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IPad 2 Official Specs

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41–50 of 159 posts

Re: IPad 2 Official Specs

#41

It truly amazes me that a company can not only design, manufacture and develop software like this in near 100% secrecy, but that they can also have their website completely updated instantly after the keynote with beautiful graphics and videos. How they do it and keep it so under wraps astounds me.

I completely agree. Their website roll out team kicks ass! They should publish how they manage the 'browser caching' issue, whenever I go to Apple.com after/during keynote, I get the latest page without doing hard refresh.

I don't disagree they they must have their act together to support such big online launches. But for cache busting, isn't it just a simply matter of renaming resources and having your framework + deploy scripts manage the rest for you?

most sites use assets with additional query parameters added to keep them fresh (i.e. file?1234566778.js). Apple looks like they are adding some parameters into the filenames themselves.

It probably also involves cache-control settings as mentioned, but I think file renaming is the more reliable method of cache busting.

Re: IPad 2 Official Specs

#42
post #8

HDMI video mirroring is going to be big. My sister-in-law is a high school teacher and has been wishing she could hook her iPad up to the projector since the day she got it. Think of all the possibilities...makes so much more sense for a school to spend $500 on an ultralight, ultraportable iPad than spend more on bulky desktops you have to cart around just to play a video or show a web article (citation: my old high…

Ipads are a lot easier to steal/damage than desktops.

I can feel you on the stealing aspect (though with the optional free engraving you can really limit the resell value), but they are not easier to damage than desktops. There are no moving parts. Unless you drop it in a sink, you're going to be OK (that would be ill advised with a regular PC too). The software is also incredibly hard to screw up, which lowers IT support costs.

Re: IPad 2 Official Specs

#43

They must have had some room to spare in that case to bother putting in a rear camera. Look at the screenshot of the camera app: http://www.apple.com/ipad/built-in-apps/camera.html Notice the placement of the "record" button. Now imagine holding the device up to take a picture with two hands. Even assuming another app developer will come along and fix this, who's going to use a tablet as a giant, awkward digital came…

I imagine it will be most useful in FaceTime when you want to show the other person what you're seeing and also be able to see them at the same time.

Re: IPad 2 Official Specs

#45
post #40
post #23

Love how Apple up-sells storage in hundred dollar increments. I just bought a 32GB SD card (class 10) for my camera for $50 and I'm not buying millions of them at a time.

Not all flash is the same. SD cards and USB sticks use cheap, slow, high-density flash manufactured with older processes. The A4/A5 flash is also integrated into the same package as the CPU(s). Most analysts estimate the flash as a significant part of the overall cost of iOS devices. Yes, it is market segmentation as well, but that extra flash still isn't free.

> The A4/A5 flash is also integrated into the same package as the CPU(s)

Really? That would be by far the most aggressive die stacking I've ever heard of, if true. I thought it was soldered to the motherboard in stacks of 2-4 dice.

Re: IPad 2 Official Specs

#46

They must have had some room to spare in that case to bother putting in a rear camera. Look at the screenshot of the camera app: http://www.apple.com/ipad/built-in-apps/camera.html Notice the placement of the "record" button. Now imagine holding the device up to take a picture with two hands. Even assuming another app developer will come along and fix this, who's going to use a tablet as a giant, awkward digital came…

You can hold the iPad the other way around so that the camera is on the top, away from your hands.

Re: IPad 2 Official Specs

#47
I wonder how they implemented pressure sensitivity in garage band drums, I can't find any mention of pressure sensors in the screen.

My guess is that they are using the gyro for this. Is it a good guess?

Re: IPad 2 Official Specs

#49
post #37

I didn't see any notice about how much ram it has... I'm hoping it has as much as the iPhone 4. Does anyone know for sure?

I was looking for that bit of info as well. It seems like if it's not advertised it's not something they're very proud of.

They don't advertise the available memory of any of the iOS devices, not even to their Developers. The community finds out on their own (usually after teardowns or writing test apps).

Re: IPad 2 Official Specs

#50

I wonder how they implemented pressure sensitivity in garage band drums, I can't find any mention of pressure sensors in the screen. My guess is that they are using the gyro for this. Is it a good guess?

According to the TC live blog: "Very neat; you can tap keys hard or soft to determine how the note comes out, thanks to some accelerometer magic"

http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2011/03/02/live-blog-apple-ipad-...

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