Consumer Reports: iPad 2 the best tablet available

Apple’s uber-successful iPad 2 now has a Consumer Electronics stamp of approval, with the consumer magazine proclaiming the WiFi+3G version of the iconic device the best tablet available on the market. iPad 2 has beaten Motorola Xoom to the tablet punch, in addition to a bunch of would-be iPad killers from Archos, Dell, Motorola, Samsung and ViewSonic.

Consumer Reports put out a press release quoting their electronics editor Paul Reynolds:

So far, Apple is leading the tablet market in both quality and price, which is unusual for a company whose products are usually premium priced. However, it’s likely we’ll see more competitive pricing in tablets as other models begin to hit the market.

iPad 2 emerged on top despite Consumer Reports calling the Xoom “the iPad 2′s chief rival.”

What gave me a pause is the fact that a pricey iPad model topped the charts, not the entry-level $499 model. The $730 32GB WiFi+3G model scored Excellent in nearly every category, leaving the $800 Xoom in the dust.

They evaluated the tablets on seventeen different criteria. Apple’s slate does have legendary battery life, the results show.

Consumer Reports measured 12.2 hours of non-stop video playback on iPad 2 versus its rated ten-hour battery life. The Archos 70 Internet Tablet has the poorest battery that lasts just 3.8 hours.


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Guy builds Airplay 1080p

AirPlay, a technology from Apple for wireless streaming of media from iOS devices to the Apple TV, would be awesome if it wasn’t for one huge drawback: it’s only 720p. That didn’t stop enthusiasts Eric Govoruhk and Kelly McAteer to develop a full HD 1080p video mirroring for iPad 2 by using a wireless HDMI transmitter and a USB battery pack.

Check out the awesomeness in the above video. First OEM to do this gets a post here. Eric explained how they pulled it off over at the MacRumors forums:

Basically, we were tasked with the coming up with ideas that could help a client with their presentations. Sometimes they run Keynote Presentations on a Mac, and sometimes they run Keynote Presentations on an iPad using a VGA adapter. While I liked how mobile you could get doing it off an iPad, you’re still literally tethered by the cable running to the the A/V equipment. I knew there had to be some sort of solution, but sadly there wasn’t, at least not all in one place. So I started looking at combining different solutions, and luckily, not many were needed. The core components are the wireless HDMI transmitter, and a USB battery pack.
Oh, and of course the iPad 2.
Everything is very rough, especially the housing. This all came together very quickly, and we’re still working everything out. I just wanted to show you guys, because I know some of you are looking for similar solutions. I’m going to try and get an Instructable together once we get everything a little more finished. Maybe even try some other things, like a belt pack for those that don’t want the added bulk in their hands, or what ever other ideas our tiny little heads can think of.

Via: 9to5mac.com

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Twitter 3.2.2 brings Support for Photo / Video Capture on iPad 2

Last Friday, Twitter's version got updated to 3.3.2 for the newly introduced iPad2 and has now came up to the front with some new features involving the fixing of some bugs getting rid of some crashes that were reported of. Along this the new version has a support for photo and video capture using the iPad 2′s new front and rear-facing cameras.

To sum up these in a row:

What’s new in version 3.3.2:
- Photo/Video capture support for iPad 2
- Disabled significant location change monitoring that was causing compass to appear constantly when in app
- Bug Fixes from user reported crashes

Did you get your update? Go get it. Its Free ;)

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Apple Patches iPad 2 Jailbreak Exploit by Comex !

Comex has just confirmed via a series of tweets that his userland jailbreak he already showed off few days ago has already been patched by Apple in the newly released iOS 4.3.1. Well, hackers lose the war against Apple again.

Comex on his Twitter account:

yeah, uh. I can find kernel exploits, but this is ridiculous.

As noticed by @0naj, my kernel exploit was fixed in 4.3.1.

I try not to be paranoid, but it is really hard to explain this as anything but a leak.

It stayed there from 4.0.2 through 4.3, but was magically found in time for 4.3.1. well, go go @MuscleNerd and @i0n1c I guess

Interestingly, and as Comex notes, "is that my "new" kernel exploit is actually the kernel exploit used by JailbreakMe 2.0. It was never properly fixed."

Now the only hope is from the iPhone hacker Stefan Esser who is the only one having untethered exploit right now which jailbreaks all iOS devices on iOS 4.3.1 except iPad 2. Yes, MuscleNerd and Stefan must find more exploits to jailbreak the iPad 2. [Twitter: 1,2,3,4]

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Apple uses stronger glass in iPad 2

If you were wondering just how strong the screen components are in the iPad 2, we now know thanks to some tests that the iPhone repair experts over at iFixYouri have done comparing the flexibility of the glass screen parts from both devices.

As has already been reported, the iPad's 2 screen (that includes the LCD) is thinner than the one found in the original iPad, which helped Apple make the iPad 2 lighter. Some wondered whether the thinner glass might be more fragile, but from this video, anyway, it appears the opposite is true.

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This Luxurious iPad 2 is Made Up of Diamonds, Gold, Rocks and T-REX Dinosaur Bones. Costs a Whooping $8,000,000

Since the launch of iPad 2 we knew we were going to see gold and diamond versions of it anytime soon. This, however, isn’t just a gold or diamond made iPad. This iPad 2 is as sexy as Cleopatra.

Obviously it’s not something you can easily get your hands on because it’s expensive. How expensive? that’s not important to know before you have this eyegasmic experience. Designed by Stuart Hughes, known for crafting one of the most luxurious products, this masterpiece only has 2 pieces. Don’t worry about the stock, you probably can’t grab one anyway.

The back which is made up of 24ct gold with an immense weight of 2000 grams has a magnificent total of 53 individually set sparkling gems dwell beautifully in solid 24ct Apple logo. Front frame is made from the oldest rock the world has to offer (75 million years old) in the form of Ammolite. What makes it more individual is 65 million year old T-REX Dinosaur’s thigh bone which was splintered and then shaved into the Ammolite, then finished off with ultimate jewel, as single cut 8.5ct flawless diamond inlaid in its own platinum surrounded with 12 outer flawless diamonds. Interestingly, these are the only specs available even on the official website of those who crafted this. No word whatsoever on the technical specs.

Now the heart-break, this comes in 5 million Pounds (8 Million US Dollars).

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Apple revamps online ordering system to disguise iPad 2 shipment figures

Apple may have revamped its online ordering system in an effort to prevent close-watchers from trying to figure out just how many iPad 2 units have shipped, according to sources speaking to AppleInsider.

When the original iPad launched, users from Investor VIllage AAPL Sanity Board were able to figure out the number of iPad sales by comparing the order numbers. This year, however, orders are shipping with a randomly generated number. That means that you can’t look at order numbers to get a ballpark figure of how many iPad 2 units have shipped. That sounds like a logical move for Apple, which probably wants to keep sales figures close to the vest until it can announce an official number on its own. Oddly, though, Apple has not yet released any numbers in relation to how many iPad 2 tablets it has shipped. Analysts have estimated that Apple may have sold 1 million iPad 2s during its opening weekend, but we figure Apple would have made an announcement by now if that was fact. In any case, most retailers sold out of the device immediately, and as of yesterday there were still lines at the 5th Avenue Apple Store in NYC. So one thing is for clear: there’s certainly a large consumer demand. Enough for one Apple spokesperson to claim sales were “amazing.“

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iPad 2 benchmarks show impressive gains over original model

One of the first things many iPad 2 upgraders noticed was that the new device seemed very fast in comparison to the original iPad. Over at GigaOM, blogger Geoffrey Goetz ran benchmarks on an iPhone 4, an iPad, and an iPad 2 (all running iOS 4.3) to show how speedy the new iPad really is.

As you can see in the chart above, the iPad 2 consistently outperformed the Apple A4-powered iPad and iPhone 4 in every test. Using the GeekBench tests from Primate Labs, the iPad 2 was about 64% faster than its predecessor in overall results. Likewise, the Gague benchmarks showed an overall performance gain of about 56%, while BenchTest clocked in with a 63% improvement.

Goetz noted that he personally believed that his iPhone 4 was faster than his original iPad, a belief that the benchmarks proved to be incorrect. He also compared iOS 4.3 benchmarks submitted by a large sampling of GeekBench users, all of which supported his assertion that the iPad 2 performance gains are "stunning."

The GeekBench numbers show the iPad 2 to be roughly as powerful as a G4-based 15" PowerBook or Mac mini, but as Goetz summarizes in his post, "I really don't think that raw performance alone is where the focus needs to be anymore."

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Teardown of Apple's iPad 2 Smart Cover uncovers 21 magnets

A total of 31 magnets are used to make the iPad 2 and its Apple-branded Smart Cover properly align, with 21 magnets found in the accessory and the remaining 10 in the iPad 2 itself.

For the first time ever, iFixit conducted a teardown of a case, a move that highlights the unique nature of Apple's Smart Cover for the iPad 2. When the iPad 2 was first introduced, Apple touted that its accessory cover was developed alongside the new touchscreen tablet.

The solutions provider utilized magnetic viewing film to demonstrate the magnetic poles of the material inside the Smart Cover. It found that one magnet is used to turn off the iPad 2 screen, while the rest are used to either clamp the case to the iPad 2 or form the triangle shape that allows the case to act as a stand.

The sleep control for the iPad 2 can even be triggered with a separate magnet without using the Smart Cover, automatically enabling or disabling the screen.

Inside the iPad 2, a row of magnets are located on the right side of the device, making the Smart Cover clamp to the surface of the device. The magnets are clearly labeled with their alternating polarity, which ensures the Smart Cover always sits in the same orientation.

Also included in the iPad 2 are a row of magnets along the left side of the device, which allows the Smart Cover to latch onto the side and pivot to open and allow access to the screen. iFixit found that the magnets inside the iPad and its accompanying Smart Case on the left side are "very strong," and witnessed them make a two-inch leap to connect.

Inside the Smart Cover, iFixit found:

• A large metal place encased in plastic that adheres to the magnets to form the stand.
• Two yellow all-plastic plates in the middle that exist purely for structural support.
• A stack of magnets.

The teardown also revealed that Apple opted for a steel-to-magnet bond, which is weaker than a magnet-to-magnet bond, which is why there are a total of 21 magnets inside the case. iFixit said that Apple needed "lots more magnets to prevent the case from literally falling apart during use."

The Smart Case does not use any correlated magnets, which have a complex field of patterns rather than standard positive and negative polarity. The magnets used by Apple inside both the Smart Cover and iPad 2 are regular two-pole magnets.

Last week, iFixit conducted a more traditional teardown of the iPad 2 itself. The disassembly of Apple's latest touchscreen tablet revealed that the new device has a slightly bigger battery than its first-generation counterpart, as well as double the RAM with 512MB.

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SHAtter Also Patched in iPad 2, Confirms iPhone Dev Team

Well some more bad news for early adaptors of iPad 2 who wants to jailbreak their shiny new device. After the confirmation of Limera1n being patched in iPad 2’s bootrom, MuscleNerd of iPhone Dev Team has now confirmed that early testing of SHAtter shows that it has also been patched by Apple in iPad 2.

MuscleNerd: iPad2 bootrom version iBoot-838.3 means it was compiled March’10. Seems geohot guessed right: limera1n was already closed

MuscleNerd: Early testing also seems to show at least one thing SHAtter depends on was gone by March 2010 too

MuscleNerd: This means any early iPad2 jailbreaks will have to be purely userland

In case you don’t already know, all the current jailbreak tools are using Geohot’s bootrom based Limera1n exploit to jailbreak iOS based devices on the latest firmware. Since Limera1n exploit exists in the hardware, only a hardware revision from Apple could have patched it. Geohot released Limera1n back in October last year and forced the Chronic Dev Team to save their SHAtter exploit to jailbreak future devices such as the iPad 2.

But unfortunately, Apple had already patched both the exploits back in March 2010, long before they were found by Geohot (Limera1n) and Chronic Dev Team (SHAtter).

So what now? Bootrom based exploits have more life, but they are harder to find as they exist in the hardware. Geohot has been known for finding such exploits but since he is now busy in Sony-PS3 lawsuit, someone like pod2g (who found SHAtter and kernel based untethered exploit for GreenPois0n RC5) will have to come up with a new exploit which will obviously going to take some time. And even if he finds one, I doubt he is gonna release it since iPhone 5 launch is just around the corner (summer 2011).

So now we will have to wait for someone like Comex, who specializes in userland-based jailbreaks, to do their magic and bring yet another JailbreakMe like tool to jailbreak iOS 4.3 firmware on the iPad 2.

As always, we will keep you updated ! Stay tuned for more!

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iPad 2 Will Be Available on Friday, 5:00 pm Local Time

According to the sources close to The Loop, Apple iPad 2 will go on sale in USA on March 11, at 5:00 pm local time.

For those of you who don’t know, Apple announced the successor to the original iPad, the iPad 2, last week in an event held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.

iPad 2 features a Dual-Core CPU which is twice as fast as the current iPad. The new graphics chips are ’9x faster’ too. Impressive, at least on paper. Thickness? 8.8mm. That’s one third thinner than the current model.

iPad 2 also features two cameras, one rear and one front facing and the most interesting specification of them all is the availability of the new white iPad. Apple couldn’t get a white iPhone 4 out the door but no such issues with the iPad 2.

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Lines for iPad 2 Launch Start as 'iJustin' Camps Out Once Again

With the iPad 2 set for launch at 5:00 PM on Friday and Apple not offering pre-orders, those looking to get their hands on the updated tablet device as soon as possible may find themselves facing long waits to secure spots near the front of their respective lines.

And just like with the iPhone 4, Dallas resident Justin Wagoner has already pitched a tent outside his local Apple Store in order to be first in line for the iPad 2 launch on Friday

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AT&T to allow grandfathered unlimited iPad data plans on iPad 2, your weekend rave to continue

Good news, iPad 3G owners. If you were lucky enough to snag one of those coveted unlimited data plans with your original AT&T iPad, you won't have to toss it when upgrading next week. The carrier has confirmed to us that those who currently have the aforementioned plan will be able to keep it on their account when upgrading to the iPad 2, which in turns gives you no reason whatsoever to turn down the opportunity.

Except for the lack of a USB port, SD card slot and a screen that touts the exact same resolution as the first model, of course.

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Apple to Announce iPad 2 Within 3 or 4 Weeks?

Digg founder Kevin Rose today has received information from a reliable source claiming that Apple is going to announce the much waited iPad 2 within the next 3-4 weeks, possibly on February 1st, 2011. What's more interesting in the post, he says that another source told him
that it will not feature Retina Display but instead is higher resolution screen with more dots per inch (DPI) in addition to dual cameras.

iPad 2 Mockup spotted at CES 2011

I have it on good authority that Apple will be announcing the iPad 2 in the next “3-4 weeks”, possibly Tuesday February 1st. The iPad 2 will feature a retina display and front/back cameras.

We already saw iPad 2 case shown up in CES 2011, some leaks and videos. So, we may see Verizon iPhone next Tuesday followed by iPad 2 on February 1st? Let's wait !

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Apple to Announce iPad 2 Within 3 or 4 Weeks (possibly on February 1st, 2011) !

Digg founder Kevin Rose today has received information from a reliable source claiming that Apple is going to announce the much waited iPad 2 within the next 3-4 weeks, possibly on February 1st, 2011. What's more interesting in the post, he says that another source told him that it will not feature Retina Display but instead is higher resolution screen with more dots per inch (DPI) in addition to dual cameras.

I have it on good authority that Apple will be announcing the iPad 2 in the next “3-4 weeks”, possibly Tuesday February 1st. The iPad 2 will feature a retina display and front/back cameras.

We already saw iPad 2 case shown up in CES 2011, some leaks and videos. So, we may see Verizon iPhone next Tuesday followed by iPad 2 on February 1st? Let's wait !

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iPad 2G Cases Suggest Rear-Facing Camera and SD Card Slot?

It's time for iPad 2 rumors, iLounge is reporting that a Chinese manufacturer, is now offering what it claims is a case for the second-generation iPad. The leaked images and informations claims that the device will have rear-facing camera and SD card slot.
The first image comes from Shenzhen MacTop Electronics showing a shell of white case of 2nd-generation iPad and also shows an opening in the top left corner suggests a Facetime camera.

The second one comes from a Japanese site shows similar cases in black and white models, with a hole for the camera in the upper left corner and the same volume / headphone jack layout of the current generation iPad. As MacRumors notes, however, the spot for the volume buttons in these cases looks smaller.

The case also suggest the same hole in the lower right corner we have seen in the first white case image above, and the description page claims the iPad 2 will come with an SD slot. What I can say, the rumors will start to spread everywhere on the web specially that we know that iPad 2G will ship in less than 100 days.

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iPad 2 Expected to Ship by End of February 2011?

According to a new DigiTimes report, Foxconn Electronics will ship Apple's iPad 2 within the next 100 days or what the source notes as soon as the end of February. The intial shipments should reach 400,000 - 600,000 units.

The sources pointed out that the iPad 2 will ship as soon as the end of February in 2011. Apple originally planned to start mass production in January, but because the device’s firmware is currently still in testing, Apple has been postponing the schedule. Since Foxconn’s new plants in Chengdu are still in pilot production, iPad 2 will be mainly supplied by its Shenzhen plants, while the company’s upstream component partners have all been notified of the shipments schedule.

The 2nd generation iPad is also rumored to carry Facetime camera and be smaller in size (mini-iPad). Anyway, will you buy an iPad 2 next year? let us know in the comments section below.

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iPad 2 Ready for Production in Q1 2011

As 9to5Mac notes, the production of Apple's 2nd generation iPad will go into full-force of Q1 2011. DigiTimes reports that suppliers are ready to start shipping parts for the iPad 2 next month with full production ready Q1 2011. The report claims that Apple has already secured three iPad 2 suppliers and will be adding more in February.

And as you may know, 2nd generation iPad will carry a front camera for FaceTime, mini-USB port, and faster chips. Anyway, we'll keep you informed whenever we hear something.

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iPad 2G Will Be Thinner with Camera and Mini-USB Port?

An interesting report from Bloomberg claiming that Apple's 2nd generation iPad will be thinner and lighter in design with a camera and mini USB port in the second quarter of 2011 not in the first quarter as rumored before. The report also includes more information about the size, here's what's being said.

Apple Inc. may introduce its second-generation iPad in the second quarter of 2011, said Henry King and Kevin Lu, analysts at Goldman Sachs Group Inc, in a report dated 27 September. The new 9.7-inch iPad is targeted to be thinner and lighter, with an embedded camera and mini USB, according to the report. Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. will likely be the sole supplier for the new iPad, said King in the report. A 7-inch iPad project hasn’t been finalized, according to Goldman Sachs.

Of course you may noticed that it says a 7-inch iPad (mini iPad) is has not been finalized. Goldman Sachs don't believe the rumored 7-inch iPad and expects that the new iPad will be 9.7-inch, but who knows? We have to wait to know the truth, stay tuned !

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iPad 2 Will Only Have a Front Camera [Patent]

Over the past few weeks, we reported you about the upcoming iPad 2, which expected to hit Apple Store by the first quarter of 2011. It is also rumored that there FaceTime video calling, today we can say that rumor has pretty much been confirmed as China's Patent and Trademark office officially published a series of new Apple Industrial Designs wins. one of them was Apple's iPad Camera Connector.

But till now we can't confirm this hundred present until Apple announce this officially, the iPad new front camera design is just that a single industrial design. The new design doesn't illustrate a backside camera but that doesn't mean that Apple can't or won't surprise us with one.

But on paper, for now at least we only see a design with a single camera. what do you think? Apple will add a back side camera?

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