Apple opened bookings for Apple iPad – Wi-Fi versions for $ 499 to 699 (16 GB to 64 GB) and Wi-Fi + 3 G version for $ 629 to 829 (16 GB to 64 GB) on March 12, 2010
On Day 1 it is reported (Apple is yet to confirm) that 90,000 units bookings (worth more than $ 50 million worth) happened on Day 1
If true, Apple iPad will be the third “roaring success” for Apple (iPod in 2001, iPhone in 2007 and now iPad in 2010)
In the Mobile World Congress 2010 Samsung launched its Wave phone GT S8500.
Powered by “bada” operating system it is an amazing phone. Its 3.3″ AMOLED display is stunning
Will the mobile handset industry accommodate one more operating system – Symbian, Apple Mac OS, Palm Web OS, Android, Windows Phone 7..?
Only time will tell
The two mantras that I used in this talk are
Over the years server consolidation, virtualization (Storage, desktop, applications…), layered network architecture, storage using SAN.. have dominated the CIO’s toolbox of facing increasing applications demand and decreasing budget. In the process the optimization has often been local – servers, storage or network. What is needed today is to “globally” optimize across servers, storage and networks – the essence of my “SSN is one” mantra.
Servers need storage; networks needs heavy computing and storage; and, storage needs both networking and computing; the three are intrinsically intertwined.
To optimize across the system you need tools – the real strength of HP today
With its BladeMatrix System HP offers a “3-in-1 box” that consists of servers, storage and networks – all configurable with software tools that automate the whole process; the pre-defined templates captures the essence of best scenarios that are “perfected” in the Lab.
In that sense compared to every other vendor HP seems to have a well-orchestrated strategy (announced in October 2009), products (November 2009), consulting practices (January 2010) and marketing communications (Feb 2010)
If well executed this can be a game changer
(Invited talk given the very select CIO’s in Udaipur on Feb 5, 2010)
The legendary Apple CEO Steve Jobs launched the much-awaited consumer electronics item “iPad” in San Francisco, USA, yesterday (January 27, 2010).
Powered by Apple’s “own” processor code-named A4 running at 1 GHz, brilliant 9.7” LED display (Apple calls it IPS technology) with 16 to 64 GB of “flash” memory, 10 hours of battery, Wi-Fi (802.11n), Bluetooth (2.1), GPS and accelerometer, the ½” thin Apple iPad weighs a mere 1.5 pounds. Filling the gap between a smart phone and a laptop / notebook computer, Apple iPad is designed for a great experience in Net browsing, e-mail, photo / video viewing, music, games and interestingly reading e-books.
Powered by Apple Safari iPad gives the best mobile browsing experience; the form factor is large enough to render full web pages very well. The “touch” keyboard is almost the same size as most laptop keyboards, enabling the user to do mobile e-mail as if one is working on a notebook. The large and brilliant screen allows video, music & photo organizer to be powerful, yet intuitive making iPad a great mobile multimedia device. Apple iPad is a great mobile gaming device. To add to the “wow” factor Apple iPad is an excellent mobile e-Book Reader too!
Will Apple iPad be a game changer? Many of us believe so due to the following reasons
1 Apple consistently creates products that stand out amidst crowd
Launched in 1984 Apple Mac computer was not one more PC; it redefined the “Personal Computer”. Apple followed it up with PowerBook in 1991, Power Mac in 1994 and iMac in 1999. Mac Book Air introduced in 2008 was great design innovation. No wonder Apple sold a record number of 3.4 million Mac computers in the October – December 2009 quarter!
Apple introduced iPod in 2001, It was NOT the first portable digital music player; by combining innovation in design (the dial pad for example) along with iTunes musical stores, iPod today is synonymous with MP3 players! Apple has sold more than 250 million iPod devices in nine years (nearly 21 million in the last quarter (October – December 2009) alone!
In 2007 Apple launched iPhone, a smart phone amidst a market crowded by Nokia (with more than 400 million handset sales globally), Motorola (the company that invented mobile phones), Palm Inc (the smart phone leader), RIM (BlackBerry maker who was the unquestioned leader among mobile e-mail devices), SONY (the consumer electronics giant) and Samsung & LG (Korean majors). Within two years Apple iPhone has become a leader with its revolutionary “multi-touch” interface, a winning combination of smart phone, mobile Internet device and iPod; every manufacturer including Nokia was forced to introduce a “touch” phone, though none could match Apple iPhone in terms of intuitive user interface. Apple sold nearly 9 million iPhones in the last quarter (October – December 2009). App Store an online “application store” has 140,000 applications today with more than 3 billion downloads in less than 2 years.
Apple iPad introduced yesterday combines a mobile computer, smart phone and e-Book Reader and is likely to storm the e-Book Reader market as well as PC market
2 iPad avoids earlier mistakes
Tablet PC is not new. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates has been spearheading Tablet PC for the past seven years. Tablet PC attempts to use “touch”, but limited to “stylus based writing”. By incorporating “multi-touch” across all applications, iPad goes far beyond a “Tablet PC”. The media has been talking of Apple Tablet PC (with even a name iSlate) for months; Apple took everyone by surprise through iPad that integrates touch (that too with no stylus). The form factor is correct and the 10-year battery life would be the “killer” feature.
3 iPad leverages existing ecosystem
iPhone leads the smart phone pack primarily due to “applications” that can be easily downloaded from “app Stores”. There is a record 140,000 strong set of applications to choose from. By making EVERY application from iPhone App Stores to run on iPad Apple has decisively made iPad the best Tablet PC! By tweaking great applications (word processing and presentation, for example) Apple iPad will be the best PC. Thanks to 9.7” screen, the “virtual” keyboard on the screen is almost the size of normal keyboard permitting full e-mail functionality. By running iTunes with full functionality iPad is a great multi-media device as well
4 iPad will shake up the e-Book Reader market
With Apple launching iBook Store with MacMillan, Penguin, Simon & Schuster already signed up and opting for ePub “open” format (unlike Amazon’s proprietary format) Apple iPad might change the dynamics of e-Book Readers!
5 Apple iPad is priced right
The media has been projecting a launch price of $ 1,000 to $ 2,000 for Apple Tablet. Surprisingly Apple has priced iPad at $ 499 (Wi-Fi version) and $ 629 (3G version). The data plans are $ 15 per month and $ 30 per month unlike the $ 60 per month that typically telcos charge for data plans today
Steve Jobs summarized the launch as “our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price”; the first impression, if it is any indication, makes one conclude that Apple iPad will be a game changer product. It will be interesting to watch Apple reaching the product to customers and they in turn lapping it up or not over the next 11 months.
Today (January 27, 2010) the legendary Apple CEO Steve Jobs launched in San Francisco, USA , “IPad” – the “third” device beyond Apple’s hugely successful Mac computer and iPhone smart phone. Millions around the globe watched the launch event over the Net; many in India (including the author) had to burn the midnight oil (1130 PM IST yesterday to 1:07 AM IST today) to get the excitement as it unfolded. The bloggers of Gizmodo, Engadget, Wall Street Journal and New York Times provided “live” coverage with text and pictures that made every Netizen feel as though one was present in San Francisco; it worked well even with a flaky “narrow band” Internet connection that is often sold as “broad band” connection in India!
Steve Jobs summarized the launch as “our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price”; yes, Apple iPad at $ 499 (Wi-Fi model) or $ 629 (3G Model) is a steal; both are “unlocked”; the service provider AT&T may subsidize the device cost; other service providers might extend subsidy too, but as of writing it is not clear if Apple has arrangements with other telcos (other than AT&T).
Powered by Apple’s “own” processor code-named A4 running at 1 GHz, brilliant 9.7” LED display (Apple calls it IPS technology) with 16 to 64 GB of “flash” memory with 10 hours of battery, Wi-Fi (802.11n), Bluetooth (2.1), speech, accelerometer, the ½” thin Apple iPad weighs a mere 1.5 pounds. “Multi-Touch” that Apple introduced two years back in its iPhone product pervades every function of Apple’s iPad. The form factor is that of “Tablet PC”, though Apple avoided the term “Tablet” and consistently called it “iPad”.
– Powered by Apple Safari iPad gives the best mobile browsing experience; the form factor is large enough to render full web pages very well.
– The “touch” keyboard is almost the same size as most laptop keyboards, enabling the user to do mobile e-mail as if one is working on a notebook.
– The large and brilliant screen allows video, music & photo organizer to be powerful, yet intuitive making iPad a great mobile multimedia device; with iTunes fully supported on iPad, it is effortless to use for the 100 million iPad users on the planet.
– Apple iPad is a great mobile gaming device too.
– To add to the “wow” factor Apple iPad is an excellent mobile e-Book reader with Apple launching iBookStore with MacMillan, Penguin, Simon & Schuster already signed up and New York Times having an application for iPad; Apple calls Amazon’s Kindle a great device and compliments Amazon by saying “we stand on their shoulders”; by opting for ePub open format (unlike Amazon’s proprietary format) Apple iPad might change the dynamics of e-Book Readers!
The biggest attraction of Apple iPhone (among all smart phones) is the huge set of Applications effortlessly downloadable from Apple App Store (as of this writing there are 140,000 applications and 3 billions “apps” have been downloaded by the users over the past 2 years). Apple iPad can run EVERY iPhone application! In addition there are many iPad applications and Apple launched its SDK (Software Development Kit) for iPad also along with iPad.
Apple did not miss the opportunity to tout its “green” commitment; iPad is arsenic and mercury free and hugely recyclable.
Some of the very successful Mac applications (“Pages” word processor and “Keynote” presentation software) have been launched specially optimized for iPad; more interestingly, they have been priced at $ 9.99 and highly affordable.
Smart phones have been pricey item, particularly the data plans that accompany smart phones. For example, typical Apple iPhone on AT&T used to cost $ 60 a month for a reasonable data plan; by slashing it to $15 a month for 250 MB download and $ 30 a month for unlimited download, Apple has addressed the cost issue as well.
In short, Apple introduced a revolutionary portable digital music player iPod in 2001; the year 2007 saw Apple entering the smart phone market through its highly successful iPhone; yesterday Apple has launched arguably the best Netbook / Tablet / e-Book Reader that combines the best of Netbook and iPhone without compromising features that many Netbook computers do.
Will Apple be lucky three times in a row? The first impressions point so though only time can tell. It will be interesting to watch Apple reaching the product to customers and they in turn lapping it up or not. The year 2010 will be truly interesting to watch.
Palm Inc used to be an amazing company. With innovative products like Palm Pilot it created the PDA market and introduced “touch” (thru stylus and handwriting) at very affordable prices.
It was the leader in “smart phone” category till 2006
Apple announcing iPhone changed the smart phone scene dramatically, All the erstwhile leaders Motorola, Nokia and BlackBerry were running fo cover; Palm was almost written off.
With ex Apple iPod designer at the helm, Palm made a comeback in last year CES (CES 2009) with its amazing product Palm Pre; unfortunately with no service provider tie-up (the way Apple did with AT&T) Palm has been struggling.
Today (Jan 6) Palm announced the extended versions of Palm Pre and Palm Pixi
Many of us would like Palm to succeed; with iPhone growing with its runaway success and Apple planning to announce its iSlate (Tablet PC) we get a sinking feeling Palm may not survive. I would like to be proved wrong!
After months of speculation, Google announced its own phone “Nexus One” powered by Google Android operating system, on January 5, 2010 at Google headquarters in Mountain View, California – just a day ahead of the global annual tech show CES 2010 at Las Vegas.
Undoubtedly, there is global excitement on anything that Google does – after all its name ‘Google’ has just been crowned as the ‘word of the decade (for the 10-year period 2000-2009)! This word is used by most people more often than any other word!
A quick look at the key features
Why is Nexus One a game changer?
Nexus One is offered in unlocked form and will work on any any GSM network (unlike Apple iPhone that is tied to a carrier – AT & T in USA or Airtel in India (till 2009). Of course one has to pay $ 530 for an unlocked one, while AT&T or T-Mobile will discount the phone by as much as $ 300!
By putting emphasis on software (operating system and application) than hardware (handset) that typically characterize mobile telephones, Google is likely to create a much larger ecosystem for smart phones (the way Microsoft did to the PC industry). It Google succeeds in that game, Nexus One will go in history as not just one more exciting phone but a game changing phone.
It will be interesting to watch the development of Google phone over the next couple of years as to how Google’s mobile phone strategy evolves.
After months of announcing its intent, Google announced the arrival of Netbook computers (with solid state drives) entering the market for the holiday season 2010 (around Sep – Oct 2010) with OEMs Acer and HP.
Sundar Pichai the Engineering manager for Chrome OS talked of 7 seconds boot time and 3 seconds login time, giving these PCS an experience that is more like TV viewing.
Targeted at “always on” users (with extensive browsing, social networking (Mail, IM, Facebook, Orkut) who primarily need only a browser Chrome OS can be a big hit though not for all segments of users.
The year 2010 PC market will be interesting to watch; hopefully cloud computing will be real by then
Palm Inc pioneered handhelds (Palm Pilot) and smart phones (Palm Treo) but got into serious trouble during 2005 – 2008. It made a comeback with Palm Pre (launched in June 2009) that was perceived as a serious competitor to Apple iPhone. Palm Pre was NOT a major success; with Palm Pixi (priced very attractively at $ 99) Palm MAY see survival. However with retail major Wal Mart selling it at $ 29 (with 2-year contract) will Palm ever turn profitable?
Let us keep our fingers crossed.
I am a Palm fac (I still use their low end organizer and their Contact / Calendar desktop software that is so intuitive to use). I wish they succeed.
Apple announced the results for its third quarter (July September 2009), with sales of $ 9.87 billion and profit of $ 1.67 billion, the largest ever profit.
It is amazing that Apple managed to sell 3.1 million iMac computers, 7.2 million iPhones and 10.4 million iPods; with holiday season around the corner Apple can only do better in the next quarter; in the process Apple revenue might touch $ 40 billion for the year 2009. Achieving such growth in one of the worst recession it indeed remarkable
