THE IPAD: QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

So, what kind of ports will you get on the iPad, anyway? What's it like typing on the virtual QWERTY keypad? How do videos look? What's the deal with GPS? And how much will the keyboard dock cost?


I'm going to do my best to answer some of these outstanding questions about the iPad, with help from the details on Apple's iPad Web site along with first-hand reports from Wednesday's event in San Francisco. (I'm based in New York, so I've been following along here with the invaluable assistance from all manner of live blogs, photos, videos, and even the surreptitious live audio feeds from intrepid audience members at yesterday's unveiling; Apple has since posted video of the event here.)
Of course, the iPad questions and answers below are only scratching the surface; if I don't end up answering your specific question below, please post it in the comments below and I'll circle back in a follow-up post. (And for all the basic details about the iPad, click here.)

So, all set? Here we go ...

What about ports and buttons?
iLounge has an impressively detailed report (plus plenty of photos and videos) on all the physical aspects of the iPad, but I'm just going to focus on ports and controls here. As with the iPhone, the front of the iPad is essentially featureless save for the Home key at the bottom of the 9.7-inch display; along the top, you'll find a "sleep" switch, a 3.5mm headset jack, and a tiny hole for the built-in microphone (so yes, the iPad does have a microphone). On the right edge are the volume and mute buttons, while the speaker and Apple's standard 30-pin connector sit along the bottom. That's what's there ... so what's missing? A USB port and a card reader, namely. (Apple will be offering a "Camera Accessory Kit" with separate adapters for USB and SD memory cards for $29, iLounge reports.)
How's the virtual QWERTY keypad?
Just so-so, from what I've been hearing. As we saw yesterday, the iPad's virtual keypad is (obviously) much bigger than that of the iPhone or iPod Touch; in fact, it's nearly the same size as a standard QWERTY keyboard. Unfortunately, the iPad keypad is "almost too wide for thumb typing," Walt Mossberg complains, and you can't type with both hands without putting the iPad down ... and that could be a problem too, says Gizmodo, because of the iPad's curved back panel: "Sitting flat on the table ... the iPad sort of wobbles ... so the virtual keyboard becomes that much more difficult to use." Of course, you could always use the optional keyboard dock that Apple announced yesterday ... but at that point, I'd argue, you might as well just pull out your MacBook.

What's the deal with the docks?
OK, so Apple announced two docks that'll go with the iPad. One is a standard dock with a 30-pin connector that charges the iPad and tilts it at a good reading angle; you also get an audio port in the back for connecting a pair of stereo speakers. The standard dock goes for $29; meanwhile, for $69, you can get basically the same dock with a standard Apple keyboard attached in front. Finally, Apple will also sell a black iPad Case ($39) with a flip that acts as a kickstand for watching movies, slideshows, or presentations.

How do videos look?
Amazing, apparently. "Stunning," says the San Francisco Chronicle, while iLounge crows about the "strong, rich colors" and "great viewing angles." iLounge also reports that while the iPad's 1024-by-768 display isn't quite capable of displaying 720p videos at full resolution, the device can play 720p H.264 video files (albeit downscaled to the native resolution of the iPad's screen), so I'm curious whether it'll be possible to rent and watch an HD movie on the iPad itself. In other words, it sounds like watching a feature-length movie on the iPad will be a lovely experience, especially when you're sharing a friend. That said, the iPad's single built-in speaker probably won't make for a cinema-worthy experience, so don't forget your earbuds. Also, if you were hoping to play true 720p-quality video from the iPad on an external display, sorry, no dice ... external output over Apple's Component AV cable is limited to 576p. Also: Like the iPhone and the iPod Touch, the aspect ratio of the iPad screen is 4:3, meaning that you'll have to be content with letterboxing in the case of widescreen videos.

How's the iPad's overall performance?
Pretty speedy, says Gizmodo: "It's fasssst ... It feels at least a generation faster than the iPhone 3GS. Lags and waits are gone, and the OS and apps respond just as quickly as you'd hope."

How do iBooks look?
Most of the impressions I've read have praised the sharp, easy-to-read text on the iPad's iBooks reader, as well as the three-dimensional look of the page-flipping animations. But in the end, as iLounge notes, iBooks "falls short of really bringing books forward into the 21st Century ... they are basically the same black and white things you see on an Amazon Kindle or Barnes and Noble Nook." That shouldn't come as a huge surprise—books are, after all, just text on a page—but still, worth noting.
What about 3G?
Apple says that it'll sell iPads with embedded 3G for $130 over the standard iPad models, meaning the 16GB 3G iPad will be $629 (versus $499 for the Wi-Fi-only version), the 32GB 3G model will be $729 (instead of $599), and the 64GB 3G flavor will be $829 (rather than $699). For now, only AT&T is offering a specific iPad data plan: $30 a month prepaid for unlimited data (and, thankfully, no contract), or $15 for 250MB of monthly data. International plans will be announced this summer, Apple said.

OK, but what about GPS?
Well, it depends on what model you get. According to Apple's (somewhat vague) specs, the 3G-enabled iPads will support assisted GPS with cell-tower triangulation, while the Wi-Fi-only model will have to depend on nearby Wi-Fi networks to determine (more or less) your general location. In other words, if you want an iPad that's an ace at pinpointing your location on the maps app, you'll have to pay an extra $130 for the 3G-embedded models. That said, both the 3G and Wi-Fi-only iPads come with on-board digital compasses and accelerometers.

CAR FULL OF MONEY

BALL GROUND, Ga. – One north Georgia man got more than he bargained for when he bought a car from a towing company late last year. Officials with the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office said Thursday that Tye Kuykendall found $200,000 in counterfeit money inside a hidden compartment behind the back seat of the car.


Authorities said Kuykendall bought the car after it sat for more than three years in an impound yard after being towed by Fulton County police in 2006.

Authorities said he was fixing a gas leak when he discovered the secret compartment.

Cherokee officials have called the U.S. Secret Service to help with the case.

APPLE UNVEILS TABLET

SAN FRANCISCO – Apple Inc. will sell the newly unveiled tablet-style iPad starting at $499, a price tag far below the $1,000 that some analysts were expecting.

The iPad, which is larger in size but similar in design to Apple's popular iPhone, was billed by CEO Steve Jobs on Wednesday as "so much more intimate than a laptop and so much more capable than a smart phone."

The highly anticipated gadget has a 9.7-inch touch screen, is a half-inch thick, weighs 1.5 pounds and comes with 16, 32 or 64 gigabytes of flash memory storage. The basic iPad models will cost $499, $599 and $699, depending on the storage size.

All models have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity built in. Jobs said the device has a battery that lasts 10 hours and can sit for a month on standby without needing a charge.

Apple will also sell a version with pay-as-you-go data plans from AT&T in the U.S. Two tiers of data plan will be available without contracts: $14.99 per month for 250 megabytes of data, or $29.99 for unlimited data usage.

Those 3G models will cost more — $629, $729 and $829, depending on the amount of memory. The Wi-Fi only version will be available worldwide in March, and the 3G version in April. International cellular data details have not yet been announced.

Apple had kept its "latest creation" tightly under wraps until Wednesday's unveiling, though many analysts had correctly speculated that it would be a one-piece tablet computer with a big touch screen, larger than an iPhone but smaller than a laptop.

The CEO demonstrated how the iPad is used for surfing the Web with Apple's Safari browser. He typed an e-mail using an on-screen keyboard and flipped through photo albums by flicking his finger across the screen. And he showed off a new electronic book store, putting the iPad in competition with Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle and other e-book readers.

Jobs said the iPad will also be better for playing games and watching video than either a laptop or a smart phone. The iPad comes with software including a calendar, maps, a video player and iPod software for playing music. All seem to have been slightly redesigned to take advantage of the iPad's bigger screen.

Tablet computers have existed for a decade, with little success. Jobs acknowledged Apple will have to work to convince consumers who already have smart phones and laptops that they need this gadget.

"In order to really create a new category of devices, those devices are going to have to be far better at doing some key tasks," Jobs said. "We think we've got the goods. We think we've done it."

Applications designed for the iPhone can run on the iPad. Apple is also releasing updated tools for software developers to help them build iPhone and iPad programs.

"We think it's going to be a whole 'nother gold rush for developers as they build applications for the iPad," said Scott Forstall, an iPhone software executive.

A new newspaper reader program from The New York Times and a game from Electronic Arts Inc. were also demonstrated during the event. The audience, which included many journalists and bloggers, clapped and even gave Jobs a standing ovation.

Shares in Apple rose $3.06, or 1.5 percent, to $209 in afternoon trading Wednesday. The Cupertino, Calif.-based company's shares have more than doubled over the past year, partly on anticipation of the tablet computer. Shares in Amazon rose $2, or 1.7 percent, to $121.48.

APPLE TABLET (WILL IT BE THE NEXT BIG THING?)

Three Things Apple Needs to Do to Make Its Tablet a Breakthrough Device

The din of rumor and the clamor of speculation inspired by Apple’s expected announcement is about to peak. We’re all convinced that the “one other thing” will be some kind of magical tablet device. We all expect it will be a big deal. And in these past weeks we’ve witnessed a parade of writers, analysts, and consumers who have all published their “wish” or even “guess” (or, in some cases, “fantasy”) lists. But we have yet to see what we think really matters: an Apple “should” list that identifies the things Apple needs to do to ensure that its device is successful.

Let’s put this on the record: Apple has to create a new category here—that’s something it has not done in more than two decades. Apple’s genius is its ability to consumerize a device category through great design, software and marketing. It did it with the PC, the digital music player, and the [shudder] smartphone. The coming tablet is an oddity. It is flawed in meaningful ways: It’s a computer without a keyboard, it’s a digital reader with poor battery life and a high price tag, and it’s a portable media player that can’t fit in a pocket.

As a result, Apple has to tap the 6 million people who will buy e-readers this year and/or the 7% of adults interested in buying a netbook and help them see that this new tablet is a new version of all of those things and more, where its value comes from their elegant integration into a single, awesome user experience. This is something we think Apple can do, but only if it puts the right objectives on its to-do list. We’re not rooting for Apple per se, except to the extent that Apple: 1) improves consumers’ lives, and 2) cleverly exploits market opportunities or gaps to force everyone else to elevate their game. (Note that #2 will lead to more of #1; this is a fruit of free-market economics, and we are eager to taste it.)

So into the vast cacophony of opinion that is about to get turned up past 11 (apologies to Spinal Tap), we offer the following three things we think Apple should do with its announcement tomorrow. Accompanying this recommendation is a warning: if Apple doesn’t do these things, or do them well, the long-lauded tablet form factor will remain a peculiarity.

1. Create a new device category around personal media. Today, people spend as much as five or six hours a day with media (most of it video, next with audio, then with text—younger consumers spend as much as seven hours a day on media, including social media, much of it overlapping with other media). Nowhere do they have an integrated experience that ties it all together. Of course, Apple knows it is well positioned to offer music, video, and, soon, books, magazines, newspapers and web-based opinion and commentary. However, the critical link that would make Apple’s tablet really soar is the inclusion of personal media: photos and home videos. Viewing photos is a top-five online activity, digital photography has created a whole new set of behaviors that Flickr, Picasa and others have tried to serve.

Now with the rise of Flip cameras, video is about to achieve the same prominence, but no one has a handle on it yet because it’s harder to edit, manage and share. Putting all of these personal and professional media into the device and synchronizing them intelligently across other devices with the help of the dreaded “cloud,” that’s where Apple can take it all to the next level. Importantly, personal media are by definition social media because they have to be shared to be valued. Apple needs some to do work here—social media has not been a strength. Nail this combination of professional, personal and social media, and a new device category is born.

2. Work its user-experience magic on connectivity. Among the most hotly debated questions about the tablet is what flavor of connectivity it will possess, which mobile operator(s) may play a role, and what that role may be. Today’s 3G networks simply cannot support a Kindle-like pricing model (that wraps the delivery cost into the content price) for video, nor for a concept like the rich magazine that Time Inc. has demonstrated. To accommodate the full panoply of media offerings, Apple will need to rely on a combination of home broadband, WiFi, and cellular networks to seamlessly deliver and synchronize content using a complex model that optimizes based on cost, urgency and price.

This network dance is already visible to iPhone owners who know they can only retrieve certain content over WiFi or when physically connected to their iTunes library, but it’s a clumsy dance and Apple can—and should—do better. Here’s an idea: become a Virtual Network Operator (VNO, providing connectivity services without physically operating a network)...a smart VNO. Put a multimode radio into the tablet, negotiate wholesale rates with AT&T and Verizon (and others in the future), and do arbitrage pricing across networks to reduce pricing using market efficiencies. Sure, the carriers don’t want this but if anyone can do it, Apple can. After all, you’ll already have all the other retail and service components in place.

3. Break open the meaning of the word “device.” All along, we’ve talked about this device as if it were a single form factor that would define a new era in media use and connectivity. But the future of selling devices is not in selling single devices; instead, it lies in selling device-based experiences, where families of devices work together to give consumers what they really want. That means the tablet must be introduced with a family of co-devices (not accessories, please don’t marginalize them by calling them that) that will make the device itself more flexible and therefore valuable. We’re talking Bluetooth keyboards, sure, but also a family of docks that position the tablet to be a bedside alarm clock, a bedroom Pandora radio player, a kitchen recipe stand, a family-room photo frame, and a home remote control. We’re talking about TVs that tablets can “publish to” wirelessly and HD cameras that can function in attached mode or work wirelessly from across the room—the same camera that will speak to your Mac, your iPhone, and anything else Apple makes.

There’s a lot more detail behind it, but this is our short “should” list for Apple. A list that, conveniently, applies to everyone who wants to take on or draft off of Apple as well. Amazon’s next generation Kindle should do the same (we’ve codenamed it “Kindle Flame” around here). We’ll be publishing a much more detailed analysis of the tablet market in the coming weeks once we have the full detail of Apple’s offering and can scour our consumer data for evidence of who wants—and can pay for—this kind of experience.

A TRILLION DOLLARS AND COUNTY

WASHINGTON – Thinking of counting to a trillion one second per number? Better get started. It will take 31,688 years.

And tack on a few more years if you want to go for 1.35 trillion, the dollar estimate for the federal deficit in the current budget year.

The whole sum could be taken care of if every American, all 300 million of them, forked over $4,500.

Back in 1981, President Ronald Reagan, characterizing the national debt as it approached $1 trillion, commented that "a trillion dollars would be a stack of $1,000 bills 67 miles high." The debt, the accumulation of annual deficits, now stands at more than $12 trillion.

Put another way, the $1.35 trillion could pay for 40,000 players like Alex Rodriguez, whose $33 million salary in 2009 made him baseball's richest man.

Or think the $6.25 billion paid out by Goldman Sachs in salaries and bonuses in 2009 was a lot of money? The federal deficit could support the payroll of 216 such financial firms.

A trip around the world at the equator is about 25,000 miles. So 1.35 trillion miles would be a dizzying 54 million circuits around the globe.

A trillion is one followed by 12 zeros.

The Washington Monument, overlooking the deficit debate in the Capitol, stands about 555 feet tall. Stacked end to end, it would take more than 2.4 billion monuments to reach 1.35 trillion feet. That's well more than double the distance from the Earth to the sun.

Being sat on by a 10,000-pound bull elephant would not be pleasant. What about if 135 million pachyderms were piled up?

The Earth has been around for about 4.5 billion years. A long time until you consider that 1.35 trillion years equals 300 Earth lives. Looking at more modern history, 1.35 trillion seconds would take us back more than 40,000 years, when Neanderthals were using stones to make tools.

MARS ROVER SPIRIT ROVES NO MORE!

Mars rover Spirit roves no more
NASA announces the explorer is now a stationary tool

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

NASA
Mars rover Spirit stuck in the dirt.The Mars rover Spirit might have lost its mobility, but NASA researchers won't pull its plug.

The plucky robot that set down on Mars in January 2004 has been stuck in powdery sand since April. NASA announced this afternoon that it's officially halting attempts to dislodge it.

Spirit will instead become a "stationary science platform," and will track tiny wobbles in Mars' rotation to gain insight about the planet's core.

The rover, like its twin, Opportunity, was not supposed to last longer than 90 days once it touched down on the harsh planet.

Spirit was driving south beside the western edge of a low plateau called Home Plate 10 months ago when its wheels broke through a crusty surface and churned into soft sand. Engineers worked to free the rover, but it has remained stuck.

In 2006, its sixth wheel quit working. In November, another wheel quit working.