Apple Issues Invitations for March 2nd Media Event to Introduce Next-Generation iPad

[zenio]

No worries words of wisdom from older Walt, Stevens planted reporter will have everyone salivating. They will trot out david pogue to close the deal. Thunderous roar of approval will bring them to tears.

 

[dacapo]

I wonder how the keynote will be this year.

 

[Mattstkc]

Thank goodness, I want my iPad 2 now.

I have such a boner for this I might just die.

It is interesting they chose to use the iPhone 4 background...

They already use the same version of iOS so it can't be symbolic of that. It is possible this thing will actually have a higher resolution screen? Don't want to get my hopes up.

This will be an instant buy of course, just hopeful regardless.

YES. YES. and I hope so. WANT

 

[Tom8]

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4.3 GM seed
5.0 demo on current iPad
Lion Demo
iMac refresh
One more thing... iPad 2

 

[Sodner]

Originally Posted by Gemütlichkeit
Thunderbolt
iPad 2
Revamped MBP's

Anything else?

the way this site has been cranking stuff out, I'm guessing the iPlane.

iMac Refresh was rumored to be soon as well.

 

[Popeye206]

Very well said. What the critics fail to see is that Apple was never the dominant force in the mobile phone space, so there was nothing for them to lose. He idiotically went from iPod to iPhone analogy despite their very different markets because the iPod makes his arguments look bad but the iPhone seems to support his viewpoint. But it doesn't because the meme that is being pushed is the one that says Apple "lost the mobile telephone space." How stupid is this!

The mobile phone space is enormous. What Android did was take over the wannabee spots that were failing. A good chunk of "Android" are Asian knockoffs throughout Asia that grab Android for free and call it good. Woo hoo! Market share!

Meanwhile Apple keeps expanding its numbers with no looking back. Android is doing well, Apple is doing well, RIM is slipping, Microsoft is lost and Nokia just sold Symbian down the river while hitching their wagon to a partner that will stab them in the back sooner or later.

Apple didn't lose their mobile telephone space, they never had it to begin with, but now are growing as fast as they can make them. Nobody will ever, ever, ever, ever, ever own a share of this market the way Windows owned the OS market, the iPod owns the music player market, and the way the iPad currently owns the tablet market.

And well said on your end... the only thing I disagree with is the final comment on the Tablet Space. Now that Apple has (once again) shown the way, competition is diving in, in mass. There are some nice devices planned like the Xoom and the Playbook and I'm sure they will get some market share. I'm also sure Android based Tablets will sell very well overall. It's not bad. But is it going to stop Apple from growing their market. I don't see that at all. The iPad is the "one to beat" and Apple has a very nice suite of solutions surrounding it.

Like the phone market, the Tablet market could be huge ... I say could be because we don't know yet how big it can go. So, there will always be competitors. Looks like Android based tabs will do well. But many will fail too. The business model on the Android side is what I think is their downfall. The hardware people need to support older models. If the treat is like a smart phone and you're abandoned in a year as a customer... that customer will be an Apple customer with the next upgrade.

 

[Jeremy1026]

So, a fairly obvious hint that this is the new iPad in the picture. And we also notice the only icon that is visible is the Maps icon. Something new with maps? Apple rolling out their own service?

Doubt it, thats the default location for the map app on the iPad. It was either that or Calendar, which would have looked repetitive.

 

[Snowy_River]

Making an analogy to the iPod space completely ignore the reality of Android and Honeycomb. In short, you do not see the difference of there being a VIABLE alternative the the iPad, whereas this does not exist for the iPod. The competition was way to slow in answering the challenge of the iPod and when they did, the software was nowhere near what the iPod had at least for the first 5 years after its initial release.

Sure, people what what works well. Honeycomb, based on all reviews I've see, fit this bill to a tee. Also, people care about price and variety. Some will see the 7 inch tables and go with that. Some will see the option of a 16:9 screen and prefer that. Others will look at the price, and make their purchase decision based on that.

The same factors that lost Apple the mobile telephone space will work to rob Apple of their position in tablets.

I'd say that you're both vastly over simplifying. Certainly, iTunes was a huge part of the success of the original iPod. Specs wise, there were competitors that had better specs arguably from day one of the original iPod. I recall that there were plenty of analysts at the time that said that the move into the personal music player arena was a mistake for Apple and doomed to fail.

As to the iPad, yes, the Android tablets have some good specs and good variety. However, the latter can work against a product as well as work for a product (i.e. it's a two edged sword). For Joe Consumer who doesn't know that much about tech, a simpler set of choices from a well known and reliable brand (i.e. Apple) can be much more attractive than trying to choose between dozens of units all with different specs and from different brands.

Then there's the question of the ecosystem. The Android ecosystem and the iOS ecosystem take very different approaches. While each has its strengths and weaknesses, from a marketing standpoint, the non-curated Android marketplace is vulnerable to news stories about it being a source for malware (I've actually seen such news stories). So, while the more open market that Android offers will appeal to some, I will also turn others away.

Probably the biggest area where the consumer could be appealed to is in the area of price, but, at least so far, none of the serious Android tablets seem to be able to step up on this point.

As to Apple having lost the mobile phone space, again I think that this is a gross over simplification. They are still a major player in the space, a space that was well developed and they had no part in a few short years ago. Even if Android hadn't come along, other players would have stepped up, too.

In regards to doubling storage capacity of iPad line:


The cloud isn't for everywhere though,

A plane! A plane!
Could you, would you
on a plane?

Sorry, young kids do this to you. But there is no cloud (ironically) when you are in the clouds. I want my stuff physically stored. Cloud isn't practical for 2GB movies files if you are connected, and if Apple goes to 24 Bit audio files, you wont play those over the cloud either. An example is of course Qriocity, their service streams music at 48 kilobits per second. Current downloads from iTunes are more than five times higher in bit-rate quality. Imagine the difference in 24 bit files if iTunes were to go to that. I would want to be able to wear some high-end headsets and listen to my music at Studio quality of my iPad or iPhone. And I have about 150 movies on my iTunes account, wouldn't want to have to make those all available to the cloud. Certainly am not leaving my computer up as a server while traveling either, if Apple didn't allow the type of storage on their Mobile Me servers.

Nah, give me physical, on-board storage, that works fast, and anywhere.

I would not, could not on a plane! With data in the cloud? You're insane!



I know what you mean about kids.

Also, with wifi only models, the cloud isn't practical. Sure wifi is become more common, but it is a far cry from being ubiquitous.

 

[Terry W]

Cloud vs. Thunderbolt

I tend to agree with folks that 2011 will be the year of the cloud. However, I think the idea of the cloud supplanting native storage is ludicrous. Why would Apple switch to a system where all of your data has to stream to your device when 1) carriers have mostly introduced tiered data plans and 2) you have to physically be in a place that has carrier signal (or wi-fi'z) for it to work?

Hopefully we'll get better a filesharing system from the cloud, wireless synching thanks to the cloud, and other enhancements, but I'm not sure moving everyone's tunes and movies to the cloud really works except as a backup source.

Lastly, if we are going to get wireless synching (finally - and hopefully a better/less intrusive notification system), why would the new iPad need a Thunderbolt connection in the first place? So it can synch wired-ly faster? Not sure it makes that much sense.

Those are my two cents. Looking forward to next week!

 

[thetaylor13]

"Come see what 2011 will be the year of"

The year of the Lion! Very cool Apple, very cool indeed.

EDIT: Before any one tries to be a doucher and point out there is no year of the lion, it still works damnit

EDIT 2: And post 420, go me

 

[NebulaClash]

And well said on your end... the only thing I disagree with is the final comment on the Tablet Space. Now that Apple has (once again) shown the way, competition is diving in, in mass. There are some nice devices planned like the Xoom and the Playbook and I'm sure they will get some market share. I'm also sure Android based Tablets will sell very well overall. It's not bad. But is it going to stop Apple from growing their market. I don't see that at all. The iPad is the "one to beat" and Apple has a very nice suite of solutions surrounding it.

Like the phone market, the Tablet market could be huge ... I say could be because we don't know yet how big it can go. So, there will always be competitors. Looks like Android based tabs will do well. But many will fail too. The business model on the Android side is what I think is their downfall. The hardware people need to support older models. If the treat is like a smart phone and you're abandoned in a year as a customer... that customer will be an Apple customer with the next upgrade.

I appreciate it, but note I did say that only "currently" does the iPad have the market share that it does. I agree with you that some very nice tablets will take share away from Apple.

Here is what I started saying last February: This is the start of the Tablet Era, the era that finally moves on from the PC Era (which moved on from the Minicomputer Era, etc.) So how big will it get? By the end of this decade, the tablet will be the default consumer computer, with only specialists getting what we would today think of as a PC. So how big is that? Bigger than anyone realizes.

Lots of room for different tablet makers to do well. But Apple will be the default for a very long time.

 

[tsadi]

Steve on podium:

-Bla bla bla
-Last year we had the iPad.
-isn't it great?
-We think so to.
-We find it bla bla bla
-So we didn't seem a reason to change it.
-But added something.
- ***** picture of camera in ipad *****
-(audience) ahhhh. (asks there fellow journalist if he also thinks that it looks like the old one)
-Steve smiles and looks around.
-Yes you now can use facetime over al your devices.
-And we could even make is cheaper.
-They now start at 50$ less.

Perfect SJ impersonation! But for some reason, I kind of heard it in my head being spoken by Morgan Freeman.


Oblig: http://xkcd.com/462/

 

[tthere5]

Maybe Apple could do a socially responsible thing and tack on $1 per device sold to help cover the medical bills of the people who make these wonderful gadgets? Apple could match it. $1 from the consumer and one from Apple. That would make Apple stand out even more.

Agree... in principle. It would be an inherently good thing to donate money to this cause. It would make apple look good and it would be a good thing to do. Unfortunately this type of gesture could be construed as a admission of culpability. I don't think it's fair to say that Apple is directly responsible for this (which I know you didn't say but people will). The company making the displays and the Chinese government are ultimately responsible for the health of their workers/citizens.

 

[TheAppleGeek]

Yay, only 1 more week until we can read all the posts by people who are disappointed by the features of the iPad 2.

The Apple products cycle

1) Speculate about features
2) Read news stories of feature speculations
3) Read other speculations countering the speculations
4) Speculate about the speculations about speculations
6) Set your hopes unreasonably high
7) When a product is announced, start complaining about what wasn't included
8) Curse Apple
9) Purchase Apple product anyway
10) Return to #1

LOL! Sad, but true.

 

[bassfingers]

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Alright, let's find out if any of the rumors for the past six months have been true!

 

[mcmlxix]

Yeah, ~$10B in 1 year with a new product in a long-losing market is an epic fail.
There's no way a company with a $0.3T market cap could know what they're doing.

So, toddybody (giggle), what did you do last year to outdo Steve Jobs?

There really needs to be a sarcasm emoticon.

 

[Snowy_River]

Yes, I have an iPad, and no, I don't ever hold the actual front of the bezel in any way except maybe my thumb touches the very outer edge, much less than half way through it. I see no reason to rest my thumbs on the front of the device. I using have them up along the edge, the same way I hold my iPhone. I have my whole palm and fingers of two hands to support it, I don't need the front of my thumbs securing the front side. I think cutting the size of the bezel in half would certainly still work.

Besides being visually unappealing, the bezel makes an already too big device a lot bigger. It wouldn't be that bad for a 16:10 aspect ratio device like most other tablets, but it makes a much squarer device like the iPad just too wide in portrait mode. The first comment I ALWAYS hear when someone first picks up an iPad as compared to any other tablet is "IT"S HUGE" (and not in a good way). And the bezel size definitely contributes to that.

Tony

Okay, sure, if you're holding your iPad to just look at something, and you aren't doing anything else. But, at least for me, when I'm holding my iPad, I'm generally interacting with it. That means that I'm holding it with one hand and touching the screen with the other. There is simply no way to do that effectively without wrapping my thumb around the front of the iPad. And, as I have occasionally found myself touching the screen area with the bezel the size it is, any reduction in the bezel size would reduce the functionality of the iPad.

Also, please don't go to the 16:10 ratio. I've seen the Android tablets that have that ratio, and they look awful. Sure, when watching a movie they look great, but for just about anything else, it just doesn't work as well. Of course, this is simply my opinion, but there it is.

Finally, I don't know who you've been showing your iPad to, as no one that I've ever shown my iPad to has ever made a comment even remotely similar to "it's huge!". The closest I've ever come was something along the lines of "it's bigger than I thought it would be. I like it."

In any event, this is my opinion, take it or leave it...

 

[TheAppleGeek]

and why do people keep bringing up Apple's "one more thing" when's the last time they even did that? .. it's probably been YEARS

Years? What about with the iPhone 4?

 

[SchneiderMan]

iPad 2, same look with a curved glass back? Flat glass back?

 

[mcmlxix]

"Come see of what the year 2011 will be." Hmmmm...


(Ever notice those supermarket check-out signs that say "12 items or less"? Of course, they should say "12 items or fewer". When the sign does say "fewer", I usually point out to the teenage cashier that her sign is grammatically correct. Unfortunately, she's usually bewildered by this and I have to explain.)

That's a lot more than they can handle.

I just love it when the total comes to $5.67 for example, and I hand them $21.00, and they hand the dollar back to me. Forget about doing math their head (let alone on a piece of scratch paper) either. What’s that?

 

[zedsdead]

Years? What about with the iPhone 4?

Steve did it at the most recent iPod event in Sept 2010 before introducing the new Apple TV. He said it, then amended it to "one more hobby."

 

[old-school]

no one that I've ever shown my iPad to has ever made a comment even remotely similar to "it's huge!".

I love the size of the iPad - it's a perfect size. Small enough to fit neatly in a bag, big enough to watch a film/browse internet on. I agree, it's not too big, not too small.

 

[mcmlxix]

Yes, I have an iPad, and no, I don't ever hold the actual front of the bezel in any way except maybe my thumb touches the very outer edge, much less than half way through it. I see no reason to rest my thumbs on the front of the device. I using have them up along the edge, the same way I hold my iPhone. I have my whole palm and fingers of two hands to support it, I don't need the front of my thumbs securing the front side. I think cutting the size of the bezel in half would certainly still work.

Besides being visually unappealing, the bezel makes an already too big device a lot bigger. It wouldn't be that bad for a 16:10 aspect ratio device like most other tablets, but it makes a much squarer device like the iPad just too wide in portrait mode. The first comment I ALWAYS hear when someone first picks up an iPad as compared to any other tablet is "IT"S HUGE" (and not in a good way). And the bezel size definitely contributes to that.

Tony

I get what you’re saying about the bezel adding to the devices dimensions without the benefit of increased display real estate. But that space isn’t wasted. The internals are filled with battery etc. Based on the tech they used, in order to reduce the bezel and dimensions, it would have to have been thicker. The trade off is a personal matter I guess.

 

[AlekNovy]

Unless it has a Retina, I don't much care about it. I got a kindle and retina ipod-touch. I combine the two, switching between the two for different reasons, and the combined experience is better than owning an iPad 1 (due to display).

 

[Tones2]

I love the size of the iPad - it's a perfect size. Small enough to fit neatly in a bag, big enough to watch a film/browse internet on. I agree, it's not too big, not too small.

I don't mind the screen size or aspect ratio so much as I do the overall size and weight. I get tired after a few minutes holding this as an eReader, and it's a little overwhelming to pull out on public transportation (and hard to be discreet) and impossible to really use standing up. It's way too big as a music player. Great for videos though.

Reduction of the bezel would help, and the iPad 2 being thinner and lighter would help as well. I wouldn't mind the screen size be somewhat smaller though, something like 8" with a smaller bezel would be ideal for overall usage.

Tony