All About The iPad

Always a sucker for these Kickstarter projects, but I do like the design of this!

Worth a punt for just $25 although I need to add another $15 for delivery to Europe. Nice thing is you’re not restricted to just the iPad, you can use it for any “pad” device.

Checkout this link for more information

No Apple at CES this year, as always!

No need for them really as they seem to be a constant presence, with most of the vendors looking to put forward their response to a product launched in the previous year. Seems like there are lots of competitors lining up to go head to head with the iPad at CES this year.

I think one report mentioned over 35 companies looking to release a tablet, all based on Android 3 - Honeycomb.

This is the first version of Android that has actually been designed for tablets.

I really wonder how they are going to differentiate themselves between one another. In the meantime, Apple have another earnings call on the 18th January, which by all accounts, should give the results of another stellar quarter for Apple, with the iPad basically having the market to itself over the Christmas period.

The problem with the other tablet devices are that they are locked into the Google development cycle and need to develop another layer on top of GingerBread plus design and develop the apps and utilities that need to run on the platform.

Apple has over 12 months lead on them, and has the huge advantage of controlling both the software and the hardware. At this point in time, the hardware for the iPad 2 has been designed, developed and manufacturers will be gearing up for production (if they are not already producing them for a Q1 launch). The iOS developers are hard at work finishing off the new version of iOS v5 as well as updating the SDK for third partys to update and create new apps based on the new (as yet undisclosed) feature set. Meanwhile, the Apple iOS app team are creating new versions of iWork and possibly iLife apps.

No wonder they haven’t got time to attend CES

My esteemed colleague from MacBreak Weekly - Andy Inhatko - has done a great post over at the Sun-Times on the current and proposed offerings at CES - I highly recommend you check it out - Lessons at CES - how your tablet can compete with iPad

Wondering where I’d got too?

If you follow me on Twitter you’ll know I’m still alive and kicking, just snowed under with preparation with work for Macworld and MacMania 11

I’ve got some ideas on how to move forward with my iPad coverage, but with pressures being what they are, it’s unlikely I won’t be in a position to do anything about it until these trips are out of the way.

I’ll keep posting the occasional blog post here, but there is more to come!