ScreenCastsOnline Monthly - iPad mini Prize Draw

Just released the latest issue of ScreenCastsOnline Monthly magazine via Apple's Newsstand. Always best to leave it a day before sending out a push notification to subscribers, but chances are, if you're a subscriber, you may already have it in Newsstand. A quick tip, if you still have last month's magazine loaded, close down the app completely and restart it to make sure you get this month's.

With the launch of the iPad mini on friday, I've decided to do a prize give away in this month's issue - a new 16GB black Wifi iPad mini. It's been a while since I did a members prize draw!

This time, I'm trying some new interaction in the magazine itself. If you go to Page 34, you'll see some details about the prize draw and if online, an interactive section to submit your entry. Just complete the details of your name and email address and enter some optional suggestions or feedback. If you want to skip the feedback, just enter "none' in the suggestions panel. Once completed, tap "Submit Entry" and boom!

Now obviously, there will be some ScreenCastsOnline members who don't have an iPad currently, yet would like to enter the prize draw.

If that's the case, existing ScreenCastsOnline members can send an email with their username, full name and email address to ipadmini@screencastsonline.com and I'll enter them into the prize draw.

Good luck!

Terms & Conditions

• Only one entry per reader is allowed.
• ScreenCastsOnline members without an iPad are also eligible to enter the draw - send an email to ipadmini@screencastsonline.com
• Last date for entries is 28th November 2012
• The prize winner will be notified by email and their name will be published in the December 2012 issue
• The prize is subject to availability
• Judge’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
• The name of the winner will be made available for up to 28 days after the closing date to anyone sending their e-mail address to ipadmini@screencastsonline.com in a message with the subject heading ‘iPad mini Prize Draw Winner 2012’.

MacTalk Sydney Meetup | PubCast!

Less than a week now before I head off "Down Under"

I've had lot's of people asking if there would be a Meetup in Australia and I'm delighted to confirm that there will be!

Myself, Leo Laporte and Allison Sheridan (and who ever else we can get along) will be the Harts Pub in the Rocks from 7pm.

Mind you, the amount of effort behind the scenes to set this up has been tremendous. Not so much from our side, but by Peter Wells from MacTalk.

Poor Peter generously offered to set something up, but that was before he had to deal with the Melbourne Cup on the same day, a limited time slot, potential jet lag and finding a specific location within a few blocks of the CBD.

Anyhow, he managed to pull it off and it's all steam ahead.

Thanks so much Peter!

You can find more details over at the Mactalk Website, where you can leave a comment if you're going to be able to make it.

We'll also be in Brisbane on Friday the 9th November - nothing formal arranged for then, but we'll probably find a pub somewhere in the afternoon and tweet out our location.

The Price is Right?

This blog post contains very little original thought of my own, but is a concentration, not a reduction, of various thoughts and opinions I've been reading (see what I did there)!

We were all hoping for the iPad mini to be cheap. Really cheap. Jaw droppingly cheap. Game over cheap.

Most people were hoping that it would come in between $249 and $299, some even optimistically $199.

But the entry level iPad mini - 16GB Wifi Only - came in at $329

So what do you get for your money.

• A full blown iPad but smaller
• Superb build quality
• Very fast WiFi - up to 802.11n both 2.4Ghz & 5Ghz
• 7.9 IPS screen 1024x768 at 163ppi
• Dual core A5 processor
• HD 720p FaceTime Camera
• 5MP iSight Camera with 1080p HV Video recording
• 10 hours battery life
• Lightning connector
• Gyro, Accelerometer, Digital Compass
• 720p Airplay mirroring
• 1080p video Streaming to AppleTV 3
• Full suite of Apps
• iOS6
• Full accessibility features
• Access to the entire Apple ecosystem

Not a bad bit of kit, not bad at all.

And the initial reports all say the same thing - build quality is astounding, you need to hold it to fully appreciate it. It's light, very light. And thin, super. super thin!

As anyone with half a brain would predict, even before we saw the specs or the device itself, Apple will not be able to keep up with demand over the Christmas holidays, even at the $329 price. In fact, I would imagine that this isn't the sweet spot, and most people will go with the more expensive 32GB model, or hold out for the WiFi and Cellular model.

So if Apple can't keep up with demand at $329 and above, why sell it for $249 - $299 and leave money on the table. There's always some wriggle room after the Christmas period if they find the price to be a factor. But Apple have always created a premium product and have never pandered to the cheap end of the market, and they probably have zero concerns at losing any market share to cheaper competitors. Heck, they've sold 100 million full size iPads for a lot more in just two years.

And what about when the iPad mini 2 comes out later next year with updated specs and a retina display. They can use their usual tactic of dropping the price of the current iPad mini to $199 and bring the new one out at the same price of $329.

Then there's the whole issue of Apple needing to keep the required margins on the iPad to keep Wall St happy. They could easily have absorbed a price drop and taken reduced margins, but why?

There's no point at this stage of the game to use price as a selling point of the iPad mini.

One thing that's going to be really interesting is Apple's guidance on their projected earnings for the next quarter - New iPad, new iPad mini, new iPhone 5, new iPod touch, new iPods, new Mac mini, new iMac, new Retina MacBook Pro, performance bumps to the entire laptop line.

All lined up for the Christmas quarter.

Good grief!

Just don't get me started on the whole UK vs US pricing thing.

Update on Wednesday, October 24, 2012 at 12:32PM by Don McAllister

From Maurice Kelly on ADN -

The US v UK pricing seems fairly reasonable.

$329 * 20% VAT = $394.80

At todays exchange rate thats £247. RRP is £269, so it's a £22 premium. There may be EU extended warranty factors included? 

At least it's not $ == £ like the Apple TV!

Overnight Obsolescence?

So that shiny new 3rd Generation iPad that you picked up a mere six months ago, has been rendered obsolescent overnight by the untimely introduction of the new 4th generation iPad?

Except it hasn't.

Your 3rd generation iPad works just as well today as it did yesterday. Just because there's a new iPad doesn't mean you have to upgrade.

I have to say, I was one of the ones who were shocked by the unexpected introduction of the new iPad, but it's not a must have upgrade.

Yes, the front facing camera have been upgraded and there's a significant performance bump with the new processor. New connectivity and perhaps the most significant change for the UK is expansion of LTE support. But even with these new features, it's certainly not a no-brainer upgrade or even required. If you can afford it, go ahead, but really, your iPad 3 will give you sterling service for some time to come - probably until the next major upgrade to the iPad - the 5th generation.

We most likely won't see this now for another 12 months, so Apple might have done you a favour by not bringing out radically new machine in March ;-)

The iPad 4th generation is aimed at new customers and perhaps may give a push to those people on the fence about upgrading from the 1st gen iPad or iPad 2. It's really not targeted at 3rd generation iPad users.

So yes, it's always good to have the latest and greatest, but you don't need to fret about upgrading to the 4th generation iPad, there's plenty of life left in the old new iPad.

Why The iPad mini was called the iPad mini

Because that's what Apple wanted to call it!

OK, so I was wrong in my last blog post.

As I said, it was just a bit of fun.

Besides, I got all the other keynote predictions right, I just never posted them ;-)