Apple's latest creation will be in your hands in 60 days and may revolutionize the way you or I compute. Steve Jobs clarified just what we can expect from Apples iPad, a device that appears to be an iPod Touch on steroids. The iPad platform is very similar to the iPod Touch but its capabilities are far more advanced. "It's the best web experience you've ever had. Way better than a laptop, way better than a phone," Steve Jobs said.
Here are the Specs:
only 1.5 lbs
only .5 inches and a 9.7-inch LED display
powered by Apple's own silicon technology, a 1 GHz Apple A4 chip
available in memory configurations of 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB
Bluetooth 2.1
802.11N WiFi
speaker
microphone
accelerometer
compass
10 hours of battery life and over a month of standby time
on-screen keyboard
Apple has already released an SDK program so that after market developers can create amazing new applications that are befitting to a device like the iPad. Apple is launching a brand new service called iBooks (and the corresponding iBookstore). Apple has reached an agreement, similar to the deal struck with record labels, with all the major publishers to market their content on the new iBookstore. Reading on the iPad will be very similar to Kindles, giving the reader the least strain possible on their eyes. There will be an external keyboard available for when you're in the office, something that we begged Apple to provide with the iPhone. One of the most important features on the iPad is the fact that you will not need a contract with AT&T to access the 3G network; $30 a month will give you unlimited access.
I have saved the best for last, "The Price is Right"! Only $499 for 16GB model, $599 for 32GB, and 64GB for $699. Models with built-in 3G (like the iPhone) will cost more, adding about $130 dollars to the price of each unit. I could make a pretty long list of what the iPad is missing. However, there is no sense in getting worked up about the 1st generation iPad; naturally as the product evolves and is tested by consumers more advancements will find their way to the iPad. I would much rather marvel at the sheer potential this product has to revolutionize the work place as well the classroom than complain about what the device lacks - which seems to be the trend with all the critics. The iPad is scheduled for release in April 2010.
The iPhone web browser speed test knocks the competition out of the water. The statistics of the tests were rather astonishing. Medialets ran the SunSpider test suite with Safari 4.0.1 on a 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo White MacBook (the baseline for comparisons), Mobile Safari on the iPhone 3G with iPhone OS v2.2.1, Mobile Safari on the iPhone 3G with iPhone OS v3.0, Mobile Safari on the iPhone 3GS with iPhone OS v3.0, the "Browser" app on the T-Mobile G1 with Android OS v1.5 (Cupcake) and the "Web" app on the Palm Pre with Web OS v1.0.2.
iPhone OS 3.0 on the same iPhone 3G yields nearly 3X the JavaScript performance in Mobile Safari vs. using iPhone OS 2.2.1. Which should make everyone who has not bought a 3GS very happy. The iPhone 3GS steps up another factor of 3, bringing JavaScript performance on the iPhone 3GS to 12X that of a desktop machine that has well over four times the raw processing power.
The T-Mobile G1 running the "Cupcake" version of the Android OS finished the test suite in about 91 seconds. It is about a third faster than the iPhone 3G running Apple's OS (2.2.1). The Palm Pre had speeds that closely rival the iPhone 3G running Apple's OS 3.0.
The iPhone 3Gs' new features are forces to be reckoned with! I have had an iPhone now for just under a year, in that time I have come to love and cherish it. The iPhone, in my opinion, had the most potential to revolutionize mobile technology as we knew it! Overnight, it quickly became the most useful piece of technology that I have ever owned.
After the initial infatuation period ended, I began to realize that there were things that disappointed me about the iPhone. I learned very quickly that with all modern marvels there will be glitches and hiccups along the way. Beta, Beta, Beta! The iPhone is a painting that has yet to be finished, always changing and always evolving; adapting to the needs of the people. Everything that disappointed me with with the iPhone 3G the 3Gs has made up for!
We now have the ability to: copy and paste, take video, send picture and video text-messages, and the list goes on and on. The 3Gs is faster and smarter, we have the capability to make our own applications and now that there is a digital compass we will never get lost! The possibilities are absolutely endless, and I'm pretty sure that the sky is no longer the limit. Here are the details on just a few of the new features:
"Now you can shoot video, edit it, and share it — all on your iPhone 3GS. Shoot high-quality VGA video in portrait or landscape. Trim your footage by adjusting start and end points. Then share your video in an email, post it to your MobileMe gallery, publish it on YouTube, or sync it back to your Mac or PC using iTunes."
"Voice Control recognizes the names in your Contacts and knows the music on your iPod. So if you want to place a call or play a song, all you have to do is ask."
"Surf the web from practically anywhere. Now you can share the 3G connection on your iPhone with your Mac notebook or PC laptop."
Apple released the new iPhone OS, Version 2.2 on Friday, so if you have not done so already please open iTunes and update your iPhone,
New Features that Apple is touting,
Google Street View for Maps, see where you are going before you get there.
Podcast downloads over WiFi or 3G
Updated Safari, the iPhones web browser so that you always see Google search.
One of the things we have noticed and have seen mentioned across the blogisphere is much improved battery life. We use our iPhones more like a Laptop, checking mail, feeds in Google reader and what not. Saturday we went Geocaching with our iPhones, and normally this would have sucked the battery dry in the hours we were out caching. But Sat, after we got home both of our iPhones were still half full.
Nice work Apple, while Cut & Paste would have been a nice addition, this kind of improved battery performance should have been noted on the top of the list of reasons to upgrade to 2.2.
Have you noticed better battery life after your upgrade?
Kevin Rose, of Digg fame, demos the new Qik.com app for unjailbroken iPhones. For those of us who did not want the chance of having an iBrick you will no longer have to jailbreak your iPhone to install this new Qik app once released. Did you watch the above video? Excited yet?
What does Qik on the iPhone do?
The Qik iPhone app Streams video to the Qik.com site,
The Qik iPhone app notes the location of the video,
Chat with the folks watching the live stream at Qik.com from your iPhone.
The iPhone 3G the Swiss Army Knife of SmartPhones, just keeps getting better and better.
T-Mobile has quite a few things up their sleeves right now. First off, T-Mobile finally unleashes their 3G Network. It was available for testing purposes in New York but now will be available in the major cities in U.S.
Let's get a quick breakdown of the most commonly used networks by your provider: note: Kbps stands for Kilobytes per second.
Edge: Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (or Enhanced Data GSM Environment) Edge Speed: Ideally 200 Kbps, realisticly its closer to 90 Kbps
GPRS: General Packet Radio Service (an upgrade from GSM network). This is 2.5G that gives the speed between 30Kbps - 50Kbps
UMTS: Universal Mobile Telephone Service. This is the 3G Service provided by T-Mobile and ATT. This service is aimed to provide up to 2Mbps but in the real world, you'll see 300Kpbs - 400Kbps (which is still an amazing speed compared to Edge or GPRS).
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