iCaved
Don't judge me! I couldn't resist! My friend Brian and I went to the mall to do some shopping and I'm completely blaming him for my $700 impulse buy. We played around with it for a while and while I had my doubts, I am completely enamored with it. I also chose to get the WiFi version (64 GB) instead of waiting for the 3G version for one simple reason: Everywhere I would be using it, has WiFi! Why would I pay an extra $130 for just the 'capability' for 3G and then an additional $30/month for service (no, I wouldn't get the $15/month service for 250 MB 'cuz let's be real... I'd blow that out of the water)?
As for why I decided to splurge on the $700 device... it makes sense for me. Do I need it? Certainly not. Don't I have a great laptop? Yes, I have a 15" MacBook Pro. So why did I get it? Uhhh 'cuz I wanted it! (Duh!) But besides that, I don't have to lug my entire laptop (and external drive) downstairs when I want to browse Facebook, Twitter, or just read any of the numerous blogs I visit daily. In addition, it makes blogging remotely very convenient. I'm not managing any files, or editing in Photoshop during most of that time. I'm also very excited to see what changes are in store for iPhone OS 4.0 for the iPad. I have a feeling we're going to see great things from the iPad... and not too far from now.
Now on to the good stuff! As I'm sure you've all already know, the iPad runs the same OS as the iPhone and the iPod Touch - with a few minor differences. The iPad was launched with iPhone OS 3.2 (iPhones currently are running 3.1.3). Here are a few of the differences I've noticed:
- Backgrounds!: The Home Screen now supports background images... it's about damn time! This has obviously been a user requested enhancement since day one on the iPhone and has been accomplished via jailbreaking your phone; but, not supported by Apple. It seemed to be a relatively easy enhancement that they could have included on any number of the updates we've received over the last 3 years. In any case... it's here and it'll be nice to customize my $300+ device. The iPad background must have looked mighty empty with just a black screen.
- Dock: The Dock can now support up to 6 apps/icons and also has a new image.
- Home Screen Rotation: Also a highly requested update to the iPhone is the rotation of the home screen icons when the device is turned into a landscape position. Apple looks to have brought this to the iPad in 3.2. It remains to be seen if it will also translate to the iPhone.
- Spell Check: Spell check is introduced in iPhone OS 3.2. While typing, the iPad will still auto-correct just like the iPhone; however, in some cases, it will not auto-correct a misspelled/unknown word and underline it in red. At this point, a simply tap to the word will provide suggested corrections to allow you to choose from.
- Hold to Mute: Since there is no "Mute Switch" as there is on the iPhone (this is replaced with a Screen Lock switch to prevent the screen from rotating), you can mute the audio on the iPad by just holding the Volume Down button and the volume will immediately jump to mute.
- Picture Frame: While locked, you can launch a digital slideshow that is configured in settings. Glad this one is built in and I don't have to pay for a silly app to do it.
- iBooks: I mentioned previously that I'm not completely sold on this feature just yet... and while the screen is stunning, reading might be a bit weary on the eyes. I'll update after I download and read a large novel... that is, if I can still see after.
- Battery Life: On a day to day basis, it holds its own. Supposedly up to 10 hours of use... but on standby it's lasted a few days.
A great review of the iPad is at Daring Fireball and I'm pretty much in sync with their points.
Most of the other differences are just enhancements to existing apps which take advantage of the larger screen. All in all, I rescind most of my negative comments about the iPad and am looking forward to the Fall to see what iPhone OS 4.0 has in store for the iPad.
Anything you want to know about the iPad or want my opinion on? Just ask in the comments!
iPass on the iPad (for now at least…)
So far... I am not that impressed with the iPad. For one... the name... really Apple? We couldn't come up with something a little more creative? I doubt I'm not the only one who thinks this, but isn't it just a overgrown iPod Touch at this point??
Here are my thoughts on some main points:
- Operating System & Processor: The iPad runs on the iPhone OS and based on the SDK that was released today, will start running on iPhone OS 3.2, which is not currently out to iPhone users. The power behind the iPad is Apple's hefty 1GHz A4 processor... the demos show it to be preforming pretty well... although in my opinion, the OS seems to be pretty... lacking. I'm hoping that future releases will reveal more functionality and capitalize on the potential that this product has.
- No multitasking: Really Apple??? Now, this may just be because it's an early preview/release of the device... also, I believe this may be because they don't want to steal too much thunder from the iPhone OS 4.0 update which is expected to be announced in Apple's March event. The 1st Gen iPhone was missing a lot that we take for granted now and was complained about for months, even years for a few features: MMS, Copy/Paste, iTunes, App Store, Push Notifications... so I'd expect multitasking, as well as potentially Flash support (not holding my breath on that one), somewhere down the line. New ways to run "background" apps was touched on in the leaked features of 4.0 last week so hopefully it'll blow us away!
- Connectivity: Obviously, I expected Wi-Fi, and it makes perfect sense to offer a 3G Cellular model as well (allows them to compete with Integrated Laptops and Netbooks); but what I am surprised by is the plan pricing... $14.99/month for 250 MB, and $29.99/month for unlimited data. This goes against AT&T's 5GB cap on the existing DataConnect Plans. Apple totes the iPhone, iPod Touch, and now the iPad's ability to access the web and e-mail... over and over again, there is a huge focus on the Internet and e-mail. These are the main drivers for the amount of data used on these devices... half the price of the current pricing and really unlimited? I'm a little skeptical... but we'll see. With that being said... I have to boast a bit... all you cynics can suck it... Apple chose AT&T - AGAIN! Get over your delusions of Verizon supporting an Apple product until LTE is in place... and even then, stable. CDMA is an archaic technology and their network couldn't support either of these products. As for their LTE network... talk to me in 2 years when they actually have it working (and again, stable).
- Applications: I am curious to see how current and new applications for the iPhone/iPod Touch will be redesigned to take advantage of a full multi-touch screen. While I expected Apple to release their iWork suite, iTunes, etc... it's interesting to see how they adapt the application to focus almost completely on finger gestures with minimal input from a keyboard even.
- iBooks: This one I'm not completely sold on just yet. One of the main reasons eBooks haven't quite taken off yet on computers/laptops is due to the screen! Staring at a monitor or laptop screen for hours is not really good for your eyes. The Kindle uses electronic "paper" displays which actually uses ink just like books, but displays the ink particles electronically... no glare, sharp text and images... I don't know how it works but all I know is it looks great and doesn't hurt your eyes! We'll see how well Apple does on this one.
- Customization: I won't lie... the first thing I noticed was the background image. Please tell me this is a sign that Apple is finally cluing into our need to customize our iPhones beyond the lock screen wallpaper!
- The Name: Who thought of this... so not kidding... who thought "iPad" would be a good idea? Don't you guys bounce these things around the office? Or better yet... GOOGLE IT?! Immediately after they announced it, I couldn't count how many links to MadTV's iPad skit popped up on Twitter and Facebook. I mean, I get it... Notepad... iPad... got it... but what about iTablet, or iSlate, or ANY of the other names floating around the Internet. If anything... you couldn't see "iTampon" coming from a mile away??? Advertising fail for sure.
- iPhone OS 3.2 SDK: Available today, the iPhone OS 3.2 SDK has been released and includes a few promising features. Two that popped out at me were the iPad's external display support via the Dock connector, and File Sharing. Hopefully these two features will translate to the iPhone as well. SDK documentation states 3.2 will not run on the iPhone though, so we may have to wait a little bit longer for some of these features (if any)... most likely in 4.0.
I think the iPad, despite the name, has great potential. I'm excited to see what's in store for future updates and generations.
Sources:
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