Apple’s just unveiled their new iPad. It’s basically a cross between a Laptop and an iPhone. You can see all the glorious tiny details on Apple’s website (apple.com/ipad) but let’s discuss first impressions.
When Steve Jobs unveiled the beautiful, huge, ridiculously thin, touch screen device I got very excited. But then he started talking about what it did. It’s nothing groundbreaking. My first impression is of a glorified iPhone, minus the camera and GPS. I was hoping for a full blown touch screen computer, which would mean no more horrible keyboards and mice, just pure finger freedom. I was hoping to be shocked and make oooo, ahhh noises just like the moment the iPhone was revealed but there was none of that.
Don’t get me wrong, the device is great to look at, and probably fun to use but there is no must buy factor. If you have an iPhone or even an iTouch then there is no great appeal to the iPad. In fact, even if you don’t I would rather have an iPhone simply because it’s easier to cart around.
Maybe the problem is the huge hype, such intense hype that even if the iPad shot lasers it wouldn’t have lived up to it. I was practically expecting a unicorn to prance across the stage today, but I was disappointed.
We’ll have to wait and see if Apple has anything more up their sleeves, but for the time being, I’m not interested.
I’ve never been a fan of fantasy, for whatever reason, wizards and magic don’t do anything for me. However, when these stories are mixed with adventure, suspense, action and even a bit of comedy, I’m instantly glued to the pages – hungry for more.
The book was written by sixteen year old Andy Peterson who was born in Chicago but now lives in Johannesburg. Peterson is Penguin – South Africa’s youngest author ever published. And why should he wait? His brilliant imagination and great sense of timing has this young author ready to compete with experienced authors across the country.
Along with the new iPods, Apple recently launched a new version of iTunes, iTunes 8. The new version looks very similar to the old version, but has a few new features that we’ve all been waiting for.
I first came across the Spud series by accident. A few of my friends at school were excitedly talking about skipping a lesson and going with the librarian to a nearby shopping centre to see John van de Ruit. I had no idea who that was but when offered the opportunity to miss class I wasn’t going to say no.
When playing SingStar over the years I have endured something really annoying. The microphone’s wires are often too short, meaning you have to stand on top of the television, they always get tangled, and they are very restricting when it comes to movement. In the heat of a song, at the point where you just want to break out in to spectacular dance, you’re stuck to one spot, fearing the PlayStation’s long fall ending in a disastrous smash.
Although the PS3 does have a Bluetooth receiver built into it, as far as I know, games like SingStar and Buzz both need separate USB receivers to be plugged in. That’s not to say setup isn’t easy. Just plug in the receiver, put it the included batteries, switch on your microphones by pushing the switch up and they’re ‘automagically’ synced to your PlayStation. You’re ready to play!