UncleWalt
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Uncle Walt delivers his verdict on iPad
Here we go, cats and kiddies. Walt Mossberg's had his iPad for a week now, and he's got to tell us all about it. Quotes below are transcribed from his video review. "The question in my mind is just how important will this be... On one level I think this has the potential to challenge the laptop, it has the potential to, I think, even challenge the whole user interface we've had on computers and sort of set up a slow evolution towards multitouch and gesture and away from the mouse-driven interface.... That's it's potential. But it depends on whether -- not everyone, but enough people decide that they can carry this instead of a laptop or a netbook. That is, that it can do much of what they want to do on their netbook or a laptop most of the time... so that they can just pick this up and take it with them, or use it around the house, and not crack open that bulkier, heavier laptop. We don't know the answer to that. "My own judgment, after a week of testing it, is that for a lot of people, it really will do the trick." Walt goes on to point out the things the iPad won't do: high-level office work, heavy word processing, video chats, etc., but he allows that not everyone will miss these features. He did a battery test playing videos back to back from 6 am to 5 pm -- 11.5 hours, about 15% over the specified 10-hour battery life. "I think Apple, all and all, has done a beautiful job with this thing.... This is a robust, general-purpose device. How did it perform as an e-reader? I thought it did very well; I enjoyed reading books on here more than I so on my Kindle, because of the size of the screen and the sharpness of the screen, and the fact that you get color illustrations -- and I'm a fan of the Kindle, but I would pick this." Uh, Amazon, you might want to do some reading... You can see Walt's complete review over at All Things D and the WSJ, and his video below. Suffice it to say, he's enthusiastic, and so are we. [h/t 9to5] Photo courtesy All Things D
More iPhone 3G buzz from Uncle Walt
You have to smile a bit at the role Walt Mossberg plays in the geekosphere -- he's like the chairman of the Federal Reserve, what with the excitement that his offhand comments can generate. In this case, towards the end of a rather interesting rant about the obstacles to video delivery ("8 minutes of horrible commercials in a 30-minute show... there are lots of people who could care less about erectile dysfunction... in the US, we really suck at broadband") captured on beet.tv, he casually mentions that the iPhone 3G is coming within 60 days. What, now?We've been gaining confidence in the time horizon for a new rev of the iPhone hardware along with everyone else these past few days, but having the imprimatur of Mr. M on a June 3G release makes it all seem more real, somehow.Thanks to everyone who sent this in.[via 9to5Mac / Computerworld]
Uncle Walt still likes iPods, and iTunes too
Walt Mossberg, the king of tech journalists, offers up his review of Apple's latest iterations of the iPod and iTunes. Walt was impressed with the evolution of the iPod, along with the cut in price, and the redesign of the Shuffle, however, he thinks that the real action is happening in iTunes 7. It seems Walt really likes Coverflow, a feature that does very little for me but it is kinda cool the first time you see it. Walt likens it to browsing LPs in yesterdays (LPs, for our younger readers, were like big CDs that you played on a turntable).Overall, Walt gives iTunes and the iPod a thumbs up.
Uncle Walt says Apple is working on an iPhone
Walt Mossberg, Uncle Walt to me, is the top tech journalist without a doubt. When he says something in his Wall Street Journal column people pay attention. Contrast that with the fact that when I say something on TUAW I am often mocked until I cry.Now, Walt's most recent column is all about how Apple's model of controlling the device from end to end is the way to go. Not too newsworthy, in and of itself, however, that's not the bit that has the Mac web all aflutter. Here's the juicy bit, 'Now, Apple is working on other projects built on the same end-to-end model as the iPod: a media-playing cellphone and a home-media hub.'OMG! WALT JUST SPILLED THE BEANS! iPHONE! iPHONE!Everyone just calm down. Take a deep breath. Ok, good. Now, I don't know if Walt has some inside information (he probably does), but I can assure you that it doesn't take insider knowledge to figure out that Apple is working on an iPhone and a media hub. The real question is: will it ever be released? Apple works on all kinds of nifty gear in their R&D labs, many of which never see the light of day.With all that said, wouldn't an Apple cellphone be pretty cool?Thanks, Brendan.
