Sean Walther's Blog

iPad 2, iOS 4.3, and new Apps – review of the Apple iPad 2 event

Steve Jobs managed to present for about a half hour, and came on and off stage after that.  It seemed like he was auditioning everyone, but still wanted to demo the iPad 2 himself.  At least we get to see the big product announcement before “1:55″ in the announcement.

Lots of interesting things, most of which was predicted.

First the iPad 2 announcement:

• Two Cameras
• Faster – Featuring the A5 processor, which will have 2x the CPU power of the iPad, and 9x the graphics power of the iPad.
• Lighter – down to 1.3 pounds from 1.5
• Thinner – down to just 8.8mm thick, that’s thinner than an iPhone 4
• HDMI out – up to 1080p
• Gyroscope that the iPhone and iPod now have
• Same Prices as before (I had hoped they would lower slightly, but they are already cheaper than the competition)
• Will be available in both Black and White (upon release, no delays)
• Will be in both AT&T and Verizon 3G models
• 10 hour battery life (all the new toys, same battery life)
• NO improved display
• An interesting cover, which serves as a cleaner, stand, and a flap to protect the screen
• Release date is March 11th (better get it out soon, while the iPad 3 is almost done)
• Supports FaceTime

Also announced was the iOS 4.3:

• Personal Hotspot
• Safari speedup (includes the new Nitro javascript engine)
• Airplay integration
• Released on March 11

Now Apple is getting into the App arena, and moving way beyond Poker:

• Photo Booth – a photo manipulation app, seems ok
• iMovie – Serious upgrades here, very impressive (social integration, great editing tools, only a few bucks)
• Garage Band – Amazing that this can be done on such a mobile device

That’s it.  I’m excited, and would love to grab an iPad (and also want a new AppleTV to take advantage of the AirPlay functionality).

Seems in the coverage a term is being coined nowadays, called “post-PC”.  We saw it on mobile phones that can double as full computers, and now on tablets that have processing power to behave like a desktop.

Tags: Apple, FaceTime, Garage Band, iMovie, iPad 2, Photo Booth, post-PC, Steve Jobs

iPhone 4: WWDC Demo by Steve Jobs, Video Chat announced

Today, June 7, 2010, Steve Jobs demoed the new iPhone 4 at WWDC 2010 in SanFrancisco.  iPhone 4 comes out on June 24th

Here are some pieces of information we have been given about the new device:

• iPhone 4
• 24% thinner than current iPhone 3GS
• Mute button looks more reliable (mine always changes in my pocket)
• Front Facing camera
• Two mics
• New Design (the one that was leaked)
• Metal band around the phone is 2 antennas: Bluetooth, Wifi, GPS — UMTS / GSM
• Pixel density increased, now a 960×640 display (existing applications already take advantage of this) — called Retina Display
• An outward facing LED flash
• 326 dpi screen (better than the human eye can see)
• 802.11n Support
• Gyroscope (this is a HUGE deal)
• 720p at 30fps video recording
• 5 Mega Pixel camera upgrade (and some other fancy ways that makes their camera better than everyone elses … of course)
• Extended battery life: 7 hours 3G talk, 6 hrs 3G data, 12.5 days of standby time
• Upgraded video editing — looks almost like a mini Final Cut — quite the large functionality set for a mobile device
• iMovie for the iPhone will cost $4.99 at the App Store (uh oh, charging for their own functionality)
• iPhone OS 4 (of course)
• Video Chat! – over WiFi only, called FaceTime

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Tags: 802.11, AT&T, FaceTime, Gyroscope, iAd, iMovie, iOS 4, iPhone, iPhone 4, iPhone OS 4, os 4, Retina Display, Steve Jobs, Unified Inbox, Verizon, WWDC