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“Interestingly,” said Riley, “the next most popular tablets are actually out-of-date – and that would be the original iPad, the iPad 1, and the Samsung Galaxy tab.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.