iPad Mini LTE release faces UK delay
It has emerged today that the LTE iPad mini is to face a delay of up to two weeks, following its release in the US last weekend.
The iPad mini was due to reach UK customers at the end of November, but now Apple has informed waiting pre-order customers via email that they will not receive their devices until at least November 30, with possible dispatch times covering the following 8 days until December 7. The move is also reflected on the UK Apple Store website, which is now estimating shipping times at “2 weeks”.
This is an interesting development following my editorial exploring Apple’s struggle to meet demands in the early days of a product launch. Are any of you waiting for the LTE iPad Mini? Are you upset by these delays? Or are you happy to wait a little while longer?
I ended up cancelling my iPad mini order out of frustration. And went to PC World where they had full stock of Nexus 7. I'm glad I did now. The Nexus 7 is by far better specification in almost every way*; and yet half of the price. (£179 after cashback compared to the £380 iPad mini 3G I had on order).
* Pros - 1GB system memory, quad core processor, ability to use a third party keyboard (ala Swype or SwiftKey), OS only takes up 500MB of the 29GB available storage, higher resolution display, plastic back isn't so damn cold in the mornings, standard USB connection for charging.
* Cons - No facetime (But you can get skype?), front camera is poor, back camera is missing altogether, and limited support for AirPlay playback. I didn't buy the 3G model, but the tethering to my iPhone for data via bluetooth works amazingly well, and cheaper too than a standalone connection. 8 hour battery life compared to 10 hours.
Jelly Bean is every bit as slick as iOS - And moreso. It includes a wide range of customization and downloadable widgets for your home screen. And there's something about being able to install BitTorrent, download a file and unrar it all on the same tablet device that rocks my world. So it looks like after using iOS since 2007, it's time to switch away.
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