» Apple iPad

Sweet! Advantages of the Samsung Galaxy Tab

Tony Viteritto — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 21:44:29 +0000

Due to Apple’s resounding success with its iPad, electronics makers have been scrambling to get their feet into the doors of the tablet market. The Galaxy Tab represents Samsung’s foray into the sector and offers functionality and style wrapped up into one attractive offering. Upon initial inspection, one notices that the Galaxy Tab is significantly smaller in size and weight than its Apple counterpart. But, even though it is small in stature, the device packs quite a punch.

For many people, the smaller size of the Galaxy Tab will be an advantage over the iPad. The tablet will certainly not fit into a person’s pocket, but it is easily more portable and lighter to carry than the iPad. People who are on the go a lot will appreciate this fact after toting it around for a while.

At its heart, the Samsung Galaxy Tab is powered by a 1 GHz processor, which is more than enough to run the latest apps. Also, the tablet runs on Google’s mobile operating system called Android 2.2, or Froyo. One advantage of running the Android operating system is that the Galaxy Tab has phone capabilities unlike the iPad. In addition, the Galaxy Tab also supports Flash Player, allowing users to play flash movies, which cannot be done on an iPad without jail breaking it.

Another advantage that the Samsung Galaxy has over the iPad is that it has two built in cameras. The Galaxy has a front facing 1.3 megapixel camera as well as a 3 megapixel rear camera that is self focusing. The rear camera also has an LED flash. In comparison, the iPad does not have a built in camera, instead requiring owners to buy a separate attachment.

Apple iPad Pre-order rumored to go on sale this week!

Ray Morrison — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 19:46:19 +0000

As most of you know Apple has announced the iPad. Apple said that the iPad wifi will start to ship in late March. Rumors on App Advice, say Apple will start the iPad pre-sale in the coming week as early as late February.

Since the iPad is a new kind of device, I’m not sure if I will just use it at home or actually take it with me on the road. In latter case I would need the 3G option or find a wifi hotspot. My geek hormones, responsible for the urge to own what’s new, will most likely win and I will just put in my pre-order the iPad as soon as Apple lets me and get the Wifi iPad.

Will the Apple iPad ship with a camera?

Alyssa Duval — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:46:14 +0000

Does the iPad have a digital video camera? Looking at a screen-grab from the official video of the event shows nothing but a small dot above the display, opposite of the home button. These showed an iPad locked down in a security frame, and you could clearly see the camera in it’s bezel.

Still not convinced? Checkout this this screenshot from the iPad emulator in the new SDK (software development kit)?

It sure looks like the iPad thinks it has a camera… The last, and oddest, piece of the puzzle comes from Mac and iPod repair company Mission Repair. The company has already received replacement parts for fixing iPads, even though the 1st device doesn’t ship until March. On the company’s blog, employee Ryan Arter has posted pictures which show a spot for a camera in the main iPad frame:

This is accompanied by a picture of the frame alongside the camera from a MacBook. A perfect fit. The only thing that seems weird on this last point is that Apple is already sending out parts. Well their not. The company who makes the parts, in this case frames, are. Not Apple.

So why didn’t Steve Jobs announce the camera already? We think Apple is leaving it out to meet the rather severe price restrictions it has set for the product line. Jobs is most likely using the 1 gen iPad as a prototype on stage, just as he did with the iPhone. A prototype would be likely to have the camera intact.

If everything adds up, we’d guess that the first generation iPad will still ship without a camera. After all, did all the reporters who got hands-on time with the iPad after the launch really all miss an iSight camera? Probrably not. And remember the third-gen iPod Touch, which was expected to have a camera and then shipped without it, but with a camera-shaped hole.

Perhaps Apple will pull a “one more thing” closer to the launch date, or not.

Top 5 Apps we’d like to see come to the Apple iPad

Ray Morrison — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 16:31:57 +0000

Now that the iPad had finally been unveiled you might be wondering what the top 5 apps would be great for it. Since the iPad has a much larger 9.7-inch capacitive touchscreen and multitouch capabilities, it could add a lot to some of the most popular apps and games in the App Store. We’ve collected 5 current iPhone apps (games mostly) that we think will especially look good on the iPad.

1) Facebook – Apple’s senior vice president iPhone software, Scott Forstall mentioned in yesterdays announcement that Facebook would be a great addition to the iPad. Considering that anyone with a decent amount of Facebook friends can access a wealth of profiles, updates, photos, plus much more, you can use it to be the hippest stalker ever.

2) Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars – We already knew that this popular game plays well on the iPhone 3GS and the Nintendo DS. But imagine blowing it up to twice the size. Shootouts, explosions will be much more epic on the iPad. The touchiest GTA installment just got more crazy.

3) Madden NFL 10 – Madden on the iPhone just isn’t Madden. Those who have been playing Madden in their living rooms for years know that the mobile version of the iconic game is fun, but the screen’s a tad too small to really lay out those plays. With the iPad, the Madden franchise will finally get a chance to play ball on the biggest portable screen yet.

4) The Sims 3 – If you’ve been looking to walk your Sim around with more precision and take in more details in this very successful adaptation, the iPad will be a good option.

5) SimCity – The iPhone version of SimCity only had one glaring problem—the screen was a tad small to do everything you wanted to do, especially if you had big sausage fingers. The iPad’s touchscreen will probably do the game some much needed justice. Now you can build your city with the peace of mind that you’ll be able to build roads precisely when that massive fire breaks out.