iPad rocks it, but...
New York: Saturday saw the launch of what was touted as the year's most awaited consumer product - the Apple iPad in the US.
Day 1 of the 24.3cm x 19cm x 1.3cm device saw record-breaking sales of 300,000 iPads leading to 1,000,000 application downloads, and 250,000 ebook downloads from the iBook Store reportedly.
Of course this wasn't a big surprise for analysts, some of whom had even gone as far as professing that it would sell some 700,000 in the first day itself.
But the expectations were justified as it is to be noted that the Apple iPhone, released some 3 years back for a similar $500, sold 270,000 units in the first 30 hours.
For the Wi-Fi only version, US prices start from $499 and go up to $699 with added storage space; the Wi-Fi plus 3G version will be released later this month and will priced from $629 to $829.
No India version of iPad has been announced yet and things are not looking too optimistic as neither does India have enough Wi-Fi infrastructure nor any 3G operations are promised by service providers in immediate future.
The demand had been huge since the product was first announced on 27 January this year, so high in fact that reportedly the German demand was about 3.5 times higher than company estimates.
With it's lack of Flash support, the iPad has already started to change the way the Internet looks as more and more companies are shifting to flash-free iPad-friendly websites.
Along with website modification, comes new business strategies.
The Wall Street Journal has started providing subscriptions for its 'iPad Edition' at $3.99 per week, which is being seen as a surprise, since the print edition subscription costs $2.99 per week and the online edition costs $1.99.
However all is not rosy with iPad and experts are pointing out many holes in it already.
Online technology site, Gizmodo, says that the lack of multi-tasking, cameras, native USB or HDMI support, and most importantly Flash are potentially huge deal breakers for the iPad.
Perhaps the biggest gripe that experts have is the lack of Flash support which renders almost all online video sharing sites, online games and other such content unusable on the iPad.
Plus the hard to use touch-keyboard, a fat bezel, its 4:3 display aspect ratio and Apple's questionable Application approval system is not being taken very kindly by enthusiasts either.
Features on the iPad work through applications or 'apps'. These apps are only available through download from the Apple App Store which only features apps approved by Apple.
If an application is not 'approved' by Apple then users will not be able to use it.
This policy has brought a bad taste to many iPhone users who have to resort to Apple-approved apps while better featured apps wait in line for days or months for the 'approval'.
This is the case for the Opera browser for the iPhone which has been greatly praised by tech enthusiasts but has not been approved by Apple possibly due to the presence of its own 'inferior' browser on the iPhone.
Also Apple's controversial DRM (Digital Rights Management) policy is used by Apple to restrict users' freedom in a variety of ways, including blocking installation of software that comes from anywhere except the official Application Store, and regulating every use of movies downloaded from iTunes.
The hacker community has taken up Apple's challenge of restricting user freedom and it has been reported that within 24 hours its release, the iPad has been 'jailbroken' or hacked to install third-party content by independent hacker, 'MuscleNerd'.
In an online poll by lifestyle website Lifehacker, an overwhelming 60% of the responses have been in favour of tablet computing and while touch/tablet computing is definitely being seen as the way forward, independent tech connoisseurs are wary of iPad for its disregard for the right of the customer who purchases it.
With HP's 'Slate' looking for mid-2010 release, it poses a handsome challenge to the iPad.
The HP Slate too is a similar-sized tablet device with multi-touch support but the difference is that it uses Windows 7 as the operating system giving rise to vastly expanded possibilities to the user of doing different things on it.
The Slate will feature a faster processor, HD video playback, and more - basically a trimmed down notebook PC yet a stronger feature-punch than the iPad for a competitive price that is rumoured to begin at $549.
Though the iPad has got favourable reviews and it indeed does the job well, but it is to be noted the Apple iPhone too got a similar reception yet the early adopters were left cursing as Apple reduced prices by almost $200 within a few months and added better and much needed functionality in subsequent versions.
New York: Saturday saw the launch of what was touted as the year's most awaited consumer product - the Apple iPad in the US. Day 1 of the 24.3cm x 19cm x 1.3cm device saw record-breaking sales of 300,000 iPads leading to 1,000,000 application downloads, and 250,000 ebook downloads from the iBook...
New York: Saturday saw the launch of what was touted as the year's most awaited consumer product - the Apple iPad in the US.
Day 1 of the 24.3cm x 19cm x 1.3cm device saw record-breaking sales of 300,000 iPads leading to 1,000,000 application downloads, and 250,000 ebook downloads from the iBook Store reportedly.
Of course this wasn't a big surprise for analysts, some of whom had even gone as far as professing that it would sell some 700,000 in the first day itself.
But the expectations were justified as it is to be noted that the Apple iPhone, released some 3 years back for a similar $500, sold 270,000 units in the first 30 hours.
For the Wi-Fi only version, US prices start from $499 and go up to $699 with added storage space; the Wi-Fi plus 3G version will be released later this month and will priced from $629 to $829.
No India version of iPad has been announced yet and things are not looking too optimistic as neither does India have enough Wi-Fi infrastructure nor any 3G operations are promised by service providers in immediate future.
The demand had been huge since the product was first announced on 27 January this year, so high in fact that reportedly the German demand was about 3.5 times higher than company estimates.
With it's lack of Flash support, the iPad has already started to change the way the Internet looks as more and more companies are shifting to flash-free iPad-friendly websites.
Along with website modification, comes new business strategies.
The Wall Street Journal has started providing subscriptions for its 'iPad Edition' at $3.99 per week, which is being seen as a surprise, since the print edition subscription costs $2.99 per week and the online edition costs $1.99.
However all is not rosy with iPad and experts are pointing out many holes in it already.
Online technology site, Gizmodo, says that the lack of multi-tasking, cameras, native USB or HDMI support, and most importantly Flash are potentially huge deal breakers for the iPad.
Perhaps the biggest gripe that experts have is the lack of Flash support which renders almost all online video sharing sites, online games and other such content unusable on the iPad.
Plus the hard to use touch-keyboard, a fat bezel, its 4:3 display aspect ratio and Apple's questionable Application approval system is not being taken very kindly by enthusiasts either.
Features on the iPad work through applications or 'apps'. These apps are only available through download from the Apple App Store which only features apps approved by Apple.
If an application is not 'approved' by Apple then users will not be able to use it.
This policy has brought a bad taste to many iPhone users who have to resort to Apple-approved apps while better featured apps wait in line for days or months for the 'approval'.
This is the case for the Opera browser for the iPhone which has been greatly praised by tech enthusiasts but has not been approved by Apple possibly due to the presence of its own 'inferior' browser on the iPhone.
Also Apple's controversial DRM (Digital Rights Management) policy is used by Apple to restrict users' freedom in a variety of ways, including blocking installation of software that comes from anywhere except the official Application Store, and regulating every use of movies downloaded from iTunes.
The hacker community has taken up Apple's challenge of restricting user freedom and it has been reported that within 24 hours its release, the iPad has been 'jailbroken' or hacked to install third-party content by independent hacker, 'MuscleNerd'.
In an online poll by lifestyle website Lifehacker, an overwhelming 60% of the responses have been in favour of tablet computing and while touch/tablet computing is definitely being seen as the way forward, independent tech connoisseurs are wary of iPad for its disregard for the right of the customer who purchases it.
With HP's 'Slate' looking for mid-2010 release, it poses a handsome challenge to the iPad.
The HP Slate too is a similar-sized tablet device with multi-touch support but the difference is that it uses Windows 7 as the operating system giving rise to vastly expanded possibilities to the user of doing different things on it.
The Slate will feature a faster processor, HD video playback, and more - basically a trimmed down notebook PC yet a stronger feature-punch than the iPad for a competitive price that is rumoured to begin at $549.
Though the iPad has got favourable reviews and it indeed does the job well, but it is to be noted the Apple iPhone too got a similar reception yet the early adopters were left cursing as Apple reduced prices by almost $200 within a few months and added better and much needed functionality in subsequent versions.
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