New iPad

[noobette]

I watched the live-blogging of Apple's launch of the new iPad today, and I must say I'm a bit underwhelmed. Retina screen, faster, better camera, and that's about it. Where's Siri? Where's the awesome integration with the new Apple TV that was rumored?

I still don't have an iPad (after wanting one forever), and I expected today's event to push me over the edge. But.... I dunno. I still want one, but it's not as if we're saying "NOW it's absolutely a must-have!"

Thoughts? Do you love your iPad? Are you going to get this new one?

[Varjak]

I don't think people expected much more to be honest. My biggest annoyance with it is they didn't upgrade the capacities and without an integral card slot, it's a bit of a rip-off. They are going to continue to sell the iP2 for a while anyway, at about $100 off.

[brickman65]

Haven't had a chance to watch it yet. Just finished up for the day and about to watch it.

From what I have heard it sounds really nice but I will be sticking with my original iPad. It does all that I need for now as a Laptop replacement. PP Presentations, Email, Web, Games, Netflix, Ereader. he better display and faster processor would be nice but what I really need is a 32Gig version. I just have a 16 Gig.

It looks nice but not a "must have" upgrade for me yet. Not with the Twins needing laptops for College this Fall.

[Varjak]

I did think it would have Siri.

[Adama D. Brown]

Maybe Apple's finding out that Siri isn't as big a selling point as they thought?

[Hook]

My guess would be it is resource intensive and they need to make sure they don't overwhelm the servers.

[Ed Hardy]

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.

Another theory is that Siri is already overwhelmed by iPhone users. The servers simply can't take millions more iPad users.

Yet another is that, because of its larger screen, the iPad is much easier to control than the iPhone. That means that Siri's voice control features just aren't necessary.

Take from this what you will. It's all just theory.
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[brickman65]

Maybe Apple's finding out that Siri isn't as big a selling point as they thought?

My guess would be it is resource intensive and they need to make sure they don't overwhelm the servers.

What I heard was that they look at the iPad the way they look at the iPod Touch as far as Siri is concerned. There are WiFi only versions of the iPad and since Siri needs constant Data connection (like iPhone) they didn't put it in there.

Not sure that is the reason but it makes since.

Now it does have a new "dictation" function in it, to where you can dictate an Email, Note, etc. It is about like using Dragon Diction only integrated into the OS.

[Ed Hardy]

Some more related points:

I have ordered an iPad 3 and will be writing the review for TabletPCReview.

This will replace my first-generation iPad. The feature I'm most looking forward to: more RAM. The Retina display is nice, but what I'm really looking forward to is being able to switch between tabs in Safari without having to constantly reload pages.
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[Mr.Mischief]

I was looking over the specs, and they upgraded the battery from 25-watt-hour to a 42.5-watt-hour.

Although I can't justify purchasing an iPad, I look forward to watching the reviews. I'm especially interested in how battery life is with the 4G chip and larger battery.