My Missing Items list from the Ipad 2

Many people will tell you that now the Ipad 2 will be the hottest tablet on the market and it surely will for a short while. Apple fanboys and gadget people will tell you that Apple has pushed the tablet further ahead and that consumers will now experience a type of “tablet nirvana.” The Ipad 2 is likely to remain unchallenged for a while as the best tablet computing device but it is far from perfect. 

My expectation level was mildly high for the Ipad 2 and I was disappointed on many fronts. Here’s a list of where Apple could have gone…but did not. Note: We’re likely to see many of these in an Ipad 3.

1. No Retina Display. The Iphone 4 was given a retina display and why wasn’t this handed down to the Ipad 2? My thinking is it would have pushed Apple to force developers to re-engineer their existing applications. Apple chose not to go down this path as they wanted to grow their Ipad model.

2. NO SD card slot or USB card slot. As a photographer this is hard for me to deal without. SD card slot is handy for taking pictures off my compact and often I’ll plug in some USB card reader for import larger photos.

3. NO NFC (Near Field Communications. This allows you to turn your Ipad into a kind of digital wallet. This technology is up and coming and is used highly in Europe. 

4. Thunderbold connectivity. Apple pushed this technology on their latest Macbooks which allows you to transfer 10 gbps…being able to transfer a full HD movie in 30 seconds or less. This would have been highly useful with the Ipad but was not added. I’d consider this a must for the Ipad 3. 

5. Was their an interval RAM upgrade? It’s not looking like it otherwise Apple would have boasted about it. 

6. No major camera upgrade. In fact, Apple has been quiet and hasn’t mentioned the camera resolutions on the front or the back cameras at all. We know it does HD video but we don’t know if it takes 5 megapixel images like the Iphone 4 or not. Also the latest Macbook Pros support Facetime HD…does this new Ipad 2? I’m guessing no. 

7. 4G Connectivity. With everything moving to 4G,  why wasn’t the Ipad 2 a ground breaking device that really pushed this? I have a feeling it’s because Apple is never a company to push the limits (with the exception of the Thunderbolt port) and we’ll see the 4G connectivity in the Ipad 3. 

Final Review: The Ipad 2 is a great device that will be wildly popular and will outsell the previous model…is my guess. That being said it’s also just marginally a step-up from the previous Ipad 1 model. I’ll be curious to see how many people at San Diego Comic-Con are walking around with the Ipad to use to take pictures with. We’ll see.

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FaceTime for iPad and iPod Touch to Be Linked to Email Addresses? - Mac Rumors


Boy Genius Report claims to have received information from the new iOS 4.1 beta partially revealing how FaceTime might work with future front camera-enabled iPad and iPod touch devices. While those devices have been presumed to gain FaceTime functionality in future hardware revisions as Apple seeks to expand the network of people able to participate in video calls using its standard, the question of how those device lacking phone numbers associated with them would be identified has remained unanswered.

It’s actually pretty simple… Your Apple ID will be registered with your device/s, and that will allow other Apple devices to start a FaceTime call using your email address. Apple will also reportedly make use of push notifications to deliver these incoming FaceTime connection requests as we have been informed there is a push notification detector tied into the FaceTime frameworks in the new iPhone OS 4.1 beta.

While BGR claims that an Apple ID would be linked to the user’s devices, screenshots accompanying the article suggest that merely an email address might be required, suggesting broader functionality.

The report also does not address how a user with multiple FaceTime-compatible devices such as a future iPad and iPod touch setup would be required to configure their settings. Could a single email address be linked to both devices? If so, how would callers specify which device to call? If not, users would have to have multiple email addresses and share each of them with their friends and family in order to receive calls on their various devices, a process that would seem rather complex given Apple’s penchant for streamlining the user experience.
via macrumors.com

I think this sounds like a great idea. Though I still can picture people walking around with a giant Ipad in front of them and walking into a door.

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Report: AT&T Didn’t Test iPhone Preorder System Thoroughly - PCWorld

As the iPhone 4 preorder disaster worsens by the minute, the blame looks to fall squarely on AT&T’s shoulders as we learn more about what went wrong. The most damaging of these may be an source close to the carrier which now claims the system which AT&T was not tested before the launch.

The source works at a third party facility that processes the orders for AT&T. Apparently, the reports of users being able to login to others accounts even though they were attempting to log into their own could be related to a botched update on AT&T’s side related to fraud.

It’s not clear if those attempting to upgrade are the only ones that may have had their information opened up to others, but the source did say problems like this have happened before. As of the time I write this, neither AT&T nor Apple have made any public statements on the matter.

AT&T’s iPhone 4 eligibility page remains down, although its online account application has been put back online. I have a request for comment out to both companies.

via pcworld.com

I can’t believe AT&T got away with doing this. Why didn’t they slowly test out the system around midnight? Roll out the system to a select hundred testers.

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