Multiple crooks wedged their way beneath the security gate at a Best Buy brick-and-mortar store in San Carlos, California, and made off with at least 125 iPad tablet devices. The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene in quick fashion at 11:50 PM on Thursday night, but in the minute it took them to get there, the suspects had already fled the premises, iPads in tow, CBS San Francisco reports.

Deputies say the thieves lifted the security gate and slid underneath it. No small heist, the retail loss of goods is estimated to be more than $100,000, which would put the average selling price of all 125 tablets at $800 pop. Apple’s iPad 2 devices sell for anywhere between $500 (16GB, Wi-Fi) up to $830 (64GB, Wi-Fi + 3G).

The iPads were stolen from a locked display case. Surveillance cameras showed the suspects executing a “carefully planned heist” in which they sprinted right to the iPads and never looked up at the cameras in a coordinated theft

The Insanely Great company has this week launched a new range of iPhone stands, most of which are equipped with a large powerful suction cup. Enabling you to attach your iPhone to windscreens, desktop or anything else you can think of.

One of the stands called the Willy and pictured above is constructed from sturdy acrylic, and is available in either : red, orange, yellow, green, dark blue, turquoise, violet and black, together with clear arms on which the suction cups are positioned.

The stands have been designed for use with Apples iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4, but will also work with other mobile devices with a smooth back, if required. There are six different varieties of stand available details on all are available from the Insanely Great website.

The iPhone would also be equipped with a specialised application which whilst docked in the case would allow you to tweak the lens settings, for your perfect shot. Unfortunately the design is still only a concept at the moment but we can always dream.

ADR Studio explains:

iPhone 4S was recently crowned as the best “point-and-click” photographic device but what could be iPhone 5? And an official accessory to transform the iPhone 5 in an Apple iCam?
The iPhone would also be equipped with a specialised application which whilst docked in the case would allow you to tweak the lens settings, for your perfect shot. Unfortunately the design is still only a concept at the moment but we can always dream.

ADR Studio explains:

iPhone 4S was recently crowned as the best “point-and-click” photographic device but what could be iPhone 5? And an official accessory to transform the iPhone 5 in an Apple iCam?

SofShell has designed a case for the iPad 2 which is equipped with a little more friction grip than most. Allowing you to place your iPad 2 on to angled surfaces without the worry of it sliding off and dropping on to the floor.

Its even been put to the extreme test just incase to forget your iPad 2 is placed on top of your car. Just remember to place it somewhere on the car where the wind won’t get underneath it and blow it off. Watch the video after the jump to see the SofShell case stick to a Porsche doing 60mph.

The second video below also shows the case gripping to glass, which is taken vertically over 90 degrees. To prove just how much grip the SofShell iPad 2 case has.

If you need that much grip on your iPad 2 case, the SofShell case is available to purchase for $50 from the SofProducts website.

Is everybody over the fact that Apple didn’t announce an iPhone 5? Did it not bother you in the first place? Great, let’s move on, because today’s the day you can put your pre-order in, assuming iOS is what floats your boat. Undecided on a wireless carrier? Well hey, if your pockets run deep enough, you don’t have to have to make a commitment, provided you can hold out until November.

As you go through the pre-order page, Apple reveals that unlocked iPhone 4S devices will ship out sometime next month. Pricing is a good chunk higher when you sidestep signing a two-year contract — $649 for 16GB, $749 for 32GB, and $849 for 64GB — but at least you have the option, right? There is, however, one caveat:

“The unlocked iPhone works only on supported GSM networks, such as AT&T in the U.S. When you travel internationally, you can also use a micro-SIM card from a local GSM carrier. The unlocked iPhone 4 will not work with CDMA carriers such as Verizon Wireless or Sprint,” Apple says.

For everyone else not opting for an unlocked model, the Phone 4S will deliver October 14th. Pricing is $199 for 16GB, $299 for 32GB, and $399 for 64GB, all with two-year service agreements and qualifying data plan.

Shocking news has just hit the wires out of Cupertino, Apple’s own CEO Steve Jobs has just officially announced in an open letter that he will resign as CEO. The time has come for him to step down and he has named Tim Cook as his replacement for CEO. This is shocking and sad news to say the least.

Apple has already confirmed that Jobs will stay on as Chairman moving forward. Without getting into all the details here is the full open letter below.

To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.

I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.

As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.

I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.

I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.

Steve

The news is just breaking and we will be sure to report more on this as we hear more details. We would like to take this moment to welcome Tim Cook and we at SlashGear will give him our full support. Here is the official press release below directly from Apple.

Steve Jobs Resigns as CEO of Apple

Tim Cook Named CEO and Jobs Elected Chairman of the Board

CUPERTINO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Apple’s Board of Directors today announced that Steve Jobs has resigned as Chief Executive Officer, and the Board has named Tim Cook, previously Apple’s Chief Operating Officer, as the company’s new CEO. Jobs has been elected Chairman of the Board and Cook will join the Board, effective immediately.

“Steve has made countless contributions to Apple’s success, and he has attracted and inspired Apple’s immensely creative employees and world class executive team. In his new role as Chairman of the Board, Steve will continue to serve Apple with his unique insights, creativity and inspiration.”
“Steve’s extraordinary vision and leadership saved Apple and guided it to its position as the world’s most innovative and valuable technology company,” said Art Levinson, Chairman of Genentech, on behalf of Apple’s Board. “Steve has made countless contributions to Apple’s success, and he has attracted and inspired Apple’s immensely creative employees and world class executive team. In his new role as Chairman of the Board, Steve will continue to serve Apple with his unique insights, creativity and inspiration.”

“The Board has complete confidence that Tim is the right person to be our next CEO,” added Levinson. “Tim’s 13 years of service to Apple have been marked by outstanding performance, and he has demonstrated remarkable talent and sound judgment in everything he does.”

Jobs submitted his resignation to the Board today and strongly recommended that the Board implement its succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO.

As COO, Cook was previously responsible for all of the company’s worldwide sales and operations, including end-to-end management of Apple’s supply chain, sales activities, and service and support in all markets and countries. He also headed Apple’s Macintosh division and played a key role in the continued development of strategic reseller and supplier relationships, ensuring flexibility in response to an increasingly demanding marketplace.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced iPad 2 which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

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is written by Cory Gunther & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Article by Cory Gunther (c) SlashGear – Read full story here.

I paraphrase Andy Warhol when I say: Eventually, everyone will build their own tablet computer.

Like the scourge of reality television, manufacturers far and wide are trying to muscle into the tablet world, each producing a machine about the same as the last.

Lenovo’s new Android Tablet, the IdeaPad K1, is at least a credible contender in an increasingly iPad world.

The curvy slate hardly breaks any new ground on the design front, but the rounded, rubberized, and textured back is nice, giving your fingers a more solid purchase than most tablets. Naturally, it auto-swivels as you rotate from landscape to portrait and back again, and a hardware switch lets you lock the screen rotation. While it’s on the heavy side at 1.63 pounds, it’s not so massive as to cause any real arm strain after sustained use.

Android 3.1 is standard, along with a host of preinstalled apps, part of a clear strategy to grab clueless consumers who otherwise wouldn’t be able to figure out how on Earth to get Angry Birds. Spec-wise, the K1 offers a (very bright) 10.1-inch, 1280 x 800-pixel screen, 1 GB of RAM, 32 GB of storage (plus a microSD slot), and dual cameras (2-megapixel front-facing and 5-megapixel on the back). The 1-GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 processor is plenty powerful, driving solid benchmarks on all fronts and powering jitter-free video during all our tests.

Connectivity includes a monster 30-pin-to-USB connector, headphone jack and micro HDMI. As is becoming the unfortunate standard, you can’t charge via USB — the 30-pin connector has to be used with the included AC adapter to power the device.

If you’ve used other Android tablets, you’ll find a generally familiar interface here, although Lenovo’s custom skin atop Android Honeycomb makes things a little more confusing than they need to be. The task-focused launcher on the home screen (which gives you just four customizable buttons) is overly simplified and will quickly be outgrown (and disabled), while novices — which Lenovo is clearly going after — will be overwhelmed by the surplus of additional navigation options.

It’s a double-edged sword that Lenovo preinstalls so many apps for you. With several dozen out-of-the-box applications on board, I wonder if some users may not realize you can actually add additional ones or delete the ones you don’t want. And it probably doesn’t help that Lenovo has its own app store running alongside the regular Android Market.

The interface you can adapt to, but the only real problem I encountered with the device was screen responsiveness. Try as I might, I had real problems getting taps to register. The physical home button — a rarity on an Android device — was even more problematic. The button does double-duty within specific apps — pausing YouTube videos, for example — but I was more frustrated by it than anything else and eventually just stuck with the onscreen controls.

There’s nothing much else to complain about with the K1, but not much to get too fired-up about, either. In a rapidly expanding world of Android tablets, each one seems just about as good as the next. The K1 is a tough and pretty handsome entrant, though, and if you’re trying to extricate yourself from the Appleverse, it’s compelling enough to recommend.

WIRED Available in black, white or red. Largely thoughtful list of preinstalled apps will be of value to novice users. Solid performance. Textured back provides a nice grip; easy to hang on to. Relatively inexpensive at just $500 for 32 GB.

TIRED Navigation can be difficult. Just shy of six hours of battery life under full load. Volume buttons are tough to reach.

Photo courtesy Lenovo

See Also: Lenovo Storms Tablet Market With a Triple Threat Report: Lenovo to Debut Android Tablet This Summer Lenovo IdeaPad Slate Kicks Off CES Tablet Wars Hands-On With the Lenovo S10-3t Tablet

Article by Christopher Null (c) Product Reviews | Wired.com – Read full story here.

Is Apple going to debut a 4G iPhone next month?

With September nearly upon us, the new iPhone rumors are sure to kick into overdrive. Keeping things interesting is this latest tidbit from an Engadget tipster who claims to work at an undisclosed Apple location. The anonymous source sent in photographic evidence of recently installed 4G LTE equipment in a ‘major Apple store.’

Though the person later asked Engadget to pull the photo. this source also claims that AT&T installed the hardware and says some of it supports only the 700MHz and AWS bands, which AT&T plans to use for its LTE network if that T-Mobile acquisition goes through.

Apple is thought to be announcing this year’s iteration of the iPhone next month, after missing its usual June unveiling date at WWDC 2011. Rumors have been rife that the device might be Apple’s first 4G smartphone, but there’s also speculation that Apple will wait another year before entering the 4G fray. If this is the case, many believe that this year’s iPhone will be an iPhone 4S with just minor hardware upgrades when compared with the iPhone 4.

Google is working to improve the search experience for tablet users. Recently, the company rolled out changes that were made with tablet users in mind. First up, the company simplified the layout of search result pages and increased the size of the contents on a page. Most notably, text, buttons and other touch targets are now larger. Google believes these changes should make it faster and easier to browse on a tablet.

Google added a pull-down menu to the search button underneath of the search box. From this menu, you’ll be able to tell Google if you want to search Images, Videos, Places, Shopping, or another area of Google.

If you’re looking for images using the Google search engine, you’ll now see bigger image previews and get the ability to scroll continuously. The image thumbnails should also load more quickly thanks to some of the changes.

iPad and Android 3.1+ tablet users should be able to take advantage of this improved search experience right away. To try it for yourself, simply visit Google.com from your tablet.

Netflix took a beating this week as they raised prices without actually providing a fundamental improvement in their offerings, but at least there’s some bright news in the Netflix camp to focus on. Netflix streaming is now available on one of the most popular handheld gaming consoles out there: Nintendo’s 3DS. Starting now, 3DS owners in the U.S. and across Canada can download a free application that allows Netflix members with unlimited streaming plans to instantly watch TV episodes and movies streaming from Netflix.

Interestingly, there’s actually not any 3D content on Netflix to enjoy just yet. Why launch on a 3D product without 3D content? Hard to say, but we’re sure 3DS owners will be glad to at least have something going now, with the potential for 3D content down the road. Users interested in taking advantage can download the program from the eShop now, where it’s totally free for Netflix users to indulge in.

The new Netflix application for Nintendo 3DS displays movies and TV episodes in 2D on the system’s upper screen. Users will soon have access to an additional library of select movies that can be viewed in 3D without the need for special glasses. Not surprisingly, use of the app requires a broadband connection and an active Netflix account, so if you’re all setup, toss the app onboard and let us know how it strikes you.

Nintendo 3DS joins the Wii™ console in its ability to stream Netflix content. On an average day, more than 1.5 million Netflix members instantly watch TV shows or movies via the Wii console. Now available for download from the Nintendo eShop, the Netflix application makes it easy for people to enjoy big action films, award-winning documentaries or hit reality shows and sitcoms on the Nintendo 3DS system anytime, anywhere.

“The new Netflix application looks great, plays great and is a fantastic consumer experience,” said Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. “It gives Nintendo 3DS owners access to an amazing wealth of movies and TV shows, which they can watch conveniently from thousands of free Wi-Fi access points across the country. Nintendo 3DS truly offers something for everyone.”

“Nintendo is a terrific partner with Netflix,” said Reed Hastings, co-founder and CEO of Netflix. “We’re excited to extend the partnership to include streaming on Nintendo 3DS.”

The new Netflix application for Nintendo 3DS displays movies and TV episodes in 2D on the system’s upper screen. Users will soon have access to an additional library of select movies that can be viewed in 3D without the need for special glasses.

Use of the Netflix application on Nintendo 3DS requires a broadband Internet connection and a Netflix streaming membership starting at $7.99 a month. Netflix members with unlimited streaming plans can instantly watch on their Nintendo 3DS systems and other devices, including the Wii console.

To download the free Netflix application or any other content from the Nintendo eShop, Nintendo 3DS users must first install the free system update that became available on June 6.

The Nintendo 3DS system’s parental control settings can be used to manage access to the Netflix application. Parents who wish to manage the specific content their kids watch will be happy to know that the parental control settings associated with their Netflix account will be applied to the streaming content viewable on the Nintendo 3DS system.