Apple launched the first TV spot for the iPad last night during the Oscars. For the most part, the video appears to show an oversized iPod that’s a bit zippier, and better suited to reading books and newspapers due to its large display.
But here’s one thing you may not notice unless you pay extra close attention: Almost every shot of a person actually using the iPad shows legs contorted into unusual positions. Because while you can hold an iPod in one hand and poke at the screen with the other, the iPad is really just too big to use this way. So Apple is suggesting you prop it up on your legs — and that makes it all but useless if you’re sitting in a normal position.
If you place a notebook computer on your lap, you can still see the screen because the keyboard rests on your legs and the screen extends upward. When you put a slate PC like the iPad on your lap, the screen is where the keyboard would normally be. You’d have to bend over awkwardly and incur neck and back pain to use it like this.
Instead, you’re going to have to get a foot stool, prop our feet up on it, bend your legs, and then slouch back in your chair while using the iPad.
OK, presumably there may be some other comfortable positions. This thing’s probably going to be great for reading books in bed, for instance. But it’s clearly not meant for setting on a table or on your lap the way you would with a laptop computer.
Ohmigodohmigodohmigod, Apple just announced that the iPad will go on sale in the U.S. on April 3, and that U.S. consumers can pre-order the Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi/3G models starting March 12. That’s next Friday, folks! Unfortunately, only the Wi-Fi model will be available for purchase on the 3rd; the Wi-Fi/3G version won’t be ready until late April.
Also on April 3, Apple will launch its iBooks app and iBookstore, available as a free download from the App Store in the U.S. It will feature books from the New York Times Best Seller list from both major and independent publishers, including Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan Publishers, Penguin Group and Simon & Schuster, according to Apple’s press release.
As we noted in our hands-on time with the device, the iPad is a slick device, and should be great for surfing the Web, but it’s no netbook killer. Then again, it doesn’t have to be to be successful.
In case you forgot how much you need to start socking away for the device, here’s a rundown of the different models and their prices:
Wi-Fi only iPad:
$499 (16GB)
$599 (32GB)
$699 (64GB)
After years of rumors, months of anticipation, and a few weeks of actually knowing pretty much what to expect, we finally have a release date for the Apple tablet. The iPad will be available in the US starting on April 3rd. You can place a pre-order for the tablet starting Friday, March 12th.
On launch day, only the WiFi models will be available. If you’re hoping to get your hands on an iPad with WiFi and 3G, you’ll need to wait until late April. You can pre-order either model at Apple.com or an Apple store starting next week.
It looks like the US is first in line. But Apple plans to begin shipping the iPad in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy. Japan, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK in late April.
Earlier this week, Apple caused a major splash when it announced that it was suing HTC. Although it caused quite a stir, patent lawsuits are about a dime a dozen, especially in the mobile space. This raises a lot of questions about patent laws and what should and shouldn’t be protected when it comes to mobile technologies. The New York Times graphic illustrates who has sued whom in the mobile space, and the image alone really depicts how messy things have been. The mobile landscape is still very fresh and everyone is clamoring for protection on their technologies, but at some point these patent lawsuits are more likely to hinder innovation and it will affect consumers in the long run.
Apple is a company that has probably grown accustomed to getting sued by anyone and everyone by now. So when we saw its announcement this morning about a lawsuit against HTC, the manufacturer of the Nexus One, we were quite shocked. This isn’t just a case against a single patent infringement, but 20! How is it possible for HTC to infringe on so many Apple patents and why is Apple deciding to sue now?
When Apple first announced the iPhone back at Macworld 2007, an audience roared with laughter as Steve Jobs said, “We have invented a new technology called multi-touch. It works like magic, you don’t need a stylus, far more accurate than any interface ever shipped, it ignores touches, mutli-finger gestures, and BOY have we patented it!” With that kind of hot technology, it was only a matter of time before others started copying. Now Apple finds itself tackling HTC, who has grown tremendously in the past few years with Android, and accuses the manufacturer of infringing on 20 Apple patents.
“We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it,” said Steve Jobs. “We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.”
Among the patent infringements Apple mentions, simple things like touchscreen gestures and screen unlock methods are mentioned. Does anyone else think it’s about time for a serious tort reform? See below for the full list of claims:
The ‘331 Patent, entitled “Time-Based, Non-Constant Translation Of User Interface Objects Between States,” was duly and legally issued on April 22, 2008 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
The ‘949 Patent, entitled “Touch Screen Device, Method, And Graphical User Interface For Determining Commands By Applying Heuristics,” was duly and legally issued on January 20, 2009 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘949 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit B.
The ‘849 Patent, entitled “Unlocking A Device By Performing Gestures On An Unlock Image,” was duly and legally issued on February 2, 2010 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘849 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit C.
The ‘381 Patent, entitled “List Scrolling And Document Translation, Scaling, And Rotation On A Touch-Screen Display,” was duly and legally issued on December 23, 2008 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘381 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit D.
The ‘726 Patent, entitled “System And Method For Managing Power Conditions Within A Digital Camera Device,” was duly and legally issued on July 6, 1999 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘726 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit E.
The ‘076 Patent, entitled “Automated Response To And Sensing Of User Activity In Portable Devices,” was duly and legally issued on December 15, 2009 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘076 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit F.
The ‘105 Patent, entitled “GMSK Signal Processors For Improved Communications Capacity And Quality,” was duly and legally issued on December 8, 1998 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘105 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit G.
The ‘453 Patent, entitled “Conserving Power By Reducing Voltage Supplied To An Instruction-Processing Portion Of A Processor,” was duly and legally issued on June 3, 2008 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘453 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit H.
The ‘599 Patent, entitled “Object-Oriented Graphic System,” was duly and legally issued on October 3, 1995 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘599 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit I.
The ‘354 Patent, entitled “Object-Oriented Event Notification System With Listener Registration Of Both Interests And Methods,” was duly and legally issued on July 23, 2002 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘354 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit J.
If you’ve been wanting an iPhone but still haven’t picked one up, what is the single biggest barrier between you and the gadget of your dreams? Katy Huberty, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, seems to think that it is the cost of hardware and the service plan. Perhaps she’s stating the obvious, but it does make a good point. How can Apple get the iPhone into more hands? Lowering the cost is a good start, and Huberty is predicting the company will do just that this summer.
Over the past three years, Apple has introduced a new iPhone every summer; so, there is no reason we should expect anything different this year. The iPhone also has a history of having lower prices each year: the original 8GB iPhone initially sold for $599, which promptly fell to $399, the 8GB iPhone 3G ($518.00) sold for $199 fully subsidized, and the following year it dropped to just $99 when the iPhone 3GS became available.
If total cost of ownership, hardware costs and upfront payment have been keeping buyers from the iPhone, maybe predictions about all those costs dropping this summer aren’t so far off. Apple has every incentive to do so in order to steal a greater share of the market, and AT&T may drop price plans to keep the iPhone on its network and to avoid losing customers to carriers whose smartphone offerings are getting better every month.
Thinking of buying an iPad? Getting a little obsessed with it, maybe? Counting down the days until it goes on sale? You’re not alone, and I won’t pretend I don’t share some of your enthusiasm. But there may be a compelling reason to wait a little while before you buy one. The Marketbeat blog at WSJ.com reported today that Apple will stay “nimble” on iPad pricing and apparently doesn’t feel locked in to the numbers they revealed the other week.
The report comes from Credit Suisse analyst Bill Shope, recounting some things Apple execs said in meetings with the financial services group. The $499 to $829 price spread may actually go down if demand for the iPad doesn’t meet expectations. Perhaps Apple is a bit worried since, according to Marketbeat, shares are down 5.5% since the iPad’s launch.
This may be bad news for Apple fanboys but good news for consumers. $499 is a pretty aggressive price, but if the higher capacity versions came down closer to that, it could tempt more of those people who know about the iPad but just aren’t interested in it.
Immediately following Apple’s iPad announcement last week reactions to the device ranged widely both from tech bloggers and from casual observers of the Apple tablet madness. Plenty of people praised the iPad as being revolutionary, others expressed disappointment that it didn’t live up to the (admittedly over-the-top) pre-announcement hype, and still others dismissed it as “just a big iPhone.” Tech journalists and bloggers will argue back and forth on the merits or detriments of the device for the next couple of months, but the key thing in determining if the iPad will be a hit is whether consumers are interested in buying it.
Retrevo Pulse conducted a study to determine consumer interest in the product, comparing answers from before the launch when the tablet was still mythical and the week following its unveiling. Before January 27th, the number of people who’d heard about the device but weren’t interested in buying one was 26%. 19% were interested in seeing what the device looked like and 3% wanted to buy one.
After the announcement, the number of respondents who’d heard about the iPad went up, naturally, but the percentage of those not interested in buying went up to 52%. The percentage of those who definitely wanted to buy it went up to 9%, but the jump in uninterested consumers is pretty significant.
When asked if respondents thought they “needed” an iPad, 49% said no while 3% said yes before the announcement. Afterwards, 61% said no while just 5% said yes.
It seems that the iPad didn’t set the world on fire as many had hoped, though I don’t think this will stop long lines from forming outside of Apple Stores in the days before the launch. I’d definitely be interested in seeing this study repeated a month after the tablets actually start shipping and full reviews are in. When consumers are able to touch and play with the iPad themselves and see how others use the device, their perceptions may change. Though I doubt their distaste for the extra cost 3G adds to the device will go down much.
Where do you fall in this spectrum? Were you excited about the iPad before the official announcement then lukewarm after? Did it just increase your desire to have one seeing what it was capable of?
When I read these words I had to laugh. But the numbers are no laughing matter. Let’s start with the money quote first. Michael Morgan, an analyst at ABI research, told the Wall Street Journal today that “Apple could be running into a case of ‘Razr burn’. The reason for this harsh analogy? According to the firm, the iPhone 3G ($529.00) and 3GS accounted for 16.6 percent of smart phone sales in the fourth quarter, down from 18.1 percent in the third quarter.
So I guess the reasoning goes that 140,000+ apps and unparalleled ease of use aren’t enough to keep consumers excited anymore. Maybe buyers are growing tired of the familiar look and feel of the iPhone, even if it is iconic. Maybe they’re more excited by the Droid’s multitasking abilities, or the free turn-by-turn navigation, or the ability to customize their home screens with widgets. Hmmm. Maybe this analyst is onto something?
There’s no question that the iPhone 3GS was an evolutionary step for Apple, adding more speed and convenient features like a compass. But with Android gaining momentum, and with a 1-GHz processor now in Apple’s arsenal, I think it’s reasonable to expect that the next iPhone will be more of a leap forward.
What do you think? Is the iPhone getting boring? What do you want to see in the next version?
At nearly 90MB in size, iTunes is no small installation. But with this heftiness comes many new features designed to appeal to both iTunes novices and seasoned users.
Now that the iTunes universe will be welcoming many more users with the introduction of the iPad, we thought it would be a good time to break down some of our favorite features and offer tips on ways to better manage your i-Devices, share content with others in your household, create wish lists, and much, much more. Use these tips to make your iTunes interaction better.
1. Go Behind The Scenes
iTunes made it simple to purchase and download your favorite flicks from the comfort of your couch, but these movies lack an element that their DVD cousins possess: special features. Fortunately, iTunes 9 makes this part of the movie watching experience with iTunes Extras, which lets film fans check out interviews, photos, trailers, and more. As we went to print, there were 25 movies in the iTunes Extras section (Batman Begins, Iron Man, Wall-E, and others), priced between $9.99 and $19.99. Keep in mind that while Extras is accessible from your Apple TV, it’s not compatible with iPod or iPhone.
2. Save Content to Your Wish List
Do you frequently stumble upon an album, movie, music video, song, or television show that catches your fancy while browsing the iTunes Store, but don’t want the act of immediately purchasing it to stymie your window shopping session? Add it to your wish list by clicking the arrow next to the price of the item and selecting Add To Wish List from the drop-down menu. You can view the contents of your wish list by clicking the arrow next to your e-mail address in the upper-right portion of iTunes and selecting Wish List.
3. Activate Genius Mixes
Genius Mixes is a virtual DJ that analyzes the music in your library and creates playlists of music designed to sound great together. If you’d like to test iTunes 9’s ability to create a pleasing mix, you’ll have to activate the feature (it’s turned off by default). To do this, simply click Genius. A description of Genius will appear in the main content field; click Turn On Genius and log in (if you aren’t already). Genius will gather song information from your library and send it to Apple. When you select a song, press the Genius button at the bottom of the window to be taken to the Genius playlist, where you’ll see selected and related songs.
4. Better App Management
The App Store is a wonderful gateway to thousands of apps that can transform your iPhone or iPod touch into an eReader, gaming console, and myriad other tools. Until now, arranging those programs across the various devices’ pages was a task performed on the respective handheld, not within iTunes. The new version of the software gives you the option of rearranging the apps on your Mac or PC by dragging them with the pointer, and then syncing the new arrangement to your iPhone or iPod touch. You can even move multiple applications at once by pressing Command/Ctrl and clicking each app you’d like to relocate.
5. Tweak Column View
By default, iTunes 9 doesn’t have the music columns that were mainstays in previous versions of the application. You can, however, bring them back with Column Browser by clicking View > Show Column Browser (or using the Command + B shortcut). It’s easy to add or subtract the album, artist, composer, genre. Also, you can add group columns, positioning them on top or to the left of the main content area for a customized column view.
6. Automatically Add Content to iTunes
If you wanted to add content to iTunes before the latest release, you needed to manually move a file into the program or launch it so that iTunes would copy it over before playing it. That is no longer the case. A fresh install of iTunes 9 creates a Media folder within your iTunes folder (if upgrading from a previous version it’ll be named iTunes Music), in which you’ll find yet another folder: Automatically Add to iTunes. Content placed in this folder will be analyzed by iTunes for compatibility and added to your library the next time the application opens (files that aren’t compatible will be shuffled off to the Not Added folder). This feature is handy because you can download content directly to that folder for automatic importing without needing to specifically address that file. Note: WMA files placed into this folder will be converted into MP3s, but don’t fret: A copy of the original format will be added to the Not Added folder.
7. Post Links to Facebook or Twitter
Apple believes sharing is caring, so iTunes 9 allows users to post links of their favorite content on Facebook or Twitter. Doing so is simple: Clicking the arrow next to the price opens a drop-down menu that lets you select which account to share on. You’ll then be taken to that social networking site’s login page to sign in with your username and password. Once inside, you’ll see that the link has been automatically attached to the status update field, which you can send to your friends and followers with the press of a button.
8. Home Sharing
Want to share movies, music, and TV shows with other users on your home network? Home Sharing lets you browse the iTunes libraries of up to five authorized computers (also running iTunes 9), import what you like, and automatically add new purchases made on any of the computers to your own Mac or PC. To set this
feature up, simply connect to your network, click Advanced > Turn On Home Sharing, and log in. Other computers on your network will appear under the Shared heading. Note: Only content purchased from iTunes is automatically imported. Other content must be manually moved.
9. Improved Navigation
The iTunes Store now sports a new layout that’s highlighted by a strip of drop-down menus (located above the main content area) that allows fast access to Apple’s main categories (App Store, Audiobooks, iTunes U, Movies, Music, Podcasts, and TV Shows) and their various genres. In addition, iTunes 9 serves up quick-look previews of album data; clicking the small “i” icon in the bottom-right corner of the album image launches a pop-up that displays its user rating, track listing, and prices for both the album and individual tracks.
10. Get The Album Experience
Wax may be nothing more than an indie trend these days, but the visual experience of album art and info lives on in the form of iTunes LP. Select albums now allow you to dive deep into an artist’s world by including liner notes, lyrics, photos, video performances, and other goodies—for a premium. For example, Peter Gabriel’s nine-track classic So normally costs $8.91, but the enhanced LP version adds three B-sides and five music videos for $13.99. These extra features can only be accessed from within iTunes 9 and on Apple TVs (not on your iPhone or iPod touch). But if you’re a music diehard, iTunes LP is a feature not to be overlooked.
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Apple is a company that has probably grown accustomed to getting sued by anyone and everyone by now. So when we saw its announcement this morning about a lawsuit against HTC, the manufacturer of the Nexus One, we were quite shocked. This isn’t just a case against a single patent infringement, but 20! How is it possible for HTC to infringe on so many Apple patents and why is Apple deciding to sue now?
At nearly 90MB in size, iTunes is no small installation. But with this heftiness comes many new features designed to appeal to both iTunes novices and seasoned users.
The App Store is a wonderful gateway to thousands of apps that can transform your iPhone or iPod touch into an eReader, gaming console, and myriad other tools. Until now, arranging those programs across the various devices’ pages was a task performed on the respective handheld, not within iTunes. The new version of the software gives you the option of rearranging the apps on your Mac or PC by dragging them with the pointer, and then syncing the new arrangement to your iPhone or iPod touch. You can even move multiple applications at once by pressing Command/Ctrl and clicking each app you’d like to relocate.
