Meet the iPad2 March 4, 2011

This past Wednesday, Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, returned to the stage, calling 2010 the year of the iPad. To kick off the highly anticipated iPad 2 reveal, Jobs used some pretty big numbers to illustrate the successes of the original iPad.

• 15 Million iPads were sold in 2010 in just 9 months
• $9.5 billion of revenue generated from iPad sales
• 90% of the tablet market share was held by Apple
• Over 1 million iBooks have been downloaded
• 359,000 or more apps available in the Apple App Store
• Of that, 60,000 apps were developed specifically with the iPad in mind
• Not to mention, Apple’s highly competitive starting price point of $499.

What’s so great about it?

Well, simply stated, just about everything. The iPad 2 will be the first tablet to ship in volume fully equipped with an A5, dual-core processer. Improvements to speed have been made for both the CPU, which run be up to 2 times faster, and the graphics which will be up to 9 times faster. No sacrifices were made to the battery life. You can still expect the iPad to run for about 10 hours. While we did not get a USB port or higher resolution, there were still plenty of features and upgrades to be excited about. Front and rear facing cameras will now finally allow you to FaceTime and video conference. iPad 2 users will be able to FaceTime with iPhone 4 users and vice versa. The camera was one of the features consumers had hoped for with the first iPad. Jobs is doing away with the covers that conceal the iPad ’s the sleek design. Replacing the cases are Smart Covers that connect and disconnect from the device with built-in magnets. Since I don’t think any explanation I could give would really do this cover justice, I highly recommend that you watch these Smart Covers in action for yourself.

But wait, there’s more!

Like the iPhone 4, iPad 2 will be able to track movement more precisely with the incorporation of a built-in gyroscope. Another thing iPad users might be glad to know is that the problem of finger prints no longer exists. All iPads are protected by a fingerprint resistant coating. Apple also managed to make the iPad 2 33% thinner and .2 lbs lighter than its predecessor. Higher starting price point? Not at all. The 16 GB wi-fi model will still maintain the same starting price point of $499. Apple will continue to produce 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB models with and without 3G. The iPad 2 will be available in stores and online beginning March 11. This just might be the most fulfilling piece of technology I ever purchase.

This Week in Aducation (Halloweekend) October 29, 2010

Facebook gets even creepier with a new feature: Friendship Pages! With this, you can check out each and every interaction two people have with each other on the social networking site so long as you are friends with one of them and have access to the other’s full profile. Ex-boy/girlfriend jealousies? Hindsight is 20/20. Now, you can confirm all of your suspicions!

Beloved Walmart launched a new promotion on Facebook a la the Groupon business model.  If enough people “LIKE” a certain promo, then Walmart will make it available to the public.

In the mobile phone sphere, Apple becomes the fourth largest phone vendor nudging past Rim, and Mount Everest gets 3G.

Then, the following video went viral this week. A woman appears to be talking on a cell phone in an extras clip from “The Circus,” the 1928 Charlie Chaplin film. Social media has called her the Time Traveler.

Reports though are saying that she was using a 1924 Siemens hearing aid.

Finally, iPhone on Verizon in 2011??

That’s all. Happy Halloween to everyone out there! Be safe this weekend!

Cette semaine dans Aducation October 22, 2010

Apple’s iPhone has finally overtaken BlackBerry in smartphone market share, according to Strategy Analytics. But RIM CEO Jim Balsillie says “Non!” – that the information is misleading and a bad comparison between the two’s Q3 numbers.

But the bickering between Jobs and Balsillie actually started earlier this week when Jobs called RIM’s 7-inch tablet (the PlayBook) a “tweener” and remarked that RIM’s catching up to Apple won’t happen in the foreseeable future. RIM responds on their blog with an attack at Apple’s ‘Distortion Field.’ Take caution, Balsillie est en colère !

Regardless of what these folks say, Nokia is still the world’s market leader.

In other news, Google faces a small problem with US television networks as many have decided that they are going to block content from Google TV. Disney and NBC are among these networks. Fox, allegedly, is too.

In the ad agency world, global agencies are looking at Africa as a major opportunity to grow and expand business, while Austin-based ad agency GSD&M Idea City is losing BMW, one of its only global accounts, at the end of the year.

In the end, all these tech companies ain’t got nothing if their products can’t sign or dance. Go HRP-4CA!

Bon week-end tout le monde! Especially you, Balsillie!

Mirth of a Nation – This Week in Aducation October 8, 2010

Apple is projected to become the world’s most valuable company as it closes in on Exxon Mobil and the number one spot on the S&P 500. [MSNBC]

I thought more people would be talking about Twitter CEO Evan Williams stepping down from his position, but I was wrong. He’ll still be involved with product strategy. COO Dick Costolo is taking the lead now.

Internet browser analytics firm Statcounter reports that Internet Explorer’s market share has fallen below 50% for the first time (FINALLY). Which browser gained? Google Chrome, of course.

Finally, Gap finally revealed their new logo design. It screams out: Generic typeface (Helvetica), Generic logo, Generic clothing. And pretty much everyone hates it.

I mean, everyone hates it so much that it got its own [parody] twitter account (@GapLogo), which has garnered 3,705 followers in just two days.

[Bad] ID of the Week

More Google news: Everyone is laughing at Sony’s Google TV controller. Sure, it’s probably more functional than Apple’s iTV remote, but it just looks bad. Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad. Does Sony not know how to balance aesthetics with functionality?

This week in Aducation September 17, 2010

Global branding consultancy Interbrand releases its annual list of top 100 global brands. The top 10 are Coca-Cola, IBM, Microsoft, Google, GE, McDonald’s, Intel, Nokia, Disney, and HP in that order. Not surprisingly, huge tech giants dominate the list. Toyoto (#11) fell out of the top 10 this year, but that’s what happens when you have faulty brakes. Apple saw the largest increase in brand value (#17 with a 37% increase YOY) while BP saw the greatest decrease (they’re not even top 100 anymore).

Austin-based tech giant Dell is reviewing for creative agencies, which means Y&R San Francisco could be losing a $4.5 billion account. This is really bad news for the agency as they just recently lost Dr. Pepper Snapple Group’s 7Up brand to New York’s mcgarrybowen without a review.

Going back to Google, this bit of news was marked as “BREAKING NEWS” by cnet.com: GOOGLE JUST SAW A DECREASE IN MARKET SHARE according to marketing research company ComScore. Their share dropped to 65.4% from 65.8% between July and August. WHO TOOK THAT .4% FROM GOOGLE? Yahoo! And Microsoft, apparently.

In the social media space, we’ve got this thing called Diaspora (www.joindiaspora.com), which could maybe potentially compete as a legit rival to Facebook. Two of Diaspora’s differentiators: it focuses on maintaining users’ privacies, and it’s open source. I want in.

ID of the Week!

MORPH by Nokia

Nokia has concepted this phone of the future that they call “Morph,” which shows how nanotechnology can possibility affect the design and utility of future mobile communication devices. Though it looks really really cool, this is light years into the future.