At a recent press conference, Apple announced that the iPad 2 will be available in America on March 11, 2011. The new iPad features:
- 1GHz Dual-core A5 processor
- Lighter and thinner design — 0.34″, which is thinner than the iPhone 4!
- Dual cameras — rear for pictures/video and front for video chat
- Mobile chip for AT&T and Verizon service
It looks like a beautiful and powerful upgrade, but some people are bummed out that it still uses the same screen resolution as the original iPad. Tech enthusiasts were hoping for double the resolution and a look similar to the vaunted “Retina Display” on the iPhone 4.
I’m probably going to get one for work purposes, but I really wish the resolution were higher. How about you? Anyone interested in buying an iPad 2?
I am. Wonder what the RAM count is?
RAM and GPU were not revealed…strangely.
Tablets are tempting for plenty of times when I'm up late and want to keep a few tabs open to switch back and forth for reference and reading and I have absolutely no intention of typing anything. I could just use my laptop, but sometimes I'm just lazy and don't want to. That's about the biggest reason I have for a tablet, and I would love one for then. But I'm not going to spend all that money on an iPad just for that. If I were really going to get a tablet I would still go Android. The specs do look really nice though.
iOS is still way better for games and easier for movies/TV. I love Android, but the tablets — especially the software — aren't there yet.
I wouldn't want a tablet for games, movies, or tv though. The only reason I have ever thought of wanting a tablet would be for the type of reading I mentioned above. And in all honesty that desire is only out of pure laziness on my part, or because I am staying up too late and should just go to bed anyways because I'm too tired to want to use my laptop. I feel more confident in Android tablets becoming better before iPad's become affordable for my purposes.
That's weird. A tablet excels at media consumption.
That's what I have a tv for though. I don't really need anything for portable streaming. Anything I want to watch on the road I download and put on my ipod touch to watch while im on the bus or something. My ipod touch is all I need for that, so really the only purpose for a tablet would be reading. I can use my ipod touch for that, but I would like to think that it would be easier to switch tabs and read things on a slightly larger tablet. Also, the android tablets are much cheaper. That's another plus side because I don't know when I will be able to afford a new phone, and I want to use the Android OS so that would be the cheapest way to use everything it has—but that is by no means a priority for me. I would be around wi-fi 90% of the time I was using it anyways so I don't need it to have cell connection like a phone does.
Media consumption is not a need I have from a tablet, I can only consume media from so many outlets before I have had my fill.
@Bsu
Verizon has a good deal on Droids right now. $100 off if you do it on their website. You can get a brand new Droid X for $50. I think the Droid 2 is that price as well with the discount. It might even be free. $50 bucks for a new Droid…nice.
I could probably find money for the actual phone, but I would double my monthly bill at least just by upgrading to a phone with a data plan. My line of thinking is if I am always around wi-fi anyways and I mostly use txting between me and my fiance, and a new phone and a tablet would be about the same price, then I get the tablet for the Android OS and don't have to increase my monthly phone bill by anything.
That is a pretty good deal though for a new Android phone! Very tempting.
I dont have a texting plan anymore. I use KiK for messaging. Works with iOS, BB, and Android. Pretty nice.
hard to beat what comes with the $500 iPad1 or 2 though. The Xoom is pretty nice but pricey. Same for the Playbook and HPslate or whatever.
From the development standpoint, nothing touches iOS at the moment. The PlayBook and WebOS tablets will need a ton of time to get anywhere and there's some real doubt that either will ever get significant dev support. Android is a great environment…for anything that's not a game. I actually have a long Android Game rant coming after attending some developer panels and chatting with developers that work on iOS and/or Android. I'm really not confident in the immediate future of Android games. Actually, I'm close to giving up.
@Ray
Yeah. They need some support from a big name like Carmack or someone. He seems to be in love with iOS though.