Apple Launches The New iPad
Photo courtesy Apple
Apple’s latest iPad is not called the “iPad 3” or the “iPad HD” as everyone thought it would be, but simply the “new iPad.”
With that, the one question with which I’ve been recently bombarded by my beloved readers, family and friends: “The new iPad … should I buy it?” The answer is yes if you do not currently own any other iPad or tablet. If you already have an iPad 2 and don’t want to spend the extra money, you’ll survive. However, do keep in mind (as with all the latest releases) it’s truly the most amazing iPad ever.
“The new iPad redefines the category Apple created less than two years ago, delivering the most amazing experience people have ever had with technology,” says Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “The new iPad has the highest resolution display ever seen on a mobile device with 3.1 million pixels, delivering razor sharp text and unbelievable detail in photos and videos.”
The biggest improvement on this new iPad is the Retina display. The 3.1 million pixels deliver four times the number of pixels of an iPad 2, which is 1 million more pixels than an HD TV, and 44 percent increased color saturation. You can now watch movies at full 1080p HD-resolution too. The pixels are so dense that the human eye is unable to distinguish individual pixels when held at a normal distance, making everything you look at extremely sharp and realistic.
As for the rest of the new iPad’s guts, it has an A5X processor, which includes a quad-core graphics module (a must-have with all those pixels) and the upgraded 5 megapixel rear camera can capture 1080p video at 30 frames per second. Along with the iPhone 4S’ camera, the new iPad’s video is stabilized.
Apple also added on temporal noise reduction, which reduces video noise by comparing what pixels actually move and guessing what is noise and what is detail. Finally, 4G LTE connectivity will be supported with both AT&T and Verizon devices, and Dictation is supported, which makes it easier to be more productive.
If you didn’t already pre-order your new iPad, good luck finding one immediately. But when you do, the prices for the Wi-Fi only versions are $499, $599 and $699 for the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB respectively. If you need a 4G model, you’ll be spending $629, $729 or $829. Check it out at your nearest Apple Store (or avoid the lines/crowds at Apple.com).
In addition to the new iPad, Apple also introduced a new iPhoto app with major updates to iMovie, GarageBand, iLife apps and iOS 5.1.
Click Chick’s Mobile App of the Week: iTether
Without jailbreaking your smartphone, sharing the data/Internet connection from your phone for free is impossible. Of course you can do it for an additional fee of $20 per month. As you may have seen in the past, a few tethering apps have appeared in the iTunes Store, and Apple usually pulls them off the same day they launch. iTether was one of those apps (and the most popular) – now it’s back! Well, sort of. You won’t be able to find it on the iTunes Store, but you can buy it from the iTether Website (tether.com).
This updated version for the iPhone runs the HTML5 code, which means the app does not need to be installed from the App Store and you don’t need to jailbreak your phone to use it. If you snag this within the next week, the app will cost you $15 (then the price will eventually go back up to $30). Considering that this turns your phone into an almost free hot spot, the nominal fee is worth it. iTether also is available for Android and BlackBerry devices.
