Review: PressReader brings 2100+ Newspapers Directly to You

The world is moving away from traditional mediums. Fast. Mail have become email. Phone calls have become Skype. And now newspapers are slowly going digital. But going to each newspaper or magazine's website or app can be difficult and inconsistent. That's where PressReader comes in.

PressReader is a multi-platform service that brings over 2100 newspapers and magazines directly to your iPhone. Or any other platform you could think of. PressReader offers apps for Android (Gingerbread or Honycomb), the BlackBerry Playbook, the Apple iPad and iPhone, and both Windows Phone and Windows 7 Slate PC. They also offer apps for both Windows and Mac, as well as legacy versions for both BlackBerry phones and Windows Mobile phones. So, yeah, they've got an app for any device you'll ever use. And all the devices you'll never use. And they're all free apps.

But what exactly does PressReader do? It allows you to subscribe to and read specific newspapers and magazines on your device. They offer over 2100 newspapers from 95 countries and 54 languages. But it's not like they're all newspapers you've never heard of, from countries you've never been to, in languages you have no idea how to read. It's not like that at all. PressReader's got some big name newspapers, like The Washington Post, the Daily Mail, and USA Today, among many others.

Playing with the iOS version of the app, I found it simple and easy to use. It has a nice slider at the bottom of the page, allowing for users to swipe through specific sections of the newspaper. You can attempt to read the newspaper straight, by zooming in on the specific article you're interested in. However, tapping on a headline will bring up the story in an extremely easy-to-read format. Any continuations of the story on a different page will appear there, right below the first half of the story, as a convenience.

The iOS app allows you to print either the screen you are seeing, or the entire page in the newspaper via AirPrint. You can use text-to-speech to listen to your newspaper, and the voices used are surprisingly un-robotic, although they can err on certain things. For example, instead of saying "10 million dollars", when it sees $10M, it would say "10 dollars M".

The service costs $0.99 for a single download of one issue of any newspaper, or $29.95 a month for unlimited downloads. 

Overall, the app seems pretty nice. I found no shortage of reading material, and most of the newspapers I'm interested in were available, including my hometown paper, The Denver Post. The one paper obviously missing is The New York Times.

If you only read a couple newspapers and magazines regularly, checking to see if they have individual apps might be a good idea, as they'll be more personalized and work better with that specific paper than PressReader. However, if you read many papers regularly, or even if you just want to be able to look up an article any time someone mentions one, PressReader is a definite download.

$0.99 is not too bad for a single issue, but buying that every day might be a bit expensive. $29.95 a month is pretty expensive, and while it may be worth it if you're subscribing to many newspapers or magazines, if you just want to subscribe to one or two, it's probably too expensive. It'd be nice if there was some sort of middle ground where one could subscribe to one or two newspapers for something less than $30 a month, and more affordable than buying each issue for $0.99.

PressReader is a great service overall, there are a few flaws, but if you can get past them, PressReader could be a great way to digitize your newspapers, slowly shy away from paper, and simplify your newspaper and magazine consumption.

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New iPad available in Stores Friday, March 16th

The new, third-generation iPad, over-viewed in this Gadgetator article, will hit store shelves tomorrow, March 16th.

If you want to get your hands on one as early as possible, waiting in line at an Apple store, as Mashable says, may not be the best choice. Apple stores will start selling the new device at 8:00 AM, local time, while 24-hour Walmarts will begin to hand out the device at 12:01 AM. The Best Buy at Union Square in New York City will also have the iPad at midnight.

It seems interesting that Apple would allow retailers to begin to sell the iPad before they themselves do, but it may just be another noticeable difference in Apple in the post Steve Jobs era.

Will you be waiting at a Walmart or Best Buy at midnight for the newest iPad? Share your thoughts in the comments.  

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The New iPad

We've all been waiting for the next generation iPad. Rumors about it have been floating around basically since the launch of the iPad 2, and now those rumors are all either confirmed or denied. Mostly confirmed.

With the new iPad, Apple is really focusing on graphics and images. The new iPad sports a Retina display, Apple's proprietary term for a display that, when viewed at a normal distance, the pixels are not discernible. The Retina display is also found in the iPhone 4 and 4S, as well as the iPod touch 4th generation. Although the iPad has less pixels per inch (PPI) than the iPhone and iPod touch, it has a 2048x1536 resolution, making it a higher resolution than even an HDTV.

The A5X Chip

The graphics are also greatly improved, as the new iPad boasts the Apple A5X chip, a dual-core system-on-a-chip with quad-core graphics. This makes high-quality games look much better, and really works well with the new Retina display.

The third feature focusing on images and graphics is the new camera built into the iPad. The new iPad sports the same front-facing Facetime camera as the previous iPad 2, however, the rear-facing camera is greatly improved. The new rear-facing camera, or, as Apple calls it, the iSight camera, features a 5MP sensor, as well as the same 5-lens optics system as the iPhone 4S, to give much-higher quality images than the iPad 2. The  iSight also allows for 1080p HD video-recording, with built-in video stabilization. The interesting thing about the new camera is that Apple is calling it an iSight camera. The iSight name was originally used for the front-facing web-cams on the Macs, and was later replaced with the name "Facetime". Until now it had seemed that the iSight brand was killed.

The three features above all really work together to give users a great visual experience on the new iPad.

The iPad now also supports 4G LTE, on both Verizon and AT&T, giving much faster wireless speeds than before. One will have to buy an iPad specifically for the 4G carrier they want to use, and the 4G iPads also support 3G, if one does not live in a 4G LTE supported area.

The features above are all known to be battery-drainers, but Apple claims the same 10 hour battery life as the previous iPads, while only making the iPad a bit heavier and thicker, at 9.4mm thick, and 1.44 pounds heavy.

Voice Dictation Built into the Keyboard

Another new feature in the iPad is Voice Dictation, powered by Siri technology. Although you won't get the same Siri personal assistant you find in the iPhone 4S, the new iPad does have a voice dictation feature built into the software keyboard, so you'll be able to dictate text instead of typing in any app.

Along with the iPad announcement, Apple announced updates to Garage Band and iMovie for the iPad, as well as a completely new app to complete the iLife suite. iMovie now allows for you to create, as the Apple press release says, "Hollywood-style trailers as you shoot HD video". Garage Band also has a new feature, called Jam Sessions, which allows a group to wirelessly connect and record music together. iPhoto, a new Apple app, allows grouping of photos and a great editing feature. All three of these apps cost $4.99 each.

The new iPad is available for pre-order now, and will be available to buy March 16th. The cost remains the same, starting at $499, so if you want one, pre-order now at Apple.com. The iPad 2 is also still available, at a reduced price of $399.

Interestingly, Apple is veering off from it's naming scheme, as they are calling the latest version of the iPad "The New iPad", instead of iPad 3 or iPad HD, as some thought it would be called. It will be interesting to see whether or not Apple continues this new way of naming devices with the next iPhone.

What do you think? Will you be buying a new iPad? Let us know in the comments.

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Apple getting ready to release iPad mini in 2012

The latest rumor making the rounds is that Apple are getting ready to release an iPad Mini to fight off competition from the Amazon Kindle Fire. The Kindle Fire has been selling well since the pre-orders started a couple of weeks ago, mainly due to its budget price tag.

According Analyst Brian White of Ticonderoga Securities, who has been touring Chinese manufacturing faculties and talking with component suppliers, an iPad Mini is set to be released by Apple in early 2012 which will be cheaper than the current iPad.

“We believe this lower priced iPad could be priced in the mid-to-high-$200 range. We expect this will be followed by a much more powerful, feature rich standard-priced iPad 3 in (the second quarter of 2012).” said White in a note to investors.

Reports are also suggesting the iPad Mini may not be a smaller tablet but a stripped back version of the current iPad with less memory. In October 2010 Steve Jobs criticized rival tablet manufacturers who were selling 7-inch tablets, saying they should ship sandpaper with their 7-inch tablets so customers could file down their fingers to the point where they could hit smaller targets on the screen.

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Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 banned in Australia thanks to Apple lawsuit

Ever since it all started back in April, it has been interesting to watch the legal battles and patent disputes between Apple and its iDevice parts supplier Samsung. Personally, I enjoy it best with a bowl of popcorn on my lap. The latest happening between the two companies happens to be a big win for Apple. The court has granted their request for a temporary injunction to be put on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia, which means Samsung will not be able to sell the tablet in the continent down under.

Apple says that the Galaxy Tab 10.1 infringes three of Apple’s patents and copies the design of its iOS devices. Because of that, Samsung has to delay the tablet in Australia by over two months, which means it will miss the crucial holiday shopping rush. A judge ruled that until the patent wars between Apple and Samsung are resolved in a later trial, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 cannot be sold in Australia.

Samsung will try to see if they can sell a modified version of the tablet (sans the disputed features) and if not, Australians might never see the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in their stores. However, Samsung was able to modify their products in the past, allowing them to be sold in the Netherlands following another dispute with Apple. Either way they will not go down without a fight, they released this statement today:

Samsung will continue its legal proceeding against Apple’s claim in order to ensure our innovative products remain available to customers.

This is part of our ongoing legal proceeding against Apple’s claim. Samsung is also confident it can prove Apple’s violation of Samsung’s wireless technology patents through a cross-claim filed on September 16, 2011 with the Federal Court of Australia, New South Wales.

Our wireless standard patents are essential for mobile business. We will continue to legally assert our intellectual property rights against those who violate Samsung’s patents and free ride on our technology.

This isn’t the first country that Samsung’s tablet is banned from. It’s also not allowed in Germany (Europe’s biggest economy). An appeal hearing is expected soon in that case.

Of course, Apple isn’t the only one dishing out requests for injunctions. Last week, Samsung said it would try to ban the iPhone 4S in France and Italy, saying that the company infringes upon Samsung’s 3G patents

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ASUS Transformer Tablet Transforms Into a Notebook

Apparently, the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer TF101 Tablet lets you eat your cake and have it too. An optional docking station transforms it into - or so ASUS claims - a full-fledged notebook PC, replete with a QWERTY keyboard. The dock includes its own battery that is claimed to boost the standby time from 6 hours to 16 hours. This is in addition to a multi-touch touchpad, two USB ports, a 3.5 mm audio jack, and a built-in SD card reader - all included in the optional attachment. Moreover, the last three features are present on the tablet too.

The "iPad like gadget", as eloquently put by the press release, weighs in at 680 grammes and sports a thickness of 13 mm. The tablet is powered by NVIDIA's Tegra 2 dual-core processor and ships preloaded with Google's Android Honeycomb tablet OS. The TF101 is loaded with freebies such as the Polaris Office 3.0 mobile office suite and a year's worth of ASUS WebStorage for your distributed computing (otherwise known as the "cloud") needs. ASUS has priced the tablet at an MRP of Rs 32,999.

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Facebook To Launch "Something Awesome" Next Week

Facebook, the leading social networking website, is poised to launch an allegedly ground-breaking feature next week, according to Chief Executive and Founder Mark Zuckerberg. It is quite likely that the new feature could be related to mobiles or tablets.

Speaking to reporters, Zuckerberg said that the company has planned to "...launch something awesome" next week. Without divulging much information about what this feature would be, he added that the project had been developed at the company's 40-person Seattle office, which is the only major engineering centre outside of its Palo Alto, California headquarters.

It was from this office that Facebook had developed its mobile site, which was launched in March. The expectation of a mobile or tablet related feature being announced next week is therefore not surprising. There have also been rumours that the company is going to develop a photo-sharing app for the iPad. Facebook has declined to comment further.

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Apple Unveils iCloud, iOS 5, Shows off Mac OSX Lion

It's that time of year again! Apple holds a developer's conference every year in San Francisco called WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference, discussing, usually from more of an app developer's point of view, some of the new products or services that Apple is creating. This year's event was sold out in less than ten hours, and tickets weren't cheap either, so we'll see what they paid to see.


Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO (Currently on medical leave), with the help of some fellow Apple employees, announced three new products/services, and showed off one more, that had already been announced. None of these three products are actual physical products, but they are just as interesting.

Apple's iCloud logo

iCloud: The first product announced is called iCloud, and is an online service similar to the current, and slowly phasing  out, Apple service Mobile Me. iCloud is an online service that stores and syncs "your music, photos, apps, documents, and more", as written on the Apple website. The service then syncs all of that data with any other internet-connected Apple device. iCloud will also work on a Windows 7 or Windows Vista device will iTunes. Best of all, it's all free, for up to 5GB of storage.

iCloud will store any music bought via the iTunes Store, but you will also be able to store music you got any other way, be it a ripped CD or the Amazon MP3 store, for $24.99 a year. iCloud does this by scanning the song and matching it with an existing song in it's library of over 18 million songs. iCloud now knows you have the "rights" to the song, and will stream it at your command. This won't work for any song not in the library of 18 Million, so if you have music you created yourself, or an unpublished remix of an existing track, this won't work. One of the major benefits of this service, though, is the fact that if you have a song saved as a very low quality track, iCloud will play it back as the 256Kbps quality that iTunes currently offers.

iCloud in Action

iCloud also will take any picture you take with your iPhone, upload it to the cloud, and sync it with any of your other devices. The service lets you see your already purchased apps, and allows you to download an app again, for free on up to five devices. iBooks will also be synced between devices, as well as any documents created with iWorks, which apple just released the iPhone version of.

Another really important feature, iCloud backs up all of the data on your iPhone or iPod touch over the air, so there is no need to connect your device to a computer.

iCloud will be available for free this fall, along with iOS 5, which will be discussed later in the post.

Mac OSX Lion: After discussing iCloud, Jobs handed over the presentation to Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, who talked a little bit about the latest edition of Mac OSX, called Lion.

Mac OSX Lion will be available as a 4GB download from the Mac App-Store, and will cost $29.99. Most of the new features in Lion, at least the ones that Apple showed off, were already talked about, and you can read my post about those here.

iOS 5: The last service talked about at today's keynote was iOS 5. iOS, Apples mobile operating system that's used on the iPhone and iPod touch, is updated every so often, but a major release, like iOS 5, is released only around once a year.

iOS 5 will be available in July as a free update for your iPod touch or iPhone, and will many new features. One of those is the "Notification Center".

The notification center is accessed by simply swiping down on the screen. This will show a list of notifications, including email, text messages, and notifications from other apps on your phone. Notifications will also no longer interrupt everything you are doing, rather they will just slide in above the app you are currently using, and disappear quickly. Notifications are also accessible from the lock screen, and you can easily respond to a notification from the lock screen.

Revamped Notifications for iOS 5

iMessage will replace the SMS app for the iPhone, and will also be available on the iPod touch. iMessage allows users to send text messages via their 3G data provider, or they can send free text messages over a data connection to anyone else with an Apple iOS device. Messages can also include pictures, sound, and video.

iMessage for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch

Newsstand, one of the new additions in iOS 5, is the iBooks for magazines. Newsstand differs from all other apps, because instead of opening up like a normal app, it opens as a regular folder currently in iOS would. The folder differs from a regular folder, as it contains digital magazines, instead of apps. The background in the Newsstand folder looks like the wooden bookshelf currently found in the iBooks app.

Newsstand, a folder of magazines

Reminders is a new app that will be found in iOS 5. Reminders allows one to set reminders for himself, and organize reminders in to do lists. Reminders syncs with iCloud, Outlook, and iCal, so your to do's will be everywhere.

Reminders for iOS 5

Although Twitter already has an iOS app, with iOS 5, it will be integrated as an app that comes with the device, similar to what Apple is doing already with YouTube. Twitter will now be integrated into many of the apps Apple already has on their devices, such as Safari, Photos, Camera, YouTube, and Maps. One will be able to tweet directly from any of those apps.

Twitter, integrated into iOS 5

The camera is now accessible from the lock screen, so if you ever have a photo you really need to capture, and fast, your iDevice will help you. The camera button on the lock screen even bypasses any passwords set on the device, so your camera will be ready when you need it. The camera also has a new grid that you can use for better alignment while taking a photo.

The camera app, accessible from the lock screen

The Photos app will also be improved, with new photo editing features such as crop, rotate, enhance, and remove red-eye. The camera app also allows you to organize the photos in albums right on your iDevice. Of course, with iCloud, your photos will be synced to all of your other Apple devices.

The new photos app, now with editing

Safari, Apple's built in web browser, is also improved with new tabbed web browsing, a reader function that strips out all of the junk from a website, and just shows you the content you want to see, as well as a reading list that allows you to save articles for reading later. Procrastination at it's finest.

Safari with tabbed browsing

With iOS 5, any iDevice is completely PC free, no computer is needed to set up the device, or to put on music movies, or anything else. The new iCloud service takes care of backup, so you can easily restore a device wirelessly.

Some of the smaller improvements include some new features for the Mail and Calendar apps, an update to GameCenter, Apple's gaming social network, which allows users to set a profile picture, WiFi sync, which allows you to sync music, podcasts, and videos wirelessly with your computer over a WiFi connection. Apple also added multitouch gestures to the iPad, which allow you to swipe through apps by swiping your fingers across the screen, etc. The iPad 2, with the iOS 5 update, will be able to mirror the image you are seeing on it's screen wirelessly, instead of using the HDMI cable currently available.

I myself got extremely excited when writing this post, because this update to iOS 5, along with iCloud, really takes care of many of the problems people had with iOS devices. The only negative is that iOS 5 and iCloud will only be available in the fall, so we've got a while to wait.

The reason that Apple announced these products so early is because they need developers to write apps for these platforms, which takes a while. Apple developers have access to Lion, iCloud, and iOS 5 now, and can start developing for those platforms. If these new products really have you salivating, you could shell out the $100 is costs to become an Apple developer, but you have to own a Mac computer.



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Nook follows Kindle with New York Times Paywall

     A paywall for the New York Times website was announced a few weeks ago, and went into affect March 28, 2011. This paywall allows users to read 20 stories per month, and then they must pay for the ability to read stories on the New York Times website. This paywall costs $15 per four weeks, but print subscribers can access all of the stories for free.
     Recently, Amazon announced that those who subscribe to the New York Times via the Kindle will get free access to the New York Times website, just like print subscribers. Now, Barnes and Noble is following suit. Any subscribers to the New York Times on the Nook will now be able to access all of the stories online without a paywall.
     Currently the New York Times iPad app is free and ad supported, but that is not going to last forever. I wonder what the iPad subscribers would get once they have to start paying.
      So if you subscribe to the New York Times via Kindle or Nook, have a good time surfing up the New York Times website, while I carefully count my stories, trying to keep it under 20.

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Motorola Xoom WiFi Only Official Dates

     Release dates for the Motorola Xoom WiFi, a 10 inch tablet running Honeycomb, have been leaked for quite a while, but today Motorola made it official. The WiFi only version of the Xoom will hit the shelves on March 27th, about two weeks from now, in seven major retailers. Amazon, Best Buy, Costco, RadioShack, Staples, WalMart, and a few Sam's Club locations will all be getting the WiFi only Xoom on launch date.
     The WiFi only Xoom has the same front and rear facing cameras, dual-core processor, and 10.1 inch screen as it's 3G counterpart. The Xoom is also one of the first tablets to run Honeycomb, which is the latest release of the popular mobile OS Android.
     The WiFi version of the Xoom will be going for $599, with a rumored $50 off at Sam's Club. The Apple iPad, another 10 inch tablet, is closely competing with the Xoom, and only costs $499. Customers who want a tablet would probably go for the iPad, which has a lower price, many more applications, and a few more features, but the more technically savvy might go for the Xoom, because android gives users more control over a lot more.

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Apple brings iAds to the iPad

iAds on iPad

     iAds is Apple's advertising service for mobile apps on the iOS platform. iAds allows ad creators to add videos, music, and even small interactive games to their ads. The iAd platform has been available on the iPhone and iPod Touch for a while, and the first iAd appeared on the iPad today.
     The first iAds advertisement on the iPad is an advertisement for Dove Men+Care. The maker of Dive Men+Care, a company called Unilever, put out the ad, which contains a basketball jumbo-screen with videos and interactive NCAA-themed trivia questions.
     iAds on the iPad is a good thing for both Apple and ad creators because it brings the interactive advertisement to a larger screen. This would be a great place for movie trailers, and other things that just look better on a larger screen.
  
Source: CNET

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New iPad 2 Owners Reporting Problem in the Display

     iPad 2 went on sale a few days ago in Apple stores around the United States, but people are already seeing problems. Some new iPad 2 owners are saying in the MacRumors forums that they have been seeing yellow spots beneath the screen's glass in one or two corners of the iPad's screen.

Yellow Tinge on iPad 2

     The iPhone 4 saw the same problem at it's launch. Apple said that the problem was temporary, and that it was just caused by the fact that the glue in the display didn't have time to evaporate yet. Apple rushed the iPad 2 because they wanted to get them in stores as early as possible, so the problem is temporary, and should go away shortly.

Light Leaking through the Edge

     Another problem people were seeing with the iPad 2 was that light was leaking through the outer edge of the iPad, and making a lighter spot on the LCD. The leaking light is more noticeable when the screen is dark, but still on. For example, a dark scene in a movie, or a app with a black background.
     The first problem with the yellow spots is definitely temporary. The light leaking through doesn't seem like a temporary issue, but it could possibly be linked with the first issue. It you have a light leaker, wait a few days and see if anything happens, and then, if it's still an issue, take it to the Apple store and see what they can do about it.

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iOS 4.3 Brings Lower Credit Card Bills

     Along with the iPad 2, Apple announced iOS 4.3. Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO, had said that 4.3 would be available on the same day as the iPad launch, March 11, but it came unexpectedly a few days before. I immediately downloaded 4.3 for my iPod Touch, and really, I didn't see much difference. Apparently parents with kids who spend thousands of dollars on in-app purchases will.
     There was a recent request for investigation of Apple from the FTC due to the fact that kids were charging their parents credit cards hundreds of dollars buying FarmVille cash, or really any other in-app purchase.

     There is a 15 minute time period before you have to enter your password again for buying anything through Apple ID. Without that period, it would be extremely annoying to have to enter your password six times when buying six songs or TV shows, but apps with in-app purchases have been taking advantage of that by offering in-app purchases soon into the launch of the app, hoping that kids will go for it, and not have to enter their parent's password.
     With iOS 4.3, a separate period of time can be set for in-app purchases. This means that you still will be able  to buy movies or songs within that 15 minute period, but in-app purchases would need a password.
     This mostly seems like Apple trying to get out of any FTC investigations, but it should make parents happy. Until they see that their kid spent $50 on Weird Al Yankovic music videos.

CrunchBase Information

Apple

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iPad 2 Announced

     The original iPad was, like Apple said, a magical and revolutionary device. It was the first majorly successful tablet PC, and started the 2011 "Tablet Rush".
     At an event earlier today, Apple's CEO Steve Jobs announced the next generation of the iPad: the iPad 2. Steve Jobs was, or maybe still is, on medical leave. There had been reports that he had only six weeks to live, and pictures of him walking out of treatment very thin, so everybody was relieved when he walked on stage, looking just like he did a year ago.
     The iPad 2 is thinner, lighter, and has a faster processor than it's predecessor. It comes in WiFi only and 3G models, both of which are 9.50 inches high, and 7.31 inches wide. They are also both only 0.34 inches thick, making it easier to hold than the original iPad. Also, the WiFi version weighs 1.33 pounds, with a the 3G  version weighing in at 0.1 pound heavier. Both the WiFi and 3G models come in 16, 32, and 64 gigabyte versions.
     Both the WiFi and 3G versions come with Bluetooth, making it good for wireless keyboards. The 3G version is available on both the AT&T and Verizon wireless carriers.
The iPad's 9.7 inch glossy capacitive touchscreen makes playing with the iPad a beautiful experience. There was some speculating about the iPad 2 bringing a better screen resolution, but it stays at the same 1024 by 768 resolution.
     The iPad 2 comes to the market as the first shipped dual-core tablet with Apple's new A5 processor. This 1GHz custom designed chip gives high performance without draining battery life. Another improvement is in the graphics, which Steve Jobs says are now up to 9 times faster.

Steve Jobs at iPad 2 Event

     It also has the expected front and rear facing cameras. The rear facing camera is capable of taking 720p video at 30 frames per second, while the front facing, VGA camera can also do 30 frames per second video. These cameras are great for the iPad's new integrated FaceTime app. FaceTime allows you to videochat with other iPad owners. It also has compatibly for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and Macs, so you can videochat with anyone in the Apple Universe.
     Despite the added features and slightly smaller body, the iPad 2 claims the same 10 hour battery life on WiFi as the original iPad, using 3G, the battery life should be about an hour less, at 9 hours.
     The iPad 2 also brings the gyroscope of the iPhone and iPod Touch to the iPad experience, which will greatly enhance the gaming experience on the iPad.

iPad 2 with FaceTime

     Some other new features include the ability to completely mirror the iPad's screen onto an HDTV via the $39 HDMI connector, the choice now of black or white, and a new kind of case.
     Last iPad, Apple did it's own case. The case was simple but efficient. Apple wanted to do another case this time, but one that wouldn't take away from the sleek design of the iPad, and also wouldn't add too much weight. They came up with the iPad Smart Cover.

            Smart Cover Closed

     The smart cover was designed long with the iPad 2, making it work extremely well with he device. The Smart Cover is a screen cover that attaches with magnets. There are magnets inside the iPad and on the cover, so it's easy to put on, and it also auto-aligns. The cover is made out of 5 flat attached by either Polyurethane or leather. It can be lifted up and folded to use as a stand for typing, or a stand for watching movies. The iPad also automatically wakes up when the cover is raised, and locks when it is placed back on. As an added bonus, the side of the cover touching the iPad screen is made of microfiber material, so the screen is cleaned anytime you open or close the device.
     A big thing Apple focused on in then announcement was the software. iPad 2 will run iOS 4.3 which brings some new features with it. 4.3 brings new AirPlay enhancements. AirPlay allows users to stream content from their iOS devices to an Apple TV or other compatible device. The update allows AirPlay from the Photos app, and makes streaming a lot easier, as it will scan your network for an Apple TV, so you don't have to set up anything.
     4.3 also brings Apples Nitro JavaScript engine to the iPad's Safari app, making web pages load a lot faster, especially ones with a lot of interactive JavaScript.
     Another cool feature in iOS 4.3 is iTunes Home Sharing. Home Sharing allows you to stream your entire library to your device over a shared WiFi connection. This seems like a cool feature, but if you ever have to leave your house, your content won't come with you.
     Apple also introduced two new apps, both available for $4.99 in the app store. These apps are iMovie and Garage Band. iMovie allows users to do complex movie editing, and offers cool themes. Garage band allows users to create and edit music, even without any musical talent.
     The iPad 2 brings many new features to a thinner, lighter package, and keeps the $499 price tag of the original iPad. Available on March 11th, the iPad 2 seems like a good buy for anyone who wants to spend $499 on a new device.
  
  
    
  

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