Biggs' Zone

A Gamer Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

Tag: iPad 2

iPad 2 – One Week Later

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On March 31, 2011

In Apple, Technology

iPad 2I have had my iPad 2 for about a week now and I’m sure many are wondering what I think so far. I could sum up my experience thus far by simply saying I’m an Apple hater turned fanboy. If you are looking for a more in depth analysis I will certainly oblige.

I have not put any of my music nor have I put any movies on my iPad. I didn’t buy it to be a toy, I bought it to be a tool for work and, so far, that has been what I have primarily used it for (though having a browser at my fingertips while sitting in my recliner and watching a movie is handy). I installed an app called Penultimate and bought a stylus from Best Buy. It is a great app. Penultimate has replaced the need to ever use a paper notebook again. I am using that app religiously at work now to take notes in all my meetings and to record my notes for my research.

Actually I have put very few apps on it and the only game is Angry Birds (because only real iPhone’s or iPad’s have Angry Birds). I’m saving the space on my iPad to develop my own apps – hence the research I alluded to above.

So far the iPad 2 is worth every penny I spent on it. It has already improved my productivity and soon it will improve my skills. I am very excited to start developing some of my own apps, though I hear Objective C can be pretty awful. The smart cover brings my iPad to life immediately, so I never have to wait to start using it. The display quality and graphics are superb, though I don’t intend to use my iPad for movies, I may watch one just to get an idea of the visual quality of movies on the iPad. The quality of the pictures the camera takes is pretty decent and the camera is a feature I hope to take advantage of when I am developing apps.

So yea, I love my iPad, its pretty sweet.

Biggs’ iPad 2 Wrap-Up

By

On March 7, 2011

In Apple, General Cogitation, Technology

iPad 2About a year ago I did a “Biggs On” post about the iPad and I think I was pretty harsh. I gave it a pretty average review and I probably wasn’t very fair. Over this past year I have tinkered with the iPad in the stores and played with the ones my co-workers have bought and I actually started to enjoy them more.

Then, in an astonishing turn of events, I became very excited about the announcement of the iPad 2 on March 2nd.The announcement came as no surprise to the community; actually the bigger surprise was Steve Jobs was there to make the announcement. By this point there are probably a hundred different websites and blogs that will tell you about all the new iPad 2 features or you can simply go to the apple website (http://www.apple.com/ipad). I will quickly review those features but I’m not going to spend any time delving into their importance or their meaning, just the features about the iPad 2 (and iOS 4.3) that I found most interesting.

  • A5 processor (dual core) and 9 times the graphics speed – Steve Jobs said it’s “Dramatically Faster”
  • Front and Rear camera (no surprise there, everyone knew that was coming)
  • gyroscope (this will make for some nifty games)
  • 33% thinner then the iPhone 4 (approx 8.8mm)
  • same battery life, same pricing structure
  • personal wi-fi hotspot (iOS 4.3 – SWEET – assuming AT&T doesn’t frack it up, which they will)

Considering Apple has paid out billions to app developers, the new features in iPad 2 will create several new opportunities for more apps, bigger apps, hopefully more intellectual apps (I don’t want to see a new Fart app that responds to pictures of your bum!). Opportunities that I think will make the iPad more enjoyable, more useful and more practical.

So, with all this said, you might be wondering, what is my opinion of the iPad now that we are into version 2.

I think I will save that for after I pick one up on March 11th (by the way, there is free shipping and free engraving if you order from Apple’s website on the 11th).

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