New iPad 2 rumors focus on smaller size and louder speakers

New iPad 2 rumors focus on smaller size and louder speakers

Posted December 23, 2010 2:22pm by Phil Hornshaw Tags: iPad 2, Apple

Just in time for the holidays, we have new “information” about the supposedly imminent iPad 2. As usual, the rumors come from anonymous sources in China, and have slight technical details about Apple’s (AAPL) next-generation tab.

According to a report from Ars Technica, the new iPad will be smaller and flatter, with better, improved speakers on board. That information comes by way of the Kanteidan Blog, out of Japan. It says the new iPad’s outer case will lose three millimeters from the length and width, which won’t affect the 9.7-inch LCD screen. Reportedly, the iPad 2 will also be flatter on its back side, in some ways emulating the iPod Touch.

More important than the minor size changes are the iPad 2’s rumored on-board speakers. We heard something about openings on the rear of the case that have been speculated to allow for an SD card reader or USB port, but the source for Kanteidan Blog says the opening is actually for rear-facing, wider-range speakers.

And as expected, the source also says the iPad 2 will have a front-facing Facetime camera, as well as a rear-facing camera capable of shooting video and high-definition photos.

It’s not a ton of new information, and we’ve heard or expected to hear a lot of this stuff before. But the addition of higher-quality speakers may kill the idea that iPad 2 will support USB -- something that was an exciting possibility for connectivity to various other devices. Seems that dream might be squashed.

Stay tuned.

Phil Hornshaw

dude

I have a top line ipad, what a load of crap, wont play flash video, extremely hard to load MOVIES I ALLREADY OWN, and the sound/speakers? What a joke, no usb, inability to interface with anything, bite me apple, you suck

evmacdev

Lets hope the new one resolves this issue

Currently playing Super Ms Copter on my iPhone 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42EQuI912-E

dad2ways

Sounds like the complaints of someone who really doesn't own an iPad. If you purchased an iPad, and are complaining about the things you are stating here, then you foolishly purchased something that you had all of the knowledge presented to you before hand.

No, the iPad doesn't do flash. This was not new to Apple with this device. It has been the case with iPhones and iPod Touches all along. What do you have to compare it to? Yes, there are lots of mobile devices that allow you to use flash, like my Android phone. But, Flash sucks processor cycles and drains your battery rapidly. Once Flash sites have been accessed, you have to go into the system and kill the app that accessed it. If you don't it will continue to suck down your processor and your battery. Flash does not let go of resources once it allocates them to itself.

Speakers? What are you expecting? Did you expect a surround sound system that would wow your friends. What features and functions would you be willing to sacrifice for this and just how long do you expect a battery to last with a jaw dropping sound system included? The speaker, in most settings, is plenty loud enough to be heard by multiple people and the sound quality is far better than just acceptable.

Now, I will agree that a USB port would be fabulous, especially if I could load up media on an external storage device (hard drive, thumb drive, or SD card) and save the internal storage space for more important things. But that said, the iPad does interface with quite a lot. Through Bluetooth and WiFi you have a wide range of things you can interface with and no wires required.

As far as your complaint about hard to load movies you already owned, well again you should have known what you were getting before you purchased it. All iPods and iPhones before the iPad required iTunes to sync media with them and quite frankly (even though I am a technogeek and would love to have another way to gain greater access and control over every device I own) it couldn't be made more simple. You plug it in. iTunes launches and you drag and drop what you want to have on the device. As far as the movies you already own, it is not Apple's fault if you chose to compress them into a format that you knew would be incompatible with Apple devices and then want to complain that Apple wouldn't capitulate to your desires.

I do own one of the "top of the line" iPads. I guess by that you mean that you purchased a 64gb model. And my experience is like almost everybody else who has purchased one: I love my iPad and have come to use it more than my notebook.

Just jailbreak your iPad. It is simple enough to do and then you can mod your iPad to do everything you want it to do. The only drawback is that you won't be able to upgrade the iPad and maintain your hacks.

lwell

dude, that's just rumor, and not the offical info.
"wont play flash video, extremely hard to load MOVIES I ALLREADY OWN" - yeah, Jobs have said that there are impossible have flash support on iPad, as he hate Adobe flash. For movies loading, that influenced by ur network, and you also can use some tools like iFunia video converter to convert the flash videos and movies.
Well, smaller and flatter are expected, but the on-board speakers is really unsuspecting. What Im looking forward to the iPad 2, is thinner, lighter, and with the camera, of course Facetime video chat support, hmm, a rear-facing camera capable of shooting video and high-definition photos- this is Great! have the camera will be cooler and more appeal I believe~

P.S. watch movies and vieos on iPad freely:
http://www.ifunia.com/ipad-column/index.html

zholy

I'd love to have a louder speaker on the iPad.hate how ugly the current iPad is with it's wide bezel. I would rather a thinner bezel.
Everything you need to know about iPad,http://www.aneesoft.com/tutorials/ipad/index.html

jonaD

I will wait and buy the iPad 9, the one that they wetwire in, with the direct augmented virtual hololink, and its cyberquantum processor... until then, I'll just stick to MacBook Pros.

evmacdev

Now I am going to wait till the new iPad comes out

Currently playing Super Ms Copter on my iPhone 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42EQuI912-E

dad2ways

I would love to see a cleaner, tighter looking iPad and a better speaker setup, especially if it means that it might bring stereo sound or possibly improved bass response. I wouldn't count on it being any louder though because amplification means faster battery drain.

My wish list would be: Retina display, FaceTime camera setup, and a USB port. The other thing that would be nice is to see is multiple sizes. I think the Droid pads are demonstrating that people are definitely interested in the seven and five inch form factors. A seven inch model with a base price of $299 (WiFi) and $399 (3G) would blow away the competition.

Rk154

I agree with your wish list. If apple can accomplish these things, it would be worth purchasing.

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