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The question of whether Apple will continue to offer the existing iPad 2 as a lower-cost option alongside the forthcoming iPad 3 Cases  has been the subject of a fair amount of rumor and speculation, but if new display panel shipment plans provided to Digitimes are correct, it appears that the iPad 2 will indeed live on. 

According to the report, production of the "Retina" resolution iPad 3 display panels at 2048x1536 pixels will surpass that of the lower-resolution 1024x768 iPad 2 panels by the second quarter of this year, but Apple's suppliers will still push out approximately 25 million iPad 2 panels in 2012. That will be down from an estimated 48 million panels in 2011, but still a substantial number. Sources suggest that Apple's suppliers will also be pushing out approximately 40 million iPad 3 Cases panels this year for a total of 65 million iPads between the two models.

With fewer than one million panels shipped in the fourth quarter of 2011, Apple will keep increasing the shipment volume of panels for use in the new version of iPad to 6.0-7.0 million panels in the first quarter and 10.0 million units in the third quarter of 2012, the sources pointed out.

In the meantime, Apple has downwardly adjusted shipments of iPad 2 panels from the peak of 16.0 million panels in the third quarter to 10.0 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011 and further to 7.0-8.0 million units in the first quarter of 2012, the sources indicated. Thus, the shipment volume of panels for use in the new version of iPad will surpass that of iPad 2 panels in the second quarter of 2012, the sources noted.

Digitimes has had a spotty record regarding Apple's product plans, but it does sometimes offer at least reasonably accurate information on production volumes from the company's supply chain. Consequently, it does seem likely that any volume of iPad 2 display panels approaching the rumored number would be indicative of continued iPad 2 production well beyond the introduction of the iPad 3 Case.

Several reports have indicated that the iPad 2 will carry on at a lower entry price of $399 or perhaps even lower, a move rumored to be planned in part to counter Amazon's smaller Android-based Kindle Fire priced at $199. The iPad 3 is said to be set for a March debut and will reportedly offer LTE connectivity, a quad-core processor, and the high-resolution Retina display.

Leading up to the New Year, Sprint is running a limited time promotion that allows customers of the soon-to-be discontinued Premier service to access an early upgrade, according to internal documents obtained by SprintFeed.

The promotion is not advertised, but according to the report – all Sprint CDMA devices are eligible. Sprint will apparently check to make sure your account is in good standing, and this will of course replace your next available upgrade. The promotion is already available now through Sprint brick-and-mortar stores and will expire before the end of the year on Dec. 31.Hermes iPhone 4 Case|Hermes iPhone 4S Case

In other Sprint/iPhone news, a minor update to the Google Voice iOS client yesterday brought one major feature: the ability to send GV calls to a Sprint iPhone’s native dialer.Coach iPhone 4 Case|Coach iPhone 4S Case

Pardon a Forstallism in the headline (“blow-away”), it’s actually a fitting description of AMD’s just announced Radeon HD 7970 graphic card powered by the Tahiti GPU. Traces of support for Tahiti-driven AMD GPUs have recently been found in a beta of OS X Lion 10.7.3, indicating Mac Pro users will probably be able to pop in this beauty inside their system for a pretty significant boost in the oomph department. According to HotHardware, the 7970 is between 1.2x and 1.6x faster overall than the previous-generation 6970. It also blows Nvidia’s reference GeForce GTX 580 1.5GB card out of the water with between 1.16x and 1.31x faster performance.

Gamers will especially love this card due to its increased memory bandwidth, compute performance, fillrate and tesselation (up to 25 percent faster compared to the custom EVGA GeForce GTX 580 3GB card). “To put it simply, the AMD Radeon HD 7970 is the fastest, single-GPU powered graphics card we have ever tested thus far”, the publication wrote.Designer iPhone 4 Case|Designer iPhone 4S Case

Plus, the 7970 is the best-in-class performer in terms of power consumption (“idle power was the best, bar none”). Summing up, HotHardware’s Marco Chiappetta concluded that the powerful Radeon HD 7970 is “the fastest single-GPU powered graphics card money can buy”. So, when can you get your hands on one of these?

This card won’t retail – AMD is shipping it to OEMs only beginning January 9, 2012 for MSRP $549. If history is an indication, Apple should adopt the Radeon HD 7970 in the flagship 2012 Mac Pro model or offer it as a build-to-order option. Some other caveats from HotHardware’s exhaustive review:Louis Vuitton iPhone 4 Case|Louis Vuitton iPhone 4S Case

We do not think, however, that AMD is going to be able to meet or exceed the performance of today’s high-end dual-GPU powered cards, even with future driver updates. As it stands today, the Radeon HD 6990 remains the fastest graphic card money can buy, with the GeForce GTX 590 finishing just behind. It’s going to take two Tahiti GPUs to surpass the performance of those cards. Of course AMD is already working on a solution for that as well, codenamed “New Zealand.

Chanel iPhone 4 Case|Chanel iPhone 4S Case

AMD’s new Tahiti GPU powering this card is aimed at enthusiast gamers. It is part of their Southern Island series of GPUs, all code-named after southern islands (Cape Verde, Pitcairn, Tahiti and New Zealand) and fabbed on TSMC’s 28-nanometer process. The Tahiti GPU inside the 7970 is also AMD’s first GPU to feature their Graphics Core Next architecture, in addition to PCI Express 3.0 connectivity, DirectX 11.1 support, ZeroCore, PRT and multi-point audio.Gucci iPhone 4 Case|Gucci iPhone 4S Case

If you’re interested to learn more, check out Engadget’s handy reviews round-up or visit the official web site.

Apple just posted a document detailing exact availability of iTunes Match and iTunes in the Cloud internationally. There was some confusion leading up to what many reported as the international rollout of iTunes Match, and Apple even began issuing refunds to abroad customers having issues accessing the service.Louis Vuitton iPhone 4 Cases|Louis Vuitton iPhone 4S Cases|Louis Vuitton iPhone 4 Case|Louis Vuitton iPhone 4S Case

According to Apple, iTunes Match is now available in the following 17 countries:

Australia, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, New Zealand, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States.

There are some countries not included in Apple’s list of officially supported countries, such as Brazil where users report having access to the service.Best iPhone 4 Cases|Best iPhone 4S Case

Apple also detailed what specific purchased content is eligible to download again through iTunes in the Cloud in each supported country. In other words, certain countries will be limited in the type of content that can be re-downloaded. iTunes in the Cloud is now available in over 120 countries worldwide. Currently only the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom have access to all content including: music, music videos, television shows, apps, and books. All countries on the list do have access to at least apps and iBooks.

Check out the full list below to find out what specific content is available in your country:

The table below shows you what types of purchases you can download again in each country. If a certain type of content can be downloaded again in that country, an “X” will appear in the country’s row for that content type.

If music, apps, or books are available in your country, you can enable Automatic Downloads on your computers and iOS devices to automatically download new purchases made from other devices. This feature is only available for music, apps, and books.

.

Walmart continues to offer the $50 iTunes gift card for $40. That is 20 percent off and the lowest price yet. The card comes immediately through email, and it counts toward free shipping on other items.  It may also be a good way for our International readers to purchase iTunes gift cards for United States music.Louis Vuitton iPhone 4 Case|Louis Vuitton iPhone 4S Case

For those near a Best Buy, order three $10 gift certificates for $25 and with a free reward zone account, that drops to $22.Chanel iPad 2 Cases|Gucci iPad 2 Cases|Burberry iPad 2 Cases|Swarovski Crystal Cases

Mockup by CiccareseDesing. 

CiccareseDesign has quite a head-turning portfolio of Apple product mockups. Gorgeous, brave and imaginative… most are, however, poised to remain a wishful thought. Its newest rendering is especially interesting as it depicts what a rumored 7.85-inch iPad would look like compared to the existing 9.7-inch device. According to supply chain sources, Apple is set to release the iPad mini in 2012, with the production slated for the second quarter.

For those that never held Amazon’s 7-inch Kindle Fire, this mockup helps people understand why a smaller iPad might make sense. Still not convinced? Print a pair of downloadable PDFs (Home Screen, Keyboard) at 100 percent size. You will immediately get a feel of how a 7.85-inch Apple tablet could measure against the iPad. You can also view it in actual size in the iPad’s web browserhere.Louis Vuitton iPhone 4 Cases|Louis Vuitton iPhone 4S Cases

Another mockup is showcased after the break.

Of course, if such a device is on Apple’s roadmap, the company would be wise to equip the iPad mini with the same 1024-by-768 pixel resolution display found on the original iPad to avoid platform fragmentation and make the existing apps run without having to update with new assets and user interface changes. The mockup is a collaborationbetween CiccareseDesign and MacRumors.Hello Kitty iPhone 4S Covers|Hello Kitty iPhone 4 Covers

Steve Jobs on the prospect of 7-inch iPad during a fourth quarter conference call in 2010 with a Wall Street analyst:

It’s meaningless unless your tablet also includes sandpaper, so that the user can sand down their fingers to around one quarter of their present size.

Wedge Partners’ Brian Blair  wrote in a note to clients today that Apple will stick to the 9.7-inch form factor:Designer iPad 2 Cases|Louis Vuitton iPad 2 Cases

Don’t expect a 7-incher. While we believe Apple has tested 7-inch screen prototypes for over a year, we don’t currently expect the company to release anything in the 7-inch size in 2012. We believe Apple is highly likely to keep the iPad 2 on the production line after the launch of iPad 3 and offer it at a lower price point in an effort to address demand at the mid-tier, what we view as the $249 – $499 range. We believe iPad 2's price could drop to the $349 to $399 range with Apple offering a single 16GB model.

Watch the video below to hear Jobs’ full comment on “the avalanche” of 7-inch tablets that were poised to enter the market shortly following the iPad’s April 2010 debut (also from the Wall Street analyst conference call):