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Meet the iPad: Apple goes aggressive; $499 lowest price point

It's an iPad. After months of speculation, Steve Jobs and Company show off an iPod Touch-like device with a 9.7-inch screen. by Sam Diaz ZDNet

Full story at http://news.zdnet.com/2424-9595_22-387535.html

What's inside the iPad and what it can do

The 0.5-inch thick device, which weighs 1.5 lbs., is intended to be used for web browsing, e-mail, photos, video, music, games and e-books -- pretty much everything that its pint-sized cousin the iPod touch can do, only bigger. by Andrew Nusca

Full story at http://news.zdnet.com/2424-9595_22-387614.html

With iPad, Apple Still Has a Fatal Attraction for AT&T

When Steve Jobs said Apple’s new iPad tablet would have 3G data service from AT&T during Wednesday’s press conference, sighs of disgust could be heard from the audience, presumably from disgruntled iPhone customers.

Prior to the unveiling of the 9.7-inch device Wednesday, a few vague rumors suggested Verizon would carry the tablet. Instead, Jobs announced two versions of the iPad: a Wi-Fi only model and an unlocked, Wi-Fi + 3G model for use on GSM networks. The Verizon network operates on the CDMA standard, meaning Verizon won’t be able to support the iPad.

Why not Verizon? Apple must be keenly aware of the incessant AT&T bashing from iPhone owners. And yet AT&T will be the primary U.S. carrier for the tablet, just as it is for the iPhone.

However, the tablet’s situation is different from the iPhone’s, analysts told Wired.com. First of all, this isn’t a phone. The iPad is a data-driven, media-rich device that you’ll primarily be using in your living room. Second, the tablet does not require committing to a contract for 3G. You can prepay a month ($15 for 250 MB or $30 for unlimited) for when you’re traveling, for example, and then cancel the 3G and just use the Wi-Fi.

But why not Verizon? Surely, Apple must have at least thought twice about sticking with AT&T as its official U.S. partner for the iPad. Dissatisfaction with AT&T did, after all, incite a consumer protest attempting to bring down its network with digital sabotage.

“What is this fatal attraction between Apple and AT&T?” wondered MKM Partners analyst Tero Kuittinen. “Pretty much everybody I talked to really expected Verizon.”

Kuittinen said Apple may have stuck with AT&T to retain a cordial relationship, because telecom analysts expect the iPhone’s exclusivity contract with AT&T to end in the next year, which could invite a Verizon iPhone.

“If they’re planning an iPhone Verizon launch maybe they’ll want to throw a bone at AT&T,” he said.

Ross Rubin, an NPD analyst, said it’s unlikely Apply purposely left Verizon out. The tablet is compatible with new GSM micro SIMs, which supports international carriers, so Apple likely made this decision to simplify its offerings.

AT&T said it plans to continue improving its network to help support Apple’s new device. AT&T iPad customers will have free access to 20,000 hot spots nationwide, an AT&T spokesman said.

“We have a great relationship with Apple,” an AT&T spokesman said. “Today we offer the nation’s fastest network and will continue to increase network speeds throughout 2010 and 11 in advance of 4G networks and devices being widely available which further sets us apart from the competition of the mobile broadband leader.”

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Full story at http://feeds.wired.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/eZwYj6H3OdM/

Would You Buy an iPad? Wired Readers Weigh In

The Apple iPad tablet is finally here, but it hasn’t drawn quite the same cheer from Apple enthusiasts and gadget fans that some observers expected.

About 60 percent of the 1,114 readers that took Wired.com’s iPad poll said they would not buy the iPod. Some 41 percent of the 892�readers who took a separate poll said the tablet did not live up to its hype, though they expect it to find a home among high-end consumers.

The quick verdict: “It’s an iPod Touch on steroids.”

The iPad name was the focus of many jokes with, predictably, the comments hitting the “pad” aspect of it.

“I think they should have gone with iSlate for the name,” commenter Navi101 wrote in response to our live coverage of the event. “iPad makes me think of feminine products.”

There’s more. The Jezebel blog, written for women, published an entire article summing up the “best period-related iPad jokes.”

“Not gonna lie, the name iPad makes me shudder a bit,” tweeted Lisa Gumerman. “Kind of even makes me less interested in buying it.”

The iPad name is also symptomatic of the lack of women engineers in IT, said Eve Tahmincioglu on the Huffington Post blog.

“I suspect a room full of female computer engineers would not have named Apple’s new cybertablet the iPad,” she wrote. “This naming faux pas is a perfect example of why we need more women IT professionals in this world. Apple wants women to buy these gizmos, but is anyone really thinking about us gals?”

Still some Apple fans says that customers are likely to warm up to the name after the initial reaction. “It’s a poorly chosen name. But so was Wii, and everyone got over those jokes after the first week,” tweeted Rob Sheridan, creative director for Nine Inch Nails.

Other users focused on the real shortcomings of the device. “What? iPad has no [Adobe] Flash player. That’s what it needs for so many websites. That’s not good,” tweeted Andrea Bakes.

Others pointed to the lack of USB port and multitasking in the device as features that will be missed.

“I don?t understand no multitasking, I mean how can you expect anyone to use this for work?” commented ’spitfiredd’ on Wired.com.

Though Apple’s Steve Jobs introduced the iPad as a device that would occupy the world between smartphones and laptops, potential customers aren’t convinced. A full 71 percent of 934 readers polled said they won’t buy an iPad, because they are happy with their smartphone and notebook.

Some Apple fans are not ready to give up on the device.

“I am not a fanboy at all, and I find it absolutely awe inspiring,” commented NickSA. “This is the future. Hats off to Apple, they have done it again — though personally I would wait till the second generation [of the device] for all the bugs to get ironed out.”

Ultimately, the question is, who really needs an iPad and is the data plan worth it. “Why would you take a iPad with you if you have a iPhone? Do you need to have both?,” commented jescott418. “Why spend an amount on two service plans with AT&T two basically do the same thing? I am scratching my head at who really needs this except for the base model for a coffee table piece.”

And as for the publishing industry, where some had pinned their hopes on the tablet, the iPad is unlikely to prove to be the digital savior that was wished for. About 59 percent of 824 readers who took the poll say the iPad won’t save the publishing industry.

That’s a few hundred readers that publishers won’t be able to count on.

See Also:

Live Coverage: Apple’s Special Tablet Event

A Closer Look at Apple’s New Tablet, the iPad

Will the Apple Tablet Be Called iPad?

Live Coverage: Apple’s Special Tablet Event

5 Features the Apple Tablet Definitely Won’t Have ? But Should

Why 2010 Will Be the Year of the Tablet

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Full story at http://feeds.wired.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/fME26mR_MGA/

Key EDS witness in BSkyB case discredited for buying internet degree

Tom Young, Computing, Wednesday 27 January 2010 at 15:18:00

Joe Galloway, managing director for CRM Solutions at EDS, lied in court about
origin of degree

EDS's key witness during the firm's �700m court case against BSkyB was shown
to have bought his degree online ? but still managed to get a worse mark than a
dog.

The witness - Joe Galloway, former Managing Director for CRM Solutions at EDS
? was responsible for providing BSkyB with the time period he thought it would
take to install a CRM IT system. The delivery then took much longer than he had
claimed.

The judge's ruling said: "That representation was false?it was made
dishonestly by

Joe Galloway who knew it to be false."

Of the five accusations of misrepresentation brought by BSkyB in the case,
this was the only one that was upheld by the judge and effectively led to EDS
losing the case.

One of the reasons the accusation was upheld was that Joe Galloway made
another representation that was proven false by BSkyB's lawyers ? that he had a
degree from Concordia College in the US Virgin Islands.

Galloway gave detailed evidence on how he took plane journeys between the
islands and attended a college there.

But while questioning Galloway in court, Mark Howard QC managed to obtain
exactly the same degree as Galloway from Concordia College for his dog "Lulu"
with one key difference ? the dog got a higher mark.

Both Galloway and the dog received a letter from the vice-chancellor of
Concordia College saying:

?Mr Galloway / Lulu demonstrated that he/she is prepared and fully equipped
to add valuable apprenticeship to our institution?s activities by means of
talented and profoundly investigated subject treatment."

Galloway's credibility as a witness was shredded, according to one lawyer who
witnessed proceedings.

"He gave his evidence [on going to the college] in the same confident, secure
manner as he gave his evidence about the EDS representations. Make no mistake,
this was a key factor in EDS losing this case," said the lawyer.

Galloway left EDS in December 2000 to form a CRM consultancy, ITIVITI. He was
later employed by EDSC in the US as an IT consultant but was dismissed from that
role during the course of the trial after the true nature of his degree was
revealed.

Both Galloway and Lulu were unavailable for comment at the time of writing.

Full story at http://www.computing.co.uk/computing/news/2256867/key-eds-witness-bskyb-case

iPad reactions: Nothing could have met hype

The expectations ? and hype ? were wildly high for Apple's "iPad" tablet device, which had been rumored for months. The reality, say some analysts, is still pretty impressive.