The New iPad Announcement

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So Apple got the entire tech world in a tizzy to announce the release of The New iPad as well as Apple TV. And it was just as I predicted… A yawn fest announcing ho-hum features and a “meh” television device. Seriously, NONE of the features introduced were ground breaking or evolutionary. While it’s clear Apple is going after the Gamers this time around, the only thing even remotely worth noting is the higher screen resolution on the new iPad. Oh yeah, and it’s called the New iPad. Not iPad 3, not iPad HD. Just the new iPad.

iOS:

There’s no denying the that the iPhone is a monster seller. No matter how much I don’t care for the device, like the best rapper alive says, numbers don’t lie:

Right now there are 315 million iOS devices in the world, 64 million of those sold in the last quarter of 2011 alone. At the forefront of this is Siri, Apple’s personal assistant that comes with every iPhone 4S. Today, Cook is announcing that Siri now speaks Japanese and she’s coming to Japan today.

Apple TV:

Next up is Apple tv. Apple is announcing a new Apple TV that supports 1080p HD video. As a result, they’re re-releasing all of their movies in this higher-def format and it’s a free download for anything you’ve already purchased. You can even store them in the cloud. iCloud is being expanded to cover music AND movies now. Your photo stream syncs effortlessly to your Apple TV now too. Take a picture on your iPhone 4S, and instantly show it off to your friends on your big-screen TV in HD. It still costs just $99. – That’s nice. Really. But show of hands… How many of you own an Apple tv or plan to purchase one in the near future? Anyone?… Anyone?… Bueller? And those features just mentioned? Android’s been streaming and syncing with the big screen for some time now. But you know, Apple will spin it like they invented it and the average consumer will eat it up!

The New iPad: So here’s what we’ve all been waiting for(you know I’m being sarcastic right?)-

-Retina Display. Much as everyone predicted, the new iPad will have quadruple the resolution of the original, with a retina display screen at 2048×1536. That’s 3.1 million pixels on the screen, or 1 million more pixels than 1920×1080, the resolution of even a 60″ HD TV. It translates to 264 pixels per inch, an amazing pixel density. – I’ll give Apple this, that’s pretty nice. There. I can be unbiased!

-A5X Processor with Quad-Core Graphics. Designed for the retina display, the new iPad is “twice as fast” as nVidia’s Tegra 3. Allegedly. According to Apple anyway. It’s clear here they’re going after the gaming segment here. I wonder how Sony and Microsoft will respond?

-Improved cameras. The cameras on the iPad 2 were a joke. Something out of the 90’s to be exact. The new iPad is packing a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera with illumiation, a 5-element lens, an IR filter, and 1080P video recording. So Apple has decided to step it up a bit but why go 5mp when the industry is trending 8mp and above? The Nokia 808 Pureview mobile phone has a MASSIVE 41MP camera on it! The HTC Titan II has a 16MP camera on it and the Nokia N8 has a 12MP camera on it. So you can see why in not impressed with the new iPad’s camera.

-Voice dictation. No Siri, just voice dictation. Wow. That’s a GAME CHANGER right there!  The new iPad will let you dictate in US English, British, Australian, French, German and Japanese.

The new iPad will also have 4G LTE both Verizon and At&t. No Sprint version available. It’ll also have mobile hotspot capabilities for up to 5 devices. That’s not ground breaking either. My old EVO 4G from HTC could handle up to 8 devices. Pricing is: 16gb- $499, 32gb- $599 and 64gb- $699 for the WiFi versions. The 4G LTE versions will run you about $100 more for per model.

So there you have it folks! Much like the iPhone 4S! All hype and no delivery! I would tell you what it’s really like, but this is a family friendly site. I’ll just tweet it instead.  @DigitalJedi_X If you don’t already know.

About The Author

Kamil M Abdullah has been a self proclaimed techie and bonafide smart phone expert nearly half of his life. Starting with the very first Sidekick(not necessarily a smart phone but close enough) to Blackberry to Symbian to Windows(Mobile & Phone 7) to Web OS to Android, he has used virtually every smart phone operating system. Kamil has also worked with computer programming in Bloomberg's Data Center and Backup Operations on their proprietary software. In his quest for further knowledge in mobile operating systems, Kamil voraciously devours any reading material on the subject he can find. Kamil is also a hip hop head to the fullest, having fallen in love with the art form from the very first "a hip hop the hibby to the hibby the hip hip the hop" and tr808 beat. He promises to use his vast powers and knowledge only for the good of mankind.