The iPad Mini news continues to come in with Makotakara translating a story from Liberty Times that reports that LG and AU Optronics have been certified to supply LCD panels for the 7.85-inch iPad Mini.

The report also indicates that both LG and AU Optronics are working to ship the panels for production for a fall/winter 2012 device release.

The report further indicates that TPK Holding will be producing four ... Read More]]>

The iPad Mini news continues to come in with Makotakara translating a story from Liberty Times that reports that LG and AU Optronics have been certified to supply LCD panels for the 7.85-inch iPad Mini.

The report also indicates that both LG and AU Optronics are working to ship the panels for production for a fall/winter 2012 device release.

The report further indicates that TPK Holding will be producing four million backlight modules and Chemi Innolux will be producing two million. The touch film sensor for the iPad Mini will be produced by Nissha Printing.

While the iPad Mini is not confirmed, the rumors have come from the idea that Apple wants a smaller and lower priced tablet to compete with Amazon and other tablets in the 7-inch range.

Recent rumors of indicated that the iPad Mini will not have a Retina Display and will instead have pixel dimensions closer to the original iPad of 1024 x 768.

[via Macotakara]

In yet another analyst report, this time Barclays says a new 7-inch iPad is on its way later this year.

According to the report, research leads them to believe that Apple may be planning to release a smaller iPad later this fall.

We believe that this type of product could be useful in promoting Apple’s agenda in education with e-textbooks. Also, the form factor could make sense in gaming, which could ... Read More]]>

In yet another analyst report, this time Barclays says a new 7-inch iPad is on its way later this year.

According to the report, research leads them to believe that Apple may be planning to release a smaller iPad later this fall.

We believe that this type of product could be useful in promoting Apple’s agenda in education with e-textbooks. Also, the form factor could make sense in gaming, which could become a bigger platform for Apple over time.

Overall it seems the “report” is not much more than an accumulation of recent rumors as the 7-inch iPad has been seen in recent rumors as the “iPad Mini”.

However I do like these analyst reports for two reasons. First, there is rarely any real research put into them and it’s mostly just collected rumors. Second, they are usually wrong.

We’ll see later this year!

[via Business Insider]

Update 1: According to CBC News Vancouver, one suspect has been arrested as of May 16, 2012.

This story is a bit of a tearjerker because it has a fantastic ending.

On May 10, 2012, Cassie Campbell was robbed by two men at the Metrotown Skytrain station in Burnaby, BC. Cassie Campbell is in her early 20′s, has cerebral palsy, is deaf, and cannot speak. The iPad provided her an ... Read More]]>

Update 1: According to CBC News Vancouver, one suspect has been arrested as of May 16, 2012.

This story is a bit of a tearjerker because it has a fantastic ending.

On May 10, 2012, Cassie Campbell was robbed by two men at the Metrotown Skytrain station in Burnaby, BC. Cassie Campbell is in her early 20′s, has cerebral palsy, is deaf, and cannot speak. The iPad provided her an integral means of communication. On that Thursday night after entering a skytrain car, two men pushed her over in her wheelchair, assaulted her, and stole the iPad.

While several witnesses were present, a few of which chased the two thieves, there have been no arrests thus far. There was however survelliance video that local police are using to lead to the arrest of these two men.

After the story was broadcast on CBC News Vancouver earlier this week, viewer and good samaritan Dennis Wong called the CBC newsroom and offered to purchase a new iPad for Cassie Campbell. A few hours later when Wong was at the Metrotown Apple Store making his purchase, Cassie Campbell happened to arrive on her own! Wong was then able to give Cassie her new iPad in-person, along with a Smart Cover and additional accessories.

Wong said that in his business as a professional locksmith he has seen many bad things happen to people, and after seeing what happened to Cassie he wanted to do something positive.

So this story that started out shocking and sad has ended on a positive note! While this story should not in any way negatively reflect the Vancouver transit system, there is a lesson to be learned here that you should always take care of your valuables no matter where you are.

Enjoy your new iPad Cassie!

[via CBC News Vancouver]

Western retailer London Drugs has announced the deployment of iPads to their staff across their 74 locations across Canada (BC, AB, SK, MB) to assist customers with real-time research and price comparisons. Customers should notice the rollout happening during the next two weeks, as noted in the press release they sent us:

“At London Drugs, we know we have the right prices and highly educated staff in our stores ... Read More]]>

Western retailer London Drugs has announced the deployment of iPads to their staff across their 74 locations across Canada (BC, AB, SK, MB) to assist customers with real-time research and price comparisons. Customers should notice the rollout happening during the next two weeks, as noted in the press release they sent us:

“At London Drugs, we know we have the right prices and highly educated staff in our stores and so this new ability for the customer to see first-hand information at the purchase decision further affirms this superior service commitment to our customers,” says Wynne Powell, London Drugs president and CEO. “Providing access to open information allows the customer and our staff to engage in a fully knowledgeable discussion about a product with the aid of online research at their fingertips.”

The iPads will enable staff to engage with customers and through their social media channels such as twitter and Facebook, and their extensive list of London Drugs blogs about beauty, technology and more. The iPads will most likely be used primarily in the computers and electronics departments but will eventually spread to other departments as well.

This is a fantastic idea by London Drugs. Now you can make pricematching even easier for goods, instead of bringing up competitor websites on your ‘tiny’ iPhone screen.

What also makes London Drugs a cool store is the amount of things they will gladly recycle for you, such as styrofoam, smoke alarms, non-rechargeable batteries, old plastic insurance folders, fluorescent light bulbs, small appliances and VHS tapes.

Rogers has announced today the inclusion of Sportsnet Ontario to their Rogers Live TV iPad app, to enable customers to stream the same broadcast from your television to their iPad over WiFi, as announced on the Redboard:

With Sportsnet Ontario on Rogers Live TV, you get the same broadcast feed on your TV and on your tablet.

As a refresher, here are the details:

According to a tweet this morning by @RogersBuzz, Future Shop and Best Buy are offering a free $100 gift card to customers that purchase a new iPad and activate it on Rogers.

Both the iPad 2 and third-generation iPad are eligible for the offer, however you will need the iPad 2 WiFi+3G or the new iPad WiFi+Cellular to use the device with Rogers service.

#Exclusive $100 #giftcard offer from @BestBuy ... Read More]]>

According to a tweet this morning by @RogersBuzz, Future Shop and Best Buy are offering a free $100 gift card to customers that purchase a new iPad and activate it on Rogers.

Both the iPad 2 and third-generation iPad are eligible for the offer, however you will need the iPad 2 WiFi+3G or the new iPad WiFi+Cellular to use the device with Rogers service.

#Exclusive $100 #giftcard offer from @BestBuy & @futureshop when you buy & activate a new #iPad before June 30! See store for details

The offer seems to be for entirely new customers who have not activated Rogers service on an iPad before. Also note that this offer is only for Best Buy and Future Shop, and is not available at Rogers locations.

The Best Buy and Future Shop websites also do not have the offer, so this may be a store exclusive.

Developed by Wolfram, the same company that powers Wolfram Alpha search engine used in Siri, Wolfram Mathematica is a world renowned application for complex computations and is also the only development platform which fully integrates computations into complete workflows. Currently available for desktop computers only, it looks like an iPad version of Mathematica is going to hit the App Store pretty soon. As noted by 9to5Mac (via Reddit), when ... Read More]]>

Developed by Wolfram, the same company that powers Wolfram Alpha search engine used in Siri, Wolfram Mathematica is a world renowned application for complex computations and is also the only development platform which fully integrates computations into complete workflows. Currently available for desktop computers only, it looks like an iPad version of Mathematica is going to hit the App Store pretty soon. As noted by 9to5Mac (via Reddit), when asked if there was an iPad version of Wolfram for iPad in the works, Stephen Wolfram said, “stay tuned”.

Here is what Mathematica is capable of:

Almost any workflow involves computing results, and that’s what Mathematica does—from building a hedge fund trading website or publishing interactive engineering textbooks to developing embedded image recognition algorithms or teaching calculus.

Mathematica is renowned as the world’s ultimate application for computations. But it’s much more—it’s the only development platform fully integrating computation into complete workflows, moving you seamlessly from initial ideas all the way to deployed individual or enterprise solutions.

You can download a free trial of Wolfram Mathematica for Windows or Mac from here.

According to a new report from everyone’s favorite rumor site, DigiTimes, the rumored 7.85-inch iPad, or “iPad Mini”, will feature “G/F2″ thin-film touch technology. This technology reportedly enables the iPad to be slightly thinner.

As indicated by DigiTimes, this “G/F2″ tech will also reduce production costs and create an iPad that is thinner than the iPad 2 or third-generation iPad.

The G/F2 structure places the electrode on the top and ... Read More]]>

According to a new report from everyone’s favorite rumor site, DigiTimes, the rumored 7.85-inch iPad, or “iPad Mini”, will feature “G/F2″ thin-film touch technology. This technology reportedly enables the iPad to be slightly thinner.

As indicated by DigiTimes, this “G/F2″ tech will also reduce production costs and create an iPad that is thinner than the iPad 2 or third-generation iPad.

The G/F2 structure places the electrode on the top and bottome ends of the ITO film, which will then be laminated onto the cover glass.

The iPad Mini will also be more transparent and will have good sensitivity despite certain skepticism with thin-film touch panels in the industry, added the sources.

This technology could also be adapted to Apple’s other devices such as the iPhone.

While this technology is definitely promising, note that DigiTimes has a shaky track record when it comes to Apple news. Read the report with caution.

[AppleInsider via DigiTimes]

Montreal-based aerospace company Bombardier has announced its plans to release their Flight Deck iPad app, to allow paperless cockpits for pilots of its business jets.

The app will provide pilots with a digital version of flight manuals and automatically receive updates from Bombardier, via secure advanced encryption technology to meet the standards of FAA, EASA and Transport Canada audit trail for paperless operations. Flight departments can also manually manage ... Read More]]>

Montreal-based aerospace company Bombardier has announced its plans to release their Flight Deck iPad app, to allow paperless cockpits for pilots of its business jets.

The app will provide pilots with a digital version of flight manuals and automatically receive updates from Bombardier, via secure advanced encryption technology to meet the standards of FAA, EASA and Transport Canada audit trail for paperless operations. Flight departments can also manually manage and send their own documents to any Bombardier flight deck that has the iPad.

“This is a major step up for our business aircraft pilots and operators. Not only will the Bombardier Flight Deck app make it easier and more efficient to keep critical documentation up-to-date, it will significantly improve operational safety and regulatory compliance,” said Andy Nureddin, Vice President, Customer Services & Support, Bombardier Business Aircraft. “We are continually pushing the envelope on technology innovation to provide our operators with cutting-edge aftermarket solutions.”

Bombardier has tested the the app with their test pilots and technical teams over the past year, and has other iPad apps in development to provide benefits to customers as well. The Bombardier Flight Deck app will be offered via subscription license through their technical publications team. Challenger and Global aircraft operators will get access first this June, with Learjet aircraft operators to follow later in 2012.

If you live in Nunavut, or happen to know someone that lives there, creating an original birthday song in the Inuit language wins you an iPad!

In an attempt to encourage people to create a birthday song in the Intuit language, the Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth are hosting a contest. The grand prize is $3,500 and an iPad!

However even second and third place win $2,500 and ... Read More]]>

If you live in Nunavut, or happen to know someone that lives there, creating an original birthday song in the Inuit language wins you an iPad!

In an attempt to encourage people to create a birthday song in the Intuit language, the Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth are hosting a contest. The grand prize is $3,500 and an iPad!

However even second and third place win $2,500 and $1,500 respectively plus an iPad.

The contest has only one rule and that is only those who live and reside in Nunavut are eligible to enter. According to the report however, not many people have participated so far.

I think using the iPad is a great motivator and prize! But we’ll see what results are produced in July when the winners of the contest are announced on Nunavut Day.

[CBC]