Apple Sells Over 300,000 iPads First Day

Apple today announced that it sold over 300,000 iPads in the US as of midnight Saturday, April 3. These sales included deliveries of pre-ordered iPads to customers, deliveries to channel partners and sales at Apple Retail Stores. Apple also announced that iPad users downloaded over one million apps from Apple’s App Store and over 250,000 ebooks from its iBookstore during the first day.
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OS on Apple iPad Reveal Upcoming iPhone, iPod and Second iPad Model

BGR is reporting that iPad OS has some interesting references to upcoming Apple productions. The devices section in the filesystem shows new model references including iPhone3,2, iPhone3,3, iPod4,1 and iProd2,1. The current model number for iPhone 3GS is 3,1, for iPod touch is 3,1 and for iPad (aka iProd) is 1,1.
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Long Lines Welcome Apple iPad

Apple iPad went on sale today and hundreds of people waited in line outside Apple stores throughout the country to get their hands on the new device. As always Apple store at 5th Avenue in New York saw the biggest crowd. Some estimates say that there were more than 1000 people waiting in line at the time of launch at the 5th Avenue store. Analysts predict that Apple will sell around 250,000 iPads on the launch weekend. And if the lines are any indications that number can prove to be very conservative. We have added a video of iPad launch at 5th Avenue Apple Store in New York below. Check it out.

iPad News: Sold Out by Early Afternoon on Launch Day; Netbook Growth Slows in Anticipation; and Sales Prediction of 7M in 2010

Apple’s new iPad will hit the stores on Saturday at 9 AM. And Envisioneering Group’s analyst Richard Doherty is already predicting that iPad will be sold out by early afternoon on Saturday. He expects long lines at Apple Store on launch day, as buyers get help setting up e-mail and adding software apps for the first time on their new iPad.
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Sharp Develops 3D Touchscreen for Mobile Devices

Sharp has developed a 3D touchscreen LCD featuring the industry’s highest brightness that can switch between 2D and 3D modes. Users can view 3D images without the need to wear special glasses, making this LCD ideal for mobile devices such as digital cameras, mobile phones, and smartphones.
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Review Roundup: Apple iPad

Apple introduced the new iPad, a tablet like device in January and will start shipping the device on April 3rd. Since Apple announced the iPad, opinions about the device have been polar opposite. Some are calling it revolutionary and future of computing, while others are calling it just a big iPod touch, even though most of them haven’t touched the iPad.
We have added links to few of the best iPad reviews available online:
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Intel and AMD Reignite High End Server War

In past few days both Intel and AMD have introduced new top-of-the-line server processors. AMD added world’s first 8- and 12-core x86 processors to their Opteron lineup on Monday. Intel followed AMD’s announcement by introducing Xeon 7500 processor series that is based on Nehalem architecture and comes with up to eight cores.
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iTunes 9.1 and iPhoto 8.1.2 Updates Bring iPad Support

Apple today updated the iTunes and iPhoto software. The update brings iPad syncing capabilities in both the software along with minor new features. iTunes 9.1 comes with several new features and improvements including:
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Application and Content Tsunami Coming for iPad Platform

Apple’s upcoming iPad can already support more than 150,000 applications that are designed for iPhone. But that’s not stopping thousands of developers, publication houses and media companies from developing exclusive content and applications for the iPad. Redesign of applications for iPad is important because it offers four times more screen real estate when compared to iPhone, allowing developers to put more information on the same page.
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Next Gen iPhone Rumors: Coming to Verizon, Higher Resolution Screen with A4 Chip

Now that iPad launch is nearly here, iPhone rumors are taking the front stage. The Wall Street Journal today reported that Apple is developing two versions of next generation iPhone, one GSM based (for AT&T) and one CDMA based (for Verizon). Both versions will be thinner and faster than present iPhone 3GS. The GSM version will follow the yearly update cycle and will be launched this summer. Whereas the production of CDMA version will start in September and it will ship later this year.
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Apple: iPad Arrives This Saturday

Apple’s new iPad will be available in all 221 US Apple retail stores and most Best Buy stores this Saturday, April 3, beginning at 9 a.m. Starting at just $499, iPad lets users browse the web, read and send email, enjoy and share photos, watch HD videos, listen to music, play games, read ebooks and much more, all using iPad’s revolutionary Multi-Touch user interface. iPad is just 0.5 inches thick and weighs just 1.5 pounds—thinner and lighter than any laptop or netbook—and delivers up to 10 hours of battery life.
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Samsung Introduces First LTE Handset SCH-r900

Samsung has introduced first commercially available LTE network infrastructures and LTE-enabled, multi-mode, CDMA, 4G handset, the Samsung SCH-r900. Samsung and MetroPCS Communications have formed a partnership to launch LTE network and devices for LTE network in US. Samsung Mobile’s network infrastructure supports a wide portfolio of enhanced node B (eNB) products, including rack types, remote radio heads, picocells and distributed antenna system (DAS) hosts.
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Analyst: Apple to Sell 1.2 Million iPads in Q2 and New iPhone Form Factor Coming

Barclays Capital’s analyst Ben Reitzes believes that Apple will sell more than 1.2 million iPads in first three months. Apple will start shipping the iPad on April 3rd and according to The Wall Street Journal the company already has pre-orders for hundreds of thousands of units.
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Robotic Test Reaffirms iPhone’s Touchscreen Superiority Over Other Smartphones

Few months back, Moto labs posted results of a simple test – which basically consists of using a basic drawing application and a finger to slowly trace straight lines on the touchscreen of each smartphone. The test clearly showed that iPhone’s touchscreen offered higher degree of sensor accuracy compared to devices like HTC Droid Eris, Motorola Droid and Google Nexus One.
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HTC EVO World’s First 3G/4G Android Smartphone

HTC and Sprint have announced world’s first 3G/4G Android handset, HTC EVO 4G that supports Sprint’s 4G WiMAX network for up to 10 times faster download speeds than 3G network. The Android 2.1 handset features 4.3-inch 800 x 480 touchscreen, 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 8-megapixel camera, forward facing 1.3-megapixel camera, 1GB RAM, 720p video recording, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, HDMI video-out and microSD card slot.
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Samsung Introduces Galaxy S Android Smartphone with 4-inch Super AMOLED Touchscreen

Samsung introduced their new Android based handset Galaxy S that will come with 1GHz Snapdragon processor and new 4-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen at CTIA Wireless 2010. The new 4-inch Super AMOLED display has 800 x 480 resolution with less reflection, free viewing angles and supper-fast touch response. The screen is 20 percent brighter than regular OLED screens, has 80 percent less sunlight reflection and increases battery life by 20 percent.
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Nintendo to Launch 3D Capable Nintendo 3DS

Nintendo announced today that the company will launch “Nintendo 3DS” during fiscal year ending March 2011, on which games can be enjoyed with 3D effects without the need for any special glasses.
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QuantumFilm to Bring Four Times Sharper Image to Mobile Phone Camera

InVisage Technologies unveiled QuantumFilm that uses a new kind of custom designed material called a quantum dot, which can replace a typical CMOS sensor on a mobile phone camera. QuantumFilm uses a silicon chip as its base, but it has an extra layer of quantum dot material that is better at absorbing light than silicon. The quantum dot can capture about 90-95 percent of the light that hits the surface compared to 25 percent captured by silicon surface.
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Samsung to Supply LCD Display for iPad

It has been reported previously that LG Display and Apple have struck an $800 million deal to supply 10 million LCD panels for the iPads in next one year. However, it looks like Apple is preparing itself for higher demand as Apple has also ordered Samsung Electronics to supply 3 million LCD panels for the iPad, according to Korea Times. The deal is estimated at about $240 million and Samsung should start shipping the displays very soon.
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Price and Specifications of Upcoming NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 and 470 Graphics Cards Revealed

NVIDIA will officially launch the new GeForce GTX 480 and 470 graphics cards based on Fermi architecture on 26th March. But VR-Zone has already posted detailed specifications and pricing for both the graphics cards.
The top-of-the-line GeForce GTX 480 will feature 480 CUDA cores, and offer 700Mhz core clock speed, 1401MHz shader clock speed and 1848MHz memory clock speed.
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Marvell Introduces $99 ‘Moby’ Tablet Platform

Marvell has announced a new education initiative to deliver a high performance tablet codenamed Moby based on Armada chipset. For $99, Moby tablet prototype promises to offer an always on, high performance multimedia tablet featuring live, real-time content, 1080p full-HD and 3D media, and full Flash support. According to Marvell, Moby tablet could in future eliminate the need for students to buy and carry textbooks.
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Hundreds of Thousands of iPad Pre-ordered; Apple Striving to Strike Content Deals

Apple iPad release is just two weeks way and Apple is working hard to secure content deals before the iPad launch. But nailing down the content deals is proving difficult for Apple according The Wall Street Journal. Yukari Iwatani Kane wrote on the journal:
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Windows Phone 7 Series Will Get Copy & Paste in Future

News that Windows Phone 7 Series won’t support copy & paste functionality created quite a stir around the blogosphere yesterday. But Long Zheng is now reporting that a person close to Microsoft “explained that copy & paste is definitely a scenario and feature that the team is putting a lot of thought about and hope to bring to the platform soon after initial release.”
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Google Jumping Into TV Business

NY Times is reporting that Google has teamed up with Intel and Sony to develop new Google TV platform to bring the web into the living room of consumers via next generation of televisions and set-top boxes. Google TV will make it as easy for TV users to navigate Web applications like Twitter and Picasa, as it is to change channel. The platform will be based on Android operating system and Google intends to open the Google TV platform once it is launched.
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Apple Adds Several Enhancements to iWork.com for Use with Mobile Devices

Apple announced today that they have made several enhancements to iWork.com, which will improve document sharing and access of the online service from iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. MacRumors has listed the major enhancements to the iWork that include:
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Microsoft Previews Internet Explorer 9 at MIX10

Microsoft previewed Internet Explorer 9 the next version of Internet Explorer web browser at MIX10 in Las Vegas. Microsoft also announced the Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview for developers, which is simply a preview of the platform subsystems code that is “under the hood” of the browser.
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Microsoft Showcases Windows Phone 7 Series SDK and Applications at MIX10

Microsoft provided the first in-depth look into Windows Phone 7 Series application development at MIX10 in Las Vegas. The platform combines Silverlight features for rich application development and the XNA Framework for games. Windows Phone 7 Series will allow developers and designers to build visually stunning and immersive application and games, according to Microsoft.
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Intel Launches 32nm Xeon Processor 5600 Series with Up To Six Cores

Intel today launched the Intel Xeon Processor 5600 series. The new processors deliver two new security features – Intel Advanced Encryption Standard New Instructions (Intel AES-NI) and Intel Trusted Execution Technology (Intel TXT) – that enable faster encryption and decryption performance for more secure transactions and virtualized environments, providing data centers with a stronger foundation for cloud security.
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Sony PlayStation Move Motion Controller Coming in Fall 2010; First Hands-on Experience

Last week, Sony officially announced PlayStation Move motion controller and PlayStation Move sub-controller for PS3. The Move controller will ship in fall 2010 and should be priced under $100 as a starter kit that will include PlayStation Eye camera, both the motion controllers and a game. The combination of the PS3 system and PlayStation Eye camera detects the precise movement, angle and absolute position in 3D space of PlayStation Move controller, allowing users to intuitively play the game as if they themselves are within the game.
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New Details About Various iPad Features Revealed After Start of Pre-orders

Apple has posted new information about iWork, iBook, 3G service and hardware features of iPad after they started taking pre-orders for the new tablet. The iWork for iPad will be available for download from App Store starting on April 3, priced $9.99 for each application. Apple will release completely reworked version of Keynote, Pages and Numbers for iPad that will support Multitouch.
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Apple Hit with Overwhelming iPad Pre-orders

Apple started taking pre-orders for new iPad today morning and reports are coming in that Apple has been hit by overwhelming iPad demand. Andrew Erlichson CEO of Phanfare wrote on his blog that Apple is currently selling 20,000 iPads per hour. He posted:
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Panasonic Introduces LUMIX DMC-G2 and DMC-G10 Micros Four Thirds Digital Cameras

Panasonic has announced the LUMIX DMC-G2, the world’s first digital interchangeable lens system camera with a movable LCD that allows for touch-control. The intuitive touch-control shooting elevates the camera's operability, letting the user adjust auto focus (AF) simply by touching the subject on the large 3.0-inch 460,000-dot high-resolution LCD. The LUMIX G2, also shoots 720p High Definition video using the AVCHD Lite format, and joins the LUMIX G10, also introduced today, as the latest models in the LUMIX G Micro System.
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Intel Previews Core i7 980X Extreme Edition Processor; Mac Pro Based on New Processor Coming Tuesday

Intel is previewing its latest PC platform the Intel Core i7-980X Extreme Edition processor, codenamed “Gulftown” the first 32nm, six-core processor with 12 computing threads. The 3.33GHz processor will have 12MB of L3 cache, and 130W TDP. According to Intel, the processor will offer 30-50 percent performance gain over previous top-of-the-line quad core desktop processors.
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iPad Ships on April 3 in US, Pre-order Starts on March 12

Apple today announced iPad will be available in US on Saturday, April 3 for WiFi models and in late April for WiFi + 3G models. In addition, all models of iPad will be available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK in late April.
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NVIDIA Ion 2 Now Official, Offers 1080p Blu-ray Playback

NVIDIA today introduced next generation NVIDIA Ion graphics processor that delivers 10x faster graphics and up to 10 hours of battery life for Intel Atom netbooks. NVIDIA achieves combination of longer battery life and higher performance by using their new Optimus technology, which automatically selects the best graphics processor for running any given application – seamlessly routing the workload to either an NVIDIA discrete GPU or Intel integrated graphics.
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Sony Publishes Details About New Exmor R CMOS Sensors

Sony released cameras based on their new Exmor R back-illuminated CMOS sensor last month. According to Sony, the new sensor will allow better low-light photography, high-speed image processing, decreased power consumption and better HD video recording. The company has now published a paper highlighting the technological advancements made in designing the new image sensor.
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Apple’s A4 Chip Based on ARM Cortex-A8 and not Cortex-A9

Ars Technica speculates that Apple has kept mum about their A4 processor, as there isn’t anything to write home about. Jon Stokes of Ars Technica believes that the A4 processor is based on ARM Cortex-A8 design and not the latest ARM Cortex-A9. He wrote:
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Analyst: Lower Cost iPhone Models Coming in June

In a research note by Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty predicted that Apple would introduce lower cost iPhone models with cheaper service plans to decrease total cost of iPhone ownership. According to Katy, the biggest barriers to higher iPhone adoption are cost of the device and service plan cost. And in June Apple will introduce iPhone models that will be more pocket friendly.
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No Front Facing Camera for Video Calls on Next Generation iPhone

Rumors about next generation iPhone featuring front facing camera have been going around the blogosphere for past few days. These rumors were ignited by the news that iPhone SDK 3.2 beta has code supporting Zoom, Flash and Front Camera. Also a patent application by Apple showing handheld device with a forward facing camera added fuel to the fire.
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Apple Files Patent Application for iPhone Control via Finger Gestures Over Camera

MacRumors has discovered a patent application filed by Apple that highlights use of finger gesture over camera on iPhone to control features like voicemail playback, pause and rewind, while holding the phone near your ear. Apple also describes use of accelerometer to detect finger tapping for controlling iPhone functions. In the patent application Apple explains:
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PC World: AT&T Delivers Significantly Faster Download and Upload Speeds

Last year, PC World tested 3G services in 13 major cities in US. They concluded that Verizon 3G service was fast and reliable, whereas AT&T 3G service was fast in some cities but reliability was an issue. PC World has again done the same test in 13 cities and now they say that AT&T’s 3G network is now the top performer in 13-city test, with download speeds 67 percent faster than its competitors.
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Will MacBook Pro Update Bring Enhanced Dual Graphics?

It has been rumored since December that Apple will update their MacBook Pro lineup and bring Intel’s new Core i5 and Core i7 processors to the lineup. However, as we reported in January, Apple is not very happy with the integrated graphics chip included in the new processor package, as Apple wants to offer better graphics performance to MacBook Pro customers than Intel’s integrated graphics. Apple has been using NVIDIA 9400M chipset to achieve this in current MacBooks, but Intel Core i5 and i7 processors wouldn’t work with NVIDIA chipsets.
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PMA 2010: Samsung Introduces Four new Cameras and Two New Ultra-Compact Camcorders

At PMA 2010, Samsung added two new cameras to their TL-series, two durable cameras in SL and AQ-series and two ultra-compact high-definition budget camcorders to HMX-series. The two TL-series cameras are TL500 and TL350. The top-of-the-line TL500 comes with 10-megapixel high sensitivity CCD sensor, 3x optical zoom, F/1.8 ultra-wide lens, 3-inch swiveling AMOLED screen, 640 x 480 movie mode, dual image stabilization, manual controls A/S/M and RAW support.
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Wired Magazine and Safari on Apple iPad

Wired has been developing a digital version of their magazine called Wired Reader (video above) and demoed it at TED conference. The digital version is designed for use on tablet devices like the recently announced Apple iPad. Content for Wired Reader is created in Adobe InDesign, as is normally done for print magazine, but Wired added interactive elements like photo galleries, slideshows, animations and videos.
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ARM and Globalfoundries Develop 28nm System-on-a-Chip

ARM and Globalfoundries have released details about their upcoming system-on-a-chip (SoC) platform based on 28nm process technology. The new SoC will combine ARM’s top-of-the-line Cortex-A9 processor with Globalfoundries’ 28nm manufacturing process for improved performance and power efficiency. The new chip will target the smartphones, tablets and smartbooks.
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HTC Introduces HD Mini, Legend and Desire Smartphones

HTC has announced three new smartphones at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2010. The first phone HD Mini is based on Windows Mobile 6.5.3 and is a cheaper and smaller version of HD2. It comes with 3.2-inch HVGA touchscreen, 600MHz processor, WiFi, Bluetooth and microSD card slot. The phone features HTC’s Sense user interface and focuses on Outlook, Twitter and Facebook integration. HD Mini will be available across Europe and Asia in April 2010.
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Symbian^3 Officially Announced

The Symbian Foundation today unveiled the Symbian^3 (S^3) platform, the first entirely open source Symbian release. S^3 is expected to be “feature complete” by the end of Q1 and the release will include: significant usability and interface advances, faster networking, acceleration for 2D and 3D graphics in games and applications, HDMI support (High-Definition Multimedia Interface), music store integration, an improved user interface with easier navigation and multi-touch gesture support, a feature-rich homescreen, and the ability to run even more applications simultaneously.
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Microsoft Unveils Windows Phone 7 Series with Very Positive Initial Impressions

Microsoft today unveiled the next generation Windows Phone 7 Series that offers completely new approach to smartphone software. With Windows Phone 7, Microsoft has started from scratch to bring truly integrated experiences by combining Xbox Live, Zune platform, social networking and productivity applications. Microsoft calls this approach “Designed for Life in Motion”.
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Samsung launches Bada Powered Wave S8500 Handset

Samsung today officially launched the much rumored first Bada OS powered handset Wave S8500 at MWC 2010. Samsung Wave is also the first handset to feature new Super AMOLED 3.3-inch touchscreen and Samsung’s TouchWiz 3.0 user interface. The phone comes with 1GHz processor, 5-megapixel camera, 2GB/8GB memory, 720p video recording, quad band GSM/EDGE, dual band HSPA, WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0, A-GPS and microSD card slot. It measures 4.6” x 2.2” x 0.42” and packs 1,500mAh battery.
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What did Apple Miss on the iPad?

Apple’s much-touted iPad was launched on January 27th. Most of the must-have features we listed in the blog entry titled “5 Must-have Features For Upcoming Apple Tablet” are now part of the actual iPad feature list. But it’s not without limitations though. Below we compared which of the five features Apple has implemented in iPad and to what extend.

1. Operating System: We wrote in the older post “It will have elements from both the operating systems (Mac and iPhone) like App Store support from iPhone and run multiple applications like Mac OS X, but it will be very different from both operating systems.” Well now that we have seen the OS on the iPad, we can certainly say it’s more like iPhone than Mac OS X. However, even though iPad’s home screen looks exactly like the iPhone the difference in UI of the two devices is very imminent in applications that Apple showed on stage. There is no multitasking support for third party applications. It is likely Apple did this to offer longer battery life, which was the next feature we wrote about.
2. Longer Battery Life: We wrote “The tablet is a device that is designed to be used on the move, so if it could offer whole day use on a single charge it would make the device more useful.” We thought 8 hours battery life will be sufficient and iPad offers 10 hours, which is great. And from what we have seen in past, Apple devices normally offer quoted battery life in real world also.
3. iTunes Integration: Apple has not only brought iTunes integration on the iPad, but has also added new iBookstore for eBooks. The iPad also supports current iPhone applications and Apple has updated iPhone SDK to bring native support for applications designed specifically for iPad. As we wrote in last post “iTunes has played a big hand in success of the two devices (iPod and iPhone) and it will again play a very important role in success of Apple tablet.”
4. Wireless Sync: This is one area where we were very disappointed by Apple’s approach. We were hoping that Apple would use WiFi pairing that will allow wireless syncing between two devices via a router or directly whenever the two devices are near each other, which will keep the data up to date and offer hassle free syncing. To sync and backup data on iPad with iTunes, you will have to connect it via USB, which as we said before can be a problem for a device that is as big as iPad, if your primary computer is a small laptop like a MacBook.
5. Price: Like battery life and iTunes integration, price is one feature where Apple was right on the dot. There were rumors that Apple will price the iPad around $1,000, but just two days before the event we posted that our sources say, we will be surprised to see the price tag, which would be about half, around $500-$600. In the 5 must-have article also we wrote “Apple will need to price the tablet in $500-$600 range to gain traction in the market.” The starting price of the iPad is $499 and we believe it’s perfect for a product like iPad.

No one can predict how successful Apple iPad will be, but it looks like Apple is aiming in the right direction with the new iPad.

[Via TechzTalk]