MacRumors

Apple introduced App Store Short Links a few days ago, giving developers a way to promote their apps with easy to remember App Store URLs.

Provide a simple way for users to find your apps with easy-to-remember App Store Short Links. Using an AppStore.com URL that includes your app or company name, you can create links to a single app or all of your apps. These links are accessible worldwide and will automatically direct users to their country's respective App Store or Mac App Store.

As noted by CNET, the feature made its public debut during a Super Bowl commercial for the upcoming movie Star Trek: Into Darkness.

At the end of the commercial, there is a promotion for the film's companion app, directing viewers to AppStore.com/StarTrekApp. This link takes users to the app page in the App Store, functioning in the same way as the traditional itunes.apple.com link.

According to Apple's Developer notes, the vanity URLs will be assigned to apps when they are submitted to the iTunes App Store or the Mac App Store.

As Apple points out, the shortened links are ideal for developers who want to share an app in a print ad, a TV or radio spot, an app trailer, or on a billboard.

The simple domain names can be directed towards individual apps or all of the apps a company produces. In demand names that result in naming conflicts will result in a search page, so Apple is encouraging developers to create unique names for apps to prevent future problems.

Shipping times for the iPad mini have been slowly improving over the last few weeks, and customers ordering from the U.S. online Apple Store can now expect to have their tablets shipped within 1–3 business days.

European stores are also experiencing improved shipping dates, with a new lead time of 3–5 business days. Last week, European Apple Stores were listing a two week wait for an iPad mini. Other worldwide Apple Stores list shipping times of 3–5 business days.

Rumors in late 2012 revealed supply constraints were leading to restricted quantities of iPad minis, which was later confirmed by Apple during its first quarter conference call.

According to Apple executives, the Cupertino-based company expects to achieve supply/demand balance on the iPad mini by the end of the March quarter.

According to a report from The NPD Group, Apple's iPhone 5 was the top selling phone during the final quarter of 2012, comprising 43 percent of all iPhone sales and accounting for nearly two thirds of all post-paid smartphone sales above $199.

Samsung's Galaxy S III was the second most popular smartphone in Q4 2012, while Apple's iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 also sold well, taking the third and fourth spots on NPD's list of top-selling mobile phones in the U.S. The SIII's predecessor, the SII, was the fifth best selling phone during the holiday quarter.

A report earlier today from Strategy Analytics ranked Apple as the largest mobile phone vendor in the U.S. during Q4 2012, which is in accordance with NPD's data, which places Apple with 39 percent of overall smartphone sales, compared to Samsung's 30 percent.

Combined, Apple and Samsung accounted for almost 70 percent of smartphone sales, with Motorola, HTC, and LG lagging behind.

Earlier this week, TechCrunch shared data from touch-based website developer Onswipe showing that, based on its user base of over 13 million monthly active users, over 21% of iPhone and iPad users had updated to iOS 6.1 in the first two days of availability.

We've since followed up with Onswipe to see how the share of users on iOS 6.1 has moved over the past several days, and the firm tells us that it is now seeing over 26% of users running iOS 6.1 just four days after its debut.

Onswipe CEO Jason Baptiste noted earlier this week that the rapid rate of adoption for iOS 6.1, which appears to be the fastest in history for Apple, is likely due to user comfort with the company's over-the-air updates, introduced with iOS 5 in October 2011.

The rapid uptake of iOS updates contrasts strongly with Android devices, where mobile networks are responsible for updates and just 10% of users are on the latest Jelly Bean versions, first introduced last July. The majority of Android users are still using Gingerbread, which dates to December 2010, or earlier versions of the operating system.

As reported [Google translation] by Turkish blog Elma Dergisi, Apple executives including vice president for education John Couch met with Turkish president Abdullah Gül today to discuss several issues. The office of the Turkish president has also posted a photo and a brief video from the meeting.

Among the primary topics addressed during the meeting was Turkey's tablet initiative, a $4.5 billion program to provide as many as 15 million tablets to Turkish schoolchildren. Apple has reportedly been pushing for the contract, but negotiations are said to still be underway.

Also discussed was the layout of the older Turkish "F-keyboard" on iOS devices, which has several keys located in the wrong positions.

Apple has been making a significant push in Turkey, launching the iTunes Store for music and movies there in December and hiring for future retail stores in the country. Gül had visited Apple headquarters last May and discussed many of the same issues included in today's meeting with Couch and other executives.

Apple is better placed than Microsoft, Sony or Nintendo to take a lead in the games console market, said Gabe Newell, founder of the games-distribution hub Steam in a speech at the University of Texas.

As noted by Polygon, Newell argued that games served from a PC in the home direct to a TV, rather than from a games console, are the future of the market. But if the PC industry does not move quickly enough to establish itself in the living room, Newell sees an opportunity for Apple to seize the market.

"The threat right now is that Apple has gained a huge amount of market share, and has a relatively obvious pathway towards entering the living room with their platform," Newell said. "I think that there's a scenario where we see sort of a dumbed down living room platform emerging — I think Apple rolls the console guys really easily. The question is can we make enough progress in the PC space to establish ourselves there, and also figure out better ways of addressing mobile before Apple takes over the living room?"

While Apple has not made any noises about a fresh entry into the games market, it did file patents for a Wii-style wireless controller back in 2008, and has been rumored to be working on a gesture-based user interface for the Apple television set which has obvious potential gaming applications.

While a prediction that the next-generation iPad will be thinner and lighter than the current one may not seem an overly ambitious one, Digitimes claims to have details, suggesting that the iPad 5 will borrow the G/F2 (DITO) thin-film type touch screen technology used on the iPad mini.

Digitimes cited an un-named industry source as reporting that the screens would use a similar mix of suppliers to the iPad mini screen.

The supply chain for Apple's next-generation 9.7-inch iPad will be similar to the iPad mini's, with Japan-based Nitto expected to supply thin-film materials and Nissha Printing touch screen modules, noted the sources. Taiwan-based TPK will be responsible for the device's lamination while LG Display (LGD) and Sharp will provide panels.

The DITO thin-film technology is believed to have been behind supply constraints on the iPad mini, but these issues have now been solved, claims Digitimes.

Just last week, iLounge shared details on the fifth-generation iPad, noting that it would be smaller in every dimension than the current model and suggesting that a change to the display technology would be necessary to achieve that reduction.

At Macworld/iWorld this afternoon, one company was demonstrating an archery-based iPhone accessory, the BowBlade, which was inspired by movies like The Hunger Games.

The BowBlade is designed to look and feel like a traditional bow and arrow with one caveat - there's an iPhone attached. The iPhone goes at the front of the device, the bow is extended, and a trigger at the back fires a shot. When the trigger is fired, a stylus tip touches the screen.

BowBlade works with 35 different apps, including titles like Star Battalion, Final Space, Real Shooter, and Nerf Blaster Challenge.

Various games incorporate extra features like the iPhone's camera and augmented reality to create real world targets, or the iPhone's gyroscope and accelerometer for aiming and firing. Our sister site TouchArcade has a video of the BowBlade in action:

The four pound version of the BowBlade being demonstrated at Macworld was a prototype, but the company has pre-orders available for $185. Shipping will begin in April.

Mauz is a Kickstarter project that is designed to attach to the iPhone's dock, turning it into a device that is able to control computers using gestures and visual cues.

In other words, the Mauz morphs an iPhone into a computer mouse. The main product consists of a small dongle that plugs into the phone to function as a laser sensor.

The dongle links to the Mauz app, which turns on the iPhone's front-facing camera to allow for gestures. For example, swiping a hand over the camera translates to a scroll, allowing for browsing without physical touch. Mauz also uses the iPhone's gyroscope, which allows it to function as a 3-D mouse, and in practice, it turns out that it works similarly to the Nintendo Wii remote.

Though the Mauz can be used in mid-air, it is also designed to work as a standard mouse. Set on a desktop, it has a left/right button and a scroll wheel.

Mauz connects to the phone using Wi-Fi, but the company behind the device, Spicebox, is currently working on a Bluetooth version as well. Mauz comes with an SDK that will allow developers to integrate Mauz into different apps.

Though the Mauz is designed solely for the iPhone 4/4S, Spicebox is planning to release an iPhone 5 version. Mauz is still very much in development, as an active Kickstarter project. Currently, the company has earned 10 percent of its 150,000 goal.

Backers who pledge at least $45 can get a Mauz. The Kickstarter page lists June 2013 as a ship date, but Spicebox expects the unit to enter beta in April. The iPhone 5 version of the Mauz has a listed ship date of August 2013.