It will be kind of an understatement if we said that the Apple iPad 2 is an easy tablet to review, as it is a follow-up to the last year’s ‘crazy’-successful tablet. It is almost identical when it comes to software and, though it has some improved hardware, it is still closely related. Most of the enhancements on the iPad 2 are cosmetic, however it still has a few other notable enhancements such as the new dual core A5 CPU, additional memory and also a couple of new cameras. While this new model might not be breaking new grounds, it is already in front of the pack. Read on to find out if the original iPad owners should look to upgrade, and heaps more.

Design:

Not much different:

As far as industrial design is concerned, this tablet has set the bar almost unreachable as far as stuff like “sleek” is concerned. The iPad 2 does not look very different from its original. As with the previous version, the front of the device is all screen, except for the bezel, which appears to be slightly less broad than the other, and there is the home button in the bottom. Apart from this, there are the cameras, a tiny dotted speaker grid on the lower left side, and depending on the type of model you got, you will get a 3G camera on the top back. On the rear left side, there is volume, mute and rotate switch, and in the right, there is Micro SIM slot (on 3G models). Along the bottom, there is the standard 30 pin dock, and on the top, there is a power button, sleep button on the upper right side and a 3.5mm headphone jack on the left.
If you want to make it obvious to your friends that you have the latest version of the iPad, go for the white version, instead of the black one. While the white gives stylish look, the white bezel distracts from what is on the display, and seems to make the iPad 2 look like a kitchen appliance or digital photo frame, in iPhone 3GS, it was not that bad as that was white only on the rear.

Display:

iPad 2 the same 9.7″ IPS display with the similar 1024 x 768 pixels resolution. Though it still looks absolutely gorgeous, we would have liked to see a small bump in the resolution; though not up to the doubled numbers of the retina display, but something a little substantial. There are no issues what so ever as far as the quality of display such as colour balance, depth of black etc. But we would have definitely loved to see an enhanced resolution.

Slimmer and lighter:

Apple had put the iPad on a diet to get the latest version thinner and lighter. At 8.8mm thickness, compared to the original 13.4mm, it looks amazingly slim in reality, almost like a paper. Just after a few hours if reading and browsing, we really appreciate that the WiFi only version of the iPad 2 weighed just 160 grams. This is about 124 grams lighter than the original iPad, which was surprisingly heavy considering its slender form factor. This light weight is a big selling factor especially since it does not lose its battery life that soon.

Durable, yes but no:

The Apple iPad 2 is only 8.8mm thick, which is smaller than that of the thinnest smartphone in the current market, which is again, the Apple iPhone 4. With such dimensions, we feared that being wafer-thin, it would feel breakable; fortunately, having iPad 2’s aluminium case means that it feels incredibly sturdy. Though the iPad 2 can take some scratching and dents on its aluminium casing during normal using, however, if you drop it on a hard surface, you may have to kiss its display a goodbye.

The detachable cover:

The detachable cover attaches itself to the iPad’s magnets that are hidden in its chassis that clicks into its place just right. This cover can also be folded into a stand, which allows for a much more convenient typing as well as video viewing. Peeling of the protective screen of the iPad 2 wake it up immediately. This cover is not at all cheap, coming at £35 for the fabric version and about £65 for the leather version. The bad news is, it does not look as good as it looks in Apple’s tempting pixar inspired promotional video. The grey version is quite futuristic, but we recommend some of the less 70’s shades. The cover is really worth having if you can really afford it. It does not add any bulk to the iPad, and it is handy to have it wherever you are. The best part is, it is extremely quick to get it up and running. Well, we are not taking off ours.

iPad 2 Model types:

There are various iPad 2 models you can get; there is the WiFi (802.11a/b/g/n) only model, a 3G version and a GSM variety. Bluetooth 2.1+EDR is on-board, as is an AGPS chip in the 3G versions. All the models come equipped with an accelerometer, an ambient light sensor, and a new addition of a three-axis gyroscope.

User Interface:

Ease of use:

Since the iPad 2 from Apple do does not deal with any integrated physical keyboard or mouse, Apple has opted to keep the interface of this device as simple as possible. Tablets do not get along well with small icons and fiddly tasks; they will just do with human fingers. This one too has the same touch sensitive interface of the iPhone, just in a larger display; hence even kindergarten goers should have no issues using this. The trademark Apple Home button is present below the display, which will take you to the home screen. The main menu includes heaps of rectangular icons that are nothing but the revolutionary apps. Its simplicity also means that it is not as customizable as that of its other Android rivals, such as the Motorola Xoom. In iPad 2, you get to change the wallpaper and can also create categories for icons, but that is all that you get to do, whereas, with Android tablets, you will be able to fully pack the home screen with shortcuts and widgets; however, keep in mind that this flexibility comes at the cost of simplicity. Hence, it is up to you to decide, which quality is the most essential for you.

Banes of being simple:

Even though the simplicity of the iPad 2 Tablet is appreciable, it will prove to be an incredible drawback in some occasions. For instance, you get to interchange between the 2 apps that are active at the same time by just double clicking over the home button, but you will not get to view the apps side by side in two separate windows; this simply means that iPad will have issues with anything that is more complex than simple browsing. For instance, if you wish to compose a mail, if you just going to type it all, the process will be a breeze, however, if you wish to do some copy and pasting and all that stuff, then you will have to open more than one app. And even some of the most common tasks on a full sized computer like adding an attachment to a mail will be extremely hard and cannot be accomplished.

Editing on the iPad 2:

Even the simple tasks such as copy and paste can get really annoying on the iPad 2. To begin with, you will have to hold your finger on the text in order to highlight it. Then simply drag a few small markers around it to highlight the exact content you like. And, it is mostly impossible to get it right on web pages, especially since they are HTML formatted. Even if you get it right, you need to be a monk to press and drag the pointer wherever you want it to be. On the iPhone, the copy and paste will seem great with the lack of a mouse, and because of the fact that it quite a small gadget, any of its text editing capability will look just miracle like; whereas, on a tablet which is considered as an alternative to a laptop, this process feels ‘non-elegant’ and uncomfortable. The banes of a tablet can be felt especially as you try creating files in Pages, Keynotes and Numbers, which is nothing but Apple’s version of Word, PowerPoint and Excel.

Good luck with complex documents:

Overall, the interface is great, but when you try to create documents that are any more complex than a shopping list without the help of a keyboard and mouse, is nearly impossible; if you manage to create anything more than this, you can assume that you have incredible patience. The best you can do is, make use of the Google Docs in the browser to do any sort of serious typing on your system, and have any sort of access to your documents for reference and some quick editing. The Printing process is also pretty much plain, unless you got an AirPrint activated printer or any of the other third party enabled printing apps. So, just forget about trying any sort of serious work on the iPad 2, and simply stick with having fun.

Apps:

As you can expect from the Apple iPad 2 you get access to a huge collection of apps and games in the App Store. Gamers will simply love this gadget, they can choose between everything from some really addictive puzzles to the first person shooting games. You will also find some very useful apps from photo editors to guitar tuners. iPad allows you to do anything and everything from planning your workouts, diets, booking holidays and even plan your love life for you. Most of the major App titles tend to hit the App Store much before they appear on the Android market, and the best part is that, most of the time they cost less than a couple of pounds. You can also make use of the iPhone Apps on the iPad 2, but they do not use up the full screen, you have to use the pixel-doubling zoom. While this will make the images bigger, it will not take advantage of the higher resolution of the iPad 2, leaving you craving for the iPad version of the same app. Another major quibble here is that, you are locked into Apple’s App Store to get access to all of these apps, and hence, you can only use iTunes on a single system for syncing.

GarageBand:

One App that deserves special mentioning is Apple’s GarageBand, which really shows of the touchscreen possibilities of the iPad 2. This app allows you to record a number of tracks with the help of ‘real’- sounding virtual musical instruments, or they can be simply described as “cheating instruments” that play themselves for you. While this is not the app for the pros who love to do it all by themselves fiddling with innumerable knobs on a desk, it will surely interest the beginners who seem to be getting addicted to creating songs on the iPad 2. We were left wishing if only you get to export tunes to the music player on the iPad 2, instead of being forced to sync them first in the computer first.

Photo Booth:

Apple tempts the iPad 2 users into making use of its new 0.3 megapixels in the fascia and 0.91 megapixel rear cameras with an amazing and addictive app called Photo Booth. This app is pretty much straightforward and this basic app can also be used to create funny photos for your Facebook profile and other social media, but is not recommended for any serious editing.

FaceTime:

You also get FaceTime on the New Apple iPad 2, which you must be aware by now, a video calling app. With this app, you are allowed to call people using the above mentioned front or rear facing cameras, but with only those of you who own a Mac, iPhone 4, iPod Touch and iPad 2. The FaceTime experience on the iPad is not so different than what can be got out of the iPhone or OS X computer. Though the layout might be a little different, you will basically get the same results. When we tested this feature, we were stunned at the excellence of video quality, when compared to some of the major rivals in this feature, such as the Skype. Unfortunately, you will not be able to share this fun with your other mates owning any other kind of smartphone.

iMovie:

With the iMovie app, you will be able to edit your videos and this video-editing software has gone through some tweaking to take advantage of the touchscreen. This app allows you to do some incredibly flashy cuts and background music to your master pieces. While it is great fun to play with the movies you had shot on your iPhone and iPad, importing them from other sources can be incredibly hard, at the least it will involve syncing with a system. If you are looking to play your videos on your TV, you get to use the enhanced AirPlay feature, and this is as long as you have an Apple telly. The AirPlay is already capable of streaming video from iPad to Apple TV, but now you will also be able to stream photo slide shows, and even apps and websites will be able to stream video and audio.

iTunes Home Sharing:

The iPad 2 has support for iTunes Home Sharing, a feature that allows you to play media from your system on the tablet through your home WiFi network. On the go, the best way to get media on the iPad 2 is to buy them through iTunes. The amount of selections available is quite good, however, they are quite expensive; in UK, it costs about 99p to rent even the cheapest movies on iTunes, whereas, in US, it costs just 99 cents, which works out to be 61p. Considering how painful it is to convert other formats and get them on the iPad, it is really worth the money.

Sans Flash:

While Apps can be handy, they are not absolutely essential, mainly as you can surf the entire World Wide Web in iPad’s browser. It is incredibly quick and does a fantabulous job in displaying the web pages accurately. Even the biggest issue of Apple iPad 2 Tablet, which is the lack of Flash support is becoming a far less of an issue, as more and more sites seem to bow to the might of Apple and has chosen flash-free design options. Most of you might be wondering, why is Apple not so friendly? Well, to begin with, Flash is quite battery hungry and has a real tendency to crash off. Whatever the reason might be, it is quite annoying when we run into images and videos on the web that cannot be viewed on the iPad 2, and even more frustrating when the issue is prominent even on popular sites.

The cache issue:

Another big issue on the iPad 2 is its memory loss when the device has heaps of Web pages open, and when you try to swap back to a page, it will have to reload from scratch. This will be the biggest headache you can ever imagine, if you are browsing on the move and in places with not-so-good connectivity. This means, the pages that were initially fully loaded may refresh into just zilch. You may end up using swear words, if you had filled out part of an online form, and just swapped into another page to check something and gone back to the form page, just to find that the page had refreshed, and you had actually lost all your work. We really hoped this caching issue might have been resolved in the iPad 2, especially since browsing is the highlight app on the tablet; but unfortunately, it requires work. However, the quick boot time and portability of the iPad 2, means that you will usually reach out for this over your phone or laptop for some simple browsing and social networking. If you are trapped with just the iPad on the move, you may even manage to do some essential tasks such as internet banking; that is, if you can be patient.

Cameras:

Ok, we will just get the point across, the cameras on the iPad 2 are bad. Though they are not unusable, they just produce bad stills. While you will be able to shoot videos using both the front and rear cameras on the iPad 2, only the rear one gets you decent shots. The HD lens in the back just means it is a single mega pixel shooter and the one in front is a lowly VGA cam. While the one in the front is great for taking videos of yourself, but they will not be sharp or well exposed. The camera in the rear shoots 720p video, and the quality is quite acceptable too. If you have iPod Touch 4th generation, you can expect same kind of results. However, do not even think of waving the iPad to take photos, it will make you look like an idiot.

Hardware:

Moving on to the insides, the iPad 2 packs you with 1GHz dual core A5 CPU, along with a dedicated GPU, which was not present in the original iPad. Apple claims that the iPad 2 is twice as fast as the original iPad when it comes to processor demanding tasks and about nine times faster as far as graphics-heavy tasks are concerned.

Speed and graphics performance in iPad-2:

When we put this claim to test, the new iPad 2 sure was faster than the original iPad, but was not as fast as we expected it to be. In spite of having the latest dual-core processor and GPU, most of the enhancements is mainly because of the updated OS. Since the original iPad too managed to get the same iOS 4.3 update, both the versions were roughly about the same speed in most basic tasks, such as opening apps and web pages. This does not be any means mean that the latest iPad 2 is slow, like its iPhone cousin, the iPad possesses smooth and buttery scrolling, that is way ahead in the competition. If you had been using an iPad that had the previous version of the iOS, then you will definitely notice the speed enhancements. While the changes to speed are minor, the enhancement in graphics performance is across the board.

Audio:

As we had mentioned earlier, Apple has relocated iPad’s speaker into the rear of the tablet. The audio is clearer if a little bit quieter than the previous version. But there is a great enhancement when you consider the placement. It does the basic job for you, but if you are looking to use the GarageBand App or just listening to music or watching video, you may have to use good headphones or simply decent speakers nearby.

Battery:

The battery life of the original iPad was pretty good, having lived to Apple’s claims of ten hours of use, or say, about a month of standby period. And, in spite of being much slimmer, lighter and much more powerful, then the iPad 2 provides the same battery life.

Upgrade to iPad 2:

If you already possess an iPad, you will be having the million dollar question of whether to upgrade to iPad 2. The answer is, unless you cannot stand another second knowing that you are behind in the iPad curve, you may not need it. Even though iPad 2 is speedier than the original in rendering graphics, the former is as fast in browsing and opening apps. Just make sure that you install the upgrade to iOS 4.3, because that is the major source of enhancements in speed. However, one place where the iPad 2 beats the original considerably is when it comes to weight. If weight is not something that you really care about, then the second thing to consider is its cameras, which have showed up only on the iPad 2. There are not too many people around with tablets who take snapshots or videos in crowded places, but the front and rear cameras are real fun features, nonetheless.

Apps such as iMovie and Photo Booth are great fun and the app runs only on the iPad 2. FaceTime can be used to make vide calls, but this feature can be used only with friends who possess an iPhone 4, iPod Touch, Mac or just another iPad 2. Note that, you should also be connected to WiFi. The iPad 2 does not offer you with all features that you can get out of the iPhone 4 with iOS 4.3. For instance, you will not be able to use this gadget as a personal hotspot. With this feature, you will be able to share your phone’s 3G Internet connection over WiFi with the other gadgets, but you do not get to do the same with 3G enabled iPad 2.

Value:

One of the most impressive facts about the iPad 2 that amazed everybody was its price tag. While in the United States, it will be costing same as that of the original iPad, but in UK, it will cost you £30 less than the original. The 16GB WiFi-only iPad 2 costs £399, £479 for 32GB model and £559 for 64GB version. For iPad 2 with both connectivity options of WiFi and 3G, it will cost another £100 extra through the entire set of models.

Verdict:

Overall, the Apple iPad 2 has the entire highlight features that aided the first iPad define the revolutionary genre of tablets. It is quite easy to use, finger friendly and provides access to a huge range of apps and games. It would have been nice if Apple had offered a feature to enable Flash in the browser when required, and also an easy way to load the external video files; you will struggle if you want to do anything more complicated than just surfing the web. But this is nit picking and it does not stop anybody from having great fun out of this gadget. In fact, this gadget offers all of the potential of the original iPad and more than that in a much slimmer and quicker casing. And, it has managed to do so without losing the battery life, which makes the tablet more craving.

With heaps of Android tablets being announced every day, the iPad will not own the Tablet city to itself for a long time. But heaps of USB ports, cameras and widgets just do not mean that Android tablets with be any more fun to use than the Apple iPad 2. If you feel that you cannot do without a memory card or support for Flash, you may have to wait a bit more for the amazing android tablets that are on their way. Otherwise, the iPad 2 will prove to be a great companion.

Apple iPad 2 – Technical Specification Table

iPad in short can be described as something between its role model iPhone and the ridiculously successful Apple MacBook Line. It might possibly a revolution in the PC market if Apple manages to deliver what it has promised. Those promises seem to be quite big from Apple as they have been bouncing off words like “revolutionary” and “magical” to explain what most have neglected as nothing but a magnified side of its own iPod Touch. We have definitive answers for all the keen minds here, hence read on for the complete review of the Apple iPad.

Design:

Enlarged iPhone:
The very first thing that you will observe about the Apple iPad is the fact that, well, there is nothing to notice on it. Design wise, there is nothing much to mention as 98% of its facia is covered by its 9.7″ multitouch LED backlit display of resolution 1024 x 768 pixels. This massive display is bordered by a sleek black bezel which some might think is very broad but in reality it is a very significant design thought that avoids the touch screen from being accidentally set off while working. The only physical button that you will ever find in iPad’s facia is its trade-mark Home button like the ones found in the iPod Touch and iPhone. This black gadget is a loyally undemanding piece of curled aluminium, and like most of Apple products, it is a real beauty. But we must admit that it is not precisely noteworthy for its design flourishes simply because it is cute but not a stunner. This might be because of the fact that we had already got used to its identical miniature versions.

Large Multi-Touch LED:
As indicated above, the iPad seems to be very famous for its display and its 9.7” LED backlit IPS display did not disappoint us. The black levels are deep and colours on the display are lively and concentrated. The iPad has very high brightness settings, but it also handles the lower settings too, which is particularly significant for the readers and the good thing is that brightness control has been included in the iBooks. The viewing angle of the iPad is remarkably broad as Apple has employed the In Plane Switching for the screen. But we really wonder if this is going to please the people who like to do all their work with some privacy. The multitouch and capacitive display handled every input swiftly and accurately and if you are accustomed to the iPhone, you might be very well aware of the excellence in Apple’s input technology. It is not an overstatement if we said that it is the best of its class as we have never seen such a responsive display.

Reading on the iPad:
Since the release of the iPad there has been a lot of debate on reading with this device versus reading with Kindle or other e-Ink e-readers. In our opinion, if you have the iPad in its cranked up brightness level, reading can be a real pain; however, as we had said earlier, iPad handles low levels of brightness also and hence, it is just the subject of fine-tuning. After a couple of minutes of reading, you would forget that you are staring at the ipad or the display technology; you will just see a book.

Viewing angle and other controls:
Though the iPad has some heft on it weighing about 1.5 pounds, it can be held comfortably in a lot of angles. Bearing in mind the computing power of the iPad, it has a width that tops out at ½” is just more than impressive. Having it in your hand, the matte black aluminium in its rear might allow you to feel some of its warmth and rest of it, getting out of the way and allows you to do what you really intended to. Apart from the home button and display, there are a few controls on the sides of the device to discuss about: display position lock and a volume rocker is on the right hand side, headphone jack and a power or sleep button on either side of top edge and Apple’s well known thirty pin dock connector along with a slim speaker on the base of the iPad.

USB and Card reader only accessory:
The absence of a SD Card reader or USB port is a serious issue. Apple provides both these connectivity options as an optional extra in order to transfer media onto the iPad, but it looks like a bad omission to not to have these built-in. If Apple looks to fight with the nettop market, which it does, it has to offer a few port choices apart from the proprietary dock connector. The screen position lock forces the device to remain in landscape or portrait mode and other than this new addition, you will not find anything that is no right about the controls or layout on the iPad. If you have used the iPhone or the iPod Touch, you will feel right at home and that is precisely how the company wants it to be.

No Webcam:
One hardware that you will seriously miss is the webcam. We are terribly disappointed that you will not be able to Skype or iChat video chats mainly because having the iPad in hands and talking to family and friends is not only a perfect match, but also the complete realisation of one of everybody’s all-time science fiction fantasies. We can understand that Apple cannot include every component that we anticipate, but this looked an obvious one and its oversight has left every buyer wondering why. Yet another issue of concern is that, Apple’s designers have blundered the headphone jack on to crown of the iPad. The thought of bringing the headphone chord across the display or spinning it in the rear is a very bad though. And in practice too, it stinks. We just wonder why Apple did not place it on some logical place like the the base of the iPad or even its side is just haunting us and this mystery will also haunt every one with earpieces on while walking.

Ergonomics:
Coming to the part of ergonomics, having the iPad seated on your lap will be a comfy experience, but you will definitely find yourself handling this flat slab while standing or on a move, and in that case, the iPad can be a pain. In those cases, typing in single finger will almost become a play of hunt and peck and as we had said earlier, the iPad has some mass on it and hence, you might feel the pain having it in one hand for a long period. But this will not be of big concern as most of us will do the heavy typing works while placed on a normal desk, and this means unless you possess a dock you will be working on the iPad as a flat surface. Even to our surprise, the flat-typing experience was quite good; though it might take a little to get used to, it is not completely weird. Having it on desk or lap, you will find that it is a greater pleasurable experience than the one hand typing. You might find that there is some learning curve now and then that will diminish the interests of some of the hit and run shoppers.

Features:

Processor, Connectivity and Capacities:
Done with the design and external features, let us move on to see what is inside the gadget. iPad has packed in Apple’s custom Cortex A8 core along with a PowerVR SGX graphics processor. Apple has not revealed the RAM specification of the iPad, but we hope that it has at least 512MB inside it. The other major connectivity and application features of the iPad include Bluetooth 2.1, 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi, ambient light sensor, a digital compass, microphone and an accelerometer. The 3G model that is available right now in the market also comes with UMTS / HSDPA data coupled with an AGPS chip. The Apple iPad is available in capacities of 32GB, 16GB, and 64GB.

User interface:
As of now, you must be almost clear of the fact that the interface of the iPad is very similar in all ways to that of the iPhone or the iPod Touch Interface. The cause for this very obvious as the iPad is constructed on the same OS as iPhone; a origin of OS X for mobile devices. When it comes to the actual navigation through the device, it is accurately like that of the iPhone. There are pages with grids of icons, a dock for your favourite apps at a maximum of six and a persistent status bar with information on time, WiFi etc. We though Apple would make use of this chance to open up the desktop space and allow micro apps and widgets, and unfortunately, Apple did not have the same idea. At a glance of the home screen of the iPad, you will not be able to get any good piece of information over the time and WiFi status and using all the wide real-estate to just exhibit a extensively spaced grid of icons if simply a waste and even looks kind of silly. By not giving more than one entity to look at a time, designers in Apple are simply wrong and contradicting years of improvement to the company’s desktop OS.

Few additions:
Having said all those similarities, there are also some new stuff that Apple has added into the user interface of the iPad that shows the company’s effort to expand the language of this operating system. The following is a description of a handful of tools that Apple has added to the existing user interface.

Spilt Screens: As the name indicates, Apple has made use of all its large space to break up multiple pages that divides the content into segments of the same screen. For instance, in a mail application, you will able to look at the list of mails while having the content of a mail in view. This feature also comes in very handy to keep the multi page work in keynote available as and when you are editing.

Pop-over Modals: Pop over modals is nothing but the small Windows that show up and float over the content that you are interacting with. It basically enhances the consequence inside the iPod App while displaying the track listings as you select an album or even while getting info on specific books or MP3 to purchase from the iBook store and iTunes. The best thing about these pop over is that, points of contact and it has separate navigation part from the main content that you are working with.

Full sized virtual keyboards: In portrait mode, you will be mostly able to do only single finger typing, but occasionally you can also message with your thumbs. On the other hand, the landscape mode, the keyboard is quite big and totally usable and in fact we were really surprised to see how quickly we were able to type in the messages and mails.

Contextual Menus: While the tap and hold gets you to options for context specific menus, the iPad interface also has heaps of single tap buttons that leads you to similar kind of options. The shift certainly seems to be towards these transient menus as opposed to paging through screens like we are used to on the iPhone.

Coverflow: Those of us who use Safari will have a clear idea in how it handles multiple pages; this behaviour seems to be used throughout the iPad to navigate through files or lists of options.  In Safari, as in other apps, the content is presented as a grid, while elsewhere it is a scrollable list akin to Mobile Safari’s present use.

Tap and Hold: This is an application that is already available in the iPhone; but the point is that Apple has highly expanded its use with the iPad which means you are now offered with a lot of situations where you will be able to do a long press to get deep into the contextual interaction and function. We were big fans of this gesture in Hello and Android, and we were really glad to see Apple putting it to better use within the user interface of the iPad. It will be a step forward if Apple introduces this gesture throughout its mobile Operating Systems.

Drop down Tool Bars: Apple has included the toolbar items with the previous iterations of the iPhone OS; but with the iPad, the toolbar are just not links to deeper pages as they are self contained menus with lots of levels and options for tweaking the work that you are doing and these toolbars are all over the iPad.

Nothing like a PC:
You would have noticed that we have not mentioned anywhere about the files, folders or Windows and this is obviously because of the fact that there is no such thing in the iPad universe. Remember, this is not a computer and with all this enhancements in the UI to the iPhone vocabulary means that you will be just able to do more and go further than what the iPhone can do. Lot of the applications found on the iPad are far more expansive than what is actually possible on an iPhone and it is just not like any of the computers that you have ever used. As we said in the introduction, this is entirely a different genre, a kind of hybrid. While the user interface will feel similar to most of you, it is also not a PC of any sort. You will just get your work done with it, play with it and read some content, but the underlying framework of the OS is simply completely invincible. To be more specific, consider the Numbers or Keynote applications as you will not have files, rather a long cover flow style list of work to scroll through. But it has its own disadvantages; say, you have saved about 150 documents, you have to just scroll through the entire list to get to the last one. Sometimes the iPad might even give a feel that it is a computer for the beginners.

A few let-downs:
There is no doubt that Apple has to be appreciated for the approach that it has taken; they have simply built a computer that is so obvious and simple to use that anyone can pick it up and understand it at an instant. There is a lot to like in the iPad, especially in some of the innovative and third party applications built by the third party developers currently like the TweetDeck, Marvel App and SketchBook Pro. But as reviewers, we have the responsibility to explore the holes and found that there were big ones that went just beyond user interface.

No Multitasking:
As we have been mourning in the entire review, the iPad does not support multitasking, save for Apple’s own applications including the Safari browser, iPod and mail. Everything else that you use in this gadget is just do it or jump out experience; this means for the messaging apps, you are either having a conversation or not. For those of you who are used to the iPhone way of doing things, this will be just familiar, but if you are looking to have a conversation as you are receiving a mail, as you would do in a laptop or computer, then you are simply out of luck. This will turn out to be very irritating for those of us who like to have the Twitter app open in the background to monitor updates. Even downloading software or updating the settings will be a real chore mainly because of the stop start nature of the operating system. All this means that you have to go just one at a time, which is totally acceptable if we are talking about a smartphone, but for a notebook like device, it is simply a big no. There will be hardly anyone out there who does not have more than one application open at the same time. So how many out there will save their money and wait for multitasking? The honest answer will be a large number of users simply do not care and that is why it is so easy for Apple to ignore the issue or just claim that their OS supports the functionality as they allow a handful of applications to run in the background. For people like us, iPad might do a lot of stuff better than a netbook, but multitasking is certainly not in the list.

The way iPad handles notifications, just adds to the woes of lack of multitasking. Apple provides a method of utilizing push notifications to circumvent in the background of an app. For instance, with your AIM set to send push messages, you will still be able to see you IM contact’s messages and just come back into the app when you need to respond. This is all good, but the bad news is that Apple still handles notifications in the same terrible and interruptive way as it does on the iPhone. This was already annoying on a phone, but the same terrible mistake on a computer like device? It is totally annoying. While you can always set notifications to just a sound and badge, we also know the elegant manner in which Android and webOS handles it and all that we could think of at this point is, why cannot Apple just follow the same.

A powerful platform:
Said that, there is no doubt that Apple has managed to create a very engaging, simple and surprisingly powerful platform for the device. For some of the applications, especially for some of the third party titles that have started to out, the stuff that these people are thinking out is simply insane cleverness and ridiculously cool. The common users will be able to accomplish much of what they would like to do with a netbook or laptop on the iPad. Still, there will be a few experiences that will go far beyond what you would like to do on a typical computer. Though we cannot classify the iPad as a laptop replacement as its OS is not capable of doing everything that a laptop can do; maybe it simply does not have to.

Applications:

We will not discuss about all the applications, but there are a few of them that deserve a special mention. Some pristine applications have also be included that are very significant to what the iPad is all about and we will dig deep in those applications.

Browsing:
Steve Jobs had promised that the web browsing on iPad will be “The finest browsing experience you have ever had”.  So is it true? Well, Apple seems to be telling the truth as the browsing on the iPad is truly amazing; swift and fluent. The screen shows the pages beautifully in both portrait and landscape mode. The scrolling is so smooth and the touch retort is simply out of the world and the pinch to zoom in and out cannot work better. The finger base operation really is kind of fantastic, and it makes browsing bizarrely like reviving an old buddy. A few other add-ons to the app such as the drop down toolbars, proper bookmarks and improvised tab grid, all make it an absolute delight to use. Without any question, we can say that iPad has one of the finest browsing experiences we have ever had. But if it is THE BEST? Well, no.

Flash issue:
Yes, the obvious question from you is, why? That answer is simple, but extremely complicated at the same time. At present, Adobe’s Flash has become a web standard that allows for easy insertion of rich media into the webpages. This includes everything from streaming videos and audio files, online gaming to complete web sites that are made using Flash’s broad and deep development tools. A survey from a very reliable source states that the penetration percentage of Flash on PCs around the world is around 98 which means, almost everyone and the number of sites that employ this standard on their pages is really mammoth. Most, if not all of the pages that you would typically visit use Flash in at least part of their content. So why are we saying so much about Adobe Flash? Yes! You guessed it right and yea it is ridiculous that the Apple iPad does not support flash and will not support, perhaps ever. Apple has not only ditched what seems to be the industry standard for rich media and webpages, but is also pushing in a new standard called as HTML5. Apple attempt in moving its agenda forward and bringing the sites into the fold of HTML5 has been little successful as it has managed to talk just about one percent of them, which is as you can sense, way less.

So, is the lack of Flash a deal breaker for the end user? We think so. For instance when you visit some of the most popular sites like NBC, Hulu, HBO, LaLa which ironically Apple had just purchased, and heaps of other very famous sites, you will just be pissed off. This is because of the fact, there will be certain parts or elements of the sites that will not work and in the case of HBO, the whole site itself would refuse to work. We are geeks so, we will realise what is wrong when a site shows a broken plug-in icon or simply displays we need Flash; but when it comes to the whole wide world that Apple is selling its product to, will just flatly end up in a really confusing and frustrating experience. This is really a big issue that Apple has to be concerned about. We are not promoting Flash here, but we would certainly like to have a less CPU intensive format take its place and HTML5, obviously is not the format, at least not yet. Overall, the lack of Flash is a black spot on the otherwise flawless and brilliant browsing experience on the Safari browser.

Mailing:
Let us move on to the all important Mail. Now a days, most of us check our mails, at least once an hour and frankly, it was not a pleasure on the iPhone. So we expected that this misery would change with the iPad, but unfortunately, it has not.

iPad as e-Reader:
To just say the Apple’s iPad is out and about to put a main cavity in the sales of Amazon’s hit e-reader Kindle will be a real understatement. The iBook App is certainly the most beautifully thought out Apps of the iPad that has made real good use of the device’s wide real estate. It is really easy to spit out thousand word only on just how good an ebook reading it is, but we will really try our best to keep it concise bearing in mind there is a whole lot to be said about the iPad. In a few words, it is a brilliant e-reader with just enough features and options to shut up even the toughest critic in the world.

The virtual bookshelf, on which your digital tomes sit, is an example of Apple design at its best; elegant, simple, well-executed. The layout has been kept pretty simple, on the crown of the page in portrait mode, there is an icon to turn over to your library, brightness control, a chapter button, font size and font face options along with a search drop down. Within the book, a long press will bring you the options of Copy, Paste, dictionary, book mark and search options. Dictionary is a great implementation that come on the content and the Bookmark is yet another ideal execution. Turning pages is achieved with a swiping gesture, or a single tap in the right-hand margins. Besides the beautiful page turning animation that is hopeless but stunning none the less, the complete package is just so perfect. Overall, the iPad gave us an e-book reading that truly gave the sensual pleasure of holding an definite volume in your hands.

Miscellaneous Apps:
The contacts and calendar apps on the ipad are quite good as they seem to be much more working and worthy on the iPad.. The calendar app in fact provides you with a correct complete month view and also allows you to interrelate with your full schedule which is very much similar to the iCal application for OS X does.

iTunes, App Store and iBookStore:
All three of the stores that you will be spending on including iTunes, iBookstore and App Store hew very close to the desktop version of iTunes which is quite an advantage. All the three main jobs of finding, previewing and buying has been made extremely easy by Apple with the kind of data you will be getting at a single glance and the modals that we had mentioned above have given a perfect effect here to pop over information on the content just as you are checking it. The iBook store’s wedding with the iPad e-Reader is a match made in heaven, but we found that the current selection of e-Books lacked some classics. Downloading is very clear and simple and you will also find heaps of free samples and free titles as well to pick up if you like to do some testing yourself. It is quite obvious that the publishers who are not yet collaborated with Apple will find light in this and if the company is half as successful at pushing the books as it has been at pushing music, this will indeed be the game changer. However, there is still some room for improvement as the iBook store can have a clearer and more coherent periodicals strategy.

The Apps compatibility:
The Apple iPad can run almost all the 1,50,000 Apps of iPhone and iPod Touch. It manages to do so in two modes; the first is a scaled down version in the centre of the big screen and the second is a pixel double iteration. As you can see, both these modes leave something to be desired, and we can just say that gaming looks okay. We appreciate that Apple has included this functionality , but keep in mind that fact that you are actually using an iPhone Simulator that is complete with iPhone keyboard that is scaled up if you are using the pixel doubling , which again does not look that great. This is actually nothing to worry about as you will have access to applications that you might need to use, but it is not something that you will be probably spending much time with.

iWork:
If you are wondering if you will be able to create any kind of content, even any of the stuffy business man content, then the iPad has Apps that will calm you down. The new touch-optimised iWork suite is beautifully realised, making it quick, easy and fun to piece together a spreadsheet or presentation. They are surprisingly useful and amazingly robust. The iWork App also helps to elevate the iPad to more than just a plaything.

Third Party Apps:
There are numerous third party applications in order to do a deep section on it, but the following are some innovations that makes the iPad look like a device dropped from the space ship of the ‘V’s .

ABC Video Player: Though this App seems like a side step from the lack of Flash issue, the iPad seems to be doing just a perfect job of managing the ABC network’s online videos. We hope that Hulu will be stirring up things in a similar way.

Marvel: This is a really cool application that really gets our juices flowing on what will be possible on this larger format. Truly, it is an excellent execution and we feel that they have to convert the entire catalog into this format.

Netflix: Yes! Netflix has made its way into the iPad. And now, it apparently seems to be heading towards the iPhone and iPod touch, but it will not be as exciting as having it in the iPad.

PhotoGene, SketchBook Pro and Brushes: As these three names indicate, iPad can and will prove to be a content creation tool as well as a content reference tool. After using it, we really loved it and they show amazing potential for this platform.

Yahoo! Entertainment: Yahoo Entertainment was seriously an honest surprise. We thought that Yahoo’s first App on the iPad will be either handsome or useful, but, trust us, it was both. The news presentation and TV schedule was simply top notch. We are pretty sure that Yahoo will take things a little deeper in the future updates.

TweetDeck: Now who on earth is not Tweeting? And the TweetDeck is a really great way to use Twitter. It is very much like the desktop App and it just left us wondering, if only we could run it in the background.

Multimedia:

As Steve Jobs said during his keynote, if you are going to create a third category of device, between the smartphone and the laptop, then it needs to be better than either for certain tasks. And that is certainly true in the case of multimedia.

The videos on the Apple iPad are not mind blowing but they certainly do a very admirable job. The iPod App is much more mature and well organised than its miniature cousin, though we are really surprised that Apple has not leveraged its latest iTunes LP content in the iPad. We thought that this is just the right device to view all the rich media although we did not find any on the tablet. The video on the iPad is done solid Spartan manner; up to 720p with restrictions and the HD content on the wide display is again one of the best. The videos really do look stunning on the display and it seems like Apple has done its homework on the technology and we are really pleased with the results. YouTube has made proper use of the segmented windows concept that can be seen all over the iPad, giving you the option to browse through other videos or even comment on the video that you are watching while it is playing. As we just mentioned, it also allows for YouTube HD content, which looks quite sharp most of the time.

The speaker does a very impressive job of outputting clean and well balanced sound, given its size. But, to be honest, you are not going to use this as your party sound system; it is just enough to listen to some quite music.

Performance:

The A4 Single Cortex A8 Core handled almost anything that we threw at it with ease; from opening and rendering of webpages to some of the most graphic intensive games. We were totally impressed by the photo app which allowed rapid fast scrolling through the high resolution photos without any hiccups and it also handled rotation and zooming without any kind of resistance or hesitation. The applications did open quickly, but not instantly. One of the most disappointing facts was that, there is no real multitasking in iPad, so having a system with so much of power to perform just one app at a time admirably was not a huge surprise, especially as we had experienced the same thing on the previous version at the January event. Something that did show some sign that the A4 had more to offer were the iPad’s third part apps which were much more of a graphically intensive package with far more range of functionality.

Battery life:

Apple has equipped the iPad with a non-removable 24 Watt Hour Lithium polymer battery which did a real good job on our tests. It was almost impossible to believe that the iPad was able to offer a life of a whooping 10 hrs 45 minutes when we were using the iPad heavily: downloading and using heaps of new apps, watching HD videos, some 3D gaming, getting mails downloaded in the background and we did everything that we possibly could with the iPad. Now, that is pretty crazy endurance considering what we were actually doing with it.

Warranty:

Apple offers iPad 12 months warranty for parts and labour.

Verdict:

If you have read the complete review, it should be obvious that there are features of the device that we fell in love with and there were a few others that we were furious about. So, in this wrap up, we will give you two ideas, one is about the device’s impact on the progression of the PC and the other is whether or not you should invest your cash on this thing.

The Apple iPad is, without doubt a computer revolution and it has evolved PC in a noteworthy way. Despite its few restrictions, Apple has equipped the device with a few aspects that makes it a significant mark in the market. It is simply elegant, powerful, and is unlike any computing device that you might have ever used. Though the iPad cannot be said to be magical, it has certainly bought in a little revolution and we have to give Apple that at least for its thought. As this is the first version of the iPad, trust us, in a couple of years, it will look completely out dated. Apple has managed to pull off a unified touch computing platform with very few coarse edges and that is certainly no minute feat. So, must you buy it? It is not a laptop replacement; not yet. If you are looking for a laptop to work on documents like Word, Excel or the various other PC or Mac apps, the iPad cannot take its place. But if you belong to that genre of majority of system users, that is, if you do not do much on your system other than listen to music, watch some online video, play games, casually browse the web and read news sites, and keep in touch with friends via IM, Twitter, and Facebook; this is exactly the device that you were looking for. The iPad will simply be a joy for you.

The Apple iPad is clearly for 2 people. The 1st one is simply who is just too excited about the potential of this product and can afford this luxury. The 2nd is the majority who simply does not need to get that much work to be done, and would wish their computing experience to be faster, easier, and simpler. Now if that sounds like you, prepare to enter your credit card details to place your order.

Apple iPad – Technical Specification Table