And we’re done! Thanks for reading everyone and to our Leo Stiles, 2/5 correct predictions is nothing to be ashamed of. Overall, iPad 2 looks to be a promising evolution, rather than the revolution many have been hoping for, though many announcements were hugely welcome, if not entirely surprising.
Apple’s MobileMe service is back online. And Steve is back onstage, saying that Apple’s approach is ‘tech married with the liberal arts and the humanities.’ Follows that up by saying that Apple’s competitors think tablets are the next PC market, whereas he sees it as a post-PC market.
Announcement video is quite lengthy and seems to be doing little more than recapping the previous features. Have a feeling Apple might be wrapping this thing up now…
iPad 2 announcement video being shown to instrumental version of Florence and the Machine’s ‘Dog Days Are Over’.
Referring to our 18:48 entry, the battery life is actually identical to the original iPad. So our techie Leo Stiles has two correct, two incorrect in his predictions, with a centralised file system yet to be announced.
Apple look to be wrapping up the last few features. iPad 2 – faster, thinner, lighter, cameras and gyro.
Steve says ‘Anyone can make music now’. In fairness, Soulja Boi proved that a few years ago.
Love this tweet from @dancow -‘Well, looks like GarageBand ipad app just killed off about 1000 or so independent instrument apps’. Very true, it actually looks extremely intuitive.
Hands up who thought that the combined length of demonstrations for iMovie and GarageBand would trump the rest of the entire press conference?
Smart Instruments is being shown next – play the Guitar on your iPad screen. Hmm… okay.
Drum kit being demoed now, the view of the iPad screen looks fantastic – identical to a drummer’s view mid-performance.
Apple have now updated their official site with iPad 2 info http://www.apple.com/uk/
Demo is flicking between different musical instruments. You can turn your iPad 2 into a Grand Piano, which looks admittedly very cool. The built-in accelerometer will determine whether you are pressing the keys softly or with force.
Another demo coming up, GarageBand. Also set for a $4.99 price point.
$4.99 for iMovie by the way, released March 11.
iMovie has sharing options for YouTube and Facebook amongst others. Phew, Steve is finally back…
Our Techie Leo update – three correct predictions (video output, battery life, front and rear cameras) and one incorrect (retina display). Still no word on Leo’s hope for a centralised file system. iMovie demo is never-ending seemingly.
Randy Ubillos is demoing iMovie onstage. A lot of Twitter users getting impatient over a possible MobileMe announcement.
iMovie for iPad logo is being shown. 15 minutes to go, we’re still waiting for a huge megaton announcement – is it going to happen?
You can FaceTime from your new iPad to iPhone 4 customers from day one of the new model. And we’re hearing March 11 for iOS 4.3, a free download.
Now we’re seeing FaceTime for iPad. Has anyone ever taken a FaceTime call? Just the once for me…
Yawn. Photobooth involves incorporating ‘hilarious’ effects to your on-screen image.
Apple are now showing a Photobooth demo for the new iPad. Have we moved from 4.3 already?
Airplay being shown off. Finds your Apple TV and play the required file – apparently apps will incorporate video for 4.3 too. Nexst up, we’re hearing that the iPhone 4 will add personal hotspots, but only for iPhone 4.
If you’re keeping score at home, that’s one correct and one incorrect prediction from our former Tech expert Leo Stiles. I have now assumed his role as resident expert, having predicted the magnet cases, ahem.
There are magnets on the hinges and cover of the Smart Cases, which come in five colours. Poly cases – $39, leather cases – $69. iOS 4.3 also just announced. No retina display.
18:31
The magnet cover, by the way, will be called the Smart Case. We invented it – don’t forget.
1830:
HDMI 1080p video output (mirrored) announced. Supports rotation and works with all apps. $39. A new magnet case has been announced too. Holy crap – didn’t we ask for magnets earlier (17:41)? What an amazing prediction, by me. Ahem.
Apple are shipping in the US on March 11, March 25 for us and the UK.
So just to confirm, our JOE tech expert Leo has one of five predictions correct thus far – front and rear cameras. Also, according to a pic from the LA Times, NO turtleneck!
1824:
10 hour battery life and over a month on standby says Jobs. The price of the original iPad will be retained.
Two colours, both being shipped from day one – yep, it won’t take a year for a white version. Weighs 1.3lbs.
33% thinner – 13.44mm to 8.8mm. The iPad 2 has undergone a diet.
Gyroscope built-in too.
Dual-core processors, 2X faster CPU, 9X faster graphics and same low power as A4. Rear and front-facing cameras shown.
A5 processor confirmed and ‘all-new’ design says Steve.
‘2011 – Year of the copycats’ shows up on screens, with the Samsung, Honeycomb and HP logos. Woah…
Autistic children love the iPad. That’s cool.
Video is demonstrating multitude of iPad uses in last year – schools, hospitals.
Video playing of the iPad’s success. Huge Apple lap of honour so far, though it’s well-deserved.
Ouch. The Honeycomb logo has shown up on screen, with a paltry ‘100’ figure to denote its number of apps.
Steve is continuing to talk about how iPad differs from its competitors and its massive success. Not sure if he’s trying to sell us last year’s version at this rate.
50 million iPad solds – more than any PC tablet’s combined sales, says Jobs. Quite a stat.
Jobs is saying that iPad is Apple’s third blockbuster product (after iPod and iPhone). So yes, it’s absolutely an iPad 2 event. Steve is boasting of iPad’s ‘unbelievable’ pricing. Hmm…
Developers have earned over $2bn from selling their apps on the App Store. Apple are now showing a giant novelty cheque onstage. Company have also just shipped their 100 millionth iPhone.
Steve says that Apple have been working on this product for awhile and ‘didn’t want to miss it’. We’re hearing he’s looking very well. He’s discussing iBooks and Random House’s investment in the service.
Steve Jobs is on the stage, taking a standing ovation. No confirmation of turtle-neck…
One minute late… tsk.
Lots of rumours now that the MobileMe service is to go free for the new iPad. We’ll know in a couple of minutes hopefully. Press have been told to switch their devices to silent mode so it’s nearly time.
Nintendo fans – Super Mario 3DS announced over at GDC and Ocarina of Time 3DS coming in June. Now, back to Apple…
By the way, there are no live streams for this event, so don’t do what we’ve been doing and clicking a huge amount of shortened URLs on Twitter. We’re so over Rick Astley.
Not long left now. Here’s the official invite the top tech media was sent for tonight’s event. Apple clearly must’ve sent ours to 112 Oranmore Business Park by accident, hah the fools.
The below link is a mock-up of supposedly what tonight’s iPad 2 will resemble. Front and rear cameras, a big speaker and SD card reader can be spotted, in addition to a slightly ugly back
We don’t want to spoil Apple’s fun but is this actually the iPad 2? http://engt.co/eCzuuw
Tonight’s event is at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, across the road (probably) from the Games Developer’s Conference, in which Nintendo President Satoru Iwata is currently giving a keynote address. No real revelations so far but we’ll keep you updated if anything megatons are dropped.
Our resident tech expert Leo Stiles weighed in over the weekend with his predictions for tonight’s reveal, which you can read here http://bit.ly/e60JGr We want you to grab a pen and paper and each time Leo gets a prediction correct, note it down. When you’ve collated all his correct predictions, make yourself a cup of tea for being a great team player
So what can expect from this evening’s announcement? 3D technology? Front and rear cameras? Magnets? MAGNETS? A magnetic screen would be pretty impressive… think about it.
Barring a fashionably late entrance, Apple are set to get the show started at 6pm. That’s 20 minutes of frenzied and most likely completely mistaken hearsay and speculation. Are we up to that job? You bet!
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ podcast – listen to the latest episode now!
