iPad

Apple released a new iPad TV (video) ad on Aug 17th (embedded below)…

This time iPad is DELICIOUS! Apple features a half dozen (or so) apps in the add – I noticed Epicurious, Flipboard, Fruit Ninja, iBooks, Brushes, Pages, The Elements (I believe) and Star Walk…

The ad was created by Apple’s Los Angeles based ad agency TBWA (Media Arts Lab) – the mastermind behind the effort was Duncan Milner (CCO), he was supported by ECDs Eric Grunbaum and Scott Trattner, CD Chuck Monn, ACD Demian Oliveira, AD Jay Berry, copywriter Julia Oh. Agency producers were Perrin Rausch and Nathan Nowak.

The ad was shot by director Mark Coppos (Green Dot Films) – Michael Farrell was director of photography. Editor was Jared Coller of Nomad Editing Company. Finally post production work was completed atwas done at Dtrain FX by Ben Gibbs.

Here is the full list of credits (Source areadesigners @ YouTube):

The commercial titled Delicious was done by TBWA\Media Arts Lab advertising agency for Apple iPad (APPLE company) in USA.

Advertising Agency: TBWA\Media Arts Lab, USA
Chief Creative Officer: Duncan Milner
Executive Creative Directors: Eric Grunbaum, Scott Trattner
Creative Director: Chuck Monn
Associate Creative Director: Demian Oliveira
Art Director: Jay Berry
Copywriter: Julia Oh
Agency Producers: Perrin Rausch, Nathan Nowak
Production Co: Green Dot Films
Director: Mark Coppos
DP: Michael Farrell
Editorial Co: Nomad Editing Company, Inc.
Editor: Jared Coller
Post Co: Dtrain FX
Artist: Ben Gibbs

Here is the messaging script:
————————————-
iPad is:
delicious
current
learning
playful
literary
artful
friendly
productive
scientific
magical

iPad
————————————-

Yahoo has released a revamped mobile web version of its popular mail service YahooMail, this time completely rewritten in HTML5. I am not a big YahooMail fan – yet, since I still have one account with them (a ’90s relic) I went and tested the darn thing. In short: ITS SLICK!

To access the service just fire up your iPad Safari and hit yahoomail.com – the service recognizes your OS and reroutes you to the updated web version rewritten for iPad in HTML5. As a matter of fact, the webpage transforms so much that you get a feeling that you are running an app, not a web page. This time Yahoo has gotten closer to its rivals Google and Apple (both already sport fancy mail apps/webmail clients)…

Go check out a blog post by Lee Parry, Yahoo’s product manager who promised to the community:

Of course this is just the first version, and we’ll be constantly iterating to add new features, improve performance, and make Yahoo! Mail for iPad the best it can possibly be.

Just wanted to drop a quick note here and to thank all of you who keep coming to this blog. I have an unexpected family commitment that consumes more or less all of my time – I’ll be putting the blog on a hiatus for a couple of days/weeks – I’ll start posting as soon as we are over the hump.

Cheers!

IO

TNW Apple has a post on Ten (big and small) Things That Suck on the iPad.
Boris’ overall impression with the device is positive and the issues described are tagged as a ‘no deal breaker’

Note that #6 (No International Support) relates to the iTunes support, not international language support which was covered here.

Here is the conclusion:

The iPad still rocks. It is an amazing device and for $499 you would be crazy not to get one (if you can afford it).
The issues described here will undoubtedly get fixed over time and while annoying are no deal breaker.

The issue list

1. You can’t hover
2. Lots of HTML rendering issues
3. There is no ‘up’ or ‘down’
4. Apps are re-arranging themselves
5. No International support?
6. No stereo sound?
7. No Settings for iWork’s Apps?
8. Wi-Fi is buggy and unpredictable
9. iPhone Apps don’t rotate
10. No ‘No-Flash’ indication

As many expected, Apple today announced a price drop for the complete line of iPad products. Based on the “% decrease” metrics, the low end 16GB Wi-Fi model looks the most attractive – with all basic features and 40% discount you can have this puppy for a symbolic $299. The folks who pre-ordered iPads or reserved them in the local Apple stores will be eligible for a corresponding refund (paid out via store credit or iTunes certificates).

Hit the link to see the PR release and official price drop announcement directly from the source.

Do you need to transfer photos from camera to the iPad? No worries then – Apple announced a Camera Connectivity Kit that should make it very easy to do so.
Here is the official Apple marketing pitch:

The Camera Connection Kit gives you two ways to import photos and videos from a digital camera. The Camera Connector lets you import your photos and videos to iPad using the camera’s USB cable. Or you can use the SD Card Reader to import photos and videos directly from the camera’s SD card.

iPad Camera Connectivity:

iSupply just posted a virtual teardown manufacturing cost numbers for all models – I’ve shuffled the numbers a bit bit it seems that Apple has a hefty margin on each model (50%+) and I would not be surprised if we were to see big price drops within first three months after the release. If I had to predict I’d probably say that we will be seeing a $100 to $150 price drop as sometimes in June. Needless to say – the most expensive element of the system is the screen, followed by memory and 3G components. Take a look at the table below and hit the comments sections…

• (1) Li Ion Polymer 25W
• (2) ARM Core with GPU Integrated SoC (iSupply assumes this)
• (3) 4GB (512MB, PoP)
• (4) Single chip solution
• (5) Accelerometer, Compass – assumed present in all configurations
• (6) Baseband, RF, PA, etc.

When iPod was released almost 10 years ago the accessory market was slow to pick up. In the beggining a couple of vendors offered more or less good speaker options, one could buy a pair of headphones and a screen protector decals – and that was it. Ten years after, the iPod accessory market is a jungle – you can pretty much find anything you want (or need) and that uses or helps use the iPod (see image below – iLounge iPod Toilet Paper Roll Dispenser).
Enter the iPad! This time around the accessories market will not be dormant for years – there is a slew of new accessories being announced or already demoed (I am already getting spam posts with links to iPad cables, screen protectors, cases, etc.) To sum this up, here is what Belkin one of the largest iPod accessories manufacturers had to say on the subject:

“The iPad market has huge potential,” said Jamie Elgie, a product management director; at accessory company Belkin International. “We think it has the potential to be game-changing and we need to be on top of it.”

The hype goes mainstream:

Mark Sigal at O’Reilly Radar published a long article mostly revolving around the possible uses of iPad, the Apple’s upcoming tablet. In short, he sees it as a mostly Interactive Learning Platform, Chem/Physics lab device, Narrative/Reading gizmo and Info/Reference guide. You can see the article here: Mark Sigal at O’Reilly Radar on iPod. To sum it up, Sigal feels that iPad is perfectly positioned to capture a piece of the Book/Magazine market as well as to penetrate into educational device market. Also, see more Sigal’s notes on iPad for additional elaboration.

Rob Enderle at TGdaily has a nice article on iPad and the future of Apple. In short, Enderle infers that both Apple and Intel are at the crossroads and that both see the tablet market as an area for revenue growth. Enderle also goes on and makes parallels between Apple and IBM/Microsoft as it relates to the recent antitrust calls against Apple.

A bit off topic but still relevant, GearLog claims the supremacy of MSFT’s The Courier over Apple’s iPad. The site has a nice picture (fake?) of the Courier (via Gizmodo). PC Magazine has a similar article here: MSFT Tablet – you’ll find ~40 comments on the same subject here: Microsoft Courier Tablet

Lauren Walter elaborates on recent iPad rumors and outlines what to expect from iPad once it’s released (date still unknown).