Jailbreak on the way for all iPhones/iPads with IOS 6.1 or below.
The evad3rs dev team has just announced that the untethered jailbreak tool will be called evasi0n.
The evad3rs dev team have made the announcement on their website.
According to the website, the dev team is currently working on finishing the GUI.
We are in the process of finishing the GUI. Come back soon!
They have also revealed that the next step will be beta testing.
As reported earlier, evasi0n jailbreak will work on iOS 6.0, iOS 6.0.1, iOS 6.0.2 and iOS 6.1. It will support all iOS 6.1 compatible devices except for Apple TV 3. So the following iOS devices will be supported:
iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS
iPad 4, iPad 3, iPad 2, iPad mini
iPod touch 5G, iPod Touch 4G
Apple TV 2
5 minutes of your time!
A computer, running Windows (XP minimum), Mac OS X (10.5 minimum) or Linux (x86 / x86_64)
An iPhone, iPad or iPod running iOS 6.0 through 6.1 (you may check in Settings / General / About => Version)
A USB cable to connect the device to the computer
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iPad Mini sales double Apple's original order expecting 12 million units sold this year since launch which is huge.
Initial orders of the iPad mini -- pegged at around six million units for 2012 -- may be only half of what will be required, according to a report from NPD DisplaySearch analyst David Hsieh, Apple is now asking its iPad mini display partners to double the initial order, expecting more than 12 million units to be sold by the end of the year. For a product who's size class was strongly resisted by Apple for years, the nearly 8-inch iPad mini is very likely to outsell its larger, recently-updated big brother, the 9.7-inch fourth-gen iPad.
Sales of the iPad mini have taken off since the device became widely available in stores -- where potential buyers can see and feel that the Mini is much slimmer and lighter (and only slightly smaller) than the full-size iPad, which at a cursory glance doesn't appear to have changed much from the previous iteration. If the 12 million figure is accurate, the iPad mini will also beat out all of its Android-based tablet competition in sales during the quarter, and perhaps for the entire year.
The Mini has won praise in particular for its seamless transition to the smaller size, exceptional quality of construction, increased portability and ability to take full advantage of Apple's much wider and larger selection of tablet-optimized apps -- a major selling point that continues to restrict Android tablets to very limited success if any. The higher price -- $329 -- compared to its closest competitors (the Kindle Fire HD and Galaxy Nexus 7) also doesn't appear to have phased consumers, again perhaps because consumers who are buying in stores can clearly see that the Mini, despite its name, is significantly bigger than the competition.
While Apple has said that it doesn't believe the iPad mini is "cannabalizing" sales of the fourth-generation iPad too much, sales of the iPad 2 -- which the iPad Mini mimics from a spec standpoint -- are likely to be poor due to the presence of the Mini. Apple kept the iPad 2 available as a lower-cost full-size option, but discontinued the third-generation iPad after only eight months, replacing it with the similar but double-speed fourth-generation Retina iPad. NPD's Hsieh says that the iPad mini could account for as much as half of all iPad shipments in 2013, making it the best-selling model.
The company also believes total iPad shipments could reach more than 100 million in the next year, which would likely force Apple to find additional display-making partners -- LG Display and AU Optronics, the current iPad mini display suppliers, may not be able to scale to that level demand that quickly. Both companies have struggled to keep up with quality and quantity demands from Apple for the displays.
Sales of the iPad mini have taken off since the device became widely available in stores -- where potential buyers can see and feel that the Mini is much slimmer and lighter (and only slightly smaller) than the full-size iPad, which at a cursory glance doesn't appear to have changed much from the previous iteration. If the 12 million figure is accurate, the iPad mini will also beat out all of its Android-based tablet competition in sales during the quarter, and perhaps for the entire year.
The Mini has won praise in particular for its seamless transition to the smaller size, exceptional quality of construction, increased portability and ability to take full advantage of Apple's much wider and larger selection of tablet-optimized apps -- a major selling point that continues to restrict Android tablets to very limited success if any. The higher price -- $329 -- compared to its closest competitors (the Kindle Fire HD and Galaxy Nexus 7) also doesn't appear to have phased consumers, again perhaps because consumers who are buying in stores can clearly see that the Mini, despite its name, is significantly bigger than the competition.
While Apple has said that it doesn't believe the iPad mini is "cannabalizing" sales of the fourth-generation iPad too much, sales of the iPad 2 -- which the iPad Mini mimics from a spec standpoint -- are likely to be poor due to the presence of the Mini. Apple kept the iPad 2 available as a lower-cost full-size option, but discontinued the third-generation iPad after only eight months, replacing it with the similar but double-speed fourth-generation Retina iPad. NPD's Hsieh says that the iPad mini could account for as much as half of all iPad shipments in 2013, making it the best-selling model.
The company also believes total iPad shipments could reach more than 100 million in the next year, which would likely force Apple to find additional display-making partners -- LG Display and AU Optronics, the current iPad mini display suppliers, may not be able to scale to that level demand that quickly. Both companies have struggled to keep up with quality and quantity demands from Apple for the displays.
Tablets, Tablets Everywhere, Headless Chooks and the iPad mini reviewed.
Tablets Tablets Everywhere. Whether it's one of a huge choice of Android units, a New Windows RT, a soon to be Windows Surface Pro, or the new iPad Mini there seems to be Manufacturers running about like headless chooks trying to get mind and money share in the Tablet space. Lets face it Tablets are in no way new but the old ones pre the original iPad really sucked. They just where computer OS's stuffed into a touch interface and it came out clunky in both hardware and OS design and use. Well thats obviously changed a lot and consumers have a lot more choice these days and the clunkiness of tablets has dropped drastically though that not completely gone away… yet. SO whats new?
The iPad mini has arrived — and so has our review. Just last week, Apple introduced the world to the newest member of its wildly successful tablet line, an adorable, diminutive slate with a 7.9-inch display. It even had an adorable ad to show along with it: an iPad mini joining in with a full-sized iPad to play "Heart and Soul" on the piano.
But to think of the iPad mini as a companion to the 3rd or 4th generation iPad — some kind of secondary player to the bigger version — would probably be a mistake. With a price tag starting at $329 and heading all the way up to $659 (with LTE and 64GB of storage), this isn't really a step down from the existing iPad (well, the iPad 2 at least) as much as it is a step to the side. At least, that's the impression I get. Want a big iPad that isn't too expensive? Get the 2nd gen one. Want one that you can throw in a bag or keep on the nightstand? Get the iPad mini. You fly business class and work in photography? Let me point you in the direction of the new 4th generation model.
But regardless of market positioning, the iPad mini has to be viewed in a world with a $199 Nexus 7 or Kindle Fire HD — two strong performers that are a far cry, at least in price, from the iPad mini. Even though Apple might want consumers to see these as separate product categories, consumers may only see that $129 gulf.
On the other hand, Apple has a lot to fill that gulf, including the absolute best software ecosystem for tablets on the planet right now. But is the iPad mini worth the stretch, or would you be smarter to save the cash and saddle up to another device?
Moments after I held the iPad mini at Apple's event in San Jose, I hurriedly wrote that it made other tablets in this class feel like toys. Perhaps I was a bit hard on the competition in the heat of the moment, but I will say that there isn't a single product in the 7-inch tablet market that comes close to the look, feel, or build quality of the new iPad. It is absolutely gorgeous to see, and in your hand has the reassuring solidness of a product that's built to last.
If the iPhone 5 is reminiscent of jewelry, the iPad mini is like a solidly made watch.
In fact, the iPhone 5 and the mini have a lot in common. They both share a metal housing (in silver or black) that's lean and smooth, with that reflective, chamfered edge that runs around the border of the display. The iPad mini's paint job is similar to the iPhone's, but smoother, and on the black version I tested has a glint of blue and purple to it in certain light. It looks dangerous, and it feels great.
It looks dangerous, and it feels great
The iPad mini's design stands above the competition
All of the standard iPad button and switch placement is intact here, save for the move of the speaker grille to the bottom of the device (it's been around back for iPads previous to this version), along with the new Lightning port. And that's a good-sounding set of stereo speakers, by the way. You'll find separate volume buttons on the right side beneath the mute / rotation lock toggle, and the power / sleep button on the top, just as expected. The front of the device is all glass, save for an HD camera in the center of the top bezel (as you hold it in portrait) and the home button on the bottom. There's also a 5-megapixel camera on the back.
Though the iPad mini sports a slightly larger display than other devices in this class, its profile feels extremely lean. Sometimes too lean. The device weighs just 0.68 pounds, and it's only 0.28 inches thick (noticeably thinner than the Nexus 7's 0.41 inches or Fire HD's 0.4 inches). I actually had a little trouble holding onto the device when I wasn't using the Smart Cover due to the back being as smooth as it is, and the frame being so thin. Maybe it's just my big hands, but I wanted a little more to grab onto. In that regard, I prefer the feel of the Nexus 7.
That problem was exacerbated by how wide the device feels in your hand, as well as the lack of a significant bezel around the left and right of the screen in portrait. Maybe it's just old habit, but I didn't feel completely comfortable putting my thumb over the screen itself. Apple has apparently included some new palm rejection logic in the iPad mini's version of iOS which wards off unwanted touches, and it did seem to work. It may have caused other issues, however, which I'll touch on in the software section.
Minor quibbles aside, the iPad mini stands head and shoulders above the competition in terms of design, the caliber of its components, and the solidness of how it's been built. But it also has another quality, one that's nearly as important: the device has personality. I've started to think of it as a constant companion — small enough to throw in a bag or carry around the house. There's something endearing about the mini that makes you want to keep it on-hand and use it often. It's a feeling the larger iPad never elicited in me.
Specs and cameras
Inside the mini, you'll find specs essentially identical to the iPad 2, save for a few alterations. The system is built atop the two-generations-old A5 CPU, appears to sport a dangerously tiny 512MB of RAM, and ships in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB storage capacities (I tested the 64GB, Wi-Fi-only version). All the requisite radios are here too: Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n, 2.4GHz and 5GHz), Bluetooth 4.0, and eventually you'll be able to buy a version with CDMA, GSM, and LTE cellular options. As you would expect, a light sensor, accelerometer, and gyroscope are here as well. It really is a mini version of the iPad 2, except for the cameras, which are significantly improved.
As you may know, I'm not a fan of people taking photos with tablets. Just as with previous models I've tested, I find the act to be not only awkward, but embarrassing as well. The slightly more diminutive size of the iPad mini does make the experience slightly better, and its 5 megapixel backside camera is actually not terrible for general shots. In fact, its color tone and low light performance was better than what I've seen on many newer smartphones. It was sometimes difficult to get a clean image due to shakiness, but that has more to do with the odd physicality of taking a photo with a tablet than it does with the actual camera.
The front-facing FaceTime HD camera is fine for video chatting (and I think is a lot more comfortable than chatting with the full size iPad), but won't be useful for anything more than that.
Display
There's no question that the screen does look lower-r
Much has been made about the display on the iPad mini. The IPS screen measures 7.9 inches diagonally, and is 1024 x 768 in resolution. For those keeping count, it's the same resolution as the original iPad. That makes for a pixel density of 163 ppi, which as you might guess doesn't seem too terrific next to devices like the Nexus 7 or Kindle Fire HD (each 216 ppi), Nook Color HD (243 ppi), or the big daddy 4th generation iPad (264 ppi). It's also much lower in pixel density than pretty much any smartphone on the market right now.
But how does it look? Well for starters, it's a really good looking display in general terms. Apple is using the same treatment here as it does on the iPhone 5 and iPad, and it makes for a crystal-clear screen that seems to hover just a tiny bit beneath glass. Colors are vibrant and blacks are deep, and games, photos, and video look terrific.
That's only half the story, however. There's no question that to the naked eye this screen does look lower in resolution than its nearest competition. Pixels are noticeable, especially in webpages, books, and when viewing email — and that can be distracting sometimes. Since Apple is the company that's gotten our eyes used to the hey-look-no-pixels trick of the Retina display, it's hard to take a step back and not notice. I don't think the lower resolution is a deal-breaker in this product, but it is a compromise you have to be aware of. It simply doesn't look as clear as other products on the market.
Software, battery
Software, performance, battery
Its app selection is an embarrassment of riches
The biggest change in the software on the iPad mini that you need to be aware of is... everything is smaller. 99 out of 100 times while using it, this wasn't an issue, but it did take some getting used to in places. For instance, because the screen real estate is so much larger than an iPhone but icons are now roughly iPhone size, apps with lots of navigational elements can be a little less intuitive to navigate. Furthermore, the keyboard size feels altered — most notably in portrait — and the keys don't seem tall enough for my fingers. On the other hand, the mini makes landscape typing a lot easier.
Supposedly, the software on the mini has been tweaked to reject unwanted touches on the sides of the display, and during my testing it did seem to keep my thumb from making accidental moves in apps. The flip side to that, however, is that it sometimes seems to overcompensate and reject touches you intended — meaning that sometimes apps don't respond the way you want. It wasn't a huge problem, but it could be annoying at times, so I hope that Apple makes some effort to fine-tune this in future updates.
Other than that, iOS on the iPad mini is exactly the same as the software on a regular iPad. That's it. The end. Fin.
I'm not going to go into great detail about iOS 6 since we've already seen it on other products (and in fact have a review of it right here). What I will say is that the fact that is for all intents and purposes a regular iPad makes it easily the most attractive tablet in this size range when it comes to software.
It's easy to become used to how vast and impressive the library is for the iPad, but using the mini reminded me of just how right Apple got this part of their ecosystem. Compared to the Nexus 7 or the Fire HD... well, there is no comparison. The iPad's app selection is an embarrassment of riches, and using apps like the powerful Paper or GarageBand, or playing games like the incredibly fun PunchQuest or Letterpress really makes a tremendous case for why a consumer might spend that extra $129.
Performance on the device was expectedly snappy. I didn't see any weirdness, stuttering, or lag that would cause alarm, though some heavier apps and games took noticeably longer to load up than they do on the new 4th generation (or even 3rd generation) iPad. I think for the time being, the mini can handle what developers are throwing at it just fine — but I do have my concerns about the shelf life of this product considering how much older its internals are. Given Apple's habit of rapid-fire obsolescing of products, your timeline for the mini may be shorter than you expect.
Battery life was — not surprisingly — everything Apple claimed it would be. On the tablets more than on any other product the company makes, it seems to be hitting its targets on longevity. I spent some pretty heavy days in mixed use (intermittent sessions of email, web browsing, Twitter, IRC, game playing, music, and video playback), and didn't have to worry about charging until the about the middle or evening the next day. Overall, I was more than satisfied with the iPad mini's battery performance.
I didn't have to worry about charging
GOOD STUFF
Fantastic design and build quality
Software selection second to none
Great battery life
BAD STUFF
Screen is lower resolution than the competition
Can sometimes be a little awkward to hold
Expensive
APPLE RAISES THE BAR YET AGAIN
The iPad mini is an excellent tablet — but it's not a very cheap one. Whether that's by design, or due to market forces beyond Apple's control, I can't say for sure. I can't think of another company that cares as much about how its products are designed and built — or one that knows how to maximize a supply chain as skillfully — so something tells me it's no accident that this tablet isn't selling for $200. It doesn't feel like Apple is racing to some lowest-price bottom — rather it seems to be trying to raise the floor.
And it does raise the floor here. There's no tablet in this size range that's as beautifully constructed, works as flawlessly, or has such an incredible software selection. Would I prefer a higher-res display? Certainly. Would I trade it for the app selection or hardware design? For the consistency and smoothness of its software, or reliability of its battery? Absolutely not. And as someone who's been living with (and loving) Google's Nexus 7 tablet for a few months, I don't say that lightly.
The iPad mini hasn't wrapped up the "cheapest tablet" market by any stretch of the imagination. But the "best small tablet" market? Consider it captured.
The iPad mini has arrived — and so has our review. Just last week, Apple introduced the world to the newest member of its wildly successful tablet line, an adorable, diminutive slate with a 7.9-inch display. It even had an adorable ad to show along with it: an iPad mini joining in with a full-sized iPad to play "Heart and Soul" on the piano.
But to think of the iPad mini as a companion to the 3rd or 4th generation iPad — some kind of secondary player to the bigger version — would probably be a mistake. With a price tag starting at $329 and heading all the way up to $659 (with LTE and 64GB of storage), this isn't really a step down from the existing iPad (well, the iPad 2 at least) as much as it is a step to the side. At least, that's the impression I get. Want a big iPad that isn't too expensive? Get the 2nd gen one. Want one that you can throw in a bag or keep on the nightstand? Get the iPad mini. You fly business class and work in photography? Let me point you in the direction of the new 4th generation model.
But regardless of market positioning, the iPad mini has to be viewed in a world with a $199 Nexus 7 or Kindle Fire HD — two strong performers that are a far cry, at least in price, from the iPad mini. Even though Apple might want consumers to see these as separate product categories, consumers may only see that $129 gulf.
On the other hand, Apple has a lot to fill that gulf, including the absolute best software ecosystem for tablets on the planet right now. But is the iPad mini worth the stretch, or would you be smarter to save the cash and saddle up to another device?
Moments after I held the iPad mini at Apple's event in San Jose, I hurriedly wrote that it made other tablets in this class feel like toys. Perhaps I was a bit hard on the competition in the heat of the moment, but I will say that there isn't a single product in the 7-inch tablet market that comes close to the look, feel, or build quality of the new iPad. It is absolutely gorgeous to see, and in your hand has the reassuring solidness of a product that's built to last.
If the iPhone 5 is reminiscent of jewelry, the iPad mini is like a solidly made watch.
In fact, the iPhone 5 and the mini have a lot in common. They both share a metal housing (in silver or black) that's lean and smooth, with that reflective, chamfered edge that runs around the border of the display. The iPad mini's paint job is similar to the iPhone's, but smoother, and on the black version I tested has a glint of blue and purple to it in certain light. It looks dangerous, and it feels great.
It looks dangerous, and it feels great
The iPad mini's design stands above the competition
All of the standard iPad button and switch placement is intact here, save for the move of the speaker grille to the bottom of the device (it's been around back for iPads previous to this version), along with the new Lightning port. And that's a good-sounding set of stereo speakers, by the way. You'll find separate volume buttons on the right side beneath the mute / rotation lock toggle, and the power / sleep button on the top, just as expected. The front of the device is all glass, save for an HD camera in the center of the top bezel (as you hold it in portrait) and the home button on the bottom. There's also a 5-megapixel camera on the back.
Though the iPad mini sports a slightly larger display than other devices in this class, its profile feels extremely lean. Sometimes too lean. The device weighs just 0.68 pounds, and it's only 0.28 inches thick (noticeably thinner than the Nexus 7's 0.41 inches or Fire HD's 0.4 inches). I actually had a little trouble holding onto the device when I wasn't using the Smart Cover due to the back being as smooth as it is, and the frame being so thin. Maybe it's just my big hands, but I wanted a little more to grab onto. In that regard, I prefer the feel of the Nexus 7.
That problem was exacerbated by how wide the device feels in your hand, as well as the lack of a significant bezel around the left and right of the screen in portrait. Maybe it's just old habit, but I didn't feel completely comfortable putting my thumb over the screen itself. Apple has apparently included some new palm rejection logic in the iPad mini's version of iOS which wards off unwanted touches, and it did seem to work. It may have caused other issues, however, which I'll touch on in the software section.
Minor quibbles aside, the iPad mini stands head and shoulders above the competition in terms of design, the caliber of its components, and the solidness of how it's been built. But it also has another quality, one that's nearly as important: the device has personality. I've started to think of it as a constant companion — small enough to throw in a bag or carry around the house. There's something endearing about the mini that makes you want to keep it on-hand and use it often. It's a feeling the larger iPad never elicited in me.
Specs and cameras
Inside the mini, you'll find specs essentially identical to the iPad 2, save for a few alterations. The system is built atop the two-generations-old A5 CPU, appears to sport a dangerously tiny 512MB of RAM, and ships in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB storage capacities (I tested the 64GB, Wi-Fi-only version). All the requisite radios are here too: Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n, 2.4GHz and 5GHz), Bluetooth 4.0, and eventually you'll be able to buy a version with CDMA, GSM, and LTE cellular options. As you would expect, a light sensor, accelerometer, and gyroscope are here as well. It really is a mini version of the iPad 2, except for the cameras, which are significantly improved.
As you may know, I'm not a fan of people taking photos with tablets. Just as with previous models I've tested, I find the act to be not only awkward, but embarrassing as well. The slightly more diminutive size of the iPad mini does make the experience slightly better, and its 5 megapixel backside camera is actually not terrible for general shots. In fact, its color tone and low light performance was better than what I've seen on many newer smartphones. It was sometimes difficult to get a clean image due to shakiness, but that has more to do with the odd physicality of taking a photo with a tablet than it does with the actual camera.
The front-facing FaceTime HD camera is fine for video chatting (and I think is a lot more comfortable than chatting with the full size iPad), but won't be useful for anything more than that.
Display
There's no question that the screen does look lower-r
Much has been made about the display on the iPad mini. The IPS screen measures 7.9 inches diagonally, and is 1024 x 768 in resolution. For those keeping count, it's the same resolution as the original iPad. That makes for a pixel density of 163 ppi, which as you might guess doesn't seem too terrific next to devices like the Nexus 7 or Kindle Fire HD (each 216 ppi), Nook Color HD (243 ppi), or the big daddy 4th generation iPad (264 ppi). It's also much lower in pixel density than pretty much any smartphone on the market right now.
But how does it look? Well for starters, it's a really good looking display in general terms. Apple is using the same treatment here as it does on the iPhone 5 and iPad, and it makes for a crystal-clear screen that seems to hover just a tiny bit beneath glass. Colors are vibrant and blacks are deep, and games, photos, and video look terrific.
That's only half the story, however. There's no question that to the naked eye this screen does look lower in resolution than its nearest competition. Pixels are noticeable, especially in webpages, books, and when viewing email — and that can be distracting sometimes. Since Apple is the company that's gotten our eyes used to the hey-look-no-pixels trick of the Retina display, it's hard to take a step back and not notice. I don't think the lower resolution is a deal-breaker in this product, but it is a compromise you have to be aware of. It simply doesn't look as clear as other products on the market.
Software, battery
Software, performance, battery
Its app selection is an embarrassment of riches
The biggest change in the software on the iPad mini that you need to be aware of is... everything is smaller. 99 out of 100 times while using it, this wasn't an issue, but it did take some getting used to in places. For instance, because the screen real estate is so much larger than an iPhone but icons are now roughly iPhone size, apps with lots of navigational elements can be a little less intuitive to navigate. Furthermore, the keyboard size feels altered — most notably in portrait — and the keys don't seem tall enough for my fingers. On the other hand, the mini makes landscape typing a lot easier.
Supposedly, the software on the mini has been tweaked to reject unwanted touches on the sides of the display, and during my testing it did seem to keep my thumb from making accidental moves in apps. The flip side to that, however, is that it sometimes seems to overcompensate and reject touches you intended — meaning that sometimes apps don't respond the way you want. It wasn't a huge problem, but it could be annoying at times, so I hope that Apple makes some effort to fine-tune this in future updates.
Other than that, iOS on the iPad mini is exactly the same as the software on a regular iPad. That's it. The end. Fin.
I'm not going to go into great detail about iOS 6 since we've already seen it on other products (and in fact have a review of it right here). What I will say is that the fact that is for all intents and purposes a regular iPad makes it easily the most attractive tablet in this size range when it comes to software.
It's easy to become used to how vast and impressive the library is for the iPad, but using the mini reminded me of just how right Apple got this part of their ecosystem. Compared to the Nexus 7 or the Fire HD... well, there is no comparison. The iPad's app selection is an embarrassment of riches, and using apps like the powerful Paper or GarageBand, or playing games like the incredibly fun PunchQuest or Letterpress really makes a tremendous case for why a consumer might spend that extra $129.
Performance on the device was expectedly snappy. I didn't see any weirdness, stuttering, or lag that would cause alarm, though some heavier apps and games took noticeably longer to load up than they do on the new 4th generation (or even 3rd generation) iPad. I think for the time being, the mini can handle what developers are throwing at it just fine — but I do have my concerns about the shelf life of this product considering how much older its internals are. Given Apple's habit of rapid-fire obsolescing of products, your timeline for the mini may be shorter than you expect.
Battery life was — not surprisingly — everything Apple claimed it would be. On the tablets more than on any other product the company makes, it seems to be hitting its targets on longevity. I spent some pretty heavy days in mixed use (intermittent sessions of email, web browsing, Twitter, IRC, game playing, music, and video playback), and didn't have to worry about charging until the about the middle or evening the next day. Overall, I was more than satisfied with the iPad mini's battery performance.
I didn't have to worry about charging
GOOD STUFF
Fantastic design and build quality
Software selection second to none
Great battery life
BAD STUFF
Screen is lower resolution than the competition
Can sometimes be a little awkward to hold
Expensive
APPLE RAISES THE BAR YET AGAIN
The iPad mini is an excellent tablet — but it's not a very cheap one. Whether that's by design, or due to market forces beyond Apple's control, I can't say for sure. I can't think of another company that cares as much about how its products are designed and built — or one that knows how to maximize a supply chain as skillfully — so something tells me it's no accident that this tablet isn't selling for $200. It doesn't feel like Apple is racing to some lowest-price bottom — rather it seems to be trying to raise the floor.
And it does raise the floor here. There's no tablet in this size range that's as beautifully constructed, works as flawlessly, or has such an incredible software selection. Would I prefer a higher-res display? Certainly. Would I trade it for the app selection or hardware design? For the consistency and smoothness of its software, or reliability of its battery? Absolutely not. And as someone who's been living with (and loving) Google's Nexus 7 tablet for a few months, I don't say that lightly.
The iPad mini hasn't wrapped up the "cheapest tablet" market by any stretch of the imagination. But the "best small tablet" market? Consider it captured.
Apples New iPad Mini Hands-On
It's been a crazy busy day with Apple announce a huge selection of new releases. Some totally unexpected. One thing we all expected though was the brand new iPad Mini and it's pretty much everything we expected but how is it, like, in real life? Apple just let the tech world go hands on with the iPad Mini and most agree: it's not as miniature as you'd think! Which is a good thing.
We have aggregated a bunch of comments from some leading Tech sites and here's what they are saying.
Pocket-Lint
First impressions are that it is indeed light. At just over 308g, it's considerably lighter than a conventional iPad, mainly thanks to using much less glass in its construction and that means you are going to be able to enjoy reading books on it a lot better too. It's also extremely thin, only 7.2mm.
However, the most surprising aspect is that it isn't just a smaller iPad, the bezel is thinner so the whole device fits nicely in the palm even though it features a screen that's almost 8-inches.
Engadget
Just as the bigger iPad, this one feels delightful in the hand. If you've held an iPad, you know where we're coming from. Yes, it's lighter and more nimble, making it feel as if Apple concocted its own version of the 7-inch tablet. And indeed, that's precisely what has happened here. It's still not "small," though. While a fully outstretched adult hand can generally grasp it without help from the other, you'll still want both for typing and using apps. It's still too big for your average pocket, and it's not going to save you a heck of a lot of room in your knapsack compared to the 9.7-incher.
CNET
An A5 processor means it'll be similar to the fifth-gen Touch. The important part of this iPad is it feels as light as a Kindle, even if it's not as tiny in width and height.
Thumb access on the sides is definitely easier, too. One thumb operation is theoretically possible, and I found I could do it for basic scrolling and page turning.
The Verge
Like most Apple products, the build of the smaller tablet is excellent, easily surpassing the competition on the market. By comparison, the Nexus 7 and Fire HD feel like toys. Other manufacturers are going to have to up their game with this product in town. It's just a striking difference in materials and solidness.
The thinness and sleekness of the casing cannot be overstated. It feels as high-end as the new iPhone, but even sharper in the hand - like a slice of solid aluminum. The display looks incredibly sharp, and even though the resolution is lower than new the iPad 4th generation, it doesn't immediately seem like a 1024 x 768 display.
SlashGear
The resolution may be the "old" 1024 x 768 of the original iPad and iPad 2, but it's squeezed into a smaller screen, so individual pixels aren't so noticeable. Viewing angles are as broad as we've come to expect from an IPS panel, and iOS 6 doesn't look too cramped, either. Steve Jobs may have been scathing about "tweeners" in the past, but – perhaps unsurprisngly, given iOS is also used on the far smaller iPhone and iPod touch – it works just fine on the iPad mini.
TechCrunch
The finish of the device is matte on the back, making for a very nice feeling in the hand. The weight is really the most impressive part, though – as with the iPhone 5, but to an even greater degree, the iPad mini feels almost weightless when compared to its predecessors. It's so thin and light as to feel almost like a prop, rather than a functional device.
But functional it is. The 1024×768 display looks great, and seems larger than its 7.9 inches thanks to the narrower bezels on either side of the screen itself. And while it's slightly trickier to hold as a result of that thinner strip, the screen seems to have a certain amount of false touch detection built-in, so that you won't accidentally open apps or page through things while simply holding it.
Impressive New Behringer X32 Review.
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The New Behringer X32 has really impressed us on a lot of levels. Heres a quick review.
Build
First up, the build quality is something that Behringer’s low cost production has been criticised for, so how is the X32?
First impressions are good, it's not a lightweight thing, easily liftable by one, but not something I’d want to carry all that far, it has a heft that bodes well. There are 25 physical faders …
The New Behringer X32 has really impressed us on a lot of levels. Heres a quick review.
Build
First up, the build quality is something that Behringer’s low cost production has been criticised for, so how is the X32?
First impressions are good, it's not a lightweight thing, easily liftable by one, but not something I’d want to carry all that far, it has a heft that bodes well. There are 25 physical faders …
Scam: Cheap iPads advertised and used to lure buyers who are then robbed.
Scam: Cheap iPads advertised and used to lure buyers who are then robbed., sometimes at gun point. The latest scam comes from Uniontown, Fayette County and WTAE has the full story.
Police said two people who tried to buy iPads listed for sale on Craigslist were robbed in Uniontown, Fayette County. In each case, an iPad was being offered at a low price, and the interested buyers were lured for an in-person meeting. "However, when they arrived in Uniontown, they were instead met by armed men who, at that point, robbed them," Police Chief Jason Cox said. The incidents happened on Dunlap and Hickle streets.
Police told Channel 4 Action News investigator Paul Van Osdol that each victim was robbed of several hundred dollars. One was forced at gunpoint to withdraw money from an ATM. "The victims were pretty shaken up, and it was very clear they were totally unaware of what they were walking into," Cox said.
These types of scams appear to be happening all over the U.S. and all over the world too; we have heard reports of similar types of scams, not that long ago in the UK. That particular scam involved iPhone and iPads in sealed boxes which when opened were filled with water bottles or potatoes.
Deals like these are always a tempting way to grab yourself an iPad, iPhone or iPod touch at a knock down price but you must use a bit of common sense; if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is too good to be true so stay well away. If you can’t pass up on a deal, make sure you at least arrange to meet any potential sellers in a very public place, not in a car lot, late at night.
Police said two people who tried to buy iPads listed for sale on Craigslist were robbed in Uniontown, Fayette County. In each case, an iPad was being offered at a low price, and the interested buyers were lured for an in-person meeting. "However, when they arrived in Uniontown, they were instead met by armed men who, at that point, robbed them," Police Chief Jason Cox said. The incidents happened on Dunlap and Hickle streets.
Police told Channel 4 Action News investigator Paul Van Osdol that each victim was robbed of several hundred dollars. One was forced at gunpoint to withdraw money from an ATM. "The victims were pretty shaken up, and it was very clear they were totally unaware of what they were walking into," Cox said.
These types of scams appear to be happening all over the U.S. and all over the world too; we have heard reports of similar types of scams, not that long ago in the UK. That particular scam involved iPhone and iPads in sealed boxes which when opened were filled with water bottles or potatoes.
Deals like these are always a tempting way to grab yourself an iPad, iPhone or iPod touch at a knock down price but you must use a bit of common sense; if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is too good to be true so stay well away. If you can’t pass up on a deal, make sure you at least arrange to meet any potential sellers in a very public place, not in a car lot, late at night.
Apple slaughtering competition in tablet sales
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U.S. tablet sales last quarter: Apple sold 5.2 million iPads where as Samsung, Apples main Tablet competitor, only sold 37,000 actual units.
Both Apple and Samsung filed documents in a California federal court on Thursday that specified the companies’ U.S. tablet unit sales.
“According to Samsung’s court filing, it sold a total of 37,000 tablets in the U.S. last quarter,” Philip Elmer-DeWitt reports for Fortune. “Apple sold 5.7 million tablets in the U.S. last quarter, court documents show.”
Read more at http://macdailynews.com/2012/08/10/u-s-tablet-sales-last-quarter-apple-sold-5-2-million-samsung-sold-37000/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wordpress%2FxhfA+%28MacDailyNews%29#G80wDghKuwwu0ey8.99
U.S. tablet sales last quarter: Apple sold 5.2 million iPads where as Samsung, Apples main Tablet competitor, only sold 37,000 actual units.
Both Apple and Samsung filed documents in a California federal court on Thursday that specified the companies’ U.S. tablet unit sales.
“According to Samsung’s court filing, it sold a total of 37,000 tablets in the U.S. last quarter,” Philip Elmer-DeWitt reports for Fortune. “Apple sold 5.7 million tablets in the U.S. last quarter, court documents show.”
Read more at http://macdailynews.com/2012/08/10/u-s-tablet-sales-last-quarter-apple-sold-5-2-million-samsung-sold-37000/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wordpress%2FxhfA+%28MacDailyNews%29#G80wDghKuwwu0ey8.99
New iPhone And Mini iPad Announcment's 12th Septemeber Shipping September 21st.
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Following a report from iMore earlier today claiming that Apple will hold a media event to introduce the next-generation iPhone and the "iPad mini" on September 12 ahead of September 21 availability for the new iPhone, AllThingsD reports that it has confirmed an Apple media event will be taking place that week. While the report's sources have apparently not confirmed the topic of the event or the exact date, it certainly appears to corroborate iMore's claims.
Apple hasn’t yet officially announced the fall event at which it is expected to debut the next iteration of the iPhone, but it’s definitely planning one.
iMore was first to report that the company has scheduled a special event for Wednesday, September 12, and now we’ve confirmed it as well. Sources tell AllThingsD that Apple is currently planning an event for that week. And while we haven’t yet confirmed its focus, history suggests it will indeed be the new iPhone.
AllThingsD has been very accurate in the past regarding Apple rumors, and has on several occasions been the first to reveal dates for Apple media events, lending significant weight to this report's support of the September 12 date from iMore.
The report goes on to note that Apple's latest quarterly report has revealed a massive increase in component prepayments, signaling that the company is moving full speed ahead on preparing its supply chain for production on the next iPhone and perhaps other devices such as the iPad mini.
Update: The Verge has also "confirmed" the September 12 date with its own sources.
The rumor cycle this time around for the next iPhone has been a bit unusual — multiple leaks have all depicted the exact same components — but it looks like we'll be seeing what Apple has up its sleeves come Wednesday, September 12th. Our own sources have confirmed that date, and multiple websites have similar reports as well.
Update: The Loop's Jim Dalrymple also weighs in on the September 12 date:
Yep.
Following a report from iMore earlier today claiming that Apple will hold a media event to introduce the next-generation iPhone and the "iPad mini" on September 12 ahead of September 21 availability for the new iPhone, AllThingsD reports that it has confirmed an Apple media event will be taking place that week. While the report's sources have apparently not confirmed the topic of the event or the exact date, it certainly appears to corroborate iMore's claims.
Apple hasn’t yet officially announced the fall event at which it is expected to debut the next iteration of the iPhone, but it’s definitely planning one.
iMore was first to report that the company has scheduled a special event for Wednesday, September 12, and now we’ve confirmed it as well. Sources tell AllThingsD that Apple is currently planning an event for that week. And while we haven’t yet confirmed its focus, history suggests it will indeed be the new iPhone.
AllThingsD has been very accurate in the past regarding Apple rumors, and has on several occasions been the first to reveal dates for Apple media events, lending significant weight to this report's support of the September 12 date from iMore.
The report goes on to note that Apple's latest quarterly report has revealed a massive increase in component prepayments, signaling that the company is moving full speed ahead on preparing its supply chain for production on the next iPhone and perhaps other devices such as the iPad mini.
Update: The Verge has also "confirmed" the September 12 date with its own sources.
The rumor cycle this time around for the next iPhone has been a bit unusual — multiple leaks have all depicted the exact same components — but it looks like we'll be seeing what Apple has up its sleeves come Wednesday, September 12th. Our own sources have confirmed that date, and multiple websites have similar reports as well.
Update: The Loop's Jim Dalrymple also weighs in on the September 12 date:
Yep.
Jordan Ruddess Keyboard Wizard shows off his new project "Spacewiz"
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Thanks Keyboard Mag this is a great video of Jordan Ruddess with his new gear.
This generative music app uses an animated solar system, whose orbiting planets have realistic physics and gravitational pulls upon one another, as real-time music creation objects. This is the first ever look at this app, which should be in the App Store soon. It's truly stunning on the latest iPad's Retina display, and as for what it does musically, well ... once you pick it up, it's hard to put it down.
Thanks Keyboard Mag this is a great video of Jordan Ruddess with his new gear.
This generative music app uses an animated solar system, whose orbiting planets have realistic physics and gravitational pulls upon one another, as real-time music creation objects. This is the first ever look at this app, which should be in the App Store soon. It's truly stunning on the latest iPad's Retina display, and as for what it does musically, well ... once you pick it up, it's hard to put it down.
Apple releases iOS 5.1.1 with bug fixes
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iOS 5.1.1 has been released by Apple It's a small update for the the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch.
Mine installed flawlessly using Wifi and an OTA (over the air) update which allows you to update without requiring you to plug into the USB port of computer.
The update includes a handful of fixes. Among them: Taking HDR photos from the Lock Screen shortcut should now work more reliably. Safari bookmark and Reading list syncing is also improved.
Bugs that prevented the the third-generation iPad from successfully switching between 2G and 3G networks are also addressed. Other bugs afflicting AirPlay video playback are corrected, too.
And if you’ve ever seen an “Unable to purchase” alert after successfully purchasing something on iOS, good news: The 5.1.1 update also resolves that issue.
You can install the update directly from your iOS device, if you’re running iOS 5 or later: Launch Settings, tap General, and then tap Software Update. As a delta update, the iOS 5.1.1 upgrade is a much smaller file than iOS updates before iOS 5 generally were; on my iPhone 4S, the update weighed in at less than 60MB.
iOS 5.1.1 has been released by Apple It's a small update for the the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch.
Mine installed flawlessly using Wifi and an OTA (over the air) update which allows you to update without requiring you to plug into the USB port of computer.
The update includes a handful of fixes. Among them: Taking HDR photos from the Lock Screen shortcut should now work more reliably. Safari bookmark and Reading list syncing is also improved.
Bugs that prevented the the third-generation iPad from successfully switching between 2G and 3G networks are also addressed. Other bugs afflicting AirPlay video playback are corrected, too.
And if you’ve ever seen an “Unable to purchase” alert after successfully purchasing something on iOS, good news: The 5.1.1 update also resolves that issue.
You can install the update directly from your iOS device, if you’re running iOS 5 or later: Launch Settings, tap General, and then tap Software Update. As a delta update, the iOS 5.1.1 upgrade is a much smaller file than iOS updates before iOS 5 generally were; on my iPhone 4S, the update weighed in at less than 60MB.
iPad share up to 68% while Kindle Fire's share collapses to a few %.
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IDC today released its data on worldwide tablet shipments for the first quarter of 2012, revealing that the iPad's share of the tablet market rose to 68% from last quarter's 54.7% coming at the expense of Android-based tablets, most notably Amazon's Kindle Fire which appears to have seen its shipments collapse from 4.8 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011 to less than 750,000 units last quarter.
"Apple reasserted its dominance in the market this quarter, driving huge shipment totals at a time when all but a few Android vendors saw their numbers drop precipitously after posting big gains during the holiday buying season," said Tom Mainelli, research director, Mobile Connected Devices at IDC. "Apple's move to position the iPad as an all-purpose tablet, instead of just a content consumption device, is resonating with consumers as well as educational and commercial buyers. And its decision to keep a lower-priced iPad 2 in the market after it launched the new iPad in March seems to be paying off as well."
Amazon had surged into second place in the tablet market during the fourth quarter with a 16.8% share of the market as the Kindle Fire debuted in the United States. But while IDC did not report a number for Amazon's first quarter shipments in its press release, it did note that Amazon's share dropped to to "just over 4%" in the total tablet market of 17.4 million units, yielding shipment volume of roughly 700,000-750,000 units for Amazon.
As a result of Amazon's decline, Samsung was able to regain the second position in the tablet market, ahead of Amazon, Lenovo, and Barnes & Noble. Amazon's slide also comes as mass retailer Target yesterday announced plans to discontinue the sale of all Kindle devices and other Amazon- and Kindle-branded products.
The overall tablet market grew 120% year-over-year, but the 38% quarter-over-quarter decline was even steeper than expected coming off the strong holiday quarter. Apple obviously has a significant influence on the overall tablet market given its dominant position, and the company did ship slightly fewer than expected iPads during the quarter as consumers held off on iPad 2 purchases ahead of the new iPad's launch and Apple experienced some supply constraints when the device did launch with just three weeks left in the quarter.
IDC today released its data on worldwide tablet shipments for the first quarter of 2012, revealing that the iPad's share of the tablet market rose to 68% from last quarter's 54.7% coming at the expense of Android-based tablets, most notably Amazon's Kindle Fire which appears to have seen its shipments collapse from 4.8 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011 to less than 750,000 units last quarter.
"Apple reasserted its dominance in the market this quarter, driving huge shipment totals at a time when all but a few Android vendors saw their numbers drop precipitously after posting big gains during the holiday buying season," said Tom Mainelli, research director, Mobile Connected Devices at IDC. "Apple's move to position the iPad as an all-purpose tablet, instead of just a content consumption device, is resonating with consumers as well as educational and commercial buyers. And its decision to keep a lower-priced iPad 2 in the market after it launched the new iPad in March seems to be paying off as well."
Amazon had surged into second place in the tablet market during the fourth quarter with a 16.8% share of the market as the Kindle Fire debuted in the United States. But while IDC did not report a number for Amazon's first quarter shipments in its press release, it did note that Amazon's share dropped to to "just over 4%" in the total tablet market of 17.4 million units, yielding shipment volume of roughly 700,000-750,000 units for Amazon.
As a result of Amazon's decline, Samsung was able to regain the second position in the tablet market, ahead of Amazon, Lenovo, and Barnes & Noble. Amazon's slide also comes as mass retailer Target yesterday announced plans to discontinue the sale of all Kindle devices and other Amazon- and Kindle-branded products.
The overall tablet market grew 120% year-over-year, but the 38% quarter-over-quarter decline was even steeper than expected coming off the strong holiday quarter. Apple obviously has a significant influence on the overall tablet market given its dominant position, and the company did ship slightly fewer than expected iPads during the quarter as consumers held off on iPad 2 purchases ahead of the new iPad's launch and Apple experienced some supply constraints when the device did launch with just three weeks left in the quarter.
Video of iPad's being Assembled at Foxconn Factory In China
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Rob Schmitz got to visit Foxconn's factory where Apple's manufacturing iPads in China.
He Says. "The first misconception I had about Foxconn’s Longhua facility in the city of Shenzhen was that I’ve always called it a ‘factory’ -- technically, it is. But after you enter the gates and walk around, you quickly realize that it’s also a city -- 240,000 people work here. Nearly 50,000 of them live on campus in shared dorm rooms".
There’s a main drag lined on both sides with fast-food restaurants, banks, cafes, grocery stores, a wedding photo shop, and an automated library. There are basketball courts, tennis courts, a gym, two enormous swimming pools, and a bright green astroturf soccer stadium smack-dab in the middle of campus. There’s a radio station -- Voice of Foxconn -- and a television news station. Longhua even has its own fire department, located right on main street.
This is not what comes to mind when you think “Chinese factory.”
Heres the video
Accidentally upgraded to 5.1? Downgrade Your A5 Devices To iOS 5.0.1
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Hacker iH8Snow is known for making some incredible contributions to the jailbreak scene, and now he has come along with another huge one. He tweeted about an exploit he discovered in Apple’s appticket system that will allow users to revert their iOS devices with A5 chips back to iOS Found a loophole in Apple's apticket system. Restored my iPad 2 to 5.0.1 from 5.1. Works on all A5 devices. :)
Just as it always has been when reverting an iDevice back to a previous version of its firmware, you will need to have your SHSH blobs stored for the older version of the firmware. Devices featuring the A5 chipset are notoriously hard to revert back, even with SHSH blobs. This new exploit could change that completely. Before this loophole, users who accidentally upgraded would be stuck waiting for a jailbreak to launch for iOS 5.1, and if the struggle to jailbreak iOS 5 and 5.0.1 on A5 devices is any indication, that could be a very long wait.
This doesn’t mean you should go ahead and update your device just because you may be able to bring it back. If you are sitting on iOS 5.0.1, you should be happy and enjoy the pleasant experience of owning a jailbroken iOS device. Even though he had success reverting his device back, it does not necessarily mean it will work for everyone.
Sadly, this will not help users who purchase a new device with iOS 5.1 already installed, as their SHSH blobs will not be stored for iOS 5.0.1. If you are one of these poor souls, you will have to wait until they figure out an exploit to jailbreak the latest firmware.
At this point, we only have this tweet to work with, and he has not said when this will be made available to the general public. Still, for users who made this fatal upgrade mistake, it is fantastic to know that the end of being stuck with an unjailbroken device is in sight.
Hacker iH8Snow is known for making some incredible contributions to the jailbreak scene, and now he has come along with another huge one. He tweeted about an exploit he discovered in Apple’s appticket system that will allow users to revert their iOS devices with A5 chips back to iOS Found a loophole in Apple's apticket system. Restored my iPad 2 to 5.0.1 from 5.1. Works on all A5 devices. :)
Just as it always has been when reverting an iDevice back to a previous version of its firmware, you will need to have your SHSH blobs stored for the older version of the firmware. Devices featuring the A5 chipset are notoriously hard to revert back, even with SHSH blobs. This new exploit could change that completely. Before this loophole, users who accidentally upgraded would be stuck waiting for a jailbreak to launch for iOS 5.1, and if the struggle to jailbreak iOS 5 and 5.0.1 on A5 devices is any indication, that could be a very long wait.
This doesn’t mean you should go ahead and update your device just because you may be able to bring it back. If you are sitting on iOS 5.0.1, you should be happy and enjoy the pleasant experience of owning a jailbroken iOS device. Even though he had success reverting his device back, it does not necessarily mean it will work for everyone.
Sadly, this will not help users who purchase a new device with iOS 5.1 already installed, as their SHSH blobs will not be stored for iOS 5.0.1. If you are one of these poor souls, you will have to wait until they figure out an exploit to jailbreak the latest firmware.
At this point, we only have this tweet to work with, and he has not said when this will be made available to the general public. Still, for users who made this fatal upgrade mistake, it is fantastic to know that the end of being stuck with an unjailbroken device is in sight.
New iPad (3) Camera connection kits does alot more
www.tech-sanity.com
Using the Camera Connection Kit (CCK) to transfer and edit photos, videos
The CCK offers two ways to transfer photos from your camera to your iPad. If your camera uses an SD card, use the SD card adapter. But, if your camera uses another storage card (like Sony's proprietary card), connect it to the USB adapter with the included USB cable.
Once your respective adapter is in the iPad, the Photos app will launch immediately. Tap to select the photos you want to transfer, or tap Import at the bottom and select Import All. The imported photos will appear in the Albums tab in a new folder.
You'll then have the option to delete the photos from the SD card, which is useful if you're traveling and need to clear up some storage space on your SD card in a pinch.
Now that your photos are on the iPad, you can edit them in the iPhoto app, share them on Facebook, or even upload them to your Dropbox or other cloud storage service.
For the record, I've tested the Camera Connection Kit with the iPhone, and it is definitely not compatible. Bummer.
The USB adapter of the Camera Connection Kit can be used with more than just your camera.
(Credit: Sharon Vaknin/CNET)
Using the CCK for more than just photography
Unlike its name implies, the CCK will also allow you to use other USB-compatible devices with your iPad. But because these devices draw power from the iPad, only some will work.
Here are some that may work (possibly with some limitations) with your iPad:
After some testing, it's clear you cannot read or write nonphoto files to an external hard drive or thumbdrive. This would have been a great way to expand your iPad's storage. Alas, it's not (yet) possible.
If you discover any unique ways to use the Camera Connection Kit, let me know in the comments.
Using the Camera Connection Kit (CCK) to transfer and edit photos, videos
The CCK offers two ways to transfer photos from your camera to your iPad. If your camera uses an SD card, use the SD card adapter. But, if your camera uses another storage card (like Sony's proprietary card), connect it to the USB adapter with the included USB cable.
Once your respective adapter is in the iPad, the Photos app will launch immediately. Tap to select the photos you want to transfer, or tap Import at the bottom and select Import All. The imported photos will appear in the Albums tab in a new folder.
You'll then have the option to delete the photos from the SD card, which is useful if you're traveling and need to clear up some storage space on your SD card in a pinch.
Now that your photos are on the iPad, you can edit them in the iPhoto app, share them on Facebook, or even upload them to your Dropbox or other cloud storage service.
For the record, I've tested the Camera Connection Kit with the iPhone, and it is definitely not compatible. Bummer.
The USB adapter of the Camera Connection Kit can be used with more than just your camera.
(Credit: Sharon Vaknin/CNET)
Using the CCK for more than just photography
Unlike its name implies, the CCK will also allow you to use other USB-compatible devices with your iPad. But because these devices draw power from the iPad, only some will work.
Here are some that may work (possibly with some limitations) with your iPad:
- MIDI gear: Digital keyboards, drum sets, and synthesizers can be recorded using an app like GarageBand. Not all models will work, so check this list to see if yours is compatible. If the instrument can be connected to external power, be sure to plug it in.
- USB microphones: Record higher-quality audio with an external mic, like the Snowball, which is compatible with the iPad via the CCK. With this setup, you can record voice directly into GarageBand or your preferred audio recording app.
- Desktop keyboards: Your USB desktop keyboard is much more comfortable than those cramped iPad keyboards. Sure, it's not a portable solution, but if you find it necessary, you can plug in a regular keyboard to the CCK. Just ignore the warning message.
- Card readers: If your camera writes to a CF card, and you have a small CF card reader, simply plug it into the USB adapter and the iPad will read its contents.
- Ripped movies: If you have any ripped movies or personal videos, you can use the CCK to add extra storage to the iPad. You'd only import a movie when you're ready to watch it. To do this, rename your movies to match the file name structure of your digital camera. For example, "DCIM_4132." Then, drag the file into a folder labeled "DCIM" on an SD card or a thumbdrive. When you plug your SD card or thumbdrive into the iPad via the CCK, you'll be able to import the movie onto your iPad and play it from the Photos app.
- Your iPhone or Android phone: This works, but with some limitations. If you need to transfer photos from your iPhone to your iPad in a pinch, plugging it in via USB will prompt the photos app, allowing you to import photos. And, as long as your Android phone stores photos in a folder titled DCIM, it will react the same way.
After some testing, it's clear you cannot read or write nonphoto files to an external hard drive or thumbdrive. This would have been a great way to expand your iPad's storage. Alas, it's not (yet) possible.
If you discover any unique ways to use the Camera Connection Kit, let me know in the comments.
New iPad Uses Retina Graphics When Running iPhone Apps
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When the iPad was first introduced there weren't many iPad-specific apps yet available. As a solution, Apple allowed apps designed for the iPhone's smaller screen to run on the iPad in a form of emulation. The apps could be run as if they were on the iPhone, using only a fraction of the iPad's screen. Alternatively, those apps could also be run in a 2x mode, using a technique called pixel doubling to fill the iPad's screen. However, when in 2x mode, both artwork and text would look blocky and pixelated.
Since the original iPad's launch, both the iPhone and iPod Touch has been upgraded to high resolution Retina displays. While Apple could use the Retina graphics from apps that had been upgraded to work with the iPhone 4 and 4S's 960x640 display (nearly all iPhone apps nowadays), so far, they've chosen not to. Instead, the iPad 1 and 2 continue to just pixel double the 480x320 display from the original iPhone's screen. In fact, there is even a jailbreak app called Retinapad that enables the use of iPhone Retina graphics on the original iPad, filling this gap in functionality.
The new iPad, however, now displays the Retina graphics of apps designed for the iPhone in both 1x and 2x mode, resulting in a significantly improved visual experience, as pointed out by a user on the TouchArcade forums. The user experience issue still exists -- in 2x mode, interface elements are twice as large -- but it looks much better .
I just tested this with NBA Jam, which the iphone version looked like crap on my ipad 1, but looked great through retinapad when I had it jailbroken since it was tricked into loading the iphone 4's retina enable graphic assets. Now, on my brand spankin' new ipad third gen, it looks fantastic, without retinapad, just by enabling the 2X option at the bottom right of the screen.
Note that Cut the Rope HD has not yet been updated to support the iPad Retina display, so of course, native Retina iPad apps will look even better on the new iPad. In the meanwhile, iPhone apps running on the new iPad will also see a notable visual improvement, approaching previous iPad native apps.
When the iPad was first introduced there weren't many iPad-specific apps yet available. As a solution, Apple allowed apps designed for the iPhone's smaller screen to run on the iPad in a form of emulation. The apps could be run as if they were on the iPhone, using only a fraction of the iPad's screen. Alternatively, those apps could also be run in a 2x mode, using a technique called pixel doubling to fill the iPad's screen. However, when in 2x mode, both artwork and text would look blocky and pixelated.
Since the original iPad's launch, both the iPhone and iPod Touch has been upgraded to high resolution Retina displays. While Apple could use the Retina graphics from apps that had been upgraded to work with the iPhone 4 and 4S's 960x640 display (nearly all iPhone apps nowadays), so far, they've chosen not to. Instead, the iPad 1 and 2 continue to just pixel double the 480x320 display from the original iPhone's screen. In fact, there is even a jailbreak app called Retinapad that enables the use of iPhone Retina graphics on the original iPad, filling this gap in functionality.
The new iPad, however, now displays the Retina graphics of apps designed for the iPhone in both 1x and 2x mode, resulting in a significantly improved visual experience, as pointed out by a user on the TouchArcade forums. The user experience issue still exists -- in 2x mode, interface elements are twice as large -- but it looks much better .
I just tested this with NBA Jam, which the iphone version looked like crap on my ipad 1, but looked great through retinapad when I had it jailbroken since it was tricked into loading the iphone 4's retina enable graphic assets. Now, on my brand spankin' new ipad third gen, it looks fantastic, without retinapad, just by enabling the 2X option at the bottom right of the screen.
Click to compare in full size to Native iPad version.
In this image above, the graphics of the iPhone version of Cut the Rope have been compared side-by-side on an iPad 2 (left) and iPad 3 (right). Note that while there is an iPad-native version of the app available, we used the iPhone version to illustrate the differences. The iPad 3 version uses the iPhone Retina graphics found in Cut the Rope for iPhone, resulting in a much sharper image.
In fact, the iPhone version now looks nearly identical to the iPad native version of the game:
Note that Cut the Rope HD has not yet been updated to support the iPad Retina display, so of course, native Retina iPad apps will look even better on the new iPad. In the meanwhile, iPhone apps running on the new iPad will also see a notable visual improvement, approaching previous iPad native apps.
iPad’s display is close to studio reference quality Test Confirm
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The screen tech experts at DisplayMate have run their tests and confirmed that the new iPad screen basically blows everything else away.
“Apple has taken the very good display on the iPad 2 and dramatically improved two of its major weak points: sharpness and color saturation — they are now state-of-the-art,” writes DisplayMate President Dr. Raymond Soneira. “Our lab tests and visual tests agree with Apple’s claim that the new iPad has ‘the best display ever on a mobile device.’”
While most of the tech press has focused on the new iPad’s increased screen resolution, Soneira says the improved color saturation is “equally responsible for its wow factor.” Compared to the iPhone 4S and iPad 2, which display 60 to 64 percent of the standard color gamut, the new iPad hits a “virtually perfect” 99 percent of the color gamut. And because of proper calibration, the new iPad offers vibrant colors that aren’t overly saturated like some OLED displays.
Soneira notes that with some minor calibration, the new iPad’s screen could qualify as a studio reference monitor — a screen so good that you could use it for accurate representations of color. It’s the sort of feature that appeals to photographers and movie directors, who want to make sure that their images look as good as possible.
New iPad LCD given top marks, was near-flawless, with 99 percent color accuracy
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Continuing some of the more in-depth examinations of the new iPad, a detailed screen comparison at DisplayMate has shown a major improvement in Apple's tablet display quality, albeit at a cost. While the 2048x1536 resolution is an obvious advantage, the display analysis team saw that the new screen saw big improvements in other areas, most of all color accuracy. While the iPad 2's display got just 61 percent of the standard color range, the new iPad's screen was near-flawless, with 99 percent accuracy on top of "perfect" contrast and gamma levels.
The 9.7-inch display was better than its predecessor in cutting back on screen reflection, and didn't lose any significant ground in brightness, black levels or a resistance to color shifting when off-angle.
Going to the much higher resolution display has delivered a major hit to power efficiency, researchers saw. It uses 2.5 times power backlighting power to keep up performance, jumping from a maximum of 2.7W on the iPad 2 to 7W on the newer tablet. It helped narrow down the power consumption issues to the backlight and not the quad-core graphics by themselves. Supporting this, battery life was comparable at a halfway setting, but shrank considerably when both were put at their maximum power.
While a direct hardware comparison wasn't available, DisplayMate was confident enough to say that the new iPad's screen "decisively beats" any other tablet previously mentioned, including the Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. It was likewise "much better" than most TVs and computer-sized displays, and was to the point where the study considered the iPad virtually good enough to be used for pro color proofing. "With some minor calibration tweaks the new iPad would qualify as a studio reference monitor," the group said.
Other companies like Acer and ASUS are expected to respond with higher resolution displays and will often use IPS, but they may not have the same color accuracy.
Continuing some of the more in-depth examinations of the new iPad, a detailed screen comparison at DisplayMate has shown a major improvement in Apple's tablet display quality, albeit at a cost. While the 2048x1536 resolution is an obvious advantage, the display analysis team saw that the new screen saw big improvements in other areas, most of all color accuracy. While the iPad 2's display got just 61 percent of the standard color range, the new iPad's screen was near-flawless, with 99 percent accuracy on top of "perfect" contrast and gamma levels.
The 9.7-inch display was better than its predecessor in cutting back on screen reflection, and didn't lose any significant ground in brightness, black levels or a resistance to color shifting when off-angle.
Going to the much higher resolution display has delivered a major hit to power efficiency, researchers saw. It uses 2.5 times power backlighting power to keep up performance, jumping from a maximum of 2.7W on the iPad 2 to 7W on the newer tablet. It helped narrow down the power consumption issues to the backlight and not the quad-core graphics by themselves. Supporting this, battery life was comparable at a halfway setting, but shrank considerably when both were put at their maximum power.
While a direct hardware comparison wasn't available, DisplayMate was confident enough to say that the new iPad's screen "decisively beats" any other tablet previously mentioned, including the Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. It was likewise "much better" than most TVs and computer-sized displays, and was to the point where the study considered the iPad virtually good enough to be used for pro color proofing. "With some minor calibration tweaks the new iPad would qualify as a studio reference monitor," the group said.
Other companies like Acer and ASUS are expected to respond with higher resolution displays and will often use IPS, but they may not have the same color accuracy.
3 Million iPads sold in 4 days
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Apple has sold three million new iPads since its release last Friday. It's a staggering number in 4 days. It's truly impressive. It's only one million below iPhone 4S-level numbers. Except the iPad costs a lot more money and, theoretically, it doesn't have as much use as a phone.
Two more data points for comparison: it took the original iPad 80 days to reach the three million unit mark. Eighty days. Then it took the iPad 2 28 days to reach one million units, although the iPad 2 was only initially available in the United States. The iPad 3 has been launched simultaneously in a lot of big markets: US, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan, as well as Puerto Rico, Switzerland, and the US Virgin Islands.
The multiple market availability accounts for a lot of those three million, but it's still a very impressive number.
The iPad and App Store tandem is so solid at this point that they may be able to keep the hegemony of the tablet market for years, just like the iPod did, redefining the music player in tandem with the iTunes store. Google and Microsoft are going to have an extremely hard time attacking this formidable armored machine.
Apple has sold three million new iPads since its release last Friday. It's a staggering number in 4 days. It's truly impressive. It's only one million below iPhone 4S-level numbers. Except the iPad costs a lot more money and, theoretically, it doesn't have as much use as a phone.
Two more data points for comparison: it took the original iPad 80 days to reach the three million unit mark. Eighty days. Then it took the iPad 2 28 days to reach one million units, although the iPad 2 was only initially available in the United States. The iPad 3 has been launched simultaneously in a lot of big markets: US, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan, as well as Puerto Rico, Switzerland, and the US Virgin Islands.
The multiple market availability accounts for a lot of those three million, but it's still a very impressive number.
The iPad and App Store tandem is so solid at this point that they may be able to keep the hegemony of the tablet market for years, just like the iPod did, redefining the music player in tandem with the iTunes store. Google and Microsoft are going to have an extremely hard time attacking this formidable armored machine.
Significant changes to the new iPad's chip compared to other models
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(Credit: Apple)
Apple has changed the design of the main chip in the new iPad with tweaks to accommodate a higher-performing chip, according to teardown analysis. That would be necessary, of course, to drive that pixel-dense screen.
There are two significant changes:
VR-Zone ventures the guess that "we're looking at a larger chip and it's obviously running a fair bit hotter than the [previous] A5."
To be sure, Apple squeezes a whole lot of horsepower into a 9.4mm thick tablet: the A5X has a dual-core CPU (central processing unit) and a quad-core GPU (graphics processing unit). All completely necessary to drive the 2,048x1,536 Retina display.
iPad's A5X chip and main circuit board.
(Credit: iFixit)
And there really isn't any tablet out there right now that competes with the new iPad on the display and graphics chip fronts, Anandtech's Anand Shimpi told CNET.
"In terms of GPU performance...the 543MP4 should be the fastest thing out there," Shimpi said, referring to the PowerVR SGX 543MP4 GPU that Apple uses.
Of course, consumers will only notice that gorgeous display but it's nice to know that Apple has also designed some pretty stellar silicon to move around the millions of pixels packed into the Retina display.
(Credit: Apple)
Apple has changed the design of the main chip in the new iPad with tweaks to accommodate a higher-performing chip, according to teardown analysis. That would be necessary, of course, to drive that pixel-dense screen.
There are two significant changes:
- Separate DRAM: Apple's A5X chip package does not "stack" system memory (aka, SDRAM), like the A5 did in the iPad 2, as seen in an analysis by Chipworks. Instead, the DRAM resides in "discrete" devices, according to Anandtech. And note that the new iPad has 1GB of memory. The iPad 2 had half that much.
- Heat spreader: The new A5X chip is capped by a metal heatspreader, as pointed out by Anandtech, which speculates that a new package would "allow for better removal of heat." That implies higher performance. A faster chip typically runs hotter.
VR-Zone ventures the guess that "we're looking at a larger chip and it's obviously running a fair bit hotter than the [previous] A5."
To be sure, Apple squeezes a whole lot of horsepower into a 9.4mm thick tablet: the A5X has a dual-core CPU (central processing unit) and a quad-core GPU (graphics processing unit). All completely necessary to drive the 2,048x1,536 Retina display.
iPad's A5X chip and main circuit board.
(Credit: iFixit)
And there really isn't any tablet out there right now that competes with the new iPad on the display and graphics chip fronts, Anandtech's Anand Shimpi told CNET.
"In terms of GPU performance...the 543MP4 should be the fastest thing out there," Shimpi said, referring to the PowerVR SGX 543MP4 GPU that Apple uses.
Of course, consumers will only notice that gorgeous display but it's nice to know that Apple has also designed some pretty stellar silicon to move around the millions of pixels packed into the Retina display.
New iPad iOS 5.1 Jailbreak Status Update: Dev Team Has Some Good News
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While it is still early to say how long it will take for the jailbreak to be released, it is good to see that the jailbreak community has three angles to work out.
Hot on the heels of news that iPad 2 running iOS 5.1 has been successfully jailbroken by i0n1c, iPhone Dev team has come out with more encouraging news regarding the new iPad and iOS 5.1 jailbreak.They've provided the following details on their blog:
There are a few bits of good news already.
We can confirm that the method used to jailbreak the iPad2 4 months ago (before corona) still works even in 5.1. That means we’ll at least be able to get our foot in the door to get the required kernel dumps on the iPad3. That’s an important step, but by no means is it the end of the story.
Those of you following @i0n1c may have noticed he’s already tweeted pictures of his iPad2 jailbroken at 5.1. As far as we know, he’s using a method completely unrelated to the one mentioned above. That would be great news!
We’ve also seen bits and pieces of an entirely different jailbreak method being investigated by someone close to the Cydia repo scene.
While it is still early to say how long it will take for the jailbreak to be released, it is good to see that the jailbreak community has three angles to work out.
Massive Indepth iPad 3rd Gen review
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The iPad has been a remarkable success story. Apple sold 15 million of the original model in the first nine months of the product’s existence, a number that blew away even the most optimistic prognostications. With last year’s introduction of the iPad 2, things kept accelerating. In a little less than two years, Apple has sold roughly 60 million iPads, dominating the market it created.
Maintaining Apple’s lead in tablet devices is the job of the third-generation iPad, a product that doesn’t mess with success. Like the iPad 2 before it, this new iPad is not a re-thinking of the original concept. Instead, Apple has chosen to focus on a few areas of improvement while keeping the overall package the same. Though it’s an approach that can frustrate people who are disappointed by anything that’s not a quantum leap, Apple executes it to perfection and reaps the rewards.
In my review of the iPad 2, I suggested a rule of Apple product evolution I called “Jobs’s Law”—that the latest version of any Apple product is likely to be thinner and lighter than its predecessor. The third-generation iPad breaks that law. It’s actually slightly thicker and slightly heavier than the iPad 2, and in many cases users won’t perceive it to be faster.
But the changes Apple has wrought with this iPad aren’t about making it thinner or lighter or faster, but about making it better. And on nearly every front, the third-generation iPad is markedly better than its predecessor.
It’s all about the Retina
A photo comparing the new iPad's Retina display (top) to the iPad 2 display.
In mid-2010 with the release of the iPhone 4, Apple introduced us to a new concept—the “Retina display,” so called because the screen was packed tightly with so many pixels that the dots would be imperceptible to the human eye. At 326 pixels per inch, the iPhone 4 and its successor, the 4S, provide text that looks like it was printed on paper and display photos and videos in high definition.
Far and away the most important feature of the third-generation iPad is that it, too, has a Retina display. Its 9.7-inch screen has a resolution of 2048 by 1536 pixels (a total of four times the pixels in the same space), or 264 pixels per inch. Although that’s a lower pixel density than the iPhone’s Retina display, you tend to hold an iPad further away from your eyes than an iPhone, so the Retina definition still works out.
A portion of a full-size screen shot from the third-generation iPad.
The result is similar to going from an early iPhone to an iPhone 4—it’s a big leap in quality. Text, video, and photos all benefit. Whether you’re reading a webpage in Safari, a long article in Instapaper, or an even longer work in iBooks, text is razor-sharp. Of course, the display on previous iPads was no slouch. But the moment you pick up a third-generation iPad, you can tell the difference. All the slight jagginess and oddly misshappen characters we take for granted on lower-resolution displays just vanish on the Retina display, and you’re left with the same sort of typographic excellence you’d expect in a printed book.
The effect is even more dramatic with photos and video. Pictures reveal small details that simply weren’t there before. A photo that looks just fine on an iPad 2 looks almost undefinably better on the new iPad. It’s the same image, but all of a sudden, there’s much more information there—small textures and tiny details that were previously omitted.
That’s also true with high-definition video. The third-generation iPad’s screen actually contains more pixels than an HDTV. As a result, the Videos app actually has to blow up 1080p videos slightly in order to display them across the full width of the its screen. (The screen of previous iPads didn’t have enough pixels to show a complete HD picture, so it had to either scale things down or cut off the sides of the frame.)
The videos look great. Watching an HD movie or TV show on the new iPad is like having a home theater in your lap. (Well, assuming you’ve got some good headphones, of course. The iPad’s mono speaker seems to be unchanged from the previous model.)
Buyers of this third-generation iPad will love the Retina display, but the fact is that the iPad 2's screen was also excellent. It may be that there just isn't quite as dramatic a contrast between the two screens as there was between the pre- and post-Retina iPhones two years ago. Maybe I’ve been spoiled by my iPhone’s Retina display, or maybe the iPad 2’s display is really that good.
I found the color temperature on the new iPad to be warmer and more yellow than that on the iPad 2. In isolation, both screens seemed perfectly normal. Only when I placed old and new iPads together did I notice that one is slightly warmer than the other.
As with the transition to Retina displays on the iPhone, app developers will need to step up to take advantage of the higher resolution offered by the new iPad’s display. Surely many (if not most) of them knew this day would come, but it’s quite a job for developers to create new, Retina-sized versions of every graphic in their apps, and it may be some time before all iPad apps are updated. (Non-Retina apps look more or less like they did on previous iPads—but on the new iPad’s Retina display those pixels really stand out.)
Still, it’s not all bad news. Text in most apps will take advantage of the Retina display without modification, even if the graphics don’t. There are odd exceptions, however. When I tested Amazon’s Kindle app with the new iPad, I found that its text was pixelated, not Retina-crisp. Presumably Amazon will fix this in an update. I saw some weird behaviors in a few existing apps, but most of them worked just fine even without being updated. And some work better than you’d think—I tried Comixology’s Comics app and discovered that there’s more resolution to those digital comics than I had realized.
If you’re running an iPhone app on the new iPad, it will display it in high-resolution Retina detail—but in a small compatibility window in the center of the iPad screen. (You can, as always, tap a 2x button to make iPhone apps bigger but more pixelated.)
More power? Sort of.
The iPad 2 was much faster than the original iPad, thanks to its dual-core A5 processor. But the A5X processor that powers the third-generation iPad doesn’t really offer more processing power than its predecessor. In all our processor-based tests, the new iPad ran about as fast as the iPad 2. (Which is not to say it’s slow—they’re the two fastest iOS devices ever.)
With this update, Apple wasn’t as concerned about boosting the iPad’s speed even further, because it had another, bigger problem to solve: Boosting the iPad’s graphics capabilities so that it could update the 3.1 million pixels on its Retina display. (Keep in mind, previous iPad screens only had about 786,000 pixels.) Updating that many pixels requires a whole lot more graphics power just to keep things running as smoothly as before.
That power comes from the X factor in the A5X processor—a new quad-core graphics engine. And sure enough, the third-generation iPad blows away every other iOS device in terms of graphics performance. In our tests using the GLBench 3D graphics testing app, the third-generation iPad could draw a complex 3D scene at the full frame rate of its display, 60 frames per second, without breaking a sweat. And in GLBench offscreen tests, which aren’t constrained by the display’s frame rate, the third-generation iPad had a frame rate 1.6 times that of the iPad 2 (and 13 times that of the original iPad).
So the new iPad definitely has the horsepower to render high-quality graphics on its Retina display. However, app developers will need to update their apps to work well on the new iPad. All of Apple’s built-in apps worked well with the Retina display, scrolling smoothly at all times. But several third-party apps had glitches, including unresponsive interfaces and stuttering scrolling.
What this suggests is that developers who could get away with some inefficiencies when painting the relatively small canvas of previous iPad screens will find those inefficiencies laid bare when they first run their apps on this new hardware. Apple’s apps show that the new iPad has the power to keep it all smooth; but it looks like app developers will need to run their apps on this new hardware and then spend some time optimizing their code so that it shines on this new, bigger display.
Going beyond pure graphics performance, my tests found the new iPad to be roughly the same speed as the old one. The GeekBench testing app said the iPad 2 was slightly faster. The Sunspider JavaScript benchmark gave them both the same scores. And in my webpage-loading test, the new iPad was faster.
Dead ringers
Usually when I review a new Apple product, I start with the physical changes. People always want to know how the new thing is different from the old thing. But the third-generation iPad is almost physically identical to the iPad 2. You can’t tell them apart unless you look very closely.
The new iPad (left) and iPad 2 (right).
The differences I’ve noticed: The inside of the dock connector is silver and not black, and the rear camera is a little bit bigger. Yeah. That’s it.
Almost imperceptible is the fact that the new iPad is a bit thicker than its predecessor. The iPad 2 was 8.8 millimeters thick, and the third-generation model is 9.4 millimeters thick. So there’s an extra six tenths of a millimeter there now, I suppose, but it was imperceptible to me. (The original iPad was 13 millimeters thick—now that’s a difference you could feel.)
The new iPad is also heavier than the iPad 2. The new model weighs either 652 grams (1.44 pounds) for the Wi-Fi-only model or 662 grams (1.46 pounds) for the 4G model. In contrast, the Wi-Fi iPad 2 weighed 601 grams (1.33 pounds) while the AT&T model of the 3G-equipped iPad 2 was 613 grams (1.35 pounds). So your standard Wi-Fi iPad has put on about 50 grams or a tenth of a pound. It’s a small weight gain, but I can’t call it imperceptible. The first time I picked up the third-generation iPad, I could tell that it was heavier.
What does this increased weight mean in practice? Probably not very much. Even the iPad 2 is not a product that you can just hold indefinitely with one hand. It’s too heavy and too bulky for that. This is a device that’s best when held in two hands or propped against your lap. The iPad 2 was easier to hold than the original iPad, and the new iPad feels pretty much the same on that score. The extra tenth of a pound may be noticeable, but I don’t think it’s meaningful.
The 2011 and 2012 iPad vintages are so alike, in fact, that they can use the same Smart Covers. And all but the most exacting iPad 2 cases will probably work on the third-generation model. I tried the new iPad with a few assorted iPad 2 cases hanging around our offices and it fit in all of them just fine.
Now, the big question is: Why this deviation from Jobs’s Law? Isn’t every new Apple product supposed to be smaller, thinner, and lighter? I do believe that’s Apple’s ultimate goal. But in this case, it’s clear that the boosted graphics processor, the support for 4G networking, and the high-resolution display and its corresponding LED backlights, all add up to a device that requires a lot more power than the iPad 2 did. And so Apple did what it had to do in order to keep that famous 10-hour iPad battery life: It made room for a bigger battery at the cost of size and weight.
According to Apple’s tech specs page, the new iPad has a 42.5 watt-hour battery. Compare that with the iPad 2’s 25 watt-hour battery. That’s a whole lot more battery just to keep the iPad running for the usual amount of time. Apple wasn’t willing to trade away battery life for thinness and lightness, so here we are: with a new iPad that’s imperceptibly thicker and immaterially heavier. It’ll do.
I wasn’t able to do extensive battery testing, but in my use over the past week I’ve found that Apple’s claims of comparable life to the iPad 2 are accurate. I can get through an entire day using my iPad and I don’t run out of juice. I suspect that this new battery will take longer to charge than previous models, though—so prepare for an overnight recharge in order to completely juice up your battery.
Picture perfect
The original iPad didn’t have cameras. The iPad 2 added a low-resolution, front-facing camera for video chat and a rear camera with just enough resolution to shoot 720p video. That rear camera was, to put it bluntly, not very good. It was the weakest feature of the iPad 2, in fact.
The good news is, with the third-generation iPad, Apple has finally righted this wrong. Apple’s dusted off an old brand name (just as it did when the old iBook laptop became the new iBooks app) and applied it as a label to that camera: iSight. iSight, apparently, means “camera good enough to shoot photos and videos with.” And it is. It’s a five-megapixel camera, not quite on a par with the one in the iPhone 4S, but still quite good.
When I compared images from the new iPad’s iSight camera against test images taken by other mobile devices, I found that the new iPad’s camera fared quite well. It offered roughly the same image quality as the iPhone 4S and the Asus Transformer Prime, and clearly outdistanced both the Samsung Galaxy 10.1 and the iPad 2. It seems safe to say that the new iPad has the best camera of any tablet device, and among the best of any mobile device. Most notably, the quality of the 1080p video I shot with the new iPad was very good, even in low light.
Portions of full-resolution images from three different Apple devices.
The iPad’s sheer size doesn’t make it an ideal camera, but if you do need to shoot something and your iPad is at hand, the third-generation iPad’s camera is of a high enough quality that you won’t regret your choice.
Takes dictation, but not orders
The third-generation iPad offers dictation features, but not the the Siri intelligent-agent feature introduced in the iPhone 4S. My guess is that Apple sees Siri as a feature primarily used by people who don’t have their hands on the phone itself, and therefore the iPad wouldn’t be an ideal product for Siri’s particular brand of voice control navigation.
I actually find Siri useful in many cases where speaking a brief command is more efficient than swiping to unlock, swiping to find the right app, and then tapping through an interface in order to get what I want. I use Siri to set alarms and timers all the time. I don’t see why that wouldn’t be relevant on the iPad. (Of course, those features use the iPhone’s Clock app, which Apple also omits from the iPad! And one of Siri’s other marquee features, getting a weather forecast, uses the Weather app—another iPad no-show. Sigh.)
That said, dictation is still a great feature and I’m happy to have it on the iPad. Yes, there have been apps available that allow you to dictate, but now you can dictate from the standard software keyboard just by tapping the new microphone icon, and that’s a big deal. Once you get the hang of dictation, which requires you to speak all your punctuation comma you’ll discover that it can be a great way to input text without typing period
LTE and cellular options
Ever since the original iPad debuted, Apple has offered two different models with different networking features. The base-priced models support only Wi-Fi, but for $130 more you can get a model with support for both Wi-Fi and cellular networking. The cellular features don’t require any sort of contract; instead, you can buy access right on the device, a month at a time, and activate and deactivate whenever you want.
That’s all still true. The new wrinkle is that the third-generation model supports LTE (Long-Term Evolution), a new generation of cellular technologies that’s often also called “4G.” It’s fast, but it’s not as widely available as 3G. Verizon says it’s got 4G LTE coverage in 196 cities. AT&T is playing catch-up, with coverage in only 28 markets right now.
With the iPhone 4S, Apple was able to bring the two dominant cellular technologies in the U.S., GSM and CDMA, together in a single piece of hardware. The 4S hardware is the same whether you buy it from Verizon or Sprint or AT&T. Unfortunately, 4G LTE circuitry is still in its infancy, and Verizon and AT&T use different LTE systems. So the third-generation iPad takes us right back where we were with the previous iPad models: there are two different versions, one that works with AT&T’s flavor of LTE, and one that works with Verizon’s.
The good news is, both models fall back to 3G networks with ease. A Verizon model will work with Verizon’s CDMA network in the U.S., and will work with GSM networks overseas. The AT&T model will work with AT&T’s GSM network in the U.S. and other GSM networks abroad. Like all previous iPads, these devices are unlocked, so if you want to buy a local SIM card when you’re traveling internationally, it should just work.
The new iPad’s cellular radios also support connecting to faster GSM networks. In the U.S. the most common example of this is AT&T’s own HSPA+ network, which AT&T confusingly calls 4G. This has a very odd effect: I began my bus commute home one evening with the iPad displaying LTE, but as we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge the indicator shifted to 4G. That was the sign that we had left AT&T’s LTE network and were now on its HSPA+ network, which AT&T calls 4G even though it’s really just faster 3G. So confusing.
Overseas, LTE apparently isn’t widely used, but carriers have invested in speeding up 3G. In addition to HSPA+, some countries have networks that use the DC-HSDPA (dual-carrier HSDPA) format. The radios in the iPad support all of these speedy formats. (Apple told me that the cellular iPad model sold internationally will essentially be the AT&T model that's sold in the U.S.)
My experience with AT&T’s LTE network in San Francisco was impressive. While riding through the city, I was able to get speeds that were roughly as fast as my office Wi-Fi. When I turned off LTE (there's an "Enable LTE" option in the Cellular Data section of Settings), the iPad fell back to AT&T’s “4G” HSPA+ network, and speeds dropped precipitously. However, as with everything cellular, location is everything. When I used the iPad at my home in suburban Mill Valley, which doesn’t yet have AT&T LTE coverage, the HSPA+ download speed was more than twice what I had experienced in downtown San Francisco—but still half the speed I saw on the LTE network.
Tests by Jason Snell using the Ookla Speedtest iOS app.
At long last, the iPhone’s Personal Hotspot feature has come to the iPad. This is great news, because it means your iPad can act as a Wi-Fi router and provide an Internet connection to any device that uses Wi-Fi by relaying data from its cellular connection. Unfortunately, it appears that only Verizon is supporting this feature at first, with AT&T lagging behind. The third-generation iPad I used was of the AT&T variety, so I wasn’t able to test this feature. But it promises to be pretty cool, since if you’ve got one of these iPads you don’t need to invest in a separate piece of Wi-Fi routing hardware.
AT&T has a track record as an unenthusiastic supporter of tethering features. It took the company a full year to activate tethering on the iPhone. As a result, I’d recommend the Verizon model if Personal Hotspot is a must-have feature. And I’m impressed with Verizon’s approach to Personal Hotspot on the iPad: It doesn’t cost any more. You pay for the amount of data you want your iPad to consume, and if you want to share that data pool with other devices, Verizon’s fine with that.
Buying options
For a company that likes to keep things simple, Apple has provided us with a whole bunch of options when it comes to buying the iPad. Just as with the iPad 2, the third-generation model comes in 18 different varieties. You can choose from:
I still think most buyers should start with the assumption that they’ll only need 16GB, but then they’ll need to ask themselves a few questions. Anyone who intends to load up with lots of HD movies, shoot videos, or install a whole lot of apps should seriously consider a larger capacity. But a lot of people just don’t use the iPad like that, and for them, 16GB will be fine.
Then there’s the question of whether to spend an extra $130 for cellular networking. With the addition of Personal Hotspot, the cellular iPad has become more appealing. Given that the iPad’s data plan features no contracts—so you can turn it off and on at will—it’s a more flexible option for Wi-Fi tethering than either adding tethering to a cell phone plan or buying a separate Wi-Fi hotspot device such as a MiFi.
If you can see using your iPad as a personal hotspot or envision using it often when you’re out of Wi-Fi range, the extra $130 is probably a good investment. However, lots of people almost never use their iPads out of range of Wi-Fi, so I expect the Wi-Fi version will remain the most popular option.
One last reason to consider buying a cellular-capable iPad: Only cellular models come with GPS capabilities. There’s a good reason for this—iOS devices use assisted GPS to dramatically decrease the amount of time it takes for the devices to determine their location. If you dream of using your iPad as a jumbo GPS navigation console, you’ll absolutely need to pay the extra $130.
The iPad experience
When it’s time to ponder a new Apple product, it’s easy to get caught up in the details of the specs, in what’s changed from previous versions. With a product like the iPad, that’s a dangerous game. Apple’s decision to avoid calling the new iPad an iPad 3 or iPad HD or iPad 2S speaks volumes. The iPad is bigger than any single model.
Clearly, Apple’s vision is that we’re in a period where many tasks we previously performed with computers will be transferred to new, different, less computery devices. The iPad, like its brother the iPhone, is ushering in a new world. Microsoft spent a decade trying to define the “tablet computer.” Apple dropped the computer, from both its company name and the tablet category, and has seen massive success. Even now, the “tablet market” is really the iPad market, and the onslaught of iPad competitors we all expected two years ago has largely failed to materialize.Yes, one of the reasons for the iPad’s success has been that Apple started with a huge lead on its competition. But the biggest reason the iPad is so strong was one quite rightly pointed out by Apple CEO Tim Cook when he unveiled the new iPad: Apple’s advantage in apps. More specifically, iOS developers have worked hard to create versions of their apps that are designed for the iPad’s larger screen. Google, meanwhile, seems to view the larger canvas of a tablet screen as indistinguishable from a smartphone’s screen.
After Apple’s launch event was over, I talked to several colleagues who cover Android every day, and they largely agreed with Cook’s point. There just aren’t very many good tablet apps on Android, and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of urgency to create them.
When the iPad was introduced, a lot of pundits sniffed that it was just a big iPod touch. And if that had turned out to be the case, the iPad wouldn’t have been very successful. But from the first day the iPad shipped, it’s had a huge amount of software designed specifically for its 9.7-inch screen. In the meantime, the competition ships big phones and hopes they’ll take the world by storm. It’s not happening.
Instead, the iPad’s sales continues to accelerate. And that’s one reason why I’m uneasy about focusing too much on the details of the differences between the third-generation iPad and its predecessors. I’d wager, in fact, that more third-generation iPads will be sold to people who have never before owned an iPad than to existing iPad owners who are upgrading.
Those are the people for whom this new iPad is simply called “iPad.” And they’ll use it for all the things that an iPad is great for. They’ll surf the Web, check email and Twitter and Facebook, read books and magazines, play games, watch movies, listen to a baseball game, look up a recipe, check their schedule, edit a photo or a video, record a song, or even write an essay.
When I’m looking for the perspective of someone who uses technology but doesn’t get overly excited by it, I turn to my wife. Her role in our family—and I suspect, dear reader, that you may find this familiar—is to provide a counterbalance to my enthusiasm over every new gadget I want to buy.
When the first iPad came out, I bought one. My wife seemed interested in it, and I was curious what she’d make of it, so I handed it to her and told her to try it out. She never gave it back. Recently, as we discussed buying her a new iPad (we ordered the $499 16GB black Wi-Fi model), she told me that she only turns on the iMac we keep at home for managing photos, typing out long documents, and visiting the ever-decreasing number of websites that don’t play well with Safari.
That iMac, which was in heavy use two years ago, is now a device we turn on to perform specific tasks. The rest of the time we’re on our iPads or our iPhones, and it seems natural. This, I think, explains Apple’s confidence in where we’re headed in this post-PC universe.
In the old days, we used to talk about “computing,” as if it were an activity. Using a computer was computing. Computing didn’t go away. It just seeped into every aspect of our lives. Computing doesn’t happen on a desk anymore. It’s in our laps, in our pockets, perched on the kitchen counter or smack in the middle of the coffee table. The iPad didn’t make computing obsolete. It just brought it out of its shell.
The iPad has been a remarkable success story. Apple sold 15 million of the original model in the first nine months of the product’s existence, a number that blew away even the most optimistic prognostications. With last year’s introduction of the iPad 2, things kept accelerating. In a little less than two years, Apple has sold roughly 60 million iPads, dominating the market it created.
Maintaining Apple’s lead in tablet devices is the job of the third-generation iPad, a product that doesn’t mess with success. Like the iPad 2 before it, this new iPad is not a re-thinking of the original concept. Instead, Apple has chosen to focus on a few areas of improvement while keeping the overall package the same. Though it’s an approach that can frustrate people who are disappointed by anything that’s not a quantum leap, Apple executes it to perfection and reaps the rewards.
In my review of the iPad 2, I suggested a rule of Apple product evolution I called “Jobs’s Law”—that the latest version of any Apple product is likely to be thinner and lighter than its predecessor. The third-generation iPad breaks that law. It’s actually slightly thicker and slightly heavier than the iPad 2, and in many cases users won’t perceive it to be faster.
But the changes Apple has wrought with this iPad aren’t about making it thinner or lighter or faster, but about making it better. And on nearly every front, the third-generation iPad is markedly better than its predecessor.
It’s all about the Retina
A photo comparing the new iPad's Retina display (top) to the iPad 2 display.
In mid-2010 with the release of the iPhone 4, Apple introduced us to a new concept—the “Retina display,” so called because the screen was packed tightly with so many pixels that the dots would be imperceptible to the human eye. At 326 pixels per inch, the iPhone 4 and its successor, the 4S, provide text that looks like it was printed on paper and display photos and videos in high definition.
Far and away the most important feature of the third-generation iPad is that it, too, has a Retina display. Its 9.7-inch screen has a resolution of 2048 by 1536 pixels (a total of four times the pixels in the same space), or 264 pixels per inch. Although that’s a lower pixel density than the iPhone’s Retina display, you tend to hold an iPad further away from your eyes than an iPhone, so the Retina definition still works out.
A portion of a full-size screen shot from the third-generation iPad.
The result is similar to going from an early iPhone to an iPhone 4—it’s a big leap in quality. Text, video, and photos all benefit. Whether you’re reading a webpage in Safari, a long article in Instapaper, or an even longer work in iBooks, text is razor-sharp. Of course, the display on previous iPads was no slouch. But the moment you pick up a third-generation iPad, you can tell the difference. All the slight jagginess and oddly misshappen characters we take for granted on lower-resolution displays just vanish on the Retina display, and you’re left with the same sort of typographic excellence you’d expect in a printed book.
The effect is even more dramatic with photos and video. Pictures reveal small details that simply weren’t there before. A photo that looks just fine on an iPad 2 looks almost undefinably better on the new iPad. It’s the same image, but all of a sudden, there’s much more information there—small textures and tiny details that were previously omitted.
That’s also true with high-definition video. The third-generation iPad’s screen actually contains more pixels than an HDTV. As a result, the Videos app actually has to blow up 1080p videos slightly in order to display them across the full width of the its screen. (The screen of previous iPads didn’t have enough pixels to show a complete HD picture, so it had to either scale things down or cut off the sides of the frame.)
The videos look great. Watching an HD movie or TV show on the new iPad is like having a home theater in your lap. (Well, assuming you’ve got some good headphones, of course. The iPad’s mono speaker seems to be unchanged from the previous model.)
Buyers of this third-generation iPad will love the Retina display, but the fact is that the iPad 2's screen was also excellent. It may be that there just isn't quite as dramatic a contrast between the two screens as there was between the pre- and post-Retina iPhones two years ago. Maybe I’ve been spoiled by my iPhone’s Retina display, or maybe the iPad 2’s display is really that good.
I found the color temperature on the new iPad to be warmer and more yellow than that on the iPad 2. In isolation, both screens seemed perfectly normal. Only when I placed old and new iPads together did I notice that one is slightly warmer than the other.
As with the transition to Retina displays on the iPhone, app developers will need to step up to take advantage of the higher resolution offered by the new iPad’s display. Surely many (if not most) of them knew this day would come, but it’s quite a job for developers to create new, Retina-sized versions of every graphic in their apps, and it may be some time before all iPad apps are updated. (Non-Retina apps look more or less like they did on previous iPads—but on the new iPad’s Retina display those pixels really stand out.)
Still, it’s not all bad news. Text in most apps will take advantage of the Retina display without modification, even if the graphics don’t. There are odd exceptions, however. When I tested Amazon’s Kindle app with the new iPad, I found that its text was pixelated, not Retina-crisp. Presumably Amazon will fix this in an update. I saw some weird behaviors in a few existing apps, but most of them worked just fine even without being updated. And some work better than you’d think—I tried Comixology’s Comics app and discovered that there’s more resolution to those digital comics than I had realized.
If you’re running an iPhone app on the new iPad, it will display it in high-resolution Retina detail—but in a small compatibility window in the center of the iPad screen. (You can, as always, tap a 2x button to make iPhone apps bigger but more pixelated.)
More power? Sort of.
The iPad 2 was much faster than the original iPad, thanks to its dual-core A5 processor. But the A5X processor that powers the third-generation iPad doesn’t really offer more processing power than its predecessor. In all our processor-based tests, the new iPad ran about as fast as the iPad 2. (Which is not to say it’s slow—they’re the two fastest iOS devices ever.)
With this update, Apple wasn’t as concerned about boosting the iPad’s speed even further, because it had another, bigger problem to solve: Boosting the iPad’s graphics capabilities so that it could update the 3.1 million pixels on its Retina display. (Keep in mind, previous iPad screens only had about 786,000 pixels.) Updating that many pixels requires a whole lot more graphics power just to keep things running as smoothly as before.
That power comes from the X factor in the A5X processor—a new quad-core graphics engine. And sure enough, the third-generation iPad blows away every other iOS device in terms of graphics performance. In our tests using the GLBench 3D graphics testing app, the third-generation iPad could draw a complex 3D scene at the full frame rate of its display, 60 frames per second, without breaking a sweat. And in GLBench offscreen tests, which aren’t constrained by the display’s frame rate, the third-generation iPad had a frame rate 1.6 times that of the iPad 2 (and 13 times that of the original iPad).
So the new iPad definitely has the horsepower to render high-quality graphics on its Retina display. However, app developers will need to update their apps to work well on the new iPad. All of Apple’s built-in apps worked well with the Retina display, scrolling smoothly at all times. But several third-party apps had glitches, including unresponsive interfaces and stuttering scrolling.
What this suggests is that developers who could get away with some inefficiencies when painting the relatively small canvas of previous iPad screens will find those inefficiencies laid bare when they first run their apps on this new hardware. Apple’s apps show that the new iPad has the power to keep it all smooth; but it looks like app developers will need to run their apps on this new hardware and then spend some time optimizing their code so that it shines on this new, bigger display.
Going beyond pure graphics performance, my tests found the new iPad to be roughly the same speed as the old one. The GeekBench testing app said the iPad 2 was slightly faster. The Sunspider JavaScript benchmark gave them both the same scores. And in my webpage-loading test, the new iPad was faster.
Dead ringers
Usually when I review a new Apple product, I start with the physical changes. People always want to know how the new thing is different from the old thing. But the third-generation iPad is almost physically identical to the iPad 2. You can’t tell them apart unless you look very closely.
The new iPad (left) and iPad 2 (right).
The differences I’ve noticed: The inside of the dock connector is silver and not black, and the rear camera is a little bit bigger. Yeah. That’s it.
Almost imperceptible is the fact that the new iPad is a bit thicker than its predecessor. The iPad 2 was 8.8 millimeters thick, and the third-generation model is 9.4 millimeters thick. So there’s an extra six tenths of a millimeter there now, I suppose, but it was imperceptible to me. (The original iPad was 13 millimeters thick—now that’s a difference you could feel.)
The new iPad is also heavier than the iPad 2. The new model weighs either 652 grams (1.44 pounds) for the Wi-Fi-only model or 662 grams (1.46 pounds) for the 4G model. In contrast, the Wi-Fi iPad 2 weighed 601 grams (1.33 pounds) while the AT&T model of the 3G-equipped iPad 2 was 613 grams (1.35 pounds). So your standard Wi-Fi iPad has put on about 50 grams or a tenth of a pound. It’s a small weight gain, but I can’t call it imperceptible. The first time I picked up the third-generation iPad, I could tell that it was heavier.
What does this increased weight mean in practice? Probably not very much. Even the iPad 2 is not a product that you can just hold indefinitely with one hand. It’s too heavy and too bulky for that. This is a device that’s best when held in two hands or propped against your lap. The iPad 2 was easier to hold than the original iPad, and the new iPad feels pretty much the same on that score. The extra tenth of a pound may be noticeable, but I don’t think it’s meaningful.
The 2011 and 2012 iPad vintages are so alike, in fact, that they can use the same Smart Covers. And all but the most exacting iPad 2 cases will probably work on the third-generation model. I tried the new iPad with a few assorted iPad 2 cases hanging around our offices and it fit in all of them just fine.
Now, the big question is: Why this deviation from Jobs’s Law? Isn’t every new Apple product supposed to be smaller, thinner, and lighter? I do believe that’s Apple’s ultimate goal. But in this case, it’s clear that the boosted graphics processor, the support for 4G networking, and the high-resolution display and its corresponding LED backlights, all add up to a device that requires a lot more power than the iPad 2 did. And so Apple did what it had to do in order to keep that famous 10-hour iPad battery life: It made room for a bigger battery at the cost of size and weight.
According to Apple’s tech specs page, the new iPad has a 42.5 watt-hour battery. Compare that with the iPad 2’s 25 watt-hour battery. That’s a whole lot more battery just to keep the iPad running for the usual amount of time. Apple wasn’t willing to trade away battery life for thinness and lightness, so here we are: with a new iPad that’s imperceptibly thicker and immaterially heavier. It’ll do.
I wasn’t able to do extensive battery testing, but in my use over the past week I’ve found that Apple’s claims of comparable life to the iPad 2 are accurate. I can get through an entire day using my iPad and I don’t run out of juice. I suspect that this new battery will take longer to charge than previous models, though—so prepare for an overnight recharge in order to completely juice up your battery.
Picture perfect
The original iPad didn’t have cameras. The iPad 2 added a low-resolution, front-facing camera for video chat and a rear camera with just enough resolution to shoot 720p video. That rear camera was, to put it bluntly, not very good. It was the weakest feature of the iPad 2, in fact.
The good news is, with the third-generation iPad, Apple has finally righted this wrong. Apple’s dusted off an old brand name (just as it did when the old iBook laptop became the new iBooks app) and applied it as a label to that camera: iSight. iSight, apparently, means “camera good enough to shoot photos and videos with.” And it is. It’s a five-megapixel camera, not quite on a par with the one in the iPhone 4S, but still quite good.
When I compared images from the new iPad’s iSight camera against test images taken by other mobile devices, I found that the new iPad’s camera fared quite well. It offered roughly the same image quality as the iPhone 4S and the Asus Transformer Prime, and clearly outdistanced both the Samsung Galaxy 10.1 and the iPad 2. It seems safe to say that the new iPad has the best camera of any tablet device, and among the best of any mobile device. Most notably, the quality of the 1080p video I shot with the new iPad was very good, even in low light.
Portions of full-resolution images from three different Apple devices.
The iPad’s sheer size doesn’t make it an ideal camera, but if you do need to shoot something and your iPad is at hand, the third-generation iPad’s camera is of a high enough quality that you won’t regret your choice.
Takes dictation, but not orders
The third-generation iPad offers dictation features, but not the the Siri intelligent-agent feature introduced in the iPhone 4S. My guess is that Apple sees Siri as a feature primarily used by people who don’t have their hands on the phone itself, and therefore the iPad wouldn’t be an ideal product for Siri’s particular brand of voice control navigation.
I actually find Siri useful in many cases where speaking a brief command is more efficient than swiping to unlock, swiping to find the right app, and then tapping through an interface in order to get what I want. I use Siri to set alarms and timers all the time. I don’t see why that wouldn’t be relevant on the iPad. (Of course, those features use the iPhone’s Clock app, which Apple also omits from the iPad! And one of Siri’s other marquee features, getting a weather forecast, uses the Weather app—another iPad no-show. Sigh.)
That said, dictation is still a great feature and I’m happy to have it on the iPad. Yes, there have been apps available that allow you to dictate, but now you can dictate from the standard software keyboard just by tapping the new microphone icon, and that’s a big deal. Once you get the hang of dictation, which requires you to speak all your punctuation comma you’ll discover that it can be a great way to input text without typing period
LTE and cellular options
Ever since the original iPad debuted, Apple has offered two different models with different networking features. The base-priced models support only Wi-Fi, but for $130 more you can get a model with support for both Wi-Fi and cellular networking. The cellular features don’t require any sort of contract; instead, you can buy access right on the device, a month at a time, and activate and deactivate whenever you want.
That’s all still true. The new wrinkle is that the third-generation model supports LTE (Long-Term Evolution), a new generation of cellular technologies that’s often also called “4G.” It’s fast, but it’s not as widely available as 3G. Verizon says it’s got 4G LTE coverage in 196 cities. AT&T is playing catch-up, with coverage in only 28 markets right now.
With the iPhone 4S, Apple was able to bring the two dominant cellular technologies in the U.S., GSM and CDMA, together in a single piece of hardware. The 4S hardware is the same whether you buy it from Verizon or Sprint or AT&T. Unfortunately, 4G LTE circuitry is still in its infancy, and Verizon and AT&T use different LTE systems. So the third-generation iPad takes us right back where we were with the previous iPad models: there are two different versions, one that works with AT&T’s flavor of LTE, and one that works with Verizon’s.
The good news is, both models fall back to 3G networks with ease. A Verizon model will work with Verizon’s CDMA network in the U.S., and will work with GSM networks overseas. The AT&T model will work with AT&T’s GSM network in the U.S. and other GSM networks abroad. Like all previous iPads, these devices are unlocked, so if you want to buy a local SIM card when you’re traveling internationally, it should just work.
The new iPad’s cellular radios also support connecting to faster GSM networks. In the U.S. the most common example of this is AT&T’s own HSPA+ network, which AT&T confusingly calls 4G. This has a very odd effect: I began my bus commute home one evening with the iPad displaying LTE, but as we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge the indicator shifted to 4G. That was the sign that we had left AT&T’s LTE network and were now on its HSPA+ network, which AT&T calls 4G even though it’s really just faster 3G. So confusing.
Overseas, LTE apparently isn’t widely used, but carriers have invested in speeding up 3G. In addition to HSPA+, some countries have networks that use the DC-HSDPA (dual-carrier HSDPA) format. The radios in the iPad support all of these speedy formats. (Apple told me that the cellular iPad model sold internationally will essentially be the AT&T model that's sold in the U.S.)
My experience with AT&T’s LTE network in San Francisco was impressive. While riding through the city, I was able to get speeds that were roughly as fast as my office Wi-Fi. When I turned off LTE (there's an "Enable LTE" option in the Cellular Data section of Settings), the iPad fell back to AT&T’s “4G” HSPA+ network, and speeds dropped precipitously. However, as with everything cellular, location is everything. When I used the iPad at my home in suburban Mill Valley, which doesn’t yet have AT&T LTE coverage, the HSPA+ download speed was more than twice what I had experienced in downtown San Francisco—but still half the speed I saw on the LTE network.
Tests by Jason Snell using the Ookla Speedtest iOS app.
At long last, the iPhone’s Personal Hotspot feature has come to the iPad. This is great news, because it means your iPad can act as a Wi-Fi router and provide an Internet connection to any device that uses Wi-Fi by relaying data from its cellular connection. Unfortunately, it appears that only Verizon is supporting this feature at first, with AT&T lagging behind. The third-generation iPad I used was of the AT&T variety, so I wasn’t able to test this feature. But it promises to be pretty cool, since if you’ve got one of these iPads you don’t need to invest in a separate piece of Wi-Fi routing hardware.
AT&T has a track record as an unenthusiastic supporter of tethering features. It took the company a full year to activate tethering on the iPhone. As a result, I’d recommend the Verizon model if Personal Hotspot is a must-have feature. And I’m impressed with Verizon’s approach to Personal Hotspot on the iPad: It doesn’t cost any more. You pay for the amount of data you want your iPad to consume, and if you want to share that data pool with other devices, Verizon’s fine with that.
Buying options
For a company that likes to keep things simple, Apple has provided us with a whole bunch of options when it comes to buying the iPad. Just as with the iPad 2, the third-generation model comes in 18 different varieties. You can choose from:
- 16GB ($499), 32GB ($599), or 64GB ($699) of onboard storage
- White or black bezel (no price difference)
- Wi-Fi only, or Wi-Fi plus cellular on AT&T ($130 extra), or Wi-Fi plus cellular on Verizon ($130 extra)
I still think most buyers should start with the assumption that they’ll only need 16GB, but then they’ll need to ask themselves a few questions. Anyone who intends to load up with lots of HD movies, shoot videos, or install a whole lot of apps should seriously consider a larger capacity. But a lot of people just don’t use the iPad like that, and for them, 16GB will be fine.
Then there’s the question of whether to spend an extra $130 for cellular networking. With the addition of Personal Hotspot, the cellular iPad has become more appealing. Given that the iPad’s data plan features no contracts—so you can turn it off and on at will—it’s a more flexible option for Wi-Fi tethering than either adding tethering to a cell phone plan or buying a separate Wi-Fi hotspot device such as a MiFi.
If you can see using your iPad as a personal hotspot or envision using it often when you’re out of Wi-Fi range, the extra $130 is probably a good investment. However, lots of people almost never use their iPads out of range of Wi-Fi, so I expect the Wi-Fi version will remain the most popular option.
One last reason to consider buying a cellular-capable iPad: Only cellular models come with GPS capabilities. There’s a good reason for this—iOS devices use assisted GPS to dramatically decrease the amount of time it takes for the devices to determine their location. If you dream of using your iPad as a jumbo GPS navigation console, you’ll absolutely need to pay the extra $130.
The iPad experience
When it’s time to ponder a new Apple product, it’s easy to get caught up in the details of the specs, in what’s changed from previous versions. With a product like the iPad, that’s a dangerous game. Apple’s decision to avoid calling the new iPad an iPad 3 or iPad HD or iPad 2S speaks volumes. The iPad is bigger than any single model.
Clearly, Apple’s vision is that we’re in a period where many tasks we previously performed with computers will be transferred to new, different, less computery devices. The iPad, like its brother the iPhone, is ushering in a new world. Microsoft spent a decade trying to define the “tablet computer.” Apple dropped the computer, from both its company name and the tablet category, and has seen massive success. Even now, the “tablet market” is really the iPad market, and the onslaught of iPad competitors we all expected two years ago has largely failed to materialize.Yes, one of the reasons for the iPad’s success has been that Apple started with a huge lead on its competition. But the biggest reason the iPad is so strong was one quite rightly pointed out by Apple CEO Tim Cook when he unveiled the new iPad: Apple’s advantage in apps. More specifically, iOS developers have worked hard to create versions of their apps that are designed for the iPad’s larger screen. Google, meanwhile, seems to view the larger canvas of a tablet screen as indistinguishable from a smartphone’s screen.
After Apple’s launch event was over, I talked to several colleagues who cover Android every day, and they largely agreed with Cook’s point. There just aren’t very many good tablet apps on Android, and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of urgency to create them.
When the iPad was introduced, a lot of pundits sniffed that it was just a big iPod touch. And if that had turned out to be the case, the iPad wouldn’t have been very successful. But from the first day the iPad shipped, it’s had a huge amount of software designed specifically for its 9.7-inch screen. In the meantime, the competition ships big phones and hopes they’ll take the world by storm. It’s not happening.
Instead, the iPad’s sales continues to accelerate. And that’s one reason why I’m uneasy about focusing too much on the details of the differences between the third-generation iPad and its predecessors. I’d wager, in fact, that more third-generation iPads will be sold to people who have never before owned an iPad than to existing iPad owners who are upgrading.
Those are the people for whom this new iPad is simply called “iPad.” And they’ll use it for all the things that an iPad is great for. They’ll surf the Web, check email and Twitter and Facebook, read books and magazines, play games, watch movies, listen to a baseball game, look up a recipe, check their schedule, edit a photo or a video, record a song, or even write an essay.
When I’m looking for the perspective of someone who uses technology but doesn’t get overly excited by it, I turn to my wife. Her role in our family—and I suspect, dear reader, that you may find this familiar—is to provide a counterbalance to my enthusiasm over every new gadget I want to buy.
When the first iPad came out, I bought one. My wife seemed interested in it, and I was curious what she’d make of it, so I handed it to her and told her to try it out. She never gave it back. Recently, as we discussed buying her a new iPad (we ordered the $499 16GB black Wi-Fi model), she told me that she only turns on the iMac we keep at home for managing photos, typing out long documents, and visiting the ever-decreasing number of websites that don’t play well with Safari.
That iMac, which was in heavy use two years ago, is now a device we turn on to perform specific tasks. The rest of the time we’re on our iPads or our iPhones, and it seems natural. This, I think, explains Apple’s confidence in where we’re headed in this post-PC universe.
In the old days, we used to talk about “computing,” as if it were an activity. Using a computer was computing. Computing didn’t go away. It just seeped into every aspect of our lives. Computing doesn’t happen on a desk anymore. It’s in our laps, in our pockets, perched on the kitchen counter or smack in the middle of the coffee table. The iPad didn’t make computing obsolete. It just brought it out of its shell.
Samsung Will Supply Apple With Touch Screen for New IPad
www.tech-sanity.com
Samsung will supply the touch screen for the new iPad according to an analyst with iSuppli.
Samsung, the world’s top flat-panel maker, currently is the sole vendor of the display for the 9.7-inch device, said Vinita Jakhanwal, a senior manager at iSuppli, a unit of Englewood, Colorado-based IHS Inc. The new tablet goes on sale March 16.
The supply deal deepens Apple’s partnership with Samsung, which already makes the chips that power the iPhone and iPad, even as the companies sue each other around the world regarding patents. Apple unveiled a new version of the iPad last week that features a sharper display and faster processor to fend off growing competition from products including Samsung’s Galaxy Tab.
Steve Park, a Seoul-based spokesman for Apple; Jason Kim, a spokesman for Samsung; Claire Ohm, a Seoul-based spokeswoman for LG Display; and Miyuki Nakayama, a spokeswoman for Osaka, Japan- based Sharp, declined to comment.
“The display specifications on the new iPad are very demanding in terms of the very high resolution,” Jakhanwal said in an e-mail. “Achieving this high resolution without compromising on the power consumption and brightness and maintaining Apple’s quality standards are supposedly proving to be a challenge for LG Display and Sharp.”
Apple maybe attempting to reduce its reliance on Samsung components, but its bill from the Korean firm is likely to be the largest to-date according to one exec: up from $7.8bn in 2011 to as much as $11bn by the end of 2012. “The amount of the current contract is around $9.7 billion” a Samsung executive told The Korea Times on understanding of confidentiality, but “is expected to rise to $11 billion by the end of this year as Apple is planning to release a smaller iPad, probably with a 7.85-inch screen, and to sell more of its MacBook Air PCs using Samsung’s faster solid state drive storage.”
Patent Lawsuits
Apple, and Samsung have been locked in patent disputes concerning mobile technology and design since April, when the iPhone maker accused the Suwon, South Korea-based company of copying its products.
The iPad’s new display has four times as many pixels as the previous version, making on-screen text, images and video appear crisper and more realistic. Apple may almost double spending on screens for tablets and smartphones this year, according to iSuppli.
Market research firm Gartner Inc., based in Stamford, Connecticut, estimates 103.5 million tablet devices will be sold in 2012, with Apple accounting for two-thirds of them.
LG Display is Apple’s largest vendor of liquid-crystal displays used in the iPhone and older models of the iPad. The Seoul-based company gets about 2 percent of its revenue from Apple, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
LG Display and Sharp may start shipping panels for the new iPad in April, said Jakhanwal, who’s based in Santa Clara, California.
Apple may want to diversify its sources for the displays because of the lawsuits with Samsung, said Kang Yoon Hum, a Seoul-based analyst at NH Investment & Securities Co.
“Since the relationship between Apple and Samsung isn’t great these days, Apple would want to get shipments elsewhere as well,” Kang said by phone.
Samsung will supply the touch screen for the new iPad according to an analyst with iSuppli.
Samsung, the world’s top flat-panel maker, currently is the sole vendor of the display for the 9.7-inch device, said Vinita Jakhanwal, a senior manager at iSuppli, a unit of Englewood, Colorado-based IHS Inc. The new tablet goes on sale March 16.
The supply deal deepens Apple’s partnership with Samsung, which already makes the chips that power the iPhone and iPad, even as the companies sue each other around the world regarding patents. Apple unveiled a new version of the iPad last week that features a sharper display and faster processor to fend off growing competition from products including Samsung’s Galaxy Tab.
Steve Park, a Seoul-based spokesman for Apple; Jason Kim, a spokesman for Samsung; Claire Ohm, a Seoul-based spokeswoman for LG Display; and Miyuki Nakayama, a spokeswoman for Osaka, Japan- based Sharp, declined to comment.
“The display specifications on the new iPad are very demanding in terms of the very high resolution,” Jakhanwal said in an e-mail. “Achieving this high resolution without compromising on the power consumption and brightness and maintaining Apple’s quality standards are supposedly proving to be a challenge for LG Display and Sharp.”
Apple maybe attempting to reduce its reliance on Samsung components, but its bill from the Korean firm is likely to be the largest to-date according to one exec: up from $7.8bn in 2011 to as much as $11bn by the end of 2012. “The amount of the current contract is around $9.7 billion” a Samsung executive told The Korea Times on understanding of confidentiality, but “is expected to rise to $11 billion by the end of this year as Apple is planning to release a smaller iPad, probably with a 7.85-inch screen, and to sell more of its MacBook Air PCs using Samsung’s faster solid state drive storage.”
Patent Lawsuits
Apple, and Samsung have been locked in patent disputes concerning mobile technology and design since April, when the iPhone maker accused the Suwon, South Korea-based company of copying its products.
The iPad’s new display has four times as many pixels as the previous version, making on-screen text, images and video appear crisper and more realistic. Apple may almost double spending on screens for tablets and smartphones this year, according to iSuppli.
Market research firm Gartner Inc., based in Stamford, Connecticut, estimates 103.5 million tablet devices will be sold in 2012, with Apple accounting for two-thirds of them.
LG Display is Apple’s largest vendor of liquid-crystal displays used in the iPhone and older models of the iPad. The Seoul-based company gets about 2 percent of its revenue from Apple, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
LG Display and Sharp may start shipping panels for the new iPad in April, said Jakhanwal, who’s based in Santa Clara, California.
Apple may want to diversify its sources for the displays because of the lawsuits with Samsung, said Kang Yoon Hum, a Seoul-based analyst at NH Investment & Securities Co.
“Since the relationship between Apple and Samsung isn’t great these days, Apple would want to get shipments elsewhere as well,” Kang said by phone.
Nearly a 1/4 of businesses surveryed are buying tablets this year
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ChangeWave recently surveyed 1,604 IT personnel with buying power in their company. 22% of the surveyed companies said that they were in the market to buy tablets for their employees in 2012 and of those planning on getting tablets in the next quarter, 84% are siding with the iPad. Thats up from 77% in November – clearly the new iPad is spiking interest in businesses as well as consumers. Even BlackBerry, the traditional leader in enterprise, only demanded 3% of corporate tablet demand. Samsung’s took second place, albeit far behind apple with 8% demand.
Is anyone really surprised by results like this? Although it continues to highlight Apple’s vice grip on the tablet market, there’s still plenty of room for the tablet market itself to grow. An IT folks out there on the verge of rolling out iPads to the workforce? Have any of y’all already pulled the trigger?
Absinthe Jailbreak in iOS 5.1 patched by Apple
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Bad news for Jailbreakers.
We have just got a confirmation that Apple has indeed fixed the vulnerability in iOS 5.1 that was used in the Absinthe jailbreak for iPhone 4S and iPad 2 on iOS 5.0.1 or iOS 5. Apple has given the "2012 iOS Jailbreak Dream Team" credit for discovering the vulnerability in the document that provides details about the security issues that have been fixed in iOS 5.1.
Kernel
Available for: iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod touch (3rd generation) and later, iPad, iPad 2
Impact: A malicious program could bypass sandbox restrictions
Description: A logic issue existed in the handling of debug system calls. This may allow a malicious program to gain code execution in other programs with the same user privileges.
CVE-ID
CVE-2012-0643 : 2012 iOS Jailbreak Dream Team
Apple has also credited pod2G for the HFS vulnerability, we're not sure if this was the one used in the Corona jailbreak for iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPod touch 4g, iPod touch 3G and iPad 1.
HFS
Available for: iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod touch (3rd generation) and later, iPad, iPad 2
Impact: Mounting a maliciously crafted disk image may lead to a device shutdown or arbitrary code execution
Description: An integer underflow existed with the handling of HFS catalog files.
CVE-ID
CVE-2012-0642 : pod2g
pod2G had almost confirmed this earlier today when he tweeted that he was working hard to find a vulnerability in iOS 5.1 for an untethered jailbreak.
It remains to be seen how long it will take the brilliant jailbreak dream team to release an untethered jailbreak for iOS 5.1.
If you're still on iOS 5.0.1 or ealier then it is recommended to avoid updating to iOS 5.1 until the jailbreak tools for iOS 5.1 are released.
iPad Pre-Orders Sold Out, Demand has gone through the strotosphere.
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Demand for the new iPad has gone ballistic, through the roof, into the stratosphere. Fill in your own version here ….
Luckily you will still be able to line up outside an Apple store and get one, but pre-orders have been sold out. Demand is been huge.
So looks like Apple has another winner on it's hands and everyone else is left running around scrounging up the odd crumb or too off the floor.
The only "real" competition I see coming will be Tablets with Windows 8 on. But they are a way off and who knows how well received these will be. It's made it so much harder now that 16gb iPads 2's have dropped by $100 USD. As long as Apple can get it's supply chain going at full speed and supplying it's stores with the new iPad and the iPad 2 it should forge ahead and possibly even increase it's share of the tablet market over the next few months.
Time, as always, will tell. Still, maybe Google will pull one out of the bag and make (or should I say get someone else to make) a decent tablet. Google has stated that they will have their own branded Tablets soon.
Demand for the new iPad has gone ballistic, through the roof, into the stratosphere. Fill in your own version here ….
Luckily you will still be able to line up outside an Apple store and get one, but pre-orders have been sold out. Demand is been huge.
So looks like Apple has another winner on it's hands and everyone else is left running around scrounging up the odd crumb or too off the floor.
The only "real" competition I see coming will be Tablets with Windows 8 on. But they are a way off and who knows how well received these will be. It's made it so much harder now that 16gb iPads 2's have dropped by $100 USD. As long as Apple can get it's supply chain going at full speed and supplying it's stores with the new iPad and the iPad 2 it should forge ahead and possibly even increase it's share of the tablet market over the next few months.
Time, as always, will tell. Still, maybe Google will pull one out of the bag and make (or should I say get someone else to make) a decent tablet. Google has stated that they will have their own branded Tablets soon.
The New iPad's Biggest Advancement Might Actually Be Under The Hood
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Beyond processor specifications, Apple doesn’t usually have much to say about the inner goings-on of its iDevice family, and the new iPad has been no exception. From Apple’s announcement, we knew it would feature a quad-core A5X SoC, but that’s about all. However, earlier-than-expected “confirmations” indicate that the included RAM’s been doubled to an entire gigabyte, and that the battery — previously a 9644 mAh (25Wh) powerhouse — is now a gigantic 11,666 mAh (42Wh)!
On a practical level, it’s obvious Apple had to introduce a larger battery to keep the new iPad on track for 10 hours per charge. After all, that new Retina display sucks down more juice than Mr. Olympia, and LTE — when enabled — is notoriously hard on energy stores. So, it should be no surprise that Apple needed to up the battery ante.
What is surprising, however, is that Apple managed this drastic improvement while barely increasing the overall size of the iPad itself. And, since last year’s model was nearly all battery to begin with, this means Apple has made quite the industrial breakthrough. Like ZDNET tells us,
[i]t suggests that Apple has managed to increase significantly the power density of the Li-ion cells that it uses. In an industry that has seemed stagnant for some time now, this is quite an achievement and goes to show that Apple’s battery research labs and manufacturing plants have been hard at work. There’s no doubt that we’re going to be seeing the fruits of this labor in other Apple products soon.
What’s more, these advancements are likely proprietary, protected properties, meaning the Cupertino company has yet another strategic advantage over its computing competition. It’s been a long time coming, but battery life — at least for Apple products — may finally give up its crown as mobile technology’s single largest limiting factor.
Beyond processor specifications, Apple doesn’t usually have much to say about the inner goings-on of its iDevice family, and the new iPad has been no exception. From Apple’s announcement, we knew it would feature a quad-core A5X SoC, but that’s about all. However, earlier-than-expected “confirmations” indicate that the included RAM’s been doubled to an entire gigabyte, and that the battery — previously a 9644 mAh (25Wh) powerhouse — is now a gigantic 11,666 mAh (42Wh)!
On a practical level, it’s obvious Apple had to introduce a larger battery to keep the new iPad on track for 10 hours per charge. After all, that new Retina display sucks down more juice than Mr. Olympia, and LTE — when enabled — is notoriously hard on energy stores. So, it should be no surprise that Apple needed to up the battery ante.
What is surprising, however, is that Apple managed this drastic improvement while barely increasing the overall size of the iPad itself. And, since last year’s model was nearly all battery to begin with, this means Apple has made quite the industrial breakthrough. Like ZDNET tells us,
[i]t suggests that Apple has managed to increase significantly the power density of the Li-ion cells that it uses. In an industry that has seemed stagnant for some time now, this is quite an achievement and goes to show that Apple’s battery research labs and manufacturing plants have been hard at work. There’s no doubt that we’re going to be seeing the fruits of this labor in other Apple products soon.
What’s more, these advancements are likely proprietary, protected properties, meaning the Cupertino company has yet another strategic advantage over its computing competition. It’s been a long time coming, but battery life — at least for Apple products — may finally give up its crown as mobile technology’s single largest limiting factor.
New iPad announced: LTE, Retina Display, A5X processor with quad-core graphics, available March 16th for $499
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Apple just announced the new iPad, the latest in its popular line of tablets. As expected, it has a Retina Display, with a resolution of 2048 x 1536. That's good for a pixel density of 264ppi, which means you can't distinguish individual pixels when held at 10 inches -- the standard Apple uses for the Retina moniker. Existing apps will automatically take advantage of the higher resolution, but Apple's optimized all of its stock apps and is obviously encouraging developers to do the same.
In addition to the new display, the new iPad also features an A5X processor with a new quad-core graphics processor, which Apple claims is four times as fast as the Tegra 3. There's also a new iSight camera, which is the same as the camera built into the iPhone 4S: auto-exposure, auto-focus, 5 megapixel backside-illuminated sensor with 1080p stabilized video. That's a huge upgrade from the iPad 2, and a massive jump over competitive tablets, which all have terrible cameras. The front camera for FaceTime remains at VGA. There's also a new microphone icon on the keyboard for voice dictation, which works in several languages.
Apple's also added 4G LTE and 42Mbps HSPA+ mobile networking, with models for AT&T, Verizon, Rogers, Telus, and Bell. The Verizon and AT&T LTE models will be separate, but will both support 3G around the world. The iPad also now supports hotspot functionality, per your carrier's rules.
Battery life is pegged at 10 hours, which is the same as the iPad 2, with 9 hours on 4G. The only downside? At 9.4mm thick and 1.4 pounds, the new iPad is a little bit heavier and thicker than the iPad 2, which measured 8.8mm thick and 1.35 pounds.
The new iPad starts at $499 for the 16GB Wi-Fi model and $629 for the 16GB 4G model, with 32GB and 64GB sizes commanding an extra $100 and $200 each. It'll be in stores on March 16th, but pre-orders start today in the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Japan -- and it'll hit 100 more countries on March 23.
Apple updates iMovie with advanced editing and planning tools
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COMMENTS
Apple has just announced a refresh to the iLife suite, including iMovie. The update adds more advanced editing and planning tools. You can now cut fancy trailers as you're recording video, and iMovie will include nine stylized genre templates, which also include custom soundtracks from famous composers like Hans Zimmer. Movies can be shared in 1080p resolution to the Apple TV using AirStream, and also shared to YouTube, Facebook, and Vimeo.
COMMENTS
Apple has just announced a refresh to the iLife suite, including iMovie. The update adds more advanced editing and planning tools. You can now cut fancy trailers as you're recording video, and iMovie will include nine stylized genre templates, which also include custom soundtracks from famous composers like Hans Zimmer. Movies can be shared in 1080p resolution to the Apple TV using AirStream, and also shared to YouTube, Facebook, and Vimeo.
New iPad has Retina Display, 2048 x 1536 resolution
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Apple's brand new iPad has just launched with a Retina Display! The resolution is 2048 x 1536, quadrupling that of the first and second generation iPads. The new 9.7-inch iOS tablet keeps the same screen size as its predecessors, but now comes with just over 3.1 million pixels, resulting in an impressive 264ppi density. You might not think that's quite enough to merit Apple's designation of a Retina Display — one dense enough to make individual pixels indistiguishable — however Phil Schiller explained that the iPad is expected to be held at a distance of 15 inches away from the user's eyes, qualifying it for that title.
All stock iOS apps have been updated and optimized for the new resolution and text will automatically be rendered accordingly. Apple already pulled off this sort of a resolution jump with the move between iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4, so we imagine the transitional process for developers updating their apps will be no different with the new iPad.
The new display is not merely denser, however, as Apple has also revealed that it'll have 44 percent greater color saturation than the old 1024 x 768 panel. Phil Schiller's conclusion about the updated display is categorical: "The best mobile display that has ever shipped." Apple's 2012 iPad will be in stores on March 16th.
| SCREEN SIZE | RESOLUTION | PPI | |
Apple's new iPad | 9.7 inches | 2048 x 1536 | 264 |
Apple iPad / iPad 2 | 9.7 inches | 1024 x 768 | 132 |
Acer Iconia Tab 700 | 10.1 inches | 1920 x 1200 | 224 |
Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 | 10.1 inches | 1280 x 800 | 149 |
Apple iPhone 4S | 3.5 inches | 960 x 640 | 330 |
HTC Rezound / Sony Xperia S | 4.3 inches | 1280 x 720 | 342 |
Sony PS Vita | 5 inches | 960 x 544 | 221 |
Apple MacBook Air (2011) | 11 inches | 1366 x 768 | 135 |
Sony VAIO Z (2011) | 13.1 inches | 1920 x 1200 | 168 |
Apple Thunderbolt Display | 27 inches | 2560 x 1440 | 109 |
