The iPad 3 is expected to be unveiled by Apple in the next few months. I decided to sit down and come up with a little wish list of the iPad 3. This might be somewhat different from other lists that you see out there because I don’t actually own an iPad. In fact, I don’t own any tablet at all.

When the original iPad launched, I picked one up, and although I could appreciate the device, I found that I wasn’t using it as much as I would like (here’s my review). It simply didn’t fit into my daily routine. If I was out and about, my iPhone was a better tool for quick access to information and a more convenient on-the-go media player. If I was at home, my computer was a more productive tool for web-work and browsing. There wasn’t room for a third-device in my life. So, I ended up getting rid of it, and I haven’t been compelled to buy a new tablet (whether it be Android and iOS) since, despite testing a number of them.

So what would it take for me to pick up an iPad 3? Here’s a wish list for improvements and features that might tempt me into adding a third device:

Obvious Stuff

• Thinner
• Lighter
• Retina display (but not if it’s going to double the cost of the iPad 3)
• Better cameras
• Cheaper

Less Obvious

• Faster – You might think this should go in the obvious section, but what I’m talking about here is relative speed. Despite being much larger, the iPad 2 is roughly as powerful as the iPhone 4S. Presumably the iPad 3 will be as powerful as the iPhone 5. I’m hoping for an iPad 3 that makes use of all the extra space and really gives me a significant boost in processing capability over the current-gen iPhone model. If they have to bring down the battery life from 10 hours to 8 to achieve this, that’s fine with me.
• 4G LTE option – Again, this could fit someone’s definition of obvious, but the key here is the practicality of it. If this were a ‘wish list’ in the sense that I’m wishing for stuff that will never happen, then I may as well not bother. The question of 4G LTE in Apple devices one of battery life, competitive pressure, and coverage. Right now, 4G LTE radios drain batteries more rapidly than their 3G counterparts. In my opinion, this is why Apple has so far shied away from including 4G LTE in any of its products even while competitors have been doing so for quite some time. 4G LTE is also still in the rollout phase in the U.S.. As consumer demand and expectation of 4G LTE in products rises, 4G LTE radio efficiency continues to increase, and coverage as well. Apple is likely watching these three factors and will find the optimal intersection of them to launch 4G LTE in their products. Let’s also not forget that AT&T is now rolling out 4G LTE which means that two largest U.S. carriers now support the option. I do expect Apple to offer 4G LTE on the iPad 3, you can read more about that here.
• NFC – Near Field Communications seems like one of those buzz-words that has been around for years but doesn’t actually mean anything. To the average consumer, it doesn’t mean anything at this point. I doubt most Nexus S owners know that their device even has the feature. However, if Apple was to release it’s next round of devices (including computers) with NFC hardware, it could really help the technology take off. Given the prevalence of iOS devices (here in the U.S.), NFC on all of them would be great for sharing photos and apps, transferring content back and forth from iPhone to iPad, and functioning as a digital Wallet of sorts.
• Wireless Charging – People have been talking about this one for years, and that’s probably because the idea is really awesome. I would love nothing more than to have a bedside table with an inductive top, upon which I could set down an iPad 3 and have it charge without having to run any cords. The iPad is a good fit as a sofa surfer or bedside companion — having an inductive charger on your coffee table or next to your bed would be convenient, and would make the iPad 3 stand out front competitors. This sort of feature is easy to ‘wow’ customers that come into an Apple store (because it’s so simple) and that makes it an easy sell if Apple wants to charge extra for a wireless charging station.
• More Ports – Sometimes Apple seems to let its aesthetic sense get in the way of adding truly useful stuff to its products. I mean, you can buy an SD card adapter for the existing iPad, but why not build a slot right in? The iPad is one of the best devices for sharing photos with friends and family on the couch (way better than having people crowd around a computer screen), and being able to load photos onto the iPad 3 through an SD card slot (without the adapter!) would save you from buying the $30 adapter and having to remember to carry it with you! A USB port would open up a lot of possibilities as well.
• LED notification light – Speaking of aesthetic sense getting in the way of features — I really wish Apple would man-up and add a notification LED to the iPad 3 (and the iPhone for that matter). Having to click the home button and glance at the screen every time you are checking for notifications is a bother. I shouldn’t have to check my iPad 3 for notifications, the iPad 3 should tell me with a little light! Almost all of Apple’s competing devices have such a light, and Apple could easily hide it in the bezel so it would be unseen until needed.
• 7″ Model – Yes, I know it’s extremely unlikely that we’ll see a 7″ iPad 3, but it is possible (in the sense that it would be possible to fit the components into that form-factor). Though Steve Jobs railed against any tablets smaller than 10″, many pundits have expressed the desire for a 7″ iPad, and the 7″ Android tablet market is healthy. Our own Chippy swears by the 7″ form factor and in my own testing I’ve found it more versatile and relevant to my own work style than a 10″ tablet.
• Built-in Stand – I always loved how Nokia included a built-in stand on their internet-tablet series of devices, and I’d love to see one on the iPad 3. This is unlikely for Apple given their extreme emphasis on aesthetics, but I know they could come up with a solution that is ‘sexy’ enough even to fit their standards. Their Smart Cover is clever, but I’d prefer something less intrusive and more rigid.
• Non-aluminum Back – I’ve got a theory: Apple knows that aluminum scratches easily, and that’s exactly why they’ve used it on the back of many of their devices; an iPod Touch has a shiny mirror-like aluminum back when it’s brand new, after a year or two of good use, the back will be so scratched that it’s hardly a mirror any more. Even though the device still works just fine, the scuffed back makes the product feel like it’s old and outdated… wouldn’t a shiny new iPod Touch of the latest generation be a great solution to that problem? This is planned-aesthetic-obsolescence. So yeah, I that the back of the iPad 3 is not aluminum. When I owned the original iPad, I hated setting it down on a hard surface on its bare back because I knew it was prone to scratches (that’s one of the reasons I made the iPad Booksafe case). Even worse was when a friend would slide the iPad on its back across the table to get it closer to them. That scraping noise is the sound of nightmares when it’s coming from a > $499 gadget!

iOS 5 just launched earlier this month, and based on the popularity of my article the other week, which focused on actual honest-to-goodness iOS 5 tips and tricks beyond the painfully obvious “you can send iMessages!” variety, I’ve created a new list with an additional 12 obscure tips/tricks. Again, a few of these are not iOS 5 exclusive, but most are. If you’re a brand new iPhone 4S user and didn’t know any of these, don’t fret… these are pro tips. My goal here is to have provided experienced iOS users with, at very least, one new thing they didn’t already know about iOS. Did I succeed, or are you some sort of iOS trivia prodigy? Let me know in the comments, and if you’ve got any other off-the-beaten-path iOS 5 tips/tricks, please share them!

12 More iOS 5 Tips/Tricks:

1. Week Weather View In Notification Center — If you are using the Weather Widget in the iOS 5 notification center, you can swipe it to the right or left to reveal weather for the next 6 days. You’ll be able to see High/Low temps, as well as anticipated conditions (sunny, cloudy, etc). Apple decided not to make it clear that this widget swipes to the side for this additional view, so don’t blame yourself if you missed it, I did initially as well!
2. Swipe From Camera to Photos — This is a new obscure hidden gesture added in iOS 5; Apple doesn’t make any effort to indicate that it is there (much like #12 on the other iOS 5 tips/tricks post). If you’re in the Camera app, you can swipe to the left to slide the camera away and go to your most recent photo. You can swipe through your photos, and if you swipe back to the front, you can swipe to the camera again to continue snapping photos. This is almost no different from tapping the thumbnail at the bottom left of the app to get to the most recent photo. Oddly enough, you can’t swipe from your most recent photo to the camera if you go through the thumbnail, instead of using the swipe gesture from the camera. Apple, sometimes you are bizarre.
3. Launch Camera Directly from Lock Screen — Apple touted this during their iOS 5 announcement, but people were confused because Apple initially demonstrated the camera button button as being directly on the lockscreen. However, the button wasn’t directly on the lockscreen when iOS 5 actually reached consumers. Don’t worry though, they didn’t remove it. Just double-tap the home button while on the lockscreen and you’ll find the button to launch straight to the camera. If you never knew of double tapping on the lockscreen before, you’ll also find playback and volume controls which have existed prior to iOS 5. Nifty.
4. Lock Camera Exposure and Focus — Prior to iOS 5, Apple relied on third-party apps to implement this sort of functionality, but they’ve finally decided to bake it right in. You can now lock the exposure and focus level within the native camera app by doing a long-press on the screen (as opposed to tapping). Hold it for a second or two and you’ll see the focus square do a little dance. Let go and you’ll find that the focus and exposure have been locked as indicated by the “AE/AF Lock” text at the bottom of the viewfinder. Tap again anywhere on the screen to unlock and return to automatic mode.
5. Use the Volume-up Button to Take Photos — Another Camera app addition as of iOS 5. When using the native app, you can opt to press the volume-up button to snap a photo. There’s no on-screen indication that this should work, so if you didn’t already know about it, or hear it from someone else, you’d probably only discover it by accident. I feel bad for the developers of the Camera+ app: Apple doesn’t allow third-party applications to rebind hardware buttons, but the developers of Camera+ actually sneaked this same ability passed Apple in their Camera+ app. After reports of this Easter egg found their way to Apple, the app was pulled from the store, only to have Apple include the functionality in their own Camera app as of iOS 5! Never let anyone tell you that Apple isn’t a bully.
6. Custom Keyboard Phrase Shortcuts — Find yourself regularly typing a specific phrase in SMS, Email, IM, or somewhere else on your iOS device? You can turn that long and commonly typed phrase into something much more manageable with a new iOS 5 feature. For instance, you can have the letters “omw” be replaced automatically with “on my way”. To do this, go into the Settings app > General > Keyboard, and look at the “Shortcuts” section. Tap “Add New Shortcut” to define the phrase and the shortcut text. Next time you type the shortcut text, the phrase will automatically be inserted. Now you can finally stop repeatedly typing out, “Honey, I lit the house on fire, again.”
7. Custom Vibrations for Contacts — Custom ring tones and text tones have been available prior to iOS 5 but they don’t do you much good if you always have your phone on vibrate. With the latest update, you can assign custom vibrations to specific contacts so that you know who is contacting you even before you get your phone out of your pocket. Unfortunately this only works for calls and not other notifications (SMS, email, etc.). There are a few predefined vibration patterns, and Apple has even included an easy way to create your own vibes. You’ll find this option in the accessibility section, as I’m sure you can imagine how it would be useful for someone who is deaf and blind. To enable custom vibrations, go to the Settings app > General > Accessibility > and turn the “Custom Vibrations” switch to on. Now go to your Contacts app, choose a contact, hit the edit button at the top right, and tap the “vibration” option. Here you can select from pre-defined vibration patterns, or scroll to the bottom and press “Create New Vibration” within which you can tap and hold on the screen to create any pattern you want.
8. Access the Built-in Dictionary From Any App — Apple originally included a handy “define” functionality in their iBooks app, which allowed you to highlight any word in a book and get a definition. In iOS 5, they have expanded this dictionary to be system-wide. In any app that allows you to highlight words, you can hold your finger on a word to highlight it, then tap the “Define” button that pops up from the resulting menu. Now you’ll finally understand why everyone keeps telling you that your epidermis is showing.
9. Enable Battery Percentage — This is an old one, but still seems to go unchecked by newbies and experience iOS users alike (probably because it’s hidden in a weird place). Despite the high resolution screen on the iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, and iPod Touch (4th gen), it seems like the default battery icon only has 3 states: Full, half, and OMG YOUR PHONE IS ABOUT TO DIE. Instead of relying on these imprecise icon stages, wouldn’t it be much nicer to have a handy % indicator? Go to Settings > General > Usage > and flip the “Battery Percentage” switch to on. Voila! No more freaking out when you actually have a solid 20% battery life left.
10. See Which Apps are Hogging Your Storage — This is a new feature for iOS 5 and it’s particularly handy for when you are crammed for space and can’t decide what apps are worth deleting. Some apps are dubious because they themselves are only small downloads from the App Store, just a few megabytes or so, but then they may download or accumulate hundreds of megs worth of data during their operation. To find out which apps are taking up the most space, go to Settings > General > Usage and note the “Storage” list. You’ll see your applications tallied based on how large they are, and this figure includes accumulated data. Without including accumulated data, I would have thought that Photosynth was a relatively small app at 7MB; turns out it’s now taking up 147MB total! Now I’ll be much more informed about which apps I should delete when space is low and you will too.
11. Enable Emoji Icon Keyboard for Free — Emoji icons are a standardized list of hundreds of emoticons which are popular on handsets in Japan, but that won’t stop them from being used elsewhere. I’m very confused as to why Apple allows paid apps in the App Store which claim to “install” Emoji icons when they are built into the phone for free. You can easily enable the emoji keyboard by going to Settings > General > Keyboard > International Keyboard > Add New Keyboard > find and tap “Emoji” in the list. Now when you go into any app that uses the keyboard, you can press the globe icon at the bottom left to switch between your standard keyboard and the emoji keyboard, which has all of the icons sorted neatly into categories. If you get tired of the emoji keyboard, remove it by following the same steps, except use the “Edit” button at the top right of the Keyboard menu.
12. Invert the Screen Colors as a Prank (or because it looks awesome) — With the proliferation of iOS devices, iOS pranking has become a reality among friends. I usually like to take a screenshot of the homescreen and set it as their background, but this particular tip that I’m about to share with you seems perfect for Halloween. This is another accessibility option, and I’m presuming that it helps provide better contrast to those who have exceedingly poor eyesight. It also looks rather cool and will frighten your friends who may think their device is on its way out the door. Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > flip the “White on Black” switch. Enjoy.

We’re not into Apple rumors here at Carrypad, but what we are into is informed speculation. Join us for some healthy analysis about when and how Apple will make the move to 4G.

Based on Apple’s Q3 sales figures that were just released today, it’s clear that Apple is doing extremely well, even without a single 4G product in its stables.

This is interesting because 4G is one of the only areas where the iPhone and iPad are behind, rather than being ahead of, or at least on-par with, the competition.

For all intents and purposes, let’s consider HSPA+, LTE, and WiMax all ‘4G’ networks, as they’re all capable of delivering speeds that are well beyond earlier 3G connections.

The Competition

Verizon has now launched three 4G (LTE) smartphones, and is poised to launch at least one more (the Droid Bionic) toward the end of this summer. They also have the 4G enabled Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, as well as the Motorola Xoom which is supposedly going to be the recipient of a 4G hardware upgrade at some point. Additionally, they’ve got a 4G MiFi wireless hotspot and 4G USB modem. [See this article for a roadmap of Verizon’s upcoming 4G smartphones and devices].

AT&T has three 4G (HSPA+) smartphones currently launched, along with a 4G USB modem.

Sprint has fourteen 4G (WiMax) devices available. They’ve got smartphones, tablets, laptops, mobile hotspots, and USB modems. Though WiMax technically has the capability to support 4G speeds, the research I’ve done has indicated that Sprint’s WiMax is sorely lacking in speed, but I’m still putting it on the list because the tech that supports high speeds is already in place in these devices.

T-Mobile has claims to have twelve 4G (HSPA+) devices. They have 7 smartphones, 2 tablets, 2 USB modems, and a mobile hotspot.

What Form Will Apple 4G Come In?

Because Apple currently makes iPhone 4 and iPad 2 models for both AT&T Verizon, it holds that we’ll continue to see those two carriers supported for upcoming tablets and smartphones from Apple.

For the short term, AT&T is relying on HSPA+ to provide 4G speeds to its line of HSPA+ equipped phones; the company often sticks ‘4G’ to the end of the phone’s name to indicate the additional speed (even if some don’t consider HSPA+ to be ‘4G’ from a technical standpoint). In the long term, AT&T is planning on moving in the LTE direction starting this year.

Verizon jumped directly to 4G in the form of LTE, and they seem to have the best 4G speeds so far.

With the two currently supported carriers either already using LTE or eventually moving to LTE, my best guess is that Apple’s first 4G devices will be LTE compatible rather than WiMax or HSPA+, though as you’ll see below, we might end up with a combination of these.

Why Doesn’t Apple Already Have 4G When Others Do?

The technology for Apple to launch their devices with 4G exists, but I believe two factors have held Apple back so far.

Coverage
It doesn’t make sense for Apple to fork over additional money for 4G chipsets if the coverage isn’t already there. If Apple launched a 4G (LTE) iPhone 4 when it announced the Verizon iPhone back in January, it wouldn’t have had a big demographic to sell to because a relatively small number of areas where covered at the time. Passing on the price of 4G hardware to all customers, when only a small portion are actually in 4G covered areas, wouldn’t be good for Apple’s bottom line. It made more sense for them to keep the price attractive until 4G LTE sees widespread coverage.

Battery Life
Battery life on existing 4G LTE devices is still much shorter than 3G devices. I’ve been using the HTC Thunderbolt and LG Revolution and both 4G equipped devices from Verizon have had a hard time providing me with usable all day battery life. Battery life is a major concern for Apple, and I know that they aren’t willing to release a device without all day battery life under typical use.

With every release of the iPhone, Apple has increased performance and battery life. Releasing a 4G iPhone before the technology can come down to a reasonable power consumption level wouldn’t be acceptable for Apple.

When Will it Happen?

The real question is not if, but when. Apple has been wildly successful with the iPhone and iPad, even though the market is already brimming with 4G devices, but that won’t last forever.

Ideally, Apple would launch a 4G iPhone and 4G iPad when the two above factors, coverage and battery life, align. Unfortunately, Apple is now being pressured by all of the other 4G devices on the market.

Verizon’s 4G LTE forecast indicates that they hope to have their entire 3G network area covered with 4G LTE coverage by 2013.

AT&T is launching its first 4G LTE coverage areas this year, but the rollout is going to take time, and they’ll most likely be lagging behind Verizon in 4G LTE coverage in 2013.

The iPhone 5 is expected to be released in 2011, and the iPad 3 likely won’t come until 2012. In terms of coverage, the time is not ideal for Apple to launch a 4G iPhone 5 or 4G iPad 3.

I think that Apple would rather wait for two more product generations before releasing 4G devices (so that power consumption can come down and coverage can increase), which would mean 4G LTE compatibility with the iPhone 6 and iPad 4, but I doubt that they can wait that long.

An interim HSPA+ iPhone 5 might be more practical for Apple, but it would leave Verizon users in the rain as Verizon has no HSPA+ infrastructure.

A compromise could be for Apple to release a 4G (LTE) iPhone 5 on Verizon and a 4G (HSPA+) iPhone 5 on AT&T. I would expect that release in 2011, but the iPad 3 will likely not be released until 2012. At that time, LTE network coverage should be more favorable for AT&T, and Apple may launch a 4G (LTE) iPad 3 for both networks, then eventually bring LTE to their AT&T iPhone offering with the release of the iPhone 6 in 2012. This is a bit confusing in text, so I’ve put together a timeline (apologies if the large timeline runs off the screen on mobile browsers!):

Some might see the release of a separate HSPA+ and LTE iPhone 5 and iPad 3 as unlikely, but it should be considered as Apple currently has two separate versions of the iPhone 4 and iPad 2, one for AT&T’s HSPA 3G network, and one for Verizon’s EVDO 3G network.

Though the LTE coverage is not quite optimal for the upcoming iPhone 5, Apple can’t ignore 4G as it’s starting to be expected from the latest phones (and every major US carrier is pushing the buzz word like their life depends on it). I can’t see Apple releasing the iPhone 5 without 4G, whether that be HSPA+ or LTE.

I would certainly reconsider purchasing the next iPhone if they release it without some form of 4G. How about our readers – does 4G availability influence your smartphone purchasing decisions?

Ok… it’s rather unlikely that they even saw my old story, but back in June of 2010, I wrote an article titled ‘I’m dying for Dial Keys on the iPad’, the gist of which was that Apple should add a split-keyboard to the iPad to make it thumb-typeable. I used Dial Keys, an old UMPC program, to make a mockup of a split keyboard on the iPad, but it won’t be until nearly a year later, with the coming iOS 5 update, that Apple will add such a keyboard to the iPad.

I remember prior to the announcement of the first-generation iPad, back when it was just rumors and speculation, I was hoping that if Apple released a Slate, they’d do something that would improve the typing experience on such a large device.

Apple totally revolutionized touchscreen typing with the original iPhone by equipping it with a much more responsive capacitive touchscreen, and programming a very smart on-screen keyboard (OSK). I wanted Apple to revolutionize large touchscreen typing in the same way that they did on the smartphone, but unfortunately that didn’t happen at launch and we were stuck with a sub-par typing experience on the device (I think I can type faster on my iPhone than on the iPad).

Once I got the iPad in my hands, I was still wishing for a form of split-keyboard because thumb-typing in portrait required an annoying stretch, and thumb-typing in landscape was near impossible (which meant you couldn’t effectively type without setting the iPad on some surface)

Apple is finally adding a split keyboard to the iPad with the iOS 5 update (coming this fall).

Apple’s implementation is smart because it allows you to place the keyboard anywhere along the screen, which means you place it toward the center to balance the weight of the device.

One of my complaints with the Xoom is that typing in portrait is annoying because the keyboard is at the bottom of the screen, then you’ve got the weight of the rest of the device working as leverage against your hands (this is exacerbated by the 16:9 ratio of the device). Needless to say, holding all that weight while typing with your thumbs is not an ideal experience. Placing the keyboard toward the center of the screen, I thought as I used the Xoom, would make the weight a non-issue.

The split keyboard on the iPad will work in both landscape and portrait modes, and can be split or recombined on-the-fly without having to dig through the Settings app.

Oh Woot. You always catch me with an awesome tech-related deal right when I’m about to head to sleep. Today the masters of the deal-a-day sale, Woot.com, have a refurbished original iPad 64GB WiFi + 3G for an impressive $499.

If you’re looking to jump into the iPad game, this is a pretty good deal as it beats Apple’s own refurbished iPad offering by $160 (24%). Woot’s price also shaves $120 (19%) off of a brand new original iPad from Amazon.

Data on the iPad is hassle free as you don’t need to sign up for a contract and can purchase data a-la-carte – great for trips when you’re unsure whether or not you’ll have access to WiFi.

If you’re wondering if you should instead go with an iPad 2, all you need to know is that the iPad 2 is thinner, lighter, somewhat faster, has front/rear cameras, and is available with AT&T or Verizon 3G. It’s also more expensive.

The iPad is an undeniably well built tablet that still offers one of the better tablet experiences available on the market.

If this deal pertains to your interests, jump over to Woot.com to snag it before it sells out or vanishes at 12:59AM EST! (I’m calling and early sell-out on this one)

For a platform that regularly takes flak for not being able to multitask, it looks like iOS is way ahead of the game when it comes to quick switching between apps.

As of iOS 4.3, four and five finger gestures are being added to the software. Using them, you can easily slide back and forth between running apps, pull up the quick-switch menu, and jump back to the home screen.

Oddly they are currently locked for developer use only, but that hasn’t stopped non-developers from enabling them.

Our friends over at GottaBeMobile.com have a guide that shows you how to unlock the gestures on any iPad (original, or the new one) running iOS 4.3. Unfortunately you’ll need a Mac, and it’ll run you $5.99, but it almost looks worth it; check out the video of the gorgeously animated gestures in action:

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The gestures are certainly more quick and natural than having to double tap the home button, then tap and on-screen element to switch apps. And while they may be natural in terms of execution, they lack initial intuitiveness. Until they are taught the first time, it isn’t straight forward to try four or five finger gestures.

There’s also the question of  whether or not implementing these gestures will limit developers. In multiplayer games like Harbor Master, you can have multiple people docking ships at once. In MultiPong, four player mode requires that each player have a finger on the screen at once. It’s possible that iOS might interpret the movement of four individuals’ fingers as a single four-finger gesture, and that would really wreak havoc on the game experience if you’re defending your goal with a paddle then suddenly switching to another app!

If I had to guess, I’d say that this is why Apple hasn’t yet enabled the gesture for all. They probably need to give developers time to specifically disable such gestures in apps that would be ruined in some way if an improper four or five-finger gesture was detected.

The iPad 2 is here! Are you surprised? Probably not. Apple is quite consistent with it’s product iterations. There’s nothing mind-blowing about the iPad 2, but it’s definitely set the new bar for tablets. Here’s the low-down:

Specs:

• iOS 4.3
• 9.7” capacitive glass screen with oleophobic (fingerprint resistant) coating @ 1024 x 768
• Dual-core Apple A5 CPU @ 1GHz
• Enhanced GPU that Apple claims is 9x faster
• 16/32/64GB memory options
• Forward-facing camera (with FaceTime support, naturally) @ 640×480 resolution
• Rear camera for up to 720p (1280×720) video recording
• Sensors: Gyroscope, accelerometer, light sensor, digital compass
• WiFi a/b/g/n & Bluetooth 2.1
• 3G & GPS (optional)
• 25 watt-hour battery
• White or black bezel options

Dimensions & Weight (and size comparisons):

The iPad 2 is 9.5 x 7.31 x 0.34 inches or 241.2 x 185.7 x 8.8 mm. That’s right, the iPad 2 is ridiculously thin, probably the thinnest tablet on the market. It’s even more thin than the iPhone 4 (9.3 mm).

Here is the iPad 2’s size visualized against two other 10” tablets, and the original iPad:

The iPad 2 is also a bit lighter than the original iPad: 1.33 pounds (601g) vs. 1.5 pounds (680g). Here’s how its weight stacks up to the competition:

Weight was one of my major complaints in my iPad review, so it’s nice to see that they’ve been able to bring it down somewhat. Still, as Chippy noted on twitter earlier, they fell short of the important 1 pound mark.

Design

The design of the iPad 2 isn’t far off from the original, though they’ve reshaped it to make it much more like the latest generation of iPod Touch.

Specifically, they’ve flattened the dome shape on the back of the iPad, but still let the edges taper up to the sides of the device. This eliminates one of the surfaces, so now you’ve essentially got just a front and back with a smooth transition between, rather than individual sides. Keeping the sides rounded means you’ll be able to get your fingers under the device to pick it up, but the overall width of the iPad 2 has been reduced over the original.

Thanks to Apple’s iPad 2 video, we got to see some cool shots of the device’s insides. Check it out below:

Continue reading on page 2 (Cameras, CPU, GPU, & Battery Life, Display Mirroring & AirPlay, iOS 4.3)…

RIM has posted an official video on their BlackBerry YouTube channel and does a brief web browsing comparison with the Playbook [tracking page] and iPad [tracking page] side-by-side. It’s good to see the PlayBook in the flesh rather than as a pre-rendered animation as it’s been seen up until now. Naturally, the BlackBerry PlayBook blows the iPad out of the water (otherwise they wouldn’t have shown it). But like a movie trailer, videos like this can make something look much better than it actually is. I’m not saying the PlayBook doesn’t appear to be performing well, but they were obviously selective about their tests. Check out the video below:

If you’ve ever wished you could check your RSS feeds in the shower or read an eBook in the bath without fear of dropping your device, this could be the super low-cost solution for you!

Use at your own risk!

Just pick up a box of watertight zipper bags and double bag your capacitive device inside. The screen works perfectly through the plastic and the bags will keep your device dry. I wouldn’t recommend sustained completely submerged browsing, but this simple solution works great in the shower, or as protection in case you were to drop your device in the bath or pool. Also make sure not to expose the device to temperatures too hot for an extended period of time.

I’ve always wished that I had waterproof speakers to listen to music in the shower, but apparently all I need is a waterproof iPhone. You could set speakers up in the bathroom, hooked up to a netbook or UMPC, then use the Remote app on your iDevice to control iTunes and remotely control the music. See the waterproof bag in action:

One of the promises of the iPad [Portal page] is that its large capacitive touch surface would be great for having multiple people interact with content on the screen. It’s taken a little while, but I’ve finally found some games for the iPad that are, not only fun, but great for more than one player on a single iPad, and I’ve had a blast playing them with friends and family — some of which are gamers, casual gamers, or not even gamers at all — yet all of them have had fun! Check them out and consider giving them a try!

Harbor Master HD

Harbor Master is a free game which tasks you with guiding ships into their proper ports to have their cargo unloaded. Once the ships are free of their cargo, you need to direct them off of the screen. The challenge is to not have any ships crash into each other. The premise is simple, but things start to get hectic and fun as more and more ships start to crowd the waters, and there is even multiple types of ships to make things more challenging.

While Harbor Master necessarily designed to be a multiplayer game, it works great as one, and if your hoping to place anywhere on the online leaderboards, you’ll likely need a few friends to help you out with your boat managing abilities. The game works great for multiple players as each player can claim a section of the map to take care of. It makes for some great teamwork too as you send your friends ships to manage while you ensure that your section of the map is copacetic. Check out this video of Harbor Master HD on the iPad in action:

MultiPong

MultiPong is an awesome little game that is clearly designed for multiple players. The game is $2.99 and supports 1-4 people on a single iPad. Think of your classic Pong, then visualize four paddles, powerups, and a dynamic play space.

The map is arranged in a square with pairs of players across from each other. There are several powerups (or sometimes powerdowns) that can be activated by hitting them with the ball:

• Long paddle – increases paddle size
• Energy paddle – zaps the ball when it hits your paddle, increasing it’s speed
• Extra Life
• Gravity – pulls the ball toward your goal for a number of seconds
• Multi ball – splits the ball into two (can happen over and over again until you have a bunch of balls on the map)
• Short Paddle – decreases paddle size
• Big Ball – increases the size of the ball (can happen several times, until the ball becomes quite massive!)
• Reverse paddle – likely the toughest of them all; reverses the direction that your paddle moves

On top of powerups, there is a dynamic play space. There are several types of bumpers, spinners, and various obstacles that will appear in the center then changed randomly. There is even an ominous storm cloud to obscure your view of the ball.

The app looks good, sounds good, and is a blast to play with friends and family! Check it out:

While demonstrating the iPad to a family member the other night, and explaining the advantages/disadvantages of it when compared to a regular computer, an interesting thought popped into my head, and I’d like to hear your opinion on it.

At $499 each, which would you rather buy, and why? Let us know in the comments section.

Apple iPad:

• Apple iPhone OS variant
• 9.7” screen @ 1024×768
• 16GB storage
• WiFi
• Touchscreen
• On screen keyboard
• 10 hour battery life

-or-

HP Mini 311:

• Windows 7
• 11” screen @ 1366×768
• 160GB Storage
• WiFi
• Full keyboard
• 5 and 1/2 hour battery life

I was really surprised that Apple didn’t do anything “magical” or “revolutionary” with the iPad’s [Portal page] on-screen-keyboard. The iPhone’s was definitely revolutionary because it was probably the first truly viable OSK – thanks to some intelligent software design and a capacitive screen instead of a resistive one. The iPad’s keyboard has that same inteiilgent software design, and a nice big capacitive screen. The problem is the big part. The iPad’s keyboard works well, but it really only works well if you can set it down on a desk in front of you so that you can touch type on it. If you are walking around with it in your hands, it works quite poorly for thumb typing. This fact alone makes the iPad annoying to use for typing if you don’t have something to set it down on.

Even since I got the iPad in my hands, I’ve been wishing for a Dial Keys-style keyboard implementation. Dial Keys, if you’ll recall, is a piece of Windows based software that was designed for touchscreen UMPCs. Dial Keys places a split radial keyboard at the corners of the device, which puts keys right in the range of one’s thumbs. If Apple allowed developers to modify the keyboard on the device, I’m sure we would have already seen something similar.

I made some mockup graphics to put on the iPad just to see what Dial Keys on the iPad would look like:

There’s been quite a bit of debate, since the release of the iPad [Product page][review], over whether or not it can function as a full computer replacement. I don’t believe that anyone can seriously say that the iPad could work as a full computer replacement for someone who would consider themselves a mobile professional — there are simply too many things that the iPad either doesn’t do, or doesn’t do well enough, for that. There has been, however, some reasonably logical arguments asserting that the iPad could replace a computer for those who don’t need more functionality than that provided by a netbook. Despite the number of ways that this point could be argued — varying usage scenarios, external media support (or lack there of), apps filling/not filling needs, etc. — there is one explicit fact that can’t be argued around: An x86 computer (be it OSX or Windows based) is required to set up, update, and otherwise support the iPad.

As simple as the iPad may be to use, someone can’t walk into an Apple store, walk out with an iPad, power it on, and just go. The iPad has to be plugged into a computer with an appropriate version of iTunes installed and synced first in order to function. I wonder if any adventurous non-computer owners have gone into an Apple store to purchase an iPad only to find out at home that they can’t actually use the device unless they own computer. It’s sort of weird to think that owning a Mac or PC is actually one of the minimum requirements for using an iPad.

It might sound far fetched to think that someone who doesn’t own a computer would go out an buy an iPad. But is it really? I know several people who own cell phones and don’t own a computer. Is a 3G equipped iPad really that much different? I can tell you that not one of the people I know who own cell phones (without owning a computer) expected to have to own a computer in order to operate their phone. With the iPad, that assumption would lead to some issues.

Even though one can create an iTunes store account directly on the iPad — enabling one to download media and apps — the iPad will always have to fall back on a good old fashioned computer in the long hall. At this point, besides the ability to update apps in a standalone fashion, the iPad cannot update over the air; it has to be plugged into a computer in order to update, if and when Apple releases new firmware.

There is nothing about the iPad itself that makes it impossible to be free of the clutches of a good old fashioned computer; Apple simply hasn’t set things up in that manner. Apple could rectify this issue by offering to activate the iPad in the store before the customer leaves, but they’d also have to do in-store updates for computerless customers, which seems a bit far fetched. Apple could change their update schema to allow for self-updating of the iPad so that it could update itself without the aid of a computer. While they’re at it, they could remove “ownership of a PC or Mac” from the iPad’s minimum requirement list so that users can pull it out of the box and start iPadding without an initial computer sync. Once these technical requirements are out of the way, people can go back to arguing whether or not the iPad is a computer replacement based on needs rather than having the iPad indisputably stuck with the proverbial ball and chain, that some people will tell you, an old fashioned computer is.

Then again, Apple has never quite positioned the iPad as a standalone computer replacement to begin with, which is an important consideration to make. They’ve compared the device to netbooks — saying that the iPad can do things much better — which may have been the reason we’ve seen so many arguments for or against that particular point. In the end, the iPad’s reliance on a full fledged computer is likely by-design: Apple doesn’t want people to buy the iPad instead of a computer, they want people to buy it in addition to a computer. They simply try to position the iPad as a better secondary computing device than a netbook, while still requiring a full computer for setup and updates, despite the fact that they could allow the iPad to function all by itself.

There’s been quite a bit of debate, since the release of the iPad, over whether or not the iPad can function as a full computer replacement. I don’t believe that anyone can seriously say that the iPad could work as a full computer replacement for anyone who would consider themselves a mobile professional — there are simply too many things that the iPad either doesn’t do, or doesn’t do well enough for that. There has been, however, some reasonably logical arguments asserting that the iPad could replace a computer for those who don’t need more functionality than that provided by a netbook.

Despite the number of ways that this point could be argued — varying usage scenarios, external media support (or lack there of), apps filling/not filling needs, etc. — there is one inexplicable fact that can’t be argued around: An x86 computer (be it OSX or Windows based) is required to set up the iPad.

As simple as the iPad may be to use, someone can’t walk into an Apple store, walk out with an iPad, power it on, and just “go”. The iPad has to be plugged into a computer with an appropriate version of iTunes installed and synced first in order to function.

While many other sites wanted to race to get their iPad reviews out the door, we made sure to spend plenty of time with the device before passing judgment. After about a month of use, we’re ready to bring you thoroughly experienced review of the iPad.

When the iPad was first announced back in January, it made it’s way into mainstream news, as most major Apple product announcements do. This resulted in a lot of friends and relatives asking me what it was all about, and what I thought about the device. I wanted to get technical and explain what exactly the iPad was, but I found that the easiest way to explain it to non-techies was to simply say that it is a big iPod Touch. However, I knew that was not technically accurate. After all, the iPad has an updated chip making it faster than the latest iPod Touch, has support for even more multi-touch points, and with a larger screen, it brought forth the promise of more compelling applications – experiences that one couldn’t have on an iPod Touch. In the end, have these differences really separated the two? Read on through the full review to decide for yourself.

Hardware

The iPad’s design is very simple. It fits well with Apple’s desire to allow the software to be the experience, rather than the hardware. Let’s start with a brief hardware overview (there isn’t much to see!):

More: iPad Unboxing

Look and Feel

The iPad feels like a nice solid slab. You’re likely to be surprised how heavy it is as you first pick it up. The outward appearance of the device is quite simple; there is a single piece of aluminum that makes up the back and sides, and a large piece of glass for the screen. Aside from some very minimal buttons, that just about describes the entire device. The back of the iPad is curved, which makes it feel slightly thinner than it is and assists with getting a grip on the device when it’s sitting flat on it’s back. Without the curve, it’d be a pain to pick it up. Actually, if you were to set the iPad face-down on a flat surface, it becomes easily apparent how annoying that would be.

The iPad is undeniably grab-able. It’s dead-simple to pick up and stick in a bag before you head out of the house, and it doesn’t need to be powered down like a traditional computer. Pull it out when you get to where you’re going, and with a click of the lock button and the slide of the, er, slider, you’ve got access to a polished computing experience in mere seconds. If you know that you can get away with the iPad instead of lugging along a full blown laptop, you’ll likely go with the iPad every time.

The iPad’s home button (the only button on the face of the device) has a very pleasant click to it, just like that of an iPod Touch. The iPhone, on the other hand, has a home button with a slightly squishy feel to it.

The headphone jack holds on tightly enough to hold the weight of the device (a trait which I’ve always appreciated on the iPhone and iPod Touch), impressive considering not only the weight of the unit but the fact that it seems relatively easy to unplug the jack by hand.

The iPad weighs 1.5 lbs (680 grams) and this makes it hard to use in a particular setting. I was very much looking forward to using the iPad as a sort of digital newspaper. In the morning, I get up and I check my iPhone for emails, texts, twitter, and the latest news. I imagined that the iPad would work even better as a morning device because of it’s large high resolution screen. Sadly though, I still grab for my iPhone in the morning. The problem is the iPad’s weight. The iPhone I can easily hold and use in one hand. When you are laying on your back in bed, there is just no reasonable way to get a comfortable hold on the iPad. Because of it’s weight, you need two hands to hold it. You can’t exactly take a hand off of the iPad to click on something on the screen if you are busy using said hand to hold the device in the air. It’s easy to hold the iPad in one hand while sitting, because one’s fingers extend around the back of the device and provide leverage. If you are laying on your back, however, you can’t hold the device with one hand simply because of the physics of it. If you try to, your palm will be all over the screen (attempting to provide the leverage that is usually applied to the back of the device), and your grip won’t be secure at all. I have worked out an L-grip that works to some extent, but it isn’t half as comfortable as just holding and using the iPhone in a single hand.

The iPad’s weight and typing style (more on that below) decidedly make the iPad a couch/sitting oriented device.

Screen

Apple seems to have found the perfect balance of bezel width (the area around the screen) for the iPad. If the bezel width was too great, it would look rather ridiculous. However, if the bezel width wasn’t adequate, it’d be hard to hold the iPad without accidentally touching the screen and thus creating and accidental input. There is just enough space to hold the device securely (while sitting), but not too much that it looks ridiculous.

The display itself is 9.7” and runs at a resolution of 1024×768 which is an aspect ratio of 4:3 (the same standard shape you’d expect from an SDTV [NTSC]) — a departure from the iPhone’s 3:2 (480×320) display. The large multi-touch surface supports up to 11 simultaneous points of input (tested using the on-screen keyboard, theoretical maximum may be more).

The iPad’s screen is covered with a big piece of glass which makes it highly reflective. Large overhead lights (such as those found in classrooms) can be a major annoyance when trying to use the iPad. You’ll have to adjust the angle of the screen to be sure that the light isn’t reflecting directly into your eyes, otherwise you’ll have a lot of eye-strain and a tough time seeing what’s on the screen. Real-world glare is actually a bit worse than what I was able to capture on camera with overhead lighting.

Despite the reflectivity, the iPad’s screen is quite readable outdoors on a bright day; much more so than a standard laptop LCD. The iPad falls just behind the iPhone 3GS in outdoor readability, but it’s still quite good.

The screen has an oleophobic coating which is supposed to reduce the amount of oil picked up from one’s fingers, and thus reduce the amount of smudge marks. I wouldn’t be surprised if the screen had somehow missed the olephobic treatment; the iPad quite readily picks up fingerprints. Seemingly more so than the iPhone 3GS which is suppose to have the same fingerprint-resistant coating. The fingerprints aren’t too noticeable when the screen is turned on, however, you’ll be wiping it down quite a bit if you like your screen to have a perfect sheen to it.

The iPad’s screen uses a technology called IPS (in-plane switching) which offers a broad viewing-angle and little-to no color shifting when looking at the screen from severe angles. The iPad doesn’t have the greatest viewing-angle I’ve ever seen (likely because of the glass covering it), but it’s acceptable, if not above average. The colors on the screen are very vibrant, though they may not be the most accurate. I could almost swear that it makes photos look better than they really are.

The screen also has a good range of brightness. 50% seems to work just fine for me. There is an ambient-light sensor hidden in the bezel above the screen. If you have auto-brightness enabled, the iPad seems to check the surrounding light as you unlock it, and adjusts brightness accordingly. It’s very rare to see the screen brightness change while the iPad is in use. I was only able to cause it to happen by holding my finger over the light sensor while unlocking the device, then removing it afterward. It seems that it won’t change from the level that it set as the device was unlocked unless there is a very drastic change in brightness. The auto-brightness also doesn’t seem to adjust using the full range of available levels, instead it adjusts in a small window based around the user’s own brightness setting.

Bluetooth Keyboard

Looking for information on the iPad’s on-screen keyboard? You’ll find it in the software section.

I was actually quite surprised when I was able to hook up my old (but still incredibly awesome) iGo foldable Bluetooth keyboard to the iPad. We knew that the iPad would have support for Bluetooth keyboards, but I guess I sort of assumed that Apple would only allow their own brand of Bluetooth keyboard to work with the iPad. Seems I was mistaken; the iGo keyboard hooked up just fine the iPad. All of the basics for typing are there, which is great, though functions like Home, End, Pagdown, and Pageup don’t work. Moving the cursor around inside of text fields with the arrow keys does work, and you can even hold shift and use and arrow key to highlight sections of text, just like you can on a regular computer. You can also tab from one text field to another, which is a welcomed touch. When using a Bluetooth keyboard, the iPad prevents the on-screen keyboard from popping up, which is great because it leaves the entire screen area open for content.

Typing performance really comes down to how proficient you are with whatever Bluetoth keyboard you decide to use. I absolutely love the iGo keyboard and I type significantly faster on it than the iPad’s on-screen keyboard. Though it’s great to have the ability to add the keyboard for greater typing performance, there have been very few times that there has really been a need. In almost all situations where I needed to do some significant typing on the iPad, it was a task that made more sense to do on a computer, instead.

Apparently Apple’s keyboards have some buttons mapped to volume up/down and some music playback functions, and they reportedly work with the iPad. My iGo keyboard has a bunch of keys bound to special functions that are supposed to launch specific applications (designed with old Palm Pilot devices in mind), but all of them seem to be ignored by the iPad.

Software

The iPad runs a modified version of the iPhone OS (version 3.2 as of this writing). Pretty much all of the elements are there: lock screen, home screen, etcetera; it’ll all be extremely familiar if you’ve ever used an iPod Touch or iPhone. A few notable differences:

• Lock screen rotates
• Home screen rotates
• 6 icons can fit on the dock (only 4 on iPhone)
• Icon layout is 5×4 (iPhone is 4×4)
• User configurable background

Lock Screen

The iPad’s lock screen is almost completely identical to the iPhone lock screen with just one subtle but interesting difference. Notice the little button over there on the bottom right? Tapping that will start a slideshow (Apple calls it “Picture Frame”) which pulls pictures from albums that have been synced to the device and have been selected by the user. In true Apple fashion, you can select from only two types of transitions for this slideshow, and can’t even adjust the amount of time that each image is displayed. Apple created a cool new transition called ‘origami’ which is likely to be copied by many others. It offers a pretty cool way to display your photos, and shows several on the screen at once, then folds or flips to a new set of images. The animations are extremely smooth and there are a few different folds that the iPad randomly cycles through as it moves from one group of photos to the next.

Picture Frame is pretty cool, and if you have a nice library of photos, it’s a great way to show them off. With just the push of a button, it turns the iPad into perhaps one of the best digital picture frames that money can buy. It drains batteries quite quickly though, so you’ll probably not want to leave it on for extended periods of time unless you are plugged in. Unfortunately, looking at pretty pictures becomes rather novel quite quickly.

It’s are shame the the Apple doesn’t utilize the huge lock screen area to show you any additional information than what’s available on the iPhone or iPod Touch. There’s plenty of space for at-a-glance information to be shown, but it functions exactly as the iPhone’s lock screen does. Even when you get a push notification from an application, the screen will only display one a at time! If you get more than one notification, you can’t tell; any additional notifications simply overwrite the one that previously popped up. They could fit at least nine or so of those push notification boxes on the home screen, and yet a single tiny box is all you get. It’s a really inefficient use of space and a poor means of conveying notifications, and for the record, there is still no notification that an email has been received from the lock screen.

Home Screen

The home screen is a grid of applications at 4×5 or 5×4 depending on how you hold it. Scrolling between pages is awesomely smooth just as one would expect. Swiping all the way to the left pulls up the ‘spotlight’ search which searches through applications, music, videos contacts, mail, calendar events, podcasts, audiobooks, and notes. The dock can hold up to six icons (up from the iPhone’s 4). Aside from launching applications or searching, the home screen really doesn’t do much else.

On-Screen Keyboard (OSK)

The OSK, in my opinion, is one of the most important aspect of the entire device. Sure, people can tell you that the iPad is all about consumption, but that doesn’t mean that users don’t need a reasonably effective way to input data. While the OSK certainly isn’t revolutionary, it is definitely functional, and is the most well implemented OSK that I’ve seen on a device that surpasses thumb-board size. When it’s all said and done, the OSK works well for URL entries, twitter updates, and Facebook statuses, but I still wouldn’t want to type a paper on it. Even if I really had to do some lengthy typing with the iPad (and my notebook wasn’t an option) I’d bust out the Bluetooth keyboard. Here is a video demonstrating typing on the iPad that I shot a few days after getting the iPad:

It might be fairly functional, but it’s a bit awkward to type on (and you might feel self conscious doing it in front of others). You’ll be tempted to type with your thumbs while holding the device, but it’s really a rather uncomfortable experience. The best way to type on the iPad is to set it down on something, whether it be your lap or a table, and touch-type similar to how you would on a regular computer keyboard. The only issue with this is that you have to float your palms above the iPad, which makes lengthy typing sessions bothersome. Keys don’t have an animated “jump” like they do on the iPhone’s keyboard, though I wish they did. The “jump” is a very nice piece of visual feedback, but the iPad lacks it for some reason. The only feedback you get from the iPad’s keyboard is a slight change in color upon pressing a key and if you have the volume turned up, a clicking sound. I feel that it is easiest to type when I can hear the clicking sound (some feedback is better than none).

For more thoughts on the iPad’s keyboard, and what Apple could have done differently with it, see my Typing on the iPad article.

App Store and Applications

Apple didn’t want to throw it’s existing 150,000+ iPhone/iPod Touch applications out the door when the iPad was released, so they made it possible to run pretty much any app from the App Store on the iPad, even if it wasn’t specifically designed for it.

iPhone/iPod Touch applications work fine on the iPad and can be ran at their native resolution, or you can double the size, to more closely fit the iPad’s screen, using a button at the bottom right of the screen (while the app is running). The iPad will remember which apps you zoomed in and which you left at their native size, and subsequently launch them at the last size that you chose. While the apps work with no problem, they are obviously designed for much smaller devices, and thus they occasionally look quite strange running on the large iPad. Apps that aren’t iPad specific still use the iPhone/iPod Touch keyboard, and while it looks strange, it actually doesn’t perform much worse than the iPad’s own keyboard

The promise of the iPad was that developers would be able to use the additional power from the iPad’s new hardware and the extra screen real estate to create rich and compelling applications. While there are definitely some neat applications, I have yet to find any “killer apps”. I haven’t found that one app that really justifies the size of the iPad, and gives me an experience that I can’t have on the iPhone or iPod Touch. Maybe they are coming down the road as developers continue to get experience with the device, but a month after launch I haven’t found anything too compelling.

Some of the new streaming apps are nice. Netflix has an application that will allow you to watch any video in its streaming library on the iPad (with a subscription) and the ABC Player application does the same thing for many of the shows on ABC. But still, these applications should theoretically work just fine on an iPod Touch or iPhone. Just being able to watch the same stuff in a slightly higher resolution doesn’t justify owning an iPad on it’s own.

I need to clarify this a little bit. I haven’t spent money on applications in the app store for the most part. I have plenty of applications which are specifically designed for the iPad, but they are all free (except for the Atomic browser [99 cents]). I haven’t seen any pay-for applications that are “must-haves” and thus I haven’t put any money down. Sure, I could pick up Apple’s Pages app for $10 to be able to do pretty rich word processing on the iPad, but I’d much rather use my computer, which is more flexible for a task such as that in nearly every way imaginable.

There are some good applications on the iPad, but as I said, nothing compelling that provides the killer experience that really justifies the device. There are a lot of complex reasons that explain why we haven’t yet seen killer apps yet. For one, Developers are trying to keep feature parity between iPhone apps and their iPad counterparts. What this equates to is essentially the same application on both devices, but they have different interfaces. This is good from a certain perspective, but I have to question whether or not iPhone apps really have the necessary depth to them to create compelling experiences as iPad applications. A good example of this is the Evernote application. There is an iPhone app and an iPad specific app. They are great applications, but I’m fairly certain that there is nothing that you can do on the iPad that you can’t do on the iPhone version of the application.

Another matter complicating the app issue is that Apple has some pretty strict guidelines about what “apps” should be. The name “app” itself is designating that these are little bits of software that have individual functions. Apple doesn’t want apps to feel like full blown computer applications, and because Apple controls the app store, devs have to bow to this desire. While Apple wants apps to maintain a particular look and feel, the iPad is crying out for full blown applications and not just apps. I can only hope that they are still coming down the line.

More: iPad App Demonstrations

Web Browsing

Web browsing is undoubtedly one of the biggest components of iPad use. It’s really a nice experience to feel like you are physically handling a web page when you are dragging around and zooming on the iPad. The relatively large screen is great for displaying your favorite websites like they were supposed to be displayed. Unless you want to use flash that is.

The most frequently cited dent in Apple’s iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch armor is that the devices don’t support the popular flash plugin that is responsible for making some content on the web function. For instance, you won’t be able to watch anything on Hulu, because Hulu uses flash to play it’s videos over the web. Unless you are watching videos from a select number of sites (which the iPad can play because they are been specifically transcoded to do so) you won’t be able to watch any flash based content on the web. This is definitely annoying and it’s hard to explain why this is to who aren’t familiar with what flash is. I’m certain that Apple’s iPad advertising would have many people believe that they can pick up an iPad and watch Hulu videos on it, but they’d be sadly mistaken when they find out that they cannot. And how does one explain to them why that is? Because Steve Job’s hates Flash? That seems to be the best answer at the moment. What it comes down to is this: Apple doesn’t think that flash provides an experience that they deem acceptable for consumers, and thus they simple don’t include it in the product. With Steve Jobs’ recent remarks, it’s doubtful that they ever will.

So as long as you aren’t using flash, web browsing on the iPad is great. Text is super readable and pinch zooming and scrolling are smooth as silk. Page loads are responsive and don’t feel that far off from a desktop experience. The iPad makes for an extremely consumer friendly web browsing device. It’s also very simply to operate, making it great even for people who aren’t very good on the computer.

I wasn’t very happy with the way that the built in Safari browser handled tab navigation. It felt really slow, so I opted to go with the 99 cent Atomic browser which really improved the browsing experience for me by making tabs much easier and faster to manage:

Music Player

The music player on the iPad (which is found as the iPod app) looks and feels a lot more like desktop iTunes than the iPhone’s version. Coverflow is strangely absent, but I don’t have a major problem with that because it was much less useful than it was eye-candy. The layout is very simple and intuitive, and unlike the iPhone/iPod Touch, you can create (then actually name) playlists right on the iPad, which is nice. Genius is also back. With one button press, the iPad will make you a playlist of songs which are meant to be similar to the song that is currently playing.

While I don’t think many people will use the iPad in ways that one would normally use a DAP, it’s nice to have a well built music player. I told iTunes to sync my “Top Rated” playlist to the iPad so that I could make sure I had my very favorite songs on the iPad (rather than my entire library) and save the rest of the iPad’s memory for photos and movies.

iTunes Store

Apple makes money from selling devices, but they also rake in a great deal of cash by making them into point-of-sale devices. With the iTunes store, they’ve created a dead-simple marketplace for movies, TV shows, songs, and more. The sad part about this is that while the iTunes store definitely makes it easier for people to get media onto their iPad, it’s pretty much the only option. No options means no competition, so Apple has free reign over pricing.

The iTunes store is broken up by type of media (Songs, Movies, TV, etcetera) at the bottom of the page and has a pretty rich interface for browsing songs and movies. You can get previews of movies and clips of songs before you purchase, and purchases are downloaded directly to the device. You can download an entire album of your favorite artist and it will be placed neatly into the iPad’s music player, album art and all.

Performance

Battery Life

The iPad has to power a much larger screen than the iPhone, but it also has plenty of space for a big battery. Apple rates the iPad’s battery as being good enough for 10 hours of web surfing (on WiFi), playing video, or listening to music, and as many have reported, their results are quite honest. The iPad has pretty awesome battery life for these tasks, and it also seems to idle at a very low power, meaning you can let it sit around for quite a while before it runs out of juice.

I started using the iPad at a full charge on the 8th of April, and after using it casually each day (around an hour or so), it wasn’t until April 14th that I had to plug it in at 3% battery life. This is pretty astounding battery life, and definitely makes the iPad a great product for someone who doesn’t like to plug their gadgets in every single night.

Speed

Performance on the iPad is slightly better than that of the iPhone 3GS. AnandTech has a good technical report of the iPad compared to the iPhone 3GS and Nexus One. Though AnandTech’s findings show the iPad to be quite a bit faster than the iPhone 3GS, I have to say that in my own real-world tests, I scarcely noticed a difference in website load times. There was a slight difference, but it was certainly not significant enough that someone who wasn’t looking for it would pick up the iPad and say “Wow, this is much faster than my iPhone 3GS!” With applications, the iPad seems to be a bit more noticeably snappy with load times when compared to the iPhone 3GS, but it still doesn’t feel like any sort of huge jump, it’s comparable for the most part.

Video Playback

Video playback on the iPad is a real pain. It works fine, but only if you have video that agrees with iPad. If you don’t exactly fit the type of video that Apple allows on the iPad, you won’t even be able to sync it to the device. This is a huge pain for anyone who has a big digital media collection, and doesn’t have their collection transcoded into a format that the iPad likes. Apple officially supports the following:

H.264 video up to 720p, 30 frames per second, Main Profile level 3.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280 by 720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format

The worst part is that iTunes isn’t helpful at all when it comes to getting your video onto the iPad. For instance, I tried syncing an h.264 encoded video with a resolution of 1280×720, but it refused to sync to the iPad. Instead of pointing out what the issue was, iTunes simply told me that it didn’t support the format. It’s a shame because this would be a dead-end for a less experience computer user – they wouldn’t know where to go from there. Apple could build a video conversion tool into iTunes to help customers get their media into a format that the iPad supports, but they’d much rather have people buy videos from the iTunes store.

One issue with video playback on the iPad is that the screen is a 4:3 aspect ratio. Most films are released as widescreen (16:9), which means you’ll have black bars at the top and bottom, or you can choose to zoom the video in to fill the 4:3 shape. This equates to is either leaving the bars and wasting screen space, or zooming in and losing quality. Neither option is quite preferable.

Where Does the iPad Fit?

This has been the biggest question since the iPad was announced back in January. People had been wanting a Slate from Apple for years, but when it comes down to it, where does the iPad really fit?

When Apple announced it, they literally positioned the iPad between the phone and the computer. While I still believe that the applications have the ability to shape where the iPad fits, I don’t currently feel that it is a necessary device to go between a smartphone and a computer – in fact it sometimes feels redundant.

When I’ve taken my iPad out with me to test it, I’ve often been sitting out in the open reading something on the iPad when my phone vibrates. I get out the iPhone to reply to a text, and I just think about how ridiculous I look. Do I seriously need an iPhone and an iPad? The mere fact that I feel silly wielding both is probably a good indicator of the answer. It just feels redundant to have an iPad and an iPhone (the same feeling may or may not apply to those with other types of smartphones). It feels like there isn’t any special experience that I can get from the iPad, that I can’t get from my iPhone, other than being able to do the same things, but on a larger screen. The iPad may not fit into my tech strategy, but there are some places where it does fit very well.

Because of it’s size, ease of use, and great battery life, the number one place that I think of the iPad fitting is on a coffee table. It’s great for short but rich web-browsing sessions. It’s great for showing friends pictures and videos, and for looking up places to go out to eat. It doesn’t feel like a device that is supposed to go with you. I previously described it as “portable, not mobile” and after a month, I’m still feeling the same way. There have been times that I’ve been tempted to take the iPad with me, but in the end, the iPhone feels like just as good of a choice, if not a better one. The iPad is a great around-the-house sort of device.

The iPad is probably the single best device for sharing photos, currently on the market. You can hand the iPad to a friend and let them interact with images directly. Swipe to the next photos, zoom in, all of it is great fun. The iPhone has always done this, but the iPhone has never had a screen capable of doing the photos justice. The iPad’s screen is high resolution enough and has good enough colors to really make a great photo sharing experience. Combine this with the fact that the “Places” view in the photos app is one of the coolest ways to display geotagged photos.

If you have geotagged images, the iPad will read that data and place push-pins, on a zoomable map of the world, anywhere that you’ve taken a photo. The ability to zoom down to a location and say “Look, here’s where I was on the Earth” then tap on a pin to pull up the specific photo and say “and here is the picture I took” is really cool, and I don’t think that there is a better way to show off geotagged photos. But I don’t quite need that functionality while I’m on the go, which is one of several reasons that the iPad feels like an around-the-house device rather than a mobile device.

Just a Giant iPod Touch?

The iPad is undoubtedly a solid piece of kit, but it’s hard to differentiate it from a mere giant iPod Touch. With the upcoming iPhone OS 4.0, the devices will become even more similar (things like Bluetooth keyboard support and “Places” photo view will be brought to the iPhone and iPod Touch). Early on, I didn’t want to describe the iPad as a giant iPod Touch. I wanted it to be something more, something better. It’s got that faster processor, and a nice big multitouch(ier) screen. However, when it comes down to it, the iPad lacks a killer-app (for me) and hasn’t demonstrated any compelling experiences that I can’t already have (or will soon be able to have) on the iPhone/iPod Touch. The chip inside might be more advanced, but it really doesn’t feel much faster, and definitely won’t be noticeable to the everyday consumer. Despite the promise of deeper applications, I don’t feel that we’ve yet seen them, and unless/until they start popping up, I’ll continue to tell people that the iPad is pretty much a giant iPod Touch – no longer out of mere convenience, but out of experience.

The iPad 3G can now be purchased in Apple stores and online through Apple.com for U.S. customers starting at $629 and running all the way up to $829 for the 64GB version. If you’re on the fence about whether or not to pick yourself up an iPad, we might be able to tip you one way or the other in the next few days; we’re hoping to drop our iPad review this weekend. For now you can check out previous coverage and thoughts that we’ve posted so far.

Have a look at the awesome Atomic web browser for the iPhone and iPad. The app costs 99 cents in the app store and it’s a universal app, meaning you pay for it once and you get the iPhone and the iPad version. While the browser has a lot of great features, such as easy user agent spoofing, the feature that I like the most is the way that it handles tabs. It’s much faster and much more intuitive than Safari. Atomic web has become my new browser on my iPhone and iPad. Very much worth the 99 cent asking price.