Apple Readying New FaceTime Equipped iPads?

[iZac]

It's interesting to guess where Apple want to place the iPad in relation to the iPhone and iPod touch. At the moment, iOS updates March, iPhone updates June/July, iPod updates September, it brings scope for the iPad to have updates in January, or perhaps update with/just after the iOS?

At the moment, iPad users may feel like they're playing last in the race, with iPhone and iPod both getting software and hardware updates before them. If this is intentional by Apple, we can expect the iPad to only get feature parity with the rest of the lineup in January, and not to exceed them. Unless the iPad will branch out into having different features, ones that require the larger real estate that the iPad commands, I think iPad users are always going to be last in the pack, but who knows?

 

[Artmuzz]

To be honest this news about the iPad getting facetime (or whatever its called) and a camera doesn't interest me in the slightest. As for the fact of it having a camera is not very practical IMHO as the iPad is too bulky for that. if I want to do videos or photos on my iPad then I have the Camera Connection Kit for that where I can connect my Camera/iPod Touch 4G to.

I only like my iPad as a sketch pad for music making. photo editing and art and Youtube aswell as basic internet browsing. As a serious internet device it fails as it doesn't support Flash as alot of sites support Flash and I cannot download to folders.

This would of been exciting news if the iPad had got an mic and audio input socket and bigger RAM. The only upgrade I am looking forward to is iOS 4.2 for iPad in Novemeber.


Art

 

[Poll Smoker]

Idiot.

Does nobody understand how consumer electronics work? Does nobody see that every company in the world has product revisions? It's like apple are the only company who revise their products every year or so and that this is somehow evil.

There are some stupid comments from some very stupid people on this topic.

And you're so ****ing smart you can't figure out how to use multi-quote.

 

[emptyCup]

a lesson to you all , NEVER BUY 1ST GENERATION APPLE PRODUCTS

and
1. Never buy early 2nd generation models until all the bugs have been worked out.
2. Never buy late 2nd generation models, the new models will be out soon
3. Go to 1

Each new model will have new features, even if it is faster processors and more memory. That is a given. Meanwhile people who bought the iPad have been enjoying it. Remember when you buy the next iPad that the new iPhone will be out soon with features that the Touch will get a few months later. By the time you are ready to get rid of that old 2nd gen. iPad the people who bought the original iPad will be on the 3rd or 4th generation.

The only way to win this game is to know what you want and be content in your choices.

 

[sushi]

and
1. Never buy early 2nd generation models until all the bugs have been worked out.
2. Never buy late 2nd generation models, the new models will be out soon
3. Go to 1

Snort!

Just thinking of all the funds I would have saved over the years...

 

[Piggie]

It's not about "fitting", it's about cost.

I don't think it's as simple as that.

Marketing has more to do with this kind of issue

 

[wizard]

Why would it alienate anybody?

No way will Apple launch new iPads before Q1 2011. They are not going to alienate their most loyal customers who will rush out to buy a new one 12 months after the initial launch, but almost certainly will not buy again this year.

You see posts like this all the time in various Apple forums. Sadly it makes the authors sound like fools or cry babies.

The first thing here is that they rev the Mac Books twice a year and nobody complains.

Second is that there is this thing called competition. Stay ahead of the competition and you win. Falling behind can lead to years of catching up (see how long it took Mac OS/X to become what it is today).

Third it is pretty obvious that FaceTime is a major initiative on Apples part. IPad must support this as soon as possible to alllow Factime to achive the needed market saturation.

Fourth iPhone 4 introduced some significant new features hardware wise. These need to be rolled into iPad.

Those are only four items off the top of my head. The problem Apple has is that the longer they wait to update the more people that will become publically frustrated. Some of these features are so obvious for iPad now that it will start to impact sales to knowlegable people.

In a nut shell Apple can't worry about past sales, instead they need to work on what is required to promote and assure future sales.

 

[potatis]

Cool with all these iPalantirs. Is FaceTime an open protocol or like AirPlay, which means different companies can implement it in their products?

 

[Piggie]

Going back to something I said earlier.

How many here would actually buy a current iPad for someone as a Christmas gift in 3 months time, knowing full well that a new model is almost definitely going to come out around 3 months later.

Would you hold off your purchase?

To be honest, a new model launch towards the end of the year would make more sales sense than one at the beginning of the year.

 

[wizard]

You can't be serious.

If true I actually view this as a flaw on Apples part. The right move is/was to lead the market with a product that last 12 months. If this is a 'response product' then I worry about Apples Product Development people and mediocre products in the future. Right now I buy the top of the line Apple products but moving forward I'll change my buying habits. Why buy the best when you can wait and get it cheaper in a few months. Piss Poor on Apple's part.

This has been the case with computer hardware since day one. By the way not just Apple hardware, it is the general way the industry works. The only thing Piss Poor here is your not realizing how the industry has worked for years.

The hardware of iPad can be seen as underwhelming in some ways but you have to realize it is very much a rev one product. As such iy has been indevelopment for years, thus the current hardware design. Once you have the basic product down building from there is a snap. Faster processors, more RAM or sensors is just a minor update away.

Beyound that product revs aren't for current hardware owners. Rather they are for future customers and responses to industry conditions. It is like no one here has any business sense.

 

[cheesymogul]

Holding off til the next gen because it will have more features is sort of stupid. There will always be upgrades, doesn't invalidate the first iteration of a product in any way.

If you are someone who tends to keep his devices over many years, the short wait for 2nd generation will certainly pay off.
The biggest feature and power boost usually happens in version 2, while later revisions are often only minor updates from the previous model.

Especially with a new kind of device like the iPad, where Apple is still testing the waters and exploring the potential of the product.

 

[bruceleroy]

I think that if it's released in November it will be a 7 inch version which would still allow the 9 inch to coexist...FaceTime makes more sense on a 7 inch version anyway

 

[cheesymogul]

Going back to something I said earlier.

How many here would actually buy a current iPad for someone as a Christmas gift in 3 months time, knowing full well that a new model is almost definitely going to come out around 3 months later.

Would you hold off your purchase?

To be honest, a new model launch towards the end of the year would make more sales sense than one at the beginning of the year.

Let's not forget that nowadays Apple product rumors have the astonishing tendency of showing up in the mainstream press!
A few years ago only insiders and geeks knew about upcoming product updates, which didn't hurt sales at all.
But it's a different story when even Grandma knows there is a new model waiting around the corner.

 

[wizard]

This is simply not true.

I HIGHLY doubt that Apple gives a rats ass about what is put forth in these forums. Apple leads and DOESN'T follow................

cheers
JohnG

I've seen suggestions made in these forums implemented in the Mini. Plus the public out cry for cut and paste apparently spurred it implementation in iOS.

I'd say Apple is extremely responsive to reasoned suggestions and comments. In fact I'm pretty sure that at least one Apple engineer went to the forums to get an idea about what was liked/disliked on the original Mini. Apparently this lead to the next rev of the Mini getting more USB ports.

It is one thing to develope new products or concepts in a vacuum it is another thing to ignore customer comments once those ideas are in the field.

 

[iBunny]

haha! And thats why you wait. When Apple announced the iPad and it lacked a front facing camera I knew that a revision would have one.

All of you early adopters who are wishing for a camera attachment are SOL you know that right. lol this is apple we are talking about.

 

[bushido]

couldnt care less about facetime, havent used it on my iPhone 4 and i dont even iChat on my mbp. if i wanna see ppl i just talk to them in person

 

[digilish]

Nailed it!

I knew it from the moment Steve said "HDR Photos" from his iOS 4.2 presentation

"It’s bringing everything to iPad. iOS 4.1 with it’s multi tasking, it’s folders, game center, HDR photos, everything you saw here…"



My post about it -
http://digilish.com/post/1086104473/new-ipads-coming-november

 

[joemama]

Idiot.

Does nobody understand how consumer electronics work? Does nobody see that every company in the world has product revisions? It's like apple are the only company who revise their products every year or so and that this is somehow evil.

There are some stupid comments from some very stupid people on this topic.

Umm. I guess you don't get sarcasm. That's exactly what my post was pointing out - the facts about the industry and how it works, so people SHOULDN'T be upset.

As someone who bought Apple stock the week the iPod debuted, I'm very happy they keep producing nice products and people keep buying them.

Am I still "stupid"?

 

[racer1441]

So you bought your iPad for about $240? I think you meant to say about $2 a day.....math fail

8 months with an average of 30 days a month is $240. *2 for productivity work and fun = about an iPad = $0.50 a day.

 

[sths-gr]

and
1. Never buy early 2nd generation models until all the bugs have been worked out.
2. Never buy late 2nd generation models, the new models will be out soon
3. Go to 1

Each new model will have new features, even if it is faster processors and more memory. That is a given. Meanwhile people who bought the iPad have been enjoying it. Remember when you buy the next iPad that the new iPhone will be out soon with features that the Touch will get a few months later. By the time you are ready to get rid of that old 2nd gen. iPad the people who bought the original iPad will be on the 3rd or 4th generation.

The only way to win this game is to know what you want and be content in your choices.

well said.

 

[nelmat]

a lesson to you all , NEVER BUY 1ST GENERATION APPLE PRODUCTS

as they haven't had enough real world testing and are too expensive with things missing that are later added by Apple (such as 3G to the iphone, sd card slot to macbooks/imacs, ios 4 to ipad, a working antenna to the iphone 4, blu -ray(?) and now a camera to the ipad).

Wait until 2nd Generation and look in amusement at the cool kids/wanna-be celebs lay down their rent money for the Apple product of the month.

Wrong on every count. You don't buy a device unless it does what you want. If the next generation brings more features, then so be it. That's the nature of consumer technology. And you are wrong in your opinion. I've bought many first generation apple devices (pod, phone, mac, pad) and never experienced annything other than superb build quality, and zero issues.

Actually, that's a lie, one of the wireless keyboards that shipped with a batch of (faul free, beautiful) 1st gen 27" imacs had an issue with it's caps lock light. I called apple, they sent a new on with a £25 iTunes voucher to say sorry.

If you want to wait for the eight revision, go ahead, while the rest of us love ths products we buy and don't chase vapourware or rumoured features - there's always something new on the horizon. By your logic i would never have bought a television.

 

[nelmat]

Umm. I guess you don't get sarcasm. That's exactly what my post was pointing out - the facts about the industry and how it works, so people SHOULDN'T be upset.

As someone who bought Apple stock the week the iPod debuted, I'm very happy they keep producing nice products and people keep buying them.

Am I still "stupid"?

Sorry. Misunderstood, the sarcasm was completely lost in the written language and the lack of any emoticon...

 

[izimzis]

I certainly hope this is true. My parents are looking to get one, and I'd love to be able to see my beautiful cat whenever I call home.

Damn ***** is all you care about? what is with your parents.....

 

[KnightWRX]

Anyone who doesn't buy technology because there is something better coming out months/a year later is a fool; new stuff is ALWAYS on the horizon.

Anyone who doesn't wait to buy something that truly meets their needs is a fool.

Seriously, a lot of folks wanted a camera equipped iPad, Apple didn't deliver. You're now telling these people they are fools because they waited for Apple to ship a product that meets their needs instead of buying the crap that was offered ?

Seriously, Consumerism at its best. Instant gratification. Continue wasting your money if that's what you like, but the fool is the one that pays twice to get what he wants. The patient man always gets what he wants and pays only once for it.

 

[fobfob]

These days the products are released relatively bug free, if at all. I was confident to get both a Rev A G5 iMac and i7 iMac in their first iterations and haven't been disappointed.

You might be happy with your i7 iMac but I can tell you that many, many of us had flickering screens and yellow tints etc etc in fact mine still does, I cant afford the time and downtime to go and complain to apple. And that's less than a year ago.