Live Blogging the iPad 2 Announcement
By SAM GROBART
Plenty of tech pundits are calling 2011 the year of the tablet. Apple is hoping to make it the year of the iPad. The company has summoned reporters to an event in San Francisco on Wednesday, where it is widely expected to unveil a new version of its popular tablet computer.
While the iPad had the tablet market largely to itself last year, Apple will face increasing competition this year from Dell, Research in Motion, Hewlett-Packard, Samsung and others. Apple is hoping to remain on top with a new version of the iPad that is said to be thinner, faster and lighter than its predecessor. But what other features might it have? Follow the live blog here.
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2:16 P.M. Wrapping Up
Time for another video.
Jonathan Ive, Apple's chief designer is speaking onscreen about the iPad2's design. But basically it's just a recap of what we've seen today.
Here's a question, though: Why doesn't Mr. Ive ever show up at events? Maybe it enhances his mystery.
There is now an image onscreen of two street signs: "Technology" crossed with "Liberal Arts," an image Apple has shown at other events. Mr. Jobs is saying that the competition is thinking of tablets as the next PCs -- worrying about specs, performance -- but Apple, he says, is different. He says Apple not only has the technological firepower, but an innate understanding of what you can do with that technology.
He asks all the people who worked on iPad 2 who are in the room to stand up and receive applause. He's also thanking people's families for letting the staff work so hard.
No "one more thing." That's it.
Mr. Jobs exits stage right. Lights up. Cue, "A Hard Days Night."
It's over.
2:05 P.M. More Details on Garage Band
The musical effects of this app seem uncanny. If you cover the strings of a guitar with one hand and then play with the other, the sound is muted, as you would expect. You can record your musical stylings within the app as well. Garage Band lets you lay down multiple tracks using the virtual instruments on the app.
Mr. Soren is now going to play a demo song, created on the iPad. It sounds pretty good, in a Smashing Pumpkins kind of way.
Songs created can be emailed to friends and sent to your iTunes library.
Garage Band costs $4.99.
Mr. Jobs has returned to stage and is acting astonished at what Garage Band has done, as if he's never heard it before. "I'm just blown away by this stuff," he says.
And now he's recapping the presentation.
1:59 P.M. Garage Band for iPad
Next up is Garage Band for iPad, which has touch instruments, so you can play right on the iPad. Xander Soren, head of music apps is doing a demo.
You can play a piano on the iPad, as well as a whole mess of other instruments. There's a button for a sustain pedal, and the virtual keys are touch sensitive. Play a key softly, the sound is soft. Play it hard, and the sound changes. The iPad uses its accelerometer to measure the force with which the keys are struck.
If you switch from, say, a grand piano to a Hammond B3 organ, the surrounding features and details change. Sliding your finger up a key introduces vibrato. There's a virtual drum kit. As you move across a cymbal, say, the sound changes. You can also plug your guitar into the iPad for various effects. And there's "Smart Instruments," for people who have never played a guitar before; it mimics the instruments onscreen.
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