Tweet
The Apple iPad 2.(Credit:James Martin/CNET)
The wait is over for eager Apple fans wanting the next generation iPad. At an invite-only event in San Francisco Wednesday, the company took the wraps off theiPad 2.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who is taking a leave absence from the company, returned to unveil the new product, which is expected to be a hot seller.
As expected, the newtablet has two front-facing cameras and is faster with dual-core processors, which just about double CPU performance and make the graphics speed 9 times faster, while using the same power as the processor from the first iPad. It's thinner than the older model. It went from 13.4mm for the old iPad to 8.8mm in thickness on the new one. And it works not only on AT&T's 3G network, but also Verizon Wireless's 3G network.
The new tablet will go on sale in the U.S. on March 11 and will start at $499. The original iPad, which went on sale last April, currently starts at $499 for 16GB Wi-Fi only version of the product. The 3G version of the 16GB iPad is $629. Apple will begin shipping the iPad 2 internationally to 26 countries starting March 25.
The iPad 2 will also get some new features thanks to the latest release of the operating system, iOS 4.3. This upgrade brings a few new features like AirPlay support for apps that will include photo slideshows and porting audio from apps to other devices. Safari performance will be improved. This upgrade also adds the personal hot-spot feature that was introduced forVerizon iPhone owners. Other major tweaks include a software option to adjust whether the switch on the iPad is used to mute the volume, or lock the screen orientation, functionality Apple had changed after the iPad had been released.
The iOS 4.3 version of software will be available on March 11, and it supports iPad, iPhone (GSM) and iPod Touch (3rd and 4th generation).
Apple also introduced some new accessories to to the iPad 2. The first is an HDMI video out option that will allow people to port video out of the device and mirror what happens on another screen. Jobs said this was a big request from teachers. It will cost $39 and works with all apps.
The other accessory is something called "Smart Covers." This new case is a bendable flap that sticks onto the side of the device. It wakes up the iPad from sleep when you open it, and puts it to sleep when you close it. The cover uses magnets to grasp onto the unit, and align it. "You can add it in a second. You can remove it in a second," Jobs said. The new case comes in five colors for the polyurethane case, and 5 for the leather. The polyurethane case is is $39, and the leather one is $69.
Apple created a new category of product with the iPad, doing what others before it had been unable to do. In short, it successfully convinced consumers that they needed something in between a smartphone and a laptop/desktop.
From the start, the iPad was a hit. Apple began selling the iPad in April 2010 and it ended up selling a whopping 15 million iPads by the end of 2010, accounting for $9.5 billion in revenue, according to Jobs. In the first fiscal quarter of 2011, the iPad has generated some $4.61 billion for Apple, which is about 17.2 percent of the company's revenue. Not bad for a product that nobody really needed a year ago.
Brian White with Ticonderoga Securities wrote in a research note this week that he believes Apple could sell about 27.36 million iPads in fiscal 2011, generating $16.92 billion in revenue. He said that the iPad has turned into a crucial product for Apple and could represent one-third of Apple's $36.8 billion in incremental revenue that is modeled for 2011.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs was on stage to introduce the iPad 2.(Credit:James Martin/CNET)
While the iPad is still hugely popular, the latest version of the device will face some competition. Unlike in 2010, this year there will not be just one or two competitors on the market, but instead there will be hundreds.
The most threatening competition could come from the top handset and computer manufacturers. Motorola is just now releasing its Xoom tablet, built on the latest version of the Google Android OS. Samsung has its Galaxy Tab line of products, which are also based on Android. Hewlett-Packard will introduce its WebOS-powered TouchPad this summer. Microsoft is also looking to get into the tablet market with a new OS that will bring Windows to the tablet form factor. And Research In Motion, the maker of the BlackBerry, is also set to introduce its tablet called the PlayBook.
But even with all this new competition, experts, such as CNET's Donald Bell, believe that Apple still has a significant advantage over its competitors even if the new iPad 2 doesn't offer too many more bells and whistles than the original version. He said in a recent interview with National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" that Apple didn't have to change things significantly on the iPad 2 to keep consumers interested.
"Apple has done something pretty special," he said in the interview. "They have convinced consumers to buy a product that they don't really need. They've taken smartphones, which is a kind necessary product, and laptops and desktops and sort of forced them aside to make a new market."
Not only does Apple already have a significant lead in tablet sales compared to its competitors, but it also has a lead in terms of applications offered for the device. Apple now has more than 65,000 apps that are made just for the iPad, Jobs said Wednesday. Meanwhile, Google has just released Android 3.0 OS, which is designed for tablets. And so far Google has far fewer applications that are specific to the tablet format in its marketplace. Jobs estimates the current number of apps for a Google tablet is only about 100.
Still, Google has proven to be a formidable competitor in the smartphone market. The operating system, which has been on the market for only a couple of years, is now on nearly 50 percent of smartphones shipped in the U.S. And the platform is gaining ground globally. The Google Android platform could prove popular for the tablet market as more manufacturers release products using the software.
For a play-by-play of the Apple announcement in San Francisco, check out CNET's Live Blog of the event.
Powered By WizardRSS - Full Text RSS Feeds