Apple iPad 2 Review
APPS, CAMERAS, VIDEO, AND MORE
There are now over 350,000 apps covering business, travel, news, sports, health, reference, and games. 
One of the best apps for news is the Wall Street Journal (the New York Times app pales in comparison) and you can switch between the U.S., European, and Asian editions of the paper with two taps. For music and radio, TuneIn Radio (reviewed here last month) is my favorite. Many airlines have iPad and iPod apps (almost all iPod apps work on an iPad, albeit with some limitations). American Airlines’ app lets you book a flight, check in, view account information, and check flight status and schedules, among other features. Lufthansa’s MemberScout app lets you see other members, share information in real time, and even make taxi-sharing arrangements.
I found that my battery lasted at least the promised 10 hours in the first month of use. This makes the iPad 2 great for longer flights (I always keep a half dozen movies stored on it as well as my iTunes music library).
Also new on the iPad 2 are two cameras that support FaceTime video conferencing. 
The camera on the front is barely noticeable (it looks like a small dot) while the rear camera is on the upper right corner of the back, recessed neatly into the tapered edge. With FaceTime, the iPad is a true twenty-first century video phone that one could imagine on Star Trek TNG or The Jetsons thanks to the full-sized image of the person you are talking to. Image and voice quality in our tests were both excellent. The cameras can be used for still photos as well but I have to admit I felt a bit silly taking a picture using a tablet. There is no built-in flash and no synch connection for an external flash.
The iPad 2 gives users two ways of pushing video to a big screen. The HDMI dock cable allows the iPad to mirror its output to a flatscreen TV at 1080p resolution. This isn’t limited to specific programs but allows whatever is on the screen to be displayed. In addition, AirPlay allows me to watch content on the iPad and – for whatever reason, be it a sudden desire to see something on the big screen or the need to share with friends who suddenly dropped in–with a click or two, I can stream it over to the flatscreen (which is connected in turn to an Apple TV box). I can continue to watch on the iPad. In case the content isn’t quite capturing my attention, I can also let the movie stream to the TV in the background and surf the Web on the iPad.
The video features alone take the air out of the sails of the competition including the Xoom and Research in Motion’s forthcoming PlayBook.
Somewhat ironically, just as I am writing this review, the iPad seems to also have become a battleground that may determine how television programs are viewed in the U.S. Two cable providers, TimeWarner and Cablevision, have, in recent months, released iPad apps that allow their subscribers to view content on the iPad itself, in essence turning the iPad into a TV. 
While the TimeWarner app has multiple limitations (one must subscribe to television and broadband services, the app only functions in the subscriber’s home, and some of the content owners have objected and forced TimeWarner to remove content), the Cablevision app is more far-reaching and tries to mirror the content that would be available to a subscriber on his TV set (plus it does not require the subscriber to have Cablevision’s broadband service – the app apparently works from anywhere).
In 2010, the tablet to beat was the original iPad. The competitive tablets that are first making an appearance now aim their sights at that model. In the interim, however, Apple wasn’t sitting still and the iPad 2 looks like it will be the front runner in this market, outdistancing the competition with the most apps, the sleekest and thinnest body, the longest battery life, and the most competitive pricing.
–Jonathan B. Spira is the Editor of Executive Road Warrior and Chief Analyst at Basex, a knowledge economy research firm.
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[...] push whatever is on the iPad screen onto the TV. (A little more technical detail is on page 2 of my review of the new iPad if anyone is interested) __________________ Executive Road Warrior magazine | [...]
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[...] the aircraft, better technology onboard BA aircraft now includes iPads for senior cabin crew, enabling them to offer more personalized service, quickly identifying where [...]
[...] The workplace setup included an average-sized desk, a comfortable, ergonomic chair, and a very bright lamp thanks to the environmentally-friendly bulb. Desk space was more than enough to accommodate my laptop and iPad. [...]
[...] is available for iOS devices including the iPhone and iPad. An Android version is [...]
[...] Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 looks almost identical to the Apple iPad 2, until you pick it up and start to use it. That’s when you notice that it is lighter and [...]
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[...] Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 looks almost identical to the Apple iPad 2, until you pick it up and start to use it. That’s when you notice that it is lighter and [...]
[...] system had a large fixed display and an excellent selection of movies. While normally I rely on my iPad for entertainment, I noticed my neighbor watching The Help, a movie I had wanted to see. Since I [...]
[...] system had a large fixed display and an excellent selection of movies. While normally I rely on my iPad for entertainment, I noticed my neighbor watching The Help, a movie I had wanted to see. Since I [...]
[...] app, Hipmunk, a travel search site, has come out with a version 1.1 universal app optimized for iPad, and the results are fairly impressive. A few bugs and limitations notwithstanding, Hipmunk is one [...]
[...] aircraft had Gogo in-flight Internet on board and I was able to surf the Web on my iPad, check mail, and chat with a few friends and colleagues during the [...]
[...] as simple as taking it out of the box and plugging it into my computer. I had already backed up my iPad 2 and the new iPad asked me if I wanted to start from scratch or assume the identity of the [...]
[...] Using it is as simple as pressing the power button and entering a password. It can support up to five users or devices at once, which came in handy for me during meetings, but I typically used it only with my ThinkPad laptop and iPad. [...]
[...] is free and there are newspapers and magazines for those traveling without an Apple iPad or Kindle , but I did my reading on the [...]
[...] are over 60,000 iPad-optimized apps alone). They also have far better battery life. The new Apple iPad 2 (which we reviewed last month) turns on and off instantly with its Smart Cover and has a battery [...]
[...] accessory pouch, extremely useful for chargers and cables, and a sleeve that’s perfect for my Apple iPad. There are also three smaller open pockets which can hold anything from medications to USB [...]
[...] The device’s chief shortcoming is content. Compared to other devices such as Roku, which offers Amazon Instant Video with 90,000 movies and TV shows from every network and Hulu Plus, there simply isn’t that much with the exception of Netflix content, which the company says is in excess of 20,000 titles. There are approximately 8,000 movies in the iTunes store. Offerings consist of a limited number of shows from ABC, Disney, Fox, and the BBC. An update this past March added live streaming of sports programming from MLB.TV and NBA League Pass. Some Netflix movies will play with 5.1 Dolby Digital audio and AirPlay, which now allows compatible third-party applications to stream video to an Apple TV-connected device such as an iPad. [...]
[...] my test calls, I was able to use both of the iPad 2’s cameras (one front, one back) which allowed me to show the other party what I was looking at during [...]
[...] recently released an app specifically geared for the Apple iPad, expanding on the capabilities and services offered in its current iOS app while exploiting the [...]
[...] topping. By the same token, Biblion: The Boundless Library, the New York Public Library’s new iPad app, begs the question: is it a glossy magazine or a useful research tool? And, like the skit, the [...]