Radar 360° first review
WORDS LUKe PeteRS aND MaRK HaRRIS
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FIRST REVIEW
the details
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apple’s bundled ’phones won’t cut it. add your own
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The most widely used phrase when seeing the iPad for the first time is, “It’s just a big iPod Touch.” And yes it is, but as well as being super-sized, it’s also super-charged. Apple’s new 1GHz A4 processor allows apps, multimedia and screen transitions to fly. Playing back a HD episode of Doctor Who, downloaded from iTunes, motion is fast, without judder and free of lag or distortion when rotating the screen. With its superb, LED-backlit, richly coloured screen, it’s a slicker, quicker experience than the iPod Touch or iPhone. It feels like a computer, not a phone or PMP. Following the “it’s a big Touch” comment, the most widely used phrase on actually picking up the iPad is, “Ooh, it’s heavier than I expected.” This is also undeniable. At 680g, it’s lighter than any netbook on the market, but it does have a certain heft. We managed half-hour bursts without wanting to use it flat, but put it this way: the first company to make a decent stand or other support for the iPad is going to do a roaring trade… Reading books, papers and magazines on the iPad is an enjoyable experience. The brightness and colour of the screen can be adjusted to suit your preference, and it’s definitely easier on the eyes than we initially feared. Although in direct sunlight, it’s +
Specifications
VoluMe & sCreeN loCK
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an iphone-style volume rocker and handy accelerometer lock 243mm
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Unpack your ipad and you’ll find a USb cable and plug adaptor, so you’re not limited to charging from your computer
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190mm
13.4mm
hoMe BuTToN
press this and you’ll instantly return to your personalised desktop
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allows you to sync, charge and attach a keyboard or other accessory
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US PRICING From $499 for 16GB and Wi-Fi to $829 for
64GB, Wi-Fi and 3G
PRoCeSSoR 1GHz A4 StoRaGe 16GB, 32GB or 64GB solid state drives SCReeN 9.7-inch LED-backlit, 1024x768, multi-touch
with in-plane switching (IPS) tech
CoNNeCtIvItY 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1+ EDR,
7.2Mbps HSDPA (3G models only)
BatteRY 10 hours web surfing via Wi-Fi (quoted) SIZe/WeIGHt 243x190x13.4mm/680g/730g (3G models)
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t3’s hottest gadget of 2010 marks a new era in how people will use computers
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COMPUTING REDEFINED
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APPLE iPAD
o, the iPad. It’s been talked of, hyped and critiqued by millions before it’s even hit the shops. It’s bemused many as to where it will fit into their lives. But before you get stuck into our review, consider these questions: how many people do you know that are still confused by computers, and what do you think the majority of the population actually use a computer for? Now, let us continue…
Radar 360° first review t
+ Killer features… of the apple iPad
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ipAd Apps t3’s picks of the launch titles…
Browser
Multimedia
Browsing on the large, 1024x768 high-res screen is everything we hoped it would be. Navigating web pages is a breeze with pinch-to-zoom and simple scrolling. Colours are bright and punchy and animation is smooth and quick. There’s no Flash, but many developers have produced iPad-ready apps so you won’t miss it as much as you might think. YouTube’s preloaded app also makes a great showcase for the screen and follows the iPad’s split-screen model, albeit with menus on the right hand side rather than the left. Bookmarks are also well handled via a pop-up menu, though they lack icons.
The cleanly redesigned iPod app is more like iTunes on your computer than the Touch’s interface – there’s no Cover Flow view. The familiar left-hand menu bar makes navigation easy, though you can’t sort songs by rating for some reason – sort that, Apple. Sound quality through the built-in speakers is not great, but you can connect your favoured headphones via the 3.5mm socket to enjoy rich, detailed audio. Video is packed with detail and natural colours thanks to one of the best LCD screens on the market. Greasy fingerprints could tarnish your enjoyment of movies, so keep a screencleaning cloth handy.
Utilities
others
1 reAl rAcing hd $9.99
1 pAges $9.99 (us only AT press Time)
1 elemenTs: A visuAl eXplorATion $13.99
Apple’s reworked its word processing client for the iPad. Numbers and Keynote will be available too.
Click on an element in this periodic table to see a 3D view and find out more. Visually stunning and content rich.
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2 AsphAlT 5 hd $6.99
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Turns your iPad into a tablet-like control device for your computer. Works with both PCs and Macs.
4 Air hockey $0.99
Two-player, retro air hockey action. Use your finger to slug the puck back and forth. Quick reactions are needed as the action is speedy.
The iPad’s generous screen suits this drawing and note taking application. Scribble notes by hand before emailing them as PDF files.
Social networking
4 voice memos for ipAd free
Oddly, Apple’s omitted to include a voice recorder, but this essential app is on hand to use the built-in mic or a plugged-in headset to record speech and more.
1 im+ $9.99
It’s pricey, but IM+ includes a huge list of chat services including Skype, Twitter, Facebook, Google Talk, Yahoo, Messenger and AIM. 2 sociAble $4.99
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2 ifooTy free
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Features league tables, upcoming fixtures, footie news and chat. Offers minute-by-minute score updates for your team too. 3 wikipAnion free
Identify the title of a song by recording a snippet. You can tag songs from charts generated by other users, listen to 30-second clips and even buy tracks.
Scroll through a dizzying selection of news stories and occasional ads, with videos and picture thrown in, but no search function. 2 gQ mAgAZine $2.99
3 TwiTTerrific free
3 new york Times ediTor’s choice free
View updates from Facebook, Twitter and MySpace in a single stream. You can also chat to friends and update your status. Definitely worth a download.
4 shAZAm free
1 The wAll sTreeT JournAl $4 A week for The full version
Read the latest US version of the gent’s magazine and download back issues.
All the usual mobile Twitter features including updates, trending and retweets, but it’s all iPad-sized.
Excellent app that makes Wikipedia and its vast wealth of information much quicker to browse through.
Media
Flick between Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Digg and Reddit accounts using this app’s intuitive interface.
4 Aim for ipAd free
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3 skeTchpAd hd $0.99
3 modern combAT: sAndsTorm hd $6.99
Search and destroy a terrorist cell in this first person shooter, complete with 3D battlefields.
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2 pAdmouse $2.99
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Race Ducati, Ferrari and Audi cars around 12 tracks using a virtual steering wheel, touch interface or the iPad’s accelerometer.
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The ipad is available with 16Gb, 32Gb or 64Gb of storage
Gaming A balls-out, nitro-powered racing game that lets you screech through 12 tracks using just the iPad’s accelerometer.
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titles consisting of out-of-copyright classics, the US iBook store has nothing like the breadth of the Kindle Store so far, and you can’t order physical books or digital newspapers and magazines. Purchasing titles isn’t as easy as on the Kindle either, as it involves flipping to the Safari browser, but you can share your purchases with an iPhone, PC, or the Kindle itself. You can also get the free Kindle iPad app to download books from Amazon’s store. The iPad’s IPS screen is no match for e-ink. However, it’s bright and perfectly alright for less voracious readers, and iBooks is sure to improve.
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Apple’s iBook app displays your ebooks’ cover art on a rather stylish wooden bookshelf. Alternatively and more usefully, you can view by title, author or category. Unlike on the Kindle’s austere monochrome display, iBooks enjoy full colour illustrations and the touchscreen means you can flick through pages like a real book. There’s a scroll bar along the bottom for speedy skim reading too. You can swap font size and typeface at the prod of a finger, add bookmarks, refer to a built-in dictionary and adjust the page brightness. With a limited selection of best sellers costing upwards of $10 and an even more limited choice of free
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Less flashy than The Wall Street Journal, perhaps, but equally as informative. 4 mArvel comics TiTles from $1.99
Browse, buy and download Marvel comics in seconds. Iron Man, Spider-Man et al can be viewed in full-screen letterbox mode, or one panel at a time.
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nigh-on impossible to read anything, so don’t think about taking it to the beach. Typing on the iPad is better than expected – in fact this entire review was written on it. Lie the device flat, rotate the screen to landscape and you’ll be able to rattle off text very quickly. Portrait orientation, one-finger pecking while holding the iPad is also workable, although this is an occasion when the iPad’s weight does
bAttery life is Very impressiVe. we used it for 11 hours strAight before rechArging work against it. The excellent auto-correct helps with mistyped prose but anyone wanting to create lengthy documents in Pages or Microsoft Word, when it arrives, will be better off investing in a keyboard and stand. Battery life is very impressive. We used it heavily – video playback, web-browsing, music – for 11 hours straight before it gave up the ghost and needed a recharge. This compares well to netbooks and trounces any mobile phone we can think of, though a full recharge does take almost four hours. We haven’t experienced any problems with Wi-Fi and it’s 802.11n, so considerably faster than the iPhone. The combination of N-powered speed and touchscreen slickness means browsing the internet is a brilliant experience despite the absence of Flash. Little things we like: a rotation lock switch, a photo slideshow button on the start screen, speedy Google Maps processing and instanton computing. Annoyances? No support for iTunes LP, inability to drag and drop photos and + JUNE 2010 T3 49
Radar 360° first review
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Who’s in the queue? On U.S launch day T3 was shivering in line outside Apple’s Seattle store. Meet some of the other people willing to brave the cold to be the first to own an iPad… The Apple fanboy Andrew Robulack Yukon, Canada What will you use the iPad for?
I’ll probably use photo apps, browse the net using the Wi-Fi, and get newspapers delivered to it. The creatives Tyson and Adam Vancouver, Canada What will you use the iPad for?
Apple’s iPad. One button; no PC experience required
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apps and no multi-tasking, although now that’s come to the iPhone with OS 4.0 it can surely only be a matter of time. So, should you buy one or not? The screen’s poor performance outdoors and the fact that the Wi-Fi-only model has been released first make it pretty clear Apple sees the iPad as a home device, but we’re not sure most users will be satisfied with that. The 3G model would be what we’d recommend.
Adam: I’ll use it to read PDFs. I’ve got a lot of Dungeons & Dragons books that I’m tired of carting around. Tyson: I’m an interface designer so I’ll be using it to develop iPad apps. The computer virgins Paula and Tom Parcheta Missoula, Montana What will you use the iPad for?
This is my first computer! It’s great finally finding a computer that old people can use. I want to read books, listen to music and get the New York Times every day. The tech BUffs Gordon and Shirley Anderson Spokane, Washington What will you use the iPad for?
Apple has redefined computing, making it accessible by boiling it down to its essentials What most people use computers for is to communicate, browse the web and view photos, videos and literature. The iPad lets anyone – you, your kids, your mum and dad – do all that. It’s eminently affordable, incredibly easy to use and has a size, heft and quality that set it apart from the netbooks, smartphones and PMPs it superficially resembles. In our opinion, Apple hasn’t just created the first home tablet worth having. It’s actually redefined computing, boiling it down to essentials and making it accessible for everyone. Now let’s have the 3G one… Tbc, www.apple.com
Details Love Wonderfully slick operation via a bright and
ultra-responsive touchscreen. A thing of beauty
Hate With Wi-Fi connectivity only – 3G models will
follow in a few months – and a screen that’s vulnerable to glare, it’s less use once you leave home
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I’m going to use it in the living room in front of the TV, instead of my laptop. The traveller Dave Nakayama California What will you use the iPad for?
A little bit of everything. I’m hoping it’ll be convenient to use on a plane. I have a Kindle and I like e-ink but I don’t want to carry two devices around with me. I’m worried I’m going to be spending a lot of money on apps today.
Opinion… Apple has created a computer for all Luke Peters, deputy editor, T3 UK Apple has been priming the world for the evolution of home computing since 2007. The iPhone and iPod Touch put touchscreen computing into the pockets of millions, proving how simple surfing the web, emailing and buying apps and other content could be. So intuitive is the resultant iPad OS that of the thousands of people I saw prod it at the Gadget Show Live last month, not one asked how it worked
before using it. Apple’s created a computer that will do practically all the tasks that 95% of people use their computer for, easily. Some may see the iPad as an under-powered, oversized iPod Touch, but the demographic Apple is going after won’t care. The iPad’s innate simplicity will appeal to the millions of people who find Windows – and even Mac OS X – mystifying. To those people, Apple will sell bucket loads…