Apple pursues iPad Mini with better display, say 'sources'

The iPad Mini has been an exception to Apple's Retina obsession. But fresh gossip from Asia-based industry sources indicates Apple wants to rectify this.
An upcoming version of the iPad Mini will "focus on enhancing the...display resolution," according to a report at Taipei-based Digitimes. The report cited "backlighting industry" sources.
That's as far as the gossip goes, however. No leaked specs or rumors about display makers ramping up production of new displays.

Apple iOS users can now gift an app from the App Store

iOS users searching for holiday gift ideas can head on over to Apple's App Store.
You can now directly send a paid app to someone as a gift, a feature that was previously available with iOS 5 but disappeared when iOS 6 debuted this fall.
To use the feature, open the App Store app on your iOS device. Choose a paid app that you'd like to gift. Click on the Share button in the upper right corner. The Share options window appears with a new icon in the lower right called Gift. Tap on the Gift icon.

Andreessen explains how Steve Jobs, Tim Cook are different

Famed Silicon Valley venture capitalist Marc Andreessen believes there is one major difference between Tim Cook and Steve Jobs: a desire for market share.
Speaking last night at an event in New York City, Andreessen said that Jobs' "single playbook" was to "invent a new product category, start with 100 percent market share, and then every day that goes by, lose market share until some terminal outcome."
Andreessen pointed to the Macintosh computer, the iPod, the iPhone, and the iPad as examples of that strategy.

Analyst: iPad, iPhone, Apple to feel squeeze in 2013

Apple faces a few challenges that could take a bite out of iPhone and iPad sales next year, at least in the opinion of one analyst.
In an investors note out today, UBS analyst Steven Milunovich slashed his iPhone sales estimates for the March, June, and September 2013 quarters by 5 million units each quarter. Sales estimates for the iPad were cut by 2 million per quarter for the same three periods.
The analyst now expects Apple to sell 41 million iPhones in the March quarter, 36 million in the June quarter, and 33 million in the September quarter

A&E launches iPad apps with free access to full episodes

Fans of such shows as "Swamp People," "Storage Wars," and "Monster In-Laws" can now catch full episodes for free via their iPads.
A+E Networks, the company behind these series and more, unveiled three iPad apps yesterday: one for A&E shows, another for History shows, and a third for Lifetime shows and movies.
Viewers will be able to catch all episodes from the current seasons of various shows, as well as some episodes from previous seasons. Subscribers to Comcast's Xfinity TV will have access to all episodes from previous seasons.

Latest Steve Jobs action figure remarkably detailed

You know the holidays are getting close when Steve Jobs action figures start to appear.
We've seen a few toy tributes to Jobs from Chinese companies. There was a kerfuffle in January of this year when Hong Kong toymaker In Icons bowed to pressure from Jobs' family and Apple and withdrew a 12-inch doll from the market.
That hasn't stopped a Japanese startup from trying to cash in on Jobs' popularity. Tokyo-based Legend Toys is releasing its own strikingly detailed 12-inch figure of Jobs. It was sculpted by Takao Kato, whose work includes 1:16 scale and 1:4 scale figures for the otaku market

Apple stock slouches toward $500, near February lows

Even with Apple's top product arriving in more stores around the world, and its last products of the year shipping out, Wall Street's not so hot on the company today.
Shares of Apple closed at $509.79, down $19.90, or 3.76 percent, on Friday. That's near where the stock was trading in February, ahead of the journey that would take it beyond its high of $702 in September.