iBooks Update

Steve continued to talk about the iPad in an update of iBooks. Although he says they’re updating it today (read yesterday) I think he just means he is going to show you what kind of update they have in store for us and then release it later this month.

This is from the WWDC10 June 7th keynote:

Now you can make notes. In addition, we’ve added a control to just tap and bookmark a page — under ToC you’ll see all the notes, highlights, and bookmarks

We’ve added another big enhancement — the ability to view and read PDFs. So we’ve built that in. You can now view PDFs. We’ve put a little selector at the top — books and PDFs. You get a whole new bookshelf just for PDFs, they just look gorgeous.

Magical iPad

There was a lot of fun during the keynote, with one part in particular. Steve wanted to emphasize the fact the iPad is really a magical device. So he showed a message he got from someone with an iPad claiming the following:

So this chick magnet is really a magical device. “I have proof”, Steve says.

Let Your Fantasy Go. Again.

One of the first posts on iPadFreakz was one called “Let Your Fantasy Go“. It showed a not very Apple-ish concept of a tablet that could be inserted into a newly manufactured iMac. I stated that battery is one of the key things of such a device. And it turns out it is. With 10 hours (some say the iPad can last even up to 12 hours) of battery life the iPad is a long lasting device.

I think it’s time to let my fantasy go once more. With the iPhone 4 we get a couple of new things: Retina Display, 5MP Camera, iMovie, Dual-mic and the Gyroscope. Now I was thinking what will be in the new iPad. I know, it may be too early to start speculating about the second iPad version, but I’m just very excited about the new iPhone features.

I think it’s fair to say that the next iPad will have a camera in the next version. It’s not a prediction, it’s a fact (as well as better GPU, better CPU, more Flash storage and better battery). Having a camera on the iPad or not is not a big deal for me personally. I’ll still buy one if the next doesn’t include a camera, but I know many people want it so Apple will likely put one in. And it should be a 5 MP camera.

Now one of the most unexpected and weirdest additions to the new iPhone, I think, is the iMovie application for iPhone 4. We have Keynote [App Store], Numbers [App Store] and Pages [App Store] for the iPad. We also have Photos on the iPad. The next logical step would be to add an iMovie app for iPad. iMovie on Mac is one magnificent piece of ones en zeros and really is a heavy duty app. Such an application is cool on a phone ofcourse, but I don’t think it’s that practical (even though I haven’t held it in my hands yet). Steve said the iPad is especially good for productivity apps because of its larger screen. Something the iPhone can’t offer. That’s why I think we either get an iPad version of iMovie later this year or next year at the introduction of iPad 2.

The iPhone is ofcourse Apple’s baby and flagship at the same time. It’s the most profitable product in their entire repertoire. But in comparison the iPhone has more pixels than the iPad. This Retina Display sounds and looks stunning, but wouldn’t it be a much smarter step to implement it in the iPad? I do think so. A stunning 326ppi on a 9.7-inch display will provide an even better experience of browsing the web, watching movies and playing games. Therefor I think the Retina Display can be another one of the new features of the second iPad.

Dual-mic is very good for a phone but not really necessary on the iPad. The only thing I can think of the dual-mic being useful, is for apps like Skype. For those of us in possession of an iPad 3G it could be handier, since they can make VoIP calls while in the bus or train. Still I think most of us will just grab their iPhone to make a phone call. So dual-mic in the next gen iPad? No.

But take a look at the Gyroscope. That’s an interesting piece of hardware. It provides much more accuracy when using apps like Zen Bound [App Store]. It adds 3 more axis to the already wide range of sensors inside the iPhone. Together with the accelerometer, the compass and GPS, these sensors become a very powerful tool. Playing Need for Speed Shift [App Store] for instance can become much more realistic. Steering the iPad slowly could result in turning left in a big bow. But steering the iPad fast can result in a sharp turn. That’s what the Gyroscope can offer. Games can become more realistic and I’m sure there are some brilliant developers out there being able to come up with something nobody thought of before. So to add a last thing to the next iPad, the Gyroscope is a definite YES.

I think that’s enough fantasizing about the iPad for today. What do YOU want in the next iPad?

You can watch the keynote video via the Apple website

The other video shows FaceTime. The new way of making video calls. With the 5 megapixel camera and the front-facing VGA camera it is now possible to make a call and switch to a video call with a simple tap. Another tap and you switch from the front camera to the 5 megapixel camera on the back. A beautiful way of showing yourself to your friends and family.

You can watch the FaceTime video via the Apple website
Or via their own YouTube channel

We see several Apple employees talking about the new features of the iPhone. We also get to see how the stainless steel band of iPhone 4 was manufactured. And to proof how strong the Retina Display of the iPhone is, the video shows a test where the glass actually bends.

You can also watch the video on the Apple website.

At 9:45 a.m. Pacific Time, we (iPhoneFreakz and iPadFreakz) are going to start the Live Blog event. The keynote starts 15 minutes later, at 10 a.m. The Live Coverage will be held on the special “Live Coverage”-page. The live coverage page can also be accessed via the big “Live Coverage WWDC 2010″-picture on the right.

Hope to see as many people as possible and hopefully we really won’t be disappointed.

click on the picture to watch the video

That means Steve Jobs’ promise to launch the iPad worldwide late March cannot be fulfilled. Even by the end of April, it’s still no worldwide release (although there’s at least on country from each continent). Apparently there have been product issues or it has something to do with the software.

I life in the Netherlands, so I’m really disappointed that the iPad will not arrive any time soon. Hopefully, with some luck, the iPad will arrive in May and I will finally get my hands on it. Prices outside the US have still not been announced. If you are lucky to get the iPad before the rest of the world does, you can pre-order the iPad starting March 12.

Are you disappointed by the fact that Apple could’t fulfill their promise? Will you still get the iPad?

It actually shows how an Apple keynote is constructed. Only words like amazing, easy, user-friendly, magical, phenomenal and so on will be in a traditional Apple presentation. Using those words works very catching, but if you here them one after another it sounds more like overkill.

A camera would have been a welcome addition to the iPad. With a modified version of iChat on the iPad and a monthly data plan, people would have been able to make video calls from everywhere they are. Although there’s no information about a camera on Apple’s iPad pages, there is some evidence that the iPad originally had a camera on board.

First of all there’s the leaked photos of a prototype version of the iPad. Look closely and you see a home-button on the bottom, just like the iPad shown by Steve Jobs, but there’s another notch on the top which could indicate a camera (see picture below).

There’s another piece of vague evidence provided by Steve Jobs himself. When you re-watch the first part of the keynote, at 9 minutes 22 seconds,  you can see a quick glimpse of what appears to be a camera. Was Steve presenting us with the original iPad? And is the iPad shown on Apple’s website not the real one? Will we see a “one more thing” by the time the iPad is launched worldwide? Probably not, but there’s still one more piece of evidence that is the most convincing of all.

Below is a picture, taken by Mission Repair, which shows the following: top: iPad frame, middle: camera, bottom: MacBook frame. You can clearly see that the iPad frame has room for a camera.

Unfortunately Apple clearly chose not to include a camera with the iPad. It is likely they tested many other features, hardware and software, but saved a couple of those features for a future version of the iPad. The iPad will ship in March.

Source: iSpazio / Mission Repair
Also read “The Flash Story“

I’m not going to repeat the entire order of the event. Instead I’ll offer an overview of what the device can do. Let’s start with the technical specifications:

• 9.7-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen Multi-Touch display with IPS technology
• WiFi and 3G models
• Bluetooth
• Assisted GPS
• Digital Compass
• Accelerometer
• Ambient light sensor
• 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB flash drive
• 1GHz Apple A4 custom-designed, high-performance, low-power system-on-a-chip
• Dock connector
• 3.5-mm stereo headphone jack
• Built-in speakers
• Microphone
• SIM card tray (Wi-Fi + 3G model only)
• Up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching video, or listening to music
• And one month standby

The applications:

The iPad lets you view Safari as it was meant to be seen. See and touch your email in ways you never could before. With a very large multitouch virtual keyboard it gets very easy to type. With its crisp, vibrant display, and its unique software features, iPad is an extraordinary way to enjoy and share your photos. The large, high-resolution screen makes iPad perfect for watching any kind of video: from HD movies and TV shows, to podcasts and music videos. The YouTube app organizes videos so they’re really easy to see and navigate.

With the iPod app, all your music is literally at your fingertips. Just tap on the iTunes Store icon, and you can browse and buy music, TV shows, podcasts — or buy and rent movies — wirelessly, right from your iPad. iPad will run almost 140,000 apps from the App Store. The iBooks app is a great, new way to read and buy books. See more of the world with high-resolution Satellite and Street View images.With its expansive display and large, on-screen keyboard, iPad makes jotting down notes easy.

iPad makes it easy to keep on schedule by displaying Day, Week, Month or List views of your calendar. The Contacts app on iPad makes finding names, numbers and other important information quicker and easier than ever before. The Home Screen gives you one-tap access to everything on iPad. Spotlight Search allows you to search across iPad, and all of its built-in apps.

Accessories:

Apple has also shown some accessories. One of those accessories is a docking station for the iPad. There’s also an Apple Keyboard Dock. It charges the iPad but also has a keyboard attached to it so you can type on a familiar surface. It also allow for a stereo connection.

Once you’ve bought the device, you need to protect it. What better than buying the Apple iPad Case. The iPad Case not only protects the iPad, it can be used in various positions. So it’s easy to type, look at photos and slideshows, or watch movies.

Availability and Pricing:

The device will be available in 60 days from now. The Wi-Fi-only version that is. The Wi-Fi + 3G version will be available in 90 days from now. Worldwide.

Since there are two different models there are also two different prices. Actually there are 6 different models since the iPad comes in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB configurations. The other difference between the models is, one of them has Wi-Fi only, the other has Wi-Fi + 3G. See the graph below.

Link to quicktime video about the iPad: Apple iPad Video
For more information take a look at Apple’s iPad pages.