I had to smile at my wife’s first reaction when I handed her my new iPad Air 2 to check out straight from the box. “It’s awfully heavy,” quoth the resolutely non-tech-oriented love of my life.

Say what??!

Translated, what she meant, I think, was that for a device with such a razor-thin form factor, it still has reassuring heft, a point on which I concur. I have never considered my iPad 2 to be particularly porky, but the Air 2 (hopefully the number 2 will prove as auspicious with this machine as it has with the older unit) is definitely more vestigial, and appeals to my taste for miniaturization without loss of function.

I’m pleased with the gold color. I like both the traditional White/Silver and Black/Space Gray themes, but they have been getting a bit “been there; done that” and the gold is a refreshing change. I particularly like the look of the gold around the periphery of the display bezel in top/edge viewing aspects.

It’s understatement to say the Air 2 is faster. It’s afterburners-on compared to the old A5-powered Air. I’m also looking forward to the four times greater system RAM, allowing faster switching among open apps and browser tabs, which has been an increasingly major source of frustrating slowdowns on the iPad 2 lately, even though cautionary prudence has kept me from upgrading to reportedly even slower iOS 8 on the old machine after reports that it’s even more sluggish on A5 Pads. The iPad Air 2, of course, came loaded up with iOS 8, but it has plenty of power to support it.

The new fully-laminated Retina Display is beautiful. I haven’t been chafing with the iPad 2′s relatively mediocre 1,024 x 768 panel, but the Retina is definitely nicer; much brighter and snappier with higher contrast. Hopefully, the anti-glare coating will hold up in use.

I don’t find TouchID much of a big whoop. Typing in four-letter passcodes is really no hardship, and I find Touch ID misfires annoyingly often, even though I have recalibrated my thumbprint three times.

The Lightning connector is two-year-old news, but this is my first device to have it. I found no deficiency in the old 30-pin connector, and for me Lightning is just another proprietary bit to possibly get lost or damaged and not as easy/cheap to replace.

These are very early days impressions. I’m not a fast adopter of new hardware, and prefer to ease into it slowly and deliberately. I did a full iTunes backup of the iPad 2 onto my MacBook Air and restored it onto the iPad Air 2. The settings “took” (mostly), but I found that the restore didn’t bring my app collection with it, and I’ve been obliged to manually download dozens of apps via the iTunes “Purchased” pane. Not sure whether this is normal or not, and it isn’t a show-stopper, but has been time consuming and tedious.

Consequently, three days on I’m still using the old iPad 2 for production while I experiment with the Air 2 and get it configured the way I like it. The 2 feels like a comfortable old shoe/glove/pair of jeans—the new has long since worn off, but I know exactly what to expect. I’ll get comfortable with the Air 2 in time, but it’s not a process I like to rush. I think I’m going to really like this new tablet, but it will be some time before I know for sure. Learn more »

It’s time to serve your customers. What could they possibly want? Bacon, of course!

Twisty Hollow gives you three concentric circles with some icons. Line up the correct sequence of icons and the bacon gets made, the customer gets to eat the bacon, and, as in real life, everyone is happy.

Mmmmmmm, bacon…

So, they start adding things like fish and diamonds and sushi in later levels, but we’ll always have bacon. The goal is to make sure all of your customers get served. As the game progresses, customers may leave or even set a fire on a finished product slot if they do not get what they want quickly enough.

Gameplay is handled entirely via tap and swipe. The dial motion is very much like the selection wheel on the old click wheel iPod (may it rest in peace). The game sports some Saturday cartoon style graphics (the characters remind me a little bit of the Mii characters) and bouncy backing music. The controls are fairly easy to use but you need to be careful on the small iPhone scree or you may end up moving the wrong circle

Twisty Hollow is moderately fun and is a good enough occupier of idle time, but that’s about all. The “cute” graphics and relatively easy play will probably help it go over better with the young gamers. Learn more »

Apple lawsuits in October 2014 ran the gamut from class-action to patent to trademark, and there was a blast from the past no one could have foreseen.

• Apple won a patent lawsuit filed by WiLan after the two LTE patents being used were invalidated.
• Many years ago, Apple used FairPlay, a Digital Rights Management (DRM) to keep unauthorized computers and devices from playing music purchased on iTunes. Now Apple is facing a $350 million anti-trust lawsuit claiming the DRM was used to stifle market competition and make it difficult for customers to move to another platform.
• Russian Railways has to wait until November 20th to appeal a court decision that ruled in favor of Apple. Russian Railways sued Apple after an app used its logo without permission and wants 2 million rubles (approximately $55,807).
• Bose dismissed the patent lawsuit they filed against Beats Electronics after accusing them of infringing on several of their noise-cancelling headphone patents.
• Robert Herskowitz brought a $5 million lawsuit against Apple in 2012 saying that Apple defrauded customers by billing twice for songs purchased in iTunes and they couldn’t get refunds. Later, he joined forces with Phoebe Juel who sued Apple after being charged for a song she already bought but couldn’t locate on her computer. Their combined lawsuit recently got dismissed after they reached a settlement with Apple.
• The High-Tech Employee Antitrust Litigation brought against Apple, Google, Adobe, and Intel after they entered a no-poaching agreement is still continuing. The latest news is the tech workers who brought the lawsuit are asking a federal appeals court to deny the $324.5 million settlement offered.
• It was only a matter of time before angry 2011 MacBook Pro owners sued Apple over its apparent lack of response to the graphical problems they’ve suffered due to faulty hardware. They were forced to pay out-of-pocket to fix their laptops by replacing the logic board, which could be as much as $600. The plaintiffs want Apple to “acknowledge a defect in the 2011 MacBook Pro models, notify owners of the issue, bear the costs of inspection of affected machines, and pay the full costs of repairs and damages.”
• iVoice Enterprises asked India’s Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) to remove Apple’s iPhone trademark from the Trademark Registry. Patently Apple notes that iVoice Enterprises has a trademark for Indian Phone, which they abbreviate as iFon. Is the trademark for Indian Phone or iFon? If the former, then Apple has nothing to worry about. If the latter, then it will probably be up to the courts to decide if iFon is close enough to iPhone to make a difference.
• GPNE Corp. sued Apple using patents originally designed for pagers 20 years ago claiming several iOS products violated them. Since the patents expired, the lawsuit was thrown out, prompting an Apple spokesman to call them a patent troll attempting to “extort money from Apple for 20-year-old pager patents that have expired, wasting time for everyone involved.”

Learn more »

Yes, I know Halloween is over, technically. It’s November; time for snow. But the scares don’t have to quit coming just yet (or ever, because they’re fun), so the beautiful people of GameAgent have rounded up 13 Mac games to play on Halloween…and beyond.

The list comes from Russ Looney, a fellow who knows a thing or two about Mac gaming. And even better, the list is on one page! It’s not click bait! #7 won’t blow your mind, and you totally will believe #11.

A few obvious choices appear, such as The Walking Dead series (we highly suggest you avoid Season 2), Dead Island and Amnesia: The Dark Descent, but there are some pretty unique finds in here, too. Not all of the games are aimed at horror fans, either. Some are just spooky, while others are more about your basic Halloween fun, safe for the kids.

Prices for the games range from $2.99 to $39.99, with most of them dropping between $5.00 and $20.00. Head on over to GameAgent to see the full list, then take your pick. 13 is a lot of games, after all, and it’s likely you’ve already played some of these, anyway. Personally, I think I’m going to use this opportunity to finally play Limbo. Learn more »

Apple says it is at risk of being hit with a higher tax rate and back taxes as European regulators investigate its tax affairs in Ireland.
In June, the European Commission launched a probe to see whether Apple's 1991 tax deal with Ireland violated European Union laws prohibiting state aid to companies. Ireland and Apple say they work in accordance with the law.

In the company's annual financial report, released this week, Apple warned investors that "If the Company's effective tax rates were to increase, particularly in the U.S. or Ireland...the company's operating results, cash flows and financial condition could be adversely affected."

Learn more »

Apple chief Tim Cook: 'I'm proud to be gay'

Mr Cook said he made his announcement to try to help people struggling with their identity

Apple chief executive Tim Cook has publicly acknowledged his sexuality, saying that he is "proud to be gay".

Mr Cook made his announcement to try to help people struggling with their identity, he wrote in a Bloomberg Businessweek article.

He has been open about his sexuality, but has also tried to maintain a basic level of privacy until now, he said.

This week Mr Cook challenged his home state of Alabama to ensure the rights of gay and transgender people.

Privacy trade-off
"While I have never denied my sexuality, I haven't publicly acknowledged it either, until now," he wrote.

"So let me be clear: I'm proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me," he added.

He said he didn't consider himself an activist, but that he realised he had "benefited from the sacrifice of others."

"So if hearing that the CEO [chief executive] of Apple is gay can help someone struggling to come to terms with who he or she is, or bring comfort to anyone who feels alone, or inspire people to insist on their equality, then it's worth the trade-off with my own privacy," he added.

Mr Cook said that he had been open about his sexuality with many people, including colleagues at Apple, but that it still "wasn't an easy choice" to publicly announce his sexual orientation.

He quoted civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King, saying: "Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?' "


Analysis

Rory Cellan-Jones, BBC News technology correspondent

Tim Cook's announcement may come as no surprise in Silicon Valley or across corporate America.

But that does not mean that we should underestimate the significance of the leader of the world's most valuable company talking openly about his sexuality.

Back in May, a piece in the New York Times asked "where are the gay chief executives?" and struggled to name any openly gay CEOs at America's 1,000 biggest companies.

Apple under Steve Jobs was not a company that took a stand on any issues which were not seen as relevant to its business.

Tim Cook has been more forthcoming on all sorts of issues, including equal rights for gay workers, and while he says he does not see himself as an activist, that is how many will now see him.

That could embroil him in controversy in the United States, let alone in other parts of the world with less liberal views of sexuality.

Mr Cook admitted that going public as a gay man was not an easy choice - but it certainly looks a courageous one.

This week Mr Cook referred to Martin Luther King in a speech in Alabama in which he called for equal rights for people based on sexual orientation and identity.

He said that Alabama had been too slow to ensure the rights of ethnic minorities in the civil rights era, and was now being too slow to guarantee gay rights.

"Under the law, citizens of Alabama can still be fired based on their sexual orientation," Mr Cook said.

"We can't change the past, but we can learn from it and we can create a different future."

Mr Cook has championed equality at Apple, but in August said he was "not satisfied" with workforce diversity at the company.

Outstanding, a not-for-profit professional network for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) executives, said on Thursday that many LGBT people in the UK felt it was "safer to stay in the closet" when at work.

In May a US study by LGBT organisation Human Rights Campaign suggested that 53% of US LGBT employees had not come out at work.

'Role model'
Former BP chief executive Lord Browne, who now chairs fracking company Cuadrilla, said Mr Cook had become a role model.

"By deciding to speak publicly about his sexuality, Tim Cook has become a role model, and will speed up changes in the corporate world," Lord Browne said.


The peer kept his sexual orientation a secret for decades, but was forced to come out after a boyfriend made his sexuality public in 2007. Learn more »