iPad 2

What’s Better then an iPad? The iPad 2

There have been no official announcements from Apple on the release date or the actual specifications of the second generation iPad 2. Unfortunately for them, but good news for the Apple rumour mill, their supply chain is not so secretive. Over the past 2 weeks leaked photos of the iPad 2 case have been circulating the internet. A Japanese site devoted to all things Apple, "MacOtakara", blogged about the iPad 2, based on an anonymous Chinese insider source.

This Chinese source revealed that the iPad 2 will be fractionally smaller overall, while retaining the same screen size as the current iPad – at 9.7-inches (24.64cm).
The iPad's bezel, the area around the screen, has shrunk from 242.8mm x 189.7mm to a 3mm slimmer 239mm x 186mm. The case is also reported to be flatter, so that it will not tilt when you press along the edges.

Another unconfirmed rumor, from Rodman & Renshaw investment bank analyst, Ashok Kumar, is that the iPad 2 will have "A key component upgrade across these platforms will be a dual-core processor featuring a pair of 1GHz ARM Cortex A9 cores."

Much has been made of the leaked images of the iPad 2's case and the positioning of cutouts in the case. This has led to speculation that the iPad will have a front & rear facing camera, unlike the current iPad which has no camera. The cutout on the rear of the case points to a larger speaker being positioned there. It's also been suggested that the ambient light sensor has been moved from front to rear.

Other additions, extrapolated from the case images, are the addition of a mini-SD slot and support for mini-USB 3.0.

Another interesting development, has been the unconfirmed rumors that the iPad 2 range will also feature a "mini" 7-inch (17.78cm) version.. There have been several leaked images purporting to be pictures of the mini iPad, but at the moment the existence of such an iPad remains in the realms of speculation.

The Chinese source also cites March –April as the shipping date for the iPad 2. This is more realistic then the current release date of January, being touted by a number of Apple blogs. An April release would coincide with the 1st anniversary of the iPad, so that makes sense somewhat, going on Steve Job's past timing for the release of product updates.

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Does the iPad 2 Meet Consumers’ Expectations?

Every Apple product has an annual cycle which means a hardware and/or design refresh every year. The iPad was launched last year in January and it’s about a year, but the tablet isn’t being made available in many countries including India. Now MacOtakara was tipped by a Chinese source that the second generation iPad will have the same 9.7-inch touchscreen display. The second generation iPad measures 239×186mm and is 3mm smaller than the current one.
Similar to iPod Touch

According to the report, the new iPad’s backing will have a shape similar to the iPod Touch. A hole located in the back plate–as previously seen in leaked photos–was originally speculated to be for a USB port or an SD card slot. However the unnamed Chinese source said it’s actually for a large, wide-ranged speaker unit that will be covered with metal mesh.

The big difference in the new version of the iPad 2 is a hole on the back plate is no longer believed to be a USB port or SD card slot, but instead a large speaker. The speaker would provide a wider range over the current design and afford much better sound out of the thin tablet design. It’s anticipated the hole would be covered with mesh made of metal.

VoiPkb

VoIPkb is offering the first “official” FreeSWITCH training in Sydney, Australia.The FreeSWITCH Training Bootcamp is a full 3-day intensive training providing in-depth coverage of FreeSWITCH installation, configuration, maintenance and programming. You will learn, step by step, how to configure, manage and program the FreeSWITCH telephony soft switch in great detail. Tips and tricks in debugging and optimizing FreeSWITCH are also taught.January 17th – 19th, 2011Sydney, Australiawww.voipkb.comLocation: Equinix is located in Unit B, 639 Gardeners Road Mascot, Sydney, NSW 2020. There is abundant parking available at the facility. Equinix is 2.2 km from the airport and 6.2 km from Sydney CBDThese courses are official FreeSWITCH training courses. This course will be taught by Darren Schreiber, one of the co-authors of the new FreeSWITCH book. Who should attend: * VoIP providers seeking “Open Source” platforms to enhance their businesses * Anyone seeking proficiency in FreeSWITCH * Network Consultants and VARs who need a jump start in the technology * Developers who want to use FreeSWITCH to create new telephony applications and appliancesTopics that will be covered in this course: * Install FreeSWITCH on a Linux Machine * Understanding configuration files and the default configuration * Call authentication and routing basics * Integration modules (mod_skypiax, mod_dingaling for Skype/GTalk/XMPP integration) * Understanding presence * Load balancing and high availability * FreeSWITCH Internals * How to debug and troubleshoot FreeSWITCH * Building Custom C Modules * Advanced ModulesThis first FreeSWITCH training course in Australia will be a mixture of lectures and hands-on lab exercises. By the end of the third day students will have completed a number of labs that allow for the successful installation and configuration of a working soft switch that will process calls from within the classroom and from outside numbers and make various routing decisions. If time allows and interest is present, students will also compile a basic custom C module that introduces new dialplan and API commands into the FreeSWITCH system.

Buying a Second Tablet

Most who own more than one iPad — 37 percent — said they bought a second tablet because their partner uses the iPad “all the time,” while 17 percent said it was used by family members, and 14 percent said their children were using the iPad frequently. That means a total of 68 percent of respondents said they bought a second tablet because the iPad gets constant use.

Issues

I’d argue the biggest problem is the user interface for the Tablet PC, which just wasn’t designed for touch. The retrofitting hasn’t worked well; and the UI still feels clunky — both in the OS, and in the applications. I can switch among open tabs in Firefox by just pressing on the tabs, but they seem a bit small for the purpose. And hitting a menu command? No problem with the pen, but hard to do it accurately with my thumb. You have to be much more careful exactly where you are touching than you do on an iPad or similar tablet. To fix this, applications would need to be written with larger buttons and just a different look, and no one has really pushed enough to make this happen.

Google’s Android

But some will not. Google, which has been working hard to upgrade its Android and Chrome operating systems to work on larger screens and slatelike computers, may yet come up with a competitive product. But let’s hope it’s in the next year, or else we may be predicting yet another year of the tablet in 2012.

Whilst 17% of tablet owners currently own another device, almost a further fifth of all tablet owners (19%) are considering purchasing another tablet in the future. Of those existing owners, loyalty is high, with most users stating they will get the same device that they currently use, 71% of Apple iPad owners surveyed will get another iPad. However, the lure of newer tablets being released in the future may also drive an increase in the 2+ tablet households with 18% of Apple iPad owners stating that they will purchase other tablets that become available in the future.”

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