iPad
Sony vs Apple
01/02/12 14:38
John Gruber, of Daring Fireball, has summed up all that is wrong in the technology industry, and just how right Apple have been in their positioning and timing.
When Apple launched the iPhone in 2007, they knew this would hit sales of the iPod. In fact during the 2007 keynote, Jobs stated that the iPhone was three devices in one: an iPod, a phone and an internet device. Many CEOs would have worried about cannibalising their own products, but as Gruber points out, “Apple is skating to where the puck is heading; Sony is skating to where the puck is at the moment.”
Sony are looking to a drop in camera sales, probably directly dented by the great camera in the new iPhone 4S. How many iPhone users still buy a separate point and shoot camera, now that the 4S comes with an 8 megapixel camera? Sony still focusses on separate devices, instead of going where the market is aiming for. They are chasing the model of the past, and not moving to where people will be in five years time..
When Apple launched the iPhone in 2007, they knew this would hit sales of the iPod. In fact during the 2007 keynote, Jobs stated that the iPhone was three devices in one: an iPod, a phone and an internet device. Many CEOs would have worried about cannibalising their own products, but as Gruber points out, “Apple is skating to where the puck is heading; Sony is skating to where the puck is at the moment.”
Sony are looking to a drop in camera sales, probably directly dented by the great camera in the new iPhone 4S. How many iPhone users still buy a separate point and shoot camera, now that the 4S comes with an 8 megapixel camera? Sony still focusses on separate devices, instead of going where the market is aiming for. They are chasing the model of the past, and not moving to where people will be in five years time..
Comments
Apple Dominates Tablet Computing
23/08/11 10:32
TweetIf you need any indication of just how much Apple dominates the tablet market, you just need to glance at this chart:
© Business Insider
The developments at HP in the last week just further strengthen this position. HP announced that it had decided to stop manufacturing its webOS devices, and held a fire-sale of all HP TouchPad tablets. The TouchPad was the number two tablet on the market, even if this was far behind the figures for the iPad.
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Find My iPhone- essential kit for all iOS devices
16/06/11 14:41
One year on, iPad apps we still use...
20/04/11 17:20
TweetHaving used an iPad for over a year now, and having recently upgraded to an iPad 2, here is a list of the apps we still use. We have also listed some apps which dropped out of favour.
Apps used daily:
1/ Twitter: the official app from Twitter. We slowly moved across to this instead of Twitterific, and we aren’t entirely sure why! The sliding panes of Twitter app may not be to everyone’s liking, and Twitterific does have a classier design. However you can only add one account to the free version of Twitterific, and in the end we weren’t drawn to Twitterific enough to buy a copy of the pro version. The Twitter app works fine for us.
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iPad 2 goes on sale in Ireland & UK this Friday
23/03/11 21:12
Thinking of getting a new iPad 2? Well Friday is the day and Apple have confirmed pricing.
The prices of the new iPad 2 models in Ireland are:
iPad 2 with WiFi
€479.00 inc VAT (€395.87 ex VAT) for the 16GB model
€579.00 inc VAT (€478.51 ex VAT) for the 32GB model
€679.00 inc VAT (€561.16 ex VAT) for the 64GB model
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The prices of the new iPad 2 models in Ireland are:
iPad 2 with WiFi
€479.00 inc VAT (€395.87 ex VAT) for the 16GB model
€579.00 inc VAT (€478.51 ex VAT) for the 32GB model
€679.00 inc VAT (€561.16 ex VAT) for the 64GB model
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iPad 2 arrives- what is new?
02/03/11 20:48
Today Apple introduced iPad 2, which adds cameras and a new faster A5 chip to the tablet computer. The new model will go on sale in Ireland on March 25th and the prices will remain the same.
The main differences between iPad 1 and iPad 2 are:
1/ weight- 79 grams lighter
2/ thickness- the new iPad 2 is 33% thinner
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The main differences between iPad 1 and iPad 2 are:
1/ weight- 79 grams lighter
2/ thickness- the new iPad 2 is 33% thinner
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The Mac Information Christmas Guide
04/12/10 13:48
Check out our 2010 Christmas Gift Guide, with a look at what we believe to be the best Apple products. We have chosen our favourite Mac, iPods, iPhone and iPad models, which may help you choose the best gadget!
Click here for details.
Click here for details.
Watch out for Black Friday
17/11/10 16:27
Black Friday is a traditional sales day in the US, and over the last few years, some of the discounts available to US shopper have also been available in the UK and Ireland. It traditionally marks the start of the Christmas buying season in the US, following the Thanksgiving holiday.
If you are in the market for a new Mac or accessory, and you can wait until November 26th, then you may get a discount.
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If you are in the market for a new Mac or accessory, and you can wait until November 26th, then you may get a discount.
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What we love and hate about the iPad
14/09/10 20:48
We have been using our iPad now for about four months, and so it is time to look back on what we most liked and really dislike about this device.
The first point is that we use the iPad for consuming and not producing; in other words we find ourselves reading emails, browsing webpages, and reading Twitter messages on the iPad. We have not moved to producing material, such as using Pages, Keynote or Numbers. We do tend to reply to emails, and will type out short messages but not any long messages or notes. .
The first point is that we use the iPad for consuming and not producing; in other words we find ourselves reading emails, browsing webpages, and reading Twitter messages on the iPad. We have not moved to producing material, such as using Pages, Keynote or Numbers. We do tend to reply to emails, and will type out short messages but not any long messages or notes. .
iPad arrives in Ireland on July 23rd
19/07/10 16:03
Our favourite iPad apps
14/07/10 13:01
Here is a quick list of iPad applications which we are using and like. Almost all are free and they can be downloaded using the App Store application on the iPad.
Some of the best free apps:
- iBooks- to download books from the Apple store- lots of classic book are free
- Kindle- Amazon’s version of iBooks but access to the Amazon book store. This let’s you sync your books between your Mac and your iPad or iPhone using their Whisper Sync.
- Epicuruous- iPad version of recipes app
- Twitterific- best app for using with Twitter
- Pocket Pond- fun app- just try it!
- Planets- beautiful graphics showing the planets and stars
- Adobe Ideas- a drawing app
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Some of the best free apps:
- iBooks- to download books from the Apple store- lots of classic book are free
- Kindle- Amazon’s version of iBooks but access to the Amazon book store. This let’s you sync your books between your Mac and your iPad or iPhone using their Whisper Sync.
- Epicuruous- iPad version of recipes app
- Twitterific- best app for using with Twitter
- Pocket Pond- fun app- just try it!
- Planets- beautiful graphics showing the planets and stars
- Adobe Ideas- a drawing app
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Article: Pre-ordering the iPad: It's All about the Brand
30/03/10 11:29
[This article appeared in TidBITS on March 29th 2010:
http://db.tidbits.com/article/11121
For more information about TidBITS please visit the site here]
A number of recent commentators, including one in an article reprinted by Macworld, questioned why anyone would bother to order an iPad before they had a chance to see one in a store or to read the reviews. The answer is "the brand." The strength of the Apple brand explains why people are willing to risk their hard-earned cash on something they haven't personally seen or experienced.
Strong product branding encompasses many variables, such as specifications, pricing, packaging, features, and overall utility. However, those are all part of the rational, logical reasons we buy something. Also significant, and, I would argue, even more important, are the unconscious reasons we buy a product such as an iPod or iPhone. If you talk to someone about why they bought an iPhone, they will list reasons such as the App Store, ease of synchronisation, or other functional aspects of using the phone. The closest we normally get to an emotional reason is the "cool factor," which is an acceptable way of describing your emotions towards the product without appearing goofy! However, these deep emotional keys motivate us to spend money on a product which has not yet been tried and tested.
Continue....
http://db.tidbits.com/article/11121
For more information about TidBITS please visit the site here]
A number of recent commentators, including one in an article reprinted by Macworld, questioned why anyone would bother to order an iPad before they had a chance to see one in a store or to read the reviews. The answer is "the brand." The strength of the Apple brand explains why people are willing to risk their hard-earned cash on something they haven't personally seen or experienced.
Strong product branding encompasses many variables, such as specifications, pricing, packaging, features, and overall utility. However, those are all part of the rational, logical reasons we buy something. Also significant, and, I would argue, even more important, are the unconscious reasons we buy a product such as an iPod or iPhone. If you talk to someone about why they bought an iPhone, they will list reasons such as the App Store, ease of synchronisation, or other functional aspects of using the phone. The closest we normally get to an emotional reason is the "cool factor," which is an acceptable way of describing your emotions towards the product without appearing goofy! However, these deep emotional keys motivate us to spend money on a product which has not yet been tried and tested.
Continue....
No word on iPad for Ireland
10/03/10 12:20
The announcement last week that the iPad will go on sale in the US on April 3rd, and in selected counties later in April, have left Irish customers wondering- when? Apple announced that the iPad would be available for pre-order this week (March 12th) before going on sale in the US on Saturday April 3rd. The statement went on to say " in addition, all models of iPad will be available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK in late April."
This essentially follows the lines for Apple retail stores. Countries with retail stores will get the iPad first, presumably because shoppers will expect the device to be available in an official Apple store first. However countries without Apple stores, such as Ireland, do not yet have a launch date.
Continue...
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This essentially follows the lines for Apple retail stores. Countries with retail stores will get the iPad first, presumably because shoppers will expect the device to be available in an official Apple store first. However countries without Apple stores, such as Ireland, do not yet have a launch date.
Continue...
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iPad in Education
05/02/10 16:53
About ten years ago I spent the majority of my time travelling between libraries in the UK and Ireland, researching for my PhD. This was a notes gathering exercise for about two years, as I collected material relating to my research field in Liverpool, Nottingham, Manchester, London and Dublin.
In those days I had two main tools to hand- my Apple PowerBook G3 laptop, and my trusty Apple eMate. Many people may have forgotten or may not even be aware of the eMate 300. It was launched in 1997, and was a small, light, green plastic mini device, a cross between a PDA and a laptop- a netbook without the net!
This light PDA/laptop hybrid meant it was easy to carry around libraries, and was ideal for notes. The keys were smaller than on a standard PowerBook keyboard, but it was still comfortable to work on. It also had a stylus pen, which worked on the touch screen. There was no mouse input, and so you controlled windows and dialogue boxes using the pen on the greyscale screen.
Continue....
In those days I had two main tools to hand- my Apple PowerBook G3 laptop, and my trusty Apple eMate. Many people may have forgotten or may not even be aware of the eMate 300. It was launched in 1997, and was a small, light, green plastic mini device, a cross between a PDA and a laptop- a netbook without the net!
This light PDA/laptop hybrid meant it was easy to carry around libraries, and was ideal for notes. The keys were smaller than on a standard PowerBook keyboard, but it was still comfortable to work on. It also had a stylus pen, which worked on the touch screen. There was no mouse input, and so you controlled windows and dialogue boxes using the pen on the greyscale screen.
Continue....
Apps we would like to see on the iPad
02/02/10 10:34
With the introduction of the iPad, and its launch coming in March, we have been thinking about what apps we would like to see on the iPad. Up to now, apps on the iPhone have normally been widget-type apps, plus games and utilities. However the iPad offers the opportunity for larger input, through typing on the touchscreen keyboard or through an external keyboard.
The combination of keyboard and larger screen offers new opportunities for existing developers. So what apps might make it to the iPad, and lure us away from our laptop. Could the iPad replace a MacBook (Pro/Air) on the road?
1/ FileMaker- we liked FileMaker's sortie into the world of iPod/iPhone apps, but would love to see a more powerful iPad database app, which allows full FileMaker editing. This could be great for client databases for sales people on the road, or for researchers in universities.
http://www.filemaker.com/
Continue....
The combination of keyboard and larger screen offers new opportunities for existing developers. So what apps might make it to the iPad, and lure us away from our laptop. Could the iPad replace a MacBook (Pro/Air) on the road?
1/ FileMaker- we liked FileMaker's sortie into the world of iPod/iPhone apps, but would love to see a more powerful iPad database app, which allows full FileMaker editing. This could be great for client databases for sales people on the road, or for researchers in universities.
http://www.filemaker.com/
Continue....
Top 5 groups who will want an iPad
28/01/10 00:37
Here is our assessment of the top five groups who should look at buying an iPad:
1/ Presenters: the iPad is a great way to make presentations. With iWork available for the iPad, users can run Keynote. This means that sales people on the move could receive a presentation by email, edit it and then present it using the VGA adapter which will connect an iPad to a standard projector.
Continue....
1/ Presenters: the iPad is a great way to make presentations. With iWork available for the iPad, users can run Keynote. This means that sales people on the move could receive a presentation by email, edit it and then present it using the VGA adapter which will connect an iPad to a standard projector.
Continue....
Apple iPad arrives- plenty of surprises
27/01/10 21:24
Apple have launched the new iPad, a tablet based computer, which runs a modified version of the iPhone OS.
The iPad is a new type of device, primarily for viewing data, such as webpages, email, photos and books. It has access to three stores- the App Store, the iTunes Store, and the new iBook store, where users can download books from major publishers.
A few initial thoughts:
Continue....
The iPad is a new type of device, primarily for viewing data, such as webpages, email, photos and books. It has access to three stores- the App Store, the iTunes Store, and the new iBook store, where users can download books from major publishers.
A few initial thoughts:
Continue....
