Wednesday, March 23, 2011
23rd March 2011, Wednesday -- Apple has announced that Apple iPad 2 will go on sale in 25 more countries this Friday, 25th March 2011. This is not really a good news for us in Brunei. The good news is that Apple also announced that ALL MODELS of iPad 2 will be available in Hongkong, Korea, SINGAPORE, and additional countries in April 2011. Apple did not announce the pricing for Singapore market yet. But I expect, by looking at USA and others countries price, iPad 2 will have the same pricing scheme as iPad 1. May be there is a little change due to currency exchange fluctuation.
The following is the PRESS RELEASE about the iPad 2 availability and pricing:
iPad 2 Arrives in 25 More Countries This Friday
Available in Hong Kong, Korea and Singapore in April
CUPERTINO, California—March 22, 2011—Apple® today announced that iPad® 2, the second-generation of its third post-PC device, will go on sale in 25 additional countries this Friday, March 25. iPad 2 will be available at Apple retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers at 5 p.m. local time, and online through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com) beginning at 1 a.m. Apple today also announced that all models of iPad 2 will be available in Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and additional countries in April.
“While competitors are still struggling to catch up with our first iPad, we’ve changed the game again with iPad 2,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We’re experiencing amazing demand for iPad 2 in the US, and customers around the world have told us they can't wait to get their hands on it. We appreciate everyone’s patience and we are working hard to build enough iPads for everyone.”
iPad 2 features an entirely new design that is 33 percent thinner and up to 15 percent lighter than the original iPad, while maintaining the same stunning 9.7-inch LED-backlit LCD screen. iPad 2 features Apple’s new dual-core A5 processor for blazing fast performance and stunning graphics and now includes two cameras, a front-facing VGA camera for FaceTime® and Photo Booth®, and a rear-facing camera that captures 720p HD video, bringing the innovative FaceTime feature to iPad users for the first time. Though it is thinner, lighter, faster and packed with new features, iPad 2 still delivers up to 10 hours of battery life* that users have come to expect.
Pricing and Availability
iPad 2 with Wi-Fi will be available in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK on March 25 for a suggested retail price of $499 (US) for the 16GB model, $599 (US) for the 32GB model, $699 (US) the 64GB model. iPad 2 with Wi-Fi + 3G will be available for a suggested retail price of $629 (US) for the 16GB model, $729 (US) for the 32GB model and $829 (US) for the 64GB model. iPad 2 will be available in Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and additional countries in April, and in many more countries around the world in the coming months. Further international availability and pricing will be announced at a later date.
iMovie® and GarageBand® for iPad apps are available for $4.99 (US) each from the App Store℠ on iPad or www.itunes.com/appstore. The Smart Cover is available in a range of colors in vibrant polyurethane for $39 (US) or rich leather for $69 (US).
*Battery life depends on device settings, usage and other factors. Actual results vary.
Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced iPad 2 which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.
Press Contacts:
Trudy Muller
Apple
tmuller@apple.com
(408) 862-7426
Janette Barrios
Apple
jbarrios@apple.com
(408) 974-7608
What is the relevant about the availablity of iPad 2 in Singapore to us in Brunei? As you know, Brunei is not listed in the Apple's press release about their products availability. Usually, when a new Apple product is available in Singapore, it is also available in Brunei Darussalam. Moreover, historically, the price of iPod Touch, iPad 1, and others Apple products are similar or nearly the same that are sold in Brunei (with some exceptions, that is, some Apple products are more cheaper there than in Brunei).
For further details about Apple iPad 2 and other Apple products for Brunei market, you can visit AV Electronics (Apple Premium Reseller in Brunei Darussalam) through their Facebook fan page HERE.
And, just in case, you are looking for a better deal outside Brunei, you can visit Apple Store Singapore or Apple Store Malaysia for the price indicator in those respective countries. May be you want to cross the border for a few hours or take a weekend flight to Kuala Lumpur (using AirAsia) or Singapore.
p/s: Should I get iPad 2 or not. No Retina display... May be I should wait for iPad 3. My iPad 1 storage memory is about 19GB left. I fill my iPad with magazines, documents, apps, books, etc at a rate of 2-3GB per month. I think my iPad 1 can accomodate further download for another 5-6 months. There are some rumours that iPad 3 will come out in September 2011, and iPad 3 will have Retinal display as well as 128GB storage memory capacity.
If I want to get iPad 2, I have to wait for Otterbox releasing their Defender Series case for iPad 2 BEFORE getting iPad 2. I am a fan of Otterbox Defender Series case...
Related Post:
Thursday, March 03, 2011
3rd March 2011, Thursday – The 2nd generation of Apple iPad, iPad 2, is officially announced in an Apple Event that was held on 2nd March 2011, Wednesday (10.00am Pacific Standard Time) at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco. Nice to see that Steve Job, Apple CEO (who is on medical leave) presenting the iPad 2.
Important Specs
- 9.7-inch (diagonal) LED-backit glossy Multi-Touch dispaly with IPS teachnology
- Resolution: 1024-by-768-pixel at 132 pixels per inch
- 1 GHz dual-core Apple A5 custom-designed, high-performance, low power system-on-a-chip
- 2 camera capable of photos and video recording: Back camera can capture HD (720p) up to 30 frame per second video recording with audio. Front camera can capture VGA video up to 30 frame per second with audio.
- Up to 10 hours battery life
- Storage option available: 16GB, 32GB, 64GB
- Version: Wi-Fi only & Wi-Fi + 3G
- Video Mirroring capability with optional Apple Digital AV Adapter or Apple VGA Adapter
- Comes with black or white model.
- Comes with iOS 4.3 when shipped starting from 11 March 2011.
According to Apple press release, iPad 2 pricing (‘Suggested Retail Price’) is as follow:
Wi-Fi only:
USD499 for 16GB model
USD599 for 32GB model,
USD699 for 64GB model
Wi-Fi + 3G:
USD629 for 16GB model
USD729 for 32GB model
USD829 for 64GB model
Meanwhile, Apple drops the pricing of the first generation iPad (iPad 1). The following is the screen capture of Apple Store Singapore taken today. You can see that iPad 1 costs as low as SGD538 and as high as SGD978.
When it is available?
According to Apple press release, iPad 2 will be available in the USA on 11 March 2011, Friday . Then, iPad 2 will be available in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK on 25 March 2011... and in many more countries around the world in the coming months.
Further international availability (including Brunei. Well... we need to update ourselves about its availability in Singapore or Malaysia. Historically, Brunei is not on the list in their press release) and pricing will be announced at a later date. Therefore, we need to wait some times for the pricing and the availability in Singapore/Brunei market. But I believe the pricing scheme will be the same as the iPad 1 as mentioned by Steve Jobs in the Apple Event for iPad 2.
The official iPad 1 unit for Brunei Darussalam was only available in the end of November 2010. This is a long wait for Bruneian (unless you want to pay more than the official unit price). I hope this will not happen again.
iOS 4.3
Apple also introduced iOS 4.3 in the Apple Event. The latest version of iOS features:
AirPlay enhancement – a wireless technology that lets you stream contents from iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch to HDTV via Apple TV (But the bad news is that Apple TV is not available in Brunei Darussalam. It would be nice to have one).
iOS 4.3 will be available to iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch users as a free software update on 11 March 2011, Friday. But iOS 4.3 is only compatible with iPad 1, iPad 2, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 (GSM), iPod Touch 3 and iPod Touch 4.
My Comments
a. Black or white?
I will choose black. I prefer a gadget that is in black colour. White gadget (or blue, yellow, red etc) will attract other people attention towards you. Moreover, the white iPad may look dirty easily.
b. Will I buy iPad 2?
I like to buy iPad 2 due to its faster processor and dual camera. The cameras allow video calling using FaceTime (but too bad no FaceTime through built-in 3G connection. You have to tether your iPad or iPhone 4 to a 3G mobile phone which has Wi-Fi Hotspot in order to use FaceTime on iPhone 4 and iPad 2. Why does it take some times for Apple to enable FaceTime using the built-in 3G connection), Fring, or Skype. Very nice if I bring iPad 2 to oversea to video call my family at home. Video call through Nokia e72 is okay but iPad 2 will be better due to its big screen display.
However, I am already having an iPad now. No iPad 2 for me. May be iPad 3 will be on my wishlist.
c. Will I buy iPad Smart Cover?
I like the iPad Smart Cover. But it is not for me. I prefer to install my iPad with Otterbox Defender Series case (Website: www.otterbox.com). Otterbox Defender Series gives me some of the protection that I need. I think it is the best case for my iPad. Too bad it is not water proof or weather proof.
d. Will I buy Digital AV Adapter or Apple VGA Adapter?
I will only buy Apple VGA Adapter as the projector that is available at my workplace is only having VGA connection, no HDMI-equipped projector yet. The capability of video mirroring enables sharing apps and webpage to teach the class. Using netbook is okay. But its does not have the instant-on capability. iPad gives me the instant-on capability... and ‘easy-connect capability’. So, less time to set-up the equipment before using them all.
e. Am I a Apple fan boy?
May be. I like most of the Apple products such as iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad and the Mac Mini. I like Mac Book Pro and Mac Book Air, but it is not for me. If I want a device for doing presentation using MS Powerpoint, i choose a netbook which costs less than half the price of the lowest specs MacBook Pro or MacBook Air.
It seems that iPad will replace my netbook for doing presentation soon (but not so soon). I am still studying which Office apps for iPad that I need to buy.... Hmm I have been using Apple products since 1989 when my secondary English Language teacher invited me and my friends using his Apple computer (at his house) and laser printer to do our Science project report. At that time, an Apple computer and a laser printer costs a lot lot of fortune when compare with the present Apple computer and laser printer.
f. What is missing in the iPad 2 and/or iOS 4.3
1.There is no internet tethering through personal Wi-Fi hotspot, USB, or Bluetooth for iPad 1 and iPad 2 with iOS 4.3. Having an iPad 3G is nice because I do not need to find a Wi-Fi connection to check my e-mail, access and updating Facebook, reading FlipBook etc. But to put a simcard that has an unlimited data plan that costs BND58 or BND60 on the iPad is not that nice if I want to connect my desktop computer to the internet or share the internet connection with the family or friends.
Therefore, I just put a prepaid broadband simcard in order to quickly check my e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, and some news through Safari or the news app. I use DSTCOM Prepaid GO! Broadband for my iPad 3G. It costs 5 cents per mega byte.
2. There is no dial pad or similar facility to check prepaid balance, top-up the credit and doing other USSD service.
 |
| Dial *102# to check credit balance |
 |
| Dial *103*12 digit recharge number# |
 |
| Dial *105# to transfer credit to other Easi mobile number |
 |
| Dial *106# to check credit bonus balance |
4. 4. There is no retinal display. It would be very nice to have the retinal display for the iPad.
.
Further details
For further details for the Apple iPad and other Apple products for Brunei market, you can visit AV Electronics (Apple Premium Reseller in Brunei Darussalam) through their Facebook fan page HERE.
And, just in case, you are looking for a better deal outside Brunei, you can visit Apple Store Singapore or Apple Store Malaysia for the price indicator in those respective country.
p/s : I also like Motorola Xoom, Blackberry Playbook, Samsung Galaxy Tablet 10.1, HTC Flyer (if it is upgraded to Android 3.0), and the tablet from HP. But my money goes to Apple iPad.
Friday, April 16, 2010
16th April 2010, Friday –This evening I went to the AV Electronics The Mall Gadong to have my hands on the latest gadget from Apple i.e the iPad. The Apple iPads that available at AV Electronics are the “pre-Asia launch version”.
The pre-Asia launch iPad version costs BND998 for 16GB model; BND1198 for 32GB; and BND1398 for 64GB. You need to pay a downpayment in order to place an order for this version.
For further details for the Apple iPad for Brunei market, you can visit AV Electronics through their Facebook fan page HERE.
Surfing my blog using the Apple iPad at AV Electronics The Mall Gadong.
What will I do with the Apple iPad?
Note: Apple iPad is NOT going to replace my desktop…I don’t like laptop or netbook (except for presentation). Doing school “paper works” (such planning and reporting), photo editing, video editing, blogging, and watching video are best done with the desktop…with the big LCD monitor, of course. Big LCD monitor (22 inches or above) do lead to efficiency in doing such tasks.
- The Brunei Times, 7 April 2010: iPad available in June, limited units soon.
- The Brunei Times, 11 April 2010: iPad arrives in Brunei.
- The Brunei Times, 13 April 2010: Expansys to develop iPad application
- Apple: iPad
- Facebook: AV Electronics
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