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Wednesday, March 2, 2011

There's nowhere to go with tablet innovation - even Apple seems to agree

Mark Bridge writes:

“Harder, better, faster, stronger”. Okay, so it’s a lyric from Daft Punk (or Kanye West, if you prefer) but it might as well be the vague design brief for second-generation tablets.

This struck me when I was at Mobile World Congress last month. Although each tablet manufacturer had its own USP - first to market, 3D cameras, a library of media content, a pressure-sensitive pen - there was as much emphasis on the operating system as there was on the other specifications. “Look what Honeycomb can do”, they all seemed to be saying. “It’s really good on our Android tablet”.

And it seemed to be a similar situation at Apple yesterday. Steve Jobs popped back into the office to unveil the second-generation iPad, a tablet that was 33% thinner than the original but still offered the same battery life. It’s now thinner than an iPhone 4, which is pretty darned impressive.

However, the initial impression hasn’t changed. Same screen size, same resolution. There’s a new dual-core chip inside - not such a big deal any more - and a front-facing video camera. Oh, and a choice of two colours. Black or white. That might blow Henry Ford’s mind but arguably it’s hardly major progress.

Hang on a moment, though.

Yesterday’s presentation didn’t just reveal the iPad 2. There’s a ‘Smart Cover’ that holds itself in place with magnets, keeps the screen clean and saves the battery. It comes in a choice of colours and sets you back anything from $39 to $69, but that’s only money. And don’t put your wallet away yet, because there’s an HDMI adaptor that lets you put your iPad display on your HDTV.

Then there are two new iPad-specific video and music-editing apps: iMovie and GarageBand, both already well-loved by Mac owners. $4.99 each, since you ask.

Which all makes me think that Steve Jobs’s line about the iPad 2 - it “moves the bar far ahead of the competition and will likely cause them to go back to the drawing boards yet again” - isn’t particularly true.

But what Apple has done is give its customers more reasons to buy and use an iPad. It’s removed some of the barriers to purchase. And it’s provided a reason to upgrade.

The iPad 2 isn’t a new tablet. It’s an upgrade. A very attractive upgrade nonetheless. And, some would suggest, it paves the way for iPad 3 shortly before Christmas.

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Opinion Articles

‘The Eyes Have It’ at Mobile World Congress

James Rosewell writes:

DoCoMo are one of many network operators and handset manufacturers demonstrating innovative new products as Mobile World Congress. Our eye was caught by the employee demonstrating “Eye Controlled Earphones”. It’s a good job the ladies from the CBOSS stand weren’t walking past at the time.

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'Mobile Money Monday' at Mobile World Congress

James Rosewell writes:

Monday’s Mobile World Congress conference agenda dedicated one of 4 streams to Mobile Money - Transfers, Transactions and Technology allowing all stakeholders to share experiences and debate the future of Mobile and Money.

Two types of service dominated presentations and panel discussions; Near Field Communication (NFC) technology enabling payment at traditional Point of Sale (PoS), and the Mobile Wallet replacing plastic or cash.

Author: The Fonecast
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‘Innovation Corner’ at Mobile World Congress

James Rosewell writes:

Here’s my pick of the 3 most innovative companies I’ve uncovered at the 2010 Mobile World Congress.

Cootek.com win the prize for simplest innovation... an accurate touch screen keyboard. They’re a few months away from being ready to release the software to handset manufacturers, but the demo handsets worked very well. The keyboard assumes the user is not going to press the intended key, but in fact might miss and press another key in the same area. Based on this knowledge and an extensive dictionary of words and language context, it’s able to determine the intended word with surprising accuracy. I sincerely hope their technology will be made available for the Nexus One in the not too distant future.

Author: The Fonecast
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Google “Mobile First” from Eric Schmidt’s Key Note at Mobile World Congress

James Rosewell writes:

Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, presented a compelling vision of a mobile centric future. The phone has become the “high value end point” for Google services enabled by a combination of increasing handset power, mobile data networks and cloud computing. By far the scarcest resource is the bandwidth available through the mobile data networks. Google appear committed to work with Mobile Network Operators (MNO) to maximise bandwidth usage, although several audience questions suggested scepticism from the main stream mobile industry. Eric expressed a need to maintain a harmonious relationship with MNOs stating Google could not operate its service on mobile devices without their co-operation.

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The great Windows Mobile 7 conspiracy theory

Mark Bridge writes:

I like a good conspiracy theory. A good one, mind you. None of this “Funny thing happened on the way to Mars” nonsense. Oh no, not me. And, despite occasionally mirroring Jerry Fletcher by balancing a bottle on the door handle, I’ve never been inclined to publish such a theory. Until now.

You see, it’s Mobile World Congress in a fortnight’s time. Which is when the great and the good of the mobile industry – along with their mates and hangers-on – head for Barcelona. Microsoft will be there. They’re holding a press briefing on Monday afternoon. And there’s a lot of talk about Windows Mobile 7 being (unofficially) on the agenda. But where’s the evidence?

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