Walt Mossberg's AllThingsD.com confirms there will be two separate Apple product introductions this fall. The iPhone 5 in September and the iPad Mini in October.

I had previously mentioned in my Exciting Products Yet To Launch This Fall 2012 piece a couple weeks ago that they would both be at the September 12 media event.

Instead Apple will focus consumers on the smartphone at the September 12th event before rolling out the smaller (7") iTablet during the iPod refresh event. And while nothing is certain until the events, even the iPad Mini name is sounding more and more like it is a keeper.

Personally, I am due for an upgrade and am looking forward to the iPhone 5 introduction as I am still toting around a iPhone 4...never justifying the 4s upgrade. I'm certain the 5 will be a solid improvement over my current iPhone. As for the new, smaller iPad...I'm on the fence. Truth be told, like I have mentioned in past articles, I am almost preferring my Macbook Air on many occasions...where the iPad is really just my surfing, media consumption and games platform. Any content generation is largely left to my laptop.

But you never know what Apple might have up their sleeve with these introductions??? More as information comes available.

Larry Pacey, award-winning designer tracks the latest news on consumer products, electronics, appliances, smart devices, networking and the gadget lifestyle.

For the latest news follow me on: ------------------------------ OR ------------------------------- Follow me on Twitter @WouldntMindThis Please comment below and share your thoughts. If you have any feedback or questions, feel free to email me at wouldntmind@gmail.com. Just my 2-cents, Larry

I am pretty excited about the forthcoming Pogo Connect stylus for iPad and iPhone. While there has been a slew of stylus'...none have really excited me. After using each of them, I was largely disappointed. Granted I am not an artist but I just felt like I was squishing a rubber or felt nub around to get some dimensionality into whatever I tried to sketch.


The good news is that there is a new set of solutions on the horizon that offer a path to provide greater control over the sensitivity and tactile nature of using a stylus on a tablet. Ten One Design (the makers of the basic but popular Pogo Sketch) is about to launch a Bluetooth 4.0, pressure sensitive stylus that communicates the pressure of the pen to the application wirelessly on the iOS device.

Artists have enjoyed this capability with some high-end graphics tablets and will surely enjoy this advancement but for me the best benefit of this type of solution is that the application can ignore all touch inputs except for the pen. If you have used a stylus to take notes on a multi-touch tablet, you probably have had the experience of your wrist touching the display and drawing something on the screen. This stylus can address this and turn note-taking into a joy.

I am really looking forward to this and some other intelligent stylus solutions to see how my tablet experience evolves. I will let you know when the price and availability is announced shortly.

Below is a video quickly highlighting the Pogo Connect's sensitivity at play...

I have not ventured to write much about the wide range of different cell phones provided from all the different cell carriers. The tech specs, features, operator customizations and software bundles is so confusing I wouldn't even try to sort out the differences. Heck, the same phone has different names on different carriers!

But it looks like the crew over at SNL took it upon themselves to cover all the tech mumbo-jumbo like 4G-LTE, a 1,000 different HTC handset versions and all the rest. So much noise that is leaving the "non-tech geek" so confused. If this doesn't clear it up for you...I don't know what could help ;-)

Larry Pacey, award-winning designer tracks the latest news on consumer products, electronics, appliances, smart devices, networking and the gadget lifestyle.

For the latest news follow me on: ------------------------------ OR ------------------------------- Follow me on Twitter @WouldntMindThis Please comment below and share your thoughts. If you have any feedback or questions, feel free to email me at wouldntmind@gmail.com. Just my 2-cents, Larry

You've heard be talk about the Withings Wi-Fi scale and how it will monitor your daily weigh-ins and will even post the results to their central online service for tracking your weight discretely. OR it can automatically post it to Facebook or Twitter if you are so inclined.

I really love the device for its simple elegance of execution. It is smart. Smart devices always impress me. You can create multiple profiles for everyone in the family and hen you stand on the device, it even figures out which member of the family is standing on it and posts the results to that individuals history. All of this is done wirelesses...no fuss!

Well, Withings is introducing another scale. This one is the Withings Smart Baby Scale and it is compatible with the WiScale app already available for the original scale. The babies weight is automatically recorded the same as the original version and features the ability to monitor the weigh-ins via the app, emailed to a preset list of recipients or posted to Facebook and/or Twitter to keep doctors, friends or family up to date with baby's progress.

You can remove the basket as the infant grows into a toddler for extended use. And think of all that blackmail material you will have when junior grows up! Priceless ;-)

Look for the scale to be available by June 2012 and the app is free on iTunes.

You can check out the other great Health 2.0 products from Withings including the Withings Wi-Fi Scale and Blood Pressure Monitor already available on Amazon...

Parrot is bringing out a new AR.Drone at this year's CES. For those of you unfamiliar with the original, it is a remote controlled helicopter that leverages your iPad, iPhone or Android smart-device to steer. The AR.Drone has a camera and streams the footage to your device to get you a real birds-eye view of the no so mini-copters flight. The unmanned little aerial vehicle also features a series of augmented reality games where simulated graphics interact with the real-world settings to really spice up your flying adventure. And if you bring a friend along, there are games that actually allow for dog-fights between the two drones.


The 2.0 version ups the experience with an all-new 720p video camera which allows you to record the action in high-definition. A new 3D Magnetometer helps makes the Drone self-orient and an overall easier flying experience. Priced at $299 and available in the second quarter.

B&O A8 Earphone

I've been getting emails asking for some holiday gift giving recommendations for people that love music. While I am working on an audio write-up, it might not help in time for those of you out and about this weekend. So I did want to point out a couple articles on WouldntMind.com that might help stimulate some great gift ideas.

First of all, I went on a quest a couple months ago for a new set of headphones. I really wanted a wireless set so my iPhone could stay in the pocket or sit on in the charger but I would conveniently live more untethered. At the end of the day, I stuck with my B&O A8 Earphone (approx $160) corded headphones but check out Wireless Headphones - Bluetooth Earbuds for a whole range of options including my beloved B&O earbuds.

Bose Soundlink Wireless Mobile Speakers

Another set of hot technology is the latest wave of Bluetooth wireless speakers. This category really heated up lately with the high-end introduction of the Bose Soundlink Wireless Mobile Speakers ($299.95-$349.95). You can read the full WouldntMind.com write-up Wireless Speakers "On-the-Go" to get all the details.

I have also posted a write-up on WouldntMind.com: Great Holiday Gifts for Cool People You Know and WouldntMind.com Holiday Gifts for Good Little Boys and Girls. I also just posted a WouldntMind.com High-Definition, 3D and Home Audio wish list as well.

All the articles at WouldntMind.com will help you with a great line-up of holiday gift ideas.

I am still looking for more great gift ideas for friends, family members or your favorite kids. Please feel free to share in the comments below if you have your eyes on something I haven't considered.

Larry

This website is all about "great products" that can be turned into "great gifts". The past few months I have been posting each week some of the cool new products as they come to market. Be sure to check out Wouldntmind.com for a complete line up of reviews and product evaluations.

Recently I also compiled a couple lists of great gifts of Him and Her as well as a list for the Little Boys and Girls.

Be sure to check these write-up for great suggestions on product people Wouldn't Mind getting.

I have also mentioned Nielson's research on popular items on kids and adults minds. Check out the Nielsen's report here.

Those very clever people over at Jawbone have jumped out of their Bluetooth roots and moved into the health and fitness lifestyle tech world. I have previously covered products like the FitBit Ultra and have an interest in technology that is suppose to improve our lives.

Well the new Jawbone Up is the latest in an effort to help me sleep better, eat wiser and be more active.  Everyone knows I could use that!

This $99 sweat-proof, rubberized wristband can be worn all-day and night. It tracks your movements and also includes an iPhone app that allows you to log your activities and sync with the Up wristband via a headphone adaptor built into the strap. Not wirelessly?

The strap has a 10-day battery life and is currently available in Red, Black and White with four more colors coming soon.

I will do a full write-up once I get a chance to play with this for awhile.

Other fitness tech in this category or on the horizon includes;

Motorola Motoactv

Philips DirectLife

Basis Watch

iPod Nano w/pedometer and Nike interface

So what would a thermostat for your home heating and air look like if a guy left Apple and made it?

It would learn your preferred temperatures and schedule.

It would sense when you left the house or came back.

It would give you tips about your energy consumption.

It would be a wi-fi device and you could control it from anywhere.

It would be cool looking.

It would be simple to use.

Well Tony Fadell is that Apple guy and Nest is his company.

Nest replaces most home thermostats and runs $249 and professional installation for the first unit is $119 and $25 for each additional.

Katherine Boehret over at AllThingsD has written up some details about this forthcoming home technology.