iPad 2: a brilliant idea gets better?
I had to laugh when I read the the first collection of phrases and words, not even sentences:
“Two cameras, front and rear. Slimmer. Lighter. A better-resolution display.”
THAT was predictable! 
TWO cameras? OK, I’ll take them. Back in January of 2010, I noted that the absence of a camera facing the user of the device (probably to prevent videoconferencing from “crushing” AT&T’s network [FURTHER! ]) was the chief hardware flaw of the iPad (in my mind, FaceTime’s “confinement” to WiFi confirmed my belief). Other flaws were quickly remedied in software, but hey! When you have a truly remarkably selling hardware device (almost 13 million units this year), why mess with your production line right away to fix it? A Reuters report on Friday described the next generation of the iPad, which is entering production for an April 2011 launch (possibly). The Reuters article also describes a SMALLER iPad that is almost HALF the size of the current model (9.7-inch screen). If it happens, I will have to see it and price it to gauge its desirability.
Well, with network traffic by data-hungry Apple product owners expected to be distributed over BOTH AT&T’s and Verizon’s networks (others?) in January 2011, there ought to be a nice “baseline” of data by the April launch of iPad 2, if FaceTime is allowed over 3G and so-called “4G” (LTE) networks. Load balancing is a REALLY good idea (as we watch Apple push the “status quo” forward).
The Reuter’s report, from Hong Kong and Taipei, cites unnamed sources that identified five Apple suppliers for the device:
- Touchscreen chip designer Wintek
- Battery maker Simplo Technology Co Ltd
- AVY Precision, an unlisted maker of covers for electronic products
- Camera module makers Genius Electronic Optical Co Ltd and Largan Precision Co Ltd
Images of putative third-party iPad 2 cases have been released, and speculation abounds with regard to a slot for an SD camera card.
A December 7 (“Day that will live in infamy”) article cited a report by DigiTimes that Foxconn has been ordered to ship next-generation iPad devices within 100 days, with initial shipments to reach 400,000 to 600,000 units.
An April launch for iPad 2 would be one year after the launch of iPad (1).
I can’t wait to learn more! As always, “we shall see….”
(Note added December 18, 2010: I enjoyed THIS article yesterday by Pete Cashmore, the founder and CEO of Mashable, entitled “How the iPad changed 2010.” He notes, as I have, how some of the predictions by “technology pundits” concerning the iPad were dead wrong. )
(Note added December 19, 2010: One journalist, who wrote: “I was pretty clueless when I first started using the iPad. I was convinced it was a solution seeking a problem,” is STILL apparently a little baffled, although he owns TWO MacBook Airs! [Which shows you that there are “different strokes for different folks” and that YMMV “Your Mileage May Vary.”] He admits that his single USB port on the MacBook Air is always occupied (which would probably have been enough to prevent ME from ever buying another one! ) The statement he makes with which I REALLY agree is, “The iPad 2 is coming, probably fairly early next year: thinner, lighter and all that good stuff. So, buyer’s remorse might rear its ugly head sooner than you would like.” I would WAIT for this one, unless the iPad 1 is HUGELY discounted [“not bloody likely” with Apple, with this VERY popular, fast-selling device].
-Bill at
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