If you drop it, it will break; the new iPad’s screen that is

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  • March 19, 2012 at 12:38 pm

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3rd generation iPad vs. iPad 2 drop test

A reminder to all: glass shatters, even fancy fortified glass like Corning’s Gorilla Glass. If that glass happens to be attached to the screen of your favorite gadget, then an unfortunate mess ensues.

Take the iPad, a 9.7-inch screen dominates the tablet’s front, which in turn is covered by glass. The iPad 2’s screen was protected by Gorilla Glass, while it has been rumored that the 3rd generation iPad would feature the latest Gorilla Glass technology that we saw this year at CES. So is the new iPad more impervious to drops compared to the iPad 2?
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iPad 3 receives untethered jailbreak and Cydia install on its first day out

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  • March 17, 2012 at 6:23 am

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Cydia running on 3rd generation iPad - chpwn method

You know how it goes, Apple releases new iOS hardware and the chase to jailbreak the device begins. With the third-generation iPad running iOS 5.1 barely out, developers are showing off their skills having been able to to jailbreak the tablet within a few hours.

What’s amazing is that so far there have been three different developers/teams showing off jailbreaks that they claim have been done using different methods. There’s no public release of a jailbreak just yet, but you should expect one to be out before too long.
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No, Apple didn’t make a battery tech breakthrough in the iPad 3; it just stuck more of it inside

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  • March 16, 2012 at 4:03 am

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3rd generation iPad teardown pulling out the battery

Some of the initial coverage on the new 3rd generation iPad suggested that Apple somehow increased the power density of the Lithium-ion battery cells inside the new iPad in order to achieve the jump from 25Whr, in the iPad 2, to 43Whr — that’s more than a 70% increase in battery capacity. The reasoning behind this was that while there was this huge increase in battery capacity the new iPad is only very slightly thicker (just 0.6mm) and heavier than the iPad 2.

Now, the iPad 2 was practically all battery already, so somehow it made sense that Apple had magically created a new battery technology without anyone catching wind on it.

That would be some awesome news for the entire consumer electronics industry and you know how much we deplore mobile devices that don’t offer full-day battery life and how we are always on the lookout on ways to keep us powered on the go. However, if you knew anything about the evolution of battery technology you’d know how slowly and incrementally power density has improved.
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The new iPad goes under the scalpel, teardown reveals Samsung retina LCD

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  • March 15, 2012 at 1:26 pm

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3rd generation iPad teardown A5X processor

The guys at iFixit are really committed to what they do, and what they do is dissect all your favorite gadgets piece by piece and document every step of the way. Well, the 3rd generation iPad may not be out yet but the iFixit crew managed to grab one from a store in Australia and promptly brought it in for surgery.

First task was to separate the new stunning retina display from the rest of the iPad’s body and here we get the first revelation. The screen is probably made by Samsung rather than LG as it was initially rumored.
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Apple could be releasing a 15-inch MacBook Air in April (rumor)

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  • March 14, 2012 at 3:14 pm

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MacBook Air (mid-2011)

We think it’s inevitable that eventually all of Apple’s excellent MacBook like will go Air-like thin, it’s just a matter of when. Now there has been a lot of chatter lately that Apple may soon be introducing 15 and 17-inch MacBook Airs, that could eventually kill off the MacBook Pro as we know it. The rumors are not too far-fetched, the MacBook Air already took care of the 13-inch white MacBook.
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Apple’s new iPad (a.k.a. iPad 3) packing 1GB of RAM and 1GHz processor, gets early unboxing and benchmark

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  • March 13, 2012 at 1:40 pm

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3rd generation iPad box shot

Although Apple is keeping the new 3rd generation iPad (a.k.a. iPad 3) under lock and key until the official March 16 release date, a pair of Vietnamese tech journalists managed to snatch an early copy.

As normally happens in these cases, the pair has duly unboxed the new iPad, which is a 16GB 4G model by the way, in front of a camera and also ran a quick benchmark. No surprises with the unboxing, the new iPad comes in pretty much the same box as the iPad 2, and you still get a power adapter and a USB to 30 pin connector cable. But anyone anxious for some early retina display action is welcome to the 4 minute video just below, and we’re sure you won’t mind that it’s in Vietnamese.
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The 3rd generation iPad is the first tablet with Bluetooth 4.0, what’s in it for you

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  • March 10, 2012 at 8:09 am

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3rd generation iPad multiplayer

Apple has been progressively bringing Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity to its mobile devices and personal computers. The mid-2011 MacBook Air (full review here) and Mac mini were the first to get Bluetooth 4.0 and were followed suit by the iPhone 4S, which was the first smartphone ever to get Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity.

All the above are Bluetooth Smart Ready devices, i.e. they can connect to every legacy Bluetooth device out there, like Bluetooth mice and keyboards, and new Bluetooth 4.0 Smart Ready and low power Bluetooth 4.0 Smart devices, like body monitors and watches. Here’s a table below of what can connect with what:
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iPad 2 vs. 3rd generation iPad 3 comparison

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  • March 8, 2012 at 6:27 pm

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3rd generation iPad with retina display - white and black

 

The 3rd generation iPad (a.k.a. iPad 3) has been announced and we’re sure you are itching to find out if it’s a worthy upgrade from an earlier device. Also given that the iPad 2 has just received a $100 price drop, you might want to consider it as a budget, but still very capable option.

In the table below we will be comparing the new iPad to the iPad 2. The key new feature in the 3rd generation iPad is the inclusion of a higher resolution display, a faster graphics unit necessary to push the extra 2.4 million pixels in the new display and a new 5MP iSight rear camera. You also get a few other nice features like Bluetooth 4.0 and 4G LTE connectivity options. Performance-wise the new iPad should be equivalent to the iPad 2.

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The new iPad is here: retina display, A5X with quad-core graphics, better cameras and 4G LTE

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  • March 7, 2012 at 1:47 pm

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3rd generation iPad with retina display

So the well published Apple event is under way and the company has finally come clean with its updated tablet. The third-generation iPad is called just that, iPad — Apple chose not to name it iPad 3 or iPad HD as was previously rumored.

The new iPad comes with a very high resolution 2048 x 1536 display, with four times the number of pixels found in the iPad 2. Apple is calling its 264 pixels-per-inch density display, retina worthy.

To drive such a high resolution one needs a powerful graphics unit and the third-generation iPad comes with a new A5X chipset featuring quad-core graphics that’s two times as potent as the one found in the iPad 2. Apple is also claiming that the A5X graphics unit is four times as fast as the quad-core Tegra 3, a pretty bold statement.
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Apple announces new Apple TV with 1080p support for $99, shipping March 16th

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  • March 7, 2012 at 1:33 pm

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Apple TV in hand

As expected Apple has announced the next generation of its set-top box- The new Apple TV will be selling for $99, the same price as the previous model. They key feature of the new device, which look identical to the previous model, is its ability to output in 1080p high definition. The previous model was limited to 720p only.

The new Apple TV will also have a redesigned high definition user interface and can stream movie purchases directly from iCloud.
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Apple’s next iPad could be called iPad HD instead of iPad 3

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  • March 2, 2012 at 3:21 am

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Apple iPad 3 (iPad HD) event invitation - finger touching calendar

We’ve been trying to restrain from posting too many news on Apple’s upcoming next generation iPad, which should be announced on March 7th, but this is an interesting piece of news.

It’s long been speculated that new iPad will follow the same naming convention as previous generations of iOS products, i.e. will be called the iPad 3. However a new rumor suggests that it will actually be called iPad HD. Although we generally dislike the trend of simply slapping “HD” on everything, it could make sense as the key new feature of the next iPad is expected to be its high definition 2,048 x 1,536-pixel display.
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Purported iPad 3 leaked photo shows larger lens 8-megapixel camera and gentler curvature

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  • February 19, 2012 at 10:31 am

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iPad 3 leaked back with new camera and gentler curvature

We’re expecting an iPad 3 announcement early next month. We won’t be repeating all the earlier rumors in this post but you can check our timeline below. One of these rumors points to the obvious inclusion of a higher resolution rear camera with a bigger lens. So today, a Chinese publication claims to have images of the iPad 3 showing the refreshed back of the device.
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