Apple
iPad 3
Apple
has announced its new third-generation iPad, which comes packing a
new high-resolution Retina display. “Until you see it you can’t
understand how amazing it is”, said CEO Tim Cook.
The new iPad is an oxymoron: It is at once a strong leap forward that will let Apple hold onto its huge market and mindshare, and yet the new features are not so different from the iPad 2 as to cause an I-need-the- new-iPad-to-change-my-life panic for current owners.
The
new high-resolution display runs at 2048×1536 at a pixel density of
264PPI. That’s 3.1M total pixels. The new display is powered by an
A5X processor with improved quad-core graphics capabilities. The
processor itself is dual-core.The
new iPad maintains the current 10 hour battery life with 9 hours on
4G. It’s 9.4mm thick and weighs 1.4 pounds.There
is also a brand new feature in the iPad, an iSight camera on the
front and a new rear camera that runs at 5MP, with a backside
illuminated sensor, 5 element lens and a hybrid IR filter. It looks
to be the same camera equipment shipped in the iPhone 4S, aside from
the slightly lower resolution sensor. This allows the new iPad
to record HD movies at 1080P .
The
device ships with iOS 5.1, the latest version of Apple’s software.
It will be available for all users of iOS devices and comes
with new Siri support for Japanese users, which will roll out over
the next few weeks.Apple’s
voice dictation feature is also coming to the new iPad as well. This
is not the Siri assistant feature, but it will allow for live
transcription of your voice.
The
new iPad also has quad-core LTE 4G capabilities, allowing for much
faster network access and download speeds. The new chip is dual-mode
and includes 3G HSPA+ for up to 21Mbps, and dual-carrier HSDPA
for up to 42Mbps.In
a very nice new addition, the new iPad will also act as a 4G
hotspot, something that the current iPad does not do.
A
host of Apple apps were updated to work with its Retina display,
including iWork, iMove and Garage Band. Each of these apps will have
a free update available for existing users.
Apple
also introduced the brand new iPhoto for iPad, a basic photo editing,
photo-beaming from device to device and a new Photo Journals (collages)feature. The new version of iPhoto offers a host of
gesture-focused photo editing options including utomatic horizon
straightening as well as more detailed information about the images
you’ve imported from other cameras. Images up to 19 megapixels in
size are supported.
Apple
also announced an upgrade to its ‘iTunes in the Cloud’ product,
which now supports seamlessly streaming purchased movies to all iOS
devices. These movies will be available in 1080P, which is a nice
boost.
The
new version of the Apple TV also supports 1080P and comes with a
newly designed interface that is heavily reminiscent of iOS. It will
still run $99 and will be available beginning next week.
Apple’s
Tim Cook said about the company’s role in a ‘post-PC’ world
“We’re talking about a world where the PC is no longer the center
of your digital world,” he said, “but is just another device. The
devices you use the most are more portable, more personal, and
dramatically easier to use than any PC has ever been.The iPad is
reinventing personal computing.”
Last
year alone, Apple sold some 172 million of these post-PC devices,
including the iPad, iPhone and iPod. 62M of them in the final quarter
alone. If you count the iPad as a PC, it outsold every other major
manufacturer last quarter with 15.4M units in sales.
The
new iPad is priced at $499 for 16GB, $599 for 32GB, $699 for 64GB.
And $629, $729, and $829 for 4G. It will be available on March 16th
in the US and available for pre-order from yesterday. It will be available
from March 23 for 32 other countries. The iPad 2 will continue to be
sold for $399 in a 16GB flavor and $529 for a WiFi + 3G 16GB model.
In india it will be available in coming few months.
No comments:
Post a Comment