At the beginning of next month Apple will launch the iPad 3. It’ll be new and shiny and full of faster processors and what have you, but it will still fall short on one major point: you can’t type at length on a touchscreen. For that you need a keyboard.

While Apple keeps its touchscreens and keyboards separate in the name of keeping its different products from eating each other, has the rest of the market got it right already with the influx of hybrids? And if so, will that mean that the iPad will become a relic in the market it invented? Yes. Read on to find out why.

Remember when the iPad was originally launched? Steve Jobs claimed that Apple had solved a problem by filling the gap between the laptop and the smartphone. The iPad does that, but it also opens up another gap: the space between a tablet and a laptop now exists, and it’s already being filled.

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Asus is doing it best. The Asus Transformer Prime is a real showcase for the rest of the industry in how to correctly do a tablet/laptop hybrid on Android. The thing is, Android is just the tip of the iceberg. I’m sure you’ve seen Windows 8 in action before, but take a quick look again:

It’s built for touchscreens. In the lower-end of the market (where netbooks used to sit) you will start to see a helluva lot of Windows 8 hybrids start to pile in.

It makes sense at that level: have something lightly specced enough to be light and portable as a laptop, while retaining the ability to use the device as a standalone tablet with Windows 8 gestures.

Here’s the big problem for Apple: it can’t do that. At the lower end of the Apple spec sheet you have the iPad. Now that the MacBook is dead, the next jump up is to the 11-inch MacBook Air. It’s very similar in size to the iPad, but boasts the full Mac OS X operating software, a keyboard and trackpad.

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If you’re coming in at the lower end those are your choices. Those were my choices in early 2011 when I was weighing up my options. I didn’t need anything super powerful. I just needed something that would be fun, extremely portable and would let me type with ease. The iPad had it on the first two points, but not on the latter.

I know that you can buy iPad keyboard cases that fill in the gap, but they’re not as polished as if Apple were to do it properly itself. Likewise, I know that Apple makes a keyboard dock for the iPad, but it’s designed to be used on a desk, rather than on your lap.

I ended up buying the 11-inch MacBook Air. I’m happy with the decision still, but there’s a part of me that knows that I would have opted for the iPad if it came with a detachable keyboard.

Alas, Apple won’t do that. If it made an iPad with such an appendage in the same mould of the Transformer Prime, it would cannabalise both the standard iPad underneath it and the MacBook Air above it.

I believe that people needing very basic typing and Facebook-checking capabilities – the sort that have bought the iPad in their droves – would almost certainly choose  the keyboard-sporting model instead. Likewise, people like me who need a portable typing machine and not much else, would opt for it over the more expensive Air.

iPad 3 launch confirmed

That’s why I doubt I’ll ever buy an iPad. Apple is in a position where it’s unable to cater for that middle market and the danger is that this will leave it vulnerable in the future. Apple’s tab undoubtedly invented the market as it was, but its inability to adapt with it could very well be its undoing in the market that is. People will start to expect more from this low-end sort of computer.

Imagine if the bulk of both Windows 8 devices and Android tablets end up being hybrids, it’ll be a whole new party – one to which Apple’s uninvited itself. When the iPad 2 launched there were rumbles from the press that it wasn’t as big of an update as they’d hoped.

I daresay the same will probably be true of the iPad 3, because short of making it a full-on hybrid device, where else is there for it to go? If it can’t change for the better in a big enough way, the iPad has no hope of winning over the people who it hasn’t yet won over.

If that’s the case, it could be the beginning of a true turnaround in the tablet market.

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You probably saw this one coming. Just as with the previous two models, Apple is planning to launch its next iPad, the iPad 3, at an even in early March. Read on for the full details.

The iPad 3 looks set to get its first airing at an event in the first few days of March, for an on-sale date a couple of weeks later – nothing new there. The news comes from the Wall Street Journal, who’re normally bang on with their Apple sources. Mark this one in your diary; it’s almost definitely right.

iPad 3 specs revealed

The specs for the iPad 3 are (aside from multiple rumours) a bit of a mystery, as you’d expect, but anyone following the tablet’s progression thus far can hazard a guess: a faster processor, increased graphical prowess, a better camera and a display with a resolution encroaching on ‘Retina Display’ territory.

Nothing groundbreaking, then, but then Apple will only ever be able to make incremental changes to the iPad from here on in; once you get the form and OS right, what’s left to do but make it quicker and prettier?

So, yeah: early March. Look out for the next jump forward in the iPad lineage. Rumours of an iPad 4 launching later this year, meanwhile, are another matter entirely.

Via AllThingsD

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For all its merits, the Amazon Kindle Fire has come under, erm… Fire, for having its version of Android locked down under a thick Amazon skin. While previous hacks have seen it break free into Android proper, a new ROM allows you to access Android 4.0 features. Read on for the details and video.

The MIUI 4 skin is a UI designed to being some of the best bits from both Ice Cream Sandwich and iOS, but more closely resembles the former. It’s been around on phones for a short while now, but the hacking community has just managed to bring it to the Kindle Fire.

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To install it you’ll need to root the device and flash the ROM, which is pretty hardcore stuff that’ll mean the device waves goodbye to the Amazon skin.

You’ll still be able to access the Amazon App Store, but you’ll also be granted access to the full, uncensored Android Market.

Crucially, you’ll be allowed more freedom and gifted the slick look and feel of Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). Check out the video below to see how MIUI 4 runs on the hacked Amazon Kindle Fire. If you want to try it yourself, download the ROM from here.

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Sony’s mad P series folding tablet has suitably mad origins, according to a new report. The Android tab’s early prototypes show that it could have been dramatically different, but do they also point to the future for Sony’s dual-screen tech?

The inside scoop comes courtesy of Engadget China, who’s been backstage at Sony looking at the tablet’s early designs. The origin of the folding tab came from the idea of a long wallet.

Sony fiddled around with the size of the tablet, trying 5-inch, 6-inch and 7-inch form factors with far less of a bezel, before settling on the final design.

The tab could, at one point, have also run on Windows XP. Android lovers will probably agree that Sony made the right decision in switching to Honeycomb, but it was more about power and battery constraints than anything else.

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That’s also the reasons why the smaller, thinner tablet P designs were apparently dropped – at the time of design Sony couldn’t squeeze a big enough battery in to make such small devices running long enough. With the inevitable advances in tech, could that now change?

The signs are there if you look back to the initial goal. A dual 5-inch folding tablet with a thinner profile may well prove to be a more tempting option than the current P series tablet, which has failed to light up the tablet sales charts.

Would you be keen on a smaller, slimmer folding, dual-screened Sony tablet? Let us know below…

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Is Google looking to unlock the future of computing with eyewear? Yes, according to sources who’ve seen the Augmented Reality specs. Read on to find out how the Android-powered frames could be coming sooner than you think.

According to 9to5Google, an insider has spotted a pair of augmented reality glasses looking a lot like a pair of Oakley Thump MP3 sunglasses – i.e. Bulky but with headphones built in.

The frames will let you use Android-like computer features while also seeing where you’re walking, and allow you to control your web browsing via head tilts and bobs. A built in accelerometer and gyroscope will turn your head-banging into actual input.

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There’s also a camera and flash built in, which you can control with gestures. According to the source, Google‘s looking to kickstart field testing really soon.

Before CES we brought you news that Vuzix was planning to launch a pair of smart AR glasses with the ability to layer computer info over your view of the real world. Is the next trend in computing really going to be based on eyewear? Maybe, if Google has anything to do with it.

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Apple is to hold a “strange” event in February and then launch the iPad 3 and iOS 5.1 in March, according to a Japanese report. What exact form the February event’s strangeness takes is something of a mystery, although it could be simply that it’s an industry-focussed launch similar to last month’s education-centric iBooks event in New York City.

The March event, so the rumour goes, will see actual products announced – including the iPad 3. This ties in with a recent report from Bloomberg claiming that the iPad 3 was already in production ahead of a March launch date, while yesterday Boy Genius Report ran a story ostensibly spilling more details about Apple’s third-gen tablet.

BGR’s source claims to be in possession of an iPad 3 prototype, and has sent it photos apparently showing it to have an ARM A6 processor. That’s a quad-core chip, and if it’s true will mean the iPad 3 is easily the most powerful iOS device ever made.

The iPad 2 was released last March to rave reviews. Last month, Apple said that it had sold more than 55 million iPads worldwide since 2010.

What would you like to see in an iPad 3? Let’s hear your thoughts in the comments.

(Via AppleInsider and Boy Genius Report)

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Apple today announced that it has appointed John Browett as senior vice president of its retail division, where he’ll report directly to Apple’s head honcho Tim Cook and take responsibility for retail strategy and the expansion of Apple Stores around the world.

Browett has spent the past few years as CEO of Dixons, and this has caused quite a stir on online watering hole Twitter – after all, with Dixons feeling the pinch to the extent of closing all of its brick and mortar shops to become an exclusively online retailer on his watch, what can he really offer the world’s most valuable company? Read on and we’ll tell you.

Firstly, it’s a misconception to see Browett as merely the head of “Dixons the shop”. Dixons is in fact the collective name for a company that encompasses not only Dixons online stores, but PC World and Currys (each of which has both online and brick and mortar shops), plus a whole heap of international businesses and a couple of B2B brands.

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Browett joined Dixons (from Tesco) at a time when the company was facing huge challenges, so the feeling is that he was dealt a bad hand of cards and has actually made the most of them: under his watch Dixons has seen off Best Buy from Europe, for instance. And as The Guardian points out, Dixons’ like for like sales decline was inexorably linked with economic problems in Italy and Greece: that they only fell by five percent is a small miracle.

So what does Browett bring to Apple? He has online experience: he oversaw Tesco.com, and Apple would almost certainly like to grow its online store. He has experience of working for a huge retailer and thinking from the customer up. This area is a big challenge for Apple as it grows in the retail sector, and it’s believed that Browett’s management expertise will prove valuable in helping the company maintain its standards while becoming more efficient. The fact that he’s British and a veteran of the EU retail world could also bring a fresh perspective to Apple.

Browett will join Apple in April.

(Image courtesy of Flickr user _rafaeltorales)

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The online rumour mill is grinding up a storm again, with suggestions that Samsung is plotting to launch the world’s largest Android tablet: an 11.6-inch Galaxy Tab with a beefy 2GHz processor and possibly an ultra-sharp Retina Display-style screen.

German language site Tabtech posits that this mystery Galaxy Tab will be unveiled at Mobile World Congress 2012 and will have a narrow frame which means that, despite the 11.6-inch screen size, it’s only slightly larger than the existing Galaxy Tab 10.1 (pictured above). It claims the processor will be a 2GHz dual-core Core Exynos 5250, and that the tablet will come with a Smart Pen stylus to differentiate itself from the Apple iPad.

These claims seem supported by Android And Me. The site’s reporter says he spotted a prototype Samsung tablet at CES earlier in January and was subsequently asked by Samsung employees to delete photos of it. The prototype, he says, featured an Exynos 5250 processor and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. He also believes the final device will have a resolution of 2560 x 1600, like a prototype tablet demonstrated by Samsung last year.

So far it’s all rumour, then, but none of it sounds too far fetched. With MWC 2012 only a month away, we’ll soon know if Samsung’s mega-tablet – in theory a strong rival to the iPad 2 – is the real deal.

(Via Android And Me and Tabtech)

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Following on from a pretty interesting week internally, RIM has decided to completely slash the price of the BlackBerry Playbook for the umpteenth time. At just £169 for the cheapest model, is the QNX-based tablet now cheap enough to finally compete?

The PlayBook is a solid piece of kit, but has failed spectacularly to live up to its hype or to pose any challenge to the iPad or its contemporaries. As such, RIM’s been on a warpath of continually cutting the tab’s price.

Today’s price cut, evident at both the Carphone Warehouse and PC World, is the most severe yet.

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Yesterday, those outlets would have sold you a 16GB PlayBook for £249. Today? Yours for just £169. The 32GB model is now just £199, down from £479, while the 64GB model is £249, down from £559. At £169, the PlayBook is veering dangerously close to the magic £99 mark that saw the HP TouchPad sell like Big Macs at fat camp when it was finally discontinued.

RIM’s been trying to find the right price to make the dying tablet shift in larger numbers, and this could well be it, even though the company’s having a tough time at the moment amid a corporate reshuffle.

We know that there’s going to be two new PlayBooks launched this year so there must still be some faith in the brand. It’ll be interesting to see if this extreme price plummet will help.

Via The Register

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Amazing research being carried out by the University of Munich, the University of Calgary and Columbia University has shown the future of what’s possible in the field of screen sharing. The video of their software shows how your smartphone could very well be your next computer.

The research shows the idea of how virtual projection will replace the Pico projectors and their ilk by pairing your phone together with a monitor digitally, sans old-fashioned lampwork. In the video, the team shows an iPhone talking to a PC to beam images and screen info onto the display.

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This can either be in (nearly) real time, mirroring the movement of the phone in front of the monitor, or pinned, so that your phone can throw up an image that gets pinned in place, leaving you to put your phone down and get on with your work, or to then use your phone as a digital magnifying glass.

Imagine the scenario: you sit down at your desk, flash your phone up at a waiting monitor and get on with computing on the big screen, using your smartphone’s brains as the brains. Check out the video below for a glimpse of the future:

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