Apple iPad: Everything You Need to Know

From the realm of sci-fi to Steve Jobs’ stage: The iPad is official. What is it? What can it do? How does it work? Here’s everything you need to know about Apple’s newest creation, all in one place.

It’s almost impossible to overstate the buzz leading up to this device. Immediately after the death of the Newton, rumors began trickling out about a followup from Apple; in the last five years, speculation and scraps of evidence about an Apple tablet have been a fixture in the tech media; in the last year, the rumors were unavoidable. Today, Apple’s tablet has finally arrived, and we’ve got the full rundown—from specs, features, content and price to what it’s like to actually use one.

The Hardware

• Size and shape: The screen’s aspect ratio makes it seem a bit squat, but this is intended to be a bi-directional tabl—err, Pad. The bezel is a little fat, but otherwise, this thing is basically a clean slab of pure display. It’s just .5 inches thick, which is a hair thicker than the iPhone 3GS, and measures 9.56 x 7.47 inches. Final weigh-in is 1.5 pounds without 3G, and 1.6 with. Says Mark, who’s actually held one:

Imagine, if you will, a super light unibody MacBook Pro that’s smaller, thinner and way, way, way lighter. Or, from a slightly different perspective, think about a bigger iPhone that’s been built with unibody construction.

• The screen: The tablet’s multitouch screen measures in at 9.7 inches, meaning that it’s got a significantly smaller footprint than the smallest MacBook, but a much larger screen than the iPhone. (That’s 9.7 inches diagonal, from screen corner to screen corner.) The screen’s resolution is a dense 1024 x 768.

• The guts: It’s a half-inch thick—just a hair thicker than the iPhone, for reference—and weighs 1.5 pounds. It’s powered by a 1GHz Apple ARM A4 chip, and has 16GB, 32GB or 64GB of flash storage. From the looks of it, Apple finally got some use out of that PA Semi purchase, and built their own mobile processor, but that’s no totally clear yet. It’s also loaded with 802.11 n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, a 30-pin iPod connector, a speaker, a microphone, an accelerometer and a compass. Video output runs through and iPhone-type composite adapter at up to 576p and through a dock-to-VGA adapter at up to 1024 x 768. No HDMI, no DVI—not even a Mini DisplayPort.

3G is optional, and costs more, not less. Along with 3G, the upgraded models include A-GPS. (More on this below)

Oh, and there isn’t a rear-facing camera, nor is there a front-facing camera. This tablet is totally camera-less, which seems a bit odd.

• The battery: Apple’s making some bold claims about battery life: ten hours for constant use, with a one-month standby rating. Ten hours of constant use includes video viewing, so you could conceivable watch about six feature films before this thing dies.

• How you hold it: You can hold it two different ways, and the software will adapt to both. Portrait mode seems like the primay mode, a la the iPhone while landscape mode—better for movies and perhaps magazine content—is a secondary mode. The Apple decal is oriented for portrait mode, so basically, just get ready for a whole bunch of HEY IT’S A GIANT IPHONE!! jokes.

Connectivity

Some models have Wi-Fi exclusively, while some have 3G as well. It’s with AT&T, and costs either $15 a month for 250MB of data, or $30 for unlimited data. With the plan, you get access to AT&T’s Wi-Fi hotspots as well. Best of all, it’s a prepaid service—no contract. You can activate it from the iPad any time, and cancel whenever you want. This sounds like a fantastic deal, until you consider how it’s probably going to brutalize AT&T’s already terrible 3G coverage.

The iPad itself is unlocked, so you can conceivably use it with any Micro SIM card . But what the hell is a Micro SIM card? For one, it’s not the same kind of SIM that’s in your iPhone, so don’t expect to just pop that in and surf for free. It’s a totally different standard, and the iPad’s the only device that uses it right now. Even if, say, T-Mobile released a Micro SIM card, the iPad can’t connect to its 1700MHz 3G network.

The Software

• The OS: The operating system on the tablet is based on iPhone OS, which is in turn loosely based on OS X. In other words, it’s got the same guts as the iPhone, as well as a somewhat similar interface. What this means in practical terms is that the UI is modal; you can only display one app at a time, and there aren’t windows, per se. There’s a new set of standard UI tools as well, including a pull-down menu, situated at the top left of most apps.

• The homescreen: It’s like a mixture between the iPhone and OS X: it uses the iPhone launcher/apps metaphor, but has an OS X-style shiny dock. It feels very spread out compared to the iPhone’s homescreen, though I suspect this is necessary to keep things from getting too overwhelming. For our full walkthrough of the new OS, check here.

• The keyboard: Input comes by way of an onscreen keyboard, almost exactly like the iPhone’s. Typing on it is apparently a “dream,” because it’s “almost lifesize”. Steve wasn’t typing with his thumbs, but with his fingers, as if it were an actual laptop keyboard. Navigation throughout the rest of the OS is optimized for one hand, though.

• The browser: The browser is essential an upscaled version of Safari Mobile, with a familiar, finger-friendly title bar and not much else. It rotates by command of the accelerometer. From the looks of it, it doesn’t have Flash support, but we’ll have to confirm. UPDATE: Yup, none at all. You can get away with that kind of thing on the iPhone, sort of, but on a 10-inch tablet it’s a glaring omission.

• Email: Mail again takes its visual cues from the iPhone, but with a lot more decoration: you can preview your mailbox from any message with a pull-down menu, and preview any message from within the mailbox, with a pop-up window.

• Music: The music player is even more hybridized, styled like a mix between the iPhone’s iPod interface and full-fledged desktop iTunes. Interestingly, Cover Flow seems to have more or less died off.

• Maps: This one may be the most direct conversion from the iPhone, with a very similar interface through and through. It includes Street View, too.

• Photos: The photo library app looks a lot like iPhoto, only adapted for multitouch finger input.

• Video: YouTube is available by way of an app, iPhone-style, which can play videos in 720p HD. iTunes video content plays back in a dedicated app, just like on the iPhone, and can also play back in HD. Movie codec support is otherwise the same as the iPhone, which is to say pretty limited.

• Calendar and contacts: The calendar app is desktop-like, until you open contacts and calendars, which look a lot like actual contact books and organizers. They’re beautiful, and dare I say a bit Courier-like.

Apps

• iPhone apps: This thing runs them! The iPad runs iPhone apps right out of the App Store, with no modification, but they’re either relegated to the center of the screen or in “pixel double” mode, which just blows them up crudely. Any apps you’ve purchased for your iPhone can be synced, for free, to your iPad.

• New apps: The iPhone app SDK has already been expanded for tablet development, including a whole new set of UI elements and expanded resolution support. The raw iPhone app compatibility is just a temporary measure, it seems—any developer who wants their app to run on the tablet will develop for the tablet. Some of the early examples of adapted apps, like Brushes, are spectacular. More on the SDK here.
Apple’s pushing gaming on this thing right out of the box, demoing everything from FPS N.O.V.A to Need for Speed. It’s presumably running these games at HD, so the rendering power in this thing is no joke.

• Ebooks: Apple’s also opened an ebook store to accompany the iPad, in the mold of iTunes. It’s called iBooks.
It offers books in ePub format, and makes reading on a Kindle seem about as stodgy as, you know, paper. To be clear, though, this is just Apple’s solution—unless they’re explicitly banned from the iPad, you should be able to download your Kindle app as well.

This store doesn’t sell magazines or newspapers, which’ll be relegated to regular app status. At this point, whether or not the tablet helps them out is in their hands.

• iWork: Apple’ also designed a whole new iWork suite just for the tablet, which implies that this thing is as much for media creation as it is for consumption. There’s a new version of Keynote designed just for the iPad, as well as new version of Pages, (word processor), and Numbers, which is the spreadsheet app. Here’s what Keynote looks like:
The interfaces are obviously designed strictly for touch input, but from the looks of it can handle every function that the old, mouse-centric version could, plus a few more. And man, they’re so much prettier. Each app costs $10, and you can get them all for $30.

• File storage: Unlike the iPhone, the iPad does seem to have some shared storage aside from the photo roll. The newly released SDK reveals that when you connect an iPad to a PC or Mac, part of it—a partition, maybe?—mounts as a shared documents folder.

Accessories

Right away, Apple’s offering three main official accessories: a book-style case, a regular dock and a keyboard dock. (Ha!)

The book cover doubles as a stand, so you can prop the iPad up in a few different ways. The keyboard dock hooks up with the iPad when it’s in portrait mode, so you can type longer documents, charge, or both. The iPad will also support Apple’s Bluetooth keyboards.

The iPad’s only really got one accessory port, and it takes an iPod dock connector. Apple’s solution for this? Adapters! So many adapters. There’s a Dock Connector to VGA adapter, a USB camera adapter (which gives you one plain USB connection, though it apparently only works for importing photos), a USB to SD adapter, and an included USB power adapter, which lets you charge by AC or USB. It’s essentially just an iPhone charger with a bigger brick.

UPDATE: We have prices:

the Keyboard dock costs $70, the case costs $40, the SD/USB connection kit costs $30 and the VGA display adapter costs $30 (1024×768 only)

What It’s Like to Use

It’s hefty. Substantial. Easy to grip. Fast. Beautiful. Rigid. Starkly designed. The glass is a little rubbery but it could be my sweaty hands. And it’s fasssstttt.

Our detailed impressions in our hands on, right here.

Price and Release Date

The iPad ships worldwide in 60 days, but only in Wi-Fi versions. The 3G version will be another 30 days after that. Here are the prices:

Without 3G:

• $499: 16GB
• $599: 32GB
• $699: 64GB

With 3G:

• $629: 16GB
• $729: 32GB
• $829: 64GB

Apple will ship all the iPads in 60 days—the end of March—to America, and just the Wi-Fi models internationally. It’ll be another 30 days beyond that for 3G models to be available outside our shores; Apple says they’re still working on carrier deals.

3G comes by way of AT&T, who’s offering the service without contract, for $15 a month (250MB of data) or $30 a month (unlimited). That’s why, unlike the iPhone, the iPad is actually cheaper off-contract.

 

Make Your New PC Hassle-Free

Did you find a new PC under the tree (or menorah) last month? If so, there are steps you should take to make it as hassle-free as possible. If you want even more tips, read my recent “Essential Windows Tricks” collection.

Step One: Create a System Repair Disc

You never know when some catastrophe will strike your PC, rendering it unable to boot. And because few vendors these days bundle actual operating-system discs, it’s up to you to build a bootable CD or DVD that can help save the day.

Thankfully, Windows 7 makes this quite easy. Just click Start, type repair, and then click Create a System Repair Disc. Pop a blank CD or DVD into your drive (netbook users will need to connect an external one), click Create disc, and then sit back while Windows gets to work.

When it’s done, label the disc, file it away, and hope you never need it. If you do, you can boot the disc to load a basic repair environment with diagnostic tools and System Restore.

The important thing to remember is that you can’t do this after a problem has occurred; you need to create your repair disc ahed of time. So take 10 minutes and do it right now. At some point in the future, you may be awfully glad you did.

Step Two: Remove the Crapware

Now that you’ve created a system-repair disc for your new PC, let’s get it running at peak performance. That means removing some, if not all, of the software that was preloaded by the system maker. Some call it shovelware; I call it crapware.

Why the derogatory moniker? Simple: The proprietary and/or third-party software that many vendors preload on their PCs is mostly junk. It consumes space on your hard drive, causes your system to boot slower than it should, and just generally gets in the way.

Yes, I’m looking at you, McAfee Internet Security 90-day trial. And Google Desktop. And Roxio everything. You’re not bad products, but I didn’t ask for you, and I don’t want you unless I want you. Get it?

There are two ways to go about shoveling out the shovelware. First, you can install one of my longtime favorite utilities, Revo Uninstaller, then manually remove unwanted apps one by one.

Second, you can take advantage of the aptly named PC Decrapifier, which was created for the sole purpose of removing crapware. The latest version (2.1) can kick nearly 100 crap apps to the curb, everything from AOL to Yahoo Toolbar. Of course, it’s not an all-or-nothing proposition: You can choose which programs it uninstalls.

Yes, I recognize the irony of installing software to remove software. But Revo Uninstaller is worth having anyway, and you can dump PC Decrapifier when you’re done with.

As to the question of what programs you should keep and what you should pitch, tread carefully. For example, if your system came with a Blu-ray drive and you remove a bundled program like Arcsoft TotalMedia Theater, you may lose the ability to watch Blu-ray movies. When in doubt, keep the app.

In most cases, however, if there’s a program you don’t recognize or don’t think you want (a Web search can answer most questions), get rid of it.

Step Three: Keep It Secure

Now let’s talk security. As any regular PCWorld reader knows, computers and their users are vulnerable to all manner of threats, from hackers to phishing to viruses. That’s why it’s critical that you batten down your new machine’s hatches right from the get-go.

Psst! Guess what? Right out of the box, Windows 7 is already pretty darn secure. Its firewall and built-in anti-malware tool (Windows Defender) offer robust protection from everyday threats.

Meanwhile, the latest versions of Firefox (3.5) and Internet Explorer (8) help keep you safe from pop-ups, phishing attempts, browser hijacking, and the like.

As for e-mail, both Gmail and Yahoo employ Norton antivirus software at the server level (meaning there’s nothing you have to install), along with anti-spam and anti-phishing tools. If you happen to use either one, well, you’ve got clean mail.

There are a couple tools of your own to consider adding to the mix. The first is a router, which has a built-in firewall that effectively renders your PC(s) invisible to the Internet at large–so no hackers will be able to break in.

Second, for that little bit of extra protection, install Microsoft’s widely acclaimed–and free–Security Essentials antivirus software.

I also highly recommend Web of Trust, a free browser plug-in that shows you if Web links are safe–before you click them.

And that’s it! I firmly believe that you can dispense with pricey, intrusive, performance-sapping third-party security software and rely on Windows’ own tools (and a few extras). That’s what I’ve done for years and years, and I haven’t encountered a single problem. Not one. (You can read more about this in Security Software: Protection or Extortion?)

 

Pros and Cons of Windows 7 Security

The recently released Microsoft Security Intelligence Report highlights the vast improvements in security from Windows XP to Windows 7. Even so, no operating system is perfect. I asked security experts what they think about Windows 7 security and came up with a list of what Microsoft got right and where Microsoft is still missing the mark.

A Step in the Right Direction

Microsoft made significant changes to how it protects the Windows operating system kernel and added a number of new security controls when it transitioned from Windows XP to Windows Vista. With Windows 7, many of those security controls are enhanced and there are some new features as well.

Here are three things Microsoft got right with Windows 7 security:

1. ASLR and DEP. ASLR (Address Space Layout Randomization, hinders some types of security attacks by making it more difficult for an attacker to predict target addresses.) and DEP (Data Execution Prevention) both existed in Windows Vista, but have been improved for Windows 7. ASLR makes it more complicated for attackers to determine where core functions reside in memory, and DEP prevents buffer overflow attacks from working on files or in storage areas that are specifically intended to hold data.

Sophos Senior Security Advisor Chet Wisniewski says ” ASLR was massively improved in Windows 7. This means that libraries (DLL’s) are loaded into random memory addresses each time you boot. Malware often depends on specific files being in certain memory locations and this technology helps stop buffer overflows from working properly.”

Wisniewski also notes that DEP now protects Internet Explorer and other key Windows services that were not protected by DEP in Windows Vista.

2. BitLocker-to-Go. Microsoft added BitLocker drive encryption in Windows Vista. Originally it was only capable of encrypting the partition that Windows was actually installed on, but the functionality was expanded with Service Pack 1 to include additional partitions or volumes–but not portable storage.

Tyler Reguly, Lead Security Research Engineer with nCircle, notes that with Windows 7, Microsoft has included the ability to encrypt data on USB thumb drives. Reguly says that with the popularity of USB thumb drives–capable of holding gigabytes of data–”the expansion of BitLocker to include removable drives should be counted as a significant enhancement.”

3. IE8. Internet Explorer 8 is not specific to Windows 7–users of other Windows operating systems are also free to download and use the new Web browser. But, both Reguly and Wisniewski agree that it should go on the list.

Tyler Reguly commented that “The release of IE8 makes it evident that Microsoft is starting to take browser security seriously.”

Sophos’ Wisniewski elaborated more, explaining that IE8 “includes a new protection called SmartScreen which is similar to the protection in Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. This anti-phishing/anti-malware URL filtering is built into the browser, which can block known bad sites and helps protect users.”

In addition, IE8 highlights the actual domain of the URL in bold on the address bar. The added emphasis makes the true domain stand out and can act as a phishing deterrent by alerting the user when a fake or malicious URL may be directing them to a different domain than they were expecting.

More Work to Be Done

As far as Microsoft has come with security, its not perfect. No operating system ever will be. Still, it can’t hurt to try so here is a look at some of the areas that Windows 7 is lacking and perhaps some ideas for Microsoft to work on for Windows 8.

1. Windows Firewall. The Windows Firewall is an area where Microsoft has come a long (long) way from its original attempt at incorporating personal firewall protection into the operating system. One of the primary complaints about earlier versions was that it only restricted inbound traffic and did not provide any mechanism for blocking or filtering traffic outbound from the Windows PC. Microsoft has addressed that.

nCircle’s Tyler Reguly says “As a personal choice, I won’t use third-party firewall software. I find them to be too resource-intensive and too much of a pain. So, I would love it if the Windows Firewall was more powerful.”

I should note, though, that perhaps there is a correlation between “more powerful” and “resource-intensive”. Perhaps the reason third-party personal firewalls eat up more resources is related to the more comprehensive protection they provide.

This may be an area where Microsoft simply needs to strike the right balance between security and performance.

2. Hidden File Extensions. Microsoft continues to hide known file extensions by default. In other words, rather than displaying a full file name like ‘pcworld.docx’, Windows will only display ‘pcworld’.

The idea is to make things more simple or user-friendly. We don’t want to confuse the end-user with frivolous details like ‘docx’, or ‘xls’, or ‘mp3′.

Chet Wisniewski points out, though, that hiding the file names is a security concern as well. He says that hiding file extensions “makes it much easier for email Trojans to use double extensions to trick users into launching their payload. Files named FinancialStatement.doc.exe will appear to the user as FinancialStatement.doc with an EXE icon.”

3. XP Mode Virtualization. Windows XP Mode virtualization can be a savior for situations where there are legacy hardware devices or software applications that won’t work under Windows 7. The system can still be upgraded to Windows 7, but the incompatible hardware or software can be run in a virtual Windows XP environment.

The operative concern here, though, is that it is a complete Windows XP environment that is not protected in any way by the Windows 7 security controls. Wisniewski explains “Windows XP Mode introduces another layer of complexity for securing a Windows desktop. Because a total virtual machine (VM) is running on your PC that requires you to run a full security suite within that VM and manage that appropriately.”

Wisniewski also notes that “By default Windows auto-maps drives from your XP virtual machine to your Windows 7 machine. This could be a major malware vector if not properly protected.”

The ever-popular UAC (User Account Control) gets an honorable mention as a pro and a con. Although it has been both presented and perceived as a security control, UAC is more about enforcing sound software development practices. Security is sort of a fringe benefit.

Tyler Reguly likes the changes Microsoft has made for UAC with Windows 7. “The decreased interruptions will mean more people will leave UAC on, this is definitely a benefit. It ends up being more functionality, less security, but can still be seen as an improvement in security overall.”

Chet Wisniewski counters by pointing out that UAC is not really a security function in the first place, but also comments that ” Microsoft does need to continue to use UAC to encourage developers to follow proper privilege separation models, because this can help Microsoft make a more secure Windows, but it should not be positioned as a feature to the end-user.”

 

Sprint Shows Off Overdrive Wireless Router

Sprint will start selling its Overdrive wireless WiMax router on Jan. 10, allowing users to connect any Wi-Fi-enabled device to its WiMax network.

Overdrive connects to Sprint’s WiMax or 3G network and can be used to link up to five Wi-Fi-enabled devices. The device, which is portable, will cost $100 with a two-year service contract that costs $60 per month. The monthly service contract includes unlimited data over Sprint’s WiMax network and 5GB of data over the 3G network.

The release of Overdrive comes as Sprint looks to expand the reach of its WiMax network, which currently covers a population of 30 million people living in 27 U.S. markets. By the end of this year, Sprint plans to quadruple that, to 120 million people, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse told attendees at a press conference ahead of the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Sprint hopes Overdrive will entice more people to try WiMax.

Among the hurdles that WiMax faces are a lack of devices that support the technology and limited coverage areas. Overdrive can help to overcome these problems, allowing users to access the Internet with any device that uses Wi-Fi. In addition, the ability to switch between the WiMax and 3G networks means users can still access the Internet in areas that aren’t covered by the WiMax network.

The Overdrive is Sprint’s WiMax dream, in a little box. And mine too, I confess: Real broadband that I can shove in my pocket and take anywhere, a teleporting Wi-Fi hotspot.

WiMax is pretty quick at its best, but speed depends almost proportionately on signal—in Las Vegas, at 100 percent, we were getting around 3.5Mbps downstream and close to 1Mbps up, but at 40 percent, we got 1.57Mbps downstream and around 0.3Mbps up, and more than a couple dropped connections. Latency stayed around 155ms. When it was at full strength, it feels a whole lot like real broadband.

Read About WiMAX

 

‘Beware of Social Networks in 2010′

McAfee foresees threats to social networking sites, banking security and botnets in 2010

McAfee Labs, in its latest report called “2010 Threat Predictions“, (Please Refer to that)said it foresees an increase in threats related to social networking sites, banking security, and botnets in 2010

With the ever growing footprint of social networking websites, McAfee says sites such as Facebook will face more sophisticated threats. The explosion of applications on Facebook and other services will be an ideal vector for cybercriminals, who will take advantage of friends trusting friends to click links they might otherwise treat cautiously. The company also points out that along with Twitter’s success we have seen widespread adaptation of abbreviated URL services, such as bit.ly and tinyurl.com. These services now appear in all sorts of communications-making it easier than ever to mask the URLs that users are asked to click.

Email attachments have delivered malware for years, yet the increasing number of attacks targeted at corporations, journalists, and individual users often fool them into downloading Trojans and other malware. McAfee warns that home users and IT personnel should provide extra protection for computers.

Cybercriminals have long picked on Microsoft products due to their popularity. In 2010, McAfee anticipates that Adobe software, especially Acrobat Reader and Flash, will take the top spot. Also, Banking Trojans will become cleverer, sometimes interrupting a legitimate transaction to make an unauthorized withdrawal.

Botnets are the leading infrastructure for cybercriminals, used for actions from spamming to identity theft. Recent successes in shutting down botnets will force their controllers to switch to alternate, less vulnerable methods of command, including peer-to-peer setups.

So, ensure you have your PC anti-virus software in place and have a safe year ahead.