Apple event confirmed: 10th September 2013

Apple will hold its next iPhont event on the 10th of September 2013 according to many sources and recently confirmed by Jim Dalrymple of The Loop (who is always right btw).

Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 5 successor, the iPhone 5S with the likelihood of a fingerprint sensor home button and the official launch of iOS7.The iPhone 5S would probably have the same design as the iPhone 5S which actually makes the fingerprint sensor home button more doubtful. We still think that it will only come with the iPhone 6. Not the 5S. Alongside the iPhone 5S, Apple is also expected to launch a lower cost, plastic, multi-colored iPhone 5C targeted for the lower-end and emerging markets.

A new iPad which will look like a bigger iPad mini will also be announced alongside with a retina display iPad mini. But we are still doubtful that Apple will announce so many devices in one event. Probably they are going to hold another event sometime later for the iPads. We will see.

In the other hand, OS X Mavericks will probably not show up on this event. Or it will. Lets see.

Mark your calender and hope Apple will deliver yet another awesome event this time around.

Like us on Facebook and follow us on twitter.

 

2013 Google Nexus 7 from Asus: Mini Review

Google recently announced the new Nexus 7 and it is really impressive. Apple will have alot of work to do to top this with its iPad Mini. Here we have a mini review on the new Nexus 7 for you. Its a very good review from ITProPortal.com. Have a good read. We apologize for being late.

Balance – that’s the key. Last year’s Nexus 7 set the bar for small tablets with just the right balance of features, size, and price. This year, Google and Asus have done it again, balancing size, performance, and a wallet-friendly price to hit the sweet spot for a compact tablet.

Physical features

The new Nexus 7 is slimmer, lighter, and more comfortable to hold than the original, which was already more comfortable to hold than the oddly wide Apple iPad mini. This model measures 200 x 8.6 x 114mm (WxDxH) and weighs 290 grams, with tapered sides and a soft-touch back that somehow feels a little classier than the weird faux-leather of the original Nexus 7. Asus still understands that narrowness, more than anything else, is key to making a device you might sometimes want to hold in one hand.

There are very few ports here – just microUSB, a headphone jack, and a microphone – and narrower, but not very narrow, side bezels framing a sharp 1,920 x 1,200 screen.

The screen is the big advance here. Asus swapped out the Nexus 7’s original 1,280 x 800 screen with a gorgeous 1,920 x 1,200-pixel IPS LCD panel. At 323 ppi, it’s almost exactly the same density as the iPhone 5’s Retina display and higher than any iPad. It’s bright enough for most circumstances, colours are very true, and the viewing angle is good – but it’s also small enough that the screen doesn’t totally kill battery life. We got 7 hours and 37 minutes of video playback with the screen turned up to max brightness. While that’s definitely shorter than the 10 hours that last year’s model, with its less dense screen, managed, it’s still quite respectable.

The Nexus 7 comes in three models. The first two are Wi-Fi only, with support for 802.11a/b/g/n on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands – the support for faster 5GHz Wi-Fi is another upgrade from last year’s version. The 16GB Wi-Fi model has gone on pre-order for £199 (expected to be RM999), and the 32GB version (which we were sent for review) retails at £239 (possibly RM1199). The third unit packs 4G LTE support and will retail at £299 (RM1499) (with 32GB of storage – there’s no 16GB option with the LTE slate).

All of the models have GPS, which makes this bright little tablet an absolutely killer in-car navigation system. The GPS on my test tablet locked in very quickly. The tablet also has Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC, although surprisingly there’s no support for Google Wallet. Maybe Google Wallet is a thing of the past.

Performance, OS and apps

The Nexus 7 is the first Android 4.3 tablet, running a 1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm S4 Pro APQ8064 processor. Think of it as about two-thirds of the way up the current performance ladder, with the Samsung Galaxy S4 phone at the top. It almost doubles the performance of last year’s Nvidia Tegra 3-based Nexus 7 on pure processor and graphics benchmarks, and positively crushes the iPad mini on the Geekbench system benchmark: The mini scored only 748, while this guy registers 2,643. The Chrome browser beats the iPad mini on the Sunspider browser benchmark by about 30 per cent.

Real-world performance isn’t solely dependent on processor speed: It’s dependent on how many pixels you’re pushing, the OS, and third-party apps. That’s where the Nexus 7, running Android 4.3, runs into a bit of trouble. I run the same bunch of Android apps every time I test a tablet, and some of them either didn’t show up in the market or got buggy on the Nexus.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted, for instance, suffered from weird graphics artifacts. The UI in Netflix was sluggish, although videos played just fine. Asphalt 7: Heat, one of my standard test games, didn’t even show up on a search. Sometimes when searching Google’s own Play store, animations would get jittery or the text entry box would lose focus. The popular video player MX Player quit on launch. I suspect a lot of these problems are Android 4.3 issues which will get solved quickly as the app creators update their work.

I didn’t see any such problems in Google’s other built-in apps, and other apps such as Riptide GP2, Paper Monsters, Dead Trigger, and Photoshop Touch ran just fine. Most importantly, Google’s Chrome browser runs very, very well here, as do Netflix and Amazon’s Kindle app. I’d still recommend e-ink e-readers to many people because of their vast reserves of battery life and sunlight readability, but this will do a great job with children’s books and comics.

This has always been Google’s struggle with Android tablets: Making sure third-party apps are up to speed with the platform. Google has changed the home page of its Play store so only tablet-friendly apps show up, although you can still find “ugly” apps not designed for tablet screens by searching for them. Those apps still don’t look too bad on a 7in screen; it’s really with 10in tablets that you’ll run into problems.

Apple’s iPad mini has a superior app experience, it’s true. You’ll find more and better apps in Apple’s app store, and they’re pretty much all guaranteed to run smoothly. But the Nexus 7’s app situation is good enough for that not to be a deal-breaker.

Android 4.3’s other flagship feature makes this an excellent kids’ tablet. Android 4.2 allowed for the creation of multiple user accounts on your tablet, and now “restricted profiles” have been introduced to let you create accounts that can only use certain apps. I created one and found that the restricted account was locked out of the Google Play store. YouTube threw up an error message but worked anyway; all the other apps I allowed my virtual child to use worked fine.

Multimedia

With no memory card slot, I suggest buying the 32GB Nexus 7 (with 26GB of storage available) over the 16GB unit. The price difference is only £40, and you’ll want the space. The new Nexus 7 adds a 5-megapixel rear camera to the tablet, keeping the 1-megapixel front camera as well.

The new Android 4.3 camera app’s UI is extremely simple, although you still get some options like capture size, a countdown timer, a few scene modes, panorama and Photo Sphere. Photos taken with the main camera were clear enough in good light, although bright areas were washed out and there was some visible colour noise. In low light, the noise really ramped up. Front camera images tended to be very soft, even smeary (but not blurry) in low light. The main camera captured 1080p video at 30 frames per second indoors and out; the front camera captured 720p at 30 frames per second. There’s no image stabilisation, but there is a time-lapse mode.

The front camera is fine for video chatting, and the main camera will do just fine for augmented-reality apps, bar code scanners, language translators, and all the things you really should be using a tablet camera for. People taking snapshots with tablet cameras generally look like idiots – don’t be one.

Asus amped up the volume of the stereo speakers here, and they’re now quite loud, although they’re still tinny. Fraunhofer surround sound gives some real stereo separation in material coded for it, like Google Play movies. Still, the only way you’re going to get bass is with headphones.

The Nexus 7 had no problem playing MPEG4 and H.264 videos in resolutions up to 1080p, as well as streaming Netflix and Google Play movies. There’s no DivX or Xvid support by default.

The Nexus 7 doesn’t come with any wired means to output video to a TV, but it works with Google’s new $35 (£23) Chromecast to play some streaming (not local) media on TVs, and there’s also a SlimPort micro-USB-to-HDMI adapter available that works with this Nexus 7 and last year’s Nexus 4 smartphone.

Verdict

The new Google Nexus 7 will be the right small tablet for most people when it comes across to the UK (hopefully pretty soon, according to Currys it will be September). Regarding rivals, the cheaper £159 Amazon Kindle Fire HD is only the right choice right now if you’re heavily invested in Amazon’s media world, although a new and more competitive model is probably coming soon. If you want to go a lot cheaper, then obviously you’ll be sacrificing a great deal for a really budget Android slate – not the least of which will be the new Nexus 7’s superb screen.

At the higher end, the £269 iPad mini has an unmatched range of apps, but you’ll pay for that heavily in terms of a grainier screen, higher price, and more awkward form factor. And the £339 Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 has a Dirk Diggler-like “one special thing” in terms of its pen support, although you should only commit the cash if you need that pressure-sensitive pen.

Small tablets are most often used for some media, some gaming, some web browsing, and some e-reading. Provided third-party developers update their apps for Android 4.3 – and I think they will, soon – the new Nexus 7 is ideal for all of those, thanks to its sharp screen, comfortable ergonomics, and solid performance at an ideal price. All this means that Google’s latest tablet effort gets one of our Best Buy awards.

Write in to us for any queries!

[Via]

iPad mini available in Switch outlets starting today, no sign on iPad mini on Apple Malaysia online store! UPDATE: applies to Machines, SenQ and Senheng

Switch has just updated their Facebook status and announcing that they will be selling the iPad mini and iPad with Retina Display (not sure if it’s the 3rd or the 4th gen) today! Rejoice! If u are keen on getting an iPad mini, go to a switch outlet and get one for yourself. It also stated that the stocks are limited. I am not sure where did they get the stocks but apparently Apple Malaysia online store still does not have iPad mini available yet. But the problem is, there are no pricing for the iPad mini available anywhere. So I assume Switch is doing this to get people to go to the outlets and find it out themselves. Just hope it is not expensive. And I really hope the iPad with Retina Display is the 4th gen iPad! A6X baby!!

Here is how the Facebook status reads:

“Hello beautiful! iPad Mini and iPad with Retina Display, available in all Switch outlets. Stocks are limited for iPad Mini. Only Wi-Fi models available for iPad Mini and iPad with Retina Display. First come first serve basis :D”

Heading over to get one? Please do. Hope the stocks dont run out!

* Update: Apparently another Apple authorized reseller, Machines will also be selling iPad mini and iPad 4 starting tomorrow. Same goes to SenQ and Senheng. Have fun guys! Christmas is coming!

[Source]

iPad mini vs Nexus 7 Drop Test [Video]

As always, we bring you the drop test for the latest device you cared about. Although drop test dont usually mean anything at all. You wont buy your device based on how well it will fair in drops. Or you like to buy a tablet and drop it everyday then we have no comment. Anyway, this is the drop test between iPad mini and Nexus 7 from Android Authority. Who will fair better?

iPad mini and 4th Generation iPad review round-up [Review]

Ahead of the iPad Mini and fourth-generation iPad becoming available to customers Friday, early reviews of both devices have hit the web. You can see in the collection below that the reviews are fairly positive, discussing how great the build quality is, the lightness of the tablet, and how well it fits in your hand. Starting with the iPad mini:

The Loop:

I use my iPad mini for tasks rather than watching videos or playing games, but I use it a lot. This is a Wi-Fi model, which was on all the time and I have yet to see anything cause a significant drain on the battery. The battery is lasting days for me and it is on 24/7.

Engadget:

In fact we found the brightness and color reproduction to be improved over the iPad 2, comparable to the latest Retina displays. Colors are very pleasing to the eye and viewing angles, as ever with an Apple display, do not disappoint. You can line up as many friends as you like and sit them shoulder-to-shoulder, they’ll all have a bright, clear picture. Yes, mini owners may have to make do with some resolution envy, but they at least won’t be lacking in any other regard.

The Verge:

And it does raise the floor here. There’s no tablet in this size range that’s as beautifully constructed, works as flawlessly, or has such an incredible software selection. Would I prefer a higher-res display? Certainly. Would I trade it for the app selection or hardware design? For the consistency and smoothness of its software, or reliability of its battery? Absolutely not. And as someone who’s been living with (and loving) Google’s Nexus 7 tablet for a few months, I don’t say that lightly.

TechCrunch:

While we’re on the subject of the screen, let’s not beat around the bush — if there is a weakness of this device, it’s the screen. But that statement comes with a very big asterisk. As someone who is used to a “retina” display on my phone, tablet, and even now computer, the downgrade to a non-retina display is quite noticeable. This goes away over time as you use the iPad mini non-stop, but if you switch back a retina screen, it’s jarring.

Telegraph:

On the other hand, what will make some think twice about buying an iPad mini is the price. Starting at £269 for a WiFi only model, this is £100 dearer than the Kindle Fire HD or the Nexus 7, which is now available in a 16GB version for £159.

Whether it’s worth it depends on how much of a premium you put on great design and a vast ecosystem of apps. Apple will sell a lot of these little beauties, that’s for sure.

TIME:

Even though this screen isn’t state of the art, it’s O.K. If you’ve ever laid your eyeballs on the ultra-smooth text rendered by the Retina iPad, its text will look fuzzy by comparison, especially at teensier type sizes. But the tradeoff it presents compared to the 7-inchers — fewer pixels, but more space — is reasonable enough.

AllThingsD:

In shrinking the iconic iPad, Apple has pulled off an impressive feat. It has managed to create a tablet that’s notably thinner and lighter than the leading small competitors with 7-inch screens, while squeezing in a significantly roomier 7.9-inch display. And it has shunned the plastic construction used in its smaller rivals to retain the iPad’s sturdier aluminum and glass body.

Guardian:

What will surprise you is the weight. The specs already show that the iPad mini is lighter than the Kindle Fire, 308g v 395g (and 340g for the Nexus 7); even if you add on a Smart Cover, it’s still lighter than the uncovered Kindle Fire. It’s thinner too. This is a device that will be ideal for holding in one hand for reading on train rides or other commuting; or you might even forget it’s in that coat pocket.

SlashGear:

Apple quotes up to 10hrs of wireless browsing over Wi-Fi for the iPad mini, or up to 9hrs if you’re using the tablet’s cellular connection. In practice, with a mixture of browsing, some video playback, games, music – both locally-stored and streaming – and messaging, we comfortably exceeded Apple’s estimate. In fact, we exceeded 11hrs of use before encountering a battery warning.

Fox News:

Those tablets don’t have the complete experience that the iPad does. Come on: The iPad is still the gold standard for tablet computing after all. With stellar hardware and hundreds of thousands of apps, the iPad is the Kleenex of facial tissue. The Tivo of DVRs. It has all the perks of using an iOS device: AppStore, iMessages, FaceTime, etc. 

Moving on to the 4th gen iPad:

TechCrunch:

If you were going to get an iPad before, obviously, you’ll want to get this one now. In fact, you don’t even have a choice — Apple has discontinued the third-generation model. The prices remain the same across the board as do all of the other features (WiFi/LTE, Retina display, etc).

Yes, it is kind of lame for those of us who bought third-generation models that Apple updated the line so quickly, but well, that’s Apple. To me, the fourth-generation leap doesn’t seem to be nearly as big as the leap from the first to second generation or from the second to third generation, so perhaps take some solace in that.

SlashGear:

The third-generation iPad arguably didn’t need refreshing; in fact, if Apple hadn’t opted to change to Lightning, it could realistically have held off changing its largest tablet until early 2013, as per its typical yearly refresh cycle. That makes for a reasonably straightforward upgrade decision if you’re a 3rd-gen iPad owner. Unless you’re desperate for Lightning – perhaps you’ve also got an iPhone 5, and want to use all the same accessories rather than buy the adapter dongle – then we’re yet to see apps that really demand the potent A6X chipset.

The Verge:

The fourth-generation iPad is the very definition of an iterative change: Apple made important things better, but neither overhauled nor revolutionized anything. If the iPad’s history is any indication, the fourth-generation iPad’s advantages over the third-gen model will be most apparent two years from now, when apps are designed for the better processor and the Lightning connector has spawned a much larger universe of accessories. Then you’ll want the extra power and the adapter-free lifestyle.

For now, if you’re within your return window you should probably swap for the newest iPad, but if not? Rest assured you’re not really missing that much. Not yet, at least.

Telegraph:

In my testing, battery life seems to have remained the same despite the processor, and so have the cameras. In fact, the camera is one of the places where the impact of the A6X processor can be seen: taking pictures is an astonishingly fast and picture quality is improved thanks to the A6X’s image signal processor.

[Via]

Windows Phone 8: The new horse in the mobile OS race [Review]

Microsoft held an event to introduce the Windows Phone 8 mobile OS right after the introduction of Windows 8. We can say that it is a huge improvement from the previous Windows Phone versions and finally, yes, finally qualified to be in the new player in the mobile OS race dominated by Android and iOS. It is far from perfect yet but it is certainly on the right track, catching up on many functionality on it’s competitors but at the same time differ from them in a good way. We found a very simple yet thorough review of the newly introduced Windows Phone 8 and we would like you to know more about it and be as excited as we are.

The new Start Screen is customizable. Choose from three different sizes of Live Tiles.

When Microsoft launched its totally new Windows Phone 7 mobile operating system two years ago, it signaled Redmond’s first real step into the smartphone market.

The 2-D, tile-based platform was visually stunning, and it showed Microsoft was intent on taking the smartphone operating system into new conceptual territory. It was different, and different looked good.

Windows Phone devices got good reviews for being speedy and intuitive when they rolled out, but people didn’t actually buy them. Windows Phone now commands a meager 3.5 percent of the global smartphone market share today, while iOS and Android dominate the field at around 17 percent and 68 percent respectively, according to IDC (though iOS is significantly higher in the U.S.).

This is still Windows Phone, but more grown up, and now truly ready to challenge the big kids on the playground.

With Windows Phone 8, Microsoft is trying to give its smartphone business another shot in the arm. It’s stacked with new features, as well as enhancements to all the things that made previous versions enjoyable to use. This is still Windows Phone, but more grown up, and now truly ready to challenge the big kids on the playground.

First off, using Windows Phone 8 is as refreshing and fun as using Windows Phone 7.5. It maintains the same colorful, tile-based interface that’s now also shared with Windows 8, yet it still feels new. The new Windows Phone is more slick. Navigation is fast, the apps and the interface are more customizable.

Hardware support that was missing in previous versions is now here: support for multi-core processors, higher screen resolutions, microSD card expansion controls, and built-in NFC. Whether these features show up in the WP8 devices depends on Microsoft’s hardware partners, but the company has tried to make sure nobody will end up choosing another platform purely based on specs.

As for the actual software, the most noticeable improvement is the new Start Screen. The tiles now take up the entire screen — no more empty black right rail — and you can choose between three tile sizes. While this might seem like a small tweak, it makes a big difference for a customized experience. I love being able to now change the size and placement of each app’s tile on my Start Screen to find a configuration that works best for me.

The Live apps, or Live Tiles, still work beautifully in this OS, and now each of the three sizes can support information snippets of different depths. For example, if you make the Calendar app large so it takes up a whole row on the screen, it can show specific information like the length and location of each calendar event. Set the Calendar app to the medium size, and it shows a more condensed version. The smallest size shows just the date.

An event from Calendar, Kid’s Corner, and the Windows Phone Store

The Windows Phone 8 Lock Screen also becomes its own useful Live Tile. You can choose a few apps that will show quick status updates on the screen, and one that will show detailed notifications. This is similar to Notification Center in iOS, though you can only choose five apps for this Lock Screen experience. I did appreciate having one constant app that showed more information. I used Calendar, and it was great to see what I had coming up at a glance.

The web browser is now Internet Explorer 10, and it’s a big improvement. It’s incredibly quick; not once did I grow irritated with sluggish performance. If I had decent Wi-Fi — or at least a couple bars of service — IE10 worked great. It was stunningly fast when I had full bars on HSPA+, and I can’t imagine anybody will have complaints on a 4G LTE network.

The web browser is now Internet Explorer 10, and it’s a big improvement.

The IE10 address bar button can now be customized with one of three functions: Stop/Refresh (the default), Favorites, and Tabs. This little gimmick is not intuitive. It took me a minute to figure out how to open a new tab: by tapping the “More” menu, and then tapping “Tabs.” Swapping tabs shouldn’t be a multi-tap process, so I ended up setting the Tabs function as the default on my address bar button. A better solution would be a quick gesture for switching through tabs so I can keep the refresh button on the address bar.

Sure, that’s nitpicking. But that’s the great thing about Windows Phone 8: All of my complaints are pretty minor and quirky. I’ve grown to really prefer Windows Phone to Android, and can imagine people switching from there. I didn’t experience any crashes or stuttering during the several days I used a new HTC 8X loaded with WP8 as my sole phone. Usually, I depend on an iPhone 4 running iOS 6. The only things I missed were iMessage, since so many of my friends and family use iPhones, and my favorite day-to-day apps like Instagram, Path, and public-transportation apps.

I’ll talk more about the lack of apps later, but first: Maps. All eyes are on Windows Phone’s mapping capability since Apple fumbled the maps in iOS 6. And alas, WP8′s built-in Maps app is suspiciously missing public transportation directions on non-Nokia devices. Windows Phone’s maps app is built on Nokia’s maps platform, and for the most part, it’s accurate and useful. But on non-Nokia phones like the HTC 8X, it looks like public transit directions didn’t make the cut, which is incredibly unfortunate. It does, however, make sense for Nokia, which wants its phones to have unique software offerings, and when you buy a Nokia Lumia phone, you’ll get an “enhanced” map app. Bare Windows Phone 8 Maps still gets the job done. It has turn-by-turn directions, downloadable offline maps, traffic updates, and aerial views. I didn’t get lost once while using the app to navigate Brooklyn on foot. In short: It works, even if you have to figure out which bus to catch and where.

I tested the other new features like Kids Corner, Xbox Music and Videos, Skype integration, the improved Camera app (for which you can collect third-party Lenses), Office, and OneNote. Each worked without problems. The updated SkyDrive makes it easy to access and save files, and every Windows Phone 8 user gets 7GB of free storage. (If Microsoft’s trying to be cute with a weird number, why not 8GB?) I imagine business-oriented people who depend on Office will love the built-in Office hub, which supports Word, Excel and PowerPoint. By saving to SkyDrive, you can start a Word Doc on your phone and pick up where you left off on a computer, or vice versa. Kids Corner is also a good tool for parents with young children; it sequesters your kids — who cannot be trusted — to their own child-proof area of the phone.

The multitasking capabilities in Windows Phone 8 have been updated, and for the most part, it’s smoother. Apps can run in the background, and Windows Phone 8 will remember where you left off in a previously used app. For example, if you’re in the middle of tapping out a text, you can leave, go do something else, and then tap the back button to return where you left off with the text intact. One glitch: If I left the Messaging app in the middle of a text, and then went back by tapping the Messaging tile from the Start Screen, it wouldn’t remember where I left off. I had to tap the built-in back button, or tap and hold the back button for the “Task-switcher display,” which shows thumbnails of most recently used apps.

Beyond a few such quirks — and to be fair, every OS has its share — Windows Phone 8′s biggest problem is its lack of volume.

There are more than 120,000 apps available for Windows Phone. They just aren’t the apps you want.

Just like Windows 8, Microsoft’s smartphone OS doesn’t have enough app-makers on board yet. It’s lame to admit, but the main reason I don’t want to switch to Windows Phone 8 is because I don’t want to give up Instagram, and I’ve heard the same sentiment from Android and iPhone users alike. Instagram is a true “killer app,” and there are likely countless potential switchers with a similar complaint. The platform’s also missing the latest app fads that all your friends are addicted to. Take Letterpress, for example, the breakout word game released last week that currently has iPhone users staying up until 3 a.m. Windows Phone doesn’t have it — it only just now got Draw Something, months after it peaked.

Nonetheless, Microsoft continues to assure us it’s getting developers to create Windows Phone apps. Maybe we’ll even see Instagram in the near future. Windows Phone does core basics like Kindle, Facebook, Twitter, Zite and (just announced) Pandora. And it’s not like the store is empty — there are more than 120,000 apps available. They just aren’t the apps you want.

The other volume problem is the tiny user base. It’s most noticeable in the new “Rooms” feature in the People hub, where you can have group chats, or share albums, calendars and notes. Since I don’t know anybody who uses a Windows Phone, this feature was totally useless. I’d love to tell you it works great, but I have no way of knowing.

GOOD Slick, intuitive interface with nice animations that just works. Customizable Live Tiles and Lock Screen. People hub, which centralizes your social activity, is incredibly handy. IE10 is fast and smooth. Support for better handset hardware. Improved camera software is easy to use. Comes with wireless data tracking tool Data Sense. Built-in Office is a boon for business users. More room for developers to take advantage of. Hopefully to build a better ecosystem.

BAD Key apps are missing. Windows Store is cluttered, with reviews appearing in different languages. Rooms is useless unless you know a lot of Microsoft employees. Multitasking has some strange bugs. Same annoyance from WP7 persist. There is not one big improvement, just many small improvements. Incompatible with any of the current devices.

Our Verdict: Windows Phone 8 can do everything you expect a mobile operating system to do. If you just need a simple and basic functionality of a smartphone and doing every task without any interference, the Windows Phone 8 is certainly the mobile OS for you. But the downside is that you probably will not be the first to get certain apps or will never get them anytime soon or ever since developers wont be developing for Windows platform as the first OS or will ever considering to develop for it. This all will heavily rely on the user base of Windows Phone 8 in the upcoming months. The ecosystem is not matured yet in our opinion but apart from that Windows Phone 8 is a great OS which offers a new experience for everyone who are looking for something different and unconventional out there. You be the judge.

[Via]

Apple’s iPad mini event round-up: everything you have to know!

The iPad mini event is over and much have been talked about especially on all the products Apple introduces in one event! We have a list of products Apple shows to the world in the event and iPad Mini, the long awaited iPad Mini is one of them. Yes, there are also iMacs and MacBooks. Chill.

Everything about the event was awesome, but there is only one let down when Apple introduces the iPad 4th gen. The 3rd generation iPad is just out for 7-8 months and we all expect Apple to have a minor refresh on the iPad (like what happened to iPad 2 last year) but the refresh is too much to be considered minor. This will make some iPad 3 owner to be pissed but some says they would be happy with their iPad 3 and saving on lightning adapters.

Rather than going all over the internet for all the post about the Apple event, we found an awesome round-up of the event by Cult of Mac which gives a complete round-up of the event. Enjoy!

Here’s everything that Apple announced at today’s keynote:

iPad Mini

• 7.9-inch screen with 1024-by-768 resolution
• New aluminum glass enclosure
• 23% thinner than 4th gen iPad at 7.2mm thin
• 0.68 lbs (half the weight of the 4th gen iPad)
• Dual-core A5 chip
• FaceTime HD camera
• 5MP iSight camera on the back
• LTE wireless with 802.11a/b/g/n dual-band WiFi
• Lightning connector
• 10-hour battery life
• Comes in black and white models
• 16GB Wifi starts at $329
• Pre-orders start October 26th
• Wifi models available in stores Nov. 2nd. Wifi+4G available mid-November

iPad (fourth generation)

• A6X processor doubles CPU and graphics performance
• 10 hours of battery life
• FaceTime camera is 720p
• Retina display
• Lightning connector supported, and 802.11a/b/g/n dual-band WiFi and LTE
• Black and white models available
• 16GB Wifi starts at $499
• Preorders start October 26th

13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display

• 20% thinner than previous model at 0.75 inches thick
• 3.5lbs. Lightest MacBook Pro ever
• No optical drive, 2 Thunderbolt ports, MagSafe 2, SD Card slot, HDMI out and 2 USBs
• Retina display is 13.3 inch on the diagonal and a 2560 x 1600 resolution
• Up to 768GB of flash storage, 8GB of RAM, Intel HD 4000 graphics, and Bluetooth 4.0
• 7 Hour battery life
• Starting price is $1699
• Ships today

New iMacs

• 5mm thin at the edge
• 45% thinner display is laminated to the glass with 75% less reflection
• 27-inch and 21.5 inch models available
• FaceTime HD camera, Dual microphones, and stereo speakers
• Up to 768GB flash storage, 32GB of RAM, Core i5 or i7 processor and NVIDIA graphics
• Four USB 3.0, three Thunderbolt ports
• Fusion Drive combines 128GB Flash storage and either 1 or 3TB HDD
• 21.5-inch iMac starts at $1299, 27-inch iMac $1799
• 21.5-inch available in November, 27-inch iMac available in December

Mac mini

• New base of 2.5 GHz quad-core i7 processor
• 4GB of RAM
• Dual 1TB HDDs
• Starts at $599
• Available today

iBooks

• New continuous reading option
• More iCloud integration saves the spot you were reading
• Sharing features available for Facebook and Twitter
• 40 new languages supported
• Available today

 iBooks Author

• New templates
• Embedded fonts for custom look
• Mathematical expressions can be directly rendered
• Multi-Touch widgets
• iBooks updates can grab latest version of textbooks
• Available today as a free download

Numbers

• 5 Million iPhone 5 units were sold the first weekend (most ever)
• 3 Million iPods have been sold so far
• 200 Million devices have been updated to iOS 6
• 300 Billion iMessages have been sent in the last year
• 275,000 iPad Apps in the App Store now
• 35 Billion Apps have been downloaded
• $6.5 Billion has been paid to developers for their apps
• 1.5 Million books available via iBooks
• 100 Million iPads sold
• iPad accounts for 90% of tablet web traffic
• iBooks Textbooks are now available for 80% of high school core curriculum
• 94% of Fortune 500 businesses are deploying iPad programs

 

Well, we think the iMac is mouth watering and so do the iPad mini, looking at the awesome pricing. What do you think? Which is your favorite product announced?

[Via]

Apple’s event on 23rd October 2012: What to expect!

Apple will be having an event on 23rd October 2012 on 1p.m (1 a.m 24th Oct 2012 for Malaysia) which will focus on some “little” things like the invitation below suggested. They have a little more to show us and we are expecting the iPad mini. What else? But along with that, we also expect some other minis like the new Mac mini, 13-inch MacBook Pro with retina display (mini is a way) and some other announcement. Read on for more!

click here to see what else the invitation suggest!

 

iPad Mini:

The likely star of the event will be the iPad Mini. The 7.85-inch 4:3 screen will be the focus of the attention but the $329 (hopefully below RM1000) starting price that we revealed will draw a lot of attention.  We expect the same 1024×768 resolution as the iPad 2 but, at $329, Apple could probably squeeze a Retina Display with the same PPI as the iPhone 4+ on it. As for internal specs, that $329 price point means that Apple doesn’t have to skimp on specs. Expect a very fast A5X or A6 (perhaps built on a smaller die).

We also expect this to be a centerpiece for education initiatives that will be showcased at the event. The thin, lightweight design, huge iPad apps and iBooks libraries and other features will make this thing a no-brainer for students. It wouldn’t hurt Apple’s cause to have some big name universities signed up for the launch.  We’ve already heard about big school discounts being planned as well as some new cases.

iPad Lightning:

We’ve also seen prices for and shells of a third generation iPad with Lightning adapter instead of the 30-pin adapter. We don’t know all of the details but can speculate that Apple could take the refreshing opportunity to upgrade the LTE chip to a lower power version and could even upgrade to a thinner screen and battery, thereby making the new iPad as thin as the iPad 2, if not thinner. A smaller SoC die could also cool things off and require smaller batteries.

Apple did a refresh on iPad 2 last year with a faster chip around this time. This wont be a replacement or the next generation model or it will piss off all the people who bought the iPad 3. Prices will remain the same for the new refreshed iPad.

13-inch Retina MacBook Pro:

Another major product to be unveiled at tomorrow’s event is the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display that we told you about earlier this month. The update is expected to mirror the 15-inch Retina model introduced in June with a thinner and lighter enclosure, two configurations with different processor and storage options, and is expected to be available to purchase shortly after tomorrow morning’s unveiling. Our sources also indicated that, like the 15-inch MacBook lineup following the Retina model’s introduction, Apple will keep the current non-Retina version of the 13-inch MacBook Pro at current prices. The 13-inch Retina Macbook Pro will of course be priced slightly higher than the current 13-inch lineup. We have also received pricing details for the device, with the base model coming in at $1,699 and the higher spec model at $200-$300 more. You can convert the price yourself if you are interested. But this is certainly an highly anticipated product for this event!

Mac Mini:

A refreshed Mac mini lineup is also likely to make an appearance tomorrow. We’re not sure how much of a focus the the minis will be with the other big announcements, but there is a possibility they will be mentioned alongside the education announcements that many expect. We do, however, have details on the upgraded models. The new Mac minis will likely keep similar pricing, starting at $599, of the current models, but will also receive RAM upgrades allowing for up to 16GB. Apple will offer two configurations for the new Mac minis and also keep a third OS X server model. Other possibilities include updated chipsets and USB 3.0.

iMac:

As noted above, at least some of the new iMacs we told you about previously might be seeing a bit of a delay, but it’s unclear what that means for their presence tomorrow. We know Apple has two refreshed models for the current 21-inch and 27-inch variants, but we have also heard at least some varieties of the new models will not be ready to ship directly after launch. As for what you can expect in the upgraded iMacs, we have discovered upgraded RAM options allowing for 2 x 8GB of RAM, which would allow for up to 32GB across the iMac’s 4 slots. Our sources expect to see similar pricing to the current iMacs (starting at $1199), with slightly cheaper pricing for some countries on the higher spec models. We sure hope that the iMacs will be announced in the event. It will make the event awesome!

Education/iBooks 3.0:

While rumors that we will see iTunes 11 release tomorrow aren’t too shocking given Apple announced an October release date back in September, there is a possibility Apple has some software related announcements in store. With iPad mini’s $329 price point and Tim Cook’s promise to be aggressive at getting iPads into schools, it’s likely we will see an education focus during the presentation. A few reports have heard the same, and we recently saw “iBooks 3.0″ listed for a book on iTunes. We wouldn’t be shocked to see enhancements to iBooks and or apps/textbooks designed specifically for the 7-inch display demoed by Apple execs. The iBookstore today became available in 17 more countries, a fact that probably won’t go unnoticed tomorrow.

Other small stuff:

There are at least two more iOS cables Apple will release tomorrow.  We believe that these could be VGA/HDMI video adapters, new camera kits or they could be docking connectors (though Schiller said no iPhone 5 docks).  We’ll likely know before the event starts.

Apple will likely announce and/or release iOS 6.01 with various bugfixes and enhancements. (YAY!)

It is also interesting to note that Yerba Buena, where Apple often holds its events, is available for tomorrow’s event. If so, it would indicate that Apple chose the California Theatre – a movie theater – for its size or other features. That might make for an interesting show. We might find out why they actually decided to choose the California Theatre for this event.

Follow us for more updated on the event and everything else about tech and gadgets! Like us on facebook and twitter on the right column of the blog to show your support! Thanks!!

Follow our fav liveblog for Apple events here!

[Via]

 

Apple sends out event invitations. What is the hidden message this time? iPad Mini’s name confirmed!

 

Apple has recently sent out invitations to it’s event this 23th October 2012. We are very sure that the smaller iPad will be showcased in this event together with some others which we are not very certain of. But the likes of a new 13 inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display, refreshed iMac and Mac Minis might be possible to be on stage this coming event.

Everytime Apple sends out event invitations, they will have a hidden message in the invitation that will hint on what will be happening on the event. For example, the iPhone 5 event invitations have a shadow of the number 5 which hints that the iPhone 5 is coming. For the new iPad invitation, a blurred large Retina Display icon is cleverly hidden in the background. But this time, we cant say much about the invitation. Except for the wordings that comes with the invitation that says “We’ve got a “little” more to show you”. This might be the hint that something little will be showcased on that event! Like the iPad mini? LOL

And we have also noticed that the Apple logo forms a big “m” on the invitation which also hints to iPad “m”ini. So we can conclude that the naming is now confirmed! And such a colorful invitation might hint that the iPad mini will come in various different colors like the new iPod touch. That will be cool!

We will know all of that on the 23th of October 2012. For local time, the event will be happening on 1AM on the 24th October 2012. Stay tuned to littlegeeko as we will be updating you during the event! Have a good day!

 

Complete pricelist of iPad mini line-up: Pricing starts at RM761 [Unconfirmed]

Many have been wondering how much will the iPad mini cost when it hits the market. Will it be competitive in the 7-inch tablet market? Well we hope so.

Recently there is a complete line up of the iPad mini prices published in a German weblog. The price looks very competitive to us. You can actually get a 64GB version iPad mini for a price lower than a 16GB iPad 3rd Gen. Provided if you are not concerned about the smaller screen.

Here is the list:

• 8GB iPad mini Wi-Fi in Black – $249 (RM761)
• 8GB iPad mini Wi-Fi in White – $249 (RM761)
• 16GB iPad mini Wi-Fi in Black – $349 (RM1067)
• 16GB iPad mini Wi-Fi in White – $349 (RM1067)
• 32GB iPad mini Wi-Fi in Black – $449 (RM1373)
• 32GB iPad mini Wi-Fi in White – $449 (RM1373)
• 64GB iPad mini Wi-Fi in Black – $549 (RM1680)
• 64GB iPad mini Wi-Fi in White – $549 (RM1680)
• 32GB iPad mini Wi-Fi + Cellular in Black – $549(RM1680)
• 32GB iPad mini Wi-Fi + Cellular in White- $549 (RM1680)
• 64GB iPad mini Wi-Fi + Cellular in Black – $649 (RM1985)
• 64GB iPad mini Wi-Fi + Cellular in White- $649 (RM1985)

We assume that Cellular means we will be able to make phone calls from it. But dont keep your hope up just yet because this might not be true or it might just not work in countries other than US or Canada. But overall, we think the price is very competitive and we will see a huge sales of this device in the holiday seasons.

What about the rumored 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display?

What you think about the price? Worth considering?

*We hope the currency used is USD and not Euro. If it is Euro, the cheapest iPad will cost around RM987. Which is still cheap in our opinion. But not that competitive anymore. But anyway, the price will be revealed soon (23rd Oct). So stay tuned.

*Pricing converted in current conversion rate in a direct conversion.

[Source]