What would you pay for an Apple Watch?

How much would you be willing to pay for an Apple Smart watch? Would you pay R10 750 or R13 000? That is exactly what a South African paid for an aluminium and stainless steel piece respectively recently.

Offered on bidorbuy.co.za with a price tag of R9 000 and R11 000, the proud South African willingly paid for the exclusivity of owning the two brand new watches.

While the watch is set to take the world by storm,  there are some “dilemmas” with the gadgets and wearing them may not be as straight forward as some imagined. It appears as if a number of people’s high acidity levels have caused unwelcome skin reactions.

Apple’s website, although admitting to some problems, was also quick to point out that the device has been examined by certified dermatologists and users may be wearing it wrong.

In addition, apparently, some heart rate readings of tattooed consumers could potentially affect and play havoc with the smart watch’s mechanism, and social media sites were quick to pick up on the case with the hashtag #tattoogate as many frustrated consumers vented their annoyance.

Despite these hiccups, South Africans may overlook first generation flaws and purchase the device regardless.

“Apple loyalists are naturally going to love the smart watch. The watch’s release again represents a chance for Apple to change the world, again, with an industry-defining product,” said Christopher Riley, CEO of The Notebook Company.

The watch, not yet released in South Africa, has no local price tag or forthcoming launch date as yet. You can find the two bidorbuy listings here.  

Apple could transform notebook market with 12-inch hybrid ‘iPad Pro’

Apple could transform notebook market with 12-inch hybrid ‘iPad Pro’ 

March 24, 2014

 Apple has its eyes on the notebook market with the soon-to-be released 12-inch iPad hybrid, which is going to see the company make major inroads into the notebook PC landscape, said Christopher Riley, MD of notebook and accessories retailer, The Notebook Company.

 “This is certainly an interesting move by Apple,” said Riley, adding that the introduction of the 12-inch iPad hybrid will “drastically change” the notebook PC battlefield. It is expected that the new iPad model, powered by an Apple-built t next-generation “A8″ processor, will launch in autumn in the United States. 

 “Analysts believe this new device will stir up the traditional, established notebook market — an industry that Apple rival Microsoft has been trying to corner, but not with a great deal of success, with its own hybrid laptop-tablet devices running the Windows 8 platform. 

“Additionally, “said Riley, “the new Apple hybrid will also create price competition. Its launch will undoubtedly also expand the reach, and fortunes, of chipmaker, ARM, which makes the reference designs for Apple’s A-series chips. Needless to say, ARM’s gains would fire a broadside at Intel, the dominant player in traditional computer chips.”

Apple Unveils New iPhones - iPhone 5c (USD549) and iPhone5s (US649) (without contract)

from: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/09/10/221052280/apple-unveils-new-iphones-one-innovative-one-cheap

Apple unveiled its replacement for the iPhone 5 — one for the top end of the market that features an innovative new fingerprint security device, a faster processor and longer battery life; and a second budget phone that will retail for as low as $99.
CEO Tim Cook was joined by other Apple executives at the Cupertino, Calif., headquarters for the long-anticipated and hyped announcement of the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c.
The iPhone 5s will include Touch ID, a new home button that reads a user's fingerprint to unlock the phone instead of relying on a cumbersome pass code. It includes a new, 64-bit processor, called the A7, which Apple says will be "up to twice as fast" as the A6 processor in the current iPhone 5.
The 5s will be available in silver, gold and "space gray," and provide battery life "as good as or better than the iPhone 5" — 250 standby hours as opposed to the 225 standby hours for the iPhone 5.
The iPhone 5s also features an advanced camera and a "motion coprocessor" for sports and exercise applications. The 16 gigabyte version will sell for $199; the 32 gigabyte for $299; and a 64-gigabyte version for $399. The iPhone 5s will release on Sept. 20.
The new device is 56 times as fast as the original iPhone released in June 2007, Cook said.
The iPhone 5c will largely match the capabilities of the current iPhone 5, but at a lower price. It will sport a plastic case with the option for a variety of colors. A 16 gigabyte version of the iPhone 5c will sell for just $99, while a 32-gigabyte version will retail for $199.
Phil Schiller, senior vice president of worldwide marketing at Apple, said the new iPhone 5s is "the most forward-looking phone we have ever created."
The budget 5c, which still uses the A6 processor, will be available for preorder on Sept. 13 in five colors — green, blue, yellow, pink or white.
Cook called the phone "absolutely gorgeous," and "more fun and colorful" than any other iPhone.
Apple's new iOS 7 operating system will be available for free download on Sept. 18, and will be compatible with all devices that are iPhone 4 or more advanced. Craig Federinghi, head of software at Apple, said downloading the iOS 7 will be "like getting an all new device."
With increasingly stiff competition from smartphones running Google's Android operating system — especially Samsung's Galaxy line, Apple will be banking on success for its newly unveiled line.

The cheaper iPhone 5c, seems to be aimed partly at the overseas market, where the iPhone's premium price tag has turned off cost-conscious consumers. NPR's Krishnadev Calamur, writing for the Parallels blog, says Apple has been losing marketshare in China. As Krishnadev notes, China represents the world's largest smartphone market, but the less expensive Samsung models and a phone made by Xiaomi, "a company that's dismissed by some as an Apple knockoff," have been making steady inroads.

Why making the iPad your full-time computer has several surprising advantages

Interesting read at: 
http://tabtimes.com/feature/ittech-os-ipad-ios/2013/07/03/why-making-ipad-your-full-time-computer-has-several-surprising

When my Windows 8 laptop broke down last week, I was left with no other choice but to use my iPad as my main computer. Here's how it went.

There has been a lot of talk about iPads beating PCs in enterprise and of tablet shipments overtaking PC shipments, but this much remains true -- tablets largely play second fiddle to PCs.
Sure, they're smaller, faster and sexier, but they trail laptops and PCs for multi-tasking, processing power, graphics capabilities and work-friendly applications.

Nonetheless, when my laptop's hard drive came shuddering to a halt recently, I had no other option but to make my iPad my primary PC.

Advantages: Battery life, speed, size & simplicity

Since acquiring my 16GB iPad 2 in late 2011, it's played an accompanying role to my PC.  It’s been useful for note-taking (Evernote and OneNote), news gathering (Flipboard, Zite, Pulse), email and calendar reminders (mainly Gmail) and testing apps for reviews.
That said, I’ve rarely relied on it for so-called PC tasks and only occasionally thrown the iPad into action when reporting from trade shows to take advantage of the excellent battery life and greater mobility.
So, when I started using the iPad for work, what were the advantages?

Well, the obvious plus points were size and speed. The dimensions of the iPad (241.2mm height, 185.7mm width, 8.8mm depth, weighs 601g) -- coupled with my slim Logitech Zagg iPad 2 keyboard -- meant I could work anywhere.
The all-day battery life and Bluetooth connectivity also spared me the bother of sorting out power adapters. The Logitech keyboard uses a 510 mAh rechargeable lithium polymer battery but can last weeks on one charge.

Speed was another bonus. The iPad's instant-on power allowed me to get up and running straight away, rather than having to wait 30 seconds to boot into my PC. It was also far quicker to sleep and wake the iPad from the lock screen menu.
Beyond the advantages of better portability and faster responsiveness, I actually found one more surprising plus point; the home screen layout.
No more was I hopping between the desktop and 'Metro' screens on Windows 8. With the iPad, I simply hit the home screen, found the appropriate app folder and entered the app. Or, if I was still stuck, I searched for the app on the search menu.
This simplicity extended to simple computer maintenance like turning on Bluetooth connectivity -- far more accessible from the iPad’s settings rather than from the Windows Control Panel -- and even multi-tasking was easier than I thought it'd be.

I’d regularly jump between Safari, iA Writer (for word processing) and Google’s Snapseed (for photo editing) by double-tapping the home button. I could also play songs on iTunes in the background while I worked, although that wasn’t possible with YouTube, which seemingly only plays in the background on desktop devices.
Another perhaps surprising bonus was the apps. Less powerful with fewer features than desktop counterparts, I found that some of the apps were easier to work with and faster too.
For example, Snapseed offers limited photo editing tools but has less 'clutter' than Gimp, which is essentially a free rival to Adobe’s Photoshop. This allowed me to get work done faster and to the same standard.
Even saving documents was a breeze, a criticism which has previously been levelled at the iPad because a lack of hardware connections.
But I saved files locally to iA Writer, to the cloud with Google Drive and perused and uploaded photos with Dropbox and SkyDrive. In fact, I didn’t use my laptop’s USB 2.0 ports at all.

(Image: The iPad 2 and Samsung laptop side-by-side after the latter was fixed)

Disadvantages: Keyboard, browsing, slow multi-tasking

Some of my grievances on using the iPad for work are obvious – it’s difficult typing on a 7.5-inch wide keyboard compared to one on a 15.6 inch laptop, there are much fewer work-quality apps and multi-tasking isn’t as fluid as it should be.
Typing on the Logitech Bluetooth keyboard was actually OK for the most part. I was able to type quickly and accurately with the smaller keys, although the combination of the limited word processor (iA Writer) and some missing desktop keys (like delete and Windows shortcuts for cut and paste) proved tricky. The iPad wasn’t always that secure on the keyboard and occasionally fell off.
Copying and pasting was pretty cumbersome and I quickly got frustrated with the rigmarole of doing this with the touchscreen.
A bigger problem is that while you can multi-task on the iPad, you can rarely see more than one 'window' at the same time, and this is a pain when you are regularly changing applications.
Then there are the apps themselves, which are less intricate than the desktop versions. There is no spell checker and limited formatting options on iAWriter, only a small number of editing options on Snapseed and tweaking Excel documents on Quickoffice is problematic to say the least (in particular, changing tabs and cell sizes is difficult).
Even Gmail and the stock iPad email client are limited in their sharing options, something I rely on heavily for sending photos and files. Sending photos is OK but there is no way of importing spreadsheets from Quickoffice.
As numerous testers have remarked in the past, browsing on Safari on your iPad is a so-so experience, undermined by average design. It's a weaker version than the desktop version and doesn’t have the innovation of Dolphin or the speed of Chrome,
That said, Safari browsing was OK for most of the time and actually improved with some useful browser plug-ins like Read It Later, which enables you to save interesting articles from the browser.
But a universal problem with iPad browsing is that certain websites were not mobile friendly, and this included our content management system. Some were hard to read and didn’t respond to the touchscreen. Others crashed out on me altogether.

Summary: Workable but not ideal

The iPad is a workable solution for when your PC goes down. It’s mobile, has a big enough screen, and the apps and processing power were fine for the requirements of my job.
That said, I am in no rush to make it my primary computer. My job relies on speed, precision and reliable multi-tasking, and while the iPad excels for speed, it’s not so handy for multi-tasking and misses some key application features that I rely on.

Doug Drinkwater is the International Editor of TabTimes and is based in London, England.

5 Critical Mistakes Schools Make With iPads (And How To Correct Them)

Interesting reading below from:
 http://www.edudemic.com/2012/09/5-critical-mistakes-schools-ipads-and-correct-them/

Over the last few years K-12 schools and districts across the country have been investing heavily in iPads for classroom use. EdTechTeacher has been leading iPad professional development at many of these schools and we’ve seen firsthand how they approach iPad integration.
While we’ve witnessed many effective approaches to incorporating iPads successfully in the classroom, we’re struck by the common mistakes many schools are making with iPads, mistakes that are in some cases crippling the success of these initiatives. We’re sharing these common challenges with you, so your school doesn’t have to make them.

1) Focusing on content apps

The most common mistake teachers make with iPads is focusing on subject-specific apps. In doing so, many completely overlook the full range of possibilities with the iPad. I think of a Latin teacher who declared the iPad useless because he couldn’t find a good Latin app.
It simply didn’t occur to him use the VoiceThread app to record his students speaking Latin, or perhaps create a collaborative discussion of Cicero. Or use the Animoto app for a lively student presentation on Latin vocabulary, or the Socrative app for a Latin quiz, or the Explain Everything app to create a grammar tutorial. There are so, so many possibilities, yet he was oblivious to them.
At our iPads in the Classroom summer workshop at Harvard University we spend three full days with teachers actively exploring effective iPad integration tools and strategies.
And we don’t introduce a single subject app. Instead we focus on the amazing range of consumption, curation, and creativity possible across grade levels and subjects using only four general apps: an annotation app, a screencasting app, an audio creation app, and a video creation app. In our workshops conversations about pedagogy center the iPad properly as an effective learning device. The content comes from a wide range of materials available across the Web and in our classrooms, not from apps.

2) Lack of Teacher Preparation in Classroom Management of iPads

One of the obvious mistakes is failing to provide teachers with adequate professional development. Before handing students iPads, schools sometimes give teachers their own, assuming teacher use in a personal environment will translate to expertise in a work environment.
It doesn’t.
Teachers need instruction on how to incorporate the devices into the learning process, which is quite different than trying out a few apps.
Decades of research has shown that when teachers have access to new technologies, their instinct is to use new technologies to extend existing practices.
Without guidance, iPads become expensive notebooks used by students in very traditionally structured stand-and-deliver classrooms. Teachers need time for professional collaboration (and often external support) to learn to nurture reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills and to develop strategies to differentiate instruction using a range of apps and tablet-friendly Web tools.
Even the basics of workflow– sharing materials, collecting student work, making comments and grading, passing student work back–can be unfamiliar to teachers and quite complicated. The challenges of iPad workflow include understanding cloud computing environments and options, how different apps and types of files interact with each other, file format compatibility and file conversion tools, evaluating all-in-one management solutions, and translating these concepts simply and effectively to students.
Simply handing a teacher an iPad in advance won’t serve to address these challenges when the school year starts. Fortunately, many early adopters have workflow plans that address these challenges, and schools need to protect their teachers from reinventing the workflow wheel.

3) Treating the iPad as a computer and expecting it to serve as a laptop.

Focusing on iPad-versus.-laptop comparisons stifles the ability to see how the iPad facilitates student-centered learning. iPads are devices meant to compliment computers, not replace them.
So, people who seek equivalent functionality become frustrated, and fail to realize the intrinsic benefits and features of the iPad’s native design.
Instead, schools should focus their energies on what iPads do best to engender active learning. iPads enable students to kinesthetically connect with their work (especially important for young learners). These tactile elements – using fingers to zoom, rotate in, pinch close, or swipe across – as well as increasingly interactive and immersive apps, facilitate hands-on learning.
In addition, iPad mobility means that students can take pictures, record audio, and shoot video, in any number of places. They can tell multimedia stories, screencast how to solve math problems, create public service announcements, simulate virtual tours of ancient cities, and so much more. Active consumption, curation, and creativity ssuit the device. Stand-up-and-deliver teaching does not. So, put the iPads in the hands of teachers who understand that active learners learn best.

4) Treating iPads like multi-user devices

iPads were designed as a single-user device and not meant to be shared via carts. Financial constraints have forced many schools to abandon 1:1 aspirations, but sharing them separates the functionality from the user. Carts that rotate through several classrooms force teachers to take time away from learning, create a nightmare of student accounts, and often focus attention on workflow systems rather than learning.
Instead of sharing iPads across multiple classrooms, schools should be allocating them to a few select pilot classrooms for an entire year. Schools should be documenting pilot group successes and failures and begin to codify iPad integration functionality and elicit best practices to serve as a foundation for future iPad expansion. If a school cannot envision financially moving to a 1-1 iPad model, then Bring your Own Device (BYOD) models may prove much more compelling than shared iPad systems.

5) Failure to communicate a compelling answer to “Why iPads?”

Many school administrators simply fail to communicate to their constituents why they’ve purchased iPads. As a result, many initiatives face resistance from teachers, parents — and even students – who don’t understand why these devices are being introduced into their classrooms. Letting the purchase speak for itself isn’t enough – districts need to explain why they’ve invested in these devices.
While iPads are engaging, technology needs to be — above everything else — in the service of learning. Administrators who fail to articulate the connection between iPads and learning often hamper their iPad initiative.
School administrators should be explaining to their constituents that the iPad supports essential skill areas — complex communication, new media literacy, creativity, and self-directed learning. Instead of focusing on the convenience of ebooks, they should instead be emphasizing the incredibly immersive and active learning environment the iPad engenders and the unprecedented opportunities to develop personalized, student-centered learning. They should highlight some of the beneficial consumption, curation, and creativity activities the iPad facilitates — as well as the student empowerment it inspires.
School administrators should point out the improvements in teacher management of classroom time and space afforded by iPads,  as well as the incredible flexibility it provides to vary learning activities at a moment’s notice. Finally, they should remind their constituents that with iPads students have the world at their fingertips– anywhere they might be — and the only limitation to what students might do in this vast space is the vision of educators.
Increasingly a 21st century education is less about place and more about space. And the iPad has become the leading device in which students can navigate and create exciting new worlds. Yet, when this device enters classrooms its impressive immersive capabilities are often overlooked or underdeveloped.
With more schools opting for 1:1 student-to-iPad access, there exists a tremendous opportunity for a transformative shift in classrooms where students are empowered to navigate their own learning.
Yet, from our vantage point, momentum for redefining the educational map with iPads is often derailed at schools as a result of a limited vision of the device and a failure to prepare teachers effectively. Schools that share a common vision for learning, extensive support for teachers in learning to use these new devices, and a willingness to learn from the teachers around the country who have already piloted these tools are much more likely to reap the benefits of their investments in iPads.

Be sure to check out the April 10-12 EdTechTeacher iPad Summit to learn more about these issues and solutions.

Current iPad models available 2013

Click on Picture to see current models available up to 2013 
iPad
iPad 2
iPad 3
iPad 4
iPad Mini

Too many Apples a day – or on the market – cause confusion says The Notebook Company

The current infusion of Apple products being introduced onto the market is causing confusion, which, at the end of the day does not auger well for the second most valuable company in the world. Because, when consumers are confused, they are cautions when it comes to buying.

This is according to Christopher Riley, managing director of laptop and accessories retailer, The Notebook Company – one of the biggest local sellers of the Apple iPad tablet range.

“Apple is in danger of confusing the market,” said Riley. “It might be the leading seller of tablets, but the current rash of product launches – and the confusion with iPad tablet names – is not good for business at the end of the day.

“When the Apple iPad 3 came onto the market it was called the New iPad. Then, when the Apple iPad 4 was introduced it was called the New iPad with retina display. But the problem,” said Riley, “is that the iPad 3 – called the New iPad – also has retina display.

“But it doesn’t stop there. Apple, which was dethroned as the most valuable company recently by Mobil Exxon, has also introduced the iPad mini. Some consumers – certainly some of my customers – think this is actually the iPad 4.

“When consumers are confused they tend to halt, or stall, purchase decisions because they don’t want to come across as stupid. Also, the sales cycle is a lot longer because retailers, like ourselves, have to explain things to customers in more detail – or customers have more questions. This extends the sales cycle.”

Apple starts to report slowing profits

Meanwhile,  at the end of last month Apple’s share price started nosing southwards, falling to $439,88 – giving it a market capitalisation of $413 billion (R3.6 trillion), compared to oil behemoth Exxon Mobile, who clocked in with a market value of $418 billion. Apple first superseded Exxon Mobil in August 2011 as the most valuable corporation based on the value of its stock. A year later it toppled arch rival Microsoft as the most valuable firm in the world in history with its stock valued at $622 billion.

But Apple has started to see its inner core bruising after a somewhat dull forecast accompanying its record quarterly profits, which pointed to a possibly less stellar growth.  Despite a record quarterly profit investors got cagey after hearing that gross margins further down the line would be 37,5% to 39,5% lower than expectations.

To get a clearer picture of the more gloomy prognosis  one has to cast one’s mind back to when Apple’s stock price hit more than $700 a share . This was reached in  September  last year, but, since that zenith, the price has dropped by 37% . The company also shed $60 billion in market capitalisation.

The Notebook Company’s Riley said some market analysts are postulating that Apple is losing its edge due to a dip in innovation since the death of co-founder Steve Jobs. There are also tangible  signs that it is losing traction to Samsung, which now leads the smartphone market, and to others using Google’s Android operating system.

Despite Apple’s stellar performance in the past it is questionable whether it will be able to maintain the margins it is accustomed to. With the possibility of smartphone price wars Apple’s traditional market positon of holding the high ground with premium products aimed at the high end of the market may bite deeper and deeper into profits from each device sold.

“But although Apple is receiving some negative press currently, it must be remembered that the tallest trees attract the most wind velocity. Apple has reached such heights these past few years that the wind velocity they are encountering is pretty fearsome.

“But Apple is by no means rotten to its core,” Riley quipped.

Apple’s mini iPad will fly off the shelves in South Africa says The Notebook Company

There has been a lot of pre-launch hype with regards to Apple’s mini iPad – as
there was with the Apple iPhone5. Much of the excitement – when the products
were actually launched – had already dissipated due to all the pre-press hype.
Nonetheless, these two products are sure to fly off the shelves around the world,
re-affirming Apple as the number one technology company in the world.

This is according to Christopher Riley, MD of local notebook and accessories
retailer, The Notebook Company – and a big supplier of Apple products.

Riley said said his company will be selling the iPad mini at between R5000 – R8
000, with stocks accepted to arrive in early November.

“The Apple iPhone 5s have been flying off our shelves and we have been battling
to keep up with the demand – and we are expecting no less of the Apple mini
iPad,” he said.

Riley noted that there would still, however, be a sustained market for the iPad 3
and iPad2s. “Demand has muted somewhat, but they are still stalwart sellers.”

Commenting further, Riley said the 7-inch mini iPad from Apple is viewed by
many market watchers as an attempt by the technology giant to combat – and
“beat-out” – competitors in the fast-exploding 7 inch tablet market.

“It is war out there,” said Riley, “but Apple still has a keen edge. Right now the
company has the Midas Touch and although they are allowing more hype to
permeate the market prior to launches – something they did not do in the past –
their products seem to be hitting the right buttons with users. Apple is just the
product users want.

Apple iPhone 5 shortage creates concern

What appears to be an increasing shortage of the Apple iPhone 5 is spooking Apple investors according to a recent article in the New York Times, with this shortage expected to substantially affect landed prices of the new units in South Africa.

Said Christopher Riley, managing director of The Notebook Company, one of South Africa’s leading suppliers of notebooks and accessories: “We went through sustained shortages of the last two Apple iPads – which had a marked impact on prices locally – and now the iPhone 5 is facing the same obstacles.”

The iPhone 5 is causing quite a stir – perhaps more than was anticipated – and the big question is whether or not end users will pay the premiums they are now facing due to the stock shortages, or whether they will, rather, opt for other smart phones.

”If users vote with their feet, this will have a certain impact on Apple’s revenue from the iPhone 5,” said Riley.

Commenting further, he said that if the stock shortage does affect orders for Apple’s iPhone 5, it is likely that the company’s revenue stream will, however, be significantly augmented with sales of its mini iPad.

“Apple’s less expensive iPad – the mini iPad – is expected to be launched in the next few weeks. Some market watchers believe this unit will hit the tarmac running with sales more than making up for any drag on revenue caused by the stock shortage for the iPhone 5,” said Riley.

But, as they say, time will tell.

And the winner is – the Apple iPad

The iPad tablet from Apple is still the most popular tablet on the market – by far – and even the iPad 1 is on the wish list of some consumers before other new releases from Apple competitors, such as Samsung, Acer, HTC and Google.

This is according to Christopher Riley, CEO of laptop and accessories retailer, The Notebook Company – which manages the Laptop.co.za and Notebook.co.za online retail sites.

Recent research shows that there is actually a low level of consumer consideration and expectation levels for a non-Apple brand, with more than 75% of ‘hot prospects’ (respondents that are keen to get a tablet) considering purchasing an iPad 2- and a further three in five people expecting to get one.

“Interestingly,” said Riley, “the next most popular tablets are actually out-of-date – and that would be the original iPad, the iPad 1, and the Samsung Galaxy tab. Both tablets scored a yes vote of just over 10% of those polled, who are  expecting to buy one”

According to research conducted by YouGov other tablet competitors – like HTC, Blackberry and Acer – do even worse.

While 77% of those ‘hot prospects’ polled appear keen to purchase an iPad 2, just 3% of these ‘hot prospects ‘expect to get a HTC, 2% a Blackberry, and only 1% an Acer.

Riley said sales of Apple iPads have accounted for 40% of his company’s total revenue so far this year. “Two years ago – before the Apple iPad arrived – Apple sales were more or less a blimp on our sales sheets.”

Steve Jobs gave pre-release iPad 2 to President Obama

iPad 2

U.S. President Barack Obama revealed recently that one of the perks of his job includes having received an advance copy of Apple’s iPad 2 directly from Steve Jobs himself.

Obama revealed the fact in an interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulous (via NetworkWorld).

“Steve Jobs actually gave it to me, a little bit early,” he said. “Yeah, it was cool. I got it directly from him.”

Jobs may have had an opportunity to present Obama, a self-professed fan of Research in Motion’s BlackBerry phones, with the device at a dinner in San Francisco in February, just two weeks before the unveiling of the iPad 2 in early March.

The dinner included several other prominent Silicon Valley executives, such as Google’s Eric Schmidt, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Oracle’s Larry Ellison. A photo of the gathering shows that Jobs was seated to the president’s left.

In late March, Obama revealed in an interview that he owned an iPad and had tethered it to his BlackBerry smartphone.

Obama has indicated that he holds Jobs in high regard. Last December, the president praised him as an exemplary model of the “American dream.”

“We celebrate somebody like a Steve Jobs, who has created two or three different revolutionary products. We expect that person to be rich, and that’s a good thing. We want that incentive. That’s part of the free market.”

The two also met last year to discuss issues regarding technology, the economy and education in U.S.

After leading what some have called the greatest corporate turnaround in the history of the U.S., Jobs stepped down as Apple’s CEO in August, saying that the day had come when he could no longer meet the “duties and expectations” of the role. He remains with the company as Chairman of the Board, director, and employee.

Jobs has battled several significant health complications, including pancreatic cancer and a liver transplant, in recent years. Prior to stepping down as CEO, he had been on a medical leave of absence since January of this year.

iPad 2 dominates, as Android tablets lose ground

Apple iPad 2

Apple’s iPad 2 continues to dominate the tablet market, shipping 9.3 million units and achieving a 68.3 percent share of the worldwide market in the second quarter, IDC found. That’s up from 65.7 percent in the first quarter.

RIM managed to reach 4.9 percent market share for its PlayBook, which has been widely criticized in part for lacking key software like an email client and for having relatively few available applications.

The competition from Apple and RIM put pressure on Android tablets, which lost share in the second quarter, slipping to 26.8 percent of the market from 34.0 percent in the first quarter, according to IDC.

In the current quarter, Android will face even more competition, as people snap up fire-sale HP TouchPad’s. HP recently announced it would discontinue the TouchPad, dropping the price to $99. As a result of the subsequent frenzy that sold out the device in days, HP decided to manufacture an additional run of the devices. IDC expects nearly 1 million TouchPads to ship into the channel before the end of the year.

That means in the third quarter, TouchPads are expected to make up 4.7 percent of the market and that additional competition will further shrink Android’s share of the market to 23 percent, IDC said.

However, by the fourth quarter, without the TouchPad competition, Android should start growing again and will reach 25.9 percent, IDC said. By the first quarter next year, TouchPad market share will reduce to zero, IDC said.

Overall, tablet shipments reached 13.6 million, up by 88.9 percent in the second quarter compared to the first and 303.8 percent compared to last year, IDC said. The researchers have upped their forecast for 2011 to 62.5 million tablets, up from a previous expectation of 53.5 million units.

IDC also said that Amazon continues to lead the ereader market, with its Kindle taking 51.7 percent share, followed by the Barnes & Noble Nook with 21.2 percent of the market. IDC expects that significant holiday sales will result in a total of 27.0 million ereaders sold this year. It previously projected 16.2 million units would sell.

British Airways to give Apple iPad 2′s to cabin crew

iPad 2

British Airways has begun field testing iPad 2′s as replacements for the old paper manifest while also offering passenger profiles, live seating layouts and special food requests.

The airline has decided to make the move from paper to ‘pad in a bid to not only provide ‘better customer service’ but also to better equip the cabin crew.

The iPad 2′s are all 3G and have specialised software onboard which shows the full passenger manifest, where each passenger is sat and any special dietary requirements they might have. Not only that but the Apple tablets are fully laden with timetables, safety manuals and live customer service updates, meaning that even when the plane is on the runway, they’ll still be getting information sent to them.

BA’s head of inflight customer experience Bill Francis believes this is just the start however pointing out that ‘the possibilities for future development are endless’. At present it’s simply a trial with 100 staff testing out the scheme however BA is planning on bringing the tablets to all 1,800 senior cabin crew members in the next few months.

The Apple iPad 2 offers unrivalled versatility

iPad 2 Home Screen

One of the key features that is most admired about the iPad is the fact that it is extremely versatile and can utilise a wide selection of applications to enhance the user experience. The tablet measures 241 mm x 185 mm whilst being 8 mm thick and weighing 607 g in weight that utilises a dual core 900 MHz A9 processor in conjunction with its own iOS 4 operating system.

The unit comes with a 9.7 inch LED backlit IPS TFT display screen which is capacitive in nature and provides outstanding touch screen functionality and capability. The screen has a resolution of 768 x 1024 pixels, within which it is able to display an impressive 16 million colours. The screen comes with a fingerprint, scratch resistant surface, whilst an accelerometer sensor and a three axis gyro sensor are also incorporated a standard.

The unit comes in 16, 32 and 64 GB versions as well as Wi Fi only or Wi Fi and 3G options. In terms of connectivity the unit comes with GPRS, EDGE, blue tooth and USB connectivity whilst also offering, dependent upon the version, Wi Fi and HSDPA connectivity.

In addition the tablet provides a 0.7 megapixel camera which operates at 960 x 720 pixels and can also record video at 720 pixels and at 30 frames per second, or those who prefer video functionality rather than still imagery. One of the enhancements of the new unit is the fact that it also offers a secondary camera which is VGA quality. The tablet also comes with satellite navigation, a variety of games including downloadable options, a digital compass, a PDF reader, Google maps as well as an MP4/MP3 multimedia player in conjunction with a useful TV-Out connection.

The Apple iPad 2 3G 32GB White is one of the more popular options, with the alternative options being differing memory sizes and black rather than white. The iPad provides style, aesthetic appeal and a versatility that is unmatched in any tablet within the increasingly popular tablet market.

iPad 2 To Fuel Apple Tablet Shipments Growth In 2012

iPad 2

Apple may sell up around 55 per cent more iPad tablets in 2012 according to market watchers cited by Taiwanese news outlet, Digitimes.

These analysts reckon that Apple will sell 36 million iPad 2 units and around 55 million next year. Interestingly, last week, Digitimes Research estimated that 40 million iPad tablet will be sold in 2011 which means that next year, that number may rise to 62 million units, just short of the 65.2 million tablets that it reckoned will be sold this year.

Shipments of non Apple tablet devices, on the other hand, is expected to far outstrip that of Apple with a triple digit, year on year growth with Android tablets being the main drivers (and winners).

The arrival of a new generation of system on chip combined with the launch of Google’s Ice Cream Sandwich will fuel the growth in shipment of Android-based tablet PCs from around 20 million units to up to 45 million units.

The Nvidia Tegra 3 is likely to be the first member of the new generation of quad core SoC that will be launched from the end of September onwards. The chip is said to provide with five times the graphics performance of the Tegra 2.

Read more: http://www.itproportal.com/2011/08/09/ipad-2-fuel-apple-tablet-shipments-growth-2012/#ixzz1Udnkhegd

1time Airline to use iPad 2 in pilot’s flight deck

Pilots on South African budget air travel company 1time Airlines will become the first airline in Africa to use the iPad 2 tablet computer as an Electronic Flight Bag (EFB).

Apple’s latest version of the tablet acts as a paperless application which includes crucial information such as exchange/mail capacity, the most recent weather updates, passenger information and performance manuals, all of which would normally be carried in a flight bag.

The iPad 2 can also calculate weight and balance electronically and has been cleared by the American Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) as a device that doesn’t interfere with airplane electronics.

1time Airlines are only the third in the world to use the devices, after Alaska Airlines and American Airlines and has been cleared by the American Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) as a device that doesn’t interfere with airplane electronics.

“The EFB application for the iPad 2 is truly unique, and will help our flight crews perform flight management tasks more easily, swiftly, and efficiently. It also results in the creation of a paperless environment,” said 1time’s Chief Executive Officer, Rodney James.

An EFB is an electronic management device used onboard flights to simplify aviation operations and perform calculations such as fuel and performance data of the aircraft.

Apple iPad dominates Android tablets in enterprise markets

Apple’s iPad may be the dominant tablet in the consumer market, but it is also winning over the enterprise market at a much faster rate than its Android competitors.

Good Technology, a company that provides mobile device management services for many Fortune 500 companies, has revealed that 27 percent of the devices activated by its enterprise clients during the second quarter of this year were tablets. Apple’s iPad accounted for more than 95 percent of those tablets.

It is not an entirely surprising number, as many companies are now allowing employees to bring their own devices to the workplace and hook them up to the company infrastructure. “We attribute the large gap between iPad and Android tablet activations to the combination of user preference among our ?BYOD’ (Bring Your Own Device) users and large deployments of company-owned iPads, especially in verticals like financial services and healthcare,” said John Herrema, Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy at Good.

It is interesting that despite the availability of Android tablets like the Motorola XOOM or Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, Android activations actually declined for Good’s customers in the second quarter. Good does not have access to BlackBerry device activations, like the PlayBook tablet, since RIM controls all of the back-end of the BlackBerry system, though it seems a safe bet to say that far more iPads are in use in the enterprise than PlayBooks. Good does anticipate other tablets catching up to the iPad’s seemingly insurmountable lead, but it doesn’t expect that to happen until at least 2012.

iPad sales are “absolutely a frenzy,” Apple exec says

Apple has been barely able to keep up with demand for its iPad 2 tablet — exactly the kind of difficulty every manufacturer dreams of.

“We sold every iPad we could make,” chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer said during Apple’s fiscal Q3 earnings call Tuesday. The company has around 1.05 million iPads in channel inventory, well below the company’s target range of 4 to 6 weeks’ inventory.

“Sales of the iPad 2 have absolutely been a frenzy,” said Apple chief operating officer Tim Cook.

Cook elaborated on iPad sales later in the call, saying that the company has come closer to meeting demand in the first week or two of the next quarter.

“As we stepped into July, we have been able to increase the supply further, and some SKUs in some countries are at a supply-demand balance,” Cook said.

“This is a good sort of problem to have,” he said.

Asked whether the iPad was cannibalizing sales of the company’s more expensive computers, Cook acknowledged that there might be some overlap but suggested that it was cannibalizing Windows PC sales more than his own company’s computers.

“We believe that some people chose to buy an iPad over a Mac in the quarter, but we believe that even more people chose to bought an iPad over a Windows PC,” he said.

Still, the company is now making more revenue from iPads ($6 billion) than it is from Macs ($5.1 billion), as tech journalist Dan Frommer pointed out.

Oppenheimer said that it’s not just a consumer fad, either, stating that 86 percent of Fortune 500 companies are deploying iPads, up from 75 percent of companies on the Fortune 500 list in the last quarter.

“It doesn’t appear that other tablet makers have been able to get any traction to speak of,” Oppenheimer said.

CNN live news comes to iPad

Live news coverage from CNN and Headline News is now available on iPad and mobile devices to subscribers of certain paid TV services.

Time Warner, which owns CNN and Headline News, announced today that its regular news channel programming will be streamed live over the Internet and available for people to view on their laptops, smartphones, or tablets if they subscribe to certain paid TV services.

Cable, satellite, and telco TV providers offering the service to their subscribers include: AT&T, Comcast, Cox Dish Network, Suddenlink, and Verizon Communications. Notably missing from this list are Cablevision and Time Warner Cable. Time Warner Cable is the second largest cable operator in the country.

The live TV streaming from these channels is available through a browser at CNN.com and on dedicated apps for the Apple iPad and iPhone. Time Warner said the service will also be available for other smartphone and tablet operating systems later.

The way it works via a browser is that people can go to the CNN.com video page and click the “Live” tab. Then they’ll log in through their cable, satellite, or telecom provider with a username and password. Mobile device users can download the CNN App for iPad or the CNN App for iPhone and iPod Touch (or update their app to version 1.2 for iPhone, 1.1 for iPad), and authenticate in the same way.

Time Warner has been at the forefront of the “TV Everywhere” effort that allows people to watch TV programming as part of their existing paid TV subscriptions on their mobile devices. The company has already been offering its HBO Go service to people already subscribed to certain paid TV services, such as DirecTV.

The idea behind offering TV content on multiple screens, such as tablets and smartphones, is to keep TV viewers subscribed to paid services by offering them more variety and flexibility in how they view their favorite programs and channels.

“A principle goal for CNN is to make more of our content available to more people on more platforms, and CNN’s participation in the TV Everywhere initiative is another step forward in that effort,” Jim Walton, president of CNN Worldwide, said in a statement. “We have long believed that our growth depends on keeping CNN essential and relevant to consumers wherever they are.”

But making content available to consumers in this way isn’t as easy as it seems. Some media companies have been battling paid TV providers over rights to offer certain video content on mobile devices. Viacom has actually sued Time Warner Cable and Cablevision for offering its content on its iPad apps. Viacom and Time Warner have suspended their lawsuit as they try to come up with a solution.

A big part of the dispute is that media companies feel they are entitled to additional compensation for allowing their content to be viewed on mobile devices, even when those devices are limited to viewing content in the home. Meanwhile, cable operators believe that their current licensing deals should apply to content viewed at home regardless of the device.

Media executives are also concerned that viewing TV shows on a tablet or laptop will not be counted as part of the current Nielsen TV rating, which is used to set advertising rates. Those issues are currently being worked out.