Nextworth has published a nifty infographic illustrating all of the novel uses for the iPad. Since the release of the “New” iPad with high res Retina Display, there are even more uses – certainly including geofencing with the iPad, as well as iPhone.
IntoMobile recently published a quick comparison chart of the iPad 2 versus the current competition. Although the new iPad 2 does have some significant upgrades – cameras, gyro, A5 processor, I don’t think that it’s compelling enough to prompt existing iPad owners to immediately upgrade. However, this new iPad is good enough to possibly get potential new customers to finally pick one up. I think that the iPad 3 will be the next major upgrade pathway for current users.
**Update – Another good iPad2 Comparison from Mashable
Quick post today. A few weeks ago I got an iPad, and have been having a great time getting more in depth with its applications and market positioning. Increasingly as the tablet market gets bigger, brand presence on the iPad is becoming more relevant. A few key snippets on the rise of the iPad, with particular focus for iPad HHI Demographic Trends:
Apple iPad User Analysis from Yahoo
“As expected within the classic early-adopter profile, we identified a male skew in the 35-44 age group among these early users. In fact, among all users, men outnumber women 2:1. Given the economy, people with higher earning power were probably the first to buy the iPad. The first Yahoo! iPad users were 94% more likely to be affluent consumers with solid wealth and strong incomes than typical U.S. Yahoo! users.”
A quick thought on using a mobile phone’s GPS in a novel fashion for an online retailer. Nowadays basically every mobile phone has a gps chip in it, and all smart phones can provide location data to the apps they run. Recently I was asked by a client about ideas for possibly reaching out to customers on a local level, despite the fact that the client doesn’t actually have any physical stores. Here are my initial thoughts –
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Is Apple’s reluctance to include flash on iPhone or iPad actually a veiled play to change the entire face of code and web standards on the internet, and beyond? Or are they just hoping to sell more apps? I think that Apple’s strategy here goes both ways – and hopefully, both outcomes will change both Apple and the internet in general for the better.
A Flash-less iPad helps sell applications. One of the reasons flash is such a great technology, and so hotly desired on the iPad and iPhone is for its rich media and interactivity potential. Flash allows developers to make websites function almost exactly like a native iApp would, but have it hosted off site on a third party website, rather than directly on the device. Enabling this channel for app delivery would be great for the developers and brands looking to rapidly launch interactive, media rich apps.
By allowing these flash apps to proliferate, Apple would be removing the incentive to work with them and publish apps through their App store, thereby limiting the potential for apple to turn a profit. Wired recently announced that they would be releasing an iPad Wired Magazine app that allows readers to leaf through the pages of the magazine, much like they’re reading an actual paper copy.
A flash-less iPad pushes forward HTML5. By restricting the usage of flash on the iPad and iPhone, Apple is forcing developers to either develop iApps through the App Store, OR, and more importantly, embrace alternative interactive web technologies to accomplish what they would have been able to with flash or a native app.
Although on the surface this may seem like a more complicated, less ideal solution for web-hosted-app development, it’s actually a blessing in disguise. HTML5 is a highly accessible web standard, which can be scaled gracefully across multiple devices, and has been designed with the future in mind. I think that a future of web apps built on HTML5, and surrounding technologies, instead of solely on Flash, will ultimately be more viable, and will allow mobile devices, the interactive web, and internet technology in general to scale quickly and easily into the future.
Immediate effects of Apples Flash-free, HTML5 vision of the future is evident in BrightCove’s recent HTML5 announcement that their video platform will still be HTML5 compatible, and will be able to play video on the iPhone and iPad. This is a great win for Apple, HTML5, and for Brightcove for embracing the new standard so readily.
Sites such as Vimeo and YouTube have already started experimenting with HTML5 video players, and heavy hitters like Google are experimenting with HTML5 web apps – namely Google Voice.
I don’t think HTML5 will kill flash completely, but adoption of the new standard, alongside flash, will open up many possibilities for the future.
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