Apple March 2nd Special Event: Live Blog [Finished]

There's no one more thing! :(



ArsTechnica 14:14PM:
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Steve is having all the people from Apple in the audience stand up. Steve says he wants to thank everyone's families for supporting Apple. Steve says thanks for coming.








Engadget 14:13PM:
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Steve is back...


"This is worth repeating. It's in Apple's DNA that technology is not enough. It's tech married with the liberal arts and the humanities. Nowhere is that more true than in the post-PC products. Our competitors are looking at this like it's the next PC market. That is not the right approach to this. These are pos-PC devices that need to be easier to use than a PC, more intuitive."









Apple.com has been updated with info on the new iPad. http://www.apple.com/ipad









MacWorld 14:05PM:
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iPad 2 recap: faster, lighter, thinner, cameras, gyro, iOS 4.3 with FaceTime and PhotoBooth, iMovie & GarageBand ($5 each), over 65,000 apps; 3G on AT&T and Verizon from day one; same 10 hour battery life; same prices, starting at $499.
Black and white, Smart Covers. We think 2011 is going to be the year of iPad 2.

Another video...

MuscleNerd 14:04PM:
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iPad cameras are 720 and VGA







ArsTechnica 14:03PM:
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"I'm blown away with this stuff", "this is no toy", "this is something you can use for real work", "I can't tell you how many hours teenagers are going to spend with this"

GarageBand for iPad is also $4.99

Steve is back on stage

MacWorld 14:02PM:
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To write a song, you need more than one track, because you're combining different instruments. Tap the tracks button and it brings up the canvas (looks more like the main Garage Band interface from the Mac)

Trim and drag the region to layer the song. Supports up to 8 tracks. Swipe over track icons to get a mixing board.





ArsTechnica 13:58PM:
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bringing up the Smart Guitar. Just take a finger, pick a chord, and strum your iPad. "Campfires will never be the same". you can tap individual notes too in the Smart Guitar.

Recording is very simple too: bright red button at the top of the screen for every instrument







Engadget 13:57PM:
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Demo'ing drums now. Ha! It looks like a drum kit from the dummer's view.

If you hit the rim of the snare you get rim sounds, you can move from bell outward on the cymbals and the sounds change accordingly.

MacWorld 13:54PM:
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Garage Band keyboard has dynamics: tap it softly for quiet notes, or harder for louder. Use the accelerometer to measure the force of the tap. Only seeing some of the keys, because this is a window into a full-range piano. Use the octave switches to go up or down. It actually changes the skin of the keyboard.







ArsTechnica 13:51PM:
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Next up is something you'll really like: GarageBand

touch instruments (grand piano, organ, guitars, etc.), guitar amps & effects, 8-track recording and mixing, 250+ loops, email AAC file of your song, Compatible with Mac version



Engadget 13:50PM:
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Music automatically switches with themes...

They've got a new "neon" theme -- think Miami Vice.

New sharing options... YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo and more.

Precision editing, sending HD video around with one tap. A lot of great features in an app we're going to price at just $4.99. Available on March 11th."





MacWorld 13:49PM:
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Users requested work on audio, so they've done a lot there. Waveform views of all clips. Double tap to bring up clip settings and turn the volume up on a clip.

Switch over to audio bin to add one of over 50 sound effects.

Three audio tracks in addition to background audio. In fact, you can record voice over right on top. Three new themes, with a total of 8.



ArsTechnica 13:47PM:
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there's a camera button on the right that lets you use the iPad 2's camera to record realtime, or you can pull from your video bin

you can tap on a clip and get two handles to choose the segment you want to include

if you want to do a more precise edit, there's a precision editor (reverse pinch) and you can see the content before & after the edit











MacWorld 13:42PM:
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In addition to the two new apps to 4.3, two new apps to introduce today.

"We like to do applications because it gives us feedback about what it's like to be an app developer…but also it can set the bar."

The first one is iMovie for iPad. iMovie for iPad has a precision editor, multitrack audio recording ("This is not a toy, you can really edit movie on this thing."), new themes, AirPlay, share your videos in HD with popular sites, and its universal, so it will also run on iPhone. Demo...



ArsTechnica 13:42PM:
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supports iPad, GSM iPhone 4, and iPhone 3GS, and 3rd & 4th generation iPod touch. CDMA iPhone gets no love?)

Steve is back on stage





CNET 13:41PM:
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"The size of the iPad is just ideal for video conferencing," Forstall says.

Similar to on other iOS devices, the FaceTime app can swap between the front or back cameras.



CNET 13:40PM:
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Also coming to the iPad 2 (as expected) is FaceTime, Apple's video chat service. This works between two iPads, between an iPad and an iPod Touch, and between an iPad and a Mac, Forstall says. Now we're getting a demo of that going from the iPad.



Engadget 13:38PM:
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"Here I have an iPad 2 which is mirrored up there. Let me launch Photo Booth. The iPad 2 is so powerful that we're looking at 9 live video streams at once." Real time effect demos, like on a desktop. Scott is cycling though them to great hilarity.



ArsTechnica 13:37PM:
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to go along with these, we built new software, starting with Photo Booth. if you've used it on the Mac, you know how fun it is, and now you can use it on the iPad. Scott is now demoing Photo Booth on the iPad.iOS 4.3 adds personal hotspot for the iPhone 4.

Engadget 13:36PM:
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"When you tap on the AirPlay icon, it looks around and finds your Apple TV. It's that easy. We're making it even better in iOS 4.3. If you're sharing photos, you can use all of the built in slide show options. And now in 4.3, apps from the Store and even websites can do video or audio."









MacWorld 13:34PM:
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Significantly increased Safari performance. Took the Nitro JavaScript engine from Mac OS X and moved it on top of iOS. Now, iOS runs JavaScript 2x as fast as before.

Tunes home sharing! Lets you get at all of your music, movies, TV shows that are store in iTunes on your computer, directly from your iOS device. Wirelessly stream over home Wi-Fi to device.





ArsTechnica 13:32PM:
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Scott Forstall is here to talk about iOS 4.3



ArsTechnica 13:32PM:
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5 poly colors, 5 leather, Poly cases are $39 and leather cases are $69.

Engadget 13:31PM:
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"It automatically wakes the iPad when you open it, and puts it to sleep when it closes it. Now how is this held on? Do we have screws? No -- we use magnets."

They grasp it, and auto-align it. I'll show you a little video. It's so cool. You can remove it in a second. It adds minimal weight and thickness. It's got a microfiber cloth that cleans the screen."

"It's really easy to remove or change the cover."







MacWorld 13:30PM:
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Went through all this trouble to make a beautiful design and covered up with a case. But added thickness and made it more difficult to use with accessories. Started from beginning to design case alongside the product. Now it's a cover to cover the glass.

"It's a Smart Cover" It bends and golds around.







Engadget 13:28PM:
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"26 countries or more on March 25th. And that is iPad 2."
Some other new features. HDMI out. We have a cable that does just that."
"Mirrored video output." up to 1080p!








Pricing remains the same as the current iPad. It ships March 11th!

Loop 13:25PM:
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"You would think we have to give up some of the iPad’s legendary battery life." But Jobs says that it has the same 10 hour battery life as the iPad, with over a month of standby.









MacWorld 13:24PM:
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In addition to both colors, there are models that work with AT&T and Verizon 3G networking, from day one.





MacWorld 13:22PM:
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It's also lighter. Goes from 1.5lbs to 1.3lbs. "You might not think that's a lot, but when you get down to 1.5 lbs, a tenth of a pound is a lot."

And it comes in two colors. Blakc and white. "And we're shipping white from day one."



Engadget 13:21PM:
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"Second, we've built in some cameras for video. We've got a rear and front facing. More on that in a few minutes."
"We've also built in the gyroscope we have in the iPhone and iPod touch."
"Having built in all this stuff, one of the striking things about the iPad 2 is that's dramatically thinner. 33% thinner."
"The new iPad 2 is thinner than your iPhone 4."



Up to 9x faster graphics



MacWorld 13:20PM:
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"I think this is going to be the first dual core tablet to ship in volume."
"And the first iPad was no slouch."

Dual core CPU.

Engadget 13:19PM:
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"What is iPad 2. What have we learned? It is an all new design. It's a completely new design. And it's dramatically faster. We have a new chip we call A5."
Engadget 13:17PM:
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"We've gotten off to an exceptional first year. We'd like to build on that. What about 2011? Everyone's got a tablet. Will 2011 be the year of the copycat? If we did nothing, maybe a little bit... probably not."

MacWorld 13:16PM:
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Ron Johnson: "In 10 years of retail, I've never seen anything like the launch of the iPad."

Schiller: "These are uses that change people's lives."

Talking about working with autistic kids via the iPad.







Video declares iPad as magical. Sales through the roof.

Engadget 13:13PM:
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"One of the things that's helped us roll this out so fast is our retail stores. They were built for moments like this. We have hundreds of Apple stores now. Without them, we wouldn't have been successful."

"We made a video about 2010, the year of the iPad..." Video time!

MacWorld 13:12PM:
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Apple retail as an important driver in Apple's success... so true, great to hear Jobs come right out and say it.

Steve is showing off iPad app selectionMacWorld 13:11PM:
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App Store has over 350,000. More than 65,000 take advantage of the iPad.
Now, the 65,000 apps compares to their competitors with at most 100 apps (picture of Android Honeycomb icon).

Engadget 13:09PM:
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"Many have said this is the most successful consumer product ever launched. Over 90% market share... our competitors were flummoxed."

ArsTechnica 13:08PM:
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Sold almost 15 milion iPads in 2010 (over 9 months from April to December)

Engadget 13:08PM:
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"Today we're here to talk about Apple's third post-PC blockbuster product. That's how we think about these things. We started with the iPod, then we added the iPhone, and then the iPad. Every one has been a blockbuster."

MacWorld 13:07PM:
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Another milestone: the App Store. Recently just paid out over $2 billion to the developers cumulatively, in total.
"Lot of people try to copy this, I think we're way ahead."
Recently shipped 100 millionth iPhone.
Engadget 13:05PM:
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"We have over 2500 publishers in the iBookstore."
"Recently, we just crossed 200m accounts."

ArsTechnica 13:04PM:
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"we've been working on this product for a while and I didn't want to miss today"

first we're going to talk about iBooks
- Random House is bringing over 17,000 books to the iBookstore
- users have downloaded over 100 million books



Engadget 13:03PM:
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Whoa! Steve is out! Standing ovation for Steve Jobs. People are flipping out. He looks good!Engadget 13:02PM:
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Ladies and gentlemen, our presentation will begin shortly. Please switch devices to silent mode."

We will be providing coverage of Apple's special event here using a compilation of sources to make sure that you get an uninterrupted feed.

The event begins March 2nd at 10:00am PST / 1:00pm EST and takes place at the San Francisco Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

Apple is widely expected to unveil a new iPad and possibly a revamped MobileMe and iOS 5.

Check back in less than 3 hours!!