocket and you have portable tablet connectivity on the go. We know plenty of people who would happily pay the additional $130 above the iPad price tag for the LTE option. I guess those folks can always tether, right?

What’s your prediction? Will the iPad mini be offered with a cellular option? Apple has reportedly ordered 10 million iPad mini units from its suppliers, so it looks like the company expects this one to be huge.

Read More | The Guardian

Leaked Windows 8 video ads show off touch features

Posted by Jason Diaz Categories: Microsoft, Software, Videos,

Microsoft's marketing department couldn't keep a lock on these four Windows 8 promo videos that have turned up on YouTube. One of the ads shows off the Microsoft Surface tablet, set to be released on October 26th. Get to stepping and get your Windows geek on--we've got all four videos after the jump!

Click to continue reading Leaked Windows 8 video ads show off touch features

Here’s how the top web companies and services make money

Posted by Jason Diaz Categories: Corporate News, Internet,

Ever wonder how your favorite tech companies, apps, services or social networks like Facebook and Twitter actually make money? Do they even make a profit? This cool HTML5 optimized page by RCS See Interactive answers that very question. It gathers up all of that info and breaks it down into categories in a cool interactive way. It lets you know which companies make money from advertising, subscriptions, lead generation, selling your data (yep, that happens a lot!), freemium models, and royalties. Go check it out! Tap any circle and what you find may surprise you.

[Thanks, Pedro!]

Read More | How Do They Make Money?