(UPDATE: the iPhone uses a 3:2 aspect ratio which is not rectangular but not square. It is an Apple only format.)
The "Apple screwed the iPad up" camp scored another point when Tuaw pointed out that the screen on the device is 1024x768 and a 4:3 ratio.
This means that:
A) yes it does do high def movies...
However
B) it is 4:3 ratio.
if the numbers seem strange, and you don't see any issue, just remember when you first saw a widescreen DVD playing on a square tv, and remember those black bars because you will be seeing more and more of them.
Even YouTube content is going widescreen, so the Apple decision to use a 4:3 aspect is strange.
This is likely a limitation of the iPhone OS or possibly done so games and apps are always universally programmed form both the iPhone and iPad devices.
Word around the net is that the new apple ipad will not include flash support.
During the keynote speech, Steve Jobs inadvertantly showed a page on the iPad which had the apple logo for "missing plug in", and that plug in was Adobe Flash.
SAME OLD SONG AND DANCE?
Any iPhone or iPod touch user who actually browses the Internet on their device knows the annoyance which can result in a flash page not displaying.
As a result, people are pointing fingers as the above image shows the same image iPhone users have been used to for years.
But what if?
There is a chance that the firmware for the iPad is not finished. It is also possible that the finished product will include flash.
Proof of different versions of the iPhone OS is evident in each release. You cannot install the same firmware from an iPhone 3g as a 3gs (and vice versa)
The heftier specs of the iPad are further proof that the main reason Steve Jobs has refused flash on iPhone are no longer an issue (it's too slow to run on iPhone, consumes too much battery).
Adobe is further helping by making flash more accessable to developers and making porting easy in the lastest beta releases of CS5.
So in short, keep your eyes open for the possibility of Flash on the iPad.
With it, apple can further justify why we "must have" another gadget.
Without it, Google Chrome and Windows 7 powered netbooks look all the more inviting.
Today at the Apple Keynote, Steve Jobs mentioned that the brand new iPad device would be able to connect to both wifi as well as 3G networks, with At&t being the official network in the United States.
This, coupled with a two tiered, and flat rate pricing scheme shows At&t and Apple are serious about selling data to people who are hungry for a way to connect.
The plans are listed as $14.99 for a 200mb plan or $30.00 for unlimited data.
With these prices come multiple questions.
At&t has already somewhat admitted that the network is not completely prepared for the onslaught of 3G users it has generated in the short three years since the original iPhone made it's debut.
AT&T's CEO even eluded to the idea that perhaps unlimited plans for data are not the best idea.
Most of the world does not have any "unlimited" options for data. This is a very American way of thinking.
So where will this leave already frustrated iPhone customers? Not only are they strong armed into paying a $30.00 data plan, they are also told they are not allowed under the regular At&t terms of service (TOS) that they must not tether the iPhone to a computer or may suffer huge pro-rated bills.
Whatever happens, my wife and myself are at the end of our rope with At&t and the terrible iPhone service that we get on a daily basis.
Dropped call after dropped call is not the way to run a network, and these new data rates could be a game changer for the way that 3G is sold.
Then again, it could just be another crack in an already poor 3G network run by At&t.
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The internets and twitters are all a... Well a Twitter with news of the newest apple device, the ipad.
I will avoid breaking things down technically as plenty lot great sites are already doing that, but I will editorialize on this.
What is known of the specs:
-9.7" IPS screen
-1/2" thick (or thin)
-10 hours of battery life (up to 1 month standby,
"Shut the iPad down, come back in a month and it still has a charge")
-16-64 Gigabytes of flash storage (16/32/64 gb models)
-Accelerometer and compass
-Speaker, mic
-Dock connector (likely same as iPhone)
-It can run all iPhone apps, unmodified, out of the box
The ipad runs iPhone apps by doubling the pixels used. It's similar to how a DVD player will make a standard DVD look like it is high definition.
It also connects and syncs with iTunes and MobileMe.
You have to assume that it runs a locked version of the iPhone os meaning you as a user do not have a say in what you install unless you jailbreak the device.
Time will tell whether this changes the netbook world like the iPhone changed mobile phones, bu apple expects to sell a ton of these new gadgets this year.
BUT WHY?
Why would a user buy an iPad as oppsed to a netbook running Windows 7. Truthfully I cannot see any real reason to lock myself down into another apple world.
While I do use my iPhone daily for limited tasks, I am in the market for a real computer which runs APPLICATIONS, not simply APPS.
Apple reasons that users will see a degraded experience if they run apps which are not pre-approved for the iPad. They then see the iPad as a poorly manufactured device.
The end user doesn't understand why it doesn't work, and apple understands it's better to cripple the iPad than give users a less than 100% experieice
The power user then has to decide what he wants, power vs. customizability.
Like buying a Ford vs. Mercedes Benz. Horsepower opposed to luxury.
Which will win?
The iPad will have to be jailbroken.
There, I said it. Today Steve Jobs announced that apple would be shipping a glorified iPho.... Err, the iPad.
The iPad is a 9.7 inch version of the iPhone with a 1ghz apple manufactured CPU and other features which make it a larger version of the iPhone.
But who will jailbreak it. Or will it require jailbreaking? If it does indeed only connect to the AppStore then chances are that it is a closed device like the iPhone. The fact that it runs the iPhone OS re-enforces this.
I personally will not buy a locked down device for $499 (starting point) but the average user will probably buy into it for the ease of use and ebook features.
What about you? Will you buy one?
In case you missed it, there was quite the drama happening last year when apple took the brilliant google voice app from the AppStore.
No one knew who was to blame for the app dissapearing but all fingers pointed at AT&T.
Apple argued that the app would confuse the consumer as it looked identical to the iPhone.
Even the FTC stepped in to see who was to blame.
The GVmobile app went onto cydia and google maintained a basically barely functional version of the mobile site for voice.
Until today.
Today Google launched it's own mobile site. It runs on mobile safari and in true google style works perfectly while loading fast even on an edge connection.
When you first log in you are asked the number which you are viewing the site from. From there it all just works.
You can send SMS, make calls, and access your stored online contacts.
You cannot access the contacts stored on your iPhone unless you sync your iPhone to google beforehand.
All in all a nice app and a blow to both AT&T and apple.
Click below for more screenshots.
(UPDATE #2: still crashing. False alarm on the previous entry. The phone still crashes into safe mode forcing me to remove it again.
UPDATE #1: I have removed several extensions from my phone including live weather and disabled boss paper.
Androidlock now works fine)
One of the things I personally envy about the Android mobile platform by Google is the unique pattern based unlock process.
I was happy to see someone had finally ported the process to the iPhone, and I quickly installed it.
The problem is that the mod crashes the iPhone over and over again. The crash comes when the phone is put into sleep mode or brought out of it by pressing the top sleep/wake button.
The instant I uninstalled the mod the crashes stopped.
So for now the AndroidLock fails. Maybe in the future we can all be as cool as android users, but for now we will have to use a plain vanilla slide to unlock.
