Thoughts on the new iPad

The image above sums up my thoughts,  I ordered a 64Gb WiFi only iPad 3rd generation as soon as they were available for pre-order in the UK. As the owner of a 32Gb first generation iPad that I use every day it didn’t take much consideration. I recently read 35 years of the weekly UK comic 2000AD (over 1700 issues) on my iPad, and as a subscriber to the comic I can’t wait to see it on the 3 megapixel HD+ display. I want to see how much better HD video looks , and photo’s, and text. That’s enough reason for me to want one asap, without the huge processing and graphical  performance boost over the first iPad. Decent camera with iMovie and iPhoto? This just highlights the different approach Apple takes to the competition. It’s not about the hardware specifications, it’s about what you can do with the device.

The one thing I can’t grasp is how some news sources have claimed the new iPad (iPad G3) offers little more than “incremental improvements”. Sure, the iPad G1 had a good screen, and the iPad G3 has a better screen, but that’s like saying 1080p HD is just a little jump over standard definition. The iPad G3 camera can be described as just an improvement over the iPad G2 version. That doesn’t acknowledge that the iPad G2 camera was poor and the iPad G3 camera is a 5 megapixel version of the iPhone 4S camera, one of the best phone camera’s currently available.

I don’t use the Android operating system, but I am happy that it exists and continues to be very popular. Likewise, I’m happy that Microsoft has a Windows 8/Metro strategy that looks credible. Aggressive competition is good for the consumer, and drives innovation. Unfortunately some people just can’t seem to spot a killer product that has in previous models twice proved to be a massive success.

News for Monday 13th October

VideoLAN updated to 0.9.4
The cross-platform free and open source video player is updated. Versions available for a wide range of operating systems.

The story behind Cydia on the iPhone
A brief article on the iPhone and iPod’s main jailbroken software installer.

Running Leopard on a Netbook
Nice article about installing Leopard on a Dell Inspiron Mini 9 netbook.

First T-Mobile G1 user review
Lots of questions answered and a mixed bag of pro’s and con’s.

Smartphone showdown: BlackBerry Storm vs. iPhone
Macworld does the head to head that everyone wants to see.

ASUS plans touchscreen, dual-core Eee PCs
Wondering what’s next for the Eee PC? read the article for the details.

Android arrives with the T-Mobile G1

There’s a couple of big launches today, and the first is the T-Mobile G1. This is the debut device based on Google’s Android software platform, an open platform that aims to be offered by a range of manufacturers and networks. There are lots of positive comments about the device at the moment so I’m looking forward to having a try at some point. The main competition for the G1 appears to be the iPhone, in light of this there’s a lot of things about the phone that don’t make much sense.

• The applications the phone offers work best on a 3G network, and from the T-Mobile G1 site that’s not a huge amount of America. The UK has pretty patchy coverage outside of major cities so how well will a device that needs 3G work?
• The G1 will offer Amazon’s DRM free music store with 6 million songs, but it doesn’t have a standard 3.5mm headphone jack. You have to use an adaptor in the proprietary USB socket.
• The Phone misses a major opportunity to better the iPhone by not offering Video Recording, stereo bluetooth or a multi-touch screen.
• For a new device that’s competing with the iPhone, the G1 is just ugly. Apple have a knack of making their products look and feel good. The G1 looks like a 10 year old lump of plastic.
• T-Mobile are allowing 1Gb of data usage per billing cycle (I take it that’s a month) after which the data rate drops to 50Kbps. That’s unusable for a device that needs 3G to work well.

The ultimate test of the Android platform will be the sales figures. Despite the flaws of the iPhone 3G it’s still sold very well so this could be an interesting battle.