Morning Music Notes – Television Friendly Unit Shifter

Apple Rolls Out iPad Mini, New iPad 4, Fanboys Lose Their Shit

Yes, I know this happened yesterday, but there are other sites who can write more elegantly about it, so I figured I’d save it for the morning once everyone else has already done by dirty work. In case you didn’t hear, Apple announced a whack of new products yesterday. Of particular importance to most people and to music fans are the new iPad Mini and the iPad 4.

In case you haven’t figured it out, the iPad Mini is a smaller version of the iPad – it will be 7.9 inches. It weighs less than a pound, and is as thin as a pencil (that’s what she said). It’ll have most of the things the ‘regular’ iPad does, but in a more compacted, cheaper way. However, the prices aren’t quite as low as some people (read: me) hoped. At least the prices are the same in the U.S. as they are in Canada – finally, Canada doesn’t get totally screwed. The prices:

16GB iPad Mini (Wi-Fi Only) – $329
32GB iPad Mini (Wi-Fi Only) – $429
64GB iPad Mini (Wi-Fi Only) – $529
16GB iPad Mini (Wi-Fi + 3G/LTE) – $459
32GB iPad Mini (Wi-Fi + 3G/LTE) – $559
64GB iPad Mini (Wi-Fi + 3G/LTE) – $659

Let’s hope Santa is rich. At least the iPad Minis are amazingly light and won’t weigh him down. The pre-orders start on October 26, and it is available November 2. Check out a commercial to watch big brother and little brother iPads playing.

Other Apple Facts and Tidbits

Apple also did their “we are awesome and here’s proof” bit at the event yesterday. Highlights include:

– New operating system, iOS 6 is now on 200 million devices, meaning 200 million people hate Apple Maps.
– 100 million iPads have sold in 2.5 years. They also say 91% of all tablet web traffic is through an iPad.
– iMessages are POPULAR. If only I had other Apple friends. Okay, if only I had friends. The Apple messaging service has seen 300 BILLION messages sent in the last year. That works out to a whopping 28,000 per second.

If you Apple man Jony Ive to give you a dramatic rundown of the iPad Mini, check out the video below.

NON-APPLE NEWS! The Rolling Stones to Warm Up in Surprise Club Gigs

Remember the good olde days, when the Stones would rehearse for their tours in Toronto, and then randomly play club shows. Toronto was pretty spoiled. The Rolling Stones are about to play a couple of shows in New York (read: New Jersey) and London, and will warm up by playing some club shows under a secret name (via the Guardian).

Ronnie Wood told NME, “We’ll bung a few in next week or the week after. I don’t know who we’ll be billed as but we’ll turn up somewhere and put a few to the test. Tiny, 200-, 300-people kind of places.”

Apparently they like the alias The Cockroaches, so look out for that, Londoners.

Kurt Cobain Would Roll in his Grave: Smells Like Teen Spirit – The Sitcom

CBS has okayed a new sitcom called Smells Like Teen Spirit, made by Dave Goetsch of The Big Bang Theory (via Stereogum). The show is reportedly about an 18 year old who skips going to Harvard, as we all do, and decides to start up a multi-billion dollar Internet company from his garage. His sister, best friend, and 1990s alternative parents help him. This sort of sounds like a Douglas Coupland novel. Let’s hope the jokes aren’t all the same, ala The Big Bang Theory.

File This Under Weird: Chris Brown Imposter Says Real Rihanna Gave Him Herpes

This is actually a lawsuit, or so I’m led to believe. TMZ reports that a man called “Chris Brown” has filed documents in US District Court in Tennessee, asking for a restraining order from Rihanna, who I’m sure is not following around some random guy (via Gigwise). The man reports fear of bodily harm, and also notes that Rihanna gave him herpes (note: not surprising if true) and then hit herself when he accused her of doing that. So why does he need the restraining order if she hits herself?

The documents note “[Rihanna] gave me herpes and then when I threatened to file a lawsuit against her for not telling me she was infested with genital blisters she began to hit herself in the face and throw herself into walls just as Jim Carrey did in the movie ‘Liar, Liar. Then she turned around and blamed me for the matter as a form of punishment. I woke up with three blisters on my penis … this isn’t just a regular case of American herpes, this is a case of herpes from Barbados, which is most likely lethal.”

This guy is apparently a doctor, too. But not a rich one – he’s asking for $10 million.

Watch Axl Rose and Neil Young Duet, Sort of

Neil Young had his Bridge School Benefit in California once again. Bands are invited to play acoustic sets to raise money for the Bridge School, which must not need any more money, right? Guns N’ Roses played both Saturday and Sunday nights, and Neil Young came out to play on Don’t Let It Bring You Down, which is his song, dammit! Watch a fan video of the not-as-perfect-in-reality duet between the two.