Apple, Microsoft Announcements; ICE Ices RIMM

On Tuesday, earlier this week, Apple made a few announcements:

• a new 7.9 inch iPad mini starting at $329 -- direct challenge to leading eReader (min-tablets)
• a new 4th generation iPad
• Lightning Connector for the new iPad (tablet)
• retina 13" MacBook Pro (laptop)
• a new Mac mini
• a significantly thinner iMac (desktop model)
• a new Fusion Drive" -- flash memory + hard drive memory; not typical hybrid drive
• new devices will support many new international LTE networks
• iBooks app with continuous scrolling
• iBooks "Author" updated with new templates and remote update feature
• new Apple chip: A6X

Microsoft will announce today:

• Windows 8 ("training required" -- PC World)

In other news, from Forbes:

Late yesterday it was announced that over 17,600 users in U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement  (ICE) agency are being moved from  BlackBerry devices to Apple’s iPhone.

ICE’s decision to adopt the iPhone comes after evaluating a number of smartphone platforms, including Android, Windows, Symbian, Linux and Samsung’s Bada offering. Android was cast out because the operating systems is open-source and used across a number of manufacturers that ICE feared could lead to modifications to accommodate new features. By comparison, Apple and RIM offer direct control over the devices that implement their operating systems and have measures to detect and disable attempts to modify the operating system.

I believe I heard that some employees of Homeland Security will be also be switching. Regardless, once one government agency switches, the rest will soon follow.