Apple Inc. rolled out its latest iPad, but it’s not called iPad 3 or iPad HD.
Rather it stuck with simply calling it the iPad, a move that speaks to the company’s ambitions to have its blockbuster tablet supplant the ubiquitous personal computer.
In unveiling the upgraded iPad on Wednesday, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook repeated the theme that the difference between PCs and tablets would soon vanish, and that the iPad was the “poster child for the post-PC world.”
Analysts who saw the presentation tended to agree.
“The iPad is encroaching more and more on the kinds of tasks that we’ve historically associated with PCs,” said Ross Rubin, an analyst at NPD Group.
Apple showed a number of new features for the latest iPad — including sophisticated photo and video editing and games featuring powerful graphics — that have been a mainstay of bulkier PCs.
Aligning the iPad more closely with the PC may also be a way to continue its world dominance of the tablet market. Apple’s iPad accounts for 70 percent of the tablet market and has sold 55 million units in two years.
Cook, who strolled the stage in an untucked button-down shirt and a pair of jeans — perhaps an attempt to reflect the casual manner of his predecessor, Steve Jobs — showed he was not afraid to take a swipe at his competitors. Flashing up images of a Samsung Electronics tablet running Google Inc.-powered Android software, Cook said the software looked unimaginative and lackluster.
“It kind of looks like a blown-up smartphone app,” Cook said, “because that’s exactly what it is.”
IPad competitors from Samsung, HTC Corp., LG and others have had trouble catching up. The only device to win more than a sliver of the market has been Amazon’s much cheaper $199 Kindle Fire, which accounted for 14 percent of tablets shipped during the fourth quarter.
But with an updated iPad, Apple is looking to widen the gap once again.
The company highlighted the iPad’s new screen, which it called “resolutionary” because of its high-definition, photo- and video-friendly display.
The new device, which will start at $499, also carries a faster computer processor for powerful graphics, includes a 5-megapixel camera and works with faster 4G wireless networks from Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc.
PC sales have been flat in recent years, while tablet sales have been growing rapidly. They are expected to double globally this year, to about 120 million from 60 million in 2011, according to research firm IHS ISuppli.
The iPad’s new features were largely as rumored — although the new device did not include Siri, the iPhone’s voice-controlled assistant. The device does, however, offer a voice transcription feature, enabling users to dictate emails and the text of documents.
The lack of an explosive new feature — or a fancy new name — did not bother Forrester Research analyst Sarah Rotman Epps.
Many Apple observers, including the technology media, “want Apple to invent something that makes cars fly and has mind control,” Epps said, but for average consumers, “Apple has probably met and exceeded their expectations.”
Consumer demand for the new device seemed high, causing Apple’s Web page for early iPad orders to load slowly and make it difficult for some to buy a device. The iPad will be available in stores March 16.
In October, Apple introduced its latest iPhone only to encounter a wave of criticism that the device was too similar to the previous model. But the iPhone 4S went on to become a huge hit, selling a record 37 million units in one quarter and quieting some of the naysayers.
The rollout Wednesday had the air of a rock concert, with satellite trucks and news vans lining the street in front of the event center where Apple unveiled the device. Tourists loitered on the sidewalk, snapping photos of a massive, multicolored Apple banner.
The company also lowered the price of the iPad 2 model to $399, probably to compete with lower-priced offerings from rivals.
Apple also announced a newer version of its Apple TV, the $99 set-top box that enables users to stream films and television shows. The newer Apple TV will offer much higher definition 1080p resolution.
Source: MCT Information Services
