Apple March 7th Special Event: Live Blog [Finished]

14:25PM:
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Add we're done!

Follow iClarified on Twitter, Facebook, or RSS for upcoming detailed information about all the new software and hardware released today.




Engadget 14:24PM:
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Tim Cook is thanking everyone at Apple, calling it the privilege of a lifetime to work with "the​ most innovative [people] on earth."

"Only Apple could deliver this kind of integration in such a beautiful, integrated and easy-to-use​ way.

"2012: There's a lot to look forward to." "We are just getting started. "




Gdgt 14:22PM:
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"We have redefined once again the category that Apple created just two years ago with the original iPad. We are so proud of this product that we've prepared an ad, I'd love to play it for you."

Ad: When a screen becomes this good, colors become more vibrant, words are pin-sharp, everything is more brilliant.



Gdgt 14:21PM:
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"This is really huge - so many more people can afford to get into this groundbreaking technology. This is a really big deal."

"There really is something for everyone at everyone. I'd like to turn it back to Tim."





14:20PM:
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Phil confirms price of iPad 2 will drop by $100 to $399 for the 16GB Wi-Fi model.

CNET 14:17PM:
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Nobody's called it the iPad 3, or iPad HD, or anything else yet. It's simply been referred to as the "new iPad" and "third-generation iPad."

Video going over how the pixels were elevated to keep signals from getting crossed.



Verge 14:15PM:
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"So if you can't tell by now, we love this iPad and all the new software it can run. We created a video about it."







Engadget 14:15PM:
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Priced $4.99, available today! "I don't know about you but the second I'm out of here I'm going to​ be downloading it."

Gdgt 14:14PM:
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"We've brought ALL of iLife to the iPad. Don't let anyone ever tell you that you can't create on an iPad."

Gdgt 14:13PM:
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Insert various elements in to photo journals: maps, dates, notes, even weather (which pulls the date and location and pulls in the archived weather data).

Publishes to iCloud! Outputs a link for sharing. Sounds kind of like .Mac. Remember .Mac?

Engadget 14:09PM:
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Tapping in a specific area lets you adjust specific areas of the image. Touch and drag to brighten up the dark areas in an underexposed image, then touch again in the sky to tweak the saturation.

He's using a Lighten brush and using that you can brighten up a specific area of an image.

There's also Sharpen, Soften, Darken and a general "Repair" that has some magical sparkles spinning around the brush.



Engadget 14:06PM:
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He's auto-enhancing the photo now. With one-tap he just straightened a horizon photo and, with another, it fixed the contrast.

Cropping is quick and easy, and it's a tap to go back to the untouched original. Very fluid and intuitive.



Verge 14:05PM:
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New swiping options to flip through photos in a set. Extremely fluid photo manipulation... he's working with a 12 mp image. Can work with images up to 19 mp.

"Once you've got the photos we have great sharing options."

Engadget 14:03PM:
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Lots of shelves containing albums of photos. Just tap on one to bring the editing interface up.​ Swipe in from the side to bring in a thumbnail view.

Yes, a bezel gesture!

Swipe in from the left to look at other photos in the album. He's going through a huge number of pics he captured in Antarctica. Penguins and seals, mostly, and lots of cold folks in red suits.





Gdgt 14:02PM:
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"Today we're introducing iPhoto for iPad. And it is amazing."
"Why do it need iPhoto for iPad? If you're someone who truly loves photos, that's what it's for."
It's all about photo editing - effects, editing, photo-beaming (from device to device), and new photo journals.



Engadget 14:00PM:
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$4.99, free update again if you have it, also available today.



Engadget 13:58PM:
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Major updates to iMovie -- storyboards and new editing chops.
Looking at a trailer now of the new iMovie.

CNET 13:56PM:
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Garageband is getting "smart strings," a note editor, iCloud integration and sharing.
It's also got a new feature called Jam Session. Up to 4 iOS devices running Garageband can play together over bluetooth or Wi-Fi.
And now we're getting a demo of how that works in video form.



ArsTechnica 13:55PM:
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Phil's back. "You may recall when we launched the first iPad, we launched a few apps along with it to show how far you could go with creativity software." And that was iWork.
Updating them all for the new iPad. Stunning new 3D charts and animations, new builds and transition, and all three take advantage of the new Retina display.
Remain $9.99 each and it's a free update. Available today on the App Store.

With the iPad 2, we introduced some other apps today: iLife apps. Garage Band and iMovie. They're updated as well.





Gdgt 13:53PM:
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"This new device has more memory and higher screen resolution than an Xbox 360 or PS3."



Engadget 13:50PM:
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Next up is Mike Capps, president of Epic Games.
"Good morning everybody, it is great to be back."
Infinity Blade: Dungeons.
You're on a quest to craft the "ultimate weapon" -- the Infinity Blade. We have HDR graphics and tone-mapping. Looks of beautiful lighting and action. It's definitely a step up from the current Infinity Blade. With a you can connect enemies for a chain-attack.



Gdgt 13:48PM:
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AutoDesk: In Autodesks's 29 year history they had over 10 million desktop customers; on iOS they've reached tens of millions of users in just two years. "It's absolutely amazing." Introducing Sketchbook Ink - focuses on line art.

ArsTechnica 13:47PM:
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Asked a few developers to spend a week and show what they can do with all that amazing graphics horsepower. Three demos. The first is from namco. James Shelton, Game Design Director.

Skygamblers: Air Supremacy running on the new iPad.

Extra graphics performance lets them increase level of details. Resolution means absolutely none of the detail goes to waste.

Console-quality single- and multiplayer experiences. This giant screen can't even show you. Only on the new iPad itself. Launches exclusively on iOS later this month.

Engadget 13:45PM:
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US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, Japan.
All launching on the same day. Apple's biggest rollout ever.

"The team has worked really hard to make all the software you use look gorgeous."
All the stock apps have been updated and optimized.

"Everything has been updated, but as you remember when the iPhone 4 went to the retina display,​ developers didn't have to do anything and their apps looked better."



Gdgt 13:44PM:
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Comes in black and white, starts at $499.
499, 599, and 699 for 16, 32, and 64GB. 629, 729, and 829 with 4G - same prices. March 16th!
"If you want one as badly as I do, you'll be happy to know pre-orders start today."



Verge 13:43PM:
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"You may be thinking that a lot of these technologies consume a lot of power. So how does it do on battery life?"
"The new iPad delivers the same as the iPad 2 in battery life."
"When you're on 4G, 9 hours."
"Yet it remains incredibly thing. Just 9.4mm. And light, just 1.4lbs."



Verge 13:43PM:
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"Now if you remember, when 3G phones started showing up, they had different bands. Now the same thing is happening with LTE."
"So for example in the US, we'll have two versions of the iPad, one for Verizon and one for AT&T."
"Around the world, they'll roam on 3G."
"You'll be able to use them as a personal hotspot."

13:42PM:
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Demo, HSPA vs. 4G LTE.

Engadget 13:41PM:
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Fifth feature: 4G LTE!
iPad 2 has 3.1Mbps on EV-DO, 7.2 on HSPA.
New iPad now has 21Mbps HSPA+ and DC-HSDPA at 42Mbps, with LTE taking the cake at 73Mbps.
"Performance is amazing and you're going to love using it on these new high-speed networks."



Engadget 13:41PM:
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Fourth feature: voice dictation.
"The iPad like all great iOS devices has a great keyboard and now you'll see there's a new key on the bottom: a microphone."
Supports US English, British, Australian, French, German and Japanese.

Gdgt 13:40PM:
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"Number three: HD video recording now in 1080p resolution!"
"Wherever you are, you've got a great camera built-in to record full 1080p video with."
Built-in stabilization. Looks pretty great!
"It is perfect to watch these videos back on this gorgeous large Retina Display.





Gdgt 13:39PM:
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"Second feature: an iSight camera. As you know, on the front of our iPad we have a FaceTime camera. The new iPad has a great rear iSight camera - we brought the optics system from the iPhone 4S…"

Auto-exposure, auto-focus, auto-face detection, great edge-to-edge detail, AF-lock, "It is just a blast to use.

Engadget 13:35PM:
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A5X processor is confirmed, quad-core graphics!
Comparing to a Tegra 3, Apple says the A5 is "twice as fast" and the A5X offers "four times the​ performance." Not sure of the benchmark here, folks.

Gdgt 13:34PM:
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"When you turn on that new iPad you're going to see graphics, text, icons sharper than you can imagine. Everything you do is going to look stunning."
"Text sharper than a newspaper. Photos will look incredible. Fonts look amazing, it's a huge step forward." 2048 x 1536 pixels!
"Put another way, you all have an HDTV at home , 1080p - an iPad has more pixels. That's incredible."
"There are 264 pixels per inch in this display, and that's enough to call it a Retina Display. Why is that?" "You may recall that with an iPhone held at a normal distance your retina can't discern individual pixels. When the iPad is held at a normal distance [15-inches] it's the same result." "Now, there's four times the pixels on the new iPad display, and we need a lot of horsepower."

Engadget 13:33PM:
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"We are redefining the category that Apple created with the original iPad."
"You want to know about the new iPad?"
Retina display, sure enough! "Until you see it you can't understand how amazing it is."
"To this day no-one has yet matched that display technology,"
"This presents a problem for us in presenting it to you. For the first time an iPad has a higher​ resolution than this entire display behind you... That's a fun challenge."







Engadget 13:22PM:
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"Everyone's been wondering... who will come out with a product that's more amazing than the iPad 2?"
"Everybody's been wondering, well stop wondering. We are."
"The new iPad!"
"Today we're announcing the new iPad, and it is amazing."



Gdgt 13:21PM:
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"In some estimations there are over 100 competitive tablets that came to market just last year. And you won't find that great experience."

Showing a Twitter app running on a Samsung tablet on Android. "It kind of looks like a blown-up smartphone app - because that's exactly what it is. Compare that to Twitter on iPad…"

"Look at Yelp. Lots of white space. Tiny text, hard to read. Compare that to the iPad. This is a reason momentum on the iPad that continues to build."

MacWorld 13:19PM:
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Part of the reason is the incredible bundled apps with iPad, and the over 200,000 apps that have been custom built to take advantage of the big, beautiful multitouch screen.

These apps are gorgeous and ground-breaking. They help you create, or learn, or do almost anything. Great educational apps, stock apps, incredible games. You won't find these incredible apps on other tablets.

Gdgt 13:18PM:
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"iPad is showing up in peoples' lives all around the world. Now, when we set out to create the iPad, we set out to create not just a new product, but a new category."

"We said that in order to do that, the iPad had to be the best device for doing the things you do most often, like browsing the web and checking email. This is a tall order, but when we asked iPad users, they told us this is exactly what we'd done."



Verge 13:17PM:
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"We sold 15.4m in the last quarter alone."
"We sold more iPads in the last quarter of last year, than any PC maker sold of their PCs."
"This is a product that is less than 2 years old."



Engadget 13:16PM:
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Okay, time to talk iPad...
"We think that iPad is the poster child of the post-PC world."

"The momentum behind iPad has been incredible and it has surprised virtually everyone." 15.4 million sold in the last quarter.

Gdgt 13:16PM:
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"The new Apple TV retains the same very low price of $99 and it's available next week. Get your orders in starting today, and I'd encourage you to do that."

Engadget 13:15PM:
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He's looking through movies, including Senna, which hopefully we won't be watching now. Don't need​ to be getting misty-eyed.

It also recommends movies for you based on what you've seen. A long-press of Menu brings you back to ​the home, short tap to bring a pop-up menu.

We're playing "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close", starting at the 1:04:55 mark if you'd like to ​join in.

Gdgt 13:14PM:
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"Let's take a look at movies!" New movie UI, also has Genius.

Verge 13:14PM:
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The new interface is definitely a TV version of iOS. Icons, apps, cover flow.

CNET 13:13PM:
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Cue showing off the Photostream feature from iCloud. Fullscreen 1080p photos on your TV --up from 720p previously.

CNET 13:12PM:
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Eddy Cue, Apple SVP up on stage now, giving us a demo of the new hardware. Very app-style looking experience. Instead of the side to side style UI, it's now a big bunch of app-style icons.

Engadget 13:12PM:
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Aha, new Apple TV!
Supports 1080p with a "streamlined new user interface." Still not a basic iOS interface.
Eddy Cue up giving a demo!





Gdgt 13:10PM:
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"In just a few months we've gotten to over 100 million customers on iCloud. Part of iCloud is iTunes in the cloud. Today we're announcing that it now supports movies."

"We're also announcing that movies and TV shows in the iTunes store support 1080p HD. They are absolutely incredible quality."

Engadget 13:09PM:
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Part of iOS 5.1 available today, rolling out to Japan "over the next few weeks."
Now talking about the App Store. 585,000 apps currently in there!
"Great apps lead to more downloads, which leads to more great apps, which leads to more downloads."
It's a wonderful, hugely profitable cycle.
25 billion apps downloaded! 25 billionth was downloaded in China.





Engadget 13:07PM:
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"We thought it might be fun to let you listen to Siri from other parts of the world this morning."
Siri with an Aussie accent, speaking French and German...
And today, announcing Japan!

Gdgt 13:07PM:
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"Siri is your best friend, your intelligent personal assistant who gets things done just by asking. It's a whole new way of interfacing with your phone, and our customers tell us that they love it."



Verge 13:06PM:
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"Pretty cool isn't it?"
"Now another key to our post PC success is iOS. The world's most advanced operating system and the easiest to use. iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch are all based on it."
"We sold 62m of those devices just last quarter."
"One of our favorite new features of iOS is Siri."

Engadget 13:04PM:
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"We were so excited about the opening of this store that we prepared video."

Gdgt 13:03PM:
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"Towards the end of last year we opened a new store in the historic Grand Central Station. The turnout for the opening was off the charts."

ArsTechnica 13:02PM:
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let me give you a few examples: our retail stores
our retail stores provide the best buy



Engadget 13:02PM:
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"Apple has its feet firmly planted in the post-PC future."
"It plays to our strengths. It's what we love to do."

Gdgt 13:01PM:
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"The revolutionary device that defined a whole new category. In many ways iPad reinvented portable computing."
"Any company would be thrilled to have just one of these devices. At Apple we're fortunate to have all three, and the momentum has been staggering."
76% of Apple's revenues in these three product lines. "Apple has its feet firmly planted in the post-PC future."



Verge 13:00PM:
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"Morning. Thank you very much for joining us. We have a great morning planned."
"I'm excited to be here. I'd like to get started by talking about the post PC revolution. And Apple is at the forefront. Leading this revolution."
"We're talking about a world where the PC is no longer the center of your digital world."
"A world where the devices you use the most need to be more personal and more portable than any PC has ever been."
"We have 3 post PC products. The iPod... the iPhone, and the iPad."



12:59PM:
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Its started. Tim Cook is on stage!







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 7th 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 LTE iPad with a Retina Display and possibly a new Apple TV.

Check back in soon!!