iPad 2 announced yesterday, available on the 11th

[Odanez]

Ok I just read this on a german news site, but could not find an english one yet, if you find a good site, please post it, I will add to this one.

Anyway, yesterday Steve Jobs introduced the new iPad 2, naming all it's new features over the iPad, like faster dual core CPU etc.

The obvious things, that most of the non-apple users would have liked to see in it, are still missing, flash support, SD card slot etc. But for people who only have apple hardware at home, including a big apple-flag in the front yard, this is no problem

I also know this will probably end up in an apple-bashing thread, and I can't say I blame any of you who do, just go ahead and rant if you like

Any opinions? It is remarkable how successful the iPad actually was, they say something like 16 million sold in 2010, and it will probably be even better with the iPad 2 as it will cost about the same as the iPad.

edit: Links from users:

iPad 2 3G + Wifi vs. LG Optimus Pad

[FX5200]

Does it have any cameras?

[Odanez]

Originally Posted by FX5200

Does it have any cameras?

two in fact

[FX5200]

Aha, ok. Just as the mock-up predicted

[sysigy]

2 cameras, rear 720p, front VGA... come-on!!!! VGA camera on a new 2011 handheld device, what a joke!

Personally I'd go with the new LG Optimus Pad with dual 5MP cameras, 1080p 2D / 720p 3D rear camera and Android 3.0

iPad 2 3G + Wifi vs. LG Optimus Pad

[slash_2_2000]

I don't think this thread is going to turn into Apple bashing in that the iPad is already a parody of itself. The fact it sold enough units to warrant a second version would not go astray in a comedic routine however.

[Sephiroth]

Apple fans are raving idiots. Only Steve Jobs can put a brushed aluminum surface on inferior hardware and sell it for twice as much. Then roll out new slightly better product 6months later.

I don't think this thread is going to turn into Apple bashing in that the iPad is already a parody of itself. The fact it sold enough units to warrant a second version would not go astray in a comedic routine however.

Apple and bashing go hand-in-hand, yes, I have used many apple devices.

Sephiroth is not impressed.

[Nagoshi]

Is it their first device with a LiPo battery in?

Cause if it is, then Im expecting fires from failing low-voltage protections.

[Sephiroth]

Originally Posted by Odanez

two in fact

if you can call .7MP resolution lense's camera's. My question is why this thing doesn't have a SD card slot for additional storage.

Additional Comment:

Originally Posted by Nagoshi

Is it their first device with a LiPo battery in?

Cause if it is, then Im expecting fires from failing low-voltage protections.

MBP's had it. They also caught fire from bad batteries iirc.

[Odanez]

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

if you can call .7MP resolution lense's camera's. My question is why this thing doesn't have a SD card slot for additional storage.

ok, one camera and one webcam Still stupid imo, why would you want to take pictures of something with an ipad... Imo one webcam is enough for video chat.

[Nagoshi]

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

MBP's had it. They also caught fire from bad batteries iirc.

Its not exactly bad batteries, its more like they get either charged or discharged too much, but Apple won't say that obviously. These batteries provides awesome power but if a cell drop below a certain voltage (or over their rated voltage) it goes BOOM.

[AruisDante]

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

if you can call .7MP resolution lense's camera's. My question is why this thing doesn't have a SD card slot for additional storage.

Why would you need it? It's not going to be your primary music device, since you probably already own another MP3 player (like an iPod or iPhone). It's certainly not going to be filled with lots of photos taken by its cameras. And since it can only play video types supported by iTunes anyway, you can just stream stuff to it via airplay when you're in your house, and I doubt you'll be on a trip where you'll need more than 16-32GB of video in the format it plays (which is quite compressed). I don't even use 8GB of my iPhone's 16GB.

Originally Posted by Odanez

ok, one camera and one webcam Still stupid imo, why would you want to take pictures of something with an ipad... Imo one webcam is enough for video chat.

No no, 720p is the resolution of its primary camera. It has a VGA (0.3MP) and 720p (0.7MP) camera. This device is meant to take video, not stills. I don't know why they even bothered with a 5x digital zoom on a .7MP camera, at full zoom you're looking at a whopping 0.15MP of image data.

Something I'm actually quite curious about: If you have an iPhone and an iPad 2, and someone face-times you, which device rings? Do they both ring? Does the iPad get your apple ID and the iPhone just the phone number? Something they didn't really talk about.

I actually plan on getting one. Why? Because, whatever you might say, you can't argue that iOS does, well, just work the way it's supposed to by not letting you muck about with things (I hate that about OSX. I like that on my mobile devices). It is well integrated into pretty much everything. It can use Netflix. I already own an iPhone -actually, I've owned every iPhone-, so I'm already invested in the iTunes ecosystem. And its price is actually very competitive with other hardware in its class.

I will never, ever own a Mac computer. I hate them with a fiery passion. But I've owned many iPods (A 2nd and 2 5th gen classics, a 4th gen nano, and 4 2nd gen shuffles, to be exact), every generation of iPhone, and will soon own an iPad. That must say something about what they're doing.

[mimart7]

Apple isn't saying large the hard drive is, nor how much ram it has. One would expect it to have larger hard drive space, and more ram. I wonder why it wasn't mentioned.

[AruisDante]

Originally Posted by mimart7

Apple isn't saying large the hard drive is, nor how much ram it has. One would expect it to have larger hard drive space, and more ram. I wonder why it wasn't mentioned.

Uhh.... Apple definitely said the storage size. It's the same 16,32 and 64GB as the previous version. It's only the RAM they didn't comment on. My guess would be the same 512MB found in the iPhone4, but it could be as high as 1GB, you need a lot of RAM to do some of the real time video/audio editing they were showing off.

Additional Comment:

Originally Posted by Odanez

Still stupid imo, why would you want to take pictures of something with an ipad... Imo one webcam is enough for video chat.

Missed that bit the first time around. It's so you can live-broadcast something that's going on in front of you, without having to turn the device around (so, you know, you can still see what you're shooting video of). Or so you can shoot video with it in general with the screen facing you.

Additional Comment:

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

Apple fans are raving idiots. Only Steve Jobs can put a brushed aluminum surface on inferior hardware and sell it for twice as much.

I'm not sure how you're qualifying it as inferior hardware... when it came out, there wasn't anything like it, so you can't really say it was inferior, and the new one is definitely packing top notch underpinnings. The only letdown was the lack of screen resolution increase. And the fact that the **** thing still doesn't have a digitizer. Is that so much to ask? You could have made such an amazing artists tool Apple, but no.

And for the record, when the iPad first came out, I thought it (lacking a digitizer) was a stupid device with no purpose in the kit of a real electronics enthusiast. It just didn't seem to fit into a niche that one wouldn't already have a device for. And yet now I find myself ready to buy one. I also said the iPhone was silly and excessive when it first came out, and yet I've owned every one and couldn't imagine life without it. So we'll see.

As for the price thing, I don't know what you're talking about but most tablets with similar hardware specs are in the same price range, and with smaller screens. The few exceptions are subsidized by a wireless contract, which even the 3G iPads are not. Remember if you buy an iPhone straight up it costs $600, the only reason it costs $200 is thanks to a fat AT&T/Verizon subsidy. Same with any other major smart phone in its class.

Then roll out new slightly better product 6months later.

It's been a year All of Apple's products are on a one-year life cycle, staggered roughly 3-4 months apart.

[ELItheICEman]

One thing I've learned over time is that everything should be approached with an open mind. Apple may not have the absolute latest hardware at the same price as its PC competitors' selection; Apple may charge more for their products than their competitors do theirs; OS X isn't comparable to Windows when it comes to software and hardware support. But what it does, it does well. You need to give credit where credit's due. Every Apple OS has a slick GUI that's fairly intuitive at the least. Some people need or want that, and clearly, others don't. Apple also offers plenty of support at their many store locations, pairing you with a trained professional who speaks English. For most inquiries they don't even charge you for their help or advice. They'll exchange faulty hardware under warranty without the need to ship. They actually care about their customers.

As far as "rolling out new slightly better product 6 months later" as you put it, well, they may be guilty on that count. But it would be financial suicide to pack all the latest and greatest hardware and features into one device because there'd be little to no reason for customers to upgrade later. And think about how long R&D and then commercialization actually takes in the industry. I'm willing to bet they started the iPad 2 design before the iPad was even announced. I can't say what the top hardware for such a device would have been at that time, but I'm willing to bet they made some compromises in order to fit everything into a ~9mm thick package.

It seems like the engineers among us are the ones to defend Apple because we know exactly how hard it is to do what they do. Sure, anyone can throw together some good hardware or build a decent OS. But to do both AND wrap it in such a tiny package is nothing short of amazing IMO.

[Scubar]

Wow the LG pad totally smokes the Apple iPood

[ANTC]

Originally Posted by ELItheICEman

One thing I've learned over time is that everything should be approached with an open mind. Apple may not have the absolute latest hardware at the same price as its PC competitors' selection; Apple may charge more for their products than their competitors do theirs; OS X isn't comparable to Windows when it comes to software and hardware support. But what it does, it does well. You need to give credit where credit's due. Every Apple OS has a slick GUI that's fairly intuitive at the least. Some people need or want that, and clearly, others don't. Apple also offers plenty of support at their many store locations, pairing you with a trained professional who speaks English. For most inquiries they don't even charge you for their help or advice. They'll exchange faulty hardware under warranty without the need to ship. They actually care about their customers.

As far as "rolling out new slightly better product 6 months later" as you put it, well, they may be guilty on that count. But it would be financial suicide to pack all the latest and greatest hardware and features into one device because there'd be little to no reason for customers to upgrade later. And think about how long R&D and then commercialization actually takes in the industry. I'm willing to bet they started the iPad 2 design before the iPad was even announced. I can't say what the top hardware for such a device would have been at that time, but I'm willing to bet they made some compromises in order to fit everything into a ~9mm thick package.

It seems like the engineers among us are the ones to defend Apple because we know exactly how hard it is to do what they do. Sure, anyone can throw together some good hardware or build a decent OS. But to do both AND wrap it in such a tiny package is nothing short of amazing IMO.

Great post, really it puts most people in there place when speaking about Apple. Everyone sees it as a mediocre product even though it target whom they want to and they do it well. They are not targeting the extreme overclocking or the extreme gamer. They are looking for the simple user and people whom need a reliable laptop for communications and things of that nature. Most people do not seem to rasp the concept of Apples aren't built for everyone and they feel the need to crap on the products, But in reality Apple has built a solid os based on Unix most people that do not like Macs is because they've never used it or they have had windows jammed down their throat for so many years they are afraid of anything that doesn't have a flag on the lower left hand side.

[Scubar]

Unfortunately Apple market their products towards stupid and lazy people

The world already has enough of these as it is, We dont need companies helping cater to their needs because the human races evolution will eventually cease if they do and in time start going backwards.

People need to learn to think for themselves otherwise our species is simply doomed.

[AruisDante]

Originally Posted by Scubar

Unfortunately Apple market their products towards stupid and lazy people

The world already has enough of these as it is, We dont need companies helping cater to their needs because the human races evolution will eventually cease if they do and in time start going backwards.

People need to learn to think for themselves otherwise our species is simply doomed.

Evolution for the human race as anything other than a social pressure stopped a LONG time ago buddy.

[ELItheICEman]

Originally Posted by Scubar

Unfortunately Apple market their products towards stupid and lazy people

The world already has enough of these as it is, We dont need companies helping cater to their needs because the human races evolution will eventually cease if they do and in time start going backwards.

People need to learn to think for themselves otherwise our species is simply doomed.

So you're calling me and many, many other people stupid and lazy. Bold statement, Master Troll.

I'm sick of your ****. Welcome to my ignore list.