Based in Atlanta, GA - Rick Limpert is an award-winning writer, a best-selling author, and a featured sports travel writer.
Named the No. 1 Sports Technology writer in the U.S. on Oct 1, 2014.
Monday, March 5, 2012 at 8:15PM The tech blogs are a buzz with news that the newest iPad will be called the "iPad HD".
This is no surprise as Apple is going to play up the high definition screen that it will debut on Wednesday.
There's no telling what other features this new gem will have, but if you have an iPad 2 and are longing for a tablet with a more vibrant screen, this is going to be a great upgrade for you.
Friday, March 18, 2011 at 10:25AM Electronics manufacturers face a parts shortage as the conditions in Japan continue to worsen.
Apple may face shortages of key parts for its newly released iPad 2, according to research firm IHS iSuppli. The country of Japan continues to experience power outages, transportation issues, and now a possible nuclear meltdown.
"Should the Japan crisis be prolonged, I expect a shortage of electronic parts in the second quarter," said James Song, an analyst at Daewoo Securities, noting Japan provides 57 percent of the world's wafers, used to make the chips that go into mobiles phones, cameras and other electronic devices.
Japan exported 7.2 trillion yen ($91.3 billion) worth of electronic parts last year, and 2011 was supposed to top that.
Apple isn't alone, Toshiba and many auto makers are holding their collective breathe waiting to see what happens.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011 at 6:39AM The race is on.
Apple's iPad 2 will sell 1 million units faster than the 28 days it took the first-generation iPad to sell because the new tablet is available from more stores, according to one tech analyst.
Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said in a March 8 research note that initial demand for iPad 2 will be strong but said the increased distribution points will mean shorter lines at Apple retail stores than there were for the inaugural iPad that sold 15 million units last year.
Apple launched the original iPad at 221 U.S. Apple retail stores and most of the 1,100 U.S. Best Buy stores on April 3, 2010.
Apple March 11 will sell the iPad 2 at 236 U.S. retail stores and in more than 10,000 other stores, including AT&T and Verizon Wireless stores, as well as retailers Target, Best Buy and Walmart in the United States. Assuming the weather is good and Apple fans come out to shop, the iPad 2 should enjoy a solid opening weekend this Friday.
The iPad 2, which is thinner, a little lighter, and faster than its predecessor and includes dual cameras for video chat via Apple's FaceTime application, is expected to hamper Xoom sales because it is priced the exact same way the first iPads were priced. The base WiFi version costs $499, and the 16GB WiFi+3G version is priced at $629.
By comparison, the Xoom costs $799, off contract ($599 for a two-year Verizon data deal), or $70 more than Apple's comparable, 32GB WiFi+3G iPad and iPad 2.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011 at 3:26PM The Metro Atlanta area has been one of the "hot" areas of the country for tablet style computers and iPads over the last year. Many Atlanta enthusiasts I talked with over the past few months had wished the first iPad had a camera.
So, it's no surprise that many Atlantans including this writer were looking forward to Apple's announcement of a new iPad that happened today at the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco. Those that wanted a camera, got their wish X 2.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs took the stage for the unveiling of the new and improved device.
The iPad 2 will be priced the same as the previous iPad, but what you get with this model is a faster processor and two cameras. The cameras will allow the user to use Apple's Facetime feature.
The new iPad is also 33% thinner and a tad shorter than the original iPad. The new version will also come in black and white colors. The iPad will be available and ship to consumers on March 11.
Application developers are also excited. Manny Gomez of Gomez Industires loves the fact that price has stayed the same and now believes that the HP TouchPad will be priced accordingly. He also thinks this might open the platform for more "intense" games. Taking a jab at Apple's not letting users to view flash videos on products, Manny added, "one can now NOT view Flash sites 10 times faster on the iPad2."
Another app developer, George Salcedo says the iPad 2 will be a success in that it will sell 20 million units. He also thinks the iOS operating system is showing its age. He is encouraged by the faster processor and feels app developers will waste no time in developing apps to take advantage of it.
As with any Apple announcement, Apple took shots at their competitors. Just the debut of this new tablet is a statement enough as they continue to lead the pack when it comes to tablet computers.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010 at 6:34PM The next iPad tablet will start shipping as early as the end of February from electronics maker Foxconn Electronics' factories in China, DigiTimes reported on Tuesday.
The report, wouldn't name sources from Taiwan-based components makers, sbit it aid Apple originally planned to start mass production of the new device, known as iPad 2, in January.
Those plans were postponed since the device's firmware, or set of software instructions that are programmed into the device's hardware, was still being tested, according to the report.
The iPad 2 will mainly be supplied by plants in Shenzhen belonging to Foxconn, the parent company of Hon Hai, DigiTimes reported. An initial shipment of 400,000 to 600,000 units are expected.
As usual, an Apple spokesman declined to comment.
Apple sold 4.19 million iPads in the fiscal fourth quarter. That was lower than markets expected, but analysts expect sales to be strong through the end of December due to holiday sales.
