Originally Posted by swajames

The iPad (and the iPhone) does indeed multitask and it's doing so today - multiple system apps are running concurrently in the background. It is USER apps that are not prohibited to run in the background. Apple claims this is due to battery life and user/data integrity and protection. Whatever your views on that, the device itself is already multitasking, the OS is capable (multithreaded) and the hardware is capable (multi core ARM design, believed to be based on the Cortex-A9). The ability to run user apps in the background is a feature Apple can choose to implement at will, and it is software only. As I posted earlier, OS4 may well bring it but frankly I've never missed it on my iPhone. It may be a bigger deal for some, though I suspect many of those clamoring for it would actually rarely if ever need it or use it (and many of them frankly don't actually understand what it is they are bitching about!).

1024*768 is a perfectly decent resolution for a 9.7" display. The iPad and iPhone have the same pixel density (162 PPI) and web pages that looked fine on the iPhone will look great on the iPad - the same browsing experience as the iPhone without the need to zoom or multi-touch to view larger web pages.

The bookstore will come to global markets just as the iTunes store itself started out as a US-only offering before expanding globally. Word is that Apple only concluded many of the content licensing deals this week, just before the event. Cross-border IP licensing is easier said than done but ultimately the copyright owners want their content available globally as much as Apple wants to sell it - on more favorable terms than Amazon's Kindle incidentally - so this will be a non-issue in short order.

Safari on the iPhone/iPad will load any page, it's not accurate to say you can't load web pages that have flash. Granted, flash content won't display, but ask yourself what comprises the majority of flash content for most web pages? Annoying animated ads. I can live without those, although the advent of HTML5 will make that moot as the annoying ads will render natively without a plug in. As for the other major use for flash on the web, I am reliably informed that there is plenty of porn available in formats that are natively supported by the iPhone and iPad

Originally Posted by VHHDT

aaahh, now I'm going to have to retract my opinion on this pointless device... I have just thought of a genuine use for it....

A home automation controller (EDIT sorry, didn't see the Archos 7 post)

I am building a luxury home for a client and I have spec'd Sonos audio as the main music system for non Theatre areas. They have a neat iphone app that would turn this into a genuine internet capable home automation controller



There are also some other apps (and now no doubt the bigger brands will jump on board) that control lighting etc, and if I can work out a way to get 'streaming video', it could also be linked in to the CCTV etc

hmmm..

Cheers

J

Originally Posted by VHHDT

eh? aren't most programs on a computer that we choose to run 'user' apps? so, I couldn't listen to internet radio while I write an email out on the road? And personally I hate Safari in comparison to Firefox. if it is a hybrid computer, why not use Snow Leopard instead of a glorified iphone OS. besides which, as you have said, the ipad ISN'T doing what the hardware may well be capable of... as I noted..

Not really, the apps fall into two distinct categories - those that are integrated into or part of the OS and those that can be added from the 150,000 that you can download from the app store. Apple tightly controls the former and these multitask today, Apple approves but has no responsibility for the latter - and these don't run in the background.

interesting that I can choose from over 250,000 books on a kindle from here in Australia.... mind you, how many hours can you sit and read from an LCD screen like the ipad anyway..... which again raises the question of its purpose????


You can use Apple's store, Amazon or almost any you choose... Amazon has a Kindle app for the iPhone, and there are many free and paid readers in the store. So those same 250,000 books from you can read on Kindle are available to you on the iPhone and iPad.

Someone more learned than I will no doubt be able to answer this, but isn't youtube a streamed video? access that most people take for granted on a 'computer'?? No deal breaker on an iphone, but a bit odd on 'computer'..

Youtube runs parallel content encoding including H.264, which is natively supported by the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. There's a YouTube app built right into the OS...

Originally Posted by VHHDT

aaahh, now I'm going to have to retract my opinion on this pointless device... I have just thought of a genuine use for it....

A home automation controller (EDIT sorry, didn't see the Archos 7 post)

I am building a luxury home for a client and I have spec'd Sonos audio as the main music system for non Theatre areas. They have a neat iphone app that would turn this into a genuine internet capable home automation controller

Originally Posted by PraiseTheLowered

What does this product do that a good smart phone wont?