Mar 08

With only a few weeks remaining before the much anticipated Apple iPad  is released, Microsoft is finalizing details on its own “Courier.” Microsoft’s tablet, “a book-like device with two opposing screens,” according to Engadget, will supposedly have handwriting recognition built-in, and a stylus resembling a pen seems to be a primary source of input.

Engadget also claims there will be a built-in camera and a headphone jack as well. It will also serve as an e-book device, similar to the iPad’s own “iBook” app.

There has been no more information concerning pricing for the Courier, but because of the larger amount of features it is rumored to have, it is expected to be more expensive than the iPad

The Courier is to be released prior to the holiday season this year, which means by the time it is released, the iPad will have been part of the tablet market for over half a year—meaning more rumors about future updates, such as cameras on both sides of the device, tethering, and Flash support for Safari could cause possible Courier purchasers to refrain from purchasing until an iPad refresh.

Quote from : netbookboards.com

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Mar 08

Apple captured the attention of movie buffs and the entire film industry by publishing a new teaser commercial for the iPad during the Academy Awards presentation Sunday evening.

The new 30 second spot, backed by The Blue Van’s catchy tune “There Goes My Love,” races through a variety of iPad features.

It quickly demonstrates browsing through photo albums with finger gestures, then shows how to download ebooks from the new iBook Store and using the new full screen versions of Mobile Safari and Apple’s Maps application based on Google’s Map service.

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It also highlights the expanded version of the iPhone OS’ email app, iTunes media playback featuring the movie “Star Trek,” and a subtle mention of page layout and word processing within Apple’s multitouch version of iWork’s Pages app.

The fast-paced new ad then flashes through a rapid sequence of other apps including Maps and iTunes album playback to finish with the iPad’s April 3 launch date.

The ad is available on Apple’s website, but has not yet been added to the company’s YouTube channel.

Quote from: www.appleinsider.com

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Mar 01

Apple could lower the price of its next version of the iPhone in order to better compete in a mobile marketplace increasingly crowded by Google Android, Microsoft and BlackBerry devices, according to a Morgan Stanley analyst.

In a note to investors, reported widely on sites such as Apple Insider, analyst Katy Huberty said she expected Apple to launch a new generation of smartphones in June “that offer both a lower total cost of ownership and new functionality, potentially including gesture-based technology.”

Apple’s iPhone 3G S currently retails on the company’s Website for $199 and up, while the price for the iPhone 3G starts at $99.

Apple has noted some recent successes in the mobile space, including its 10 billionth song sold through its iTunes Store, but faces an increasingly competitive environment from other manufacturers and mobile software makers, including Google, Research In Motion and Microsoft.

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Feb 26

Say the words “tablet computer” and ten bucks says it’s Apple’s iPad that springs to mind. But that doesn’t mean other companies aren’t busy building their own version of a touch-enabled, multimedia-sporting, slab of portable computing goodness.

Dell’s first effort at a tablet will be the Mini 5 (a name that is still in beta) — a slice of plastic and glass with a 5-inch capacitive touchscreen that according to Michael Dell will debut “in a couple of months.”

The Mini 5 will sport a 5-megapixel camera on the back, a separate front-facing camera that can be used for video conferencing, a standard 3.5-mm headphone jack, Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 1-GHz processor.

The 5-inch screen also means it will be be closer to the Sony PSP in its form factor than the longer legal notepad design of the iPad.

The Mini 5 will run the latest version of Google’s Android operating system, version 2.0 or higher. And instead of the 4:3 aspect ratio of the iPad, Dell’s tablets will support the 16:9 ratio. Widescreen films anyone?

“It’s a device optimized for media consumption,” Neeraj Choubey, general manager of the tablets division at Dell told Wired.com. “It will offer the full Web-browsing experience so you have something that you are holding in your hand that replaces everything the smartphone does and takes on quite a bit of the features of a laptop.”

The Dell 5 Mini will also just be the first in a series.

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Feb 26

A month before Apple Inc.’s iPad tablet computer is due to ship, accessory makers are already lining up cases, batteries and other products in the hopes of profiting off the device.

Since Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs unveiled the iPad last month, hardware makers such as Griffin Technology, Gelaskins Inc., Sanho Corp. and SDI Technologies Inc. have hurried to design chargers, sticker covers and other accoutrements.

“There are some things we’ve identified as no-brainers,” said Mark Rowan, president of case maker Griffin in Nashville, Tenn., which began drawing up designs for iPad cases and contacting manufacturers within hours of the iPad announcement. “We know people are going to want to protect the device.”

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Feb 01

In case you were wondering how Apple intended to advertise the iPad, the answer might just be “very well.”

At Sunday’s Grammys, Stephen Colbert approached the deeply onerous task of reading out the nominees for Song of the Year with singular glee. Because just as he looked lost, trying to remember where the list of nominees was, he whipped out an iPad from inside his jacket pocket.

It was real. It was on. When he turned it, the screen went from vertical to landscape. And you see how portable it is, people? You can slip one inside your dinner jacket. Even a rented dinner jacket.

Jay-Z joined in the amusement as Colbert wondered whether the rapper and mogul hadn’t received an iPad in his gift bag, too. Colbert then asked his daughter, who was also in the audience, whether he finally looked cool. She demurred, with a pleasantly understated performance.

In case any of you might have wondered whether this was a complete coincidence and not a blatant and winning piece of what was once called product placement, might I suggest you cut down a little on some of your evening habits.

The iPad campaign has only just begun.

Quote from news.cnet.com

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Jan 30

Apple certainly isn’t the first company to launch or even talk about a tablet. Microsoft launched the concept in 2001, and since then we’ve seen perhaps dozens of devices based on the design, including a Dell prototype just a few weeks ago.

So there’s no question that Apple isn’t first to the market. What’s unusual, however, is a claim that Apple actually copied an existing design.

That charge comes from the chief executive of Shenzhen Great Long Brother Industrial Co., who claims that Apple copied the design of its P88 tablet. All this is being reported by the Shanghaiist blog, which also links to a Spanish-language report in El Mundo, claiming that the company could sue Apple, if the iPad is ever brought to China.

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Jan 30

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During Wednesday’s unveiling of the long-awaited iPad, Apple CEO Steve Jobs detailed that the new 9.7-inch tablet will make use of In-Plane Switching display technology. So, what excatly is In-Plane Swicthing, what does it do and why is Apple choosing to make use of this display technology for their new device?

In-Plane Switching (IPS) is an LCD technology first introduced in 1996 by Hitachi. It was initially developed to correct the poor viewing angles and color problems that LCDs had at the time.

Due to initial high-costs, IPS adoption was low at first, and mainly found only in high-end monitors, aimed primiarliy at the professional sector. Of course, over time, IPS was improved and refined, and as is the case with most new technologies, costs eventually came down to an acceptable level for mass-production.

The IPS display used int he iPad is a 9.7-inch 1024-by-768 resolution LED-backlit LCD screen. IPS gives the iPad an impressive wide viewing-angle of up to 178 degrees. Other LCD technologies tend to have narrower viewing angles, especially in the vertical direction.

Ensuring that the device can be held in a variety of ways without major viewing angle issues was clearly of great importance to Apple, especially considering that you’ll rotate the iPad depending on what you’re viewing, and Apple positions the iPad as a casual use ‘living-room’ device, perfect for consuming an assortment of multimedia.

Typical casual-use devices, namely netbooks, use a twisted nematic (TN) display technology. TN although cheaper, offers inferior color reproduction (only 6-bit color, while IPS supports richer 8-bit color), and lower viewing angles, so Apple’s use of a higher quality display techology (IPS) for such a casual device is welcomed.

Quote from www.pcworld.com

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Jan 30

At the unveiling of the new device, Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs demonstrated a new digital bookstore and application, iBooks, in an effort to reinvent the way books are read and entice readers to easily shop for and read books online.

Major publishers including Pearson’s Penguin, News Corp’s HarperCollins, Lagardere’s Hachette Book Group and CBS Corp.’s Simon & Schuster MacMillan, who will offer their books through the new reader, did not discuss the terms of the deal with Apple, but said they hoped it would bring e-readers more into the mainstream.

According to statistics released by the International Digital Publishing Forum, wholesale revenue from e-book sales in the United States almost tripled in the third quarter of 2009 to $46.5 million from $13.9 million in the same period in 2008.

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Jan 29

With iPad, Apple has created a highly mobile, lightweight device that can run any and all existing iPhone apps, with a set of built-in apps reworked for its large, multi-touch screen.

The iPad is slightly smaller than a sheet of regular paper, just one-half inch thick, and weighs 1.5 pounds (1.6 with an optional 3G modem built-in). The 9.7-inch LED backlit glossy multi-touch screen has 1024×768 pixel resolution (132 pixels per inch).

Wireless connectivity is 802.11n Wi-Fi (backward compatible with 11abg devices), Bluetooth 2.1 + Ehanced Data Rate (EDR). 3G cellular is available for $130 more, supporting UMTS/HSDPA and GSM/EDGE networks, but available at least at first only on AT&T’s network.
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