Apple Event Meta Liveblog: All The News As It Happens


Giz AU hit the keyboards (and coffee machine) from 4:30am this morning to kick off our meta-liveblog, bringing you the best live coverage of Apple’s new iPad, Apple TV and various other shiny new things. Here’s everything you need to know, including the full play-by-play of each announcement.

As always guys, we’re looking for constructive comments. If you don’t like them Apples — that’s cool! But please don’t troll.


[7:40] Apple Store Australian pre-orders are go! PS. Holy crap, I think some sort of rainy apocolypse just hit Sydney. I’m with Alex, I really don’t want to go out in that.

[6:30] Thanks for hanging out at our iPad party!
Scroll down for a the full play-by-play, or see below for everything you need to know:

New iPad And Apple TV: Australian Pricing And 4G Facts

New iPad HD: The Third Generation
Inside Apple’s A5x Chipset: Dual-Core CPU, Quad-Core GPU
The Next Apple TV: Big, Beautiful, 1080p HD
The New iPad’s Beautiful New Retina Display
How The App Store’s Gunning For Your Dollars

[6:30] Apple Australia site has just been updated, pricing starts at $539 in Australia — but the store/pre-orders are still down. That “Resolutionary” tagline is…ouch. Expect meltdown once pre-orders actually open, if the iPad 2 pre-order system was any guide. Also means a deeper specs dive. LTE is 700, 2100 only. Which means no LTE for Aus — yet.

[6:27] So to recap: lots of iOS devices sold, Apple still likes to poke at Samsung, Siri in Japan, iCloud now supports movies, new 1080P Apple TV, New iPad with 4G and Retina Display, iWork, iLife on iOS and 2012 has “more products to come”

Alex: [6:26] It’s just “the new” iPad. A bit like “the new Scooby Doo Adventures”. Although hopefully with less Scrappy Doo.

Danny: [6:25] Yep that’s it. So no name for new iPad? I shall call it… Bob. 🙂

[6:24] And that’s your lot. It’s just “the new iPad”… which is going to make eBay listings for the first gen model interesting.


Why hello ther new iPad! GDGT

[6:23] Tim “It’s the privilege of a lifetime for me to work with the most innovative people on Earth. “

[6:22] Now running an ad that’ll be due for a bit of saturation coverage…

[6:21] US$529 for the 3G iPad 2 16GB. Exact $US100 price difference between the new and the iPad 2.

[6:21] iPad 2 gets to live — and gets a price cut. $US399, 16GB. All other sizes are “new ipad” only.

[6:18] And while I’ve got a second to think, the fact that they *only* announced US 4G carriers is worrying — suggests they have no telco partners or it’s all incorrect frequency stuff. Time will tell, I suppose.


Here, look at more iPads! Image courtesy MacWorld

[6:17] At this stage, the hook they’ve got left to announce is the name. So that will be what they’ll announce last. Right now, talking up the tech (lightly) in the video; apparently the pixels in the retina display are “lifted out” of the signal path to reduce interference.

[6:16] Apple store is still down, but I wonder. Has anyone ever tried contacting the telesales numbers they list during a keynote? I wonder what happens?

[6:15] And now, Demo video time. Expect this stuff plastered all over Apple’s web site any minute now.

[6:14] “We’ve brought ALL of iLife to the iPad. Don’t let anyone ever tell you that you can’t create on an iPad.”

[6:14] And it’s universal; iPhoto on iPhone. Those tiny brushes on a small screen will be … interesting.

[6:14] But not yet up on the App store, based on my own 5s search.


Photo journal looks great, but it’s going right at Facebook Timeline. You can add notes, a calendar, a map, geotagging, and a weather icon that lets you know what it was like outside that day (or just look at the picture?). Image courtesy Ars Technica

[6:13] iPhoto also does journals, where you can caption photos. But not just text — can insert maps, weather, etc. That’s pretty cool.

[6:14] $4.99, available today

[6:12] By my count, we’re over ten minutes on iPhoto alone. Not sure if the new iPad itself even got that much…

[6:10] iPhoto also includes effects, including ‘vintage’ and ‘artistic’. Are the Instagram folks also going to be waving angry fists towards Cupertino?

[6:09] A lot of time spent on iPhoto demo. Which probably means we’ll see a LOT of advertising of it as a key feature once iPad3/HD/New/Next/ElectricBoogaloo actually launches.

[6:07] Presuming that “one more thing” is a defunct meme. Hoping so. My fingers are sore and my coffee is congealing. Then again, surprises are always nice.

[6:06] iPhoto can share out to Facebook, email or twitter. Although at 19MP, you’re going to have lots of angry followers…


Image courtesy GDGT

[6:05] iPhoto works with images up to 19MP. That screen would be good for it — but you wouldn’t store that many of them.

[6:03] Photo “beaming” from device to device. Wonder if that’s iOS to iOS, or if Mac/PC gets a look in there?


WHAT ARE THESE TOOLS??! Image courtesy GDGT

[6:02] Browsing, multi-touch editing, brushes and effects. Suddenly, the reason why Adobe launched Photoshop for iPad at MWC becomes a little clearer.

[6:01] iPhoto for iPad. Could be interesting… but there’s still that whole 64GB limitation. Hope it’s got good and easy export options…


iPhoto deets. Image courtesy Ars Technica

[6:00] And you can make movie trailers with an iPad. Anyone really keen on that feature? Anyone?

[5:59] Not that they’re extensively demoing the new iWork stuff, but still…

[5:58] iMovie gets storyboard functions. Hang on, I thought Dungeons was meant to be the last demo. Clearly, they meant “last demo we’ll let other folks do”


Who wants to watch Princess Tales with Phil? Image courtesy GDGT

[5:57] Garageband for iPad will let you jam with 4 iPads over WiFi. Cute. Still no naming word yet. Perhaps it’s just “iPad” again.

[5:55] iWork is also updated. It’s not clear from here if that pre-order thing includes Australia, but appears that the 16th date for actual availabillity is firm. If they don’t open up pre-orders shortly, it’s going to be… messy. Heck, it’s going to be messy either way.

[5:55] ““This new device has more memory and higher screen resolution than an Xbox 360 or PS3.” — so they’ve upped the RAM, then…

Danny: [5:52] Oh noo bro!

[5:52] My dateline head kicks into gear; there was no New Zealand in that list. We get the “new” iPad first.

[5:51] No, it’s “Dungeons”, an Infinity Blade game.


Infinity Blade!. Image courtesy MacWorld

[5:50] “They’ve pushed the boundaries of what anyone thought was possible on a mobile device” — could this be iCliffyB?

[5:50] Third and last demo: Epic Games


Airplanezz demo. Image courtesy MacWorld

[5:49] It took Autodesk 29 years to get 10million computer customers; tens of millions in two years on iPad. Interesting, but I wonder what the revenue model is like…

[5:48] And it’s still just “the new iPad”. Perhaps that’s the name, and the next one will be the “newer” or “newnew” iPad. Newnewnewnewnewnewnew!

[5:46] From games to Autodesk. OK, diversity I get, but I’m a little surprised they didn’t go for the app demos *before* announcing things like 4G LTE.

[5:44] To clarify while they demo, the slide didn’t read Austria. Just my little joke.

[5:44] Namco showing stuff off. Option for new iPad apps to be retina display friendly, but not mandatory. My data allowance just breathed a huge sigh of relief.

[5:44] And now, back to software. And I notice that my coffee’s gone cold.

[5:43] Giz US confirms; same prices as the old model. So what will the old model cost now?


Remember that’s US dollars! Image courtesy of GDGT

[5:42] US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, HK, Singapore and Australia, specifically.

Danny: [5:41] Australia!

[5:41] Australia! (although he’s in front of the slide. Could read Austria, I guess


Get out of the way Phil. You’re blocking Australia! Image courtesy of GDGT

[5:40] Pre-orders (US only again, I’m guessing) start today. But the Apple store is (as I’m typing this) still down.

[5:40] And March 16th availability.

[5:39] Yay! It does come in black. Pricing at US499 — i think that’s identical, but not sure right now.


Image courtesy of GDGT

[5:39] And now onto battery life. 10hrs old model, 9hrs on 3G… and the same on the new one.

[5:39] And they’re only showing white ones. This I am not a fan of.


Image courtesy of GDGT

[5:38] No technical detail on the bands, though. Will have to wait until the store is up, I guess.

[5:38] Slide says “most bands ever”. When did this turn into a rock festival?

[5:37] Both ‘3G-world-ready’ — so guessing quad-band. So we’ll at least get a quickish iPad…

[5:36] Brief mention of the world, then back to the US. Two US versions….

[5:36] US networks featured. Tell us the Aussie news! Show a bigger map!

[5:36] Demos of what LTE could do if you were the only one on an LTE network. Which in this case, Apple almost certainly is. They’ve learned the lessons from keynotes past where the network went down.

[5:33] US LTE speeds (to my understanding) struggle to average around 6Mbps, so a lot of the numbers talk is just that — talk.

[5:33] LTE up to 72Mbps. Telstra’s LTE won’t (technically) hit that. Be fascinating to pit it against the Galaxy Tab 8.9 4G.

[5:33] HSPA+ (up to 21Mbps) and dual-carrier HSDPA (up to 42Mbps)

[5:33] LTE!

[5:32] Not personally a big fan of voice buttons on touch keyboards — I always hit the button at the wrong time

[5:32] Ah, but this is not Siri.. yet. It’s speech to text.

[5:32] Voice dictation the next feature. Shouting at my tablet just got more… something. Embarrassing, probably.


Image courtesy of GDGT

[5:31] Now records in 1080p. Makes sense given the screen, but still, tablet is a terrible form factor for video shooting. Really, it is.

[5:30] iSight camera taken from the iPhone 4S. So now, I’ll still look like an idiot taking photos with an iPad — but at least the shots may look good.

[5:29] “That’s the first feature”… so there’s more to come? Haptic time?

Danny: [5:29] Did you say Hammer time? Wait, wut?

[imgclear]

[5:29] Ever so slightly meaningless for the end user; it’s not like there’s an Android iPad, or a Samsung iOS device. Still impressive, though. Check out my GPU!

[5:28] chart showing 4x the performance… of a Tegra 3. 2x the performance of an iPad 2.

[5:28] Sidenote: They’re still just using the term ‘iPad”. No 3, no HD — yet.

[5:28] A5x chip. The iPad goes quad-core

[5:28] More horsepower needed. Quick — melt down some clydesdales!


So many pixxxxels. Image courtesy of GDGT

[5:28] 264ppi and “that’s enough to call it a retina display”

[5:27] The inevitable HDTV comparison

[5:27] Anyone queuing outside an Apple store yet?

[5:27] Now showing off text comparison. 2048×1536 pixels.

[5:27] Retina display has higher res than the projector screen behind Phil Schiller.


Image courtesy of GDGT

[5:26] “Until you see it you can’t understand how amazing it is.” — you know where I am, Apple. Just saying.

[5:26] Ah, there’s the marketing: Retina Display!

[5:25] Pics are not clear as to whether it has a home button (but that’s the journo distance from the stage plus whiteness of iPad — hard to say)


Image courtesy of GDGT

[5:24] First pics. It’s very white. I do hope there’s still a black option.

[5:23] Or at least something “better”. Perhaps they’re making Galaxy Tabs.

[5:22] New iPad!

[5:21] Showing Twitter on a Samsung Tab, and comparing to the iOS version. I (sort of) agree; iOS apps in many cases have better UI design than many Android ones. But pretty does not equal functional (and that’s leaving WP7 out; WP7 design guidelines lead to some good lookin’ apps too)


Apps and stuff! Image courtesy of GDGT

[5:21] Ah, the first dig: “In some estimations there are over 100 competitive tablets that came to market just last year. And you won’t find that great experience.”

[5:20] Alex prediction: They’re about to show a bunch of apps. Obvious, innit?

[5:19] Over 200,000 iPad-specific Apps, according to Tim Cook. Again, I’d love to see the comparable Android numbers for reference.

[5:18] iPad the “best device for things you do most often”. Is that a nice way of saying it does some things well, and others not at all? Why, yes, it is.


Image courtesy GDGT

[5:18] Giz US points out that HP sold 15.1 million traditional PCs in the same timeframe. Interesting stat (for a number)

[5:17]Given its (general) market dominance, wonder what that means for actual sales of Android tablets? Those would be some interesting numbers…

[5:17] But first, some numbers. 15.5 million iPads in the last quarter.

[5:17] Onto iPad. That’s quick — hopefully that means there’s lots to say.

[5:17] As an aside, we’ll update with Aussie availability as soon as we actually know. Otherwise, take it as read that these are US products and prices.

[5:16] Apple TV $US99, available next week, can pre-order today. With 1080P, I could very well be tempted..


Image courtesy Ars Technica

[5:14] Also means it’s another revision (at least) before they integrate iOS into the Apple TV. Demos being done now. Movies have genius, the stage has Eddie Cue.

[5:13] Photo stream support. Wonder if they’re allowing individual photos to be removed from the stream yet?

[5:12] All new UI, iTunes Match and “shows the day after they air”. Yeah, that’ll be US only, I’m sure.

[5:11] Why, it seems like only yesterday that Apple was adamant that 720p was good enough. Actually, it was only yesterday, but 1080P support is nice to have. I might actually buy one now.

[5:10] Subtle…

[5:10] And a big pic of an Apple TV with 1080P just appeared


New AppleTV! Image courtesy GDGT

[5:10] My inner cynic wonders how well the cloud’s going to hold up to movie downloads and uploads. Prepare for billshock most mighty, Australia!

[5:09] iCloud has 100 million customers. And now it supports movies.

[5:09] Correction: Appears Siri for Japan announced today, but not available for several weeks. iOS 5.1 today, though.

[5:08] And now the App store, which they started re-sorting last night.

[5:08] Crowd getting to listen to Siri in “other parts of the world”. Hey Tim — some of us are IN the other parts of the world. Just sayin’…

[5:07] Siri in Japan! That’s your first product launched here (technically speaking, yes, we knew it was coming, blah, blah)

Danny: [5:07] Far out, so many numbers. Too early in the morning!

[imgclear]

[5:07] Now talking up Siri — pre-boasting for Siri on iPad, or just more corporate “Yay Us!” speak?

[5:06] 62 million iOS devices last quarter. Plenty of mobile manufacturers would love those numbers for what are essentially just three products.

[5:05] Upside: Gives me time to sip coffee, and time for the journos there to fidget nervously in their seats and wonder when the shiny stuff comes out.

[5:05] And now a video showing how they make a store. Like I said, Apple has a presentation formula, and it’s pretty rigid.

[5:05] Then again, I went to the Hornsby store opening, so I do know what he’s getting at.


That’s a lot of stuff. Image courtesy Ars Technica

[504] First use of the phrase “Off The Charts” to describe the Grand Central Station opening. Who creates charts for that kind of thing?

[5:03] Now talking up the new Amsterdam store. Apple events always start this way; a few numbers, some business. Builds tension. I’m sure there’s something you can get in Amsterdam for that.

[502] Apple”s sold 172 million ipods, iphones and ipads. That’s a whole lot of screen protectors

[502]And that’s 72% of Apple’s revenues, right there. Not good news for the anti-iOS, pro-Mac crowd, methinks.

[5:01] Is is still a revolution if it’s been happening for several years? Isn’t that an uprising, or something?

[5:00] Tim Cook onstage, talking (once again) about the post-pc revolution.

[4:55] They’ve let the journalists in, the anticipation is building, and apparently, the Black Keys is your music of choice for the morning


The bloggers are inside! Image courtesy GDGT

Alex: [4:30] So, the time is here, the coffee is brewed, and I seriously could have used more sleep. That’s always the way.

Just in case you’re not up to speed, here’s what we knew about the iPad HD yesterday.

So what’s happened overnight? A lot of the last-minute rumour gathering suggests haptic interfaces via a Swedish company called Senseg. http://www.macrumors.com/2012/03/07/ipad-3-to-include-haptic-display-technology-to-provide-on-screen-textures/

Meanwhile, 9to5Mac is reporting that Apple’s international inventory system includes “4G” iPads — good news for those keen on one, but will it be compatible with the one 4G network we’ve got in Australia so far?

So plenty of questions remain. Will we get a new Apple TV into the mix? How much of what Apple announces will be available in Australia, and more importantly, when? Will Apple hold to tradition, and unveil the next iPad at 42 minutes past the hour? There’s only one way to find out… and that’s to wait for things to kick off. Media in San Francisco has been queuing, registering, interviewing each other and queuing again. Not long now.


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