Wednesday, May 4, 2011

iPad 2 For Travel: New Travel Apps, iMovie Trip Videos, Battery Life Tips, More

When the first iPad came out just over a year ago, we were sure it would transform travel: Apple's tablet computer married work and play utilities so well, it rendered a laptop excess weight on a vacation. Thirteen months later, our computing behavior has already evolved drastically. Everyone from VPs to restaurant sommeliers to preschoolers are using iPads everywhere. It did not take long for the tablet to find a place in our lives.

Since the second generation iPad was released a month ago, much has been said about the new lighter, smaller, faster model. And the fact that Apple has added significant new features to iPad 2—such as the front- and back-facing cameras—without raising the price (it starts at $499). Let’s consider what the iPad 2 does to further transform travel with its smaller size, new cameras, innovative new travel apps, and iMovie travel videos.

Friday, April 22, 2011

New Features


Thinner, lighter, and
full of great ideas.
Once you pick up iPad 2, it’ll be hard to put down. That’s the idea behind the all-new design. It’s 33 percent thinner and up to 15 percent lighter, so it feels even more comfortable in your hands.2 And it makes surfing the web, checking email, watching movies, and reading books so natural, you might forget there’s incredible technology under your fingers.

Dual-core A5 chip.
It’s fast, times two.
Two powerful cores in one A5 chip mean iPad can do twice the work at once. You’ll notice the difference when you’re surfing the web, watching movies, making FaceTime video calls, gaming, and going from app to app to app. Multitasking is smoother, apps load faster, and everything just works better.



Superfast graphics.
Go, gamers, go.


With up to nine times the graphics performance, gameplay on iPad is even smoother and more realistic. And faster graphics help apps perform better — especially those with video. You’ll see it when you’re scrolling through your photo library, editing video with iMovie, and viewing animations in Keynote.



Two cameras. And a big hello to FaceTime for iPad.

You’ll see two cameras on iPad — one on the front and one on the back. They may be tiny, but they’re a big deal. They’re designed for FaceTime video calling, and they work together so you can talk to your favorite people and see them smile and laugh back at you.3 The front camera puts you and your friend face-to-face. Switch to the back camera during your video call to share where you are, who you’re with, or what’s going on around you. When you’re not using FaceTime, let the back camera roll if you see something movie-worthy. It’s HD, so whatever you shoot is a mini-masterpiece. And you can take wacky snapshots in Photo Booth. It’s the most fun a face can have.

Monday, April 11, 2011

iPad News: Gartner Says Apple Will Rule Tablet Market Until 2015


A new analysis released by Gartner paints a sunny future for Apple, at least for the next few years. Gartner analysts Carolina Milanesi and Roberta Cozza predict that Apple will keep a market majority until the end of 2014 before finally slipping below 50% in 2015. Not surprisingly, the analysts expect Apple’s stiffest competition to come from Google’s Android.



Gartner forecasts Apple will have a 68.7% share of the market for 2011, with iPad sales of 48 million to Google’s 13.9 million. Google is projected to start catching up next year, selling 26 million tablets to Apple’s 68 million, dropping iPad’s share to 63.5%. By 2014, Gartner sees Apple’s share dropping to 51.8%, with 115 million iPads sold, while Android takes 34.2% of the market with 76 million.


While all of this sounds good for both Apple and Google, since both will be selling millions of tablets, the future looks pretty bleak for the handful of other brands remaining. Gartner expects that by 2015, RIM’s QNX, the system designed for the PlayBook, will have a mere 10% of the tablet market, provided they ever get a tablet out at all. Hewlett Packard’s WebOS and Nokia’s MeeGo aren’t projected to get past the single digits.


Although all these forecasts sound plausible, Gartner does not have a crystal ball. A lot of things can happen over the next few years, and all these predictions are based on one thing: Google coming up with tablets that can compete with Apple’s iPads.




That hasn’t happened yet, and Gartner’s Milanesi points out what they need to do to succeed. “Many [tablet vendors] are making the same mistake that was made in the first response wave to the iPhone, as they are prioritizing hardware features over applications, services and overall user experience. Tablets will be much more dependent on the latter than smartphones have been, and the sooner vendors realize that, the better chance they have to compete head-to-head with Apple.”

Thursday, March 31, 2011

iPad’s Future: What it Means to the Competition and Education, Business, and Healthcare Industries




When the iPad hit the market in 2010, it was by no means the first tablet. Apple developed a rudimentary tablet, but more like a PDA, called The Newton in 1993. Bill Gates developed Microsoft’s first tablet in 2002 and coined the term “tablet PC”. However, it was not until Steve Jobs at Apple officially released the Apple iPad with iOS that the whole idea of the tablet computer became the new method of consuming information. Apple advertised the iPad as the new way to send email, check weather, and read newspapers from around the world. However, the population is starting to realize the iPad as a tool that can be used not only as a way to consume information, but as a tool in business to work faster and smarter.




Parents are able to use the iPad to read books to their children at night, such as Dr. Seuss’s ABC. Spelling for iPad teaches children spelling, and games such as Fruit Ninja can help a child’s hand/eye coordination. Teachers can use the Bento for iPad app to keep track of lesson plans and notes about each student. They can use the app Mobile Mouse to turn the iPad into a wireless remote for the classroom. Teachers would also be able to take their work home with them more easily and not chance forgetting their lesson plans at school. Teachers can use the Keynote app to create classroom presentations to engage the children during class.

Special Education teachers have apps available to them for the iPad that help with children who require extra attention with their learning needs. Typ-O HD is an app that Dyslexic children can use that will predict the words they are trying to use. It also has a text to speech feature to help the child listen to what they wrote to make sure the correct words were used. Children with speech and sound delays can use an app called ArtikPix that engages the child with flashcards and matching activities.

The iPad is showing up more frequently in business settings, thanks to apps such as Dropbox and GoodReader to keep files handy for employees who spend the day away from their desks. There are notepad apps as well sketch apps that allow employees to jot down ideas during business meetings and conference calls. Salespersons can use the iPad as a way to pitch their company to new clients and streamline all the paperwork involved. Apps can also be used on the iPad to keep track of inventory instantly within a warehouse.