iPad 3

Here’s what Foxconn’s strategic deal with Sharp could mean for Apple, iPad and iTV

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 28, 2012

Yesterday's news that Apple's contract manufacturer Foxconn bought an eleven percent stake in the Japanese multinational corporation Sharp sent the tongues wagging. With a 46.5 percent stake in Sharp’s LCD plant in Sakai, Osaka, conventional wisdom has it that Foxonn, which just released its 2011 financial report, will bolster Sharp's LCD business and make it more profitable by securing the lowest prices on components.

Other folks think the two partners joined forces to battle LG Display and Samsung for orders of Retina displays for the new iPad. After all, Sharp is already been credited with small-volume shipments of 2,048-by-1,536 pixel resolution panels for the device and they're about to ramp up production in the second quarter.

Another intriguing possibility includes next-generation flat panels for a rumored Apple-branded television set, nicknamed the iTV...

Apple now offering refunds in Australia to “misled” 4G iPad buyers

Cody Lee ∙ March 27, 2012

Well that didn't take long. It was just this morning that we reported that the ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission) was taking legal action against Apple for "misleading" Australian customers with its 4G iPad advertising.

The Commission feels that since the tablet isn't compatible with Australia's 4G networks, Apple shouldn't advertise it as a 4G device. Apparently the Cupertino company agrees, because it's already offering some customers refunds...

Apple dispatches VP of iPad marketing to set the record straight on Batterygate

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 25, 2016

In what could be described as a timely (and prudent) move to prevent the perceived battery issues with the new iPad from getting overblown, California-based Apple has dispatched its vice president of iPad marketing Michael Tchao, who went on the record to indicate that overcharging your iOS device won't harm its battery.

According to a statement provided to the AllThingsD blog, run by the Wall Street Journal network, this is by design and there's nothing wrong with the iOS battery gauge. It says 100 percent just before your device reaches a completely charged state, continuing charging to 100 percent. Then, it discharges a bit and charges back up to 100 percent...

Australian Government to sue Apple over “misleading” 4G iPad name

Cody Lee ∙ March 27, 2012

Well this isn't too surprising. TheNextWeb is reporting that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has announced plans to file a lawsuit against Apple in the next 48 hours regarding its "misleading" iPad WiFi + 4G advertising.

As most of you know, the wireless version of Apple's new tablet is indeed compatible with 4G networks here in the US and in Canada. But in other countries, including Australia, the slate is limited to 3G data speeds and, if available, HSPA+...

What Batterygate? The new iPad lasts 25+ hours when hotspotting

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 26, 2012

When used as a personal hotspot only over Verizon's 4G cellular connection, the new iPad gets more than 25 hours of run time, AnandTech found out in their battery life testing published this morning. This is better than your average MiFi device by at least a factor of five. Matter of fact, it gets exactly an hour less in hotspotting tests compared to WiFi benchmarks, which falls in line with Apple's official specs.

The Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime beats Apple's third-generation tablet when hotspotting in Normal, Balanced and Power Saving profiles. With that in mind, the ability to use your iPad as a personal Verizon hotspot for more than 25 hours is certainly welcome news in a string of negative reports alleging issues with the tablet's much-improved 42.5Wh battery.

“Busted” iOS battery algorithm behind shorter iPad run time affects all iOS devices?

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated August 26, 2017

As we told you last week, unplugging your brand spanking new iPad as soon as the battery gauge hits the 100 percent mark entails missing out as much as ten percent of additional run time, or about 1.2 hours. This has been attributed to the iOS battery algorithm, which kinda brings back old memories of a bug in reporting cellular signal levels on the iPhone 4, later fixed with a software update.

According to new findings, this is actually a system-wide behavior in Apple's mobile operating system - thus affecting older iPads, as well as your iPhone and iPod touch. In fact, all iOS devices are affected by what's been called "busted" battery algorithm, it's just more pronounced on the new iPad due to its 70 percent more capacious battery.

What exactly is going on here, you ask...

The new iPad gets regulatory approval in China

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated June 13, 2016

Apple debuted its third-generation iPad two weeks ago and announced shipments of three million units during the launch weekend. Although the tablet is not yet officially sold in the 1.33 billion people Chinese market, Apple has just been granted a certification for the device, an important pre-requisite for having the new iPad appear on store shelves.

While the company did not yet indicate where it will launch the gizmo next, the new iPad originally hit ten major markets, including the United States and Hong Kong, one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China (the other being Macau) .

The second phase of the aggressive roll out has brought the iPad last Friday to 24 additional countries, but not mainland China. Thanks to Apple’s ability to keep up with consumer demand this year, some unauthorized Chinese resellers are already seeing smaller return on their investment.

Some Apple Stores seeing high volume iPad returns due to lower resale value

Cody Lee ∙ March 25, 2012

MacRumors published an interesting story yesterday regarding Apple's 5th Avenue retail location seeing a large number of third-generation iPad returns by Chinese resellers.

It appears that Apple's ability to keep up with consumer demand this year has diminished the tablet's resale value, prompting a high volume of returns by would-be vendors...

And the winner of our new iPad giveaway is…

IDB Staff ∙ March 23, 2012

Ladies and gentlemen, we are pleased to announce that we have selected the winner for our new iPad giveaway.

Special thanks to all that entered! The feedback has been insane, and it's truly great to know that there are so many fans of iDB out there.

As we've stated before, we really wish we had the means to provide all of you with a new iPad, but there can only be one grand prize winner...

Sharp, LG Display ramping up second-quarter Retina display shipments for the new iPad

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 23, 2012

Asian trade publication DigiTimes reported this morning that both Sharp and LG Display are set to increase their respective manufacturing output of Retina displays for the new iPad. The news follows a recent report by the same publication that Sharp shipped 2.71 million iPad Retina panels to Apple.

This might mean that production issues have finally been sorted out after both firms had reportedly failed to meet Apple's exact quality requirements. Something tells me Samsung won't like this. As you know, Apple is clever enough not to put all eggs in one basket, so to speak.

As a result of LG Display and Sharp jumping on the Retina bandwagon, Apple should be able to achieve a significant increase in iPad shipments for the next quarter and onwards...

My new iPad review

Sébastien Page ∙ March 23, 2012

When the iPad 2 came out last year, it was like I had fallen in love all over again with Apple's tablet. It was such an improvement over the first iPad that I couldn't let go of it for more than a few instants. Of course, the novelty stir wore off, and after a few weeks, I started dreaming about what the iPad 3 could look like or what new features it would come loaded with. Surely, Apple would awe me again.

The Retina display was without a doubt the number one feature I expected from the iPad 3, so you can imagine my excitement when Apple confirmed the new iPad would come with a 2048x1536 display, packing more than 3 million pixels. After all, I don't need much from a tablet. All I do with it is browse the web, read news, reply to emails, tweet, and my new hobby, editing pictures shot with my iPhone. So really the Retina display is all I wanted, although I'd be lying if I said I didn't expect Apple to amaze me with features I hadn't even thought of.

And maybe that's one of the problems we have with every Apple product launch. We expect too much. The company has set the bar so high, so quickly, that we're always waiting for them to give us more, more, more, and more. We're expecting the unexpectable.

Did I, like many others, expect too much from the new iPad?

Let me share with you my thoughts about Apple's new tablet, now that I've been using it for a week. And for those of you thinking this is going to be the same old review you've read 27 times praising the merits of the new iPad, you're wrong. You've heard every possible compliment about the new iPad, so I'll try to give you a more captious point of view...

Apple updates Trailers app for Retina iPad, Netflix promises high-def streaming “soon”

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 23, 2012

Ahead of the original iPad introduction in the April of 2010, the blogosphere had been abuzz over an unnamed Hollywood exec who allegedly saw a prototype in person and claimed the product would be awesome for watching movies. It ended up being quite enjoyable for this purpose, but hardly awesome due its modest 1024-by-768 pixel resolution.

Fast-forward to today and the new iPad, which has a million more pixels than an HDTV, is perfect for watching Hollywood movies in all their 1080 glory. As developers of popular apps update their offerings with Retina support, Apple isn't wasting time neither. Yesterday, the company issued an update to its iTunes Movie Trailers app, basically a pretty-fied frontend to its movie trailers page released last October.

At the same time, Netflix pushed an update to its video streaming client for iOS with support for Retina graphics. Though the program does not enable high-definition video streaming yet, it's in the works and should follow "soon"...