The lack of significant inventory for Apple's latest flagship products should be a familiar story by now. Over the last few years, we have seen multiple iPhone and iPad launches that have ended in disappointment due to stock related issues for those looking to get in on the action on day one. A large percentage of consumers who tried to get their hands on the gold iPhone 5s on launch day ended up extremely disappointed, and it looks like the same situation is occurring for those wanting to purchase the new iPad mini 2 with Retina display. To make sure we don't make a trip to the Apple Store only to be left disappointed, there is now the option of an unofficial tracking solution that shows in-store pickup stock of the new iPad mini 2 with Retina display.
Retina Display iPad mini 2, iPad mini 1 and iPad Air's complete size, weight, browser speed and gaming performance test demonstrated in the video embedded below.
With the announcement of the iPhone 5s last month, the feature many were talking about was the new gold color configuration on offer. Naturally, some held out hope that the iPad range would follow suit, but while both the Retina iPad mini and iPad Air both got such niceties as the A7 processor and M7 motion coprocessor, the lovely goldness seems to have been reserved for the company's flagship smartphone at this point in time.
Whenever a new device is released to market, the benchmark tests begin almost instantaneously. Today, the iPad mini with Retina display made its long-awaited debut, and although it still appears in very short supply, it has already been put through its paces and compared with some of the other marquee devices in the iOS product line. As it transpires, it's almost identical to the iPhone 5s in terms of speed, although both the iPad mini 2 with Retina display and the Touch ID-enabled handset fall slightly behind the iPad Air, which is faster than both.
It emerged earlier on today that the launch of the iPad mini 2 with Retina display had begun, shortly after news began to spread, it became apparent that the device was, at least in the United States, only available for Personal Pickup. Now, a press release from the Cupertino company has confirmed this to be the case, and with such short supply of the second-gen iPad mini, it's likely to be a while before this begins to change.
Apple has shown an increased desire over the last 12 months to highlight the fact that a lot more of their design and manufacturing processes is taking place in the United States. The company's "Designed by Apple in California" slogan is playing an increasingly important role during media events, with Tim Cook and his executive team keen to drill home that products like the new Mac Pro will be manufactured in the US. If today's reports regarding the future of the iPhone and iPad processors turn out to be true then it could mean that upstate New York could be the production home of Apple's chips in the very near future.
Things seem to be on the upside for BitTorrent Sync. The service that allows users to synchronize files without the use of Dropbox or other cloud based storage alternatives has just announced that it has hit a milestone that must have initially seemed out of reach. It's also been announced that the BitTorrent Sync offering will be greatly improved for the end users with the addition of third-party developer access as well as extending the current mobile distribution to appeal to a greater number of iOS users.
Facebook’s millions of mobile users, and more specifically those with iOS devices, have been somewhat placated by the company over the last six months thanks to dramatic improvements to the stability of the native iOS app. After enjoying a period of calm it seems Facebook's mobile team have been placed back in the firing line and now have to deal with an app which users either can't update or find themselves getting stuck in a crash loop.
A significantly increasing number of us are beginning to use, trust and interact with mobile technology in a way we never imagined would be possible at the turn of the century. As that technology becomes more ingrained in our everyday existence, it seems that the knock-on effect is a willingness for different industries to stand up and invest precious resources into seeing how they can take advantage of the latest tech. One of the latest examples of that investment has recently been shown by Toyota who has sponsored an innovation competition that promotes the use of technology alongside the art of customizing motor vehicles.
Star Wars: Tiny Death Star first made its debut a couple of weeks ago in Australia, and after some delay, has now gotten its release for iOS and Android in the United States. The title, which does get the LucasArts stamp of official approval, has been created as a collaborative effort between Disney Mobile and Nimblebit, and if you're a fan of Star Wars and would like to enjoy an 8-bit epic based upon the legendary sci-fi franchise, then look no further than Star Wars: Tiny Death Star.
