Breaking News: Apple Announces the iPad 3 March 7, 2012

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by MJ4H

Yes, I like it. It is not nearly worth what the TiVo was costing at the time we were discussing it. I wouldn't have one if it didn't come with my package. But yes, I do like it, of course.

That's because it's not a TiVo

Originally Posted by k0ruptr

maybe it just depends on the eyes, but I don't see what the big deal is about E-ink, I can't stand it, and its easier for me to read on an ipod or ipad then an E-ink display. Am I just weird or what?

I think it's because you're comparing it to a monitor. Compare it to a page in a book. In low light you'll need a light source shining at it.

[MJ4H]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

That's because it's not a TiVo



I think it's because you're comparing it to a monitor. Compare it to a page in a book. In low light you'll need a light source shining at it.

mmmkay

[Pyser]

multitasking was announced today. will be available in iphone in summer, ipad in fall

also rumors of an even smaller ipad early next year

[gstelmack]

I haven't seen the details, but folks reading the announcement stuff were trying to figure out why Apple was so gung-ho about putting advertising on these things...

Apple’s IPhone Software May Deliver Multitasking, Ads (Update1) - BusinessWeek

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by Pyser

multitasking was announced today. will be available in iphone in summer, ipad in fall

For those with phones/touch's already the small print indicates it'll only work with the latest devices (ie. late 2009 onward).

[DaddyTorgo]

really? that sucks

as an end-user i'd also say that ads suck frankly.

i understand the business proposition behind them and the money to be made, but they'd annoy me i'm fairly certain. that's not a fucking "feature."

"Hey look...your phone will now start popping up ads for toilet paper when you pass the grocery store" is not a fucking feature. It's a nuisance.

Now if they were scannable coupons, and I could opt to turn them off...okay.

[SirFozzie]

Only Apple Fanbois are dedicated enough to give Apple $500-$900 for the right to Apple to spam them

[samifan24]

It's frustrating that Apple won't support multitasking on the iPhone 3G even though it's readily available in retail locations. I can understand not supporting the first iPhone but lumping the 3G iPhone in there seems like a mistake to me. It's an easy way to tick off a large portion of your customer base.

[DaddyTorgo]

Apple's somehow seemingly resistant to pissing off their customer base...I don't get it. Geeks with too much money to spend I guess?

[Pyser]

id guess itll take 6 hours once 4.0 is released before someone hacks a non 3gs to run multitasking

[samifan24]

Originally Posted by Pyser

id guess itll take 6 hours once 4.0 is released before someone hacks a non 3gs to run multitasking

I would consider jailbreaking my iPhone to do this.

[lordscarlet]

OK. So.. multitasking only works on the 3GS, in case the "late 2009" wasn't clear to anyone.

But on the advertising: This is nothing new. Free apps already have advertising. They have a crappy little image at the bottom of the app that takes you to Safari if you click on it. The only thing iAd is going to do is standardize the advertising, and create a platform for interactivity when you click on those ads, rather than going to Safari. It's not like your apps are going to suddenly have new advertising -- free apps have had it for a long time.

I'm surprised there were no hardware announcements. I still have the original iphone and this announcement is not enough for me to upgrade, I don't think. But I may look at Android phones this summer.

[Pyser]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

I'm surprised there were no hardware announcements. I still have the original iphone and this announcement is not enough for me to upgrade, I don't think. But I may look at Android phones this summer.

i dont think its too far a leap to assume that 4.0 will come out the same day the newest iphones are released (iphone hd is the rumor)

[ISiddiqui]

Also, its not necessarily true multitasking, but rather some apps can remain in "sleep mode" in the background.

[k0ruptr]

what about ipod touches? what gens will have multi tasking? only 3rd gen I'm assuming? damn they better include 2nd gen.

[DanGarion]

Originally Posted by samifan24

It's frustrating that Apple won't support multitasking on the iPhone 3G even though it's readily available in retail locations. I can understand not supporting the first iPhone but lumping the 3G iPhone in there seems like a mistake to me. It's an easy way to tick off a large portion of your customer base.

I might be looking into a Android type phone when I need to replace my 3G.

[stevew]

There really needs to be a WebOS Palm pad. I've been using my pre for 3 days now and it's amazing how it works logically like how I think a mobile OS should work.

I have no use for a tablet but I think I would buy a Palm one. Plus they supposedly have flash support in the first half of 2010.

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by samifan24

It's frustrating that Apple won't support multitasking on the iPhone 3G even though it's readily available in retail locations. I can understand not supporting the first iPhone but lumping the 3G iPhone in there seems like a mistake to me. It's an easy way to tick off a large portion of your customer base.

I believe its likely down to performance on the device rather than an inability to enable it - the difference between the speed of the 3g and 3gs phones is quite substantial (as I believe is the memory footprint available something also important when multi-tasking is involved).

PS - I mentioned 'late 2009' because this isn't restricted to just the 'phones', some iTouches will be able to multi-task and some won't depending on the revision.

[Groundhog]

I can't wait for the iBattery - a car battery sized accessory for your iPhone 3Gs - that should hopefully allow the iPhone's battery life when multitasking both Safari and the Facebook application to survive beyond 20 minutes.

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by Pyser

i dont think its too far a leap to assume that 4.0 will come out the same day the newest iphones are released (iphone hd is the rumor)

Well, the OS comes out this summer. I woudln't be surprised if there was new hardware either, I just thought they normally announced those together? Perhaps hardware is normally at MacWorld?

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Also, its not necessarily true multitasking, but rather some apps can remain in "sleep mode" in the background.

That's the same way Android and Windows Mobile 7 do it, I think? Or at least Windows.

[ISiddiqui]

Android has true multitasking. As does Windows Mobile 6.5. But yes, MS went backwards in Windows Phone Series 7.

[DaddyTorgo]

Windows (Phone) 7 won't have true multitasking???

[ISiddiqui]

Nope. It's more like Apple's OS4 multitasking (kind of limited saved state for apps). Pretty much sucks, especially considering that the Win Phone 7 looks amazing otherwise (well, aside from not having copy/paste either.. I mean, WTF?!)

[johnnyshaka]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

I can't wait for the iBattery - a car battery sized accessory for your iPhone 3Gs - that should hopefully allow the iPhone's battery life when multitasking both Safari and the Facebook application to survive beyond 20 minutes.

How has nobody figured out how to harness "body heat" and turn that into a power source? I mean if solar energy can be harnessed, why not our own body heat?

*patent pending*



(Ooops...guess I'm not all that original after all...but, seriously, how have they not got this down to something that is actually usable yet? Pfft!)

[Scoobz0202]

I just checked out the Win Mobile 7 on a few tech sites and wow, if they manage to pull it off that could be amazing. I'm not a gamer on my phone at all, but the xbox live integration could be pretty fucking sweet.

The UI is so.. different. I would love to get some hands-on with the finished product.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Nope. It's more like Apple's OS4 multitasking (kind of limited saved state for apps). Pretty much sucks, especially considering that the Win Phone 7 looks amazing otherwise (well, aside from not having copy/paste either.. I mean, WTF?!)

fuck that. i didn't realize that. i'll be moving to an android phone i guess.

[Daimyo]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Nope. It's more like Apple's OS4 multitasking (kind of limited saved state for apps). Pretty much sucks, especially considering that the Win Phone 7 looks amazing otherwise (well, aside from not having copy/paste either.. I mean, WTF?!)

I terms of true user experience, what's the difference? Pandora will still play music while you access the Facebook app.

[ISiddiqui]

There is a long lag from moving from app to app for one.

[Pyser]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

There is a long lag from moving from app to app for one.

youve used it?

[ISiddiqui]

I know developers who have created apps for it and have been using it for a month or so.

[Pyser]

that would make some sense on 3gs...since it appears 3g isnt powerful enough to run it

next version of the phone would obviously be more powerful and faster, but a bummer to hear for 3gs people

[Cringer]

I find the iPhone OS 4 updates as a "catch up" update in many ways, which is kind of a first for the iPhone. Several of their key new features are things webOS and Android have been doing.....multi-tasking (though it's not even close to webOS which I had a TV stream running earlier as a flipped through other apps), combining inboxes into one, syncing with Google Calender. Not really a bad thing, obviously other OSes have catch-up to do with the others as well (webOS doesn't give devs access to the mic yet for apps for some reason).

I also laugh about the iAd thing. Fanboys and Flash haters always use advertising as one of their biggest anti-Flash arguments and here is Apple trying to make HTML5 a major advertising tool. So much for that argument I guess.

As long as Palm brings out new hardware for webOS soon, I see no reason to change from a webOS phone soon. It is the best mobile OS IMO. Hell, homebrew guys just got OpenOffice working on it. They need a decent selling device to help get the higher profile apps on there though, as they are coming to the platform but slowly. Still, I have my Pre overclocked at 800MHz and it is an amazing OS when the hardware can handle it like it can this way.

[dervack]

Palm can't afford to bring out new hardware right now.

The iPhone generation 4, not 4g, will be announced in June. That's when they have had their announcements in the past. 3rd generation iPod touches will multi-task, previous ones will not be able to.

[Daimyo]

Palm is putting themselves up for sale:
Palm Said to Tap Goldman, Quattrone to Find Buyers (Update3) - Bloomberg.com

I assume at this point that any value left in the company is in whatever patents they still hold and that WebOS is pretty much dead.

[Cringer]

Originally Posted by Daimyo

Palm is putting themselves up for sale:
Palm Said to Tap Goldman, Quattrone to Find Buyers (Update3) - Bloomberg.com

I assume at this point that any value left in the company is in whatever patents they still hold and that WebOS is pretty much dead.

Why do you consider webOS to be dead? First of all, the rumor (this time around, #54 in the past year I believe) is that Palm is searching out a buyer. They are looking for one that benefits them, not shuts them down (IMO). Also, webOS is considered by many (users, non-users even, tech sites, etc.) to be if not the best phone OS then the second best phone OS. Also, from what I read HTC (the rumored most possible buyer again) started looking into getting their own OS two years ago (though this is something I just keep reading, so could be BS).

It may be dead, but it's far from a lock. 50-50 right now to me, no way of knowing.

[Daimyo]

The smart phone market today is all about network externalities (the value of the device increases as the number of people using it increases due to the importance of third party apps). It doesn't matter how great the OS is if its market share isn't great enough to entice developers to write apps for it. WebOS is in 6th place with less than 5% of the market.

Its hard to imagine that number going up no matter how great WebOS is because with Android available for free (less cost for manufacturers) and with a larger market share (more benefit to customers) no phone manufacturer is going to choose to make a WebOS phone when they can make a Android phone.

IMO Windows 7 is going to face the exact same uphill battle. In the end we're going to be left with Apple, Android, and RIM being the major players in the smartphone market.... there isn't enough market share left for anyone else to get big enough unless they find a new niche (maybe the Microsoft Pink phones?).

Symbian is a bit of a wildcard admittedly... they had the market all to themselves and then completely missed the shift to apps. Doesn't seem like they'll be able to adapt quick enough though.

[Daimyo]

DOLA, I've heard the HTC rumors too and it makes absolutely no sense to me. They're partnered pretty closely with Microsoft and Google to make their handsets and having their own OS would seem to threaten those relationships. Plus, why would they want the cost to maintain their own OS when they can just customize Android to suit their needs and let Google to the heavy lifting?

I've also heard Lenovo and that makes a bit more sense to me. They're huge in the Chinese market and have zero presence here. Maybe they could use the Palm brand to get into the American market? Even then though seems the brand is what matters and they'd be better off using Android as the OS.

[DaddyTorgo]

Microsoft can continue to be a player. They're the 800 pound gorilla in any room that they're in.

[Daimyo]

Sure, they've shown several times that they're willing to lose a lot of money in the short-term for a chance at making money in the long-term and obviously they have the cash reserves to stay in this as long as they choose. They're a rational player though and they know all about network effect driven markets like this having won several in the past (e.g. desktop OS, office suites).

At some point they have to decide if they need to be a Mobile OS provider or if they're better off being a Mobile app and web services provider...

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by Daimyo

At some point they have to decide if they need to be a Mobile OS provider or if they're better off being a Mobile app and web services provider...

Yep. MS is not stupid - they'll weigh the cost of staying in the race vs. their chances of success and the benefits to their business of success in that market, and as soon as it becomes clear to them that it's no longer a viable bet, they'll cut their losses.

They'll subsidize a venture as long as it has the potential to pay off down the road.

[Cringer]

Originally Posted by Daimyo

DOLA, I've heard the HTC rumors too and it makes absolutely no sense to me. They're partnered pretty closely with Microsoft and Google to make their handsets and having their own OS would seem to threaten those relationships. Plus, why would they want the cost to maintain their own OS when they can just customize Android to suit their needs and let Google to the heavy lifting?

I've also heard Lenovo and that makes a bit more sense to me. They're huge in the Chinese market and have zero presence here. Maybe they could use the Palm brand to get into the American market? Even then though seems the brand is what matters and they'd be better off using Android as the OS.

Brand spanking new...

HTC 'continues to assess' developing its own smartphone OS, Palm says 'hey, assess this' -- Engadget

Maybe HTC buys Palm, maybe they make their own OS down the road, maybe they do neither of those things. Still, I am not sure why people find it so hard to believe that HTC may want their own OS. Especially when WinMo7 hits they won't even be able to do anything to the software, and the hardware has strict guidelines they must follow.

BTW, other companies popped up today as potential buyers, Chinese companies nobody has ever really heard of but are huge.

[Calis]

Yeah I don't know why HTC wouldn't want their own OS if it was viable for them. I love Android but I can see a company being frustrated with fragmentation, and we have no idea how WinMo7 will pan out. I think WebOS is a very slick OS that just didn't have the support or phone to back it up.

As long as Apple doesn't get that patent portfolio though I'm happy with whoever ends up with Palm.

[Daimyo]

Originally Posted by Cringer

BTW, other companies popped up today as potential buyers, Chinese companies nobody has ever really heard of but are huge.

As I mentioned above with my comment about Lenovo, I think this is the most likely scenario by far. Its incredibly expensive, time consuming, and risky to build a new brand from scratch and so I can see how the Palm brand would be incredibly valuable for a Chinese company that wants to break into the US market.

I don't know the Chinese phone market well, but I believe Lenovo is the largest player and they have zero presence in the US phone market. It makes a ton of sense for them to buy Palm and then release their phones in the US under the Palm brand. Maybe it even makes sense for them to keep around WebOS... its possible that iPhone (cost), Android (Google's China problems), and RIM aren't nearly as strong there and there is room for something like WebOS to emerge as one of the dominant players?

[cartman]

My dad won a 64GB iPad today at a conference. He's not an Apple guy at all, so it will be interesting to see how he likes it.

[Cringer]

Originally Posted by Daimyo

As I mentioned above with my comment about Lenovo, I think this is the most likely scenario by far. Its incredibly expensive, time consuming, and risky to build a new brand from scratch and so I can see how the Palm brand would be incredibly valuable for a Chinese company that wants to break into the US market.

I don't know the Chinese phone market well, but I believe Lenovo is the largest player and they have zero presence in the US phone market. It makes a ton of sense for them to buy Palm and then release their phones in the US under the Palm brand. Maybe it even makes sense for them to keep around WebOS... its possible that iPhone (cost), Android (Google's China problems), and RIM aren't nearly as strong there and there is room for something like WebOS to emerge as one of the dominant players?

The LePhone (crap name and all) comes out from Lenovo in May in China and "other markets" around the world. It is a high end smart phone with Android. Every company has something going on, every company already has products they make.

If they are to be bought though, at this point I am starting to like the sound of Cisco, the Chinese companies I have only heard about the last two days, or Lenovo. I just don't rule out HTC because they make Android phones though. People change their products, HTC hasn't always made Android phones.

What I would like about Lenovo actually brings it back to this thread's true topic some. Lenovo making larger mobile devices (tablet, netbook) with webOS. Palm has said webOS was designed to be used on more then simply phones, and I think it (or some hybrid of it with something else) would be interesting to me.

[johnnyshaka]

Glad they figured out how to print from the iPad...

[Cringer]

ok, so this video shows off some potential for the iPad that is one of the reasons I never said it was never going to be useful, but that it is just not useful to me right now. Give me stuff like this, or even better, on topics I give a rip about and I am interested.

although this periodic table uber-geek almost kills his own video with the long winded backstory. Give it a couple minutes....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHiEq...=youtube_gdata

[Glengoyne]

I figured that this was the place to come out and a announce that my past few posts have been made from my iPad. I just got my 3G version this week, and I'm pretty happy.

I haven't used my pc since. I've been sitting in my chair surfing the net, reading downloaded books, and placing orders on amazon.

So far the family is loving it, and the larger form factor is much more convenient to use than the iPhone or iPod touch. The bigger processor does wonders with the my old apps. I'm looking forward to new apps that use the format and processor.

[Peregrine]

I haven't pulled the trigger on an iPad yet but it's definitely something I'm thinking about - I just don't know if I want or need the 3G version though.

[samifan24]

Originally Posted by Peregrine

I haven't pulled the trigger on an iPad yet but it's definitely something I'm thinking about - I just don't know if I want or need the 3G version though.

Perhaps the best argument I heard for the 3G version is that it gives you an option of buying 3G coverage. The example I read was if you're traveling and staying in a hotel that wants $10 for WiFi. For $30 you get unlimited 3G access for a month with no contract which is a pretty sweet deal in comparison.

Will you be using your iPad at home or will you take it with you when you travel or go on vacation? That's something else to consider.

If you're going to be home and don't need 3G then the WiFi iPad is probably best for you. It seems likely that future iPads will include the 3G option as I would think most people want the option of turning on the 3G when they need it since it doesn't involve a contract. That's probably how most people will use it.

I don't own an iPad yet but I'm thinking about it.