So, here we are. 12 months after the announcement of the first iPad from Apple and the announcement for iPad 2 has been made. So, let's dive straight in. What are the differences between iPad 1 and iPad 2?
Well in all honesty they are not all that different. iPad 2 is thinner and lighter than its predecessor which some people are incredibly happy about.
Secondly the new iPad will come with a gyroscope built in, which though I'm sure has some uses here and there, is not that much of a big deal in my opinion.
And the final biggy; the iPad comes with both a front and rear facing camera.
Other than that though, there's not much else (oh and the new iPad will come in white. Yay?) The memory options remain the same, and the price remains the same. The original iPad is of course going to see a drop in price.
For me, the big sellers are the software. iOS 4.3 is going to be released next Friday with improved Safari performance being on addition. Another, which I think is rather awesome is the ability to home-share through your iPhone and iPad. So in more simple terms... Any music, videos, audio-books, podcasts etc that is stored on your PC or Mac can now be streamed from that machine directly to your iOS device through your wi-fi network.
Another big sell for the new iOS is the ability to tether through your iPhone. For those that have an iPhone 4 will no longer need to shell out on a 3G iPad to have internet on the go, they will be able to use their iPhone's 3G signal instead! (I knew there was a reason I didn't buy the 3G iPad). Unfortunately, it is only limited to those with iPhone 4 so I will have to wait until my contract on my iPhone 3G runs out before I can enjoy that feature.
On top of the iOS 4.3 release, Apple will also be releasing and iPad version of iMovie and GarageBand! For me, these two pieces of software are the things that I am most excited about (but a lot of that is due more to my creative tendencies.
So, will I be upgrading to the iPad 2? No. As I expected, there was nothing really worth upgrading for other than the camera if you want one. It would seem that all the software that Apple has shown off this week will still work on the original iPad (although apparently iMovie is the only exception).
With that in mind I'm going to wait to see what they do with the iPad 3. Instead of selling my current iPad and then forking out the difference for the iPad 2 I will instead go out and buy a high quality camera and use that for all the photo/video recording I need. And then using my Camera Connection Kit I will transfer it all over to my iPad anyway. (I'm hoping that if I download iMovie that it will still let me import and edit footage that way. My assumption is that the only reason they have said it is only compatible with iPad 2 is due to the fact that as iPad 1 lacks a camera it will not be fully functional, but here's hoping).
So final verdict, for those that didn't trust the iPad in its first incarnation, hold off for a couple of weeks for iPad 2. For those that own an iPad 1 and some form of digital camera...just wait for iPad 3 as your first gen iPad can do everything except camera related goodness (such as FaceTime). If you don't own a digital camera, just go out and buy one, it will probably be cheaper to get a camera that works just as well.
If nothing else though, I have just rediscovered how awesome the iPad is! Keep it up Apple, I'm looking forward to see how you tempt me with iPad 3!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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