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The Apple iPad: Round-up of the reviews
Posted on 17/06/2010 by Richard Morgan
Apple, Computer, e-book, iPad, iPhone, Tablet, technology
And so, at last the Apple iPad has arrived in the UK. Following the rumours, the hype, the troubled US launch and the volcano delayed UK release date the iPad is finally here. The Goldilocks device, not too big (Macbook) and not too small (iPhone), could break an entire new class of computer and
herald
the future of the entire personal computer market. Not to put too fine a point
on it, a lot rests on this release from Apple.
IT Lab has been excited about the release for months now and while we are yet to get our hands on one we have been following the vast wave of reviews on the web. Here IT Lab brings you the definitive roundup of reviews to help you answer the question “iPad, what’s all that about then?”
“Get outside and viewing that glossy screen in the sun, and you might as well be holding a mirror. The web, with its predominately white background is fine, but a dark movie is going to be impossible to watch.”
“As a desk companion it's great, on the sofa it is also good as [but] while I am happy to check emails and tweet from the toilet on the iPhone, I wasn't convinced about taking the iPad with me.
“It dumbs down computing to a consumer level making the Internet, movies, information and most other things accessible to the world without having to have a knowledge or care about how any of this stuff works.”
“With the iPhone you have the fact that it's also a phone that lets you make calls, it has a core purpose beyond the diversification, but with the iPad, it's an emotional luxury that will need feeding with content to keep you entertained and justify its existence.”
Pocket-lint Score: 8/10
“The device certainly has the touchy-feely quality often associated with Apple products. It’s a little heavier than I’d expected it to, but it feels comfortable in the hands and is just the right size to hold or balance on your lap like an ordinary notepad.”
“I’ve always found my iPod Touch too small for browsing the web or reading e-books, but the 9.7in screen of the iPad seems just about the right size. The image is bright and clear, and the panel provides virtually 180° viewing angle. It’s small enough to hold comfortably, yet still large enough to view and read complete web pages without needing to zoom in on the text at all.”
“The iPad makes an excellent e-book reader. It's the first digital device that strikes me as a genuinely attractive alternative to good old-fashioned books and newsprint.”
“Like any 1.0 product, the iPad has its rough edges, the worst being the erratic Wi-Fi reception. However, the basic design is spot on. It’s small enough to be portable and comfortable to use, yet large enough to work really well for tasks such as web browsing, reading books and playing video. The battery life is outstanding and the A4 processor seems to have power to spare.”
The Register Score: 80%
“It's a great, fun gaming platform, and it's lovely to view full-size web pages while browsing the internet.”
“In several crucial areas, the iPad falls short of the functionality that would have made this more than just a large iPod touch. The lack of Flash support is a major issue; the iPad's big screen is designed to make the best of multimedia content and the full-screen browsing experience, but the sight of little blue squares dotted around web pages where embedded video should have been just makes you feel like you're being short-changed”
“The iPad's inability to multi-task could also severely hamper its appeal. It's being pitched as a portable device that you could kick back and use on the sofa at home, but you can't listen to your Spotify playlists at the same time as writing an email, or browse the web while using an instant-messaging app to chat with friends.”
“Ultimately, the iPad is a large iPod touch: a great device to draw your inspiration from, but perhaps not the seismic shift in technology that we were expecting.”
The Telegraph Score: 4 Star (out of 5)
“It claims to have the same non-grease coating of the iPhone, but it still gets completely covered in fingerprints even with the lightest of use. Because the screen is so large, you will find yourself cleaning it every couple of minutes if you actually want to see what’s behind the prints.”
“The keyboard across all applications is much easier to use than on the iPhone. Because of the extra space, you can even touch type in portrait mode. We achieved a typing speed of 50wpm on it – our normal typing speed is 60wpm. Not at all a bad attempt, but it was a little difficult to keep the speed up after writing for 20 minutes. It’s also a bit of a pain to type quickly when the iPad is laid flat on a surface.”
“Surprisingly for an Apple device, we found that battery life was actually better than we thought it would be. During our test period, it out-performed Apple’s quoted 10 hours.”
“For now though, it steams along and is massively effective for carrying out one task at a time. But it just doesn’t match the usability of a netbook in terms of business capabilities.”
IT Pro Score: 3 star (out of 6)
IT inventions I would like to see in 2010.
Posted on 27/11/2009 by Rich Adams
Facebook, iPhone, Lab Innovation
With December nearly upon us, and the year drawing to a close, I thought I’d look ahead and highlight a couple of IT innovations I’d like to see invented in 2010:
An iPhone app that stops people going on about their iPhones
Yes, yes… I know the iPhone is pretty good. I know this because there is an endless stream of people telling me so – usually as if they were the first to discover it, like some sort of geeky Indiana Jones.
Oh, they say, it’s all about the apps! Some are pretty handy I’ll admit, but… Basically, there are two types of people: normal people, and those who think apps like UK Payphone Location (you’re carrying a phone for goodness sake!) and the one that tells you where you parked (if you can’t remember you shouldn’t be on the road) are a good idea. No one in this second group has ever kissed a girl!
A ‘dislike’ button on Facebook
While Facebook can be pretty useful for catching up with old friends from yesteryear, too many people are using it:
- As the world’s biggest popularity contest, collecting 100s of friends they will never contact.
- To send us all to sleep with status updates like ‘I’m bored’ – thanks… so am I, now!
- To stalk exes.
Too many people have got nothing to say, but are going to say it anyway. It would be good to tell them so with the click of a button. Maybe I’ll just stop using Facebook?.. mmmmmm... Nah!
