Ipad 2 and Market Tablet

Introduction

Let justice be done. Although it was not Apple who invented the tablet, was the company who started it, capturing the public imagination with the original release of IPAD. Though he was a limited device (which does not even support the memory card or HDMI port!) And relatively expensive, the intuitiveness of the IOS eventually compensate for the shortcomings and make him to be a sales success.

The success of the iPad has made virtually all other manufacturers to leave the hunt for an operating system to launch their own tablets. Most sought refuge in Android (which only became Honeycomb with a suitable system to them), while others sought their own systems that allow to create differentiated, as in the case of HP, which invests in the WebOS and RIMM, which has developed a system for tablets based on QNX for Playbook.

So far, the launches of competing alongside some of the major manufacturers have been very timid, limited to the Galaxy Tab Samsung (which burned steps launch a tablet-based Froyo, even Google itself admitting that he did not offer a consistent interface a tablet) and Motorola, which also burned the steps hurriedly launching Xoom, with a solid hardware, but with an unfinished software and many failures, they intend to fix with updates later. However, with the edges trimmed with Honeycomb, we have many interesting releases Android in the coming months.

With fewer scruples in relation to system failures, Chinese manufacturers in the region of shanzhai tried to flood the market with several models of tablet low cost SoCs using outdated, resistive screens of good quality and early versions of Android. With few exceptions, they offer a user experience of sorts, but in return are very cheap, starting with the M001 Eken, who poia be bought for less than $ 90 less in China. These examples show that it is possible to build tablets very cheap, but good to build a tablet is more complicated than it seems.

Although he enjoyed a comfortable lead in the first year, Apple knew it would soon have competitors and tried to continue the development of IPAD and IOS. Just over a year after the original iPad, Apple announced an upgrade of the platform, bringing the era of the iPad dual-core SoCs, in addition to providing an updated version of the system, IOS 4.3.

Although it was not updating profound than many expected, the upgrade is nonetheless significant and strengthens the platform against the numerous choices of tablets with Android, not to mention the tablets with WebOS HP and RIMM's Playbook that will hit the market in coming months.

Externally, the main change is that the iPad was thinner, with only 8.8 mm thick, much thinner than the smartphone market, which mostly lie between 10 and 14 mm. Weight was also slightly reduced, which contributes to improve the design and comfort in using the tablet. Even more than in the case of netbook, the weight is an important factor in the tablets, since in many situations you use it without support, holding the entire weight with one hand.

As we know, the iPad original and 4 with the iPhone are Apple-based SoC A4 which includes a processor and a GPU Cortex A8 PowerVR SGX 535 and is very similar to Samsung Hummingbird found in many smartphones with Android. In fact, the A4 is manufactured by Samsung, though Apple takes the mark.

The iPad 2 in turn is based on Apple A5, a very different chip, based on a pair of Cortex A9 processors (similar to what we have on Tegra 2) combined with a PowerVR SGX GPU 543.

In addition to offering dual-core, doubling the processing thoroughput (but not necessarily performance, so it depends on the ability of developers to parallel the flow of application instructions) to the A5 GPU delivers 3D performance considerably higher than the predecessor . According to Apple is through "nine times faster" than the previous one, which demands closer inspection, because even now be considered outdated (opposite the Tegra 2 for example), the GPU of the A4 offers a generous processing power even by today's standards.

A point to consider is that the operating frequency of ARM SoCs (especially the GPU) is severely limited by the thermal envelope that the manufacturer is willing to maintain. In most cases, the SoC can operate at frequencies of 50% or even 100% higher than the default, with the only drawback of consuming more energy. In a tablet, the battery and heat dissipation can be much larger, which opens the door for the use of higher clocks for the GPU if desired.Besides offering a better 3D performance, the GPU also offers support to decode 720p video via hardware, with upscaling to 1080p through the HDMI port if used.

The use of high resolution cameras in tablets is a controversial point, since unlike smartphones it is difficult to imagine that someone wants to get out on the street filming or taking pictures with a tablet. Moreover, the presence of a front camera is becoming increasingly required, as the video-conferencing is one of the most obvious uses for a tablet. While Motorola has included a camera in front of Xoom 2 MP, Apple chose to include only a VGA camera on the iPad 2 and include support for FaceTime.

Contrary to what many speculated, Apple has not warmed to the idea of ​​including a "retinal display" iPad in February, opting to keep the specifications of the first model, with the same 1024x768 in 4:3 ratio than in the original iPad, which is good for reading e-books, but suffers in relation to video display and begins to sound outdated compared to the 1280x800 of Xoom. 
A welcome change is the presence of an HDMI interface, which merged into the output connectors are standard, requiring the use of an adapter ($ 39 additional). Despite the inconvenience, HDMI output greatly increases the flexibility of use, allowing you to watch videos on an HDTV and also mirror the image of the tablet, which opens the door for use in presentations.

Apple also included neodymium magnets in some parts of the carcass, which allow the use of "smart covers" (plus $ 39), full color covers that are attached to the screen using magnets to be folded and transformed into support:

The system is able to detect when the cover is opened, automatically waking. This is a small detail that tends to cause them to be more used (as they otherwise would have to touch the button and use the slide to unlock), but still remains to be seen how many will be willing to buy and use the skins:

Although upgrades to hardware, Apple managed to maintain the same sales prices ranging from $ 499 basic version with 16 GB of storage at $ 829 for the 64GB version and 3G. These prices are still relatively high, allowing Apple to work with a margin of more than 100% on the gross value of the components, but is still better than the price of Motorola Xoom, that even with a two-year contract, is $ 599.

With the launch, the original price of the iPad was reduced to $ 399 (in version Wi-Fi) so get ready to see some promotion of it before the last stock market finally disappear.

With iPad 2 Apple adopted a path of gradual evolution, preparing for the onslaught of tablets with the Honeycomb that hit the market in coming months.The production cost of a tablet with a dual-core SoC, sports a 7 "or 10" and 16 GB of storage is around $ 250, so we should not see many options for tablet computers from major manufacturers for less $ 499, which should keep the lead in selling the iPad.

For those who bought the original iPad, little has changed since it remains compatible with almost all applications (except for a few games that exploit the GPU's A5, since developers will not want to leave aside the large installed base iPad original) and the changes brought about by IPAD 2 are not radical enough to justify the switch. The most likely want to wait for the announcement of the iPad 3 in 2012, which should bring a higher resolution screen and other structural changes.

The main hope for those who want a tablet at low prices is a new generation of Chinese-based Honeycomb tablets that bring capacitive screens and faster processors. So far the Chinese have produced tablets of low quality, ARM9 and ARM11 SoCs using GPUs with weak resistive screens and images of older versions of Android patched anyway to give the boot hardware. With the release of Honeycomb, which offers a streamlined interface for tablet computers and availability of SoCs faster, maybe they just start to release better products.

In addition to having lower costs without the rivers of money used in marketing or wasted in frivolous judicial wars of U.S. manufacturers, the Chinese work with profit margins much lower, which allows you to place products on the market with a price close to what they really cost in terms of components.The big problem is their lack of investment in research and development and poor quality control, but they have shown they can adapt quickly and this can lead them to eventually take the lead in manufacturing tablets with Android.

The main question that still hangs in the air is the extent to which the tablets may become popular, since they are squeezed between smartphones and laptops, which will not go anywhere anytime soon. Sales of tablets in the first year were focused on the iPad original (which sold over 15 million units) and in tablets of 100 Chinese dollars, which although not counted in official statistics, have sold nearly as many units as the iPad. Out of these, the only noteworthy is the Samsung Tab Galaxy, which sold two million.

The iPad sell well is not surprising, since in addition to being an Apple product, it was much exploited by the media. Sales of Chinese tablets and they were not unusual, since they are very cheap and tend to lead to impulse buying. The question arises to what extent the tablets from other manufacturers will be able to grow the market, especially if we take into account that they are coming bands at much higher prices of netbooks and even more expensive than many laptops. A tablet may be more practical to use for tasks of media consumption, but it can not match or even a netbook a netbook productivity tasks or even web browsing with multiple tabs open, so they tend to adapt best post of the second PC, e-book readers or in niche professional use.

The fact that many tablets 3G transmitters offer sounds more like a waste, because in most cases, the public who pays $ 500 or more for a tablet also carries a smartphone that can be used as hotspot. If this is your case, it really makes no sense to pay more for the tablet and then pay for a second data plan to duplicate the functionality already offered phone. Until now, most users have used the iPad only at home, reading or media consumption, with few venturing to try using them instead of the notebook, not always with good results. To get a clear picture, just ask yourself this: would you use an iPod Touch instead of your PC or notebook? No? And if he had a larger screen and a faster processor? Not yet? Then you also do not replace it with an iPad. If this trend continues it may be that the interest in the tablets start to fade after the initial boom, and the attentions of the public to turn to smartphones with large screens or other attraction of the moment.