Among the three technology media events set for the last week of October – Microsoft’s Surface and Windows 8 launch event on 25th, Google’s event on the 29th, Apple’s event on the 23rd is the most heavily anticipated. It is widely expected to be centered around an all-new smaller iPad which is popularly referred to as the iPad Mini.
When Apple put a Retina display into the iPhone 4, the world was stunned by its crisp visuals, and equally so with the third-gen iPad when it dropped back in March. While the MacBook Pro's Retina display certainly doesn't fail to dazzle, consumers haven't leapt to adopt the very latest addition to the Cupertino's notebook family in such high numbers.
It was undoubtedly a disappointing day for the jailbreak loving world when Nicholas Allegra (Comex) publicly announced his departure from the community as a result of accepting an internship at the company he had worked so hard to circumvent in the few years prior. We will never really know if producers of jailbreak tools and tweaks do so in the hope of becoming known by Apple and ultimately offered dream employment with the Cupertino company, but after a year working the fruit Company, Allegra is officially flying solo once again.
Although Apple's range of computers ship with set hardware specifications as standard, consumers can configure a more personalized setup thanks to the Cupertino company's built-to-order service. For example, the MacBook Pro with Retina display costs $2,799.00 over at Apple's online store, but if one wishes to bump up the storage space, processor speed or RAM, for example, this can be arranged at additional cost.
Apple might have had the most notable and high-profile win in the on-going patent battle with Samsung when a judge in San Jose ruled that more than $1 billion in damages were due to the company from Samsung, but it hasn't all been about victory for Apple who have had their fair share of patent related setbacks. One of the latest has come right from the United Kingdom where an Apple appeal to have an earlier ruling overturned has proven unsuccessful.
After putting together, filing and submitting their original request for a Passbook related trademark back in June of this year, Apple has finally been successful in securing the trademark through the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Apple will be more than familiar with the process of securing a patent/trademark and will have been aware of the potential length of time it could take, but the official granting of the Passbook trademark gives the company protection against any competitor that attempts to mimic Passbook as well as the ability to invoke litigation against them.
Although the form factor of the iPhone 4 / 4S was relatively compact and by no means bulky to hold, the recent release of the iPhone 5 has left many consumers amazed at just how much thinner and lighter Apple has managed to go with regards to design. Svelte it may be, but packing in the (improved) technology took a lot of effort, and while Jony Ive and team would have thrown quite a few pieces of paper into the waste-basket in trying to get the radical interior reshuffle to work out, the main manufacturer of the device - Foxconn - also had a few headaches.
I'm not sure about you, but I love seeing some of the most sought after, well-crafted and technologically-advanced gadgets be torched, chopped and dropped - all in the name of pure entertainment. While thousands - if not millions - of consumers save up their pennies for months in order to afford their next big tech purchase, there's always a company or organization out there simply tarnishing them and filming the result for our viewing pleasure.
Just as we expected, Apple has sent out media invites for an event which they are going to host in the California Theatre, San Jose, dated 23rd October.
At the beginning of this month, it was presumed the iPad Mini would be announced on October 17th, with invitations going out a week prior on the 10th. That hasn't turned out to be the case, but tech enthusiasts remain defiantly undeterred - predicting Apple's announcement instead for next week. As well as corroborating the notion of a launch next week, AppleInsider has learned the smaller iPad will arrive in four storage configurations ranging from an entry-level 8GB all the way up to 64GB.

