Steve Jobs Shows Up to Show Off More Robust iPad 2
The iPad 2 made its debut March 2, 2011, with the event featuring a surprise appearance by Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who received a standing ovation. Despite being on medical leave, Jobs looked healthy, and the event keynote offered a healthy dose of criticism to the tablet arena thus far. Here’s the scoop …
First, the goods: iPad 2 offers the following upgrades:
- Front and rear camera, for FaceTime, with the rear camera recording in high-def
- New dual-core Apple A5 CPU at 1GHz
- iOS 4.3 with new AirDisplay functionality
- Gyroscope
- 10-hour battery life
- Verizon and AT&T 3G versions
- 33 percent thinner.
- New HDMI-out cable port with full mirror capabilities (i.e. if it’s on your iPad’s screen, it’s on your TV)
- iMove and GarageBand for the iPad
These upgrades mean the iPad has morphed from a content consumption device to a content creation device, and that’s exactly what Apple has always tried to do with its computing technology.
But don’t call it a computer. Jobs called it a “post-computer device” — and noted, in fact, it is the most successful post-computer device to date. In 2010 alone, Apple sold more than 15 million iPads. Jobs’ didn’t hesitate to call out Google’s Honeycomb, Samsung, HP, RIM’s Blackberry Playbook and Motorola all in one swoop, declaring 2011 to be the Year of the iPad 2 and also the Year of the Copycats.
Even with iPad 2’s upgrades — which admittedly I’m excited about — I still have high hopes for the other contenders in the marketplace. But Apple truly has the upper hand in the apps space and the new paradigm the company is pushing.
While other tablets play catch-up or aim for the business marketplace, Apple has already provided two new huge content-creation applications for the iPad. iMovie and GarageBand are faithful and surprisingly robust versions of their Mac counterparts. Apple offered this interesting perspective of the technology: GarageBand can do eight-track recording, while The Beatles only had four-track recording during the band’s entire career.
Initial reports from Engadget say that the dual-core CPU lends a lot of speed and perk to the entire user interface, which translates to more horsepower for developers. With a gyroscope, cameras and a better CPU, I’m thinking apps are about to get a whole lot more powerful on iOS. You’ll be happy to know this blogger will be picking up one ASAP. I’ll give you a real review when the iPad comes out March 11, 2011.
Bottom line? iPad 2 has all the upgrades the first iPad needed, and while it’s not groundbreaking, it’s a nice maturation of an incredibly popular device.
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