-:: Malaysia Mobile Tech News ::-

Yep, with a product with a name like the iPad, what else can the headline be?  One of my worst nightmares has come true – that of the name of the now confirmed Apple tablet – the iPad.  I just wished Apple’s marketing could have settled on a better name.  Imagine being the butt of jokes from jealous non-owners when you whip out this thing in public and start using it while the other half is shopping.  Imagine the envy of the mortal iPhone user who has to be contented with just a 3 inch iPhone to play with while his other half shops.  Ah, priceless!

So, it’s now confirmed, and the dust has settled.  Was it a disappointment?  Depends on whom you talk to.  It wasn’t for me, not really anyway.  For those who were expecting to be totally shocked and awed by Apple’s latest product, think about it – while hype is one thing, in reality, how much more different can a computer become?  Apple is a smart company, but surely they cannot be that much smarter than anyone else in designing products?  Surely they don’t hold the monopoly on innovation?  With that out of the way, here’s what we know about the iPad:

1. uses an Apple A4 1GHz processor.  With a homegrown processor, Apple can have complete control over the core hardware and underlying software.  Worrying.
2. processor is fan-less, which makes for silent operation.
3. has a 9.7 inch IPS (in plane switching) screen.  Basically IPS allows you to see more of the screen at different angles, a bane of current generation LCD technology.
4. screen is unsurprisingly, capacitive multi-touch.  Anything less would have been blasphemous.  Sadly, screen resolution is “only” 1024 x 768, but I”m guessing any higher on a small screen would have made many things unreadable.
5. 0.5 inch thick, 1.5 pounds heavy.  So, it’s very thin and very light.
6. comes in a wide variety of options in terms of storage – all using solid state drives (ie. no movable parts).  Capacities range from 16 GB 32 GB to 64 GB.
7. comes in a WiFi only flavour, or WiFi/3G.  For the 3G enabled devices, it uses the new micro SIM standard from the worldwide association, which sadly, is not widely adopted yet.
8. will come unlocked.  No contract, even though AT&T is Apple’s partner in the US.  In the US, there are two plans – US$14.99 per month for 250MB or US$29.99 for “unlimited”.  It’s a no-brainer that most will go for the latter plan.  As I said, unlocked and no contract – which means one can simply switch to another carrier, but good luck in finding that micro SIM support on other carriers!
9. has the kitchen sink in terms of other hardware specifications – accelerometer, A-GPS, WiFi a/b/g/n, ambient light sensor, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR.
10. runs all existing iPhone applications without modification, capable of “up-scaling” existing applications to twice the size, but for optimal results, developers will need to re-write their applications to take advantage of the new screen resolution (see 4 above).
11. no Adobe Flash support, unsurprisingly.  I am saying that while Steve Jobs is still running Apple, this wouldn’t happen.  So, we’ll have to wait for Steve to gracefully exit before harbouring any realistic hopes of seeing Flash support on an Apple mobile device.  I’ve survived without Flash for so long on my iPhone, I go “huh” everytime it’s brought up.  Fact is, I switch off Flash on my desktop browsers – that’s how much I hate Flash.
12. iBooks will be the new app where users go to for e-books from Apple’s initial batch of 5 major publishing labels (HarperCollins, Hachette, Penguin, Macmillan, and Simon & Shuster).  From the prices I’m seeing, which range from around US$10.99 to US$12.99, it seems rather affordable.  Another nail in the slowly-closing coffin of traditional brick-and-mortar bookshops.  iBooks will have its own store like the iTunes store and the AppStore.
13. iWork, Apple’s office productivity suite, will run on the iPad.  It consists of a word processor, a spreadsheet, and a presentation software – each will cost US$9.99 to purchase.
14. there is a variety of accessories available for the iPad at launch – a keyboard, dock, case, digital camera connection kit, etc.
15. battery life is rated at 10 hours of use, with one month of standby time.  I’m guessing this is for WiFi, I honestly don’t think using it on 3G will last even half that.
16. text entry is via a soft keyboard, and there will be a variety of keyboard types to choose from, depending on which application you’re in while calling up the soft/virtual keyboard.
17. worldwide availability of the WiFi model is within 30 days of announcement, the 3G model will follow within 90 days of yesterday’s announcement, but unfortunately this is for the US only.  International deals with carriers are only expected to be in place by June/July of this year.  Sniff…
18. Pricing: WiFi only models: 16 GB (US$499), 32 GB (US$599), 64 GB (US$699).  3G models: 16 GB (US$629), 32 GB (US$729), 64 GB (US$829).  Basically, the addition of a 3G module will set you back another US$130.
19. environmentally friendly – arsenic-free display glass, BFR-free, mercury-free LCD display, PVC-free, recyclable aluminum and glass enclosure.

With that out of the way, here’s a list of 5 things which are missing from the iPad.  As it shares the same operating system as the iPhone, I’m going to assume it will have copy and paste.  I do not think it supports multi-tasking, but that’s not a problem if hacker extraordinaires such as George Hotz (aka “geohot”) does his jailbreaking magic with this device.

What I don’t like or don’t particularly care for:

1. the name – but you know this already.
2. no “real” GPS.
3. carrier tie ups – although the device is unlocked, and available contract-free in the US, I don’t know if this will apply in the rest of the world.  It could be locked in Malaysia – data only devices are allowed to be SIM locked, I believe.  If this is the case, it’s a major potential deal breaker.  The only reason Apple is doing this is revenue sharing with the carrier, just like the iPhone – they believe that the iPad will help drive data usage, prompting more users to sign up, so they want a share of this revenue, a kind of commission, if you like, for bringing these customers to the carrier’s doorstep.  If the deal is with Maxis, you can rest assured that this will not come cheap.  And since the device is unlocked and available contract free in the US, why not just let us poor consumers make up our minds as to who to go with, Apple?  How’s that?
4. micro SIM – although the device is available unlocked (supposedly) and contract-free (supposedly), the usage of the new SIM standard means that you cannot just use any carrier, except if that carrier supports the new SIM standard.  So, for true choice, you need all 4 carriers in Malaysia to support the micro SIM.  Unless someone can product a micro-SIM to SIM adaptor that “just works”…problem solved…

What will I do?  Because I’m a geek, I don’t make rational decisions, so bear that in mind.

1. buy the WiFi 16 GB model when it’s available; pair it with my Huawei E5830 portable 3G WiFi hotspot and be online anywhere there is a decent 3G/EDGE cellular signal.
2. depending on what the deal is with the 3G model, decide if I want to get it later.

What about you?  Big snore-fest for you?  I leave you with one of my tweets yesterday which linked to this article which was done before the iPad was officially announced.  In particular, points 11, 12 and 14.  And I’m not here to convince you the iPad is better than sliced bread – we’re all adults here, and I really have no desire, nor care, to change your mind, one way or the other.

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