Debra Shinder from TechRepublic posted an article about 10 reasons why she won’t buy an iPad. As time passes by her thoughts provoke more and more passionate discussions on this topic. So here are these 10 reasons:
There is no physical keyboard (or you need to buy an Apple Bluetooth Keyboard).
One size doesn’t fit all (it doesn’t fill the gap between mobiles and netbooks as 9.7” inches is an exact screen size of netbook, and you cannot put it into your pocket).
It runs iPhone OS (so there is no multi-tasking).
There’s not enough storage (and you cannot expand it via USB-flashdrives).
There’s no HDMI output or camera (if you can watch video, why you can’t make videoconferences with your friends?).
There are no USB ports (and you would not be able to connect your own web-cam, for example).
There is no flash memory slot.
The price is not right (it just seems to be illogical to pay 200$ for additional 48 GB )
It is locked in. All apps are in AppStore, and good ones cost money.
It is all about network (why should people change their internet provider to AT&T just because of purchasing some new device?).
While Debra compares fully-equipped 829$ iPad with a powerful and though compact laptop, it seems like she’s looking for an ability to make use of all its capacities. On the other hand, TUAW critics and Apple fans say that iPad is designed to be an enhanced ebook-reader that makes it easy to handle everyday operations like checking e-mails or surfing the web.
Enagdget reports that new facts about the 4th generation iPhone were discovered in iPad’s 3.2 SDK:
Buried way inside the platform simulator lies a set of folders dedicated to specific models of iPhone OS-ready devices, including the iPhone 3GS, second generation iPod touch, something called the "K48" (yep, the codename we were told was the internal name for the iPad), and... the "N89."
This "N89." is rumored to be the codename of the next iPhone. Previous versions of the iPhone were named the M68, N82 and N88.
They also have found a bit more than that:
Apple's just released firmware (3.1.3) also includes another new model, the "N80," which we're told will most likely be the next version of the iPod touch.
Rumors say that 4th generation iPod Touch is likely to ship this September, while the next iPhone is expected this June-July.
So this is a minor update, which fixing only the accuracy of the 3GS battery meter and the stability of some third-party app launches. This update is avaliable via iTunes.
New firmware 3.1.3 also introduces a new version of the baseband, the 05.12.01. So if you need unlock do not update! DevTeam also warns us:
If you care about your jailbreak and unlock, don’t update your device - 3G and 3G(S) owners should pay particular attention to this warning.
PwnageTool and redsn0w are not yet compatible with 3.1.3
Experimenters show that the latest version of redsn0w 0.9.2 is able to jailbreak iPhone 2G, iPhone 3G and iPod touch 1G. Just point it at the 3.1.2 IPSW (download here) after doing update or restore to firmware 3.1.3. Sounds like DevTeam will release an updated version of redsn0w that will handle firmware 3.1.3 officially. They say iPod touch 2G with firmware 3.1.3 is also jailbreakable.
Users report that unlock software, blacksn0w and ultrasn0w, doesn;t work with the new baseband.
Repairing company Mission Repair uncovered evidence of a forward-facing camera existence in the iPad after receiving a shipment of iPad replacement details yesterday.
The company confirmed that the camera from the Macbook does fit into place on the frame, with the LED, ambient light sensor and lens. As it also was reported before, the iPhone OS 3.2 SDK provided evidence that the shipping iPad could support a camera, and the native Contacts application on the iPad has an option of taking photos in addition to choosing an existing one.
A few days before iPad presentation the Wall Street Journal published an article about possibility of equipping iPad with a camera that could recognize the face of its user. At that moment it was unclear whether it is true or not, but now it seems to be more plausible than before.
Apple's finally announced the iPad (Apple Tablet). It is perfect for tasks like browsing, email, photos, e-books and videos. It's a half-inch thick and weighs just 1.5 pounds (680g), with a 9.7-inch capacitive touchscreen IPS LCD display and it's running a custom 1GHz Apple "A4" chip developed by the P.A. Semi team. The 10-hour battery life and a month of standby is quite exciting.
There will be devices with 16, 32 and 64GB. All iPads will get a 30-pin Dock connector, a speaker, a microphone, Bluetooth, 802.11n WiFi and optional 3G, as well as an accelerometer and a compass. There's also a keyboard dock, which connects underneath in the portrait orientation. iPad supports up to 1024x768 VGA out and 480p composite out through dock adapter cables. There is a camera attachment kit that lets you import photos from your camera over USB or directly through an SD reader.
The device is managed by iTunes, just like the iPhone and iPod Touch. iPad can run iPhone apps: either pixel-for-pixel in a window, or pixel-doubled fullscreen. Developers can also target the new screen size using the updated iPhone OS SDK, which is available today.
The 3G version runs on AT&T and comes with new data plans: 250MB for $14.99 and an unlimited plan for $29.99 a month contract-free. Activations are handled on the iPad, so you can activate and cancel whenever you want. Every iPad is unlocked (!) and comes with a GSM "micro-SIM".
The price starts at $499 for 16GB, 32GB for $599, and $699 64GB. Adding 3G costs a $130 per model, so the most expensive model (64GB / 3G) is $829. The WiFi-only model will ship in 60 days, and the 3G models will come in 90.
A placeholder on the signup form for Apple's iPhone Developer Program reads "Need to update this for the 27th launch.". This might indicate that Apple, as rumored, will announce a new version of the iPhone OS at today's keynote.
Site gizmodo published the results of the photoshop contest, where they asked users to design some new concept interfaces for iPhone 4.0. The image above rated #1. Here are the others: Read the rest of this entry »
Apple rejected Google Voice native application for iPhone. Now Google is launching a new version of mobile web app for iPhone OS 3.0 and higher. It uses the power of HTML5, so users can run it right from the Safari browser.
To get started, just visit http://m.google.com/voice in your mobile browser. For quick access, just create a shortcut to this URL on your home screen.
According to a new patent application filed by Apple, the new and upcoming iPhone OS could offer contact icons on the home screen. These icons can be used to invoke apps, retrieve and display contacts information, or can be modified to display related info, tied to an individual contact. This patent, which was filed back in July 2008.
The icon can also be used to invoke one or more applications that are personalized to the contact. The icon can be modified to display information related to the contact. In one aspect, an icon associated with an entity can be temporarily displayed on the mobile device based on the proximity of the mobile device to the entity.
The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office today has accepted Apple’s filing. This could probably mean that we may soon see this feature being introduced in the upcoming iPhone OS 4.0, which is expected to be announced with the next-gen iPhone in summer.
One of the most popular courses on Apple’s iTunes U education is back. The Winter 2010 semester of Stanford University’s iPhone Application Development Course is now available via iTunes U.
This is a 10 week session that will focus on updated material for iPhone OS 3.1. The videos for the course will also offer more this year. “We’re getting the videos closed captioned this time, so they’ll be even more accessible,” said Julie Zelenski, a Stanford computer science lecturer who helps coordinate the class.
The course was downloaded more than 4.4 million times last year.
French site Mac4Ever (Google translation) claims that Apple's special media event now reportedly scheduled for January 27th will see both the introduction of the company's much-rumored tablet device and the launch of beta versions of iPhone OS 4.0 and the associated Software Development Kit for developers.
Rumors say SDK will include a "simulator" to assist developers in adapting their existing App Store applications to support the tablet's screen resolution. The deployment of tools for supporting multiple screen resolutions could also pave the way for a higher-resolution iPhone in the future.
We published several news about new firmware 4.0 and even new iPhone 4 hardware. Recently one more iPhone developer has noted a single instance of iPhone OS 4.0 being used in their Pinch Media analytics. While such data can still be faked, it seems less likely to be. Testing of iPhone OS 4.0 may correspond with reports of new iPhone hardware also being tested. Any new iPhone would require a new version of the iPhone operating system to support the new hardware.
We can not yet imagine the features of this new OS or the new device. Apple is widely expected to release a new iPhone in the summer around WWDC 2010.
TheBoyGenius report that they have found some very interesting data while analyzing the access statistics to their web site:
We can see that this data is related to the new iPhone firmware 3.1.3 and 4.0!
The iPhone OS 3.1.3 should only be a minor update over the current version and could be released even in several days. Firmware 4.0 will probably be released after testing phase and several private beta versions for developers. Rumors say this new version 4.0 will be released together with iPhone 4 some time in June or July next year.