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Would Apple release a 7.85-inch iPad and what it would mean for iOS and the tablet market?

While Apple has been busy launching the new iPad — their third generation 9.7-inch iPad now with eyeball popping Retina display — the rumor mills have kept on churning away about the iPad mini. A still-mythical 7- to 8-inch iPad, it would compete with the still-not-competitive (marketshare wise) BlackBerry PlayBooks and Amazon Kindle Fires of the budget tablet world, while also not being as portable as a 3.5-inch, $199 iPod touch.

The iPad customer

Apple no doubt has an iPad mini in the labs, just like they have an iPhone nano in the labs. Whether they ever bring it to market, however, is the question. So far they haven’t pulled the trigger on the iPhone nano, or on the also-surely-in-the-labs Apple iTV television that’s busily competing for rumor attention. Before anything else, before technology, before experience even, Apple is a go-to-market company.

The reason the current iPad is 9.7-inches is that, in all likelihood, it was designed with one specific customer in mind. The ultimate customer. Steve Jobs. Before his untimely passing, Apple’s co-founder was the absolute best product guy in the business, and hit more Babe Ruth-style home runs out of more technology parks than anyone.

Apple tested numerous screen sizes and ultimate they, and Jobs, felt the 4:3 aspect ratio, 9.7-inch diagonal display size was the perfect confluence of portability, flexibility, and functionality. It was the best size and shape for browsing, email, music, video, games, and reading. It could, in Jobs’ words, run a new class of software that wasn’t just scaled-up smartphone apps or awkwardly transplanted PC mouse-and-pointer apps. It could be a transformative device.

The market has proven him right. While competitors continue to misstep thinking they can get an advantage through higher specs, more desktop-like interfaces, more complex gestural controls, or cheaper, content-subsidized models, they’ve gained almost no traction in the global market because customers haven’t shown any real interest in any of those things.

There’s no tablet market because the iPad isn’t a tablet in the traditional sense. It’s a computing appliance that’s far more accessible to a far wider customer base than ever before. It’s Steve Jobs’ relentless mainstreaming and democratization of technology taken to its highest level so far.

My 2 year old godson could use it. My mom can use it. I can use it. That’s how you go to market with a goal of selling hundreds of millions of devices, not hundreds of dozens.

The challenges of the 7-inch tablet

Steve Jobs was also directly dismissive of smaller tablet formats, saying they weren’t just smaller, but were significantly smaller (half the size). He did not believe great tablet apps could run on smaller 7-inch diagonal screens. He said that Apple had done extensive testing and really understood the usability implications — that there were limits as to how close you could pack interface elements. He called 7-inch tablets DOA.

Granted, he was addressing 7-inch tablets that weren’t running Apple software. Jobs has also said Apple wouldn’t make a phone and that no one wanted to watch video on an iPod, so what he tells the public at one point in time clearly doesn’t always reflect what Apple may or may not release in the future. Especially in a future that no longer includes him at the helm.

The 7.85-inch sweet spot

A.T. Faust from App Advice has a tremendous article up crunching the numbers on a 7-inch iPad.

Apple will release a 7.85-inch tablet later this year. And yes, it's going to be called the iPad mini. It may or may not have the "skinny" bezel everyone's been talking about, but two things are crystal clear: It'll sport a 163 PPI 1024 x 768 display, and lots of folks are going to buy it.

He makes a great case for why, including manufacturing efficiencies and app compatibility. Indeed, if Apple does release an iPad mini, for the reasons Faust states, it could very well be that size, at that pixel density.

But back to the challenges

Even granting everything above, that a 7.85-inch iPad mini makes the most sense, there are still a few questions left to ponder.

What about the exiting iPad mini, the iPod touch?

Apple hasn’t updated the iPod touch since fall of 2010. It’s the only iOS device that hasn’t received an update in the last 12 months. It’s also already priced at $299. Right now, it seems to exist as an inexpensive point-of-entry to iTunes and the App Store, and way to get non-iPhone and non-iPad users into the iOS ecosystem.

Does that hint that Apple’s interest in budget mobiles, like budget Macs, is limited? If it is, is there room for an iPad mini?

Where does the iPad mini fit between the iPad and iPod touch?

If the iPod touch line continues, and doesn’t get replaced by something bigger, where would a baseline iPad mini fit between the $199 iPod touch and $399 iPad 2?

$299 is the obvious answer. But is that cheap enough to compete against $199 BlackBerry PlayBooks and Kindle Fires? Against budget Android tablets?

If it goes to $199 (or even if it only goes to $299), would that cannibalize iPod touch or iPad sales? Apple usually doesn’t care about cannibalizing their own products to prevent competitors from doing it, but there has to be a compelling marketing reason to do it. Apple would have to feel they could sell enough iPad minis to overcome any loss of iPad sales, the same way they’re selling so many iPads it easily eclipses any loss of Mac sales. (And, according to Apple, hurts Windows PC sales more than Apple Mac sales — a bonus.)

Apple never made a cheaper MacBook to combat low end Windows netbooks. They made the MacBook Air and iPad instead. If the Kindle Fire or other budget tablets ever become a legitimate threat to Apple’s profits, they may not respond with a cheaper iPad either. Winning the top end and eschewing the low end in Macs has kept them so far ahead of the industry in terms of profits that they could well choose the same strategy for tablets.

What compelling market demand would Apple satisfy with a 7.85-inch iPad that isn’t already satisfied by the existing 9.7-inch iPad or 3.5-inch iPod touch (or iPhone)? If they determine there is one, then like the iPod market, it would make sense to start filling out the line with cheaper alternatives. If they determine there isn’t one, then the answer is even simpler.

How would an iPad mini fit in Apple’s release schedule?

Apple apparently isn’t going to release any more iOS devices this summer, just like they didn’t release any last summer, and they’re going to be releasing a new iPhone this fall, like they did last fall. Where would an iPad mini fit into that release schedule?

Would Apple piggy back it onto the new iPhone cycle? Would Apple do an additional iPod event this fall and attach it that? Would Apple wait until 2013 for the next iPad event?

Launches are part of going to market, and something Apple takes seriously. What’s the window for an iPad mini?

Counter-Resolutionary

iOS devices all currently sport HiDPI Retina displays (even the 2010 iPod touch). If Apple goes with 163 ppi for the iPad mini, would that be a step backwards? Apple typically doesn’t go into reverse when it comes to technology.

If Apple is locked on Retina as the future of all iOS products, would they pixel double an iPad mini display and make it to 326 ppi to pass the Retina threshold? If they did, is there any way they could still hit the $299 price point. Could they hit $199?

User experience

Would a reduction from 9.7-inches to 7.85-inches harm the usability of existing iPad apps by scaling down their interface elements too severely? There’s an argument to be made that it would.

Yes, original iPhone apps were 3.5-inches at 168 dpi, but they were also 480×320 and optimized for smartphones, not the tablet-class apps the iPad enjoys and Steve Jobs specifically pointed out. iPhone apps did, and still do, present a different user interface than iPad apps, with a single visible column view rather than multiple column views.

Reducing iPad apps to iPhone-like user element sizes might not be the best of both worlds. It might be the worst. It would result in the kinds of compromises — developers and designers having to make single touch targets to suit both physical sizes — that the original iPad and it’s UI scale was created specifically to avoid.

Creating a 3rd UI size isn’t a great alternative either. Having regular and HD versions of apps, or universal apps with both 3.5-inch and 9.7 inch interfaces in them, creates a better user experience but requires more heavy lifting from developers (fine) and more management from users (acceptable). Having regular, mid-sized, and HD versions, or universal apps with 3 interfaces baked in would mean even heavier lifting and more complex management, and larger app sizes for universal binaries. Again, the rewards would have to eclipse the costs.

The mini mindset

Apple expanded the iPod line with the iPod mini, then replaced that with the iPod nano and added the iPod shuffle. They blanketed the price points and feature levels, and left no space for competitors to get a foothold.

Apple has thus far not expanded the iPhone line, not introduced the iPhone nano, and removed space by keeping previous generation iPhones around at $100 discount levels.

Apple has thus far not expanded the iPad line either, not introduced the iPad mini, and removed some space by keeping the previous generation iPad around at a $100 discount.

The iPad could very well become like the iPod with several models to address several different market segments, but it hadn’t yet. Steve Jobs seemed genuinely against it, given the market and technology of the time. Tim Cook’s Apple might not be as religious about it, and market and technology conditions will continue to change.

However, just like the iPad had to be fundamentally better at certain things than the smartphone or laptop for Apple to release it, an iPad mini would have to be fundamentally better for a certain type of user than an iPod touch or iPad for Apple to take it to market.

They won’t ever do it just because they can. They’ll only do it when, and if, they feel they should.

iMore iPad mini concept by John Anastasiadis

Here’s what happens when you give some undignified swine oxygen bubbles, masks from the future to vengeful fowl, and launch them all into orbit.

Angry Birds Space arrived on iOS and Android last week, introducing a whole new array of physics to the classic slingshot game. It’s already a runaway hit, having garnered 10 million downloads since launch. Now instead of just trying to topple boring old buildings onto pigs lounging inside and around the area, you’re flinging birds through gravitational fields around planets, and into asteroids to annihilate the green time-honored foes.

As in previous Angry Birds titles, you’re given a set number of birds with various properties (be it exploding, splitting into three, dive-bombing, or otherwise), that you need to fire from a slingshot at the right velocity and angle in order to take out the little piggies that litter the level. You’re scored based on how few birds you use and how much destruction you cause in the process. Levels are split up into a variety of different themed worlds, and new types of birds are revealed to you as you progress.

For those particularly tough levels, Angry Birds Space lets you buy Space Eagles, which create a black hole that destroys pretty much everything on the screen. I’m not a huge fan of the “pay-to-win” scheme, but at least you’re awarded them over the course of standard gameplay, too. There’s full Game Center Support to keep tabs on your high scores and achievements. Unfortunately, it’s not a universal app, so you’ll have to pay separately for the “HD” version if you want to play on your iPad. If that wasn’t enough nickel-and-diming, you only get a single sample level from the third world, called the Danger Zone, before needing to cough up another buck for 30 levels. You can’t even pause the game without ads for the other Angry Birds games.

As far as graphics and sound go, there’s still a lot of the old-school charm there, with a few twists for the new space theme. I find the sound effects can get painfully repetitive on those hard levels that you restart time and again, so I leave the game muted the vast majority of the time.  I’ll be honest – I never really got into Angry Birds before this. I played the free version when it came out, but after an hour or two of playing, it just all felt a little too casual. Angry Birds Space really changed that for me though; dealing with weird gravitational situations is something I’ve enjoyed in the Super Mario Galaxy titles on the Nintendo Wii, and it’s great to have that same appeal available on mobile.

Playtime on a per-level basis can vary wildly – some stages you’ll get three stars on with the first attempt, others you’ll chew on painfully for a half hour. For the most part, Angry Birds Space delivers the same bite-sized fun that you’re used to, but be prepared for at least a few knock-down, drag-out stages, especially if you’re a perfectionist gunning for three stars on every level.

The Good

• Classic, playful franchise with a new twist
• New game mechanics keeps play fresh
• Per-level playtime still short and bite-sized

The Bad

• A little pushy for premium extras
• Sound effects get repetitive very quickly
• No free version on iOS

Conclusion

Even hardened Angry Birds fans will find the new physics to be a welcome change of pace, and offer a whole new set of challenges to overcome. The same classic gameplay remains with some fresh space-age flavor, but be prepared to deal with cues to cough up more cash at several turns.

$0.99 – Download Angry Birds Space now

$2.99 – Download Angry Birds Space HD now

Dag Kittlaus, creator of Siri, recently gave a keynote at Technori Pitch and talked about how much Steve Jobs disliked the name Siri. Only after he couldn’t think of a better alternative did he finally succumb to using the name.

Dag insisted the name was great and continued to explain the meaning to Jobs. For those that don’t know, Siri actually translates in Norwegian to “beautiful woman who leads you to victory”. Kittlaus had previously worked with a woman named Siri when he first learned of the name and the origin. He was particularly fond of the name and even contemplated naming his first daughter Siri. When his first child ended up being a boy, the name didn’t quite work out the way he pictured. It did, however, find its way into a product we all know and love today.

Kittlaus had worked with Jobs for about a year before he became sick after Apple decided to purchase Siri.

“…he talked about why Apple was going to win, and we talked about how Siri was doing. And he was very excited about the fact that.. you know, he was very interested in this area in general but, you know, they’re patient, they don’t jump on anything until they feel they can go after something new and he felt that we cracked it. So that was his attraction.

I ended up very lucky, timing wise. I got to work with him for a year before he got real sick. And he’s pretty incredible. The stories are true. All of the stories.”

Up until this past October, Kittlaus worked with Apple on Siri in Cupertino. He recently has moved back to Chicago to be a part of other opportunities and be closer to his family. Hit the link below to read more.

Source: iOnApple

Multitasking gestures are quick, multitouch shortcuts for navigating around your iPad. You can enable or disable them in Settings (to avoid, for example, swiping in Fruit Ninja and suddenly ending up in Mail). When they’re on, however, and you’re used to using them, you can really fly between your iPad apps.

How to use multitasking gesture shortcuts to navigate the iPad homescreen

Some things are just easier to show rather than tell. Here’s a quick video highlighting what the gestures are and what they look like when you do them.

Here’s the full list of available gestures.

• Swipe up with four fingers to open the Fast App Switcher
• Swipe down with four fingers to close the Fast App Switcher

• Swipe left with four fingers to move from the current app to the previous app (according to the order presented in the Fast App Switcher)

• Swipe right with four fingers to switch move from the current app to the next app (according to the order presented in the Fast App Switcher)

• 5 Pinch with four fingers to exit an app and return to the Home screen (like clicking the Home button)

Now get navigating!

Think of gesture navigation as the keyboard shortcuts of the Home screen, or as the alt+tab or cmd+tab of app switching. A way to get around quickly when you need to.

Additional resources:

• Everything you need to know about your new iPad
• How to use the iPad Home button to navigate, access the fast app switcher, take a screenshot, and more
• How to rapidly enter special characters, punctuation, and other keyboard shortcuts on your new iPad
• How to copy, paste, and perform basic text editing on your new iPad
• Even more tips & tricks for new iPad users
• New iPad discussion forums

There’s only one physical hardware button on the front of the new iPad so it’s little wonder Apple has put it to work with several levels of functionality. While all the basic things are covered by the good old single click, there’s a lot more, and a lot more advanced functionality hidden beneath that Home button using double and triple clicks and more. Here’s how to get the most out of that one small button.

How to use the Home button to navigate the iPad Home screen

The lists below can serve as a handy reference guide, but there’s nothing like seeing how something works. So here’s the iPad Home button guide in video form.

Single click Home button to return Home and access Spotlight search

• If your iPad is sleeping and you click the Home button it will wake up and ask you to slide to unlock.

• If you’re in an app like Safari, Mail, Angry Birds, etc. and you click the Home Button you’ll return to the Home screen with all your app icons.
• If you’re on your second or third Home screen and click the Home button you’ll return to your main (first) Home Screen.
• If you’re on your main (first) Home screen and click the Home Button you’ll go to Spotlight Search.

• If you’re in Spotlight Search and click the Home button you’ll go back to your main (first) Home screen.
• If you’re in the Fast App Switcher and you click the Home button, the Fast App Switcher will close.
• If Notification Center is open and you click the Home button, Notification Center will close.
• If you’re in “jiggly” mode — re-arranging or deleting Home screen app icons — you’ll exit “jiggly” mode (as if you hit a “done” button)

Double click Home button for media controls or Fast App Switcher

• If your iPad is sleeping but playing music or media (Music app, a podcatcher, internet radio app, etc.) and you double click the Home button, the media controls will pop up on the lock screen so you can pause/play, skip, etc.

• If you’re on the Home Screen or using an app and you double click the Home button the Fast App Switcher will open so you can quickly change between apps or swipe over to the audio, brightness, orientation lock/mute button, and other widget controls.

Triple click Home button for accessibility options

• If you’ve enabled accessibility options in Settings and your triple click the Home button you’ll either reverse the screen colors, go into zoom mode, or get a popup asking which of those options you wish to turn on. (Configurable in settings).

Click and hold down Home button

• If you click and hold down the Home button on the iPad, most of the time it won’t do anything. If you’re used to an iPhone 3GS or iPhone 4 launched Voice Control, or an iPhone 4S launched the virtual personal assistant, Siri, neither of those features have been implemented for the iPad.
• If you’re on the Shut Down screen and you click and hold the Home button, after a few seconds you’ll be taken back home. (This originally did a kill-all and flushed iOS memory, and while some claim it still does flush the memory, others say it doesn’t do much if anything at all any more.)

Click Home button plus Sleep/Wake button to take a screen shot

• If you click the Home button and the same time as the Sleep/Wake button, it will take a screen shot of your current iPad screen and save it to the Camera Roll. (It can be easier to hold down either Home or Sleep/Wake for a second and quickly click the other button then trying to click them both at the same time.)

Click and hold down Home button and Sleep/Wake button to reboot

• If you click and hold down both the Home and Sleep/Wake button, and keep them held down for several seconds, you’ll do a hard reboot of your iPad. The screen will go black, the Apple logo will come up, and your iPad will completely restart. (If everything is frozen and nothing else works, this is your nuclear option.)

Now get navigating!

That’s a lot of stuff to keep track of, no doubt. But the nice thing about iOS is you don’t ever really have to keep track of it. Just use your iPad. Hit the Home button. If you like keeping things simple, you can use your iPad perfectly well without ever opening the Fast App Switcher or using Notification Center. If you want the extra functionality they allow, then they’re there for you, waiting behind the scenes, ready for you at the click of a button.

Additional resources:

• Everything you need to know about your new iPad
• [How to use multitasking gesture navigation shortcuts on the new iPad](How to rapidly enter special characters, punctuation, and other keyboard shortcuts on your new iPad)(http://www.imore.com/2012/03/16/rapidly-enter-numbers-punctuations-keyboard-shortcuts-ipad/)
• How to copy, paste, and perform basic text editing on your new iPad
• Even more tips & tricks for new iPad users
• New iPad discussion forums

Tim Cook isn’t the only one cashing in Apple stock these days; Senior VP of marketing, Phil Schiller, CFO Peter Openheimer, VP of hardware engineering Robert Mansfield, and VP of iOS software Scott Forstall recently had the restrictions on some of their stocks removed, resulting in a sizable sell-off between March 24 and March 26. Even Cook sold off a few more. Here’s the breakdown according to the SEC filings.

Tim Cook – Apple CEO

• 200,000 shares sold; stock prices ranging from $596.05-606.80.
• Total value: $119,715,170

Philip Schiller – Senior VP of Worldwide Marketing

• 64,151 shares sold; stock prices ranging from $602.30-603.05.
• Total value: $38,661,014

Peter Openheimer – Senior VP and CFO

• 150,000 shares sold; stock prices ranging from $596.05-599.33.
• Total value: $89,624,444

Robert Mansfield – Senior VP Hardware Engineering

• 56,016 shares sold at $596.05.
• Total value: $33,388,336

Scott Forstall – Senior VP iOS Software

• 55,849 shares sold at $596.05.
• Total value: $33,288,796

Total dollar amount combined: $314,677,763.28

Before anyone freaks out that Apple execs are losing faith in the company, this is actually pretty common practice, and not surprising considering these guys probably have lots more stock (restricted and otherwise) piled up. The timing also lines up nicely with Apple’s plans to buy that stock right back. The AAPL stock price approached $615 a pop during the period the execs sold off, compared to around $350 at this time last year. This is the part where you start smacking yourself for not buying stock five years ago when it was down around $90.

Source: SEC Filings, iPhoneinCanada

Sweden-based Micro Systemation recently demonstrated on video just how easily their desktop software for military and law enforcement can crack into an iPhone. With a few quick reboots, XRY can not only dig out the phone’s unlock code, but can also personal data, GPS locations, messages, and a log of keystrokes. Though Micro Systemation wouldn’t go into specifics on how they go about doing all of this, they said the process is similar to jailbreaking, and they’re constantly keeping up to speed on the latest iOS and Android updates. Though the video below shows the process happening pretty quickly, more complicated passwords can make the crack take infinitely longer – sometimes too long to be worth it.

Of course, this kind of software is used exclusively by law enforcement agencies of various kinds around the world, so there’s no need to worry about some random hacking into your phone with this software. Likewise, Micro Systemation isn’t responsible for how police and military use the software once they’ve been certified by local governments.   In California, cops don’t even need a warrant to search your phone.

We all know that our iPhones are highly personal items and can store a lot of sensitive information on them. As scary as it might be that the cops can get access to it in a heartbeat, it’s only really an issue if you’ve done something wrong, isn’t it?

Source: Forbes

Apple has quickly responded to the accusations that they’re misrepresenting the new iPad in Australia as 4G-capable by offering misled buyers a refund on their device.  That’s not much of an offer, considering they’re all within their 30-day return window, but a sensible answer to those that are unhappy that they can’t get LTE access on their new iPads. Apple will also be shooting out e-mails to those who had bought a 4G iPad to clarify what it’s capable of, and by April 5, they’ll be putting up signs anywhere selling a new iPad reiterating the point. Apple is set to meet with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission on April 18 for a mediation, while a trial is set for May 2, where Apple could face $1.1 million in fines per infraction.

Right now, the new iPad only supports US and Canadian LTE, making any branding abroad as the “Wi-Fi + 4G” iPad a little sketchy.

Following in Australia’s footsteps,the Swedish Consumer Agency is actively launching an investigation to determine if Apple’s marketing is misleading, while the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority is currently assessing complaints made to them.

The new iPad is a great devices, and easily shrugged off claims that it was getting too hot, and though these false advertising claims are fixed easily enough with new packaging, marketing, and signage, Apple may be dinged by a few fines for not taking care of it earlier. There is some defense in that HSPA+ is being marketed by some carriers as 4G,  which is much more likely to be available in these international markets.

I think it’s pretty clear that Apple needs to change the wording on the new iPad in areas without compatible LTE support, but how many consumers will be so offended that they’ll return their new iPad over the whole thing? A recent survey shows that usage of cellular data on iOS tablets is relatively low.

Source: Sidney Morning Herald, The Wall Street Journal, PocketLint

For today only, the iMore Store has the Qmadix Snap-On Cover w/ Holster for iPhone 4S, iPhone 4 on sale for only $14.95!. Get them before they’re gone!

Get the Qmadix Snap-On Cover w/ Holster for iPhone 4S, iPhone 4 now!

Carry your iPhone 4S, AT&T iPhone 4, or Verizon iPhone 4 in style with the Qmadix Snap-On Cover with Holster. The durable Snap-On Cover protects your device while allowing full access to all functions.

Features:

• Form-fitted
• Impact resistant
• Protects from dirt and scratches
• Textured rubberized exterior provides secure grip
• Snap-On allows for easy access to the kickstand
• Durable ratcheting swivel clip allows for use in the vertical or horizontal position
• Easily slide your device in and out of the holster sleeve.

As if using Facebook wasn’t stalker-ish enough, now you can track your friends’ exact locations with Find my Facebook Friends. This app is very similar to Apple’s Find my Friends app that was released last year alongside iOS 5.

The main difference between Find my Facebook Friends and Apple’s app is that, you guessed it, the people you share your location with are from Facebook. Both you and your friend need to have Find My Facebook Friends installed in order for it to work.

If you’re concerned about privacy, you can rest knowing that Find my Facebook Friends gives you a lot of options when it comes to sharing your location. You can choose to only share with certain groups you have set up on Facebook or with specific friends. You can also take the opposite approach and choose to share with everyone except the groups and people that you specify. You can similarly set up Find My Facebook Friends to notify you when someone is nearby.

Another difference between Find My Facebook Friends and Apple’s Find My Friends is that in this new Facebook version, you can actually watch your friend travel on the map – you have to refresh Apple’s app to see an updated location. While stalking checking Rene’s location, I was able to see that he was driving down a road and the dot for his location was moving along the road quickly and smoothly. My biggest complaint was that if I wanted Rene’s name to pop up over his bubble, the app would force me to zoom in really close to his location. I could zoom out afterwards, but then it would automatically zoom back in. This was rather annoying.

There seems to be a few complaints of the app crashing or freezing, but that has not been my experience on my iPhone 4S and new iPad. It’s actually running pretty good on both devices for me.

$0.99 – Download Now

Television and movie star Shannon Tweed, seen weekly in the show Gene Simmons Family Jewels, joined iMore live today to give us all the juicy details about her first iPhone and iPad game, Attack of the Groupies. A tower defense-style game, Shannon is all super-heroed up and ready to protect her man, KISS star Gene Simmons, from a full on invasion of deranged, demented groupies.

For the full story, and an awesome swag-filled give away, keep reading!

Shannon was approached by the developer, GoGii games, with the concept and it seemed like the perfect fit. Based on the real-life challenge of living with a famous rockstar, Attack of the Groupies lets Shannon unleash a little cartoon-style justice on cougars, slugs, beauty-queens, and bimbos, including all the over-the-top, explosive weapons and effects you’d expect.

Attack of the Groupies features voice overs from Shannon and her daughter, Sophie Tweed-Simmons. There are power ups to unlock, extra characters (you can even get Shannon’s sister, Tracy, via in-app-purchase), and behind-the-scenes bonus content.

If you’re a fan of the tower defense genre, or of Shannon Tweed, Gene Simmons, or just of fun, free iPhone and iPad games, check out Attack of the Groupies and Attack of the Groupies HD.

Free – Attack of the Groupies – Download now

Free – Attack of the Groupies HD – Download now

Giveaway

Want some swag, courtesy of Shannon and GoJii games? Of course you do! To enter to win your Shannon Tweed Attack of the Groupies swag pack, simply jump into our iPad Games Forum and tell us your favorite character from the game (other than Shannon, of course!)

• Attack of the Groupies iPad 3 case
• GoGii Games golfing jacket
• GoGii Games baseball cap

(iPad not included, obviously!) What are you waiting for? Enter now! Before the groupies get you!