An Apple Event is a celebration in and of itself, or at least that is what Apple would like us to believe. The truth is, many fans of Apple products all over the world eagerly await each announcement, all new products, and every upgrade to current products. On 7 March 2012 there was a special event at Apple, where the surprisingly named ‘New’ iPad, or in essence iPad 3, was revealed. We at Business Tianjin Magazine watched the event, missing Steve Jobs, while still enjoying the presentation.
After complementing themselves on impressive sales numbers across the world and a short introduction on an upgraded Apple TV, the show’s main star, the new iPad took over. It was easy to get caught up in the moment, through the almost evangelistic production, with the accompanying oohs and ahhs of the audience, and find yourself in desperate need of this latest magical tool or this “post-PC world device” as Tim Cook described it. As the echoes of ‘awesome’, ‘great’ and ‘best ever’ finally quieted down, it was conceivable to sit back and quietly contemplate ones need for this latest installment of the iPad line.
If you are still using the original iPad, it is clearly time to upgrade as there were major changes between version 1 and 2, such as the camera and an option for 3G. The difference between the iPad 2 and the New iPad, which might have been easier to simply refer to as iPad 3, is not as drastic, and demands a closer look. Let's walk through them in the same order as Apple did during their presentation. Retina Display With the New iPad comes the much talked about retina display, introduced with the iPhone 4S. It's a demonstration of overkill, while being something one can’t be without after having seen it.
The new Apple chip A5X manages 2048x1536 pixel resolution at 264 pixels per inch with ease and Apple can now claim, without anyone being able to object, to have the best mobile display on the market. More numbers were thrown around, such as 44% greater saturation, 4x the performance and a million more pixels. To what this new display was being compared to, besides an HDTV, we did not always fully comprehend but it sure sounds impressive and looks awesome.
There is a question how much this is really needed and if it suffices as a reason to shell out USD 500 or more. If the device is to be used for a lot of detailed photographic work or for the latest games, having such wonderful screen resolution is helpful and fun, but for others it would have to a bit of an indulgence to upgrade simply on the premises of improving the display.
iSight Camera / 1080p Video Recording We personally love the iPhone for its camera, and when the iPhone 4S came out many of us here at Business Tianjin wanted to upgrade because of the improved quality of photos we could now take. The New iPad does bring a wonderful update to us photo-taking Instagram-sharing bunch, with a much better quality rear camera, dubbed iSight (a name previously reserved for the webcam and inbuilt cameras in the MacBooks and a few other devices). The iSight is 5MP and has, among all the usual features, face detection, 1080p HD video recording and a video stabiliser.
There are, however, not many people walking around snapping of photos with their iPad 2, at least not based on Flickr1 statistics that reveal only 186 people upload iPad photos on a daily basis vs. 9497 iPhone photos. Clearly, the rather poor quality of the camera in the iPad 2 is a factor, but couldn’t it also just be the device itself?
At least now, with a 5MP camera and a very decent video recorder, the option is there. Again though, this is hardly a reason to purchase the New iPad, especially not if you have acquired an iPhone 4S with its 8MB camera.
Voice dictation For non-native English speakers, voice dictation has been somewhat of a red herring, never quite working out as expected. It is somewhat surprising that this is included as a special feature, while the technology is possibly finally good enough to be included as a front line story. Most of what we have read though is that this comes as an excuse for not including Siri, which many, at least in the USA, love and have praised.
Siri, for those who don’t know, is a computerised personal assistant, introduced with the iPhone 4S. Many hoped Siri would be included with the New iPad and it's surprising that it wasn’t, while being even more surprising that voice dictation gets such a big mention. At this point, there is no support for Chinese, but rumours are high that we will see that later this year.
Using voice dictation makes a lot of sense on mobile devices, and any development and improvement in that area is welcome. Lets just hope that it truly understands you!
4G LTE Finally, we come to the somewhat overhyped 4G LTE as it is a feature accessible to only small parts of the world2; USA, Canada, Australia, Japan, Russia and 14 other smaller nations have some 4G carriers.
Clearly though the New iPad has more wireless bands than ever, with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G and 4G, making it all but impossible for you to be disconnected. It is also 3G world-ready; meaning it can roam on almost all networks. This is a big step towards making it easier and hopefully cheaper to be connected, even if you are travelling all over the world as many of us do.
If you are living in a country that offers 4G LTE, having the New iPad is going to be superb! Movies will stream instantly, and you will move through your email and most webpages like it was all preloaded on your machine. With this speed, we are getting close to having the whole Internet at our disposal, instantly!
Even though China Mobile is investing an estimated CNY 200 billion3 into the construction of TD-LTE base stations during the next couple of years, it is believed it could take up to three years4 to make 4G LTE stable enough for actual use. This makes the point of 4G devices almost void for Chinese users in the next 1-2 years.
iLife / Apple TV
There was a demonstration during the event on the upgrade to the iLife products: GarageBand, iMovie and the iPhoto, which we would go amiss not mentioning. Many love the first two products, and Apple has updated them to be extremely useable on the New iPad, but the most obvious change was to iPhoto.
With the new iPhoto for mobile devices, Apple has transformed the way in which you can edit your photos. It is surprising to see that even with all the tools out there for the iPhone, Apple still comes up with a very user friendly, while very unique, way to manipulate your photos. These updates are instantly available to all that have iOS 5.1 on their mobile device.
To summarise
For people that are going to purchase their first iPad this year, and are not clear on what their primary use for it is going to be, iPad 2 with it’s reduced price will do just fine.
On the other hand, if you have been using iPad 2 for some time, and it is a tool you enjoy on a daily basis, there is clearly room for an upgrade. Having such device at hand each day, with the best screen resolution possible, greatest connectivity options, and in general faster, is a treat you should allow yourself as long as you can afford it.
At this point there is no set date for when it will be available in China, but it shouldn’t be too long as Apple’s focus on the Chinese market is very high at the moment.
By Sam Ragnarsson
Sources:
1. Flickr Camera Statistical page (flickr.com/cameras/apple/)
2. WordTimeZone – GSM Bands information by country
(worldtimezone.com/gsm.html)
3. Li Yue, CEO of China Mobile (c114.net)
4. Miao Yu, Minster of Industry and Information Department of China (c114.net)
An Apple Event is a celebration in and of itself, or at least that is what Apple would like us to believe. The truth is, many fans of Apple products all over the world eagerly await each announcement, all new products, and every upgrade to current products. On 7 March 2012 there was a special event at Apple, where the surprisingly named ‘New’ iPad, or in essence iPad 3, was revealed. We at Business Tianjin Magazine watched the event, missing Steve Jobs, while still enjoying the presentation. 
With the New iPad comes the much talked about retina display, introduced with the iPhone 4S. It's a demonstration of overkill, while being something one can’t be without after having seen it. 
We personally love the iPhone for its camera, and when the iPhone 4S came out many of us here at Business Tianjin wanted to upgrade because of the improved quality of photos we could now take. The New iPad does bring a wonderful update to us photo-taking Instagram-sharing bunch, with a much better quality rear camera, dubbed iSight (a name previously reserved for the webcam and inbuilt cameras in the MacBooks and a few other devices). The iSight is 5MP and has, among all the usual features, face detection, 1080p HD video recording and a video stabiliser.
For non-native English speakers, voice dictation has been somewhat of a red herring, never quite working out as expected. It is somewhat surprising that this is included as a special feature, while the technology is possibly finally good enough to be included as a front line story. Most of what we have read though is that this comes as an excuse for not including Siri, which many, at least in the USA, love and have praised. 
Finally, we come to the somewhat overhyped 4G LTE as it is a feature accessible to only small parts of the world2; USA, Canada, Australia, Japan, Russia and 14 other smaller nations have some 4G carriers. 
