Apple's New iPad - Everything You Wanted . . . and less!

Oh dear me now . . . has Apple done it again, or has Apple just released a great big iPod Touch? It looks to me like a great big iPod Touch with an 'improved' screen (LED-backlit IPS) that might just be sharp and clean enough for ebook reading but for the glare bouncing off the shiny surface. There's more (much more) at the Apple web site. The first devices won't be available until March 2010. So what do we think? Frankly, we think you don't need another gadget, especially one that's been announced at a price range of $499 (16GB, WiFi only) in increments up to $829 (gasp) for the 64GB WiFi + 3G version. It's big at 9.5" x 7.5" x 0.5" and somewhat heavy at 1.5-1.6 lbs (depending on the version). By comparison, the biggest 9.7" Amazon Kindle DX has a more readable screen, is 0.5" taller, 0.15" thinner and (most important) 7oz lighter, and $10 cheaper than the base-model iPad. Apple will need at least one more revision after the initial release to get this one right. The biggest issue we have is that of half-baked convergence. The iPad is not a good netbook (no hardware keyboard for fast text entry - typing, notes, email, etc., etc. - sorry folks, but an onscreen keyboard just doesn't spin our crank). The iPad is large and heavy in a big vest or jacket pocket, and it certainly won't fit in the big pocket of your cargo pants (or shorts) unless you don't object to the iPad banging against you with every step (at 1.5 lbs it will be felt). There's no USB or FireWire port, so forget about even that part of netbook handiness. The iPad really is a great big iPod Touch, but without the convenience of manageable size. Forget about ebooks and doing anything else made so difficult and eye-straining by the glossy LED-backlit touch screen. Ho hum. What else? Some good things. The mediocre-but-ubiquitous iPod sound is fully integrated, as is the wonderful iTunes Store. Video viewing (if Steve Jobs' demo at the product launch is anything to go by) should be smooth, color-rich, color-accurate and fast courtesy of the 1Ghz, Apple A4 System-on-a-Chip. All in all, it's not the device for which the masses seemed to have been clamoring for the past few months.

Apple Announce 3G iPhone

So it's official, Apple are to begin selling the 3G iPhone in 22 countries on the 11th of July. This will be accompanied by a price drop. No idea on UK prices as yet but I hope its more in line with the US prices than the typically usurious rates they normally charge us Brits. The US price will be $199 for an 8 GB edition, and $299 for a 16 GB version, which will also be available in white. The iPhone 3G comes in a full black plastic case, metal buttons, the same 480 by 320-pixel multitouch LCD display and a flush headphone jack. The new iPhone also has an integrated GPS receiver. According to Apple it offers improved battery life (up to 300 hours on standby, 10 hours of 2G talk time, 5 hours of 3G talk time, 6 hours of browsing, 7 hours of video, or 24 hours of audio). Update With all the noise about the 3G iPhone, there are also a lot of gripes too ... nice that they've added the 3G and improved on things like the headphone jack and battery life (Still no user replaceable battery though). Other issues include: No A2DP audio on bluetooth No copy and paste 2MP camera No Video recording No MMS. No front camera No flash support inside Safari - although this may be handled in the future via an update. No user uploaded ring tunes No support for Memory Cards Details of O2 Pricing in UK: Monthly Charge £30 £35 £45 £75 Cost of 8GB iPhone £99 £99 Free Free Cost of 16GB iPhone £159 £159 £59 Free

HTC Touch Diamond ... Worthy Adversary

HTC have announced the latest challenger to the iPhone: the HTC Touch Diamond. The touchscreen phone features a new interface called TouchFLO 3D, which provides animated access to people, messaging, email, photos, music, weather and more. It even has its own browser for surfing the web on its 3G wireless connection. With some unique capabilities such as an automatic face down silent mode, and the gorgeous faceted back the phone will certainly attract a lot of users: HTC Touch Diamond Key Specifications Size: 102 x 51 x 11.33mm Weight: 110 g Connectivity: WCDMA / HSPA: 900/2100MHz. HSDPA 7.2 Mbps and HSUPA Operating system: Windows Mobile® 6.1 Professional Display: 2.8-inch VGA touch screen Camera: 3.2MP, with video calling Internal memory: 4 GB Internal Storage, 256 MB flash, 192 MB RAM, Bluetooth: 2.0 with EDR Wireless: WiFi 802.11b/g GPS: GPS/AGPS Interface: HTC ExtUSB™ - (mini-USB and audio jack in one; USB 2.0 High-Speed) Battery: 900 mAh Talk time: GSM: up to 4 hours Standby time: GSM: up to 300 hours/100 hours with push email Chipset: Qualcomm® MSM 7201A™ - 528MHz Visit Gizmodo for more pictures and details.

Apple iPhone 3G In 2 Months

According to a report at Gizmodo UK the new 3G iPhone will be in stores sometime in June. Tech pundit, Walt Mossberg, from the Wall St. Journal, stated “We all know that when the iPhone came out, it became crystal-clear that you were going to be able to carry in your pocket something that would give you a very good video experience. But again, broadband on these mobile phone networks is limited and I'm not talking about the fact that iPhone isn't 3G, it will be 3G in 60 days.” As Gizmodo inferred, Walt may not be Jobs, but he's that connected that you can be fairly certain he knows what he's talking about.