Category: Apple

Apple iPad Mini with Retina Display On Sale Now

Apple has now put the new iPad Mini with Retina display on sale on its Online US store, with shipping dates for US customers from November 20-22. Pricing is set as announced starting $399 for a 16GB Wi-Fi model, all the way till US $ 829 for 128 GB LTE cellular variant.

Apple was vocal about supply constraints at the time of launch, as Tim Cook mentioned that Apple was unsure if it will be able to meet the demand of the iPad Mini with Retina display at launch.

If you are planning to get this mini powerful tablet in your hands now may be the right time.

[Apple Store]

November 12, 2013
Planning to Buy the New iPhone 5s? Get 10% Cash back Only for Today

Apple will launch its new iPhone 5s and 5c in the Indian market today, the new iPhone’s will be available starting today. The pricing of the new iPhone’s is a bit high, but as the festival season is on Citibank has an option to make your Diwali Happier!

Citibank has announced to give a 10% cash back on the purchase of the new iPhone 5s, the offer is only said to be valid for today. This option will be valid at the launch locations in New Delhi/Gurgaon, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Ahmadabad and Ludhiana. One card has a price cap of 12000 INR for this offer, However you can save around 7000 rupees with this offer.

If in case you missed it out, check out our unboxing video of the Gold and White iPhone 5s here. How is gaming on the iPhone? you can also checkout our gaming video, Infinity Blade 3, Batman Arkham and alot more here. At last if you have made up your mind to spend some good amount of money on the iPhone you might want to consider our Droptest on the iPhone 5s, check it out here.

November 1, 2013
iPhone 5s and 5c to be Available on 2 Year Contract basis With Reliance, no Initial Cost for 16 GB Variant

Apple and Reliance are offering iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c at no initial cost, Apple has signed a deal with Reliance Communications which will allow users to buy the new iPhone 5s and 5c 16 GB variants at no initial cost.

This offer will include some benefits from Reliance, as it will feature unlimited voice calls, SMS and 3G data for a fixed monthly fee which will be between 2,500 and Rs 2,800 INR. The users will be locked into Reliance network under a two-year of contract. Having said that, this is the first time an Indian telecom company is selling an iPhone on contract basis. Indian telecom market has always been away of contract based phones, fearing that subscribers may break the contract by unlocking the phone for use on another operators network or for reselling it in the grey market.

The 16 GB iPhone 5C, priced at 41,900 INR, will be available for a monthly fee of 2,500 INR and the the 5S, priced at 53,500 INR will be on offer for approximately 2,800 INR a month. Whereas, the 32 GB version will come with an upfront fee of 10,000 INR in addition to the monthly charges. The 64 GB model, priced at 71,500 INR without contract, will be on offer for an upfront fee of Rs 18,000 and the monthly fee.

If you do not wish to lock into a contract, the phone will also be available in monthly installments, however reliance has added up benefits like unlimited voice calling and data plans along with the contract of two years. Even other telecom company will sell iPhone 5s and 5c starting today but not on subsidy.

This can surely increase sales for the new iPhone’s in the Indian market. What do you think ?

November 1, 2013
Apple iPad Market Share Plunges Below 30%

Just 15 months ago Apple commanded 70% of the global tablet market, but according to the latest figures from research firm IDC, the iPad has slipped to less than 30% market share. The reason is the growing threat from Android tablets from the likes of Samsung, Lenovo and Asus.

Apple’s decision to shift its iPad launches to the fall from earlier in the year appears to have undermined its standing versus rival tablet makers.

Even with that seasonal factor, the numbers don’t look great for Apple because its sales in Q3 2013 are just 100,000 iPads higher than the were in Q2 2013, and that’s with the new and cheaper iPad mini in the market. Also unwelcome is momentum for arch-rival Samsung, which managed to more than double its shipments from 4.3m to 9.7m. Lenovo also did well, pushing 2.3m ‘slabs out the door, up from 0.4m a year back.

Despite the stuttering Apple sales figures, the tablet market as a whole grew by 36% year-on-year and was up 7% compared to the second quarter of 2013.

The tablet market is starting to look like the smartphone market. Apple defines the industry, then watches as a bunch of low cost competitors eat up share. Apple is still the most profitable of the bunch.

Google sees the tablet market as a fresh opportunity to control personal computing. It has no chance of taking desktop computing away from Microsoft, so it’s attacking tablet computing, which eats into Apple’s market share.

October 31, 2013
Apple Looking Towards Solar Energy Charging For Its Devices

As PatentlyApple reports, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals a new power management system that will work with both a power adapter and seamlessly with a portable solar panel accessory for busy people on the go. Apple’s engineers are thinking big with their on-site solar power now creating the energy equivalent to powering 17,600 homes a year.

The experience that Apple’s engineers are gaining with working with solar panels is filtering through to creating a power management system for future Macs and iDevices. Apple has already been granted seven solar power patents thus far and you could review most of them in our Green Technology Archives.

Today’s patent goes one step further than most by introducing us to a solar power panel accessory for mobile devices like a MacBook or iPhone that won’t require a power converter. Apple’s system may be closer to reality than first thought considering that Apple’s senior power design engineer noted as the inventor of this system has been snatched by Samsung within the last year.

Apple’s USPTO patent filing describes a method for supplying power to components in an electronic device comprised of a power management system which accepts power from a solar panel and supplies it to the components without using a converter circuit between the solar panel and the power management system.

The power management system includes a system microcontroller (SMC) and a charger. During operation, the power management system accepts power from at least one of a power adapter and a solar panel.

The solution negates the need for bulky power converters (see the image above) which are engineered to take the varying voltage generated by a solar panel (which varies with the amount of sunlight) to provide the specific voltage required by a device.

The patent does offer hope to all the smartphone and notebook owners who always seem to run out of juice before the day is over.

October 31, 2013
Apple is Working for the Keyboard Fix of the 13 Inch Mackbook Pro Retina Display

Apple has acknowledged the keyboard issues with the 13 inch Mackbook Pro Retina display, the keyboard as well as on the trackpad.

The Cupertino based company has posted to its support forums that an update for the unresponsive inputs is en route, while the solution to this problem was closing the display for a full minute to reset the relevant hardware might be a solution.

Symptoms:

Apple is aware of rare circumstances where the built-in keyboard and Multi-Touch trackpad may become unresponsive on 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display (Late 2013) computers and is working on an update to resolve this behavior.

Resolution:

If you experience this issue, reset the keyboard and trackpad by closing the computer’s display for approximately one minute and then open it.

October 31, 2013
Apple Confirms Battery Life Defect on Some iPhone 5s Models

Apple has acknowledged that select iPhone 5s handsets have a manufacturing issue that results in battery draining much faster, Apple said in a statement to the New York Times.

We recently discovered a manufacturing issue affecting a very limited number of iPhone 5S devices that could cause the battery to take longer to charge or result in reduced battery life,” said Teresa Brewer, an Apple spokeswoman. “We are reaching out to customers with affected phones and will provide them with a replacement phone”

Apple did not give up an exact number for the manufacturing issue on the iPhone 5s, but if we go with the statement it should not be a big unit of iPhone being defected as the statement clearly says very limited number of iPhone 5s. iPhone 5s has the biggest battery found on any iPhone, the company will reach out to the customers with defected phones and will provide them with a replacement phone.

The iPhone 5s will launch in India on 1st on November, the device is equipped with an A7 chip along with a fingerprint sensor aka Touch ID. iPhone 5s will be available in India at a price starting from 53,500 to 71,500 INR, prices are disappointing but not the product. If you want one, but can not afford try your luck on our Golden iPhone 5s Giveaway by clicking here. Check out our unboxing of White and Golden color of iPhone 5s, click here. How tough is the new iPhone ? check out out iPhone 5s drop test, click here.

October 30, 2013
Apple sold 33.8 million iPhones and 14.1 million iPads last quarter

Apple’s earnings report is out and the Cupertino based computing giant has exciting numbers to show. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $37.5 billion and quarterly net profit of $7.5 billion, or $8.26 per diluted share, compared to revenue of $36 billion and net profit of $8.2 billion, or $8.67 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 37 percent compared to 40 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 60 percent of the quarter’s revenue.

Apple also sold 33.8 million iPhones compared to 26.9 million along with 14.1 million iPads during the quarter, compared to 14 million in the year-ago quarter. Comparing Smartphone sales Samsung Sold 86 million in the same quarter, but this number includes far more models than Apple offers including many a budget phones that don’t directly compete with iPhones. Samsung sold 16 million Galaxy S4 in what it calls “orders placed” that includes shipments to dealers and retail outlets, where the actual sale number remains low. Samsung also managed to snag 10 million tablet sales compared to the iPad’s 14.1 million, again however, the range Samsung offers is a lot more than that offered by Apple with the iPad.

The quarterly earnings didn’t include the iPad mini with Retina display or iPad Air, which were announced last week, and only included one week’s worth of sales for the latest iPhones, the 5c and 5s.

“We’re pleased to report a strong finish to an amazing year with record fourth quarter revenue, including sales of almost 34 million iPhones. We’re excited to go into the holidays with our new iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s, iOS 7, the new iPad mini with Retina Display and the incredibly thin and light iPad Air, new MacBook Pros, the radical new Mac Pro, OS X Mavericks and the next generation iWork and iLife apps for OS X and iOS.” Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO

October 29, 2013
Tim Cook: “It’s Unclear Whether There Will Be Enough Retina iPad Mini To Meet Demand”

In an Earnings Call when Tim Cook was asked about availability of the new iPad mini with Retina display, he said said that the new iPad will start shipping later in November, he added that it is unclear whether we’ll have enough for the quarter or not.

Tim Cook emphasized on saying that we know how many we’ll have, but that is difficult to predict demand for a product until it starts shipping. This statement can be related to the rumors that suggested the limited stock of the new iPad mini retina display. However, Apple hopes this holiday season to be a iPad season which seems difficult because of the flat sales for the iPads. No words on availability of the new iPads in the Indian market, the new iPhones will be available starting 1st November.

[via]

October 29, 2013
Logitech iPhone Game Controller Gamepad Leaked

The new generation of iPhone will be available in India by the 1 of November, ahead of the launch what we saw was a leaked image of the Logitech gamepad, set up with an iPhone 5.

This image was shared by evleaks in a tweet and this device was later called Powershell, a trademark listing page on trademark and patent filing database Legalforce, for the same Logitech Powershell gaming controller has been spotted online. The listing describes the device as an integrated game control device and a battery pack for use with computers and digital electronic devices.

The leaked image of the gamepad shows a controller which allows the iPhone to fit inside, the device includes shoulder buttons, action buttons and the pause key. The picture also highlights the back of the gamepad which has a gap in the camera location so that when your iPhone is in the gamepad you can still click some pictures. This device is still not official, wait for some official news. Stay tuned!

October 29, 2013
Jony Ive Turns Mac Pro to RED Only For Charity

The newly unveiled Apple Mac Pro can be a desire for many of you, the device has some great specifications but we are not going to talk about the specs here.

The Senior Vice President of Design at Apple, Jony Ive is teaming up with design partner Marc Newson for an auction of a one-of-a-kind Mac Pro as part of a Product RED charity fundraiser. It is not clear what will be the difference between on the inside versus the regular black model. However, the outside of the device seems a great work from Apple, the red product seems great. Ofcourse this product is for charity and the price will be kept accordingly, so the bidding price of the RED Mac Pro is supposed to be between $40,000 USD to $60,000 USD which is approximately 36,85,000 INR.

October 27, 2013
Has Apple Ended it for Paid Operating Systems with OS X Mavericks

Apple yesterday announced a flurry of new products from the new iPad Air to the iPad Mini with Retina Display, brand new Mac Pro and a revamped Macbook Pro with retina display. Possibly the most subtle and less talked about are the software launches. Apple launched the new Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks and 7 new applications including a revamp of popular iMovie, iPhoto and Garage Band which made the iLife suite and work based Pages, Numbers and Keynote which made the iWork suite. The best part being the fact that all of the above comes free to Mac owners.

Logically all these Apps and Operating System updates are meant for consumption on Apple products, and by making these crucial applications and a major Operating System update free, Apple may have stirred the industry and the likes of Microsoft who basically survive by selling their operating systems and apps.

Highlights

Prices of Apple’s Mac OS X have dropped in cost considerably over the years. Apple charged users US $129 for four main OS updates, then Apple dropped the operating system’s upgrade price to $29 with 2009’s OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, and then to $19 with last year’s OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion.

Microsoft was forced to lower the price of its expensive Windows 8 to a mere US $ 29 to compete with Apple last year, where the Redmond company offered its previous OS owners a cheaper upgrade to the new Operating System. However post a golden period the price was returned to a whopping US $ 199 which the company charges for their PRO variant of Windows 8. Microsoft this year however offered Windows 8.1 as a free upgrade to Windows 8 owners, and while many may call it an incremental upgrade, Microsoft continues to claim that Windows 8.1 is a major software overhaul which is “worthy of a price tag”.

Back in the 80’s software was a part of commuters as a vertically integrated product. Apple with OS X Mavericks has suddenly sprung that era into present day. Since Apple is the only company that manufactures hardware for their software or vice versa, it makes sense for the company to gain profit from hardware sales and make the software free. In essence the user sees it as a freebie especially since it had a price tag prior to it being free.

Apple has also ensured that anyone with a Mac computer upto 4 years ago can update to the new Mac OS X Mavericks, which will make old owners of Apple computers happy, since they won’t need to spend money for new operating systems each year.

What’s more, Apple has also enabled users to get Apple own apps like the iLIfe suite and iWork suite free of cost, making it a boon for students and daily users. Apple used to drive huge profits from selling applications and operating system upgrades. Most people don’t upgrade their Operating Systems till they buy a new computer, Apple however has sort of changed that, or has tried to change it. Just like software updates on the iPhone that drove more than 80% iPhone owners to upgrade to iOS 7, it is expected that a whole chunk of Mac owners have probably already upgraded to Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks, or plan to over the weekend.

Installer

The upgrade process is simple, hit the Mac App Store download the Mavericks installer, run the installer and about 20 minutes later you are upgraded. As Steve Jobs would say “It just Works!”, exactly how upgrading a modern operating system should feel like. It gets done with the minimal of fuss and fanfare, and then the operating system steps aside and lets the user get back to work.

For Apple owners this may not seem as a big deal, however the folks over at Microsoft are probably festering out new plans as we speak to keep their investors happy. Do you think OS should be free? Let us know below!

October 23, 2013
iGyaan Gift Guide: Tablets

In this festival season if you want to spend some money on your loved ones, here we bring you the recommended list of tablets that you can gift to your near and dear ones.

BSNL Penta IS701C:

The BSNL Penta IS701C is a budget tablet which is available for 3950 INR. The device features a 7 inch Multi touch TFT screen and runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. The Tablet is powered by a ARM Cortex A8 1 GHz Processor which is coupled with a 512 MB DDR3 RAM and 4 GB inbuilt memory -expandable memory upto 32 GB. The device has a 0.3 MP primary camera and it is a 3G tablet which is packed with a 3000 mAh battery.

Intex I-Buddy 7.0 Tablet:

The Intex I-Buddy 7.0 Tablet is available in WiFi only and also in calling support individually. The Wifi Only version is available for 6300 INR. The device features a 7 inch Capacitive Touch Screen and runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. The Tablet is powered by a Boxchip A13 1.0 GHz Processor which is coupled with a 512 MB DDR3 RAM and 4 GB inbuilt memory -expandable memory upto 32 GB. The device has a 0.3 MP primary camera and it is a 3G via dongle tablet which is packed with a 2350 mAh battery.

iBall 6318i Tablet:

The iBall 6318i is a 7 inch tablet which is available for 5395 INR. This tablet is powered by a 1.2 GHz ARM Cortex-A9 Processor and runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. The device features a 2 MP primary camera and a VGA secondary camera. The Tablet is packed with a 1 GB of DDR3 RAM and 4 GB of inbuilt storage which is expandable to 32 GB, the device has a 4000 mAh battery and supports 3G via dongle.

Lenovo A2107 Tablet:

The Lenovo A2107 is a 7 inch tablet which is available for 5395 INR. This tablet is powered by a 1.2 GHz ARM Cortex-A9 Processor and runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. The device features a 2 MP primary camera and a VGA secondary camera. The Tablet is packed with a 1 GB of DDR2 RAM and 16 GB of inbuilt storage which is expandable to 32 GB, the device has a 3550 mAh battery.

Nexus 7 Tablet (1st and 2nd generation):

Nexus 7 1st generation is already available in the Indian market from a long time now, while the second generation Nexus 7 will supposedly be available in India by the month of November.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 3:

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 T211 features a 7 inch touchscreen and is priced at 16250 INR. The device sports a 3 MP rear camera and a 1.3 MP front camera. The device is powered by a 1.2 Ghz dual core processor and has 1 GB of RAM, the tab has an expandable storage option of upto 32 GB.

Sony SGPT211IN/S:

The Sony Sony SGPT211IN/S is a foldable tablet which has a 5.5 inch screen and is priced at 15999 INR. The device runs on Android Honeycomb. The sony Sony SGPT211IN/S sports a 5 MP primary camera and a 3 MP secondary camera. The device is powered by a ARM Cortex Dual Core Processor.

Apple 16 GB iPad Mini with Wi-Fi:

The Apple iPad Mini runs an a relatively older, Apple A5 chip that has a dual-core 1GHz cortex A9 processor and 512MB of RAM. The tablet sports a 7.85-inch IPS display that has a resolution of 768 x 1024 pixels (roughly 162 ppi) which was one of the biggest downers of the iPad Mini when it was announced, as it lacked a retina display. If you consider, you can actually wait for the upcoming iPads, the iPad mini retina display.

Lenovo Idea Tab S6000 Tablet:

The Lenovo Idea Tab S6000 Tablet has a 10.1 inch screen and is priced at 22499 INR. The device runs on Android 4.2 and is powered by a 1.2 Ghz processor. Lenovo Idea Tab S6000 Tablet sports a 5 MP main camera along with a VGA secondary camera.

Sony (SGPT111IN/S) Tablet S:

The Sony (SGPT111IN/S) Tablet S sports a 9.4 inch screen and is priced at 22900 INR. The device is powered by a 1 GHz ARM Cortex-A9 Dual Core processor and runs on Android Honeycomb. It has 1 GB of RAM along with a 16 GB of inbuilt storage.

Apple 16GB iPad with Retina Display and Wi-Fi (4th Generation):

The Apple 16GB iPad with Retina Display and Wi-Fi (4th Generation) features a beautiful 9.7 inch screen and starts with a price tag of 31900 INR. The device runs on latest iOS from Apple and is powered by A6X Chip with Quad-Core Graphics. You might want to wait for the newly launched iPad Air to hit the Indian Market!

Samsung Galaxy Note 800:

Samsung Galaxy note 800 and Samsung Galaxy note 10.1 both are great value for money, the Note 800 is priced at 35490 INR which can be reasonable to some compare to 49990 INR for the newly launched Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 edition. Both tablets share the same screen size and the S Pen support.

Sony Xperia Z Tablet:

The Sony Xperia Z Tablet features a 10.1 inch display and is priced at 41499 INR. The device runs on Android 4.1 and is powered by a 1.5 GHz Quad Core Snapdragon S4 Pro Processor. The device sports 8.1 MP and 2.2 MP primary and secondary cameras respectively.

These are few recommended tablets, there could be many others as well. If you have any tablet we missed on which you think can be a best gift and great value for money, you can leave your valuable inputs in the comment section below.

October 23, 2013
Apple Releases iOS 7.0.3 Adding iCloud Keychain support, Improvements and Bug Fixes

After all the major launches yesterday, Apple has also rolled out an update for its latest iOS. The iOS 7.0.3 update adds the iCloud Keychain feature, which allows users to create and easily fill passwords for websites they visit through the default browser.

The latest iOS 7.0.3 update is said to fix several iMessage bugs, like resolving one issue where messages failed to send, and also fixes another bug that sometimes did not allows activation for the iMessage. Apple has also added back the ability to search the web and Wikipedia from Spotlight search and the update have focused on fixing an accelerometer calibration issue.

Apple is also responding to ongoing reports of motion sickness caused by the many animations throughout iOS 7, adressing to this issue the new update allows users to cut back on motion even further. So if you do not like the animation, you can get rid of it. The update is now available wirelessly and through iTunes, you can check the source to know more.

[Apple]

October 23, 2013
Apple Announces New Covers For iPad Mini and iPad Air 2013

With the launch of the amazing new iPads today, Apple has also unveiled new accessories. Apple today announced the two new iPads, the iPad mini with retina display and thr iPad Air with 9.7 inch screen.

Apple is out with cases for each of this new iPads, these include a standard covers, which is priced at $39. Apple has also made the leather version available for $79. Additionally, Apple will be selling a Product Red version, it’s unclear how much that will cost.

October 23, 2013