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Video callers - If you’re already an iPad owner and the Apple tablet has become an indispensable device that you already use on a daily basis, then there’s one big reason to upgrade: Video calling. Over the past year I’ve heard many iPad users complain that the biggest thing missing from the iPad was the ability to do video calls, using Skype or Apple’s FaceTime. These users have viewed the iPad, with its “lean-back” user experience, as an ideal device for making video calls to long distance family and friends, calling home during business trips, or doing one-on-one video conferencing for business. In my opinion, the iPad 2’s cameras are all about video calls. Apple certainly didn’t design this to be a device for taking high quality still photos. The front-facing camera is for face-to-face calling and the back camera is primarily for showing your video callers what you’re looking at. Also, there are many great
iPad 2 cases and covers available.
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Mobile multimedia creators - With the upgrade to a dual core processor and the addition of Apple multimedia apps iMovie and GarageBand for the iPad 2, the Apple tablet is expanding beyond being primarily a consumption device to becoming more of a creation device — at least in the specialized area of multimedia creation (audio, video, podcasts, etc.). For those that who want to test the iPad as a mobile creation device that’s more accessible to more content creators than a traditional PC (because of multitouch), then the iPad 2 is a worthy purchase or upgrade.
Who should pass?
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Fans of iPad 1.0 - The worst reason for upgrading — and I’ve heard this a lot more than expected — is “I really like the original iPad so I’m going to get the new one.” If you’re not going to do much video calling and you’re not going to experiment with the iPad for creating videos and podcasts, then there’s really not much reason to upgrade from iPad 1 to iPad 2. You don’t really need the dual core if you’re not doing all the video calling and multimedia creation, and the slightly thinner/lighter form factor of the iPad 2 is nice but far from essential. The original iPad is still a great device and holding on to it for another year until the iPad 3 and the next generation of competitor tablets arrives could be a very wise choice.
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Heavy readers - If one of the main reasons that you want an iPad is to use it as an e-reader then I wouldn’t recommend the iPad 2. For hard-core readers who read 2+ hours at a time, who read mostly books, or who spend a lot of time reading outside in full sunlight, then I’d recommend an Amazon Kindle instead. If you’re an omnivorous reader who wants a tablet primarily to read Web pages, magazine articles, non-fiction books with lots of maps and graphics, and PDF documents, then I’d simply recommend picking up an iPad 1, which lots of upgraders are currently unloading for as low as $300.
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Supporters of open standards - Like the iPod before it, the iPad has appealed to a much wider audience than just traditional Mac and Apple fans. However, the thing to keep in mind before buying the iPad — especially if it’s your first Apple device — is that it will start to insidiously rope you into the Apple ecosystem. Sure, you can get content from outside the Apple ecosystem and use it on your iPad, using Amazon music and videos or Netflix or Barnes & Noble Nook, for example, but you’ll quickly find that it’s easier to just use the Apple ecosystem to buy content. Before you know it, you’ll have a small library of content with DRM that only works in iTunes and on Apple devices (this isn’t the case with music any more, but it is still the case with movies and TV shows). So, next time you upgrade you’ll be more likely to buy another Apple product so that you don’t orphan a bunch of your content. If you’re a supporter of open standards and use a lot of different platforms (e.g. Windows, Linux, Android, Xbox 360, etc.), then you’ll have a hard time wrestling with the iPad to make it work with all of your content and open file formats, and you’ll especially have a hard time getting content from the iPad to play nice with other platforms. You’re probably better off waiting for a really good Android tablet to emerge.
Here are some great feature for this product:
- Watching videos, movies and television shows on the iPad is amazing. The color and resolution are beautiful. I already have two great free apps for watching TV - Netflix and ABC Player. I can watch any ABC show now on my iPad and any watch instantly show or movie from Netflix. YouTube comes already loaded. Now I'm just hoping for an app from Hulu.
- The split screen makes it so much easier to use apps like calendar and email on the iPad. In fact, I find I like the iPad view of these apps more than the view on a regular computer.
- Being a tablet makes the iPad so much more portable than even a netbook. You can take it from room to room and easily watch it at the same time. If you are using a recipe act, there is no need to print out the recipes, just bring the iPad into the Kitchen. Want to show family members something on your iPad, just carry it to the room they are in.
- Pictures look beautiful on the iPad. Now I have a new place to keep my family pictures. Slideshows are automatic, no need to learn how to make one.
- The iPad is very fast and scrolling is a breeze.
- The virtual keyboard works pretty well when using the iPad in landscope mode. If you plan on doing a great deal of typing on it, you can buy a real keyboard to use with it.
- Many amazing leather iPad cases and covers to choose from
One added benefit was the excitement my sons showed and the long conversations and bonding we had over it. Neither one of them originally wanted to get an iPad, but even they have succumbed to the iPad hysteria. Watching last week's Modern Family definitely helped. They were so excited to hear all about my iPad.
Brighter
Already a thing of beauty the tough and hard-wearing iPad 2 display is incredibly responsive and good to look at even for extended periods. That high quality and happy user experience is helping Apple maintain its commanding position within the tablet market, even while competitors scrabble to get their products out of channel and into the hands of consumers.
Inevitably, Apple will improve the display once again with iPad 3. I'm anticipating a much higher resolution, perhaps as high as 2,048-x-1,536, rather than the existing 1,024-x-769 display. (I've nothing but rumors to support this expectation, but improvements in the display tech are part of Apple's standard practice with its iPhone range, so I see no reason it wouldn't maintain that strategy with this other mobile device).
The Wall Street Journal even goes so far as to claim display production for the device has begun, citing sources who claim Apple has ordered parts for 1.5 million of the devices for delivery in Q4.
"Suppliers will ramp up production and try to improve the yield rate for the new iPad in the fourth quarter before its official launch in early 2012," the WSJ reported. Who is making these displays? Samsung may still be making some, but given the increasingly bitter and tedious litigation between it and Apple, that firm surely knows its days are numbered. Sharp and LG seem in the display production frame, with LG Displays CEO Young Soo Kwon said that his company's high-res 'Retina' display "has been used in iPhones and iPads", according to the Korea Times.
Market reports have also claimed that Radiant Opto-Electronics will supply the backlight units for the iPad 3, these units will be used in the display production process.
Cheaper
I'm ignoring claims of an NFC chip and/or stylus. That's because I am not completely convinced Apple will adopt NFC for its mobile wallet attempt (because of a lack of terminals), and don't believe it will ever go back to a boring old stylus.
It is possible the iPad 3 may include a Thunderbolt port as well as some other great
iPad accessories. This would enable Apple to shave a millimeter or two of device thickness; but would also likely mean most users without Thunderbolt-equipped PCs would have to use an adaptor cable of some kind, which -- given Apple's usual price-gouging practices when it comes to such peripherals -- may simply cost too much as well as being inelegant.
More storage, a better camera and production in both China and Brazil also make sense. (It will be interesting to see if a collector's market evolves in which some champion iPads made in one country above the other.)
Price will be the big issue. Apple's iPad 3 will face an army of emulative tablets from competitors who will be doing their very best to improve their position in the tablet market with their second or even third-iteration products. Prices will be as low as competitors dare go:
Will Apple undercut them on price?
Given Apple CEO, Tim Cook's, remarkable power over logistics, manufacturing and supply, it must be seriously possible Apple might shave a few dollars off the cost of the iPad range, perhaps by offering the iPad 2 (albeit an improved, but cheaper to produce model) at a significantly lower price. If Apple does this it will hit competitors where they already hurt, and ensure 2012 will also be the year of the iPad. And why you can hear Apple's competitors sobbing.
Your thoughts?
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