Wednesday, March 2, 2011

iPad 2 presented by Steve Jobs

I was wrong, Steve did present the new iPad, but i am sure he did it because he wanted to do it, not because everybody was asking for. The question now is if he is coming soon back to run the company in person.
I guess the speculation is going on again. I could not attend the event nor did i find streaming (i had to work), wondering how healthy Steve Jobs looks to get a feeling if he is returning soon.
The new ipad is impressing, much thinner, lighter and faster, but not really something we did not expect (i had expected more memory). The two cameras will be great as well the ability to stream movies on TV. I am not sure with the new smart cover, it does only protect the front which does not hinder to get scratches in the back. And the magnetic band seems for me nothing which can hold forever. But at least it is innovative.

For all who missed the event, here is an overview found at yahoo:
Here are our live notes:

12:59 The event's about to get underway. Supposedly a lot of Beatles music being played. Now "Here Comes The Sun."

1:00 Ryan Block thinks Steve Jobs is going to lead the keynote.

1:02 Steve Jobs is out on stage! He's getting a standing ovation, according Macworld.

1:04 iBooks has passed 100 million books downloaded, Jobs says. And as we've seen, Random House is now joining the iBookstore. Wonder how that compares to Kindle ebook sales?

1:05 The App Store has paid out over $2 billion to developers cumulatively, Jobs says, via Macworld. And Apple recently shipped its 100 millionth iPhone. And it sold almost 15 million iPads in 2010, more than every tablet PC ever sold.

1:08 The App Store has over 350,000 apps, more than 65,000 are updated for the iPad.

1:10 Om Malik tweets: "Wow. Steve is looking thin, but boy I am glad to see him on stage making the presentation."

1:11 Jobs has been taking shots at Android and Samsung, appropriately. Now they're showing off an iPad propaganda video.

1:17 Apple slams the competitors with a slide: "2011: Year of the copycats?" Now it's time for Apple to show off the "iPad 2."

1:19 So here's what's new: As expected, dual-core A5 processors, up to 2X faster CPU, and up to 9X faster graphics. And front- and rear-facing cameras. And a gyroscope.

1:21 It's thinner than the iPhone 4 -- 8.8 mm. And it's a bit lighter at 1.3 lbs, down from 1.5 lbs. Comes in black and white, and white will ship from day one. (Versus the iPhone 4, whose white version still hasn't shipped.) AT&T and Verizon support, but unclear if they're separate models or one model with both wireless capabilities. But same 10-hour battery life.

1:24 Same prices, starting at $499.

1:25 Shipping on Friday, March 11. Before RIM's first PlayBook ships, before HP's first TouchPad ships, etc. And of course WAY before any Windows tablets ship.

1:27 iPad 2 will have HDMI out, including mirrored video. It seems that you can watch on a TV what's on the iPad's screen. Pretty cool.

1:29 There's also a new magnetic "smart cover" that seems to be a major improvement over the old cover. Check out Engadget for more.

1:31 People are going nuts about this cover. Would be funny if that's the reason I upgraded. Remember when magnets killed computers?

1:32 Now Apple's Scott Forstall is coming out to talk about iOS 4.3. Wonder if he'll say anything about iOS 5, or if that's going to be coming at a later event.

1:33 Wow, the case comes in a zillion different colors. Looks very cool.

1:34 New iOS supports iTunes home sharing, according to Macworld. Can stream music, movies, and other media to your iOS device.

1:38 As predicted, there's PhotoBooth software, and FaceTime, to use the new cameras.

1:41 iOS 4.3 is out March 11 as well, and will be a free download for iPad, iPhone (GSM), and newer iPod touches. As Macworld notes, it seems Verizon iPhone has been left off.

1:42 Now they're showing off iMovie for iPad, as we expected they would. Let's see how this compares to the video editing software built into Android's Honeycomb OS.

1:48 Macworld says you can upload iMovie videos to YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, CNN iReport, and to iTunes. SOCIAL!

1:50 There's also Garage Band for the iPad now, too. Make music on your tablet.

1:53 By the way, if you want to see big photos of all of these things, check out Engadget.


1:57 This Garage Band software looks really cool. It uses the iPad's accelerometer (motion sensor) to see how hard you're pressing the keys, etc.

1:59 So, who wants to go buy a Xoom today?

2:04 Garage Band: Only $5. Very cool.

2:10 By the way, if you're still following along, Apple's website is up with the new stuff. And here are some photos of the iPad 2.

2:14 Event's wrapping up. That's it. No iOS 5 today, no Apple TV App Store.

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