When many journalists and tech fans walked into the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco for the Apple iPad event, they were expecting the third generation iPad to have a few changes made to the performance of the device with a next gen name change. However, Apple surprised many consumers with the fact that the next iPad is being called the new iPad. When the fourth generation iPad launches, what will they call it? Maybe this is new beginning to the way Apple is naming its products. In terms of improvements and changes in the new iPad, there are a few things we can talk about.
Let’s start with off-device talk: Did you know that iPad is considered as the accelerator of the movement from Cloud 1 to Cloud 2, as explained by Marc Benioff, CEO and Chairman of Salesforce.com, on TechCrunch; iPad makes Cloud 2 possible.
What’s changing in cloud computing with devices like iPad as agent of changes? According to Mr. Benioff:
Cloud 1 → Cloud 2
Type/Click → Touch
Yahoo/Amazon → Facebook
Tabs → Feeds
Chat → Video
Pull → Push
Create → Consume
Location Unknown → Location Known
Desktop/notebook → Smart phone/Tablet
Windows/Mac → Cocoa/HTML 5
The fascinating fundamental transformation would be cloud + social + iPad that will inspire game-changing innovative new apps. So, if you want to stay up-front in the cloud revolution, start with your mobile device, in this case, iPad.
Now, let’s talk about iPad as a device that makes the cloud 2 possible…
The new iPad review
Despite rumors about a small iPad display, they have stuck with the original 9.7 inch screen with LED-backlit IPS LCD. What has changed is the resolution on the screen. If you thought the iPad 2 had it good, you will be amazed at what the new iPad can offer you in terms of resolution. Built in with retina display, you now have 2048 x 1536, which is equivalent to just a little more than three million pixels. With three million pixels on that 9.7 inch screen, you will be getting crisp and clear pictures. The quad core graphics CPU has been upgraded to A5X, which provides for four times better resolution. As for as the core CPU, it is the same, expect for the graphics change.
Another change in the new iPad is the addition of a far superior 5MP iSight camera, that includes white balance, IR filtering and auto focusing for photo taking. Have you ever shot videos on your iPad where your videos are just shaky or bumping from side to side? With the new 1080p video recording features, you no longer need to worry about shaky videos. Apple has added video stabilizing in their new line of iPad devices, which will allow you to shoot awesome HD videos. You can also edit your videos and pictures with iMovie and iPhoto apps available for the new iPad.
LTE is now available on the new iPad! That’s right; Apple announced that 4G LTE will be supported on its 4G iPad devices. The new iPad will arrive with “world ready” with 3G and HSPA+ connectivity options. One thing we noticed about the 4G LTE on the new iPad is that, you cannot disable it. For example, if you were experiencing problems with the LTE network and wanted to switch to Wi-Fi that was not an option, which really seemed to bug us. Apart from this issue, 4G band on the iPad streams videos at amazing speeds. The LTE network provides speeds on the iPad that range up to seventy three MBPS, which is incredibly fast!
The battery life was another thing some users were complaining about on the iPad 2, and sadly enough, it still remains at the 10 hour cap. Apple assures us that the new iPad will be live on 4G for 9 hours.
As for pricing on the new iPad, it will take on the same price tag as the current iPad in stores. Apple will continue to sell the iPad 2, but at a $100 discount in pricing. The new iPad will hit Apple Stores on March 16 2012. So, stay tuned!
