In a recent interview with IDG, Jonny Shih -the chairman of ASUS- has mentioned that his company is working on a “Secret Weapon” that no one has seen yet, but that the world will soon see as we get closer to the launch date.
He also said that he already knows about some details of the upcoming iPad 2, such as details about the system on a chip (SoC) that the next iPad will run on.
You’ve probably seen the Fling, which is TenOne’s stick-on joystick for the iPad. Now ThinkGeek has introduced a competitor — the Joystick-It is another stick-on joystick for the iPad’s touchscreen, this time styled a little more closely to an actual arcade controller. The bottom of the stick has what looks like a suction cup that attaches to the device, and then you can move the stick around to control a capacitive widget on the bottom that acts as your finger normally would on the touchscreen.
John Gruber of Daring Fireball sparked the first rumors Wednesday when he mentioned that the HP TouchPad may “bump up against the release of the iPad 3” in a post. HP unveiled the webOS-based tablet Wednesday, though the device will not become available until “later in the summer.”
After speculation arose that Gruber’s comments were based on inside information, he clarified his thoughts as mere guesswork in a subsequent post.
“My gut feeling is that Apple will move the iPad to a September release schedule, alongside the iPods,” he wrote. “But they wouldn’t want to wait over a year and a half from the announcement of the original iPad to announce the second one.”
Gruber guesses that Apple will release the second-generation iPad “fairly soon,” possibly in March with a shipping date in early April. The updated device would be faster, with “more RAM, maybe more storage, thinner and lighter, a front-facing camera.” He also believes iOS 5 would be announced in March and ship in June.
“iPad 3, shipping in September, announced at the annual iPod event. Running iOS 5.1, same as the next-generation iPod Touch,” predicted Gruber, adding that the release may be more like an iPad 2.5, iPad 2 HD or iPad 2 Pro–“a new higher-end model that sits atop the iPad product family, not a replacement for the iPad 2 models.”
Gruber’s conjectures were followed by a report from TechCrunch’s MG Siegler that lent credence to the speculation, though for different reasons. Siegler cited a “very good” anonymous source that claims Apple is planning a “big fall surprise” related to the iPad 3.
“We don’t have any more concrete information beyond that,” said Siegler. “But, as of right now, the plan is apparently to release one iteration of the iPad in the next few weeks. And then blow the doors open with another new version in the fall.”
He went on to surmise that a third-generation iPad could have “a retina-like display” or perhaps “another, slightly smaller form factor,” though Apple CEO Steve Jobs has downplayed the possibility.
While Apple has yet to formally announce the second-generation iPad, reports of the device have picked up steam as of late. On Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple has begun manufacturing the next-generation tablet. As reported by AppleInsider in January, the iPad 2 is expected to be thinner and lighter, with a faster processor, more memory, a FaceTime-ready camera and an upgraded graphics processor.
It’s nearly impossible to keep up with the chatter surrounding the iPad 2. Every day it seems like there’s a new rumor about a new model, a new launch date or even a USB port. It’s a bit overwhelming.
That’s why we decided to scour the web for the most prominent iPad 2 rumors and create a comprehensive guide detailing what we think is likely to be in the next generation of the iPad.
We’ve picked out our top 10 rumors and provided not only our analysis, but the percentage chance a specific iPad 2 rumor will actually come to fruition. We’d bet money on some of these rumors (two cameras), while others will only happen when pigs learn how to fly (the mythical 7-inch iPad).
Without further ado, here is our comprehensive guide to the iPad 6 rumors.
The adoption rate of the iPad was celebrated as the fastest ever in electronics history. Now, less than a year after the tablet’s launch, Microsoft has usurped that distinction with Kinect.
Kinect, Microsoft’s new controller-free gaming peripheral for the Xbox 360, has been selling at a breakneck pace, with 2.5 million sensors sold within its first 25 days on the market (Read reviews of the Kinect).
As ReadWriteWeb notes, this means consumers have been purchasing Kinect twice as quickly as the iPad, which hit the 2 million mark two months after its release. Based on Kinect’s sales thus far, ReadWriteWeb estimates that Microsoft is selling 100,000 Kinects per day. With approximately 4.5 million iPads sold every 90 days, Apple is moving an average of 50,000 iPads per day.
There are some caveats to these calculations–although they aren’t likely to stop the Redmond giant from toasting its victory against Apple.
The Kinect figures include sales over Black Friday, typically the busiest shopping day of the year. And Microsoft’s gaming gadget ($150-$400 each) is around half as expensive as Apple’s iPad, which starts at $500. The two are also very different devices, one a gaming accessory to be used in the home, the other a portable tablet computer.
Still, the numbers suggest Microsoft has a hit on its hands, good news for a company looking for an “in” with consumers and high hopes of enticing non-gamers to fire up their Xboxes.
Microsoft hopes to sell a total of 5 million units by the end of the holiday season. Do you think they can meet that goal?
