Although analyst predictions of how many iPads would sell on the first day varied widely from Apple’s own 300,000 figure, we are getting some intriguing insights into why consumers are buying the new tablet device. For Apple, maybe the most comforting bit of data is that the iPad is not a cannibal.
“We believe that Apple has successfully carved out a new category of mobile devices between the smartphone and the laptop,” Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster told investors Monday. That feat was accomplished “apparently without cannibalizing its own iPhone and Mac sales,” he added.
I think you can safely chalk this latest Apple patent won’t come to fruition, but it’s an interesting one the nonce: a MacBook Pro with a built in pico projector in the hinge, perfect for giving presentations on-the-go, or just throwing a movie up on the wall for your friends to watch.
It’s neat, but it’s also way to marginalized a feature to expect any time soon, especially given the relative lameness of pico projectors: Apple might well pull this trick out of their hat one day, but not until they can do it right. What do you think?
As they are wont to do, the fine folks of PC World have dropped, thrown, scratched, smashed, hurled, trounced, boiled, frozen and defenestrated their iPad so you don’t have to. If you want to know just how much punishment your iPad can take, go read their iPad Stress Test.
The takeaway here is never to drop your iPad: according to PC World Senior Editor Tim Moynihan, three or four drops onto a carpeted office floor was enough spiderglass the screen. But at least it’s really scratch resistant… and, apparently, donut-controllable. Hit the full article for all the don’ts.
Okay, maybe Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster should have stuck with his original estimate of 200,000 to 300,000 iPads sold over the weekend. Still, his interviews of iPad buyers revealed some interesting points – such as the number of Kindle owners in line to buy Apple’s new gadget.
Indeed, 58 percent of iPad owners who also have a Kindle, said they’d drop the Amazon e-reader in favor of the new tablet device. Another interesting tidbit from Munster’s survey: 10 percent of those in line Saturday to buy an iPad had considered purchasing a Kindle.
This is what happens when you have one of the most widely anticipated device launches of the year coupled with not enough to go around: someone walks out of the store and. before they can even reach their car, gets their iPad stolen.
In this case, the unlucky victim was Mohamed Aboutaleb of Dover, New Hampshire, who walked out of his local Best Buy with a new iPad only to be accosted by a teenage thief who pushed him to the ground, grabbed his bag and jumped into a getaway car driven by another punk kid… all before he could set up “Find my iPaD” in MobileMe.
Poor guy. We’re tempted to suggest the only safe way to walk around in public with an iPad is by handcuffing it to your wrist, but the consumer frenzy’s high enough with the iPad that that suggestion can only lead to a bloody hacksaw and a spurting stump or two. Better to just hand it over.
Ever since the iPhone’s release, one of the most pervasive criticisms of Apple’s handhelds as dedicated gaming devices have been the device’s lack of analog controls. It’s a criticism that has seemed considerably limper as time goes on and developers have figured out to utilize the iPhone’s touchscreen and accelerometer effectively, but for certain genres like fighting games and twitch shooters, there’s still something be said for the good old d-pad.
Apple announced official iPad sales numbers for Saturday, the first day the much-ballyhooed tablet device was available in stores. More than 300,000 iPads were sold by midnight, April 3, the Cupertino, Calif. company said Monday morning.
“It feels great to have the iPad launched into the world — it’s going to be a game changer,” CEO Steve Jobs declared via a press statement. The number reflect pre-orders, shipments to partners and retail sales. More than 1 million apps were downloaded and 250,000 e-books from the iBookstore were downloaded Saturday, according to the company.
Always plucky, ingenious and defiant, it already looked pretty good that the iPhone OS hacking community would manage a zero day jailbreak… and it looks they they’ve done just that in under 24 hours, courtesy of hacker Musclenerd.
It appears that this jailbreak is using the same “Spirit” technique that Geohot demonstrated working on 3.1.3 last week, strongly implying that iPhone OS 3.2 doesn’t close any of the previous firmware’s exploitable holes.
When can the command-line-disinclined expect an idiot-proof iPad jailbreak? No word yet, although Geohot has said that he’s waiting to release his software until Apple rolls the 3.2 firmware across all devices.
Bummed you missed the iPad launch day festivities? Didn’t want to get up at such an indecent hour to witness the pandemonium? Well take heart Apple brothers and sisters! I woke up much too bright and way too early so I could bring you all fun the launch day had to offer. Why, you’ll feel like you didn’t miss a thing as you weave with me through the HUGE iPad line, talking iPad and giving out some sweet shwag!
I do believe Seattle had one of the largest and most ruckus iPad lines in the world. But hey, you be the judge.
UPDATED: Steve Jobs personally demoed the iPad for his daughter at his local Palo Alto store on Saturday, and not, as this post originally reported, “for one lucky customer.” Confusion in the initial post stemmed from typos in a Tweet communicated to Cult of Mac by Twitter user Cédric Lignier, who wrote today to clarify his communication, which should have read:
“Met Steve Job @ Palo Alto today! I gave up my iPad spot 4 let him demoed the iPad 2 his daughter. Unbelievable!”
Jobs was at his local Apple Store on University Avenue in Palo Alto, which did brisk business in iPads Saturday, attracting big crowds. It looks like Jobs walked to the store (he lives nearby and is often spotted walking around Palo Alto). No one seems to have paid him much attention. The staff in the picture above, taken by Lignier, seem more concerned with crowd control.
Meanwhile, the iPad’s top designer, Jonathan Ive, quietly watched the mobs at his local Apple store in San Francisco.
Ive, who is famously shy and self-effacing, attended the iPad launch event at the flagship Stockton Street store, which was a mob and media frenzy. It seems few noticed him either, despite being the most famous designer in the world. The one person who did, Matt Galligan, scored this nice picture with him.
The iPad won't charge using the USB 2.0 ports of some older machines, like my $2,500 Mac Pro from 2006.
Lots of people are complaining that their iPads aren’t charging when plugged into their computer’s USB port. The battery indicator in the upper right corner says “Not Charging.” The iPad still syncs, however.
Don’t worry, it’s not a glitch. The iPad needs a high-power USB 2.0 port to charge, which are less common on older computers. Many USB hubs and keyboards with USB ports won’t work either.
The complaints seem to be coming from users of older Macs and some Windows laptop users. The front-facing USB ports on a 2006 Mac Pro, for example, don’t put out enough power to charge the iPad, but the ports on a 2009 MacBook Pro (13-inch) do.
Apple has published a support document that advises charging the iPad using the included power brick.
Although the kids have already monopolized CoM’s brand new iPad, here are some initial impressions. My colleague Jose Gutierrez also chipped in.
* It’s seriously WOW. A huge grin broke on my face the first time I swiped the lock screen. It’s so much better than just a big iPod touch. The size of the screen makes it a very different experience. I can already tell, using a mouse and keyboard is going to get old fast.
* It’s got great heft and feel. It feels tough and substantial, but the 1.5 lbs weight is going to take some getting used to. In fact, it’s heavy. Definitely need an armrest. Next model will likely be plastic backed. The glass screen makes it top heavy, especially when typing it portrait mode.
* At first I thought the screen was scratched — but there are shooting time lapse images of stars on the Home screen wallpaper. Hard to believe Steve Jobs didn’t spot this.
* The screen is bright and very sharp. HD video looks astonishing.
* It picks up greasy fingerprints super fast — in spite of the oleophobic coating.
* Out of the box it won’t turn on until you set it up through iTunes.
* Set up is super simple. Connect to iTunes (you need version 9.1) and there’s two choices: start from scratch or back up from iPhone.
* The UI is very fast. Apps launch instantly.
* Being able to put six apps in the dock is awesome. Many features like this and the custom wallpaper need to make it to the iPhone. Bookmarks bar in Safari is very nice.
* Keyboard needs work. Very difficult to type in portrait mode. In landscape, the keyboard dominates the screen. Might be a deal breaker for some.
* iPhone apps look horrible, especially Facebook.
* Some apps have bugs, due to lack of hardware availability to developers. Simulators can only do so much. Expect firmware upgrade soon as well as many app updates.
* The iPad’s speaker is pretty loud and perfectly adequate for watching TV or movies, even with background noise.
Overall a good product but will become an awesome product when people’s favorite apps are optimized for the iPad. A firmware update is needed to work out some bugs. Perfect for relaxing at home or on a plane. Not ready for the working world. iWork just not quite good enough due to file management constraints.
Please chip in your impressions in the comments. What do you guys think?
Here’s the user manual for the iPad. It’s a single sheet that shows the layout of the three buttons. That’s it.
There’s some info about syncing on the back, and I know there’s a bunch of guided tour videos on Apple’s website, but this is a stark illustration of the radical simplicity of the device. And it is radical. You need no introduction. You pick it up and use it: no RTFM necessary.
(The backside picture is after the jump. It says download the latest version of iTunes and plug in your iPad to sync.)
Here are CoM’s obligatory iPad unboxing pix. The biggest surprise is the lack of a cleaning cloth (the iPad is already sticky with greasy little prints). There’s also the austere minimalism of the box’s contents. There’s hardly anything in it.
The system hooks into the internal stocking systems at Best Buy and thousands of other retail stores (not sure how it has data from Apple).
Milo.com, tracks the real-time in-store availability of Best Buy products, and almost 50,000 other retail stores nationwide. No more driving to or calling all of the Best Buy stores in a hundred mile radius to locate what you are looking for. Early adopters in hot iPad pursuit can simply enter their location and type “iPad” on the Milo.com Web site or from their mobile phones and Milo.com will find the nearest Best Buy location with it in stock.
Here’s the 15th guy in line at San Fancisco’s Best Buy on Harrison Street (the one sitting down). Everyone behind him — and there’s about half-a-dozen — better have both fingers crossed. There’s reportedly only 15 iPads at each Best Buy (but the limit is one-per-customer). Doors open any minute now. Good luck guys!
UPDATE: @Brent Jones in the comments says Best Buy seems to have plenty of iPads. “A Best Buy in St. Louis had at least 30 or 40 on hand. People walking up after the 10 a.m. opening had no problem getting one.”
iFixit sent three staffers to the east coast to score an iPad as early as possible, CEO Kyle Wiens told me yesterday. Looks like it worked and they are busy tearing it apart. They are posting the dissasembly as they go — you can watch the action as it happens. It’s the perfect distraction while standing in line for an iPad.
Some highlights:
* This machine is absolutely gorgeous inside. There’s clear symmetry that is there for aesthetics alone.
* The rear case is CNC machined from a solid block of aluminum, using the same process as the MacBook Pro.
* Apple has used more epoxy to secure chips to the board than we’ve seen before. This indicates that it is designed to be even more rugged than their laptops.
* The battery isn’t soldiered onto the motherboard. That means replacing the battery *is* feasible for users who do not want to give up their precious for a week. (And then get back someone else’s iPad!)
* This unit is different from the FCC photos. Toshiba DOES NOT have the flash memory in the production units! Instead, Samsung has secured a major win.
Update: Wiens’ local paper has a story about what iFixit is up to this morning and how they document the teardowns.
Woz was camped out all night at the Valley Fair Apple store in Santa Clara, Calif. He seems to somehow have gotten his iPad early, because it’s still a couple of hours before 9AM on the west coast. But here he is holding it with a big sh*t-eating grin on his face.
Not wishing to get left behind amid all the iPad fussing, Google has announced an experimental web UI for iPad and other tablet devices.
Taking cues from Apple’s own Mail for iPad, the webapp puts an inbox down the left side and displays messages on the right.
In the same post, Google’s Punit Soni reminds us that no matter how bad the Apple-Google relationship has been painted by the press, things are obviously going well enough for a number of Google products to be included by default on iPads out-of-the-box, namely: Google search inside Safari, YouTube, and Maps.
Here are some fancy photos of the iPad overnight at Apple’s 5th Avenue store in Manhattan, courtesy of our friend Richard Gutjahr, who is currently first in line for an iPad.
Check out Richard’s campout blog here (BTW: it’s in German, but there’s a Google translate button).
The likely scene at Apple stores Saturday morning. Image from ABC's Modern Family sitcom, which featured an iPad lineup at the Grove Apple store.
If you’re going down to the Apple Store to buy an iPad on Saturday morning, here’s what to expect:
At 7AM, all Apple’s ~14,000 retail staff will be in an all-hands meeting. They will be trained on all features of the iPad and each staffer will get face time with the device.
The stores will set up two waiting lines: one for reserved iPad buyers, the other for walk-ins.
There will be a strict two-iPads-per-person limit.
All store staff will work until 10 a.m. to deal with the first rush of buyers.
There is expected to be another rush 3 p.m., when left-over reserved iPads (if any) will be turned over to walk-in customers.
Apple has likely shipped enough iPads to fulfill all the reserve orders at each store. It has also likely shipped ~100 iPads for walk-ins. Larger flagship stores will likely have larger supplies.
Best Buy stores will have just 15 iPads each: five of each memory configuration.
