Archive for April, 2010
April 1st, 2010 at 2:18 PM EST | by inu846W
Reviews of Apple’s iPad are rolling in, and boy, are they predictable. Pretty much everyone adores Apple’s shiny new tablet. When they aren’t heaping praise on its sleek design, brilliant screen, and awesome new apps, they’re either hitting all the specs we’ve known about since January or casually mentioning the iPad’s weaknesses: no camera, no Flash, no USB.
Buried among these reviews, at least, are a few tidbits of new information for people who’ve been reading petabytes of iPad blog posts and articles written by people who haven’t used the device (myself included).
So here are five things we’ve learned about the iPad from the latest reviews, just before its April 3 launch:
Read more: PCWorld.com
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April 1st, 2010 at 1:43 PM EST | by inu846W
Yes, the iPad has fewer features than a comparably priced netbook. Yes, it’s tied to an app store controlled by a single company that has proven to be both capricious and prudish in the kinds of content it approves. And yes, it won’t run Adobe Flash, instantly crippling many websites.
But the iPad is an important device just the same, because it’s simple and it’s fast.
Early reviews of the iPad confirm my experience using the device during Apple’s press event two months ago: there’s something seriously different about Apple’s tablet.
That difference can be summarized in two words: It disappears.
It’s basically a screen. There’s a home button, and some buttons on the side that you don’t pay much attention to while you’re using it.
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April 1st, 2010 at 12:54 PM EST | by inu846W
In addition to all Apple retail stores and most Best Buy locations, the iPad will also be available for purchase at select U.S. Apple Specalists, people familiar with the matter have told AppleInsider.
The information that select Apple Specialists locations will offer the iPad on its April 3 release date has remained quiet until now because Apple has allegedly placed resellers under a nondisclosure agreement, preventing them from pre-advertising the availability of the iPad or accessories.
Specific locations where the iPad will be available are unknown, but with Apple sold out of its initial run of preorders and Best Buy rumored to receive just 15 per store, those locations will be another option for those who want to pick up an iPad on Saturday.
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April 1st, 2010 at 11:22 AM EST | by inu846W
If you needed a place to look for video content for the iPad, Apple has just posted a list of the big sites that carry iPad-formatted (no Flash) content:
iPad features Safari, a mobile web browser that supports the latest web standards — including HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript. Here are just a few of the sites that take advantage of these web standards to deliver content that looks and functions beautifully on iPad.
Read more: 9to5Mac.com
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April 1st, 2010 at 11:16 AM EST | by inu846W
Do you enjoy tracking storms? Ilene Jones, CEO of Kitty Code was kind enough to send over this preview of her Hurricane HD application, a bigger, updated version of the current iPhone version. It offers both Atlantic and Pacific storm tracking. You’ll be able to check wind speed, direction and pressure as storms develop and dissipate. The application also offers satellite images, forecasts and advisories among other data.
Read more: TUAW.com
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April 1st, 2010 at 10:45 AM EST | by inu846W
By Stephen Fry
It is a gorgeous spring day when I arrive at the coolest address in the universe: 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, Calif., where Apple has been headquartered since 1993. The campus, for such they call it, is enormous yet not big enough to contain Apple’s current rate of expansion. An additional site is being designed and built. After stocking up on "I visited the mothership" T-shirts at the company store (we fanboys are pathetic, I readily confess), I am shown around the canteen, lawns and public spaces. It is right to call this a campus, for everyone looks and dresses like a student. I should imagine the only people ever caught wearing suits here have been visiting politicians.
Phil Schiller and Eddy Cue are suitably bejeaned and relaxed as they welcome me for a talk about the iPad, Apple’s new product, which will be launched in a week and a half. Schiller is senior VP of worldwide product marketing, responsible for delivering Apple’s latest baby. Cue is VP of Internet services, overseeing the iTunes, App and iBook online stores.
I am here at Apple’s invitation to try out the iPad, and later in my visit I will spend an hour with the company’s boss, Steve Jobs — the first time I’ve ever spent any real time with him. But as I meet with Schiller and Cue, I feel it only fair to reel off the list of negatives the iPad will meet on its release. It falls between two stools — neither small enough to be truly portable nor big enough to be called a proper computer. Everything, I point out, is under Apple’s control, as usual. No Adobe Flash capability, no multitasking, no camera. It’s just a scaled-up iPhone or iPod Touch. (See the best netbooks and netbook accessories.)
"There’s a negative way of saying that," says Schiller, "and a positive. ‘Oh, it’s just a big iPhone … boo!’ or ‘Hey, it’s like a big iPhone … cool!’ Luckily, millions of people have those, so there is an instant ease and familiarity when they first encounter the iPad. As for everything else, it’s not about the features — it’s about the experience. You just have to try it to see what I mean."
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