Samsung has officially announced the unveiling of their new flagship device, the Galaxy S IV, will take place on March 14th at Radio City Music Hall. Samsung’s mobile president, J.K. Shin, confirmed the date during a press conference at Mobile World Congress today.

The new features of the highly anticipated Galaxy S IV device include:

• 4.99″ full HD 1080p display
• 1.9GHz quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor
• 13 megapixel rear camera / 2 megapixel front camera
• 2GB of RAM
• NFC, LTE and the like
• Wireless charging capabilities
• Running stock Android 4.2 Jelly Bean

The new device has promised an upgraded design and feel from the GS3 and is set to be released in multiple colors.

Stay tuned for more as it hits the press

Apple officially unveiled their new iPad model with 128GB for the iPad 4 with Retina Display. The upgraded model will go on sale next week, Tuesday February 5th, in both black and white. The WiFi only version will sell for $799 and the 4G LTE counterparts will go for $929. Pricetag sound hefty? Apple has priced them right under their lightest computer, the MacBook Air, so it would see that they are fully supporting their self-proclaimed Post PC era.

While there had been rumors of two new iPad models hitting shelves in March, this announcement makes it seem likely that we will instead see a new iPad 5 and iPad Mini 2 in the fall.

See the full press release from Apple here.

Remember in April right before Facebook went public, Zuckerberg snapped up Instagram for $1 billion in cash and stock in what some called a “knee-jerk” reaction? Analysts couldn’t be sure what the exact reasoning was behind Zuckerberg’s reasoning and why he attached such a high price tag to the photo sharing app. Was it a defensive move? Was it a power move? Was it a financial move to drive interest in Facebook stock? Many reasons abound, but today users received some clarity on the debate much to their dismay.

It appears that come January, Instagram will have the right to sell your photos including for “advertising purposes”, which would effectively transform the app into the largest stock photo agency in the world. Wow – let your brain process that for moment. The real kicker? You can only opt out of this feature by DELETING your Instagram account before January 16th, 2013.

Luckily for us, Instagram isn’t the only photo-sharing app out there so there will surely be plenty of defectors to competitors within the next 30 days.

Don’t worry – the techies here at BuyBackWorld have you covered. Need to know how to back up all of your Instagram pictures before you delete your account? In order for the program to work, you must have access to a Windows based computer and you can only download pictures from profiles that are public.

The rest is easy – simply download the Free Instagram Downloader program – this allows you to search by username and download the pictures from any public username.

So what’s the verdict?

Deleting your Instagram account? Switching to Flickr? Hoping the public outcry will change Facebook’s plan so you can keep your account? Waiting it out? Let us know!

The Terms of Service Say It All..

Apple held their iPad Mini event today in San Jose and they definitely surprised us with a few announcements. Here are the highlights from the press event:

• Apple announces a 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display starting at $1,699
• Apple MacMini updates for i5 dual-core start at $599 and $999 for i7 quad-core server models
• Apple reveals the new iMac with a slimmed down design with Intel’s Ivy Bridge processors and Fusion Drive as a built-to-order option
• Apple announces 4th generation iPad. Yes, you read that right. We thought this was an iPad Mini event people. Apple pulled a fast one and announced a completely updated 4th generation iPad which is essentially a hardware refresh of the iPad 3, with the new A6X Processors, a 720p FaceTime camera, and by now, infamous lightning port. Prices start at $499 for the 16GB WiFi version and $629 for the 4G versions

Whew! That was a lot to take in. Now that we covered all of the “side” announcements Apple made today, we can get into The Main Event: The iPad Mini.

Here’s what the Mini packs:

• 7.9 inch screen with a 1024 x 768 display which is the same resolution as the iPad 2
• 7.2mm thick and just .68 pounds light, it sports the same anodized edges as the iPhone 5
• Powered by the A5 Apple CPU chip it runs LTE and has a 5 megapixel camera
• 10 hours of battery life
• New iPad Mini smartcovers in 5 different “flavors”/colors
• 16GB WiFi model starts at $329, LTE versions begin around $450
• Presale begins October 26, ship November 2nd

All in all, the event was very informative and we’re very, very excited to get our hands on all of Apple’s new goodies.

We’ll be down at the Apple store in NYC on 5th Ave to take in all the action and will report back live with a hands on once we get one!

Watch Apple’s iPad Mini Keynote Directly On Their Homepage

“We’ve got a little more to show you.”

That’s the words Apple sent out today for their much anticipated iPad Mini event. As earlier suggested, the event will take place next week on October 23 at 1PM EST / 10AM PST in San Jose, California.

Apple sent emails to members of the press Tuesday that stated, “We’ve got a little more to show you. Please join us for an invitation-only event at the California Theatre in San Jose on October 23 at 10:00 a.m.”

All details will be confirmed then, but the iPad Mini is expected to feature a 7.85″ display and price in the mid to high $200 range.

Early reviews have been, you guessed it, “amazing” and state the mini fits perfectly in the palm of your hand.

Apple sent out iPad Mini media invites today for an October 23 release.

Where do we all go for information? Nowadays, the answer is pretty much unanimously ”Google”. The search giant processes billions of search queries a day so that data must be worth something, right? Correct!

According to a recent report from “Understanding the Modern Gamer”, there is a lot of insight that can be gained from comparing video-game related Google searches to a video-game’s actual sales. For example, “if a game accrues 250,000 clicks in the 10 months around launch, it will likely sell between 2 and 4 million units in the first four months after release.” The report also goes on to claim it can predict 84% of video-game sales just from using Google searches.

While this data has only been studied publicly for video-games so far, it would be interesting to do a comparative analysis between Google searches on a brand, product, or service of public companies in relation to stock price. Might the inside information we’ve all been looking for be right at our fingertips, literally?

Definitely food for thought and an interesting concept to explore down the line.

Can Google Predict Sales?

Today was the day we’ve all been waiting for – the famed iPhone 5 release. Two years in the making, an eternity in the Apple world and already well on its way to become the best selling smartphone of all time, the iPhone 5′s first official day of availability definitely didn’t disappoint. We headed down to our home away from home, the Apple store on 5th Ave and took in the scenery.

The line was wrapped around the corner to Madison Ave, but Apple definitely did a much better job of crowd control this time around considering the volume of sales. First off, they didn’t allow presale orders to be picked up in store, instead, forcing people to have them delivered to their homes and offices. This mitigated a lot of foot traffic in and around the store. Even so, that didnt stop the media coverage from dropping by to see the hottest iPhone release since the original phone debuted in 2007.

As always, there were plenty of companies promoting and spreading their brand awareness on 5th Ave and yours truly, BuyBackWorld, was front and center to it all. We stayed true to our roots and sponsored the one and only, world famous line sitter, Greg “the man on the streets” Packer. In true Packer fashion, Greg was the first person to emerge from the Apple cube with the heralded iPhone 5, erupting in a roar that was heard round the world!

The Apple enthusiasts all cheered him on as he climbed the stairs to the top of iPhone glory. Greg chose a black & slate iPhone 5 16GB on the Verizon network as his iPhone of choice for this year. We think this was a solid choice. Be sure to check him out as the “Official Face of the iPhone 5″ in Forbes, The NY Times, Yahoo! News, The Associated Press, Tech Crunch, Venture Beat, CNet, The Huffington Post, Chron.com, The CTPost.com, The LA Times,Whats-hots.com, DemoTix and various other publications.

Our famous “BuyBack Babes” were also present, educating consumers on the “History of the iPhone by BuyBackWorld.com” and joining in on the festivities.

We’re also posting some pics we took ourselves – let us know what you think. We hope to see you all down in NYC for the next Apple release, it was a great time for all!

Here’s some other articles with BuyBackWorld mentioned in them from today’s release. Feel free to post others to our Facebook, we’ll enter you in our iPhone 5 Sweepstakes!

http://www.komonews.com/news/tech/iPhone-5-launch-draws-Apple-fans-worldwide-170695936.html?tab=gallery

http://www.timesunion.com/news/slideshow/iPhone-5-released-49423.php

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/iphone-5-queues-around-the-world-slideshow/packer-charges-iphone-portable-charger-while-waiting-line-photo-000316627.html

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/sep/21/iphone-5-launch-draws-apple-fans-worldwide/

http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/article.aspx?subjectid=52&articleid=20120921_52_0_hrimgs867785

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/ap/ap/business/iphone-5-launch-draws-apple-fans-worldwide/pjGGm/

Apple announced today that iPhone 5 preorders topped 2 million units in the first 24 hours of availability. Wow, that’s a lot of iPhone users upgrading

To put it into perspective, that is double the amount of upgrades which the iPhone 4S had in its first 24 hours last year, which is already the #1 selling smartphone of all time and the best selling iPhone to date. Translation? The iPhone 5 is poised to smash sales records.

Here’s a peek from Apple’s press release below:

iPhone 5 Pre-Orders Top Two Million in First 24 Hours

CUPERTINO, California—September 17, 2012—Apple® today announced pre-orders of its iPhone® 5 topped two million in just 24 hours, more than double the previous record of one million held by iPhone 4S. Demand for iPhone 5 exceeds the initial supply and while the majority of pre-orders will be delivered to customers on September 21, many are scheduled to be delivered in October. iPhone 5 is the thinnest and lightest iPhone ever, completely redesigned to feature a stunning new 4-inch Retina™ display; an Apple-designed A6 chip for blazing fast performance; and ultrafast wireless technology*—all while delivering even better battery life.**

“iPhone 5 pre-orders have shattered the previous record held by iPhone 4S and the customer response to iPhone 5 has been phenomenal,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “iPhone 5 is the best iPhone yet, the most beautiful product we’ve ever made, and we hope customers love it as much as we do.”

iPhone 5 comes with iOS 6, the world’s most advanced mobile operating system with over 200 new user features including: an all new Maps app with Apple-designed cartography, turn-by-turn navigation and an amazing new Flyover™ view; Facebook integration for Contacts and Calendar, with the ability to post directly from Notification Center; Passbook®, the simplest way to get all your passes in one place; new Siri® features, including support for more languages, easy access to sports scores, restaurant recommendations and movie listings;*** Siri and Facebook-enabled apps like Photos, Safari® and Maps; and Shared Photo Streams via iCloud®.

Pricing & Availability
iPhone 5 will be available at 356 Apple retail stores in the US beginning at 8 a.m. local time on Friday, September 21. Every customer who buys an iPhone 5 at an Apple retail store will be offered free Personal Setup service, helping them customize their iPhone 5 by setting up email, showing them new apps from the App Store and more, so they’ll be up and running with their new iPhone before they leave the store.

iPhone 5 comes in either white & silver or black & slate, and will be available in the US for a suggested retail price of $199 (US) for the 16GB model and $299 (US) for the 32GB model and $399 (US) for the 64GB model. iPhone 5 will be available from the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores, and through AT&T, Sprint, Verizon Wireless, select Best Buy, RadioShack, Target and Walmart stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers. iPhone 4S will also be available for just $99 (US) and iPhone 4 will be available for free with a two-year contract.****

iPhone 5 will roll out worldwide to 22 more countries on September 28, including Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

Apple officially unveiled their next generation iPhone, the iPhone 5 today.

While most of the specs held true based on the leaks and rumors we had compiled over the past few weeks, we were still surprised by some announcements today.

First off, the total iPod revamp really impressed us. The multi-color enlarged screen iPod Touch, the “completely renanoed” Nano, and the new EarPods all made for a very impressive display. We can only imagine the numbers Apple will do this quarter.

Here’s a quick roundup of the iPhone 5:

• PreOrders start Friday, September 14
• Onsale starts Friday, September 21
• iOS 6 coming out the 19th
• 4″ retina display 9mm taller than the iPhone 4S
• 18% Thinner/20% Lighter design than the iPhone 4 at 7.6mm thin and 112 grams in weight
• 4G LTE Global connectivity which is faster than most wireless networks
• A6 Chip which doubles the speed for graphics and performance
• 8MP iSight Camera with panorama capabilities
• 3D maps with Flyover
• EarPod headphones
• Lightning  connector which is reversible
• Improved Siri
• Updated iTunes

Preorders start in just two days so this is definitely the fastest iPhone rollout ever. Which color will you get?

Twas the night before the iPhone 5, when all through the night

Not a person was sleeping, not even an Android user with Jelly Bean as their latest delight.

The Apple overnight staff hung by the counter with care,

In hopes that the crowds soon would be there.

The media were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of 4G LTE and larger screens danced in their heads.

And Apple in their blue jeans and black shirts,

Have prepared our brains for how the future of mobile phones work.

When out on the stage there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from my computer to see what was the matter.

Away to my iPad I flew in a rage,

Tore open my Safari and threw open my favorite blog page.

The lights on the stage of the CEO

Gave the luster of a new iPhone announcement to the people below.

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a newer iPhone, finally fully visible in the clear.

When a familiar figure, serious like a book,

I knew in a moment it must be Tim Cook!

More rapid than lines outside the store his news came,

And he presented, and shared, and called the new iPhone directly by name!

“This iPhone is the BEST iPhone in the world.”

On BGR, Engadget and CNET we read these words.

To the top of the charts! To the top of it all!

We all watched the keynote in awe of all that we saw!

As the audience rose to their feet with applause,

We were met with a slight grin and a slow pause.

“Oh yea, there’s one more thing” the words flew,

“Presales begin this Friday and on sale starts next Friday”, the rumors were true J

And then, in a twinkling, I watched on my iPad,

The full specs of the iPhone 5, smaller dock connectors with the largest screen an iPhone’s ever had!

As I drew in my head, and was turning around,

The keynote ended on my screen without a sound..

Twas The Night Before The iPhone 5!

Just a little fun from our staff here at BuyBackWorld as we anxiously await the announcement of the iPhone 5. We’ll provide live updates tomorrow and will announce our in-person promo after the press event!