Apple unveils revamped iPads to beat back rivals

SAN FRANCISCO—Apple revved up its iPad line on Tuesday as it moved to fend off rivals which have eroded its dominance in the sizzling tablet market.

A slimmer version of its top-selling full-size tablet computer, dubbed the “iPad Air,” was announced along with a revamped iPad Mini with an improved high-definition display.

Apple shares fell as investors reacted to a lack of fresh products, but some analysts remained upbeat after the US tech giant unveiled upgrades to its tablets, notebooks and desktop computers along with free software to sweeten the deal.

“I think it is going to be a really strong holiday for Apple,” Gartner analyst Van Baker said after spending some hands-on time with the California company’s newest devices.

“The highlight of the day is the breadth of Apple’s announcement; this is apps, tablets, MacBooks, Mac Pro, software… It is very wide-ranging.”

The new iPad Air is 43 percent thinner than the version it replaces, weighs just one pound (450 grams), and is “screaming fast,” Apple vice president Phil Schiller said at the unveiling in San Francisco.

The upgraded iPad Mini has a high-definition “retina” display along with faster computing power and graphics.

Both new iPads feature the Apple-designed A7 chip with 64-bit “desktop-class architecture,” Apple said.

Apple chief executive Tim Cook said he was not troubled by competition in the tablet space.

“Everybody seems to be making a tablet,” he told the audience. “Even some of the doubters are making them.”

But he said that notwithstanding sales figures, “iPad is used more than any of the rest, and not just a little more, a lot more.”

The iPad “is used over four times more than all of those other tablets put together, and this is what is important to us. People use it, and what is even more important to us, is people love it,” he said.

The two new iPads will be sold alongside the existing versions, starting Nov. 1 in more than 40 markets around the world.

The iPad Air will start at $499 and the new Mini version at $399 for US customers. Apple will cut the prices of the older iPad versions.

Apple announced upgrades for its MacBook line of notebooks and Mac Pro desktop computer, and announced its new operating system called Mavericks would be available as a free upgrade for those with existing Apple computers.

Strategic shift

In a strategic shift, Apple announced that iWork and iLife software suites for tasks from video editing to mixing music and making business presentations would be free for its mobile devices.

Baker said this is a smart move that can drive sales of hardware.

Like Google does with its online array of Docs applications, Apple will be making available for free productivity software that Microsoft sells to users of Windows-powered computers.

The new iPads come on the same day Microsoft began selling an upgraded version of its Surface tablet, and as Nokia unveiled its own tablet computer.

Industry tracker Gartner on Monday forecast that global tablet shipments will reach 184 million units this year—a 53.4 percent rise from last year.

The iPad remains the largest-selling tablet, according to surveys, but its market share is being eroded by rivals using the Google Android operating system.

Apple is also under pressure to adapt to the popularity of premium tablets with high-quality screens in the seven- to eight-inch (18- to 20-centimeter) range where the Mini competes.

Jan Dawson, analyst at the research firm Ovum, said Apple’s latest “represents a good enough boost to the previous version to trigger good upgrade sales and get iPad shipments growing again, which was a key objective for this launch.”

But Dawson said Apple is raising the price for the new Mini, unlike competitors: “It seems as though Apple is trying to push average selling prices for iPads back up again after they’ve dropped steadily over the past year… This is the clearest statement Apple could have made that it is only interested in competing in the premium tablet space.”

This means Apple’s share in tablets will continue to fall as Android’s share rises over the coming years, Dawson said.

Apple shares fell 1.5 percent to end at $519.87.

Thomas Husson at Forrester Research Apple offered no new breakthroughs but that this should not be expected.

“Yes, at some point, the company will need to disrupt a new market once again, but today’s announcement is really about making sure it maintains the premium brand experience for the holiday season when competition is heating up—not just for tablets but also for the amazing new line of Mac products,” Husson said.—Glenn Chapman

source: technology.inquirer.net

Apple fans snap up new iPad

TOKYO — Gadget lovers in Australia and Japan became the first people to snap up the new iPad on Friday, with Apple looking to tighten its grip on the tablet market with its third generation launch.

Just before the worldwide rollout began, New York-traded shares in the company shot above $600 for the first time, as investors looked to cash in on the anticipated success of the latest “must-have” device.

Following Sydney’s lead, more than 450 people queued outside the Apple flagship store in Tokyo’s glitzy Ginza district to be among the first to get their hands on the new iPad.

The latest version boosts a more powerful processor, increasing pressure on competitors including Google to make devices more enticing.

A key upgrade is its eye-grabbing screen resolution, or Retina display, which Apple says is the sharpest ever on a mobile device.

Ryo Takahashi, 25, who arrived at the Tokyo store wearing a head band saying “I am an iPad samurai!” said the new Retina display was a good enough reason to queue up.

“Once you start using the Retina display, you just cannot go back to the old one.”

Dozens of those waiting said they had begun their vigil last night, with some, including 19-year-old university student Ryo Watanabe having started even earlier.

“I am so excited. I finally got it. I waited for this for 36 hours,” he said as he emerged from the store with the brand new package in his hands.

“I have an iPad2 and use it all the time at school. I am looking forward to the clear display,” he said.

The new tablet is being released in Australia, the United States, France, Canada, Germany, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland, Britain and Hong Kong on Friday.

Anticipation ahead of the launch saw Apple shares briefly top $600 for the first time on Wall Street on Thursday before closing at $585.56. The stock has gained more than 50% in the past three months alone.

Australia was the first place to get the new device—for which Apple has abandoned its numbering system, opting to call it simply the “new iPad” instead of the expected iPad3.
Several hundred people were gathered outside the company’s Sydney store when it opened at 8 a.m.

But the first of the new iPads were not collected from Apple, instead from shops owned by Australian telecom giant Telstra in Sydney and Melbourne, which threw their doors open just after midnight.

However, the hype for Friday’s launch was not on the scale seen for the launch of iPad2, when people began camping out up to four days before.

Only one person had staked his claim outside by mid-afternoon Thursday and he was being paid to do so.

Former truck driver Steve Parkes began his vigil on Monday after being offered A$950 by a jobs site to line up wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the employment company’s logo.

The free publicity garnered by an Apple launch seems to have caught on, with others donning promotional shirts in front of the barrage of television cameras.

The new iPad also boasts an improved camera, more powerful processor and the ability to connect to the latest 4G LTE telecom networks in North America. However, in many markets it will still be stuck on the slower 3G networks.

The new tablet has generated good reviews worldwide but Rob Livingstone, an IT expert at Sydney’s University of Technology, said its success could be short-lived.

“It’s like any other technology, there’s always better, faster, sharper, newer five minutes after you’ve purchased the product you’ve just purchased, and the iPad’s no different,” he told AFP.

While the almost cult-like status of Apple shows no signs of waning among consumers, he suggested that with Apple co-founder Steve Jobs now dead the momentum could start to taper off.

“It makes me wonder, now that Steve Jobs has passed on, how long that momentum will last because it’s a competitive world,” he said.

“You look at (Samsung’s) Galaxy and a whole range of competitors are coming on with some very compelling offers, and I think time will tell whether Apple will lose some of its gloss.”

Jobs, the mind behind the wildly popular iPod, iPad and iPhone devices, died in October after battling pancreatic cancer.

source: japantoday.com