Apple’s plans to introduce an iPad 2.0 are becoming children of mass speculation now, but in the tablet battles these rumors are real weapons as manufacturers expect the chatter to dent sales of competing tablets.
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COMPUTERWORLD: Only this morning declared one of the greatest innovations of 2010 by Time magazine, we’re receiving reports that components for the iPad successor, let’s call it ‘iPad 2.0’, have been selected and approved with production set to accelerate come February, suggesting the next-gen Apple tablet will ship in Q1. I’ve gathered my thoughts and this is what I think we might know about iPad 2.0 at this time, though it is speculative, so some ideas may be wide off the mark.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95im6Hu2Etk&fs=1&hl=en_US&hd=1]
“In this video we take a look at 15 different sized tablets and compare them for size and aspect ratio which affects their portability, weight, size and often OS and hardware platform architecture.” C/o Shanzai.com
Samsung continues to follow Apple’s lead in tablet design, confirming it has chosen the ARM Cortex-based processor to power its next-generation tablet. That’s the same basic processor Apple is expected to field in iPad 2.0.
More trouble at the iPhone mills, were reports claim workers are in protest at Foxconn management plans to move some work groups to other parts of China — and they still want more pay.
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Apple’s newest board member is a living embodiment of just why we should all be using Macs — but unfortunately not in a good way. You see, his former company, Northrop Grumman, is currently causing huge problems in its implementation of computer systems across the state of Virginia.
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The Financial Times is offering all 1,800 of its staff a £300 or $480 rebate against the cost of an iPad or other tablet.
The newspaper wants to get its staff using those tablets — it is even offering the rebate to staff who already own an iPad,
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COMPUTERWORLD: What we see at this stage of evolution may reflect massive growth for Android as the amorphous entity it is, but the confusion for consumers attempting to install Apps shows us Google’s Achilles’ Heel — it doesn’t do usability. Apple does. The war’s not done yet.
We’re hoping Steve Jobs doens’t kick his old Apple co-founder off of his Christmas card list for this, but Steve Wozniak today grabbed a few more million column inches when he said, Android will be the dominant smartphone platform.
Update: Engadget got a call from Woz, it appears that things aren’t exactly as they seem. While Woz does acknowledge making comments about Android grabbing more marketshare than iPhone, he says that almost every app he’s used is better on iOS than Android.
As anticipated, Apple today confirmed its intention to launch iAds in Europe next month — the company had been expected to begin its ads system earlier in the region.
In a press release distributed this morning in Europe, the company revealed its launch ads partners will include L’Oréal, Renault, Louis Vuitton, Nespresso, Perrier & Unilever.
Press Release follows:
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pc5aOAGlOxg&w=670&h=527]
COMPUTERWORLD: We’re at the time of year when everyone looks anxiously at Amazon’s Black Friday deals list and races around to find the very best (affordable) objects to give to close friends, family and loved ones. The holiday season is expensive and demanding — and this year will be the year of the shopping app.
RIM CEO Jim Balsillie used a speech at Web 2.0 to issue one of his company’s attacks on Apple, saying, “You don’t need an app for the Web’.
Some may recall Apple CEO Steve Jobs in 2007 who said the future for app development on the iPhone rested with the Web. He faced a hail of criticism, Apple changed tack and launched the App Store, and the rest is history.
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Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen says his company isn’t really at war with Apple — the two firms are “just on different sides”, he claimed.
Adobe is focused on “creating content for multiple platforms” he said.
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NVIDIA has announced a new graphics card for the Mac Pro, the Quadro 4000 — a solution which brings nVidia’s advanced Fermi architecture to the platform.
We’re heading to wrap-up on The Beatles/iTunes deal, learning overnight that Apple has secured an online exclusive on music from the band “well into 2011”.
It seems the move to get the music to the online store began when Roger Faxon took over as the head of EMI’s recorded music division — he prioritized making the deal happen, Billboard reports.
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COMPUTERWORLD: Apple’s in a good position to take on PayPal with a move into mobile payment systems. A future NFC-based iPhone may enable people to pay for real world goods using their smartphones, with payments charged to them via iTunes. Is it game over for PayPal?
So after years and years of rumor and a decade in which music from the band has been among the world’s most heavily traded sounds on file-sharing networks, The Beatles are now on iTunes, and while we’ve no word yet on whether the catalog will be made available via any other services, we’re pretty sure EMI’s sundry creditors will be happy at the (remaining) Fab Four’s move to reach digital detente and get their content online today. Though you have to ask if it will be enough to keep up EMI’s payments and keep Warner out.
“I am particularly glad to no longer be asked when the Beatles are coming to iTunes,” said Ringo Starr. “At last, if you want it—you can get it now—The Beatles from Liverpool to now! Peace and Love, Ringo.”
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKOWK2dR4Dg&w=670&h=401]
Schmidt speaks at Web 2.0. Lots of Apple-related nuggets.
Quick rundown for the time-challenged:
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Apple’s move to junk Java on the Mac may make things a little more complex but could ultimately make the platform more secure, some experts say.
Apple recently revealed plans to abandon native OS X support for Java, following this news up with an alliance with Oracle under which Java on Mac development and maintenance passes to the OpenJDK project for Mac OS X.
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Why lawyers choose a Mac instead of a PC
Legal professionals are embracing Apple solutions in ever greater numbers, new research provided by online software as service supplier, Clio, claims.
In a survey of 835 US lawyers, Clio found 55 percent of the group already use Macs: 18 percent of Mac-using lawyers have been using a Mac for under a year, 41 percent between 1-3 years and the rest for over 3 years.
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Former Apple manager Paul Shin Devine is still awaiting trial on fraud charges but has managed to post bail because his mother put up her home as lien to his release. Meanwhile, US government prosecutors insist Devine let them into his safe deposit boxes.
Devine is accused of accepting payments in return for company secrets and of taking over a million dollars from Asian suppliers of iPhone and iPod accessories. He faces 23 counts of money laundering and wire fraud.
COMPUTERWORLD: There’s utilities to boost your Mac’s memory handling, make your information easy to find, password management, background notifications and a power tool for repairing your Mac problems in this reader-submitted collection of six more essential utilities for a Mac.
Jean-Louis Gassée is back, making his predictions for the future of Apple’s operating system plans, which he sees as heading inexorably to a combined form of iOS becoming Apple’s OS inside all Apple devices.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCJ5dyNDfkE&fs=1&hl=en_GB]
iPhone app Bump is already pretty popular as a way to share contact information (like an electronic business card), but now the app lets you share music too.
The most recent Bump app update lets users select songs from their iTunes collection to share with friends, just by bumping their phones together.
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