The dust has settled and just like that, the iPad mini is real. Tuesday's Apple event was a whiplash-inducing hour as company executives announced a wide swath of new and updated products at a breathtaking pace -- and for the first time we can recall, made one of its key products obsolete within the same year it was released. As third-gen iPad owners ourselves, we can feel your pain, but if you bought one recently, you might try to return it to an Apple Store and see if they'll take mercy on you. Read on to find out more!
As Tuesday proved, the rumors of a fourth-generation iPad were indeed true, although few probably expected Apple to be so quick at ditching the previous model. The Verge was the first to spot refurbished third-gen iPads popping up on the Apple online store Tuesday afternoon, with the 16GB Wi-Fi model starting at just $379 -- a $20 savings over the lesser-powered (but new) iPad 2. We're sorry to see it go so quickly, but considering Cupertino's claims of 2x processor and graphics speed over the model released back in March, we can't really blame them.
Rovio offered up another helping of Angry Birds on Tuesday, updating its Angry Birds Seasons apps for iPhone/iPod touch and iPad to version 3.0, just in time for Halloween. "BOO! The pigs are hiding in their spookiest location yet: a haunted house!" the release notes reveal. "The Angry Birds will have to brave ghosts and ghouls to get their eggs back -- if they can survive the house first! Are your eyes playing tricks on you or did that painting just move?!" Angry Birds Seasons now offers 30 all-new spooky levels, along with "ghostly new Halloween music" and a pig named Frankenswine. Perhaps more importantly for iPhone 5 owners, the game now supports the four-inch display for your device, making this update well worth downloading. It's in the App Store now, so go get it!
Following the unveiling of Apple's fourth-generation iPad on Tuesday, a number of people who recently purchased the third-generation, formerly "new" iPad suddenly find themselves with an inferior device. According to CNET, all hope is not lost: A number of customers are claiming that their nearby Apple Store has offered to exchange the third-gen model for the one announced this week, as long as the original purchase was made within the last 30 days. The manager of Stockton Street store in San Francisco confirmed that their location was extending the usual 14-day return policy, but you'll want to contact the Apple Store nearest you before venturing out -- this doesn't appear to be a company-wide policy as yet.
Boston-based Noise Industries announced a new member of its FxFactory plug-in family on Tuesday with the arrival of CineFlare Nostalgia. This package of effects and generators is aimed exclusive at Final Cut Pro X users for adding an authentic vintage look to their footage, complete with three different customizable elements for retro color effects, lens flares and even vintage slide vignettes. Check out the Nostalgia promo video to see what it can do for your footage, then head into FxFactory and grab your copy today for only $49.
While most of us were focused on Apple's latest and greatest products on Tuesday morning, the folks over at social gamer Zynga were busy laying off as many as 100 employees. According to The Verge, those cuts apparently come most deeply among those working on The Ville, the company's neighborhood-based reality simulation game first released back in June. A leaked memo from Zynga CEO and founder Mark Pincus confirmed that five percent of its full-time workforce indeed got the axe, while at the same shuttering 13 older games and "significantly reducing our investment in The Ville." The founder promises a company-wide pep talk on Wednesday following Zynga's earnings webcast, so it sounds like some not-so-good news may be headed down the pipeline.
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