iPad 2 Available from March 11th
Last night Steve Jobs took to the stage in San Francisco, despite his ailing health, to show off Apple’s latest technological triumph. Simultaneous events the US and UK saw Apple-fans gathering to take their first look at the brand-spanking new iPad 2, the second generation tablet which the company thinks will be even bigger than the first.
So were our predictions right? Here’s a summary of the main new features:
33% lighter and 15% thinner
The most immediately obvious difference is that Apple have shaved some of the unnecessary bulk off the device. This was a bit of a no-brainer; most second generation devices from them are smaller and lighter. Great news nonetheless, as the iPad was prone to cause arm ache after prolonged use, which meant that for things like reading e-books the Kindle had a clear edge.
Front and Rear Facing Cameras
The front-facing camera was practically a given, to promote wider use of FaceTime, which hasn’t quite taken off properly yet. The one at the rear was slightly less certain, but there it is – and it can record in 720p video to boot.
Dual Core A-5 Chip
Power-hungry techies and gamers will be glad to see this included, giving the new iPad a huge increase in processing power. Apple claim that the device should now be 9x faster for games, so hopefully some interesting stuff should tart turning up on the App Store before too long! Despite the increase in processing power, Apple say that the iPad 2 battery should still last for 10 hours. We’re impressed.
iPad Smart Covers
Something we’ll definitely be stocking up on here when gathering iPad 2 accessories are the new upcoming range of Smart Covers, which will breathe new life into the old design and give the second gen a clear aesthetic edge.
iPad 2 Smart Covers attach using a magnetic hinge, providing ultra-slim protection in a range of colours. Not only that, but they also fold up neatly to become a stand, allowing more flexibility of viewing. This avoids the need to buy a bulky iPad 2 cover, although the security-savvy will probably want to grab an iPad 2 sleeve or iPad 2 case just to provide that extra bit of cushioning from knocks and bumps. You can never be too careful, especially when it comes to a bit of kit like this!
So what didn’t we see?
The much hoped for USB drive failed to materialise, and (no surprises here) the iPad 2 is still not Flash-compatible. Anyone who was hoping against hope for a retina display will also be disappointed; it seems that the technology just isn’t there yet.