Apple's magnetic iPad 2 cover flops back and out of the way, or rolls up into an easel for typing or viewing.
Posted on 03/05/2011 8:09:44 PM PST by Swordmaker
Putting the rumors to rest: iPad 2 announced today Hands-on review: How does Motorola Xoom compare to iPad? Apple expected to unveil new iPad today If one of your company’s goals for 2011 was to introduce a tablet to complete with the iPad, you can expect to struggle.
The second most powerful evidence of this happened just a minute ago, as I pulled out my iPad and keyboard here in my San Francisco hotel lobby to write this very same column.
“Looks like you’re going to have to buy a new one of those,” said an electrician as he passed by me on the way to his truck. “The new one’s coming out on the 11th.”
I didn’t tell him that I had attended the Apple iPad 2 press event that morning. No, sometime in the previous hour or two, this random stranger had heard about the new version of the iPad ... and he remembered the ship date. That’s how successful Apple’s been. Consumers aren’t just aware of the iPad ... they’re actually excited about it.
(Excerpt) Read more at suntimes.com ...
The Xoom is marketed as a better alternative to the iPad because of its Flash and MicroSD slot. As of today, neither of them works.
This lack of an established single app, music and video infrastructure will be the killer for any I-pad rival.
Removable storage can be a pain — that’s why most of us run software off the hard drive instead of swapping DVDs around. Adding SD would mean adding user options for whether to save to the card or internal memory, and it would require telling the user when it’s finished saving, so you don’t scramble an SD card by removing it mid-write. It would require remembering what you have on which card, and it would require the os to gracefully handle trying to retrieve a file that suddenly isn’t there any more. And even a class 10 SD card is slower than hard-wired flash memory.
The iPad can load data from SD cards (or even hard drives, if they aren’t bus powered) with the camera connection kit, but it’s read-only.
Apple decided against removable storage on the iPad, as it did in the iPod and iPhone. There are certainly arguments the other way, but it was a considered decision for good reasons. Handling removable storage in a tablet is clearly a non-trivial matter, or the Xoom wouldn’t have shipped with the SD slot disabled.
It was a question that you are reading as a statement. What you want to do with the USB port determines whether there’s an easy alternative, or which one is best for the task
If you need a USB port to read a camera memory card or a flash drive, or to attach a keyboard or MIDI interface, the camera adapter kit provides one. For other purposes, the WiFi or Bluetooth might provide a better alternative.
I was thinking of being able to plug a memory stick in there.
102 designed to compete with last year's model iPad, and most of them will be non-starters with the release of iPad 2. Samsung's VP has already commented they were going to have to redesign their components for their soon to be released 10.1" tablets. . .
All 102 of those are their makers' first generation tablets, while this is Apple's second generation iPad...
BTW, the iPad will NEVER be flash enabled. Better hope html5 becomes the standard- and soon.
And by the way, here's a market breakdown by Nielsen:
But hey, the iPhone leads the way in the retirement crowd!
Yes, but you need an adaptor. The primary port connects to your computer by USB. . . but that port carries more than just USB, for example,a a complete HDMI signal, for which there is a power and HDMI adaptor available as well. For those who wish to connect a USB device, you get the USB adaptor. 95% or more of users will never need to connect a USB or HDMI device so dedicated USB and HDMI ports are not included to keep overall prices down. on the other hand the user can send files and streaming HD content to WIFI enabled devices wirelessly with no problem in real time, now... And display them.
It's not just the 10¢ chip, there is also the connector port itself, which adds access for dirt and moisture to the unit unnecessarily, space inside the unit perhaps better utilized for more battery cells for longer operation, slightly less weight, less thickness.
It could also have something to do with questions of reliability, security, malware, the ability to remotely wipe data from a stolen iPad or iPhone (try wiping the data from a removed SD card), and other such concerns, including the fact that external Flash drives vary in quality, speed, and refresh rates, all things that impact user experience. Apple would have to SUPPORT that. Sorry... That costs more... And that WILL increase the price.
There is no physical keyboard...it appears on the screen and changes according to what is needed...
Please cite the lies... Your chart confirms it. Every one on your chart is that makers' first generation model except for Apple and Samsung... And Samsung's VP said they were going to have to redesign theirs. Only one, the Motorola Xoom, is even current in the hands of consumers, and it does not current support three of it's claimed features, 4G, Flash, and the SD card slot! The Apple iPad 2will be out on Friday and WILL support fully everything it claims, and the other two are merely "announced," due sometme this summer. WHERE DID I LIE?
And your conclusion that the iPhone "leads the way in the retirement crowd!" is just plain silly based on a gross bar chart... All such a bar chart can show is broard acceptance across all age groups .
And I love your chart's lies by omission... Omitting the iPads 16 and 64 GB models and their WIFI Only models. Also ignoring the clearly stated 1080p playback through HDMI statement Apple made in their presentation. Do I smell an agenda on this page? Yup I do?
And what about the 98 other first generation tablets that are going to be left in the dust my comment was addressed towards that YOU claim is a "lie?" do you maintain THEY are just like these???
As for the chart, you can deny all you want. The first generation of competing products is BETTER than Apple's alleged upgrade.
Agenda???? Hey folks, go check out Swordmakers last 50 posts. How about the last 50 topics?
Agenda, indeed.
Oh, and something to make you have kittens... I have an iPad at work. And a Droid X phone.
I was shocked to learn that Xoom only does landscape mode. It cannot switch orientation.
Your complaint has been answered numerous times. I maintain the FreeRepublic Apple/Mac Ping list of over 500 of your fellow Freepers who have asked me to keep them appraised of articles about these specific subjects. This activity, which HAS been approved personally by Jim Robinson, and is therefor sanctioned on FR. There are MANY topics discussed on FR that are NOT purely Political in nature and JIM defines what he allows, NOT YOU. Jim's edict, that he posted in several Apple threads is quite simple and quite explicit. If you don't like Apple products, don't buy them. If you aren't interested in Apple/Mac threads on FreeRepublic DON'T READ THEM and don't post in them. Skip them and go to something that does interest you. Don't start Flame Wars in Tech threads!
Since you like Android based products, why don't YOU start a FR Android Ping list? There's a distinct need for one.
As for the chart, you can deny all you want. The first generation of competing products is BETTER than Apple's alleged upgrade.
As to the whether these on your limited chart are better than the iPad 2, they are not according to those who are actually handling and reviewing these products... this is just one of multiple published articles from multiple reviewers, from multiple sources coming to the same conclusion. There must be a reason beyond Apple hype.
Even the MAKERS of those products have made comments about the need to rethink their design in light of what Apple showed. . . they were certainly NOT expecting that Apple was going to be rolling it out NOW, they were anticipating June or July, not March. Apple shocked everyone by only a one week lead after announcement to product shipping in quantity. That's unheard of! They were totally unprepared to compete with that timeframe!
Read the hands on reviews, not just the spec sheets. One on the market, the Xoom, two "soon to be released" lists of specs (read this summer), with mock-ups photos of simulated screens shots that no one has touched, and a beta operating system that reviewers are reporting as "buggy", and the iPad 2 that has actually been in the hands of the reviewers who are the ones who are claiming that the others are going to have to go back to the drawing board.
As someone who knows very little about the uses of an Ipad or any other tablet but just needs something very portable I see just by looking at the numbers the Galaxy has more detail and options.
I need something portable when I travel, pretty much just something to send email and to pay bills and such.
Where did you hear that?
You see, unlike you, I'm not married to a brand when it comes to technology. When something better comes along and it works for me, great. That shows in my tech history from PC to Macs (I've owned 5, and still have a Mac classic in my garage), etc.
As for reviews, for every one you find in favor of the iPad(2), I can find one for the Xoom, etc.
As for your elitist bent, let me remind you not every Apple product has had a flawless market entry. Case and point, iPhone 4. And that was the 4th generation they screwed up on, not to mention the white phone.
Like any other innovative product, the competition always catches up, and in many cases, surpasses the entry product. That is what is going on now. It's these competitors that are keeping Apple's feet to the fire- though in a growing market of feature-based tablets, the iPad2 has failed. Yes, failed.
Do I doubt they'll catch up? Nope.
Isn't capitalism grand?
Fortunately, it doesn't work this way, or else Tesla Motors would be trying to make a Model T clone. We'll have to wait and see, but I'd bet that before iPad 3 comes out, a few of the clones will have beaten iPad 2 in features and performance. Whether or not they'll get a signigficant market share is another question altogether.
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