Tim Cook launches the new iPad. Photocredit: http://www.psfk.com/2012/03/apples-ipad-3-launch-tv.html
Finally, after months of speculation – is it thicker? thinner? will it have a biger screen? – the iPad3 was launched this week. Oh, and it’s actually just called the iPad. CEO Tim Cook gave a presentation to eager journalists in which he talked about his idea of the “post PC era”, in which desktop computers aren’t the center of our digital lives any more. There’s the humble television, too, which looks set for a revolution. A quarter of TV sets are sold with an internet connection. Apple hasn’t made one yet, though it does have a set top box known as Apple TV.
Commentators agree that whilst it’s not a revolutionary device, it’s still pretty damn good, and will hold Apple’s position in the tablet market. iPad 2 owners are unlikely to upgrade, but original iPad users might. It’s really aimed at those poor souls who’ve yet to breach the tablet market. It’s basically preparation for what is to come, when we’ll all be using Apple devices to run our fridges, bank accounts, televisions, and so on. There will even be one that makes us tea in the morning. Probably. (Come on Apple, we know you can do it!)
Closer interaction across screens. Juliette Garside on The Guardian’s Business Blog said the iPad 3’s launch was “Apple’s most coherent effort yet to bind its family of screens closer together.” It’s paving the way for Apple to “disrupt the world’s most important entertainment medium – broadcasting.” It’s done this by allowing the iPad 3 to play High Definition videos, up to 1080 lines of vertical resolution. It’s expanded its iCloud storage service. So whilst Apple TV was a “misfire”, selling a mere 4 million, it can be seen as a “test bed for bigger things to come.”
Who’s it for? The Fiscal Times said it hadn’t budged Apple’s stock price – mostly because, said analysts, it wasn’t a “game-changer.” It still doesn’t support Adobe Flash, and you still can’t expand memory. It’s aimed at owners of the original iPads, which were “older, clunkier, heavier.” And at those who still haven’t got tablets. “For those looking for simple entertainment, the Kindle Fire may well suffice, but the iPad’s capabilities stretch further, despite its limitations.”
What are the specifics? The BBC gave the full low down. It features a megapixel camera sensor. It will run on 4G networks. It’s 9.4 mm deep – a bit thicker than the iPad 2. It’ll cost £399 with only wi-fi, and the top of the range model with 4G will cost £659. It’s got a 10-hour battery life. Some, however, reported the site, were disappointed. Where’s the “haptic touch-feedback technology”, eh? And where’s Siri when you need her? (Siri being the iPhone 4S’s voice controlled assistant; haptic technology provides bumps and vibrations and so on.)
What do the geeks think? They were largely ecstatic. M G Siegler on Techcrunch said it “looks amazing.” The screen is “glorious.” You’ll “never be able to use a non-Retina iPad again.” The camera is “much, much, much, much, much better.” And using iPhoto to edit pics is fun. David Carnoy on CNET said that it fell a little short of expectations. It doesn’t look any different from the iPad 2 and it’s still “quite heavy”. So “almost all the change is on the inside.” Like someone in a coming of age movie, thinks Periscope.
