There is one big issue for Apple to tackle before they can consider adding SD card capability. Right now, they don't offer any File System browser. If they add SD card, they would need to offer a file system browser for the SD card.
If there is a FS browser for the SD card, it stands to reason that there will be one for the built in FileSystem as well. This will go against current iOS paradigms.
I expect Apple to offer a limited File System capability by offering an iDisk app/service where all data can be stored, and anything stored in this app/service would be automatically synced with Mobile Me.
Expect to see Mobile Me turn into a Free service soon. Already all the components of Mobile Me are available for free from other sources, and the only real useful component (Find my iPhone) is a free service from Apple anyway. So there is really no reason to continue with Mobile Me as a paid service.
Once Mobile Me gets free, iDisk becomes the obvious path for Apple. Of course, there will still be options for a paid premium service.
Apple is trying to get away from old technology, like SD cards (as much as the manufacturers would like you to think of it as new, because it's SDHC or such). If you have a camera or camcorder, you can always se an adapter, but I suspect that Apple will encourage the use of secure cloud storage rather than on a chip. iPads already have wireless-N included, and you can always get an EyeFi? card for your camcorder or camera.
An EyeFi card won't work since that only connects to a hotspot and not peer to peer. An iPad can not create a hotspot, but only connect to one. So in order to watch your photo's from your SD card camera you need to use the CCK. Which is ok for me, but should Apple include a SD card slot to me it would be nice, but not trivial. Of course YMMV.
An EyeFi card won't work since that only connects to a hotspot and not peer to peer. An iPad can not create a hotspot, but only connect to one. So in order to watch your photo's from your SD card camera you need to use the CCK. Which is ok for me, but should Apple include a SD card slot to me it would be nice, but not trivial. Of course YMMV.
It?s too bad camera makers haven?t figured out how to include WiFi so it can 1) get GPS coordinates from a simple background process on a popular smartphone or tablet as you take a picture, and 2) can upload those images to your smartphone or tablet via a camera vendor-made app.
There is one big issue for Apple to tackle before they can consider adding SD card capability. Right now, they don't offer any File System browser. If they add SD card, they would need to offer a file system browser for the SD card.
I totally disagree.
Although Apple will not add an SD slot, it would be easy to use an SD card slot as additional storage for apps, using the same interface we have right now, and without a file system browser of any sort.
All they have to do is allow you to add apps to the card, instead of the internal memory. The apps on the card would store all app data on the card. When the card is plugged in, you see the apps on the card, and when it's not, you don't see them. Swap cards and you could see different apps.
I'd love an approach like this. I could add apps I want to be private to the card, and just take out the card when I want to share the device.
PS. If I went on an African safari, perhaps I would invest in an SLR. But if I did, I would also invest in a wifi SD card too. Again I don't want to have to remember to carry or carry cables and crap around if I can avoid it! Best
I didn't know they'd installed wireless throughout the Serengeti. Amazing how prevalent the Internet is these days.
Agreed. But Apple isn't HP. They don't throw in the kitchen sink. The card reader is a niche value add. Why would they bother?
Maybe in your world but not mine. A SD card reader has value to anybody that uses a non-pro camera. Even pro cameras are starting to support SD. I would suspect that is a good portion of the iPad using public.
Another potentially huge use for SD is the storage and play back of video. No matter what Apple does in the short term there is not enough storage on the iPad for ones video needs. SD provides a way to swap out flicks on the go.
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Here are my 'expectations'
New SOC. Dual Core Cortex 9, 512 RAM, and the new SGX543 GPU [I don't think the GPU will be dual core].
close though I'm expecting more RAM and a dual core GPU.
The thing is I've been extremely disappointed with Apple in that they let the iPad sell for to long with only 256MB of RAM after the iPhone came out with 512MB. Something is drastically wrong with that picture. If anything a device like the iPad should have more RAM than the iPhone. So it better have 1GB.
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Front Facing Camera.
No 16 gig model, 50/50 chance of a 128gb model.
Flash memory is a very interesting subject in this context. Personally I would like to see Apple get away from the current cell phone type of flash implementation and start to use real SSD modules in iPad. That currently means the blade type modules fron the AIRs. This would do a couple of things, it would provide for potential upgrades, it would provide for more robust storage and might even allow for a second storage slot.
In any event that is off on a tangent. I really think 128GB is a given. The real question is will they stretch that to 256GB. This is not an unreasonable amount at all and frankly with the expansion of gaming, productivity apps and other features might not be enough.
Part of the issue with Flash is that I don't ever see the cloud becoming a viable secondary storage facility. At best it is tertiary and unreliable. Plus there is and always will be a latenecy problem with the cloud such that games, many apps and other features simply won't work well or at all. Thus I suspect that people will continue to demand devices with the largest possible secondary store (flash).
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CDMA/GSM dual mode chipset.
As long as it is unlocked and pay as needed services exist I'd be happy to use either one. It would be even better if iPad was smart enough to pick the local service with the best quality. That is select the service based on the best data rate that can be had in your current location.
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Possible larger Battery.
Battery tech has been improving steadily over the years so an incremental increase in same package performance is a given. My fear is that they may attempt to trim the battery size to fit a tighter case. I actually hope that there will be a capacity increase and thus longer run times but this is not certain.
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Possible Rear Camera.
No 'Retina' display this year.
No SD slot.
Well like it or not it looks like the rear camera is coming. Retina display would be nice but there currently seems to be a lot of negativity in that regards. The SD slot however would be a great feature.
Why would a case have an opening for a SIM card? It's not like it's something that you really need access to. In the rare case that you needed to access it you would just take the iPad out of it's case...
There is one big issue for Apple to tackle before they can consider adding SD card capability. Right now, they don't offer any File System browser. If they add SD card, they would need to offer a file system browser for the SD card.
There are ways around this that would keep interfaces on the apps the same. After alll the CCK can read SD cards fine. In any event a file system browser isn't required.
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If there is a FS browser for the SD card, it stands to reason that there will be one for the built in FileSystem as well. This will go against current iOS paradigms.
Why do you make these assumptions? First off a browser isn't required, second even if they coded one up they can limit it in any manner they wanted.
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I expect Apple to offer a limited File System capability by offering an iDisk app/service where all data can be stored, and anything stored in this app/service would be automatically synced with Mobile Me.
There are already tools for this on the iPhone.
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Expect to see Mobile Me turn into a Free service soon.
Man I hope not !!!! The last thing I need in life is a primary mail account loaded up with spam, junk mail and Viagra adds. Mobile Me is well worth the $9 a month it costs just to have a decent E-Mail service that doesn't have filtering crap every single time I open my mail up.
Free E-Mail very much equals crap E-Mail!
Some of the other dot Mac features aren't that bad either and well worth a few bucks.
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Already all the components of Mobile Me are available for free from other sources, and the only real useful component (Find my iPhone) is a free service from Apple anyway. So there is really no reason to continue with Mobile Me as a paid service.
There is most certainly a good reason as I already have pointed out. Mobile Me is worth it simply to avoid the crap that comes with free mail accounts. Especially when you factor in mobile devices where filtering out the crap is mire of a pain.
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Once Mobile Me gets free, iDisk becomes the obvious path for Apple. Of course, there will still be options for a paid premium service.
There is no need for a free service. Zip nada none.
Frankly I've never understood this need that many people have to turn Mobile Me into another crap free service. If you want free go with the free alternatives as nobody is stoping you. For many of us the mail and sync features are well worth the cost of mobile me. Really if GMail or whatever does everything you want why pester the Mac community with demands that mobile me be free? It doesn't make any sense at all.
On a side note. I went in to the local Apple store the other day, and was VERY surprised to see that the iPad, seems thicker, and heavier then the new AirBooks?
We won't be getting either, as my wife wants an imac, for the big screen (Skyping with our grand kids, she wants the bigger screen for seeing them).
She got somewhat spoiled by skyping on my 30" at the office.
On a side note. I went in to the local Apple store the other day, and was VERY surprised to see that the iPad, seems thicker, and heavier then the new AirBooks?
The AIRs are very impressive!!!
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We won't be getting either, as my wife wants an imac, for the big screen (Skyping with our grand kids, she wants the bigger screen for seeing them).
Well you have to make the grand kids and the wife happy! Due to the way that an iPad is like an extension to the PC I actually think we will be seeing iPad driving customers back to desktop machines. For many people an iPad does everything they need to do portability wise. On the desktop better screens and ergonomics rule the day.
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She got somewhat spoiled by skyping on my 30" at the office.
I don't think Apple will ever include an SD slot in the iPad, simply because it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. The only arguments that people who want to have it built in have are 'almost any device with a CPU has an SD slot, so Apple should include it as well' or 'I want to transfer content directly from my digital camera'. The first argument is pretty unimpressive, why would Apple care about what other devices have or have not? They sell the iPad based on its own merits, and having every port or slot thinkable is not one of them, if you want that, just buy a laptop. The second argument is just silly if you ask me. How many people will *actually* grab photo's from their camera and put them directly on their iPad, without first putting them on a PC? Anyone even remotely serious about their photo's will want to select, edit, post-process, index, archive and backup their photo's first, and for that you will want to use a PC anyway. As soon as you have the photo's on a PC anyway, putting them back on SD to get them on your iPad is actually less convenient than just using iTunes over USB, dropbox over Wifi, and (very likely) in the future something similar to AirPlay but for images (maybe it already exists). The same holds for any other type of content that's located somewhere on another computer or the internet. Accessing content wirelessly and automatically syncing to onboard storage are the future, SD cards to carry around content will slowly become a niche use-case for devices that are not always online, and can't easily sync content periodically.
If you still insist you want to import directly from SD card, just buy the camera kit and stop complaining on the internet that an SD slot is a must-have. Not having it is a minor inconvenience, nothing more. I think Apple will simply look how many camera kits they have sold for iPad 1, if it's a huge number of them they will add an SD slot, but honestly I don't think more than 1 or 2 percent of iPad users bought the camera kit.
I don't think Apple will ever include an SD slot in the iPad, simply because it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
They may or may not add it. But the idea here is to eventually get to a stage where a person could get an Apple tablet as their only computer - or first computer - and can get their photos from a digital camera or videos from digital video camera on the iPad without the need for a "dongle", or to know what a dongle is. Besides, dongles are 'messy'. They want to simply view their holiday photos on a big screen. There's no need or want to involve a "computer" at this stage. It's purely for viewing. If you don't get that then I can't help you. Not to mention there are several photo editing apps on the iPad, which leads me to believe you may not own one. Whether you own one or not is not important, anyway. My point is it does solve a problem.
That's not saying they will do it. But it is a pretty good reason. I went on holidays recently where I had my iPad and we had a digital camera with us, but we had to suffer until we went home. I no longer have a laptop, and if I did I was trying to get a break from work, so I wouldn't have brought it.
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Originally Posted by d-range
If you still insist you want to import directly from SD card, just buy the camera kit and stop complaining on the internet that an SD slot is a must-have. Not having it is a minor inconvenience, nothing more.
For me it's like the iSight on an iMac or MacBook. I never use it, but I like the fact that it's there, as I can seeing myself needing it at some point. If it wasn't there I could always buy an external web cam, which are inexpensive, but it wouldn't be the same. An SD card, like an built-in iSight, would be part of the product, and it would do something.
They may or may not add it. But the idea here is to eventually get to a stage where a person could get an Apple tablet as their only computer - or first computer - and can get their photos off a digital camera or digital video camera without the need for a dongle.
In hotel room, on holiday: "If only there was a way to view these digital camera pictures on our iPad. If it had an SD card there would."
Sure, if a company adds something they have a reason, and some companies, like Apple, have very clear reasons for additions.
For example, the Nexus S comes with NFC but can it do with it? What built-in SW and services interact with it? I don’t think anything did when it came out. With Apple I expect their adoption of NFC will also have SW and services that make the HW addition useful, even if all they do is include APIs for 3rd-parties in the SDK.
IOW, if Apple includes an SD card slot it will be A) because an overwhelming number of people that Apple listens to have requested it (which seems odd if it’s just for a cameras), and/or they have something else in mind for the use of the SDXC slot.
Personally, I don’t think it will have an SD card slot but I am indifferent either way. These Chinese cases are odd as making a space for a SIM card through the case doesn’t make sense as it’s not a card you typically remove often. At this point I don’t even feel assured the cases are genuine. For a March or April release isn’t 4 to 5 months a long time to give case makers (and that’s only when these cases came to our attention)?
The SD card slot versus NO SD card slot is like the external web cam versus the built-in web cam. It's nice to know it's there and that it does do something useful when you need it. It takes up no extra space and it isn't something 'extra' you have to think about. Additionally, it creates a product of better value.
I read the stuff below and what I got form it is that I don't need a SD slots os nobody else should need one. Sorry to point out that many of us have a different point of view.
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Originally Posted by d-range
I don't think Apple will ever include an SD slot in the iPad, simply because it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. The only arguments that people who want to have it built in have are 'almost any device with a CPU has an SD slot, so Apple should include it as well' or 'I want to transfer content directly from my digital camera'. The first argument is pretty unimpressive, why would Apple care about what other devices have or have not?
Actually you are the only one to state that argument in that manner. Further you are right it is an un impressive argument.
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They sell the iPad based on its own merits, and having every port or slot thinkable is not one of them, if you want that, just buy a laptop. The second argument is just silly if you ask me. How many people will *actually* grab photo's from their camera and put them directly on their iPad, without first putting them on a PC?
I would suggest that many would. There are a number of reasons as to why you might want to do so. First; the iPad might be the only PC you are traveling with. Second; you might be engaged in selling real estate and need to update an online listing and prefer the iPad to the iPhone. Third; you could be on a business trip and need to zip some pics back to the plant for a review of some sort. Fourth; you might be hiking in the back woods and simply need the security of having something backed up. Fifth; maybe you come upon a crime scene and find that you are the first there to be able to upload the blood spattered images to the net. Sixth; you are buying a boat and post some pics on line to get feedback from fellow boaters. Seventh; you are away on business and the wife is at the ball game snapping pics of the kids which she forwards to you. Eight; you need to catLog some pics that are used to document an event.
I could go on and on but there are plenty of examples where you might need to take pictures with a higher quality camera than what is in a cell phone and manipulate them without a camera. Some of those pics might not even survive for more than a few days. The point is photography is not just an art, it can be used in conjunction with business activities or for fleeting communications.
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Anyone even remotely serious about their photo's will want to select, edit, post-process, index, archive and backup their photo's first, and for that you will want to use a PC anyway.
Not always. I can be a very serious photographer but there are times when the pics are just there for the moment, to solve a problem or as extended communications.
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As soon as you have the photo's on a PC anyway, putting them back on SD to get them on your iPad is actually less convenient than just using iTunes over USB, dropbox over Wifi, and (very likely) in the future something similar to AirPlay but for images (maybe it already exists).
OK so who has even mentioned doing this. You are creating excuses out of things that don't make sense.
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The same holds for any other type of content that's located somewhere on another computer or the internet. Accessing content wirelessly and automatically syncing to onboard storage are the future, SD cards to carry around content will slowly become a niche use-case for devices that are not always online, and can't easily sync content periodically.
This whole idea of the cloud is just baloney. Anybody that travels even a bit knows full well that the could isn't always there and if it is often isn't fast enough to even send pics across.
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If you still insist you want to import directly from SD card, just buy the camera kit and stop complaining on the internet that an SD slot is a must-have. Not having it is a minor inconvenience, nothing more.
We could say that about a lot of features that the iPad could have. The point with the SD slot is that it is a very low cost way to add additional functionality to the iPad. Further it would get used extensively which is more than can be said about an HDMI port or some of the other requests seen here.
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I think Apple will simply look how many camera kits they have sold for iPad 1, if it's a huge number of them they will add an SD slot, but honestly I don't think more than 1 or 2 percent of iPad users bought the camera kit.
Well that would be fairly stupid as who will go out of their way to pay for a camera connection kit when they have alternatives? in the end you don't really have an argument that makes sense to me. Not for keeping the SD card out of iPad 2 anyways.
Sure, if a company adds something they have a reason, and some companies, like Apple, have very clear reasons for additions.
Apple added SD slots to the mac books some time ago and honestly I don't believe they had a reason beyond making camera users happy. If they have another use for that port they have kept it a very good secret.
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For example, the Nexus S comes with NFC but can it do with it? What built-in SW and services interact with it? I don?t think anything did when it came out. With Apple I expect their adoption of NFC will also have SW and services that make the HW addition useful, even if all they do is include APIs for 3rd-parties in the SDK.
It might also be a feature for the Asian market where NFC is already a strong selling point.
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IOW, if Apple includes an SD card slot it will be A) because an overwhelming number of people that Apple listens to have requested it (which seems odd if it?s just for a cameras), and/or they have something else in mind for the use of the SDXC slot.
I don't buy the idea that Apple doesn't listen to customers. AS to limitations to camera users, frankly that would be a start. In the long run all apps should have access to the SD card to use as they see fit but that is another story.
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Personally, I don?t think it will have an SD card slot but I am indifferent either way. These Chinese cases are odd as making a space for a SIM card through the case doesn?t make sense as it?s not a card you typically remove often. At this point I don?t even feel assured the cases are genuine. For a March or April release isn?t 4 to 5 months a long time to give case makers (and that?s only when these cases came to our attention)?
I discount the iPad 2 cases and even the recent rumors because nothing so far seems to be based on a real leak of info. Good or bad Apple seems to have succeeded in turning the spigots off pretty tight. What I'm trying to promote is the idea that an SD slot can be a desirable feature for many and is something that costs Apple little to implement. By little I mean both in cost and in engineering effort.
You said a lot of things, but none of them make me want to reconsider my view that no SD slot is just a minor inconvenience for a small percentage of owners. For those owners, there is the camera connection kit. You present a lot of sensible use cases for having an SD slot, but none of them are very convincing, they are all a little fabricated if you ask me, and not what the overwhelming majority of people do with their iPads. I think your assumption that some people will want to replace their computers with an iPad completely, or use it on-the-go to enter or create content on it directly, is overestimating the usefulness of a tablet device for content creation and management. For some tasks a laptop is simply a much better device. The real-estate picture example you mention are an example of that: I really don't see real estate agents running around with a camera to take pictures and a tablet to upload said pictures directly from an SD card to their website. A laptop with a keyboard will always be a much better tool for that job, and using a tablet instead of a laptop has no advantages at all in this case.
I think you're really trying too hard to make an SD slot more important than it actually is. Note that I'm not saying that SD cards are useless or that it would somehow be a bad thing if the iPad 2 has an SD slot, just that it isn't a big deal, and not having it would be nothing more than a minor inconvenience with a pretty reasonable workaround (the camera kit). From Apple's perspective it is pretty obvious why they wouldn't include one: people would expect to be able to use it just like they use SD cards on a PC, and will be disappointed that many applications and file types won't work as expected, which will hurt the perception they have of the iPad. It just isn't worth going that route just to satisfy a very small minority of people who think an SD slot is a must-have killer feature.
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Well that would be fairly stupid as who will go out of their way to pay for a camera connection kit when they have alternatives? in the end you don't really have an argument that makes sense to me. Not for keeping the SD card out of iPad 2 anyways.
You assume the only incentive for Apple to include or exclude functionality from their products is so they can extract more money from accessories, which is a bit of a negative assumption in my opinion. Apple has a long history of excluding hardware or software support from their products to try to deprecate them and move to something else they think is better. But they also have a history of reversing such decisions or (re-) introducing features that many people complained about. If there really are a lots and lots of people who want to have an SD slot, they will add it, and deprecate the camera kit. Brand image and sales of the iPad itself are much more important than the few bucks they make on the camera kit.
Comments
If there is a FS browser for the SD card, it stands to reason that there will be one for the built in FileSystem as well. This will go against current iOS paradigms.
I expect Apple to offer a limited File System capability by offering an iDisk app/service where all data can be stored, and anything stored in this app/service would be automatically synced with Mobile Me.
Expect to see Mobile Me turn into a Free service soon. Already all the components of Mobile Me are available for free from other sources, and the only real useful component (Find my iPhone) is a free service from Apple anyway. So there is really no reason to continue with Mobile Me as a paid service.
Once Mobile Me gets free, iDisk becomes the obvious path for Apple. Of course, there will still be options for a paid premium service.
Man this forum is getting dry and literal lately.
Of course it?s dry, how can an internet forum be wet? You can?t get electronics wet! OMG UR SO DUM!
What is the connection between the following items?
1.\tThe mentioned slot
2.\tHDMI output
3.\tMultimode 3G/4G LTE modem
4.\tThe MSM8960 chip
5.\tPurchase of Atheros (ATHR) by QUALCOM (QCOM)
6.\tVisa, Amex, Master Card, Discovery…etc.
7.\tNext versions of Apple products
The connection of the above is what Apple has for the inmediate future.
Apple is trying to get away from old technology, like SD cards (as much as the manufacturers would like you to think of it as new, because it's SDHC or such). If you have a camera or camcorder, you can always se an adapter, but I suspect that Apple will encourage the use of secure cloud storage rather than on a chip. iPads already have wireless-N included, and you can always get an EyeFi? card for your camcorder or camera.
An EyeFi card won't work since that only connects to a hotspot and not peer to peer. An iPad can not create a hotspot, but only connect to one. So in order to watch your photo's from your SD card camera you need to use the CCK. Which is ok for me, but should Apple include a SD card slot to me it would be nice, but not trivial. Of course YMMV.
An EyeFi card won't work since that only connects to a hotspot and not peer to peer. An iPad can not create a hotspot, but only connect to one. So in order to watch your photo's from your SD card camera you need to use the CCK. Which is ok for me, but should Apple include a SD card slot to me it would be nice, but not trivial. Of course YMMV.
It?s too bad camera makers haven?t figured out how to include WiFi so it can 1) get GPS coordinates from a simple background process on a popular smartphone or tablet as you take a picture, and 2) can upload those images to your smartphone or tablet via a camera vendor-made app.
There is one big issue for Apple to tackle before they can consider adding SD card capability. Right now, they don't offer any File System browser. If they add SD card, they would need to offer a file system browser for the SD card.
I totally disagree.
Although Apple will not add an SD slot, it would be easy to use an SD card slot as additional storage for apps, using the same interface we have right now, and without a file system browser of any sort.
All they have to do is allow you to add apps to the card, instead of the internal memory. The apps on the card would store all app data on the card. When the card is plugged in, you see the apps on the card, and when it's not, you don't see them. Swap cards and you could see different apps.
I'd love an approach like this. I could add apps I want to be private to the card, and just take out the card when I want to share the device.
PS. If I went on an African safari, perhaps I would invest in an SLR. But if I did, I would also invest in a wifi SD card too. Again I don't want to have to remember to carry or carry cables and crap around if I can avoid it! Best
I didn't know they'd installed wireless throughout the Serengeti. Amazing how prevalent the Internet is these days.
Agreed. But Apple isn't HP. They don't throw in the kitchen sink. The card reader is a niche value add. Why would they bother?
Maybe in your world but not mine. A SD card reader has value to anybody that uses a non-pro camera. Even pro cameras are starting to support SD. I would suspect that is a good portion of the iPad using public.
Another potentially huge use for SD is the storage and play back of video. No matter what Apple does in the short term there is not enough storage on the iPad for ones video needs. SD provides a way to swap out flicks on the go.
Here are my 'expectations'
New SOC. Dual Core Cortex 9, 512 RAM, and the new SGX543 GPU [I don't think the GPU will be dual core].
close though I'm expecting more RAM and a dual core GPU.
The thing is I've been extremely disappointed with Apple in that they let the iPad sell for to long with only 256MB of RAM after the iPhone came out with 512MB. Something is drastically wrong with that picture. If anything a device like the iPad should have more RAM than the iPhone. So it better have 1GB.
Front Facing Camera.
No 16 gig model, 50/50 chance of a 128gb model.
Flash memory is a very interesting subject in this context. Personally I would like to see Apple get away from the current cell phone type of flash implementation and start to use real SSD modules in iPad. That currently means the blade type modules fron the AIRs. This would do a couple of things, it would provide for potential upgrades, it would provide for more robust storage and might even allow for a second storage slot.
In any event that is off on a tangent. I really think 128GB is a given. The real question is will they stretch that to 256GB. This is not an unreasonable amount at all and frankly with the expansion of gaming, productivity apps and other features might not be enough.
Part of the issue with Flash is that I don't ever see the cloud becoming a viable secondary storage facility. At best it is tertiary and unreliable. Plus there is and always will be a latenecy problem with the cloud such that games, many apps and other features simply won't work well or at all. Thus I suspect that people will continue to demand devices with the largest possible secondary store (flash).
CDMA/GSM dual mode chipset.
As long as it is unlocked and pay as needed services exist I'd be happy to use either one. It would be even better if iPad was smart enough to pick the local service with the best quality. That is select the service based on the best data rate that can be had in your current location.
Possible larger Battery.
Battery tech has been improving steadily over the years so an incremental increase in same package performance is a given. My fear is that they may attempt to trim the battery size to fit a tighter case. I actually hope that there will be a capacity increase and thus longer run times but this is not certain.
Possible Rear Camera.
No 'Retina' display this year.
No SD slot.
Well like it or not it looks like the rear camera is coming. Retina display would be nice but there currently seems to be a lot of negativity in that regards. The SD slot however would be a great feature.
Why would a case have an opening for a SIM card? It's not like it's something that you really need access to. In the rare case that you needed to access it you would just take the iPad out of it's case...
My first thoughts exactly!
There is one big issue for Apple to tackle before they can consider adding SD card capability. Right now, they don't offer any File System browser. If they add SD card, they would need to offer a file system browser for the SD card.
There are ways around this that would keep interfaces on the apps the same. After alll the CCK can read SD cards fine. In any event a file system browser isn't required.
If there is a FS browser for the SD card, it stands to reason that there will be one for the built in FileSystem as well. This will go against current iOS paradigms.
Why do you make these assumptions? First off a browser isn't required, second even if they coded one up they can limit it in any manner they wanted.
I expect Apple to offer a limited File System capability by offering an iDisk app/service where all data can be stored, and anything stored in this app/service would be automatically synced with Mobile Me.
There are already tools for this on the iPhone.
Expect to see Mobile Me turn into a Free service soon.
Man I hope not !!!! The last thing I need in life is a primary mail account loaded up with spam, junk mail and Viagra adds. Mobile Me is well worth the $9 a month it costs just to have a decent E-Mail service that doesn't have filtering crap every single time I open my mail up.
Free E-Mail very much equals crap E-Mail!
Some of the other dot Mac features aren't that bad either and well worth a few bucks.
Already all the components of Mobile Me are available for free from other sources, and the only real useful component (Find my iPhone) is a free service from Apple anyway. So there is really no reason to continue with Mobile Me as a paid service.
There is most certainly a good reason as I already have pointed out. Mobile Me is worth it simply to avoid the crap that comes with free mail accounts. Especially when you factor in mobile devices where filtering out the crap is mire of a pain.
Once Mobile Me gets free, iDisk becomes the obvious path for Apple. Of course, there will still be options for a paid premium service.
There is no need for a free service. Zip nada none.
Frankly I've never understood this need that many people have to turn Mobile Me into another crap free service. If you want free go with the free alternatives as nobody is stoping you. For many of us the mail and sync features are well worth the cost of mobile me. Really if GMail or whatever does everything you want why pester the Mac community with demands that mobile me be free? It doesn't make any sense at all.
We won't be getting either, as my wife wants an imac, for the big screen (Skyping with our grand kids, she wants the bigger screen for seeing them).
She got somewhat spoiled by skyping on my 30" at the office
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On a side note. I went in to the local Apple store the other day, and was VERY surprised to see that the iPad, seems thicker, and heavier then the new AirBooks?
The AIRs are very impressive!!!
We won't be getting either, as my wife wants an imac, for the big screen (Skyping with our grand kids, she wants the bigger screen for seeing them).
Well you have to make the grand kids and the wife happy! Due to the way that an iPad is like an extension to the PC I actually think we will be seeing iPad driving customers back to desktop machines. For many people an iPad does everything they need to do portability wise. On the desktop better screens and ergonomics rule the day.
She got somewhat spoiled by skyping on my 30" at the office
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I just hope you have plenty of bandwidth at home.
If you still insist you want to import directly from SD card, just buy the camera kit and stop complaining on the internet that an SD slot is a must-have. Not having it is a minor inconvenience, nothing more. I think Apple will simply look how many camera kits they have sold for iPad 1, if it's a huge number of them they will add an SD slot, but honestly I don't think more than 1 or 2 percent of iPad users bought the camera kit.
I don't think Apple will ever include an SD slot in the iPad, simply because it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
They may or may not add it. But the idea here is to eventually get to a stage where a person could get an Apple tablet as their only computer - or first computer - and can get their photos from a digital camera or videos from digital video camera on the iPad without the need for a "dongle", or to know what a dongle is. Besides, dongles are 'messy'. They want to simply view their holiday photos on a big screen. There's no need or want to involve a "computer" at this stage. It's purely for viewing. If you don't get that then I can't help you. Not to mention there are several photo editing apps on the iPad, which leads me to believe you may not own one. Whether you own one or not is not important, anyway. My point is it does solve a problem.
That's not saying they will do it. But it is a pretty good reason. I went on holidays recently where I had my iPad and we had a digital camera with us, but we had to suffer until we went home. I no longer have a laptop, and if I did I was trying to get a break from work, so I wouldn't have brought it.
If you still insist you want to import directly from SD card, just buy the camera kit and stop complaining on the internet that an SD slot is a must-have. Not having it is a minor inconvenience, nothing more.
For me it's like the iSight on an iMac or MacBook. I never use it, but I like the fact that it's there, as I can seeing myself needing it at some point. If it wasn't there I could always buy an external web cam, which are inexpensive, but it wouldn't be the same. An SD card, like an built-in iSight, would be part of the product, and it would do something.
They may or may not add it. But the idea here is to eventually get to a stage where a person could get an Apple tablet as their only computer - or first computer - and can get their photos off a digital camera or digital video camera without the need for a dongle.
In hotel room, on holiday: "If only there was a way to view these digital camera pictures on our iPad. If it had an SD card there would."
Sure, if a company adds something they have a reason, and some companies, like Apple, have very clear reasons for additions.
For example, the Nexus S comes with NFC but can it do with it? What built-in SW and services interact with it? I don’t think anything did when it came out. With Apple I expect their adoption of NFC will also have SW and services that make the HW addition useful, even if all they do is include APIs for 3rd-parties in the SDK.
IOW, if Apple includes an SD card slot it will be A) because an overwhelming number of people that Apple listens to have requested it (which seems odd if it’s just for a cameras), and/or
Personally, I don’t think it will have an SD card slot but I am indifferent either way. These Chinese cases are odd as making a space for a SIM card through the case doesn’t make sense as it’s not a card you typically remove often. At this point I don’t even feel assured the cases are genuine. For a March or April release isn’t 4 to 5 months a long time to give case makers (and that’s only when these cases came to our attention)?
The SD card slot versus NO SD card slot is like the external web cam versus the built-in web cam. It's nice to know it's there and that it does do something useful when you need it. It takes up no extra space and it isn't something 'extra' you have to think about. Additionally, it creates a product of better value.
I don't think Apple will ever include an SD slot in the iPad, simply because it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. The only arguments that people who want to have it built in have are 'almost any device with a CPU has an SD slot, so Apple should include it as well' or 'I want to transfer content directly from my digital camera'. The first argument is pretty unimpressive, why would Apple care about what other devices have or have not?
Actually you are the only one to state that argument in that manner. Further you are right it is an un impressive argument.
They sell the iPad based on its own merits, and having every port or slot thinkable is not one of them, if you want that, just buy a laptop. The second argument is just silly if you ask me. How many people will *actually* grab photo's from their camera and put them directly on their iPad, without first putting them on a PC?
I would suggest that many would. There are a number of reasons as to why you might want to do so. First; the iPad might be the only PC you are traveling with. Second; you might be engaged in selling real estate and need to update an online listing and prefer the iPad to the iPhone. Third; you could be on a business trip and need to zip some pics back to the plant for a review of some sort. Fourth; you might be hiking in the back woods and simply need the security of having something backed up. Fifth; maybe you come upon a crime scene and find that you are the first there to be able to upload the blood spattered images to the net. Sixth; you are buying a boat and post some pics on line to get feedback from fellow boaters. Seventh; you are away on business and the wife is at the ball game snapping pics of the kids which she forwards to you. Eight; you need to catLog some pics that are used to document an event.
I could go on and on but there are plenty of examples where you might need to take pictures with a higher quality camera than what is in a cell phone and manipulate them without a camera. Some of those pics might not even survive for more than a few days. The point is photography is not just an art, it can be used in conjunction with business activities or for fleeting communications.
Anyone even remotely serious about their photo's will want to select, edit, post-process, index, archive and backup their photo's first, and for that you will want to use a PC anyway.
Not always. I can be a very serious photographer but there are times when the pics are just there for the moment, to solve a problem or as extended communications.
As soon as you have the photo's on a PC anyway, putting them back on SD to get them on your iPad is actually less convenient than just using iTunes over USB, dropbox over Wifi, and (very likely) in the future something similar to AirPlay but for images (maybe it already exists).
OK so who has even mentioned doing this. You are creating excuses out of things that don't make sense.
The same holds for any other type of content that's located somewhere on another computer or the internet. Accessing content wirelessly and automatically syncing to onboard storage are the future, SD cards to carry around content will slowly become a niche use-case for devices that are not always online, and can't easily sync content periodically.
This whole idea of the cloud is just baloney. Anybody that travels even a bit knows full well that the could isn't always there and if it is often isn't fast enough to even send pics across.
If you still insist you want to import directly from SD card, just buy the camera kit and stop complaining on the internet that an SD slot is a must-have. Not having it is a minor inconvenience, nothing more.
We could say that about a lot of features that the iPad could have. The point with the SD slot is that it is a very low cost way to add additional functionality to the iPad. Further it would get used extensively which is more than can be said about an HDMI port or some of the other requests seen here.
I think Apple will simply look how many camera kits they have sold for iPad 1, if it's a huge number of them they will add an SD slot, but honestly I don't think more than 1 or 2 percent of iPad users bought the camera kit.
Well that would be fairly stupid as who will go out of their way to pay for a camera connection kit when they have alternatives? in the end you don't really have an argument that makes sense to me. Not for keeping the SD card out of iPad 2 anyways.
Sure, if a company adds something they have a reason, and some companies, like Apple, have very clear reasons for additions.
Apple added SD slots to the mac books some time ago and honestly I don't believe they had a reason beyond making camera users happy. If they have another use for that port they have kept it a very good secret.
For example, the Nexus S comes with NFC but can it do with it? What built-in SW and services interact with it? I don?t think anything did when it came out. With Apple I expect their adoption of NFC will also have SW and services that make the HW addition useful, even if all they do is include APIs for 3rd-parties in the SDK.
It might also be a feature for the Asian market where NFC is already a strong selling point.
IOW, if Apple includes an SD card slot it will be A) because an overwhelming number of people that Apple listens to have requested it (which seems odd if it?s just for a cameras), and/or
I don't buy the idea that Apple doesn't listen to customers. AS to limitations to camera users, frankly that would be a start. In the long run all apps should have access to the SD card to use as they see fit but that is another story.
Personally, I don?t think it will have an SD card slot but I am indifferent either way. These Chinese cases are odd as making a space for a SIM card through the case doesn?t make sense as it?s not a card you typically remove often. At this point I don?t even feel assured the cases are genuine. For a March or April release isn?t 4 to 5 months a long time to give case makers (and that?s only when these cases came to our attention)?
I discount the iPad 2 cases and even the recent rumors because nothing so far seems to be based on a real leak of info. Good or bad Apple seems to have succeeded in turning the spigots off pretty tight. What I'm trying to promote is the idea that an SD slot can be a desirable feature for many and is something that costs Apple little to implement. By little I mean both in cost and in engineering effort.
You said a lot of things, but none of them make me want to reconsider my view that no SD slot is just a minor inconvenience for a small percentage of owners. For those owners, there is the camera connection kit. You present a lot of sensible use cases for having an SD slot, but none of them are very convincing, they are all a little fabricated if you ask me, and not what the overwhelming majority of people do with their iPads. I think your assumption that some people will want to replace their computers with an iPad completely, or use it on-the-go to enter or create content on it directly, is overestimating the usefulness of a tablet device for content creation and management. For some tasks a laptop is simply a much better device. The real-estate picture example you mention are an example of that: I really don't see real estate agents running around with a camera to take pictures and a tablet to upload said pictures directly from an SD card to their website. A laptop with a keyboard will always be a much better tool for that job, and using a tablet instead of a laptop has no advantages at all in this case.
I think you're really trying too hard to make an SD slot more important than it actually is. Note that I'm not saying that SD cards are useless or that it would somehow be a bad thing if the iPad 2 has an SD slot, just that it isn't a big deal, and not having it would be nothing more than a minor inconvenience with a pretty reasonable workaround (the camera kit). From Apple's perspective it is pretty obvious why they wouldn't include one: people would expect to be able to use it just like they use SD cards on a PC, and will be disappointed that many applications and file types won't work as expected, which will hurt the perception they have of the iPad. It just isn't worth going that route just to satisfy a very small minority of people who think an SD slot is a must-have killer feature.
Well that would be fairly stupid as who will go out of their way to pay for a camera connection kit when they have alternatives? in the end you don't really have an argument that makes sense to me. Not for keeping the SD card out of iPad 2 anyways.
You assume the only incentive for Apple to include or exclude functionality from their products is so they can extract more money from accessories, which is a bit of a negative assumption in my opinion. Apple has a long history of excluding hardware or software support from their products to try to deprecate them and move to something else they think is better. But they also have a history of reversing such decisions or (re-) introducing features that many people complained about. If there really are a lots and lots of people who want to have an SD slot, they will add it, and deprecate the camera kit. Brand image and sales of the iPad itself are much more important than the few bucks they make on the camera kit.
I didn't know they'd installed wireless throughout the Serengeti. Amazing how prevalent the Internet is these days.
I did say "if!"
Best