One of the hot gadgets of 2010 has been the Apple iPad. Ever since it was first
revealed back in January of 2010, rumors of the iPad 2 started. Most notably, it was pointed out that no cameras were to be included on the original iPad which then made a good point to start with the iPad 2 rumors.
This post is intends to track all iPad 2 rumors including what size screen it will have, what type of screen as well as many hardware changes. Also, iPad 2 release dates, or rumored release dates we should say, will be mentioned.
A lot of the iPad 2 rumors start with comparisons against the iPhone 4. This includes the Retina Display, front (and back) facing cameras as well as the flat back.
iPad 2 Retina Display Rumor
With the iPhone 4 getting the high pixel density Retina Display earlier this year, rumors point towards the iPad 2 getting this same technology. Apple created an amazing screen on the iPhone 4 which has a 326 ppi (pixels per inch) density. By increasing the density up to 326 PPI, it makes it very difficult to distinguish the pixels when holding the phone at the usual 1 to 2 feet away from your eyes. This in turn, makes text appear incredibly clear, even when the text is zoomed way out.
Could the Retina Display land on the iPad 2? Possibly, but keep in mind that it's a 9.7 inch screen as opposed to just a 3.5 inch screen which essentially makes a heck of a lot of pixels.
GDGT did some calculations on the Retina Display on a 9.7 inch screen, and with the pixel density of 326 (330 as GDGT referrers to it as) they calculated that a 9.7 inch iPad Retina Display would have 2560 x 1920 pixels. That seems like a lot, and it is. The iMac that I am using right now to write this on has a resolution of 2560 x 1440... this screen I use is 27 inches... cram the same amount of pixels across and more pixels down in to a 9.7 inch display and you have an incredible resolution.
Is it likely to happen? Possibly not (also think hardware requirements to run a screen of that resolution), but we suspect that they will go full HD as in 1920 x 1080 at a guess.
iPad 2 Gyro
One of the new sensors added to the iPhone 4 was the
gyroscope. What this allows the iPhone 4 to do is achieve far more accuracy when detecting movement. Could this be included in the iPad 2? We think it probably will be included and we don't think this rumor is far fetched.
iPad 2 Dual Cameras for FaceTime Calling
When the iPhone 4 was announced, we heard about FaceTime. Apple said... "People have been dreaming about video calling for decades. iPhone 4 makes it a reality". Although video calling has been around for several years in the UK and other countries, Apple were the first company who seemed to be able to push the service forwards due to their sheer amount of customers.
One problem with the original iPad is that it lacks camera(s), and thus, cannot be used for FaceTime. Apple is pushing FaceTime across devices and has since, added an application for download on the Mac so you can call from Mac to iPhone and vice-versa. Adding camera(s) to the iPad 2 would let Apple reach out even further.
iPad 2 Landscape Dock
Some patents were dug up a few months back that hint towards the iPad 2 getting a
second dock connector on the long side. This would allow you to dock the iPad in either portrait or landscape mode.
Having a patent for something doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a future model, but some people think the idea is great and would love for a second dock connector to be added. Personally, I don't use a dock so for me it's just another hole in the side of the iPad.
iPad 2 to Get USB Port and SD Card Slot
File this one under "probably not". We heard
rumors a few weeks back saying that the iPad will get a USB port as well as an SD card slot (or microSD). This is a big move away for Apple from the traditional 30 pin dock connector although it could possibly happen due to regulations trying to push devices to a standard micro USB connector. As for the SD card slot, we doubt this one will happen either. Apple hasn't gone down the route of expandable storage on any iOS device that we can remember, so we doubt they will change the model here.
iPad 2 to Come in Both 9.7 and 7 inch Models
The rumors of an iPad with a 7 inch display have been passed around for a few months now. Steve Jobs answered this in a Q&A at an event and basically said no, it wont happen. However, the rumor still wont die with some claims that the iPad with a 7 inch display is currently being ordered by Apple.
Although Steve Jobs said no to it, this doesn't mean it wont happen. We feel it is unlikely to happen although the 7 inch Samsung Galaxy Tab has been a popular device and has a screen size that many people prefer. It's easy to carry around and a large enough size to browse comfortably on it. So, expect that Apple might announce a
7 inch iPad, but we are more like 40/60 on this in that it is less likely to happen.
New Form Factor - iPad 2 to Have Flat Back
A new rumor started just today indicates that the new
iPad 2 will have a flat back like the iPhone 4. When we say like the iPhone 4, we could just mean in that it's flat and not necessarily a large sheet of glass. Could Apple change the form factor already? We are inclined to think they will slim it down a little in the middle, but as for a complete smooth and flat back, we are not completely convinced yet of this one.
iPad 2 Technical Specs
We have heard that the iPad 2 will get a boost in technical specs. This is one we certainly believe. Apple will more than likely put a faster processor inside along with more RAM. Right now the iPad has 256MB RAM, expect this to double to 512MB or perhaps even bump up even higher if a high res screen is included. As for the processor, there have been rumors that the iPad 2 will get a
2GHz ARM Cortex A9 variant. When we say variant here, what we mean is that Apple will modify the ARM Cortex A9 to do what they want it to do which is how ARM processor work.
iPad 2 Release Date
Here is one for a bit of confusion. We've heard all sorts of dates as to when the iPad 2 release date will be with some hinting that it will be any time from now and the 1st Quarter of 2011. What we think is that Apple will announce the new iPad in March and will release it in April 2011 which is a year after the original launch. We don't see any particular reason why Apple will try rush the iPad 2 out.
So, where does this leave us? There's lots of juicy information being passed around the web, some of it believable, some obvious and some of it far fetched. All we can say is that it will be better than the original iPad in a few ways, but don't expect something too drastically different. It will still be an iPad.
2010 has been a fantastic year for the Google Android operating system. Towards the end of 2009 we started seeing the game step up in terms of hardware which in turn, saw the iPhone see some stronger competition for once. With the release of Froyo and now Gingerbread more recently, the OS is becoming a very worthy competitor in the smartphone game.
Evernote is becoming a hugely popular service in 2010 with thousands of users signing up daily. Evernote is a very simple app that lets you capture notes, enter text, clip webpages, grab sound recordings and capture photos. Once captured, the content is then synchronized with an online account which can then be accessed from the desktop on a Mac or PC as well as a web based service (as well as iOS devices which also have an app). When content is captured, you can easily organise it in to folders (called notebooks) and file them away. Evernote makes all your content fully searchable.
Dropbox is next on our list. What Dropbox allows you to do is create a special folder on your desktop computer (Mac or PC). Any files dropped in to that folder are then syncronised automatically to a cloud service.
Although Evernote and Dropbox allow you to access all your documents and specific files where ever you are, what they lack is some sort of task management tool. Remember the Milk is one such tool (one of many) available for Android smartphones.
Quickoffice is another app that costs. What t does is allows you to edit Office documents stored in multiple locations such as in Google Docs, Dropbox, Mobile Me and stored locally. Quickoffice is described as the only Microsoft Productivity Suite available for Android based smartphones.
Nike has launched a number of apps for iOS based devices, more specifically for the iPhone and iPod touch. These include Nike+ GPS, Nike BOOM as well as a number of Football apps. The latest is the NikeWoman Training Club app that acts as a personal trainer for users.
Some new iPad 2 rumors are floating around today. This time the rumors hint at a thinner bezel all around as well as a flat back and a larger speaker.
Today, Skype went down for many users across the globe. For most people an error popped up while trying to log in. For those who can log in, it often shows no friends online.
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