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  • iPad mini pricing to start at $329

    Apple is all set to announce it’s first attempt at a small tablet, the iPad mini on the 23rd. The event is quite an important one since the iPad mini will join the ranks of Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire for the battle of the best 7-inch tablet. Of course for any of that to happen, Apple needs to price the iPad mini within the same range as its Android counterparts. Some information on the iPad mini pricing has leaked and the news is better than expected.

    ipad pricing1 iPad mini pricing to start at $329

    The least expensive version of iPad mini will be priced at $329. Two additional WiFi only versions with more storage capacity will be priced at $429 and $529. Whether this is 8, 16 and 32GB or 16, 32 and 64GB, we will only know when the tablet is released. There will also be a cellular versions of these iPads which will be priced $130 over the WiFi only version. This comes out to likely minimum price points of $459, $559, and $659 for the WiFi + Cellular version.

    These iPad mini pricing are of course all speculations for now. But at $329 it fits nicely into the rest of the iOS products Apple has. It’s a little more expensive than the $200 Nexus 7, but then again, Nexus 7 doesn’t have 250,000 tablet apps.

  • iPad mini to hit stores on November 2

    News and rumours regarding iPad mini just cannot stop coming in. With the release date all set for one week from now, it looks as if the rumour mill will churn out whatever it has left before the official announcement. There’s a lot we know about this mini tablet. However the most important piece of information still eludes us. And that is the time and date when users will be able to get their hands on it.

    Usually it’s the retailers that have this vital piece of information. And this time its no different. Geeky-Gadgets.com cites a source close to a major UK retailer, which claims that users will be able to pick up the iPad mini from Apple stores on November 2. The preorders will start a week earlier, possibly even the same day as the unveiling.

    Launching products only a week after announcing has been a strong point of Apple products for a very long time. It allows them to offer the product as soon as officially unveiling it. This ensures the demand and excitement both stay afloat which in turn means great sales figures.

    So who’s going to preorder the iPad mini? Or will you go the Surface route?

     

     

  • Pokemon Black And White 2 Early US Buyers Will Get Genesect Via WiFi Download

    Great news for fans who are planning on grabbing Pokemon Black and White 2 on launch. Nintendo of America has announced that early US buyers will be getting Genesect, one of the rarest Pokemon ever for free via WiFi download.

    genesect Pokemon Black And White 2 Early US Buyers Will Get Genesect Via WiFi Download

    Genesect will be available on download during the days of October 12 to November 12th. Nintendo had the following to say about Genesect:

    has been restored from a 300-million-year-old fossil. Modified by Team Plasma, this Pokémon has a signature move called Techno Blast. Genesect is the only known Pokémon with this move. Genesect is a Bug- and Steel-type Pokémon with the ability to adjust its power levels based on the foe it’s battling.

    Can’t wait to try him out! Pokemon Black and White 2 hits on the 7th of October in the US and 12th of October in Europe for the Nintendo DS.

  • Pokemon And Dragon Quest Dominate June Japan Software Sales

    Enterbrain has released software sale numbers for the month of June and the Pokemon sequel has completely dominated the charts. Pokemon Black and White 2 were responsible for 34.5% of the software revenue through 28th of May to the 24th of June. This makes this the first time Pokemon has topped the monthly revenue chart since 2010 when the original Black and White released.

    pokemonsales 560x480 Pokemon And Dragon Quest Dominate June Japan Software Sales

    Square Enix came in second with their Dragon Quest Monsters Terry’s Wonderland 3D spinoff game which managed to move 740,000 units. The full top 10 list is below (via Famitsu.com)

    1. Pokemon: 34.5%
    2. Square Enix: 19.1%
    3. Nintendo: 8.7%
    4. Capcom: 7.3%
    5. Atlus: 5.7%
    6. Namco Bandai
    7. Sony Computer Entertainment
    8. Kadokawa Games
    9. Sega
    10. Konami

    Will Pokemon continue to dominate the following weeks? Guess only time will tell.

  • Pokemon Black And White 2 Sells 1.6 Million Units

    Japanese sales figures for Pokemon Black and White 2 are here thanks to Enterbrain and Famitsu (via Andriasang) and boy did it sell big. The first main Pokemon series sequel sold a whooping 1.6 million units in its first week which is the third biggest start in the DS’ history. Dragon Quest IX comes in second with 2,343,440 units sold while the highest selling DS game is the original Pokemon Black and White selling 2,637,285 units in its first week.

    pokemon black and white 2 lines Pokemon Black And White 2 Sells 1.6 Million Units

    Pokemon Black and White 2 is also the first game to sell over a million units on any platform this year.

    Overall sales numbers for Nintendo‘s portable consoles were also revealed. The DS has so far sold 32,855,241 units while the 3DS has reached is at 6,288,334 units. Do note that Pokemon Black and White 2‘s sales figures are through the week of the 24th while the sales figures are a bit older through the 17th of June.

  • Users reporting graphical glitch on iPhone 5 onscreen keyboard

    iPhone 5 is one of the most hyped launches of this year. It’s garnered positive reviews all over and has even managed to gain some impressive sales figures. However some teething issues like the subpar maps, body that scratches too easily and purple haze on camera pictures have taken the sheen off from what is otherwise an excellent phone. Now another issue has popped up and it’s related to the iPhone 5 onscreen keyboard.

    Static Lines on iPhone 5 keyboard Users reporting graphical glitch on iPhone 5 onscreen keyboard

    Basically what happens is that the screen starts flickering when the iPhone 5 onscreen keyboard is enabled. The issue isn’t consistent but it seems to occur when the user invoke the numbers and symbols keyboard by pressing the “.?123″ button in the bottom left corner of the device in portrait mode. It also occurs when users are prompted to enter their Apple ID password. There’s a whole thread of people complaining about this issue over at Apple support communities.

    Since the issue is inconsistent and only occurs on a few specific situations, it can safely be assumed that it’s not a hardware fault with the 4-inch Retina Display. It’s more likely a software that causes these glitches on iPhone 5 onscreen keyboard. Apple has not yet responded or given any explanation yet. Let’s wait and see till we get one.

     

  • Indian developers can now sell their Android apps on Google Play store

    Good news Indian developers, Google has just announced that it is extending the Google Play seller support to India. Now Android developers who live in India can now sell their paid applications in one of the largest app markets of the world and earn profit of their content. This is the second major update Google has released today for its Google Play Store. First was the inclusion of the Wishlist feature.

    Previously developers from India could only make free apps for Google Play that weren’t very profitable for them. Not only Indian developers can sell their apps on Google Play now but they can also earn money through in-app purchases feature of Google Play by offering upgrades in their applications. Google has not only extended seller support to India for Google Play developers but has also updated the store, which will now show app prices in Indian Rupees instead of USD.

    indian developers android Indian developers can now sell their Android apps on Google Play store

    It is not only a great news for Indian developers but for whole of Android community as now Indian app developers will be able to offer premium quality apps that they couldn’t before due to lack of payment option.

    While announcing this news Google also shared on its Android Developers Blog that Android activations in India have jumped over 400% over the past year. In the last six months Indian Android users have downloaded more apps than they did in previous three years combined. This signifies the importance of Indian and other Asian markets not only for Google but for all other companies who are deliberately ignoring such opportunities.

    Now Google Play seller support is available to Android developers of 32 countries including around the world including India.

     

  • Apple loses UK Galaxy Tab appeal in Apple vs. Samsung case

    Apple vs. Samsung in the court battles are nothing new. The ongoing cases which have been part of our lives for a very long time now are nothing new. Apple blaming Samsung for copying their designs, filing cases in order to put Samsung phones out of stores, and Samsung appealing. The routine has been ongoing. There have been certain interesting events during this ordeal though.

    Back in July the UK court ruled that Samsung did not infringe upon iPad design with their Galaxy Tab 10.1. In addition to that the court ordered Apple to run advertisements on its website and newspaper acknowledging that Samsung did not copy the iPad’s design. Naturally Apple appealed and was granted a stay until the appeal could be heard. Unfortunately for Apple they’ve lost this appeal.

    Samsung GALAXY Tab 10.1 vs Apple iPad 2 Apple loses UK Galaxy Tab appeal in Apple vs. Samsung case

    The result? Apple will have to post advertisements on its websites and Daily Mail, Financial Times, T3 Magazine and other publications to clarify that Samsung is not a copycat. Apple need not to clutter its website. A small link entitled “Samsung/Apple judgement” for a one-month period would suffice.

    Apple can still appeal this in the Supreme Court. Whether they will go ahead with that plan is not yet known at this point. What is known that Apple vs. Samsung battle is far from over.

  • Gmail 4.2 for Android with pinch-to-zoom and other features gets leaked

    Android fan site AndroidPolice is reporting that it has access to an unreleased version of Gmail for Android that carries the version number of 4.2. The new version of the Android app is from the unannounced but totally leaked LG Nexus smartphone. This alleged new version of Gmail for Android features widely requested pinch to zoom feature. The updated app also features a new swipe to archive or delete feature that will definitely be welcomed by most Android users.

    The site has also uploaded a video of this new version of Gmail for Android on the web for all of us to see. AndroidPolice reports that the Gmail 4.2 is compatible with Android 4.1 as they tested and recorded the video embedded above by loading the app on Galaxy Nexus running Android 4.1.

    The new swipe feature of Gmail 4.2 is highly configurable as users can change the function of this feature to no effect, archive, delete or always delete enabling them to choose the option that suits them the most.

    Unfortunately AndroidPolice says that they are not permitted to share the .apk file of the app with everyone for some reason. They also note that if they are allowed to share the .apk file then users will have to be rooted and running Android 4.0+ in order to use it on their Android device.

     

     

  • Ban on Samsung Galaxy Nexus reversed after court order in the US

    Google’s Galaxy Nexus phone that was manufactured by Samsung and was famously banned in the US after a court decided it to be infringing one of Apple’s patent involving voice search has been unbanned. According to Reuters, following the appeal by Samsung in which the Korean company asked the court to revisit its decision on banning the Android device in the US, the court decided to un-ban the phone and allow it to be sold in the country. Previously Apple argued in court that because Galaxy Nexus copies a functionality of its iPhone’s Siri feature, it poses threat to iPhone’s sales and should be banned. The court agreed saying that because Galaxy Nexus has the voice search feature similar to iPhone which will cause irreparable damages and Apple would lost market share.

    galaxy nexus 543 Ban on Samsung Galaxy Nexus reversed after court order in the US

    Now after the appeal the court noted that the voice search feature found on Galaxy Nexus is nowhere near to Apple’s Siri so it poses no threat to iPhone and thus it should be unbanned in the country.

    Samsung that was at the receiving end of this ban argued in the court after the ban was imposed that not only Galaxy Nexus does not feature similar functionality as the iPhone but its sale numbers are so low that it couldn’t be a threat for Apple.

    Samsung that obviously is pleased by courts new decision has responded with the following statement.

    “We welcome this reversal by the Federal Circuit, finding that the District Court abused its discretion in ordering a preliminary injunction against the Galaxy Nexus. Today’s decision confirms that the role of patent law is to protect innovation and not to unreasonably stifle competition and restrict consumer choice. We will continue to take all appropriate measures to ensure the availability of our innovative products.”

    Are you planning on buying a Galaxy Nexus now? Let us know in the comments below.