New iPad - the Good, the Bad, the Ugly

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New iPad - the Good, the Bad, the Ugly

Apple launched their new iPad today. Here's a run down of all the cool new features in the new iPad, which was rumored to be called the iPad 3, iPad 3rd Generation, or iPad HD. The Apple keynote launch is still going on and they haven't announced the final name, so we'll just call it iPad X. Personal hotspot (Cool!)

The new iPad will be available in black & white colors. There are two wireless options available: 4G LTE or Fast 3G HSDPA and DC-HSDPA. The thickness is 9.44mm and weights 1.4lbs, which is slightly heavier than iPad 2. New front-facing camera that supports Facetime. Carriers supported include Telus, Rogers, Bell, AT&T, and Verizon. The dock connector stays the same. There are no haptics built into the display, which was rumored.
New iPhoto for iPad app ($4.99) with support for photos up to 19 megapixels.
  • Bandwidth Speeds:
    21Mbps HSPA+ & DC-HSDPA = 42Mbps
    LTE : 73Mbps
  • iCloud will now have Movies
  • Supports 1080p
  • 2048 x 1536
  • 264 pixels per inch
  • 3.1 million total pixels
  • Retina display
  • A5X quad-core graphics
  • Backside illumination
  • 5 megapixel sensor
  • 5-element lens
  • Hybrid IR filter
  • ISP built into the A5X chip
  • 1080p HD video recording
  • Video stabilization
  • Temporal noise reduction
  • Advanced optics with IR filter
  • Autofocus and white balance
  • Face detection
  • Microphone
  • 10 hour battery life, 4 hours on the 4G model.
  • Personal hotspot (Cool!)
  • Supports US English, British, Australian, French, German and Japanese
  • Bluetooth 4.0
  • WiFi (802.11a/b/g/n)
  • AirPlay Mirroring to Apple TV (2nd and 3rd generation) at 720p
  • AirPlay video streaming to Apple TV (3rd generation) at up to 1080p and Apple TV (2nd generation) at up to 720p
Pricing:
3G : $499 - 16GB, 32GB - $599, 64GB - $699
4G : $629 - 16GB, 32GB - $729, 64GB - $829
iPad 2 (16GB) price drops to $399 ($100 off).

The "ugly" is the new iPad has no name other than the "new iPad". Well that's confusing. You walk into an Apple Store and ask for a new iPad and I guess they'll sell you this one. But when the next iPad comes out (iPad 4), you'll have to go into the store and ask for the new, NEW iPad.

In any event, the "new" iPad will be available March 16th, but they're taking pre-orders now.

Here's some photos of the new iPad:
ipad-new-resolution.jpg
ipad-new-gaming.jpg
ipad-new-photo-editing.jpg

new-ipad-front.jpg
new-ipad-rear.jpg

Other features include sensors that include an accelerometer, GPS, ambient light sensor, and gyroscope. It also has Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound pass-through with Apple Digital AV Adapter (sold separately). It also supported Bluetooth 4.0. Interestingly, no full-fledged version of Siri on the new iPad, though it does support dictation - sort of a Siri-lite on the new iPad. But no Siri web searches. smiley-frown

The built-in hotspot feature is a pretty big feature. This will allow you to use your iPad as a WiFi access point that your other devices (laptop, PC, Mac, etc.) can connect to. This eliminates the need for specialty 3G/4G to WiFi devices like the Verizon MiFi, which have a monthly fee plus an upfront device cost.

Update: Looks like the Apple Store is having an outage.

Update 2: I'm still pissed Apple iOS still doesn't support Flash and don't give me the everything is going HTML5 nonsense. Yeah, I know. What happens tomorrow or next year doesn't help me today view embedded Flash videos on my iOS devices. I already ranted about this here and here if interested in reading my Flash on iOS rants.

Update 3: Here's some comparisons with one of the new iPad's main competitors - the Asus Transformer Infinity:
  • Transformer Infinity has a 12-core GPU (graphics processor) and a TRUE quad-core main processor vs. new iPad's 4-core GPU and dual-core main processor. Infinity wins on processing horespower
  • Transformer comes with mini-sd slot and mini-HDMI slot. New iPad (3) has neither.
  • Transformer Infinity has an HD LED display vs. iPad 3's retina display. Slight edge to the Infinity.
  • The Transformer supposedly has a wider viewing angle (178 degrees) due to HD LED display.
  • New iPad resolution 2048x1536 (264ppi) vs. Transformer Infinity 1920x1200 (224ppi) resolution. New iPad wins.
  • 9 hours of usage on new iPad (4G) vs. 12 hours usage on Infinity. The Transformer is slimmer and is at least $100 less expensive.
  • Transformer Infinity has a true 8MP HD 1080 rear camera vs. iPad 3 5MP camera.
  • New iPad doesn't support Adobe Flash angry_smile and doesn't have a flash for the rear camera, so you cannot take low-light pictures or video.

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