The 7 Commandments of Apple’s iPad

By Amanda Lian

After much thought and nerve-wreaking ideas, I come to think of the newest addition to the Apple family as the 7 commandments to a happy relationship. Why 7 you may ask? Because… And a huge because Apple said that it is an in-between product of the iPhone and MacBook which does 7 wonderful essential things better. What are these things? They are the Internet, Email, Video, Music, Games and eBooks. How do you feel about this issue? We want to know. But before that, I will tell you my experiences.

Well now, Apple has gotten everyone talking and the industry abuzz with the announcement of its new iPad. Some dubbed it just another product larger than an iPhone, while others are seeing it as something which they might actually be inclined to use. Whichever the case, I am privy to some conversations I’ve had with a techy person, another who uses his notebook only reluctantly as required for work and one more, a close family member who is a self-proclaimed Luddite. Maybe, we will talk about my friend’s mother too, if we ever get to it.

It is just so surreal when everyone else is excited about computing except the geeks and the nerds.

Techy person

I went home on the day that Apple was going to announce the iPad. As most of my friends were based in Singapore, it was almost 2am over there when they heard the news. Most of them stayed up in anticipation or for work, but this friend came to me the following morning saying “I was so disappointed. The hype was too overrated!”

Me: Well, don’t you like the iPad? Or the idea in that sense?

Techy person: No! If it is for eBooks, then I would get e-ink as it is better for the eyes in long periods of reading. If it is for other things, my notebook is able to do those things better and more efficiently. I guess the only thing that I’m excited about would be the A4 chip.

Being a geek myself, I can understand why most people will think this way. I mean, yes, the iPad looks pretty and such but what it does, do not meet the needs and demands of the technically inclined niche.

Technophobe

My friend is an engineer and uses a notebook only if there is a necessary need for it. If she is able to shy away from technology altogether, that would be the greatest day of her life. Unfortunately, reality is harsh and she has to use it for work purposes daily.

While she shuns away from the iPhone, when the iPad was announced, she called me immediately. Sounding superbly excited and thrilled, she said, “…iPad is so beautiful and do you think I could get used to it? I haven’t really played with the iPhone yet but I feel that it is really easy to use. Is the iPad similar? Would you recommend me to buy it when it comes out in Singapore?”

Being bombarded with so many questions at a time, I began to realize that the iPad has indeed created a stir. She do not normally go gaga over technology and this is the first time in the 20 plus years that I’ve known her, that she actually reacted so enthusiastically over a new Apple product.

Luddite

For the sake of some people, a Luddite is someone who denies technology altogether. Do not be alarmed, there are definitely individuals still like that in good, old Singapore. And it happens to be one of my friends. Be it choice or circumstance, this friend of mine has never used a notebook before. Even his mobile is the really basic one which you can purchase easily from any 7-eleven stores in Singapore. So when he took the initiative to ask me about the iPad, I was kind of shocked.

He actually thought the iPad would work for him. In his words, he said “looks good on the outside, easy to use on the inside.” And for him to fork out that amount of cash is not a problem. This is not a usual phenomena, it is a sensation. Sadly, I do not feel the same.

And there we go again…

The iPad is indeed of paramount importance to everyone, EXCEPT us. Somehow, someday, until we see a MacBook Air cut in half (which in our impression is the new tablet and the one we always wanted), we will wait and see. We would urge you not to purchase it just yet, if you really, really wanted a set as Apple had spoken of the prices staying nimble, which means good news for us, the consumers. If the sale of the first generation is not ideal, Apple WILL cut the price to sell more, just like the iPhone where it was reduced by $200 within the first few months of sale.

Afterthoughts

Watching the industry react, the voices of the people, and the overall atmosphere, this is going to be a blast for me – just seeing it unfold before my very existence.

As for my friend’s mother, she kept saying she was too old to learn how to use a computer. Till this day, she only knows how to push the power button on the CPU. But after the entry of Apple’s iPad, she was motivated to learn how to use the email and the internet! Wow! For now, we will await the landing of Apple’s iPad on Singapore’s sandy, sunny shores.

Specifications:

·        Height: 9.56 inches (242.8 mm)

·        Width: 7.47 inches (189.7 mm)

·        Depth: 0.5 inch (13.4 mm)

·        Weight: 1.5 pounds (0.68 kg) Wi-Fi model; 1.6 pounds (0.73 kg) Wi-Fi + 3G model

·        9.7-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen Multi-Touch display with IPS technology

·        1GHz Apple A4 custom-designed, high-performance, low-power system-on-a-chip

·        Up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching video, or listening to music

Apple iPad review

By Claudine Beaumont from Telegraph

My first impressions of the device are largely positive. Apple has once again built a product that looks good and feels great in the hand, and the familiar user interface, borrowed from the iPhone and iPod touch, is perfectly suited to the bigger screen. The iPad whizzes along, opening applications, re-sizing web pages, and zooming in and out of maps almost instantaneously.

It’s a great, fun gaming platform, and it’s lovely to view full-size web pages while browsing the internet. Developers, no doubt, are already rubbing their hands with glee about the apps and services they could tailor specifically for this device.

The new touch-optimised iWork suite is beautifully realised, making it quick and easy — and, dare I say, fun — to piece together a spreadsheet or presentation. It also helps to elevate the iPad to more than just a plaything.

As Steve Jobs said during his keynote, if you’re going to create a third category of device, between the smartphone and the laptop, then it needs to be better than either for certain tasks. In many areas, this is true for the iPad — web browsing is much better on the iPad than the iPhone, just because of the bigger screen, and physically flicking through photos, music and movies is just more enjoyable on the iPad than a laptop.

But in several crucial areas, the iPad falls short of the functionality that would have made this more than just a large iPod touch. The lack of Flash support is a major issue; the iPad’s big screen is designed to make the best of multimedia content and the full-screen browsing experience, but the sight of little blue squares dotted around web pages where embedded video should have been just makes you feel like you’re being short-changed.

The iPad’s inability to multi-task could also severely hamper its appeal. It’s being pitched as a portable device that you could kick back and use on the sofa at home, but you can’t listen to your Spotify playlists at the same time as writing an email, or browse the web while using an instant-messaging app to chat with friends. It’s one or other, just as it is on the iPhone and iPod touch, but for the extra money you’re paying for the iPad, you expect something more akin to a laptop computing experience.

Read rest of article here

Gallery: Sitex 2009

Background:

IT exhibition at Singapore EXPO from 26 to 29 November 2009, 11am to 9pm daily.

 

Best deals at SITEX 2009

Written by Our Correspondent

SITEX IT Exhibition at Singapore EXPO

Date: 26 – 29 November 2009

Time: 11am to 9pm daily

NETBOOKS

1. LG X130-L

Price: $499
Specs: Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz Processor, Windows XP Home Edition, 10.1 LED LCD, Wireless LAN, 160 GB HDD, 6 Cell Battery
Free Gifts: LG Slip case and LG External DVD-Writer.

2. Samsung N120

Price: $599
Specs: Intel Atom N280 1.66GHz Processor, Windows XP Home Edition, 10.1 LED LCD, Wireless Lan, 160 GB Hard Disk and integrated Bluetooh, 6 Cell Battery

3. Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2

Price: $499
Specs: Intel Atom N280 1.66Ghz Processor, Windows XP Home Edition, 10.1 LED LCD, Wireless Lan, 160 GB Hard Disk, 6 Cell Battery

Notebooks

1. Lenovo G450

Price: $1099
Specs: Intel Centrino Core 2 Duo Processor P8700 (2.53GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 3MB L2 Cache), Windows 7 Home Edition, 2GB DDR3 SDRAM, 320GB HDD, nVidia GeForce GT210M 512MB, 14″ WXGA LED

2. Acer Asspire 4937-653G32Mn

Price: $899
Specs: Intel Centrino Core 2 Duo Processor T6500 (2.1GHz, 800Mhz, 2MB L2 Cache), Windows 7 Home Edition, 3GB RAM, 320GB HDD, 14″ HD LCD
Free gift: Norman Security Suite

3. Compaq Presario Lightweight series

Price: $999
Specs: Intel Core 2 Duo T6500 (2.1 GHz), Windows 7 Home Edition, 320GB HDD, 13.3″ HD LED, nVidia GeForce 512MB

Desktops

1. Compaq Presario CQ3170D Desktop PC

Price: $799
Specs: Intel Pentium Dual Core Processor E6300, Windows 7 Home Edition, 2GB DDR3 RAM, 320GB Hard Drive, Integrated Intel GMA X4500 Graphics

2. Compaq Presario CQ3180D Desktop PC

Price: $999
Specs: Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E7600, Windows 7 Home Edition, 2GB DDR3 RAM, 320GB Hard Drive, ATI Radeon HD 4350 512 MB Graphics

3. Acer Aspire M1800

Price: $799
Specs: Intel Pentium Processor E6500 (2.93 GHz, 1066 MHz, FSB, 2MB L2 Cache), Windows 7 Home Edition, 2G RAM, 320GB HDD, 18.5″ LCD monitor

Digital cameras

1. Sony W180 Cyber-shot

Price: $279
Specs: 10.1 mega pixels, optical zoom 3x, LCD screen 2.7″

2. Sony W220 Cyber-shot

Price: $349
Specs: 12.1 mega pixels, optical zoom 4x, LCD screen 2.7″

Camrecorders

1. JVC GZ-MS95

Price: $349
Specs: Standard definition, 35x optical zoom

2. Legria FS200

Price: $669
Specs: Standard definition, 37x optical zoom optical image stabilizer

3. JVC GZ-HM200

Price: $899
Specs: High definition, 20x optical zoom, face detection

4. Canon Legria HF20

Price: $1,799
Specs: High definition, 15x optical zoom, 3.89 mega pixels optical image stabilizer.

Massive crowd on opening day of Sitex

Written by Our Correspondent

Though it is a working day today, thee is a already huge turnout at Sitex in the morning. The 4-day consumer IT exhibition is held at the Singapore EXPO Halls 5 and 6 from 26 to 29 November 2009 beween 11am and 9pm daily.a

When your correspondent arrived at 11.10am in the morning, the car parks a Halls 5 and 6 are already full and he had to make a detour to park further away at Hall 7.

Sitex has lined up exclusive product launches, special offers, lucky draws and other goodies answering to every gadget need. There are about 150 exhibitors with big names like Samsung, Sony, Sharp, LG, Canon, Acer, Lenovo and Toshiba taking part.

Though this year’s show is taking up less space – 21,000 sq m, against last year’s 21,300 sq m, the organizers SingExhibition is confident of surpassing last year’s $45 million in receipts and 826,000 visitors.

The halls are packed with Singaporeans and foreigners alike from all walks of life looking for a cheap bargain. The Starhub booth, which offers notebooks as gifts for its broadband, has the longest queue.

The prices are on average $200 to $300 below the market price. For those looking to purchase a desktop or laptop, there are plenty of choices available.

The lowest price for a Netbook is the LG X130 which fetches a price of only $499 with an external DVD drive as a gift. On the high end, one can get a Lenovo laptop with a Intel Core Duo 2 Processor of 2.53GHz and a DDR3 RAM of 2GB at only $1099.

For digital cameras, Sony Cybershot is going for as low as $349 for its latest 12.1 megapixel series while JVC offers a HD Camrecorder (GZ-HM 200) at only $899.

To those of you who are driving to the EXPO over the long weekend, you are advised to arrive here at least one hour before the opening time to secure a parking slot. If you are going in the evenings, it is more convenient to take the MRT and drop off directly at the EXPO station.

The Temasek Review will be compiling a series of good buys at the Sitex in due course, so stay tuned on our site here.