Moderators: carlson1, Charles L. Cotton
And now we finally have the required gun angle.SQLGeek wrote:I'm not making fun of the name, I just don't like it. I'm hardly alone in that opinion either. Looking at the ThinkPad on my desk right now, you raise a valid point but it also doesn't seem quite the same to me. No biggie either way, the name certainly isn't what is keeping me from buying one. I'd rather spend the money on a gun.
Took us long enough to get there! 
), so I imagine that I can live for a while without an iPad.
Get a Droid, they are neatThe Annoyed Man wrote:I just got back from looking at them at the Apple store in Southlake. I was kind of disappointed. They are smaller than I thought they would be. I asked one of the salespeople when the 3G version was going to deliver, and he said, "We don't have a date yet. All they've told us is, 'a couple of weeks.'"
I asked him if Apple had any plans to bring out a 4G version, and he said that his best guess was not until the end of next year, because AT&T hasn't switched on their 4G network yet, and a 4G version wouldn't come out until after AT&T actually makes the technology available.
Although I'm a total Mac guy, I've lived this long without an iPhone (thanks, Verizon!
Yes, they are. My son has one and is well satisfied with it. I'm just too invested right now in my Blackberry, but when it makes financial sense to get rid of it, I will.marksiwel wrote:Get a Droid, they are neat
Isn't the Winchester app supposed to be "all that and a bag of chips"? I know you can download it for free, but I don't have an iPhone (yet) , so I can't try it out to see.The Annoyed Man wrote:Howabout a really first rate ballistics calculator? My son has a copy of Shooter on his Android, and it is a really first rate app. It includes spindrift and Coriolis effect and uses the device's accelerometer to calculate degree of inclination, as well as incorporating a really good bullet library, etc., etc., etc.davidtx wrote:Please send any iPad (or iPhone/iPod touch) app ideas my way...
This is true to many of us but how many times have you heard people ask why you spent $600 on a piece of metal? Especially when you have a "few" others.NcongruNt wrote: I see a lot more uses for my $600 that will actually accomplish something that needs accomplishing.
Yes, but there's a couple of distinct differences...Who'sJohnGalt wrote:This is true to many of us but how many times have you heard people ask why you spent $600 on a piece of metal? Especially when you have a "few" others.NcongruNt wrote: I see a lot more uses for my $600 that will actually accomplish something that needs accomplishing.
Juergen Baetz, Associated Press Writer, On Monday April 12, 2010, 4:11 pm EDT
BERLIN (AP) -- The German maker of a new tablet PC is setting out to rival Apple's iPad with the promise of even more technology such as a bigger screen, a webcam and USB ports.
It is not, however, an "iPad killer" as it has been dubbed by some blogs but an alternative to its bigger rival, Neofonie GmbH's founder and managing director Helmut Hoffer von Ankershoffen told reporters on Monday in Berlin.
Ankershoffen stressed the system's openness: Two USB ports allow users to connect all kinds of devices with the WePad, from external keyboards to data sticks.
People who want to put music on their WePad do not have to have any particular software, Ankershoffen said -- a blow at Apple's devices that require particular Apple software like iTunes.
The WePad's basic version, which comes with Wi-Fi and 16-gigabyte storage, is set to cost euro449 ($600), the larger 32-gigabyte version with a fast 3G modem is euro569.
Ankershoffen claimed that given its technological superiority and greater openness, "that's a bargain compared with the iPad."
The iPad -- which hit stores in the U.S. less than a month ago -- is on sale there starting at $499 for the smallest version, coming with Wi-Fi and a 16 GB storage.
The WePad, with its 11.6-inch screen, is powered by an Intel chip and relies on a Linux software basis which is compatible with Google's Android and all Flash applications, Ankershoffen said.
When it hits stores starting late July, it will also boast a complete open source office package, he said.
Reporters could not test the device at the press conference.
Berlin-based Neofonie -- a small company of some 180 employees -- claims it already has some 20,000 people interested in signing up for a pre-order, even though orders won't be formally accepted before April 27.
Ankershoffen declined to give a sales estimate. "Not thousands, not tens of thousands but many more will be sold before the end of the year," he said.
The WePad is to be assembled by a manufacturer in Asia -- which Ankershoffen refused to name -- that can ramp up production capacity according to demand, he said
Neofonie casts the WePad as helping the media industry find a way to market paid content and hopes to appeal to publishers, some of whom are disgruntled with Apple's pricing policy and restrictions.
The device would allow publishers to sell their content on its platform without monopolizing the customer relationship, as Apple's iTunes or Amazon's Kindle do, the company said.
Gruner + Jahr, one of Europe's largest magazine publishers, already has a partnership with Neofonie, offering the company's flagship magazine, Stern, on the platform.
"It will be the first magazine, but others will certainly follow," Stern's deputy chief Tobias Seikel said at the press conference.
Germany's biggest publisher, Berlin-based Axel Springer AG, is in talks with Neofonie, but no cooperation is planned yet, spokesman Christian Garrels said.
"We want to offer our company's brands on several platforms with a high range," Garrels told The Associated Press.
The company's flagship daily, Bild, previously had trouble with its iPhone application because Apple censors sexually explicit content, such as the paper's daily nude photo.
Apple's iPad will go on sale in Germany at the end of April, according to the company's Web site. This would give the iPad roughly a three month lead on its German competitor.
Neofonie seems determined to face its big California rival: The company distributed tasty red apples boasting the WePad's logo at the press conference.
However, both companies have to prove that the touch screen device will not only amaze the tech-savvy early users, but will also appeal to mainstream consumers at a time when people have already a lot of Internet-connected gadgets -- smart phones, laptops, e-book readers, set-top boxes and home broadband connections.
[THREAD NECROMANCY]pbwalker wrote:It's not a phone or a laptop...those are technologies that Apple is not targeting with the iPad.marksiwel wrote:I have a phone and I have lap top
i see no need
*just saw TAM's reply...and yes, it is essentially a toy. For me, it'll be a toy to teach ABC's and 123's to my daughter without having to sit at a computer or buying flash cards. It's a toy that I can have in the kitchen when I want to pull a quick recipe for dinner. It's a toy that will allow me to read the news without having to lug a laptop around. Lastly, it's a toy that will allow me to watch movies on my 4+ monthly flights to NYC. That being said, yes...Apple is lacking on the business side of the house.
