Apple didn't give us a great amount of time with its newly unveiled
iPad today, and as you've likely seen, we spent the bulk of our allotment
touching the unit itself. Lost in the proverbial shuffle were a number of the unit's
launch accessories, including the admittedly intriguing keyboard dock ($69), case ($39), iPad Dock Connector to VGA adapter ($29) and camera connection kit ($29). Each of these doodads seem to look and feel exactly as you'd expect 'em to, though we're still baffled by Apple's decision to make you pay extra for access to the world's most widely accepted connector. We're also somewhat appalled (but not surprised) by the $39 price tag purportedly attached to the stripped-down case, and while the $69 MSRP on the keyboard dock is apt to cause some grumbling, at least there are a few iPad-specific keys on there to make it (marginally) worth your while. Dig in below for more on each.
Read - iPad keyboard dock hands-on
Read - iPad case hands-on
Read - iPad Dock Connector to VGA adapter hands-on
Read - iPad camera connection kit hands-on
posted January 28th 2010 12:22AM
Look on the bright side guys, whatever product Apple releases next, it's going to be kick-ass to make up for this fail.
Jokes aside, how does this keyboard dock even work? It's small. iPad can not work with mouse so one has to poke the pad. But with the dock being so small the pad will flip over. Did you try it?
@lilo
I thought it would flip over really easily myself. I know a lot of people will fiddle with it docking and its bound to not sit in its dock correctly. Then it will tip over and most likely crack or shatter the screen. I mean it could slide off the table into a pile of anything and take a nose dive onto the floor too. It just looks like a world of hurt the way its designed. An expensive mistake that's bound to occur. I also think this thing is a scratch magnet. Getting a screen protector for this will be expensive too. Come on, any iPod owner knows how much of a pain in the ass it is to keep their jewel unscathed. This thing won't fit in a pocket and therefore will need a backpack or a bag to carry it in like a book would. If it had a hardshell screen cover, then maybe...but it doesn't and therefore I see heartache in its owner's future.
The things that are missing:
Integrated SD card slot.
That S-IPS display is a killer 8-bit screen which could be a god-sent if you're on the road previewing photos (hell, the screen is better as my macbook's), I don't want to cary an adapter with me!! Seriously though, there are really few devices out there for 499 with an IPS display. I sincerely hope they come out with some kind of mobile photoshop app (one that is actually usable), personally that would be a reason for me to buy one.
Multitasking.
This tablet is incomplete and I will bet you $100, multitasking will follow in iPhone OS 4.0. It'll take 60 days before they start shipping. 2 months closer to WWDC. With only 2-3 months left it's a nice period for people doing smalltalk about the tablet. After WWDC it'll be in the news again because it obtained multitasking. Yet this time more people will buy the device because they're comfortable with the idea.
Quicktime on iPad.
I would really really like some kind of true video player on this device. Personally I download a lot of video content with divx codec ;) and it's a bitch to convert it every time. When I'm dropping 500 bucks on a device that isn't able to do this, I'm just not.
I wanna see job's face after this thing gets jailbroken within 2-3 days...(IF and that's a big if ) someone actually buy it... On the other hand if you don't have iPod touch/iPhone then you can still get this.
They should have held off on the tablet for two major things: better display technology, and light peak connections. Of course, putting at least *one* lonely little usb port on the thing would have been very useful.
I just always pictured Apple using this device as the launching point for their Light Peak platform (assuming that wasn't a momentary inspiration and then they canceled the whole thing). It would make total sense to stick it in what is supposed to be a revolutionary device, with little room to stick the various ports one would expect from a computer.
Of course, there are so many of those sorts of missed opportunites with this device.
i recommend you guys go and see the event video..... you gotta love Job's saying "The problem with the netbooks is that they are better at anything"
Can you get a iPad Keyboard Hinge? and a little catch so you can fold it up to protect that Apple iGorgeous Screen?
Apple does it again.
They're taking us from the era of offline, single user, work related usage to the era of the cloud.
This is a HUGE step that will revolutionize the way we think about computers for the rest of our lives.
They're not just something we leave at home anymore, we can bring them with us and be connected wherever we go.
This is a huge innovation on Apple's part, and I don't see why you're all hating.
@miles
Are you serious?
@Tes
Like I said, it's just haters who are down ranking me.
You people need to be more open minded, lest you want to hold back technology.
what's wrong with apple? something is a bit screwy. i bet there are some pretty big arguments happening within apple right now.
Is there an additional accessory I can buy to make the iPod Touch HD, I mean iPad, multi-task?
VGA ?!? Really ? Analog video ? Is this really 2010 ? Am I currently asleep and will I wake up soon ?
Great. So they make a compact, portable little device... Something you could slip in your bag/briefcase of choice... But no, wait, you need to pack a separate bag full of wires, dongles and adapters, in case you want a single USB port, or, well, pretty much any kind of anything. Seriously ?
"Hey guys, want a USB port ? yeah ? That'll be 29 bucks !"
Nuts.
Looks like a huge Treo, or Foleo rehash.
How do you plug an AC adapter with the VGA dongle attached? Seems like a bad design oversight.
Keep up the good work Ipad haters......just like when the Iphone came out, and we all know how that ended up.
iFlop... that would've been a more appropriate name
i could've gotten myself a netbook after paying for all those "additional extras". and the netbook would have a bigger hard drive, a webcam, expandable ram, usb ports, a 1280 x 1024 10" screen, and many other things the ipad refuse to include and want you to pay additional extras for.
@fonsii
You could have had the best spec netbook BEFORE paying for additional extras for this thing!
I say fuck this keyboard dock thing.
Let's hack this fucker to allow for a bluetooth keyboard.
@(Unverified)
Apple specifically said that they are including bluetooth keyboard support. No hacking needed.
I wonder if the accessories work with the iPhone, like having an iPhone in the dock instead of the iPad.
ok can someone answer this question for me ive been dieing to know the answer so you know how the ipad has the attachable usb port for like syncing pictures to it. So i was wondering could i attach my portable harddrive to it and just drag movies to the device when i want to watch them and then jut delete it from the the ipad so i could just keep all my movies on the portable and just watch them on the ipad
@tfsloane no. the iPad has no file management system, which makes it a pretty limited device. the USB port will only work for transferring photos from a camera to iphoto. also the screen has a 4:3 aspect ratio so if your movies are in 2.39:1 ratio (cinematic widescreen), you're actually only using just over half the screen. so you're actually better off getting a netbook because a) they have a higher definition widescreen (usu 1280x768) b) they're cheaper and c) they eliminate the need for you to carry around that portable harddrive.
BOYCOTT!
I propose a boycott of the iPad until Apple allows Flash onto it and enables multitasking, which it seems to me are the most common & reasonable complaints that folks have been having about it. There lots of other changes that I'd like to see, but these could be done immediately and would sway me back to buying the machine.
If you agree, please help spread the word.
Before we went and picked up all those iPad-specific accessories, we thought we would look around and see what could double as a stand, case, etc...
The surprising thing was our 4-year old Stowaway Folding keyboard for our Blackberry (which we never used) worked great!
Here are some pics of some other things which worked:
http://www.rainydaymagazine.com/RDM2010/Home/April/Week2/RDMHomeApr0610.htm#iPadAccessories