IPAD UPDATED
APPLE UNVEILS FASTER, SHARPER, PRETTIER VERSION OF ITS HOT-SELLING TABLET
Most people who own tablets use them to consume media, not to take photographs or edit video. Apple is hoping to change that with its next ipad.
The device that started the tablet craze is getting a facelift, and Apple held a large media gathering Wednesday to make the announcement at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.
Called simply the ipad, the latest version went on sale for pre-orders at the Apple Store immediately after the announcement. Its official launch date in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., France and Germany is March 16.
The new ipad will have a crisper display compared to the previous versions with a full high-definition 1080p resolution. The five-megapixel rear-facing camera will also capture video in full HD.
“The new ipad now has the highest resolution display ever seen on a mobile device with 3.1 million pixels, delivering razor-sharp text and unbelievable detail in photos and videos,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice-president of Worldwide Marketing.
The company also added a faster processor and a quadruple-core graphics processor, as the device has become very popular with gamers.
The ipad will support the new long-term evolution cellular network, and data plans will be available on Rogers, Telus and Bell. The Wi-fi-only version will sell for $519 for the 16-gigabyte model, while the 16GB LTE model will start at $649. It will be $100 more expensive for 32GB models, and $200 more for 64GB models.
Wednesday’s 90-minute presentation was hosted by Apple CEO Tim Cook. Wearing jeans, a black buttondown shirt and running shoes, the man who took over from co-founder Steve Jobs after his death last fall spoke at length about the success of the ipad, calling it the poster child of the post-pc era.
He said Apple sold 15.4 million ipads in the last quarter, which the research firm Gartner estimates was more than any personal computers sold by any other vendor.
In a recent speech to investors, Cook predicted the ipad will eventually outsell standard computers.
Although computers still outsell tablets by a ratio of about 6-1, the ipad has seen remarkable success since its first launch two years ago. It is still the overwhelming favourite of the tablet market, with about 80 per cent market share, and Apple has sold more than 55 million ipads.