We know it’s happening. Apple’s made it obvious that new iPads will materialize, in expectedly grand fashion, on March 2nd. So what do we know about the Second Coming—and what else might pop up at Apple’s shindig. More »
This week’s Gadget Lab podcast zooms in on the Motorola Xoom tablet, the upcoming iPad 2 and Intel’s new Thunderbolt connectivity standard.
The Motorola Xoom is a neat piece of hardware. It’s got a 10.1-inch screen (slightly bigger than the 9.7-inch iPad), front- and rear-facing cameras, 32 GB of storage and a 3G wireless connection. Oddly, the audio speakers are on the back, which makes the sound rather poor.
That’s a solid feature set, but the cheapest Xoom costs $800 — which is a pretty disappointing starting price compared to the iPad’s $500 sweet spot that nobody can seem to match. To be fair, the most-comparable iPad is the 32-GB model with 3G, which costs $720. But I argue the starting price will be the most important factor for new adopters who are still figuring out why they need a tablet in the first place, and $800 is way too high.
Nonetheless, the Xoom’s feature set puts Motorola’s tablet ahead of the iPad, so we’re interested to see what Apple has in store for us at next Wednesday’s iPad 2 event. We’re expecting an iPad with two cameras, more memory and a faster processor.
Speaking of Apple, the company introduced a major upgrade for its MacBook Pro family this week, adding the newest Intel processors and a brand-new connectivity port dubbed Thunderbolt. What’s Thunderbolt? Dylan explains it’s a versatile connectivity port that will eventually enable you to plug in just about any type of peripheral, potentially eliminating the need for desktop towers in the future. When was the last time you heard of a connectivity port this cool?
We close the podcast with a quick look at the iPhone game Tiny Wings (sorry, I called it Little Wings thanks to an on-camera brain fart), which soared to the No. 1 spot in the App Store’s bestsellers this week. It’s a cute game that perfectly executes the Angry Birds formula, so no wonder it’s a hit.
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Or listen to the audio here:
Gadget Lab audio podcast #105
http://downloads.wired.com/podcasts/assets/gadgetlabaudio/GadgetLabAudio0105.mp3
Some more details have apparently leaked out about that tablety thing that Apple is supposedly announcing on March 2nd. Apparently some of the long rumored additions won’t be hitting the next version of the iPad. The SD card slot? That one’s out. But let’s face it, Steve Jobs never really cared for those things anyway. Also off the menu is the hi-res display (which some sources were suggesting would actually be a large version of the Retina Display offered on the last version of the iPhone).
The Apple rumors game can be a volatile thing. Just as we’d heard about last minute alterations to the Apple TV before it hit the market, we’ve gotten word from sources that the iPad 2 slated to be announced next Wednesday will be sans a few of the features we’d previously reported. Notably, that SD card slot and higher resolution display won’t make it into the new model (the latter we’d been hearing rumblings about for a little while). What’s the cause of the switch? Well our sources weren’t crystal clear on the exact reasons, but the gist of what was explained to us centered around vague “engineering issues” which may have forced some changes at the eleventh hour. It’s worth noting once again that these sources have been dead right on specific Apple plans and specifications for unannounced products in the past, and we have no reason to believe these changes are due to anything more than legitimate engineering decisions made close to launch.
So what will we see on March 2nd? We’re hearing it’s most likely a thinner, spec-bumped variation of the original iPad with a screen size and resolution identical to the current model. More RAM (512MB) and a more powerful CPU (the A5) are expected as well. It’s also a pretty safe bet the tablet will be sporting at least one camera up front — though if some of those case mockups we’ve seen tell us anything, expect a shooter around back too. It’s also almost guaranteed that we’ll see the next version of iOS (number 5 in all likelihood, along with its SDK for devs), and an expansion of Apple’s cloud services (that part is a little… foggy right now). Of course, that will perfectly set up Apple’s announcement of the iPhone 5 in June, which is when iPad owners can likely expect to be using the new software. Regardless, we’ll have the goods come next week, so stay tuned!
Sources: iPad 2 lands in thinner body with spec bump and cameras, SD slot and higher resolution display are out originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 21:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Apple is likely to introduce a new iPad at a San Francisco press conference scheduled for next Wednesday.
The company this morning sent e-mail invitations to members of the press with a not-so-subtle image of a calendar entry peeled back to reveal the corner of an iPad screen.
The event comes at the correct timing, as Apple’s original iPad was released April of 2010, and Apple’s mobile products typically get refreshed after one year. The event date puts to rest rumors that the iPad would be “delayed” until summer. (Never mind that it’s impossible to delay an unannounced product.)
Apple has not officially commented on details about the iPad 2, but some credible publications claim the tablet will have front- and rear-facing cameras, a thinner body and a more powerful graphics processor.
Wired.com will provide news coverage from the event, which kicks off 10 a.m. on March 2. Stay tuned.
See Also:
Apple just confirmed their leaked iPad event by sending out invites to the press. Usually it’s not this obvious what Apple’s announcements are about, but this has the corner of an iPad right there in the image. [Engadget] More »
Apple’s holding an iPad 2 event on March 2nd… we’ll be there live! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Feb 2011 11:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Apple fans! Apple detractors too! Exciting new stuff is almost here. Keyboards around the world are clacking with anticipation over new MacBooks and iPads—but rather than scouring the internet wastes, check out everything you need to know below. More »
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