In line with the Steve Jobs vision, many of us hold our smartphones and tablets in the same regard as our cars, and as some of us have specially adapted our automobiles for compatibility with our iPhones, some companies have already been installing the iPad mini into the dashboards of cars.
Skeuomorphism within the design of iOS is something Apple's designers have squabbled over for a good while. The fake glass dock, plastic background of the calculator, beech wood effect of the Newsstand - these are all examples of ornamental elements throughout Apple's mobile OS, and although former SVP of iOS Software, Scott Forstall, was quite a big fan of the look, he has now surrendered his post. Jony Ive will be one of the Apple execs said to be overseeing tasks formerly manned by Forstall, and is reportedly planning to rid both iOS and OS X of the tacky designs.
It was only yesterday when a United Kingdom based court of appeals took the decision to reprimand Apple for their failure to act in proper accordance with an original judgment in October that stated they must issue an apology to Samsung Electronics through their customer facing UK website. Although the company has removed the initial linked statement from their website and are yet to publish the new homepage based announcement, they have started publishing the notice in UK print publications.
With iPad minis beginning to find their way into the hands of people around the globe, more and more information is beginning to circulate about just what powers Apple's little tablet. We already knew that the device was, for all intents and purposes, a shrunken down iPad 2, but we always like to be sure. Now, thanks to yet another teardown of the iPad mini, we have confirmation.
The coming weeks may be all about Apple pushing out new hardware in the form of the iPad mini, the fourth-generation iPad and new Macs but it seems that today is firmly dedicated to getting improved versions of iOS out to as many users as possible. In addition to the public release of iOS 6.0.1 earlier today Apple have seeded the initial beta of iOS 6.1 to registered developers via the official developers center.
Whenever Apple pushes out a new piece of hardware to the marketplace, we invariably also see an accompanying comprehensive teardown of the device courtesy of the guys over at iFixit. The stripping down of the device and taking a peek inside has become almost as exciting as the launch of the product itself, with attention being currently paid to inspecting how the new iPad mini has been put together with Apple's new engineering and manufacturing processes.
It was only a matter of time before a UK court of appeal got involved and ruled that Apple's apologetic statement to Samsung on their UK customer facing website didn't comply with the original ruling.
Regardless of public opinion of Apple as a company, it is extremely hard to argue against the fact that they are a caring organization that regularly uses their power and infrastructure in order to provide help to various charitable organizations around the world. Apple are heavily involved in the (PRODUCT)RED campaign, and you may remember the help they provided during the disaster in Japan back in 2011 when they opened doors of Apple Retail Stores to provide shelter for stranded individuals. In response to the ongoing environmental issues in the United States, Apple has now started collecting donations to aid in the relief of those affected.
The reviews are in for the iPad mini, and as usual, Apple's hand-picked journalists (all of whom have a reputation for saying positive things about the Cupertino company's products, have queued up to pour a little pre-sale glory on the scaled-down tablet.
When it comes to a product launch, few companies manage to draw in the swarms of consumers quite like Apple does. Every time a new iDevice hits the scene, thousands of fans queue for long hours and in all weathers to be among the first to get their hands on it, and last month's launch of the iPhone 5 was no exception.
