New iPad

[hal]

We have a few competing theories here at TechnologyGuide about this.

One says that Siri was designed for devices that have constant connections to the Internet. That describes smartphones, not tablets. So if you are an iPhone user you can expect to create all your calendar events via Siri, but you shouldn't get used to that on your iPad because your Internet connection is expected to be intermittent.

That's a very interesting perspective. Sometimes the expectations of potential buyers are fixed on features such as processor, size, etc., but it makes a lot of sense that this or that app or service doesn't appear right away on grounds of connectivity.

[Varjak]

Good points about the connectivity issue; but I think it would have been pretty easy for the iPad software to 'know' when it's not connected and have it just say something like 'Siri is not available' or even something user-defined and witty.

I think as it stands now, I might think the iPad2 for $100 less makes good sense (not that the 3 is a bad purchase).

[Ed Hardy]

Good points about the connectivity issue; but I think it would have been pretty easy for the iPad software to 'know' when it's not connected and have it just say something like 'Siri is not available' or even something user-defined and witty.

I think it might be about user expectations. I can see Apple saying "If a feature can't be there all the time we won't put it in at all." You have to admit, it's an odd thing -- a feature that's not obviously wireless but is only available sometimes. That's something you and I can understand because we know Siri does all her processing in an off-site location, but would infuriate the average joe.

On the other hand, this is still true of the speech-to-text feature of the iPad 3. So who knows? All I have is guesses.
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[noobette]

Okay, a question worthy of my name:
The new iPad is supposed to be a lot fasted. Is this true even for the wi-fi only models, or is the phone connection the thing that's faster?

[brickman65]

Okay, a question worthy of my name:
The new iPad is supposed to be a lot fasted. Is this true even for the wi-fi only models, or is the phone connection the thing that's faster?

That's true for all models. The Quad-Core helps mainly with Graffic heavy games, videos, picture editing, etc. it doesn't hurt with all the 4G LTE radios either. But it really help the WiFi models as well.

[Varjak]

Ed, but also think how one might use an iPad v. an iPhone. Most people don't walk around the streets with an iPad. They use it sitting down a bit more, in a place where they are likely to be for longer stretches at one time. That would have been my pitch to Apple. Say, sitting on your sofa making reservations or making appointments for the upcoming week. But you could well be right. I figure it will be on there soon enough.

The other issue are the rumors about the new Touches. They may have bigger screens and more capabilities; but no cellular. You'd think you'd want Siri on those, which amount to 'mini tablets.'

[Ed Hardy]

Rumor has it that iOS 6.0 will bring Siri to the new iPad. The new OS version is supposedly coming next month.