First things first: Steve Jobs made an appearance, and he actually look good. The Apple CEO appeared at the iPad 2 event on Wednesday, March 2, 10AM PST, in San Francisco at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.
Of course, typical of these Apple events, the first portion of it was mostly back-slapping (of itself). Apple indicated that while iPad has some 65,000 iPad optimized apps, Honeycomb (Android 3.0) has only 100. Of course, they ignored the fact that most (not all) apps scale quite well on Honeycomb, as opposed to the initial iPad experience with 2X zoom mode when it first launched.
One commenter at Technologizer said:
While most were expecting a device with only tweaks, the iPad 2 was, according to Apple, a completely new design. It is 33 percent thinner (8.8mm vs. 13.4mm), 1.3 pounds vs. 1.5 pounds. It will ship in both white and black (as rumored, and no problems with white, apparently, as they said it will ship in white from day one). It will have front- and rear-facing cameras, and will ship in both CDMA and GSM models as well. No Thunderbolt I/O connector is listed in the specs on Apple's site, so that did not come to fruition.
Despite hardware changes, the iPad 2 will maintains the same battery life as before. Despite hardware changes, the iPad 2 will maintains the same battery life as before. that's including the A5 processor, which is dual-core and will reportedly offer 2x the CPU performance and 9x the graphics performance.
Pricing will remain the same. That will mean for wi-fi only devices $499, $599, $699 for 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB models, respectively. 3G models will be $130 extra. The "magical" iPad 2 will ship on March 11 in the U.S. with availability in 26 more countries 2 weeks later. [Correction: Jobs clearly said it would ship March 11, but the website says you can order it on March 11. Perhaps he meant order and ship ... ... and perhaps they will be in stores that day.]
The older model of the iPad is currently $100 off across the board. That means a 16GB wi-fi only model is now $399, and the highest priced iPad (1) is $729, down from $829.
There will be an HDMI dongle that attaches to the iPad 2's standard connector port. There will also be a new case, or rather, a new cover: Apple is calling it a Smart Cover. It fits on the front of the device, just covering the glass, and attaches with magnets that auto-align it.
It comes in polyurethane ($39) or leather ($69). The device sleeps when the cover is on, and auto-wakes when it is removed. The cover can be folded into various shapes for different uses (like a triangle for supporting the device by having it lean against it).
Additional tech specs:
Apple showed off a number of iPad apps, as well, including a new version of iMovie for the iPad, which will be be $4.99 in the App Store, available on March 11th, launch date for the iPad 2. Also, Garage Band for the iPad was demo'ed, and it's also $4.99 on March 11, available in the App Store.
And the iPad 2 is on sale. Likely, Apple has convinced many to buy the iPad 2, and Motorola is probably disappointed that Apple has launched the iPad 2 so close to the launch of the Motorola Xoom, although its specs, and price, are right in line or better than the iPad 2.
And the site is back (as Apple usually takes it down for this sort of launch) and fans of magical devices can start ordering right now. Watch the iPad 2 introduction by Steve Jobs below.
Of course, typical of these Apple events, the first portion of it was mostly back-slapping (of itself). Apple indicated that while iPad has some 65,000 iPad optimized apps, Honeycomb (Android 3.0) has only 100. Of course, they ignored the fact that most (not all) apps scale quite well on Honeycomb, as opposed to the initial iPad experience with 2X zoom mode when it first launched.
One commenter at Technologizer said:
as usual, he's also misinformed. Honeycomb doesn't need a special version if you code your app right.Additionally, Steve Jobs used a quote from Samsung VP Lee Young-hee, which indicated that "sell-out" of the Samsung Galaxy S was "quite small." That was later corrected by Samsung, who said it was a translation error and was in fact "quite smooth."
While most were expecting a device with only tweaks, the iPad 2 was, according to Apple, a completely new design. It is 33 percent thinner (8.8mm vs. 13.4mm), 1.3 pounds vs. 1.5 pounds. It will ship in both white and black (as rumored, and no problems with white, apparently, as they said it will ship in white from day one). It will have front- and rear-facing cameras, and will ship in both CDMA and GSM models as well. No Thunderbolt I/O connector is listed in the specs on Apple's site, so that did not come to fruition.
Despite hardware changes, the iPad 2 will maintains the same battery life as before. Despite hardware changes, the iPad 2 will maintains the same battery life as before. that's including the A5 processor, which is dual-core and will reportedly offer 2x the CPU performance and 9x the graphics performance.
Pricing will remain the same. That will mean for wi-fi only devices $499, $599, $699 for 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB models, respectively. 3G models will be $130 extra. The "magical" iPad 2 will ship on March 11 in the U.S. with availability in 26 more countries 2 weeks later. [Correction: Jobs clearly said it would ship March 11, but the website says you can order it on March 11. Perhaps he meant order and ship ... ... and perhaps they will be in stores that day.]
The older model of the iPad is currently $100 off across the board. That means a 16GB wi-fi only model is now $399, and the highest priced iPad (1) is $729, down from $829.
It comes in polyurethane ($39) or leather ($69). The device sleeps when the cover is on, and auto-wakes when it is removed. The cover can be folded into various shapes for different uses (like a triangle for supporting the device by having it lean against it).
Additional tech specs:
- One big problem with all these tablets is fingerprints on the screen. Apple was expected to add a new coating to reduce that, and they have, calling it a fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating.
- Back camera supports HD (720p) and still images with 5x digital zoom
- Front camera VGA for FaceTime support and still images as well
Apple showed off a number of iPad apps, as well, including a new version of iMovie for the iPad, which will be be $4.99 in the App Store, available on March 11th, launch date for the iPad 2. Also, Garage Band for the iPad was demo'ed, and it's also $4.99 on March 11, available in the App Store.
And the iPad 2 is on sale. Likely, Apple has convinced many to buy the iPad 2, and Motorola is probably disappointed that Apple has launched the iPad 2 so close to the launch of the Motorola Xoom, although its specs, and price, are right in line or better than the iPad 2.
And the site is back (as Apple usually takes it down for this sort of launch) and fans of magical devices can start ordering right now. Watch the iPad 2 introduction by Steve Jobs below.
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