iPad mini today launches today, Apple eyeing 1.5 million units sold over the weekend

Despite being a couple of weeks behind schedule, the iPad mini sales open today, but only in the US and only in black.

Never mind the delay, Apple is expected to sell around 1.5 million units of its 7.85″ slate. Gene Munster at Piper Jaffray has made the projection and he believes Apple will hit that number before the weekend’s over.

Spectacular as this sounds, it’s actually not as much as the third gen iPad managed to sell at launch, rounding off 3 million units. The main reason for that, Mr. Munster believes, is the lack of 4G LTE models available at launch.

He also accounts for the fact that the compact size is still a relatively new concept for the general consumer and that:

Consumers will gradually realize the benefits of the smaller form factor, which will drive adoption, although it may not take form in lines for tomorrow’s launch.

The base iPad mini costs $329, with the 32GB and 64GB version going for $429 and $529, respectively. The Wi-Fi+Cellular model starts at $459 for the 16GB.

You can see how the iPad mini compares to the hottest Android competitors by checking out our iPad mini vs Nexus 7 vs Kindle Fire HD comparison table.

Source : blog[dot]gsmarena[dot]com

The CW’s digital studio gets a Homecoming with two new series

The CW's new digital studio, CWD, has signed two more shows to its schedule, including the final season of a series that debuted on MySpace in 2007.

Not content with filling your television screens five evenings a week with quality entertainment like Supernatural, Nikita and America’s Next Top Model: College Edition – Hey, at least the first two are good, okay? – the CW is moving into digital distribution with the announcement of two new web series being added to the production slate of the channel’s digital studio, CWD.

The most high-profile of the two series is Prom Queen: Homecoming, the third (and final) season of Vuguru’s Prom Queen web series. Launched in 2007 by Vuguru – the web production company owned by former Walt Disney Company CEO Michael Eisner – and Big Fantastic, the series made its debut on MySpace before running 80 episodes (each lasting 80 seconds) across twelve weeks, with over 15 million viewers “tuning in.” The second series, Prom Queen: Summer Heat, debuted later that year. Homecoming isn’t actually debuting on CWD; the real debut came two years ago, on Canada’s CityTV online network. Instead, the CW is calling the show’s addition to its CWD line-up as “the US debut,” adding that it will now be the exclusive home for the season as well as the two earlier Prom Queens and prequel seriesSam Has 7 Friends.

In addition to the Prom Queen franchise, CWD is adding a new series spinning off from an established online property, with CelebTV on The CW. Described as “a daily short-form entertainment series that gives fans the inside scoop on their favorite CW stars – both what’s happening on-screen and off – from red carpet sightings and magazine cover shoots to new projects and style secrets,” the series leverages CelebTV’s existing digital network – which already offers daily videos covering the lifestyle and entertainment beats, and has partnered with Hulu, YouTube and Xfinity – to produce new reports specifically based around the existing CW brand, so expect to see a lot of Kristin Kreuk, Stephen Amell and Maggie Q teasing future episodes of their shows amongst fast-cut breathless reports about why this season of Supernatural is the best one yet.

The two series will join the already announced Stupid Hype – A show about the return to fame of a former breakdancer that will surely delight anyone who’s ever wanted to see Vanilla Ice’s career recreated for laughs with undertones of Eminem’s 8 Mile big-screen debut (Check out the trailer for proof) – on the soon-to-launch CWD, which will make series available through multiple avenues. Not only will the CWD have a dedicated part of the CW’s official website, but its content will also be made available through the official CW Facebook page, as well as being attached to full-episode streams of broadcast shows through CWTV.com and the CW’s YouTube channel.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Luigi’s Mansion and Castlevania for Nintendo 3DS delayed into 2013

Nintendo's fall release schedule for 3DS is packed, but two high profile titles have slipped to 2013.

 

Delays aren’t a bad thing. Sometimes a game just needs more time in the oven. Even if the people making it decided, you know, this is finished, we have literally placed all that and a bag of chips into the ROM, sometimes waiting a little bit longer to get it out is the best idea. Then a good game can be polished to the point of greatness, or it can be released at a time when there will be fewer high profile games jockeying for people’s attention and dollars.

The Nintendo 3DS has been no stranger to delays over the past year. Kid Icarus: Uprising was supposed to be ready for launch and it ended up releasing nearly a year later this past March. Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon was also supposed to be ready for the Nintendo 3DS quite a long time ago, but after a couple of delays, Nintendo announced at E3 2012 that it would be out in time for Christmas. None too soon based on my time with it in June.

Luigi’s Mansion won’t be out in time for Christmas though. Nintendo released an expansive release calendar detailing the 3DS and DS line up through the end of the year and Luigi’s Mansion did not make the cut.

In this case, Nintendo is wisely giving Luigi room to breathe. Between now and Christmas, Nintendo alone has New Super Mario Bros. 2, Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask, and Paper Mario: Sticker Star just to name a few and that’s on top of a few third-party games that Nintendo is aggressively marketing itself like Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion.

Next Level Games has been working on Luigi’s Mansion for around two years now and the game is nice and polished in demos. It’s not a game that’s going to really steal people’s hearts and minds away from even a Paper Mario game. Best let it breathe on its own.

Konami’s Castelvania: Lords of Shadow—Mirror of Fate, formerly scheduled for October, will join Luigi’s Mansion in 2013. That game however could use the extra development time. When I played it at E3 2012, Mercurysteam’s first handheld Castlevania was a mess. It looked like a bowl of chunky soup and played like a stiff old man. It lacked the vivacious color of past portable Castlevanias but even its dour atmosphere lacked the polish and sheen of the original Lords of Shadow. A few more months will do the game nicely.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com