Next iPad to Add Five New Features including USB Port?

[moonbagel]

its not about competition

For almost 3 years I have heard. Competition is good. BLAH BLAH. New features coming onto the IPAD has NOTHING to do with the competition. Apple is a business designed to make money. Omitting basic features as they do only ensures longevity of sales. Making minor updates yearly.I guarantee they have a roadmap of what they are doing for the next 8 years. Apple comes out with a new product update every year. If they did what all the other BONE head companies do and jam EVERYTHING into one product they wouldn't be able to make money over the long term.

 

[palmerc2]

maybe they could also change the name

 

[fishmoose]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; sv-se) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

All changes are predictable as Apple is trying to catch up with Samsung Tab. iPad should also get more RAM.

I've used the Tab quite a lot. Its good for being Android but it's nowhere near the finish and excellence of an Apple product.

 

[Discoverer]

What a charming retro idea! If you hurry, you may still be able to pick up an ancient Palm on eBay.

Thanks for the suggestion. However, I do not need any palms. Not ancient or otherwise. I just came back from Florida.

But, as I said, a stylus would be nice.

 

[thejakill]

Having to add a dongle is a stupid idea. It will actually create MORE waste because now in addition to all the chargers people have, they will have an extra dongle, which anyone with an iphone will never use anyway.

I can't believe there are really that many people forgetting their chargers in europe.

 

[emulator]

USB port? No.

So many Apple workers here today.

 

[HiRez]

The funny thing is, most of the places I find myself, it's easier to find someone who has a 30 pin iPod cable than it is to find someone with a straight USB cable. Especially since there are 3 different kinds of USB cable out there, standard, mini, and micro, and I believe there are even 2 variations of the shape of the connector for micro. Very confusing. Plus even if Apple is forced into a USB connector, that doesn't solve the higher iPad voltage requirement problem.

 

[tyr2]

Possibly just a micro USB port for charging? Given that there's a fair chance the next iPhone will have one (I hope).

 

[footfunk510]

FaceTime

I can see why people would be skeptical about FaceTime... these are typically people who have no reason to use it (surprise).

But I've found it to be incredibly useful. Before I had FaceTime, I used Google Video chat. I recently had a child and my parents live many hundred of miles away. My brother's wife is also pregnant and is due next year. These are times where the traditional phone does not get the job done. My son is changing all the time and everybody wants to see him (in real time, not just pictures).

FaceTime has been awesome and now we video chat all the time. I'm still not totally used to it but I just wanted to say that it's not just the people in the commercials who are making scenarios to use FaceTime.

 

[Warbrain]

And the dongle will also be able to transfer media, thus defeating the point of just giving away a dongle in anway. Also I'm pretty sure the law would be very strict on meaning the device itself must have a USB connection.

Nope, dongles are allowed. Read a bit about it.

Personally i feel the dock connector is out of date, too big and wide and it has been around for a long time.
Maybe we need a connector that has micro usb and some other port combined to form a smaller connector.

That connector would allow connection to a mini usb cable to charge, but also a special port connector cable with both ports, mini usb to charge and the other to provide data sync, video out, etc

Something like this:

That sounds like a cluster**** that Samsung or HTC would put on a device.

 

[SockRolid]

Wireless sync is totally useless

Since the EU standard is for charging, there is no reason to physically connect it for data is there?

On the flip side, since you need to connect to recharge every day or two (USB or 30-pin or whatever) there's no need to waste battery and wi-fi bandwidth with wireless syncing. Unless you feel the need to sync more than once a day or two.

Note: when I say 'sync' I mean transferring photos, music, movies, etc. Not just syncing calendar and mail etc.

 

[SockRolid]

But, as I said, a stylus would be nice.

"If you see a stylus, they blew it." - Steve Jobs, April 2008

 

[AidenShaw]

"Retina" does not mean 326 dpi

Maybe a 1280x960 display but I'd be very surprised if they can source a "retina display" version with 2048x1536 pixels at 10.

Doesnt make sense to increase the display resolution by 4X within one year.

The resolution of a Retina Display on the iPad would be 2048 x 1536....

Reread the marketing (since it's not technical) description of "Retina display".

It doesn't refer to a particular DPI, it means that the DPI is high enough that at normal viewing distance one would not be able to distinguish it from a higher resolution display.

Retina Display? No. "Better" display? Yes.

I agree but I think people are confused with the "Retina Display" tag. A Retina Display on the iPad does not necessarily mean 326 ppi. It did on the phone b/c that was the what it took for the pixels to disappear at a normal viewing distance. For the iPad, they will up it to whatever density is needed for the pixels to disappear during normal use of an iPad. What the number is I don't know, but I think we can all assume it won't be 326.

Bingo. Since the Ipad is normally used at a greater distance than a phone, the DPI for a "retina display" would be less.

I would really expect at least 1280 pixels in the long dimension so that 720p video can be displayed with shrinking it.

 

[headfuzz]

USB on board and SDXC expansion slot or *******

 

[Warbrain]

USB on board and SDXC expansion slot or *******

You can sit down over there in with the other people who will be disappointed.

 

[Discoverer]

"If you see a stylus, they blew it." - Steve Jobs, April 2008

Thanks for that. I will be sure to check Mr. Jobs' quotes before thinking of things that I might want in future products.

 

[JonKean]

USB port is possible

Yes, weight needs to be reduced. The curent iPad is too $%@# heavy. 1.5 pounds sounds light, until you realize the Samsung Tab has the weight issue completely nailed and the device feels nearly weightless in your hands. Even 1lb is pushing a questionable amount of weight for an ultra portable device. But I'm sure Apple knows this, and the next iPad will be paper thin, weight almost nothing, and the battery will run for 12+ hours of continuous web browsing.


USB port might make an appearance! Given that you can already get a USB port by using the Apple 30-pin USB "camera" connector, where other devices can be plugged into the adapter. Other devices are already partially supported by Apple, and further supported by 3rd party apps with specific external hardware needs. So yes, USB port on the next iPad is very possible. Or at the bare minimum, the 30pin usb connector will continue to exist and it's official usage could be expanded to include USB keyboards, printers, usb storage, etc.

 

[Ciclismo]

I thought someone said the EU was mandating electronics had to have a mini-USB to used for charging. If so, perhaps this was the reason that a new USB would be included.

It's not a mandate or legislation but a voluntary agreement. Secondly, it is for mobile phones, and even by a large stretch of the imagination the iPad could not be classed as a mobile phone.

As for those getting all excited at the prospect of this heralding the coming of a file system - the agreement is only that mobile phones should have a mini-USB for charging, there is no stipulation in the agreement that the mini-USB port and software must enable data transfer.

 

[theOtherGeoff]

Thanks for that. I will be sure to check Mr. Jobs' quotes before thinking of things that I might want in future products.

however there are a lot of quotes out there would have precluded
- a phone
- a pad/tablet device
- video
- ebooks

so, include your grain of salt.

I think the stylus is out from the start, as it's apparent that any device that requires a intermediate interface (keyboard, mouse, stylus) is less immediately usable. 'Tools' require 'Skills' and the ability to abstract the work space onto some non-intuitive mapping. but putting 'finger' on 'spot' is a skill we learned about 5 months into our being.

Granted a stylus is the next best thing to a finger, but for design purity, baby... meet bathwater.

 

[Bevz]

Cool! I'm hoping to get an iPad in the new year so this is good timing.

 

[Popeye206]

Okay... why do so many people say "No USB"??? It makes sense that there would be one for a variety of reasons.

If it's spec'd the way it described here, it will sell like crazy... oh wait... it already is selling like crazy.

 

[Popeye206]

Yes, weight needs to be reduced. The curent iPad is too $%@# heavy. 1.5 pounds sounds light, until you realize the Samsung Tab has the weight issue completely nailed and the device feels nearly weightless in your hands. Even 1lb is pushing a questionable amount of weight for an ultra portable device. But I'm sure Apple knows this, and the next iPad will be paper thin, weight almost nothing, and the battery will run for 12+ hours of continuous web browsing.

I disagree about the weight. I've used the current iPad and see nothing wrong with the current weight. Also, I've played with the Tab is it feels much cheaper and of course... smaller... so it's not a good comparison.

I'm not saying lighter would not be better, but it's far from the thing I think that would stop anyone from buying an iPad.

 

[Brinkman]

I just want them to release an iOS update to allow syncing over wifi.

 

[Brinkman]

Okay... why do so many people say "No USB"??? It makes sense that there would be one for a variety of reasons.

If it's spec'd the way it described here, it will sell like crazy... oh wait... it already is selling like crazy.

No need for USB once the camera is implemented. Everything else except syncing will be done via Bluetooth or wifi.

 

[Discoverer]

however there are a lot of quotes out there would have precluded
- a phone
- a pad/tablet device
- video
- ebooks

so, include your grain of salt.

I think the stylus is out from the start, as it's apparent that any device that requires a intermediate interface (keyboard, mouse, stylus) is less immediately usable. 'Tools' require 'Skills' and the ability to abstract the work space onto some non-intuitive mapping. but putting 'finger' on 'spot' is a skill we learned about 5 months into our being.

Granted a stylus is the next best thing to a finger, but for design purity, baby... meet bathwater.

I said that a stylus would be nice. An Apple-designed one. As an option, not a complete replacement for the current way of doing things.