iPad News, Updates, App and Accessory Reviews
March 25th, 2011 at 5:10 PM EST
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inu846W
The rest of the world is finally getting a look at the new iPad 2 from Apple(and if you’re lucky, a chance to buy one!) after the initial launch of the device was more than a success in the US two weeks ago.
CNET had a story from London:
“This is my first time doing it, and I can say I’m going to do it for every single product,” said Craig Fox, who withstood a 25-hour wait by arriving at 4 p.m. yesterday. Fox was near the head of a line of hundreds who came to Apple’s store at Oxford Circus here to buy the second-generation tablet. He and Ben Paton, one spot ahead, agreed the company of fellow linemates was the highlight–though Apple’s free bottled water and overnight security staff helped keep up spirits, too.
Reuters had a story today showing the different prices of iPad 2 in different countries. While the new tablet costs $499 for the 16GB WiFi only model in the US, the same version will cost a person in Denmark the equivalent of $702 in Denmark. In most other European countries, the equivalent cost is about $678. England is enjoying a slightly lower cost with a cost equivalent to $642 USD for the 16GB WiFi only iPad 2.
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March 24th, 2011 at 1:12 PM EST
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inu846W
FaceTime is freezing up on iPad 2 for some people when they use the video chat feature. AppleInsider reports there are some users posting on their message board who are talking about the problem. For those who are experiencing technical difficulties, the front-facing camera crashes when the FaceTime application is being used.
Some remedy the problem by restarting their iPads, while others choose to perform a complete restore of the operating system. That seems to fix the problem, but the issue can return after using the application a few more times.
One user talked to a Verizon store manager in New York City who said they too had the same problem with FaceTime freezing up in their iPad 2 demo models potential customers are allowed to handle and use in the store.
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March 23rd, 2011 at 1:45 PM EST
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inu846W
For those of you enjoying the free Wall Street Journal app on your iPad, you now have the option of buying single-issue downloads for $1.99 each.
The limited content in the free app may be enough for some, but it doesn’t give you the newspaper’s full content.
There is also the “Now Edition” with regular news updates available for $18 a month, and a comprehensive bundle available at $3.99 per week where you can get full access to WSJ.com and its suite of digital products which includes tablet and smartphone apps.
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March 23rd, 2011 at 12:42 PM EST
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inu846W
In a test between browsers in iPad 2, Motorola’s Xoom, and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab, a web development tools vendor named Sencha called Apple’s iOS Safari “a top rate, no compromises HTML5 browser”. It characterized the Android operating system running on Xoom as “not ready for primetime, even for HTML4.”
All of the browsers are based on WebKit, but they are not all equal when it comes to web standards. WebKit’s engine provides some functions, but each browser also defines some of its own parameters like caching, screen drawing, location services, and memory management.
Sencha notes:
“our experience to date with Android has been lackluster, starting with the disappointing browser in the Galaxy Tab and the Xoom [running Android 3.0 Honeycomb].”
Android and iOS browsers had perfect scores in the Acid3 test, with some rendering issues being the only problem for both.
Another report was also done using Modernizr, which shows the browser features each operating system can support.
Sencha noted:
“…nearly all the major browser features are supported on the iPad 2. Modernizr found support for SVG, CSS 2D transforms, CSS 3D transforms, CSS transitions, WebGL and Web Sockets. Interestingly enough, Modernizer reported that there was no Inline SVG although we were able to try a few demo sites and saw that it did in fact work, and it also reported that the browser supports WebGL, which we couldn’t get to work. As we found in our earlier scorecards, just because a browser says something is there, it doesn’t mean it works. All the other HTML5 features except the ones mentioned worked beautifully.”
Performance testing also showed iPad 2 had a leg up on other popular tablets.
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March 22nd, 2011 at 10:30 AM EST
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inu846W
With a current large demand for, and limited supply of, iPad 2 in the US, Apple is now planning to sell the iPad 2 in 25 countries all over the world starting this Friday at 5pm local time. Online sales will begin at 1am through apple.com.
iPad 2 will be sold in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the U.K. on March 25 with the same price price breakdowns for both WiFi and WiFi+3G models as in the US.
9to5mac.com is saying Canadian Best Buy stores may start selling iPad 2 as early as 10am.
In April, Apple plans to sell iPad 2 in Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and other countries. Even more countries will get iPad 2 in the months after.
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March 21st, 2011 at 1:51 PM EST
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inu846W
Did you mean to drop your iPad 2 on the ground? No. Was it your intention to run it over with your car? Of course not. Were you drunk when you took it swimming with you? Yes. But accidents happen.
Now you can get a great deal on protecting your investment with a 2-year iPad warranty from SquareTrade for only $71.99. This offer is good for both iPad 1 and iPad 2.
Use coupon code IPAD40 when checking out to take advantage of the savings. It is not known when the coupon code will expire so get this great deal now and protect your iPad while taking $48 off the original cost of the warranty!
The AppleCare Protection Plan does not cover accidental damage to the iPad. SquareTrade offers a better deal for less money.
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