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| Check Out The First Ad for the New iPad [VIDEO] | |  You've seen the photos of the new iPad, you've heard about its specs, you know everything you need to know about it, and now it's time to let Apple's official ad explain to you why this is the tablet you should buy. Unsurprisingly, the ad focuses on the new iPad's Retina display, which has a 2048x1536 pixel resolution, making it the most advanced (when it comes to pixel density, at least) tablet screen on the market today. "When a screen becomes this good, colors are more vibrant. Words are pin sharp; everything is more brilliant," says the soothing overvoice in the ad. The ad doesn't mention the device's new quad-core A5X chip, and there's not much focus on the new 5-megapixel camera, either. We can expect to see more about these in the upcoming ads. How do you like the ad? Share your opinions in the comments. |
| Apple Event: Everything We Know [VIDEO] | | 12:11:09 AM | Christine Erickson |
|  Apple put all of the rumors to rest at its event Wednesday, revealing the long-awaited new iPad, or as CEO Tim Cook calls it, "the poster child of the post-PC world." The company also revealed additional software and company updates. Couldn't keep up with all the action? Read further for all of our coverage on the event. Mashable's Editor-in-Chief Lance Ulanoff and Deputy Editor Chris Taylor, among other journalists, reported live in San Francisco at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. You can read an entire transcript of the conversation here. Some of the new iPad's key features include a 9.7-inch, 2048 x 1536-pixel "retina display," which has a higher resolution than a standard 1080p HDTV, and four times as many pixels and 44% greater image saturation than the iPad 2. The device also comes with an A5X quad-core graphics chip. The new iPad will be available for pre-sale Wednesday, and then devices will arrive Mar. 16 in stores in the U.S., UK, Japan, Canada, Switzerland, Germany, France, Hong Kong, Singapore and Austria. Prices for the device start at $499 for the 16GB Wi-Fi model. As for the iPad 2, the device will follow in the footsteps of iPhone 4 and stick around. The iPad 2 will drop in price to $399. Apple TV also received an upgrade, with software that now supports 1080p video. Second-generation Apple TV owners will be able to download this update. Photographers will be happy to know iPhoto has made its way to the iPad, which will allow for quick editing and sharing on the go. Other apps to receive iPad updates include iLife, iWork and Garage Band. If all the news from today's event may have left you and your social media feeds dizzy, we have all our coverage rounded up for you right here. Resources From the Apple Event Apple Unveils New iPad Following months of speculation surrounding Apple's next big product launch, the company announced on Wednesday it will be releasing a new iPad featuring a 9.7-inch retina display. New iPad Available March 16 Starting at $499 The new iPad will be available in 10 countries on March 16 beginning at $499. It will be available for pre-order Wednesday. Apple's iPad Launch: By the Numbers In addition to the new iPad launch, Apple also dropped some rather large stats at the event. Apple Announces iPhoto for iOS Apple is bringing its popular iPhoto software to iOS. Apple iWork and iLife Get a Slew of App Updates Apple announced updates to its popular line of iWork and iLife productivity and creative apps suites. Just Call it the iPad Apple left the world confused when it unveiled the new iPad, implying that "new" was part of the name. Turns out it's simpler than that. Apple Announces iOS 5.1, Adds Japanese Support for Siri Apple announced it would release iOS 5.1 and that it would bring Japanese-language support for Siri, the voice assistant on the iPhone 4S. New Apple TV Supports 1080p Video, Still $99 Apple has announced an update to its $99 Apple TV. Was the New Apple iPad Made Ethically? Apple mania took over the interwebs on Wednesday morning as the company unveiled its latest iPad. Apple TV Update Coming to Older Devices Second generation Apple TV owners will be able to download this software update later today to bring iCloud goodness to the device. |
| Social Media Privacy: 3 Questions to Ask Before Authorizing Third-Party Apps | | Wednesday, March 07, 2012 11:34 PM | Jamie Beckland |
|  Jamie Beckland is a digital and social media strategist at Janrain, where he helps Fortune 1000 companies integrate social media technologies into their websites to improve user acquisition and engagement. He has built online communities since 2004. He tweets as @Beckland. Never completely off the radar, privacy concerns recently stepped back into the spotlight. In the past months alone, privacy issues have emerged from all corners. The California Attorney General is twisting arms for better app disclosures, and startup Path apologized for scraping address books. And during February's OpenDialogue, CEO of Thornley Fallis Joseph Thornley claimed that Facebook "violates our privacy day by day, because it's impossible to give informed consent." But the privacy conversation has shifted in an important way. In the past, identity providers like Facebook and Google were blasted for their obtuse and complicated privacy policies. Questions still remain on that front, but by and large, identity providers have given users more control, and the uprisings have quelled for the moment. Consider the difference in the response to Facebook's 2007 Beacon program vs. the new Facebook Open Graph protocol. The former was lambasted as a gross violation of user trust, was built without disclosure in mind, and was killed. Eventually Mark Zuckerberg admitted that it was a "mistake." By contrast, the frictionless sharing capabilities of the new Open Graph protocols have not seen any serious backlash (despite protests from Marshall Kirkpatrick, who maintains that it doesn't make sense to roadblock a link). The good news is that authorizing third parties to use an existing social identity is a one-way flow of information: from the identity provider to the application that the user has authorized. User profile data from a brand website or app is not shared with Facebook, Yahoo, LinkedIn or any other identity provider. Your browsing paths are not suddenly available to social networks, and your behavior after authentication is only available to the website you are actually on. But increasingly, the privacy conversation has widened to ask what apps are doing with the permissions they request, and how the information is actually being used. In order to understand what is actually happening with user data, we need to answer three separate questions. 1. What Does the App Request? Different identity providers offer differing amounts of information about a user, and require different access credentials. For example, Google delivers a verified and authenticated email address with a basic permission, while Twitter does not deliver any email address at all. My company has indexed the critical data elements and permissions available on more than 20 platforms. On top of what is available, app developers must determine which permissions and data elements they will request from the identity provider. This is implemented on an app-by-app basis; therefore, users can expect no shortcuts when reviewing the now commonplace permission screens that appear when we authenticate through social channels. 2. What Is Available on the User's Profile? Users can grant apps permission to access field-level information, but if those fields are blank, the identity provider will return a blank value. For example, if the birthday field is not filled out on LinkedIn, users can still use LinkedIn to authenticate, but the application will not be able to automatically send those users free coffee on their birthdays, for example. This is a crude line of defense, but it's important to remember. Even when a list of permissions looks long and possibly intimidating, since people use specific identities for different purposes, some of the data may not be available. And with more identity providers offering distinct views into a user's identity, it's less likely that a complete picture of a user is available from any app in particular. 3. What Does the Application Actually Store and Use? It's impossible to know exactly what information gets dropped into an application's database, but the reality is that social profile data is incredibly complicated to store and manage. Even when applications receive a data payload from the identity provider, there's no guarantee that the data is being collected somewhere. However, any profile data that is presented back to the user within the app experience is clearly being stored. If a user sees a list of her friends who also use the app, it's clear that the social graph has been shared to the application. For app developers, then, the decision about what permissions to ask for becomes easy: Only ask for what you will use in the experience you are designing. If there is not an immediate use case, don't ask for permission at that time. It's possible to go back to users and ask for additional permissions and data when they want to interact with a specific experience. Align what the user is giving up (his data) with what you are giving him (a valuable way to use his data). Each user will weigh privacy concerns differently, both for himself and for the brand that is requesting the information. The brand relationship, though, ends up being the most important consideration. In a complicated environment, with so many privacy factors to consider, users often fast-forward their decisions about whether to share social profile data based on soft factors like brand trust. If a user trusts Coke (or the Washington Post, or Zynga), he will likely assume that the brand will use personal data responsibly and for the user's benefit. What brands do you trust with your data? Image courtesy of Flickr, jaxxon |
| iPhoto for iPhone and iPad: Hands On | | Wednesday, March 07, 2012 11:21 PM | Christina Warren |
|  Alongside the new iPad and updated Apple TV, Apple released iPhoto for iOS, thus completing the process of bringing the iLife trifecta to the iPhone and iPad. With iPhoto for iOSusers get a robust photo editor in an easy-to-use package. Priced at just $4.99, the app is a wonder. Like its counterparts GarageBand and iMovie, iPhoto for iOS redefines what it means to be a mobile or tablet app by deftly combining the best elements of the desktop with iOS. As an editor, iPhoto for iPhone and iPad is surprisingly robust. The RAW support isn't perfect (in essence, edits are derived from the embedded JPEG and saved as JPEG), but it's a start. The array of filters, editing options and brushes on par with -- if not better than -- what users can find in iPhoto '11 for Mac. Even better, iPhoto for iOS makes it easy to share and publish photos to various social networks and photo services. Using iPhoto iPhoto for iOS is a heavy-duty app. The requirements for the app are such that it requires an iPhone 4 or 4S and an iPad 2 or higher to run. While this might disappoint some original iPad owners, the limitation makes sense once you use the app. The non-destructive editing that iPhoto is known for is on full display. It's easy to make edits to a photo, quickly view how the photo looked untouched and revert or undo various edits. Just as with iPhoto for Mac, users can browse photos by events, albums and photos. After selecting a photo, users can start editing using "Auto-Enhance," Effects, Brushes, White Balance and Contrast tools. The Auto-Enhance feature applies pre-configured filters to a photo to try to make it look its best. Effects are basically filters, and include categories such as "Artistic," "Vintage," "Aura," "Black and White" and "Duotone." I found the White Balance and Brushes tools to be the most useful. The Brushes include options such as "Repair," "Red Eye" and "Desaturate." Select a brush and then "paint" with your finger over the photo. Users can enable an option to "show brush strokes" to make it easier to see where an adjustment has been applied. Likewise, the White Balance options are far more comprehensive than I was expecting. In addition to choosing white balance points from various perspectives -- and applying preset options based on type of shot -- users can also adjust specific types of color in an image. It's also remarkably easy to crop an image and skew or straighten that same image. I decided to do my best Instagram impression by applying a 1x1 crop and one of the vintage filters. For good measure, I also made the image askew. Check out the results: iPhoto's attempt to be Instagram. twitter.com/film_girl/stat.— Christina Warren (@film_girl) March 8, 2012 Journals Journals are one of the more interesting parts of iPhoto for iOS, if only because of the strong Web component. Journals are basically digital versions of the photo books that Apple includes in iPhoto and Aperture for OS X. Users can arrange photos at will, and add pages, text headings, descriptions, captions and elements such as weather, location and even food. After completing a journal, a digital version can be shared with users via iCloud. Journals are uploaded to iCloud and have the option of being assigned to a user's home page. This home page isn't easily accessible (unlike the former iWeb pages that MobileMe and .Mac users were given), but there is an option to email a link to the journal or collection. You can check out a sample journal I made here. I love the idea of making it easy to create private and semi-private photo websites on the iPhone or iPad. I do wish it was easier to access these journals from a desktop Web browser and that iPhoto for OS X included Journals support. Sharing Sharing is an absolute requisite in any mobile or tablet photo app -- whether it is for taking photos or editing. iPhoto for iOS supports Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, email, the iPhone Camera roll and iCloud. Uploads to Facebook and Flickr include options of applying tags or uploading to specific photosets. Users can also adjust their privacy settings for Flickr photos within the share option. Sharing with Twitter will upload the image to Twitter's image service and send out a tweet from the hooks built-in to iOS 5. My late Aunt and Uncle, edited in iPhoto for iOS twitter.com/film_girl/stat.— Christina Warren (@film_girl) March 8, 2012 Wrapping Up It's hard to find a better way to spend $4.99 in the App Store than on iPhoto for iOS. While Adobe might not need to worry about Photoshop Touch (the apps are actually quite different), third-party photo editors, including App-of-the-Year Snapspeed have their work cut out for them. With iPhoto for iOS, Apple has managed to offer a great set of photo tools for amateurs, while still having enough features that will make more serious users consider using the iPad for first-pass adjustments. Let us know in the comments what you think of iPhoto for iOS. |
| What's My iPad 2 Worth? Here's How to Sell It Online | | Wednesday, March 07, 2012 10:27 PM | Emily Price |
|  Wednesday Apple announced a new iPad, sending a flurry of enthusiastic iPad owners to the interwebs to ditch their old tablets to make way for the new. So, how much can you expect to get for an iPad 2 now that there's a new iPad on the way? We did some digging on the Web to check out what options are available for reselling, and how much you could receive post-announcement. For the sake of argument, we acted as though our iPad was in like-new condition, in good working order with no scratches. We picked a 32GB Wi-Fi model to take through the paces and found that we could get anywhere from $194-$400 for the same tablet in pristine condition depending on where we decided to sell it. Here's a breakdown of some of the options: CashForiPads CashForiPads is offering $283 for a 32GB iPad that powers on and works fine. The site wasn't interested in what damage might have occurred to our tablet, as long as that damage didn't involve the screen or the battery. The site is currently offering $247 for the 16GB Wi-Fi version, and $325 for the top-of-the-line 64GB Wi-Fi/3G version of the tablet. If you decide to sell your iPad 2 to CashForiPads the company will send you a free pre-paid mailer and shipment label to mail your iPad in. once your tablet is in the mail you'll have a tracking number to monitor its progress, and can get paid via check or PayPal upon acceptance from CashForiPads. Gazelle Gazelle is one of the better-known sites for trading in old electronics. It's currently offering $225 for a pristine 32GB Wi-Fi iPad 2, $185 for the 16GB Wi-Fi version, and $300 for a flawless 64GB 3G/Wi-Fi version of the tablet. Gazelle offers free shipping if you decide to sell your iPad, and will pay you via check, Amazon gift card, or PayPal once your iPad has been received and inspected. NextWorth NextWorth is site very similar to Gazelle and would give us $317.10 for our like-new 32GB, the most of any of the trade-in sites. Unlike some of the other sites, however, NextWorth asks quite a few questions about the tablet's condition. We'd lose $10 of that $317.10 for not including the original box with our iPad 2 when we sent it in, and the price drops down to $267.10 if the back plate is dented or scratched. The site will give us $291.89 for our 16GB Wi-Fi iPad 2, and get an astounding $406.35 for our 64GB Wi-Fi/3G version. BuyMyTronics BuyMyTronics is a similar site to Gazelle and will buy your iPad 2 even if its broken. The site is currently offering $194 for our 32GB Wi-Fi iPad 2, and will pay $183 for the 16GB Wi-Fi version and $241 for the 64GB 3G/Wi-Fi version. Much like the other sites, BuyMyTronics will pay for you to send them your tablet, and will send you a check or PayPal payment once it has received and checked out your tablet. eBay Surprisingly, eBay seems to be where you're going to get the most cash for your iPad 2 if you're trying to sell it today. Used versions of the 32GB Wi-Fi iPad are currently selling for around $400. A used 16GB iPad 2 sells for around $350, and the 64GB Wi-Fi/3G version is still fetching around $500 on the site. Selling your tablet on eBay requires you to pay a fee to eBay itself for handling the transaction, and then another to PayPal for handling the money part of the equation. While those fees will definitely cut into your profits, they might be worth it if you can get bids on the site higher than what's being offered elsewhere. Craigslist Craigslist is another option for selling your iPad to a private party. Depending on where you live, you may be able to get the same amount of money (if not more) for your tablet as you can on eBay. And, there's an added bonus of having cash in hand instantly. One downside of Craigslist, however, is that you'll have to coordinate with and meet with whomever you choose to sell it to. When dealing with large sums of cash and electronics in an in-person encounter with a stranger, you might find yourself in an uncomfortable situation. It's up to you to decide if it's worth the extra cash you might potentially receive. SEE ALSO: Why you should sell your iPad 2 NowThere are tons of businesses and trade-in programs where you can sell your iPad or iPad 2. If you decide to sell your iPad to a company, make sure you do a little research beforehand to ensure that company is reputable and doesn't have a ton of outstanding complaints about them. Likewise, if you choose to sell your iPad to an individual, make sure you're meeting at a time and location where you feel comfortable making the transaction. Have any of you tried to sell your iPad or iPad 2 now that there's a new iPad on the way? Tell us about your experiences in the comments. |
| iPhone 4S Upgrade on AT&T Claims to Add 4G Service -- But Does It? | | Wednesday, March 07, 2012 9:04 PM | Emily Price |
|  If you download iOS 5.1 onto your AT&T iPhone 4S, you'll notice something new -- your phone now has 4G. Or at least, that's what it claims. Let's be clear: iOS 5.1 does nothing to change the speed of your handset's data connection. But it does mark the end of an ongoing discussion between AT&T and Apple on whether the phone's service could in fact be labeled "4G." And it gives iPhone owners bragging rights when arguing with Android owners. AT&T has been working behind the scenes with Apple on this question since the launch of the iPhone 4S. The phone has always been able to connect to AT&T's HSDPA network (where it's available). HSDPA stands for High-Speed Downlink Packet Access. For all intents and purposes, it offers an enhanced version of 3G data. The technology is primarily used in Europe. AT&T also offers HSDPA in a number of metropolitan areas in the US. AT&T says its HSDPA speeds count 4G. According to the International Telecommunications Union, however, HSDPA is not a fourth-generation network. It's more like 3.5G. SEE ALSO: What is 4G? An FAQ on Next Generation Wireless HSDPA has a potential downlink capability of 14.4Mbps. It's a technology related to GSM (the type of network that AT&T runs on). Since Verizon and Sprint run on CDMA, they do not offer HSDPA connectivity. That means its data speeds could be slower in some places than the AT&T version of the same phone. Despite the potential speed difference, phones on all three carriers showed 3G in the status bar when connected to data networks -- until Wednesday, that is. Adding the 4G designation on the AT&T version of the iPhone 4S gives the company at the least a marketing advantage over its competition. SEE ALSO: iPhone 4S: Should You Choose AT&T, Verizon, or Sprint? It's important to note that 4G is much different than LTE, the much faster data network that will be used by the new iPad. IOS 5.1 also contains some bug fixes and brings Japanese language support for Siri. Have any of you downloaded iOS 5.1 on your iPhone? Were you surprised to see the 4G indicator appear on your phone? Let us know in the comments. |
| Why The New iPad Did Not Blow My Mind | | Wednesday, March 07, 2012 7:20 PM | Lance Ulanoff |
|  This was supposed to be a bigger deal. Don't get me wrong, the iPad New (you have a better name?) looks just as good as the Apple iPad 2. This is because it looks exactly the same. You have to, as I did, turn on the iPad New to tell the difference. Granted, it's a big, spectacular difference -- the screen is breathtaking. Similarly, evidence of other changes can be found deep inside the iPad New -- in the chips, the camera, the cellular radios. All good, worthy updates, but none of it says 'fundamentally different.' The other product highlight? An Apple TV that, just like the iPad New, looks exactly the same as its predecessor (it adds 1080p support). All this sameness has me worried. SEE ALSO: Hands On with the New iPad: First Impressions/a> Apple making an event out of a couple of upgrades is not without precedent. We need only look back to last October's iPhone 4s launch. There was another very well-thought-out product update that maintained all that was good (even great) about the first iPhone 4, but made it significantly better -- without changing anything about the chassis. The iPad New is the exact same kind upgrade. It even uses the iPhone 4S camera, not that there's anything wrong with that. iSight, as Apple is calling the upgraded camera (and as it used to call its peripheral webcam) brings excellent, high-quality photography and 1080p videography to the iPad platform. Those images look lovely on the so-high-def-you-can't-even-perceive-it-retina display. Not So Different Apple wasn't even willing to completely swap out the CPU. Instead of an A6 chip, we got an A5X. The update is necessary -- there's no way you can run 3.1 million pixels and some of the cinematic effects I saw today on Infinity Blade: Dungeons without quad-core horsepower. I wonder if Apple decided it would confuse people if they used a brand-new CPU while leaving the rest of the iPad in incremental upgrade land. Not that the A5X processor isn't new. It's certainly better than the A5, but you signal "new" with a new name. I see it as an update, or perhaps, a re-architecting. The sad truth is it's becoming increasingly difficult for Apple to live up to the hype surrounding any event or product unveiling. I can see how that's unfair to the world's most valuable company. No one could ever live up to those expectations. That said, it's been a while since we've seen completely new hardware or a product redesign from Apple (iPad 2 launched in January 2011). In the interim, I've attended two Apple product events that make me wonder if we're seeing some sort of strategic shift. Have we come so far in technology, especially industrial design, that Apple has no choice but to slow down? It's obvious to me that most tablet manufacturers are running out of ways to differentiate their products. A good number of the tablets I saw in Barcelona at Mobile World Congress were indistinguishable from one another. At least the iPad New is recognizably, uniquely Apple. Perhaps Apple's next iPad design is so radical that it can't be accomplished in a year. And what if dramatic change is what I want to see, but not necessarily what I want to use? What Do I Really Want? Prior to the Apple event, people had all sorts of ideas about what the new iPad would look like. It was going to be thinner, have an edge-to-edge screen, and, possibly, eschew the start button. Obviously, none of that happened. In a way, I'm glad. I love the iPad's home button and think the iPad 2 is already thin and sleek enough. On the other hand, I was happy with the original iPad design and didn't know how it could get better until Apple showed me. I rely on Apple to surprise me with industrial design feats I never before imagined. Instead, we have the iPad New (the iPad 4G is another reasonable name). It's a device I want to hold just as much as the iPad 2, but not more. The screen is a wonder, and that raw power, which I saw on display with the iPhoto app -- and even more so with the Autodesk Sketchbook Ink vector drawing program -- is very, very attractive. But part of the appeal of any new Apple gadget has always been the take-your-breath-away looks. I don't consider today a complete disappointment. As I said, the iPad New's updates are smart and on-target and Apple has already proven that you can have monumental success with an upgrade (I hold up iPhone 4S sales numbers as exhibit A). Keeping the price the same is savvy and repricing the iPad Old.er.I mean 2, is perhaps, for competitors, most noteworthy. A $399, an iPad 2 with 16GB of storage is starting to move into Amazon Kindle Fire territory. If it weren't for the startling success of that 7-inch device, I bet Apple wouldn't even have bothered to continue the iPad 2 at any price. Speaking of 7-inch, that was another wild guess that didn't pan out. At least on that score, I agree with Apple. If you like the iPad, you really don't need a smaller one. What I did need, though, was a little more of something truly brand new. Come on Apple, dazzle me again. Maybe with the iPhone 5? |
| Will You Be Getting the New iPad? [POLL] | | Wednesday, March 07, 2012 6:50 PM | Todd Olmstead |
|  After weeks of speculation, the new iPad has landed. Apple announced the product along with an update to Apple TV today at an event in San Francisco. The biggest surprise in today's announcement? Perhaps the name: While nearly everyone expected the iPad 3 or the iPad HD (or possibly even the iPad 2S), it appears that Apple is content to keep it simple. The new iPad is just that: the iPad. The new device did meet several other expectations, such as a retina display, 4G LTE capability, and an improved camera. But did Apple improve its product enough to convince you to drop more than $500 on it? We want to know what you think. Take our poll and let us know in the comments why you'll be lining up -- or why you'd prefer to pass on Apple's newest offering. Will You Be Getting the New iPad? |
| Facebook's Plans for Gowalla Revealed | | Wednesday, March 07, 2012 6:17 PM | Todd Wasserman |
|  So this is what Facebook has been doing with its Gowalla acquisition. Josh Williams, the former CEO of Gowalla, has been working on a project since Facebook bought his company back in December: He is part of a team that has been developing an API that lets app developers integrate actions like status updates, photo and video-sharing, friend-tagging and checkins at various locations. Such data will ultimately fill out a user's Timeline with "more detailed moments," according to a blog post from the company on Wednesday. How would that work in practice? In the post, Facebook describes a Foodspotting-like app that would let all your friends know what you're eating. But, with the new functionality, you might also be able to tag Facebook friends sharing your meal. Williams says that while that's a good example of how the new integration might work, he'd like to see apps that are more aspirational in nature. "I haven't seen a lot of exploration around 'places I want to go in the future,'" Williams says, "or journalizing a trip from the past." Williams says that fitness apps will also benefit from the new capability. Of course, the goal is for Facebook to further insinuate itself into users' lives and, via Timeline, provide a more complex portrait of you to advertisers on the network. But to do that, Facebook is relying on third parties to create apps. "The floodgates are open," Williams says. "I can't wait to see whatcome up with." |
| Hands On with the New iPad: First Impressions [PICS] | | Wednesday, March 07, 2012 5:56 PM | Chris Taylor |
|  So here's what it looks like: an iPad 2 with a facelift. Lest that sound like a small deal, let me clarify -- a major facelift. Imagine Joan Rivers finally attained complete botox nirvana, her face a seamless high-definition sheen. Now imagine Joan Rivers as an iPad. You're getting close. After playing with the new iPad at the Apple launch event Wednesday, I am certain of three things. First, I am going to get heartily sick of calling this thing "the new iPad." Secondly, the new retina display looks absolutely gorgeous in any app you care to name. And thirdly, not a single other thing about the device's outward appearance has changed. Home button? Check. Single speaker on the back? Check. Headphone port, volume and screen lock buttons in exactly the same place? Check. Counting the iPhone 4S and Apple TV, this is the third Apple product launched under the tenure of Tim Cook that has not physically changed one bit. Either Apple's legendary industrial designers are getting paid a whole lot to sit around doing nothing, or they are working on some seriously cool changes for next year's model (the new new iPad?) No doubt when Apple actually lets us compare the devices side by side -- ie. when we buy one on launch day -- we'll really notice the 0.6 millimeters of extra thickness and 0.11 lb of extra weight. The new tablet did feel slightly heftier in my hands than I'm used to, which is a shame. The iPad 2 is already just a tad too heavy to hold in one hand for long periods of time. As for the 4G speeds and the battery life, which Apple says is still in the 9-10 hour range: these claims will also require more extensive testing than Apple would allow in its hands-on area. We're looking forward to playing battery-hogging games for 10 hours at a time to properly test it out. All I Wanna Do Is Read But what I can confirm is how incredibly gorgeous that resolution looks. You can't tear your eyes away from it. Photos and videos are far more life-like. Games feel closer to reality, too. And books? With a retina display, books seem more attractive on the iPad than in any other format. And I'm not just comparing them to the Kindle, the Nook or the iPad 2; my frame of reference includes physical books, too. I've built up a pretty extensive library of iBooks, and I've been enjoying blasting through them on the iPad 2. But after a while -- say, an hour -- the lower-resolution text starts to have an effect. I wouldn't say my eyes get strained, exactly; it's more of a restlessness, a desire to look at something else, that doesn't happen with physical books. I don't have that problem with iBooks on the retina display of the iPhone 4S. But who wants to read a whole book on an iPhone? The iPad's form factor is where it's at, as far as we bookworms are concerned. Now I can get truly lost in a good ebook. Sorry, Amazon and Barnes & Noble, you are going to have to up your game. The Kindle's old e-ink screen isn't nearly as readable as this, even in direct sunlight (and the Kindle Fire? Fuggeddaboutit.) Obviously, this is all good news for the nascent iPad magazine industry. Not to mention the still-rumored category of shopping catalogs, which seems a no-brainer on the new iPad. In short, reading just got real again. What else would you like to know about the new iPad? What's the first thing you'll try when you get your hands on one? Let us know in the comments. |
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