Apple launched ‘the new iPad’ and the retina display is the USP of this new offering. A resolution of 2048 X 1536 with PPI (Pixel per Inch) of 264 will provide a stunning experience when using images and videos. While everyone is drooling over these specs, the suppliers of these displays are having a tough time. According to analysts, the yields of producing these displays are not as high as Apple expected and this could very well result in display shortage and thus delay. Already the pre-orders are getting delayed.

These retina displays are being manufactured by Sharp, Samsung and LG. According to NPD DisplaySearch , Sharp is facing troubles in producing these on a large scale. The reason is the distinct technology used by Sharp. Sharp is using IGZO (Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide) thin-film transistors whereas Samsung and LG are using Silicon based. IGZO allows for higher brightness with a reduced number of LED’s in the backlight.

IGZO is important as it reduces the number of LED’s and thus power consumption. iPad 2 has 36 LED’s and according to DisplaySearch’s analysts, the new iPad (iPad 3) should have at least 72. This increases power consumption and thus battery life gets affected. Rumors are flying that Sharp already switched to Silicon based thin-film transistors to ramp up the production. Do you think that the retina display may prove to be a dampener on the new iPad’s battery life?

As the new iPad’s features are being analyzed, it is also time to go over some of the much expected features and rumors that were missing.

Look

First things first! The new iPad doesn’t differ much from the iPad 2 looks wise. Though the casing is slightly tapered, it is not a radical change. But the lack of a design and look change is more than compensated with many under the hood configuration changes.

Smaller option?

Amazon Kindle Fire’s success raked up lot of debate on the 8-inch iPad Mini and about giving choice to the customers in choosing the form factor. We couldn’t even find a trace about this in the iPad event, but still rumors are strong that a tablet with different size will be released by Apple later in this year only. If they do release, at least we have a name for it – ‘the small iPad’.

Quad Core Processor

Many analysts expected debut of A6 quad-core processor .This made more sense as the quad-core market is heating up with Nvidia’s Tegra 3 and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors. The new iPad comes with A5X and Apple claims it is four times faster than Tegra 3. But it is still not an A6 and there’s a lot in the name! Siri’s integration with iPad was taken for granted by everyone, but there’s no mention of whether Siri and the new iPad will allow only dictation.

Only 64gb

Other features that were expected but missing includes a 128 GB version and reduction of weight. The new retina display and 4G antenna did not help much on the weight. But it would have been good to have 128GB option. Apple has increased the 4G file download limit to 50 MB and with all those HD pictures and videos 64GB limit can fill up quite quickly.

iO6 please???

No iO6, well it was a bit of a long shot but there were some rumors of it popping up in logs.  I guess we will have to wait till June 2012 for the Apple’s World Wide Developers conference.

The ‘New iPad’ is ready and will be available in the stores from March 16th 2012. As the rumor mill takes a breather, it is time to take stock of the new features that will be available. The big surprise is the name of this third-generation iPad. It is neither called iPad 3 nor iPad HD. Apple stumped everyone by calling it ‘the new iPad’. It features the touted retina display with a resolution of 2048 X 1536. This translates into 3.1 million pixels, a million more than an HDTV. Now imagine the visual treat on offer! Apple aptly calls it ‘the best mobile display ever’.

Till a few days back the web was buzzing if the new iPad features an A5X processor or an A6 processor? Now we know that it’s an A5X processor. It is a dual-core processor with quad-core graphics. According to Apple, A5X GPU is twice powerful than iPad2 and four times more powerful that Nvidia’s Tegra 3. Thus the A5X quad-core graphics deliver all those 3.1 million pixels with the same smoothness and makes swiping, scrolling etc incredibly responsive.

‘The new iPad’ doesn’t feature an 8 mega-pixel camera. But it comes with an ‘iSight’ camera which has a 5-mega pixel sensor, auto focus, five-element lens, exposure functions and face recognition. Add to these the amazing software that helps in editing your pictures. The ‘iSight’ camera can capture HD videos in 1080p. It is no coincidence that Apple also introduced an updated Apple TV which can now display full HD content.

‘The new iPad’ supports 4G LTE for faster web experience. All those extra pixels, quad-core graphics and LTE battery are not going to affect the batter life and the new iPad can last up to 10 hours in standard and 9 hours with 4G enabled. Now coming to the big question – price. Apple keeps the pricing of the ‘new iPad’ unchanged. Wi-Fi enabled 16GB base model starts at $499 and the high-end 64GB 4G enabled model costs $829. And as expected Apple is giving 16GB Wi-Fi iPad2 at $399, a discount of $100. The new iPad features a smart cover. Not only does it protect from dust and scratches it is smart enough to wake and sleep with a simple open and close. It just sums up Apple’s attention to detail. So are you ready to pre-order ‘the new iPad’?  Was it as good as you were expecting, if not what do you think is missing?

Check out new pics of the iPad 3 here.

It is official. Apple will be showcasing iPad 3 to the world on March 7^th. Apple distributed the invites to select media for the big event to be held at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco at 10 AM PST. The invite per se does not list any of the features. But as always with anything associated with Apple, the invitation is being scrutinized to find any hidden clues. This makes sense as Apple does everything for a reason with attention to even minute details.

The invite shows a display that is of much higher quality than an iPad 2. The Web is buzzing with pictures comparing the invite picture with an iPad 2 featuring the same apps. A higher resolution display can be easily distinguished and this might very well confirm the retina display.

The invite says “We have something you really need to see. And touch”. If the “see” is a clue for retina display, what is it with ‘touch’? Interestingly the display on the invite doesn’t feature a physical home button. Analysts view the absence of this Home button got to do something with the ‘touch’. Absence of home button is from the observation that the invitation shows the device in portrait mode, which is deduced based on the spacing between the apps featured on the invite display. It is surprising how and why Apple missed the ‘hearing’ part of iPad 3 in the invite! Is it deliberate to surprise us or does it mean no Siri integration on iPad 3? Come March 7^th we can ‘feel’ the iPad 3 with all our senses.

Images via Gizmodo

Looks like LTE (Long Term Evolution) or 4G is going to debut on iPad 3 for sure. According to sources from Wall Street Journal, AT&T and Verizon Wireless will sell an iPad 3 that works with their 4G wireless networks. Verizon and AT&T are the only two carriers in U.S that offer LTE and they are wanting to make the most of the iPad 3 market to reap the dividends of their huge investments.

AT&T and Verizon are the same operators that currently sell the iPad 2 and these iPad2’s are built on different hardware setups due to differences in their networks. No information is yet available if the iPad3 will be like this or if Apple comes up with a single configuration that will work on both networks. Though these carriers have sold many LTE enabled smart phones, battery issues bogged them from wide spread usage. According to our previous post, this is the very reason that Apple wants to test LTE first on an iPad rather than on an iPhone. The two carriers are hoping that existing subscribers will upgrade to more profitable contracts. LTE will also help the carriers handle data traffic in an efficient way without consuming much of their spectrum.

While iPad 3 4G will test the robustness of these carriers, it is a win-win scenario for Apple too. Apple needs the speed of LTE networks to roll out their 1080 pixel video calling. Also when iPad3 is going to double the resolution it needs a larger bandwidth pipe. Faster networks can further drive the development of hosted apps. A LTE enabled iPad 3 might come at a price as Apple always charged $130 more for these iPads compared with a Wi-Fi only model. But if LTE enabled iPad 3 generates rich, varied hosted apps it might make way for a LTE enabled iPhone 5.

Owning an iPad is always a matter of status and a recent survey by folks from NPD Group validates this. According to this survey a significant percentage of iPad owners are old and wealthy. These wealthy users of iPad might not think twice in lapping up the next-generation iPad3 even if it means forking out a few hundred dollars more. According to the survey more than 40 percent of iPad owners had a household income of $100K or more. This figure is just 26 percent for non-iPad owners.

But as tablet penetration is increasing gradually, the demographics of tablet users are also changing. Recent tablet owners are younger and make less money. 50 percent of buyers at the end of 2011 are more likely to have an income under $45K and 33 percent of buyers are more like to be below 34 years of age. Tablets like Amazon Kindle Fire are definitely behind this change.

Another interesting finding of the survey is that irrespective of age and income many tablet buyers still think that ‘PC is not dead’. Only a meager 10% of tablet owners feel that they don’t need a PC notebook. Even non-tablet users feel the same, 26 percent of them are more likely to buy a notebook compared to just 18 percent who want to purchase a tablet. According to Stephen Baker, VP of NPD, tablet usage is still evolving and many users, being conservative are hedging their bets by planning to have an array of products to have maximum flexibility. It would be interesting to see how Apple and Microsoft adjust their strategies to these changing demographics. Do you think that Apple deserves the premium charged for its tablets? Can iPad usage generate more income for the buyer and turn into a virtuous cycle? Food for thought for another survey!

Apple’s Q1 results were historic and the company became the number one PC vendor in the world. It comfortably beats the runner-up in every aspect. All these encouraging events are setting the stage for a grand release of iPad3. But a recent development can throw a spanner in the works. A last minute trade dispute between Apple and a company named Proview could delay the release of iPad 3.

Proview Technology is a cash-strapped Chinese company that is fighting a legal battle over the iPad name. The company claims ownership of the trademark in China and it recently asked Chinese customs bureau to stop imports and exports of iPad. According to Apple, the company has already acquired Proview’s rights to the iPad trademark in 10 countries including China.

Analysts believe that this legal battle is Proview’s last minute effort to extract maximum compensation from Apple. It is demanding $1.6 billion compensation. Apple could get stuck between a rock and a hard place. It cannot afford to leave Chinese market which is the next biggest market after U.S. A last minute change of the tablet name is also out of the equation as all the prefixes of ‘Pad’ from A to Z are already registered. The next hearing is scheduled for February 29^th and Apple might be hoping to get rid of this final hurdle. Any unfavorable ruling might just delay the launch of iPad3.

According to sources at Bloomberg, Apple’s next iPad is all set for a March release. As speculated widely, it will sport a high-definition screen, a faster quad-core processor chip and work with next-generation wireless networks. Apple’s Asian manufacturers are ramping up the production of iPad 3. There will be a break during Chinese Lunar New Year holidays before peaking up again in February.

Features like high-definition display and quad-core processors are already expected. The feature that evokes more interest is LTE (Long Term Evolution). Our previous post talked how there is a clash going on between iPad 3 and iPhone 5 regarding who will feature LTE first. Now it seems that LTE will debut first on iPad before iPhone. According to Bloomberg’s sources, the main reason for this is because iPad comes with a bigger battery and can better cater to the power requirements of LTE. 4G networks provide faster data, but they require a higher-power radio and thus drain battery faster.

Apple has a tendency to wait for mobile technologies to reach critical mass before featuring them on their devices. We noticed the same in case of 3G. The original iPhone came with the slower 2G EDGE technology even though 3G technology was available at that time. Recently iPhone 4S came without featuring 4G. It might be also possible that Apple does not want to endorse 4G carriers at the expense of 3G carriers. iPhone has become such an important part of many people’s lives and it seems Apple doesn’t want to test a power-hungry LTE on it. iPad is still a luxury additional device and not a lifeline like iPhone for many.

Interest around the much talked about iPhone 5 is building up. Results of an online survey conducted by MyVoucherCodes.co.uk reveal that iPhone 5 is UK’s most awaited tech toy of 2012. Survey involved a sample size of 1,916 British adults and they were asked to list the tech gadgets they were most looking forward to. Respondents can choose more than one item if they wish.

74% of the respondents are looking forward to iPhone 5 and iPad 3 comes close second with 71 percent. Wii U is the third most awaited gadget of 2012 with 68 percent. According to Mark Pearson, chairman of MyVoucherCodes.co.uk, it is not at all surprising to see two Apple products occupying the top slots.

The world of technology is ever-changing, so there is always something new that consumers are looking for.

Mark Pearson

Respondents were also asked to state the reason for excitement about the gadget they chose. The new features on offer seem to be the obvious reason. The top 10 list features another Apple product – Apple TV at fifth spot with 62%. The list also features a Google table at fourth with 65% and Amazon Kindle Fire at sixth with 59%. Tablets crowding this list indicate the huge market potential of this segment. Even though none of the features of iPhone 5 or iPad 3 are officially confirmed, it seems that consumers have full faith in Apple and its innovation.

Looks like Apple is on track to maintain its release cycle and iPad 3 might be scheduled for an early spring release in 2012. Original iPad and iPad2 were launched in April 2010 and March 2011. According to Citi Analyst Richard Gardner, iPad 3 is all set for a big launch with double the resolution of previous model. According to a note he prepared for investors, “There do not appear to be any significant technical hurdles remaining” to iPad3’s release.

Timing of this launch is all the more important for Apple considering many other factors. It needs to fend off the competition that is going to come from the slew of Android tablet releases. Android’s latest Ice Cream Sandwich version will be giving some tough competition for iOS. There is also a buzz around quad core processors. Asus’s Eee Pad Transformer Prime, built on Nvidia’s Tegra 3 processor is setting the trend for many more quad core tablets from other manufacturers.

Amazon’s Kindle Fire at a price below $200 is making a dent in Apple’s market. Windows 8 OS release which is touch-optimized for tablets is already generating enough momentum and it will be a direct threat to Apple iPad. Also many of the new Android tablets are coming with 4G LTE connectivity. Our previous post mentioned the rumors doing the rounds regarding 4G LTE enabled iPhone 5 and iPad 3. Considering all these factors, iPad is due for a major overhaul. Do you think a 4G LTE enabled iPad 3 with double the resolution of iPad2 will set the ball rolling again for Apple’s total dominance in tablet market?