iPad

Cool Things: iPad Concept Mockup – from 2004!

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2004 iPad Concept

Wow. How cool is this? A MacRumors forum member shared a concept mockup for an Apple device called an iPad. Not in 2009 with Apple tablet rumors swirling all around. This is back in 2004 – 3 years before even the iPhone launched and a full 6 years before the iPad was released.

The concept itself is not close to what the iPad turned out to be – especially with that trackpad feature, and appears to be more of a smartphone device – but it got the name spot-on.

The Next Web has a good write-up on this.

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Rumored Features for New iPads This Year & Next

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iPad Air

Over recent days I’ve started seeing early talk of new iPads expected this late this year and in early 2015. Apple Insider has a report up, citing an analyst (Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI) with a respectable track record on these sort of subjects, that talks about some expected features for new iPads that are now on the horizon.

The highlights so far, at least for the next-gen iPad Air, seem to be:

– A new A8 mobile processor

– A Touch ID sensor as the new iPhone 5s has

– An 8 megapixel rear-facing camera

[click to continue reading…]

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“Quitting Apps in iOS Can Actually Worsen Battery Life” – If This is Accurate, then It’s the Best Advert Yet for More RAM in iOS Devices

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iPad Multitasking

Thorin Klosowski has a piece up at Lifehacker where he states that quitting apps in iOS can actually worsen battery life – and quotes a former Apple Genius Bar tech on the subject:

Yes, it does shut down the app, but what you don’t know is that you are actually making your battery life worse if you do this on a regular basis. Let me tell you why.

By closing the app, you take the app out of the phone’s RAM . While you think this may be what you want to do, it’s not. When you open that same app again the next time you need it, your device has to load it back into memory all over again. All of that loading and unloading puts more stress on your device than just leaving it alone. Plus, iOS closes apps automatically as it needs more memory, so you’re doing something your device is already doing for you. You are meant to be the user of your device, not the janitor.

I don’t feel 100% sure that his premise is right, and browsing through the comments thread I’m not the only one with doubts on it.

And even if the premise is right, then to me it’s just an excellent confirmation of why iOS devices desperately need more RAM. I don’t get any great joy out of being my iPad’s ‘janitor’ – but I sure as heck know that I *need* to be its janitor on a regular basis when it comes to managing memory. That is if I want apps to be able to refresh pages properly. Or to prevent apps freezing up. There are numerous times per week where I need to close out a ton of apps in order to allow one app to run correctly.

Seriously, biggest wish list item for the iPad 6 or whatever this year’s model will be: RAM. Lots of it.

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Happy 4th Birthday to the iPad

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Steve and the iPad

Four years ago today, April 3 2010, was launch day for the original iPad. Some said it was ‘just a giant iPod’ while Steve Jobs hailed it as a ‘magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price’.

In these last four years the iPad has effectively created the tablet market, which has since seen tablets even outselling traditional PCs.

On April 3, 2010 around this time of the morning I was Number 7 in the ‘Reserved’ line outside my local Apple store. I had a great experience that morning and came home early in the day with a shiny new iPad that was very soon to become my most used device.

There were a lot of great words written about the iPad back around that launch time. This was one of my favorite quotes then, from Steven Levy at Wired Magazine – cited by CBS News. It’s still a favorite because it’s still true and still one of the most magical things about the iPad:

Levy says the brilliance of the iPad is that it makes the computer disappear.

“You don’t think ‘computer’ when you use it,” he said. “You just do the task you want to do.”

Want to read a book? The iPad becomes a book. Want to read a newspaper? The iPad becomes a newspaper.

And it’s been making the computer disappear, in more ways than one, ever since.

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Apple Drops the iPad 2, Brings Back the iPad 4 with Retina Display

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iPad with Retina Display

Apple has revamped the lower / older end of their iPad lineup. They have discontinued the iPad 2 line, and brought back the 4th gen iPad – or iPad with Retina Display as it’s listed in their online store.

The iPad 4 is available right now in 16GB WiFi and WiFi + Cellular models – priced at $399 and $529 respectively – and available in black and white models.

This is effectively a nice little step up for the lower end of the full-size iPad lineup. The iPad 2 was a heck of a great device, but as a 3-year old device it’s hard to compete with the current lineup of tablets from Apple and other vendors. The iPad 4 has excellent specs and features for the price point it’s offered at.

You can see all the details on the new / old iPad 4 and the full iPad lineup at this Apple Store page.

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The iPad’s Role in the Super Bowl

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The Super Bowl is coming up this Sunday, the two teams are already in New Jersey, and the iPad is already playing its part in preparation for the big game. As Peter King reported at SI’s MMQB yesterday, the Broncos head coach, John Fox, has some suggestions for players on how to use their time [...]

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