Ipad 2 Release

[Seadog]

There was a rumor that the iPad 2 was being delayed until June, but was false. Right now, the word is that Apple is having the iPad 2 intro on March 2. And by all definitions, the iPad is a tablet. There is good reason to suspect that the new line of Macbooks due out next week, will incorporate a hybrid hard drive. The OS will mount on an 8-16 GB SSD and it will be used for start ups and frequently used application launches. They also thing it will have a variant of Intel's Light Peak high speed connector which is twice as fast as USB 3. and they have taken 1/2 lb off of the weight. There is some speculation that iPad 2 or 3 may have a Light Peak connector, but until they put it out on the market, nobody knows for certain.

 

[Superbike81]

Why can't Apple just follow the industry standards? Why do they always have to be different? It's the same crap with their "display port" crap, why not just have HDMI or VGA so MOST PEOPLE can actually use it? It doesn't matter to me that their new port will be faster than USB 3.0 if I don't have any devices compatible with it and have to buy all new stuff just to interact with it. I just bought a 4 hard drive external enclosure with eSATA and USB 3.0, so my 8TB of stuff won't be connecting to that. I understand that they want to offer their own technology, but why not also include USB 3.0 ports? Just like they include USB 2.0 now?

Back on topic, where did you get the reports about March for the iPad 2?

 

[Thphilli]

Most reports from the far east confirm they are already in production, but the release date is probably tied up with stocking considerations.
They won't want a repeat of last years initial shortages.

Yea . . . That would be awful . . . .

There is nothing that makes a consumer want a device more than being told they can't have one. That is why I don't really believe that the shortage last year was a production or manufacturing issue. I mean it was out of stock for like 5 months or more. Again, there is nothing that makes a consumer want a device more than being told they can't have one. I certainly fell prey to this.

I was at Best buy and played with an iPad. It was pretty cool. I asked if they had any in stock, guy said no. Got home and thought nothing of it for a couple days. Decided later to call my local Apple store and see if any were in stock in the model I was semi interested in. He asked me if I wanted to go on a waiting list. Fast forward a couple days and I was researching every Apple store within 200 miles, looking on Ebay/Craigslist and all of a sudden I had to have this thing that a couple days ago was just a cute toy.

 

[henry2]

The local new channel was saying March 2nd time frame that the news is comeing out for the brand new model ..They did not say alot about the new features on the ipad ..

 

[col.bris]

Apple has always been ahead of the rest of the world and yes they do follow industry standards. Apple is not different they just come to the market first with the latest technology then every one like sheep follow. Think about it technology moves so fast it's not funny USB 2 is standard now and USB 3 is on only the latest computers hdmi sure been around a few years. if Intel with Apple come up with a new interface that can replace all Is that a good or bad thing. The fact is it would be perfect in the long term not only for the iPad but any device similar. I say products such ipads, tablets small computers call what you want all benefit regardless of manufacture. It will be interesting if in fact Apple has the new interface on the mac pros if not guarantee it wont be long before it comes along One would hope it will be on if not version 2 version 3 iPad

 

[Superbike81]

Ahead of the rest of the world?

Like with their displayport shenanigans? We all know how well the industry has adopted that worthless piece of technology over the last 3 years. FireWire was a bit more successful, but they kept going with that long after most consumers adopted USB 2.0.

I have no problem with innovation. I do have a problem with them going against industry standards and not offering the option to use the industry standard. The majority of other $1000 laptops offers HDMI out, why not the MBP? Oh, because Apple is trying to force displayport down our throat.

 

[col.bris]

I won't go there ok not on-this forum and on this thread my comments stand. Let's see what next 10 months produces.

 

[DontUnderstandMyIpad]

Apple won't just remove USB from their devices, they know how wide-spread it is. However, Intel has been developing a hybrid USB-Lightpeak port, being of similar size as USB, while supporting both technologies, so this seems to be the likely choice for adding Light Peak in new products.

 

[Superbike81]

If they have USB 3.0 as well, fine, but the way they have been marketing this LightPeak is as an alternative to USB.

 

[col.bris]

This part copy of a discussion on light peak will help answer some questions about what it is........

First, let’s look a little into Light Peak, how it works and what it can do. Light Peak is an optical cable interface designed by Intel with a bandwidth of 10 Gbps currently, with the potential to ultimately scale to rates of over 100 Gbps over the course of its life. The main benefit of Light Peak is that it provides enough bandwidth to both replace data connectors such as SCSI, USB, SATA and FireWire, while at the same time handling the duties of higher performance ports like eSATA and DisplayPort (or Mini DisplayPort, in the case of Apple computers).

Put simply, Light Peak is designed to cover all the bases. In theory, that means it could allow Thunderbolt (lightpeak) -equipped MacBook Pros to connect to an Apple Cinema Display, for instance, with just one cable, providing both A/V and multiple data stream connections between the two devices simultaneously. It’s the ultimate single-cord solution.

 

[Seadog]

I think that Thunderbolt is the next big standard. Apple has a long history of supporting the best new technology. I remember when they stopped supporting SCSI and serial ports and went to USB before anyone else. And coming out with iMacs with no 3.5 floppy drives had everyone up in arms. It made me mad, not because I thought they were wrong, but because I knew the hundreds of discs I had were now trash. And while Firewire has not been a major success, it is still popular in video applications and has a lot of virtues.

What I wonder is what is the future of USB. I do not think that it is going away anytime soon, I just wonder how long before it becomes an ancient technology. There is still a lot of applications for it, but mostly with devices that would be easily replaced with more capable bluetooth devices and wifi. Future iPads could eventually be completely wireless. Using near field charging and wifi data transmission, they could cut the cord before any other computing device. It may be that the iPhone and iPods will be the first to go that route, but the iPad is a prime application.

 

[Thphilli]

I think that Thunderbolt is the next big standard. Apple has a long history of supporting the best new technology. I remember when they stopped supporting SCSI and serial ports and went to USB before anyone else. And coming out with iMacs with no 3.5 floppy drives had everyone up in arms. It made me mad, not because I thought they were wrong, but because I knew the hundreds of discs I had were now trash. And while Firewire has not been a major success, it is still popular in video applications and has a lot of virtues.

What I wonder is what is the future of USB. I do not think that it is going away anytime soon, I just wonder how long before it becomes an ancient technology. There is still a lot of applications for it, but mostly with devices that would be easily replaced with more capable bluetooth devices and wifi. Future iPads could eventually be completely wireless. Using near field charging and wifi data transmission, they could cut the cord before any other computing device. It may be that the iPhone and iPods will be the first to go that route, but the iPad is a prime application.

I disagree. Usb3 has the luxury of being backwards compatible and being fast enough for most people and situations. That is why I dont think thunderbolt is gonna take off. The theoretical maximum of usb2.0 was 480mbits/sec. In the real world it hit around 30 MB/s max transfer speed. The theoretical maximum for USB3.0 is 10x USB2.0. Transfer speeds reaching 300MB/s are gonna be plenty for a VAST majority of applications and people, especially until ssd prices fall dramatically. That coupled with backwards compatibility means that USB3.0 wins even though it's an inferior technology. Wouldn't be the first time apple chose to support a port that wasn't popular- mini display port and FireWire come to mind.

Also, web os devices have already gone completely wireless. They have wireless charging and wireless sharing capabilities. You should watch the hp webos keynote, it's pretty awesome.

 

[col.bris]

I find it interesting saying Apple's FireWire (1394eee) was not popular maybe you should tell that to the Publishing companies, Graphic designers, Video and Movie Production houses, Digital Audio engineers, Prepress houses and Architects all whom relied on and needed the high speed transfer that FireWire offered. I agree USB 2 and now USB 3 is now a standard but back in the 90's nothing could provide the transfer rated needed other than FireWire for the above markets. Since Apple has introduced intel's light peak (Thunderbolt) on the new MacBook Pro's which via adapters can support usb3, esata and FireWire one wonders if in fact it will appear on the upcoming iPad if not this version but future versions of the iPad.

 

[Seadog]

Here is what was in an article today by one of the respected journalist in computing.

A few years ago, during a talk with an Apple executive, he mentioned that Apple's goal is to always stay at least two years ahead of the competition. Since then, I have observed that to do that hundreds of people inside Apple spend thousands of hours doing something that most of its competitors don't do, which is to visualize what customers will want in two to five years and architect every detail of that vision across all of its devices. And the operative word here is details. Apple sweats the details across its entire ecosystem of products to make sure that they fit into this broader vision it has of the future.

And the notion about USB3 being fast, is humorous since Thunderbolt will be twice as fast as USB3. And I am thinking that is just on copper. If so, the fiberoptics will really fast. And that is part of the issue. We have reached the limits of copper wire transfer speed. We are entering the age of light transfer of data. And it will take more than just adding ports to make everything work. The computers theirselves will need designing to take advantage of the transfer speeds.

 

[Tinman]

It's become clear that iPad is NOT a tablet and will remain an iPod. Now that a tablet market has been established as a certainty by the release of the iPad and the efforts of competition I'm pretty sure that Apple will join in with something more substantial to prove its worth. The iPad was not meant as a tablet but a bigger iPod; ie. a consumption device. At the same time it was used to test the market, to see if anyone would be interested in tablets...

Sent from my iPad using iPF

WOW!

If by "tablet" you mean what most people thought of as a tablet before the iPad was released... then you need to realize the market soundly rejected them. I don't see that changing any time soon.



Michael