The iPad 2 Era Begins

Apple (and maybe more importantly, Steve Jobs) just wrapped up today's special event launching the iPad 2, and a few more surprises along the way. Here's the quick recap:

The iPad 2

As expected, front and rear cameras, with both photo and video capability. The "brain" of the iPad has been upgraded with the Apple-designed A5 chip, bringing up to two times the CPU performance, and up to nine times the graphics performance, according to Apple. The device is also 33% thinner, so that should quiet all those who say "I'd get an iPad, but it's just too thick!" Oh, wait. All joking aside, it is also .2 pounds lighter, which could make a difference for those using the iPad as a book reader. The iPad 2 will be available in black and white "from day one," with models for both AT&T and Verizon's 3G services. Prices will start at the same $499 as the current model, and go on sale March 11th.

Other announcements:

For better or worse, a really cool version of GarageBand for the iPad will allow just about anyone to make music, anywhere.

iMovie has been greatly enhanced for use on the iPad 2.

New Smart Covers cover the screen of the iPad, and act as a stand. They are available in ten different colors, and two different materials, starting at $39.

Random House will be joining the iBookstore party, brining 17,000 titles to Apple's service.

Apple now has over 200 million credit card accounts on file. According to Jobs, that may be more than anyone else on the internet. (I think some hackers' ears just perked up.)

A major milestone as Apple announced 100 million iPhones have shipped. That's a huge, huge number.

 Over 65,000 apps now available for the iPad. And for the record, yes we will get around to reviewing them here at TDL.

All in all, a solid product announcement from Apple. This takes away many, if not all of the criticisms of the original iPad, many of which didn't seem to matter to consumers anyhow.

Apple Intros Impressive MacBook Pro Lineup

I've always had a beef with Apple referring to their newest product as the fastest "x" ever. Theses are computers, of course they are going to get faster with each iteration. With that said, today's MacBook Pros look to be some of the most significant, (and surprisingly low-key) notebook upgrades in years.

Thanks in large part to Intel, (hard to believe there was a time when Apple and Intel weren't buddy-buddy) the new models have Intel's ultra-fast I/O connection, re-branded by Apple as Thunderbolt. Cleverly this is the same connector type used by the Apple DisplayPort, allowing you to already use the port if you have a DisplayPort monitor. Additionally, quad core processors are standard on the 15 and 17-inch models, and there's a new HD camera for FaceTime. (What happened to iChat?) Prices start at the same $1,199 as the last model.

Overall, Apple has delivered a very solid update, and again, its a bit surprising there wasn't an event to highlight the Thunderbolt technology, although Intel will be holding their own event later today.

Now then, on to the iPad2 event next week...

Quick Thoughts on Today's Product Announcements

As you have probably heard by now, today Apple introduced a few new products, along with updates to some old favorites. Here's a quick recap, and some thoughts on the new products.

New iMacs: Faster is better, and the HDD/SSD combo option on the high-end model is intriguing. 

New Mac Pros: The big headline here is the inclusion of a new 12-core option later in the year. Now let's hope software updates aren't far behind (I'm looking at you, Final Cut Studio) to take advantage of all that horsepower.

New Cinema Display: 16x9, 27" screen with iSight and three USB ports. It's a monitor, and I'm sure it looks great.

Magic Trackpad: I've never been much of a gesture-based computing person, beyond two-finger page scrolling. Plenty of people though, do most of their work on laptops today, and for those occasions when they find themselves in front of a desktop, I'm sure this will be a welcome addition.

Battery Charger: Back when the last generation of bluetooth keyboard and Magic Mouse were announced, we were critical of the fact they didn't ship with a built-in rechargeable battery. Apple's new AA battery/charger combo offers a rechargeable option while leaving the flexibility of using standard batteries.

The biggest question from today's announcements is whether Apple is on the cusp of entering the peripheral/accessory market more broadly, or whether these new products simply fill some small voids in completing the Apple experience. While more accessories are probably in the pipeline, I wouldn't get your heart set on a return of the Apple LaserWriter just yet.

iPhone 4: Solid

Image: Apple.comSure the leaked prototype may have rained on the parade a bit, but now that it's official, the iPhone 4 is a lot of phone for the money. We haven't seen the "retina screen" in person yet, but frankly the only time the current display resolution was ever annoyingly obvious was on the TV commercials for the phone itself.

Face Time is cool, but I think it is fair to say that video chat serves more as a mile marker of our technology state, than an indication of a feature people will use on a daily basis. That said, there will be no argument from us on getting HD video into such a tiny package.

Still, starting at $199, it's the best value proposition from an iPhone to date, although we'll see what that means when/if solid Android devices become free phones with contract.

Will you be buying the new iPhone at launch?

New iPod Shuffle. Skip The Engraving

Apple has released a smaller version of the iPod Shuffle, now holding 4GB of music at the same $79 price as the last generation 2gb model. Of note, this model introduces VoiceOver to tell you what song/artist is playing. (Very handy for all those songs you load onto your iPod without knowing what they are, or who sang them.) On a more useful development, VoiceOver can be used to navigate to different playlists as well. The shrinking of the shuffle comes at the expense of moving the controls to the earbuds, so if you plan on using other headphones, wait for the inevitable 3rd party products (that will be bigger than the shuffle) to allow you to use your favorite buds.

And, as our title says, it looks like engraving on this model will be so small as to be laughable, so skip it. We called our local Apple Store, and they "may" have them tomorrow. The Apple Store online indicates they will be available in stores tomorrow. We also checked on price drops for the existing models, but gave up after our 7-minute phone hold while someone checked. Which reminds us, don't call the retail stores, just go there , or try to find the info online. (1GB last gen shuffles online are $49.)