Not only did they “pull it off” but they redefined a market segment and brought truly portable computing to the masses with a simple interface and a powerful ecosystem of applications that allowed the user to personalize the device to do exactly what they wanted.

Fast forward ahead a year and Apple held a similar event where they introduced the second-generation iPad, the iPad 2 which took everything they learned from the original and extended the capabilities to include cameras for video chatting, faster processing, and a sleeker tapered case.

With the introduction of the iPad 2 I underestimated the pent up demand for a device such as this. I erroneously assumed I would be able to walk into a store the day they were released and buy one. Boy was I ever wrong. After standing in line at multiple stores I left dejected and iPad 2-less. It would take nearly two months before stock was sufficient that I would be able to buy the new device.

My existing iPad would be relegated to my wife as part of the technology refresh trickle down effect. I get the new toys and she gets the older model. Yeah that might sound like a rip-off but considering that I am the one who has to do all the technical support for the family that’s the price you pay.

When Apple announced the third generation iPad which came without a numerical designation and is referred to simply as “the new iPad” I wondered whether I would have the same issue getting one as I did with the iPad 2.

As soon as the introduction concluded I rushed to the Apple online store to attempt to pre-order the device. Given the difficulty I had I was obviously not alone. It took me two iPhones, an iPad, and three innings of Spring Training baseball before I was finally able to pre-order. I was surprised to find out that even with all the difficulty in ordering that the delivery date remained March 16th. Clearly Apple has been manufacturing these devices for a while to have that much stock built up for delivery.

I would check the Federal Express site daily for updates on where my new iPad was. Finally on the morning of March 16th it showed it was out for delivery. When the Federal Express truck pulled up to our house I ran out and met him at his door signing for the package before running back inside.

The box was rather discreet with no markings on the outside to tease you of the magical contents. I opened it up and immediately began charging the device so that I could start using it. The battery life was a promised 10 hours of use but the recharge took less than 90 minutes for the initial charge.

As a customer of the original iPad with 3G support on AT&T’s network I had an unlimited data plan. By the time the iPad 2 arrived AT&T had done away with unlimited data and went to a tiered pricing model. I was grandfathered in to the unlimited all I had to do was change the SIM card from the old device to the new.

With the new iPad I assumed that would be a similar process so to circumvent the set-up I exchanged SIM cards between the iPad 2 and the new iPad. The device booted with the old SIM and I began the set-up process. When I got to the part of setting the cellular network I was given a warning that the card I had in the device was a 3G card and that I needed a new 4G to take advantage of the cellular network.

Great, it would appear that I would have to move to a tiered pricing model on the new device or so I thought. After putting the 4G SIM back in the new iPad I again tried to set the device up. It recognized that I had an account with AT&T and asked if I wanted to transfer my data plan to my new device. Clearly Apple and AT&T had anticipated my scenario. A couple of clicks later and the new iPad was using the 4G network for AT&T and I had unlimited data usage. The iPad 2 could then be added to my plan but did require me to select one of the limited data choices.

The new iPad is noticeably thicker than the iPad 2 and it does weigh slightly more. I didn’t think I would be able to tell but it was pretty obvious. The retina display really pops when looking at photos that I had downloaded they were much crisper and cleaner than they looked on the iPad 2.

While the iPad 2 was very responsive and quick to recognize the user’s gestures the new iPad is just slightly faster. For most apps that rely on user interaction the speed increase will likely be negligible but if you are doing any sort of processing such as using iPhoto, Garage Band, or iMovie it seems much faster.

The image quality of the new iPad’s camera is very good. It has built-in image stabilization, which seems to work well, as the photos are crisp and in focus without any signs of movement by the user.

Reading on the new iPad is much nicer looking better than most printed books. I’m very impressed with how easy the text is on the eyes and I have begun moving all of my magazine subscriptions to their digital equivalent.

Overall my first impression is that for a lot of current iPad 2 users the speed differential for things that reside on the iPad is not as noticeable. For those who use processor intensive applications or who pull things from the Internet or are more interactive the new iPad is a hands down winner.

The speed of downloads whether it is on an existing 3G network or the new LTE 4G is substantially better. It is definitely worth the price and slightly extra weight to get the speed upgrade. Battery life seems to be on par with my existing iPad 2, which is impressive given the faster networking and processor.

It looks like Apple has a winner with the new iPad. The new features at the existing price point will ensure that Apple stays the market leader in the tablet space. Developers are already updating their applications based on the number of upgrades I am seeing on the App Store. This means that as each app is updated it will look better and take advantage of the new device making the user experience that much better.

I was one of the early adopters of the iPad. I initially purchased one out of curiosity and to see how difficult it would be to develop software. What I found surprised me. I quickly reached for my iPad rather than my laptop to do general work. When I was called to Grand Jury Duty, which lasted three months, I took my iPad with me to read or write columns during breaks from the courtroom. I was amazed at how much I could do with this small portable device as compared to my more bulky laptop.

Within a few months I had moved into the post-PC era and only looked back when I was doing serious development with tools that did not exist on the iPad. When the second-generation iPad 2 was released last year I eagerly ordered and waited along with thousands of others hoping to get one during the initial release. My back order lasted nearly a month but it was worth the wait to get an even more robust device with features such as a camera that allowed FaceTime and video conferencing.

Like most of the free world I waited and scoured the Internet to find any rumors on the next generation iPad that Apple was supposedly announcing in 2012. There are nearly as many Apple psychics as there are customers. It seems everyone has an inside source that is dishing out details of what this secret device has.

On March 7th Apple unveiled the latest generation in front of a packed crowd in San Francisco. This was the first major product release since the passing of long-time CEO and company founder Steve Jobs and people were curious if there would be any differences in Tim Cook’s presentation versus Jobs, the master of product introductions.

It didn’t take long for attention to turn to the new iPad. Within 15 minutes of the presentation the device was unveiled. Most people assumed the latest generation would be designated as the iPad 3 but Apple seems to be moving away from the numerical designation referring to this as “the new iPad”. This will likely cause some confusion since we have the original iPad, the iPad 2, and now the iPad again. I understand Apple’s reasoning but you will have to be a little more definitive to differentiate between the various devices now.

The new iPad is an amazing piece of technology from a specifications perspective. Apple has brought the Retina Display to a larger form factor with the new iPad having an incredible 2048 by 1536 pixel display at 264 pixels per inch. To put this in perspective the 9.7 inch screen now has higher resolution than a 40-inch high definition television.

Photos and text are crystal clear and movies look amazing on the new screen. No more jagged edges to type or fuzzy edges around photos and movies. Instead the new iPad is like looking through a window into a magical world.

The Retina Display would be nothing if the iPad could not drive that many pixels in a timely fashion. Apple understood this point and specified the dual-core Apple A5X chip as the brains. Besides having dual-core for most processing the A5X also includes quad-core graphics acceleration to make the frame rate incredibly smooth whether you are playing games, watching movies, or surfing the web.

From a networking perspective the new iPad continues to support Wi-Fi as well as 3G cellular networking. Apple did not stop there, they also included 4G LTE network capabilities to give the device much quicker response to the new standard with downloads being much faster. The availability of 4G is still spotty in the United States but if you happen to be in an area that has the new network the iPad will take advantage and give you an even better user experience.

Dimensions of the new iPad are similar to the iPad 2. It is slightly thicker but maintains the curved form factor. The Smart Cover that Apple announced last year with the iPad 2 continues to work on the new iPad. The new device also uses the same home button located on the bottom of the bezel and the same docking port on the bottom that other models have used. In these cases the rumor mill we not exactly accurate since many suggested the dock would be replaced with a Magsafe plug or some other connector.

The new iPad comes in the same configurations as the previous models with storage options of 16 GB, 32 GB, and 64 GB. You can get any of these with just Wi-Fi or for $130 more you can have 4G LTE along with Wi-Fi for the ultimate in connectivity.

Apple has set March 16th as the official launch day for the new iPad but surprised everyone by taking pre-orders on March 7th. As expected, Apple’s online store was crushed by the masses all trying to get into the pre-order queue before delivery times stretched from days to weeks to months.

Surprisingly, for the first 24-hours of pre-sale the delivery date stayed at March 16th meaning that Apple obviously has been manufacturing the new device for a while to keep up with anticipated demand. It took me nearly 2 hours to complete the pre-order process as the web site went down several times during the ordering. I was able to finally complete the purchase and have an anticipated delivery date of March 16. At that time I will post a review of my impressions once I have the new device in hand.

From everything I have seen and heard about the new iPad I may have a sleepless night on Thursday waiting for delivery of my new tablet. It will definitely be worth the wait.

Before long I realized that there was no way I could move forward without a scale. I need that feedback and guidance if I am going to be successful. So despite this being only the first day since the passing of my old scale I found myself getting all dressed up to meet new scales.

It’s been a long time since I have been in the scale dating scene. Back in my day a guy had to court a scale and build up a relationship after first asking the manufacturer if it would be all right if I took the scale home to meet my parents. Boy, things are sure different now.

It seems like everywhere I turned there was some new flashy scale vying for my attention and my money. I never realized how materialistic some of these scales could be. While my last scale was a simple device with a circular dial and I just stepped on to get a reading, these new scales had all kinds of new wiz-bang features. Some of these scales on the market are so sophisticated that measuring weight seems like almost an afterthought.

After going to two or three stores I was thoroughly confused. On the one hand all I needed was something that could accurately tell me what my weight was. On the other hand, I am an information junkie and the idea of a scale being able to measure and record multiple data points intrigued me.

The vast array of scales and features had overwhelmed me to the point where I nearly gave up looking. Then the answer to my weight measurement prayers was answered in the most unlikely place.

As I was walking through the local mall I decided to take a break from looking at bathroom scales and went into the Apple Store to see what new gadgets they had on display. Tucked away in the back of the store was a white box with a black square on the cover with the name Withings printed on it.

It wasn’t the picture that caught my eye as much as it was the title of the box that made me do a double-take. Along the top it said, “Wi-Fi Body Scale”. At first I wondered, why in the world would anyone want a bathroom scale with Wi-Fi networking and exactly what kind of network activities does a scale need?

Intrigued I picked up the box and began reading. The scale not only accurately reported your weight on the LCD display but included other information such as percentage of body fat and BMI calculations. Where other scales simply recorded this information on the display that disappeared when you stepped off the device, the Withings Wi-Fi Body Scale sends this information wirelessly to a secure web site where it maintains the measurements and graphs them for you.

This sounded awesome. I mean not only is it going to accurately measure my weight but also allow me access to the data and watch the time-based trends of weight management. No longer do I have to remember the numbers, the scale sends them to the web site automatically.

That alone would be worth the price of the scale but it doesn’t stop there. The Withings Wi-Fi Body Scale also interfaces with the FitBit Ultra pedometer and automatically enters your weight into the system to help you track your weight loss goals and how they are augmented by the exercise being recorded by the FitBit.

I eagerly purchased the scale and rushed home to set it up. The initial steps were fairly self-explanatory. The scale had a huge cling sticker with a URL for beginning to use the scale. After starting a browser I was taken to the Withings web site to create a free account. I entered my name, height, and beginning weight.

At first I wondered why I needed to enter my weight before stepping on the scale but the on-screen help explained that the scale was capable of managing the weight of eight unique users. It recognizes the user by their weight and adjusts based on the +/- from the last time you used your scale.

I created an account on the scale for my wife and I. Since there is roughly a 75-pound difference between the two of us it easily knew which of us was standing on the scale.

Stepping on the scale it began measuring weight. At first it had a little difficulty in calculating my weight but from the display I realized I was leaning with too much of my weight on one leg versus the other. Once I centered my balance it quickly figured the weight, percent body fat, and BMI displaying all three measurements on the display.

In less time than it took me to step off the scale and walk downstairs to my computer the information was on the Withings web site and also on the FitBit web site giving me instant feedback on how I have been doing since my last weigh-in.

Besides the web site, Withings also has an iPad/iPhone application and an Android application that will allow you to get information about your weight while you are on the go. The system does allow you to share your weight information on social networks but honestly I am not sure I want the entire Internet to know how much I weigh. Maybe I’ll feel differently when I get down to my target weight.

Overall the Withings Wi-Fi Body Scale is a great device. It seems to be much more accurate than my old dial scale and has already provided me with information that I otherwise would not have known such as Lean Body Mass, and percent fat.

It not only works with FitBit but several other sites making it easier for those who use online sites to help manage their weight, diet, and physical activity. At first I thought having a Wi-Fi enabled scale was ridiculous but after just a short period of time I’ve really liked having the information available automatically without me having to track it manually.

Almost as quickly as the product was unveiled there were already mounds of press both positive and negative discussing the merits and drawbacks of the device. It was interesting to read these accounts especially considering the lack of hands-on experience these writers had with the iPad.

I have to admit I am more than mildly intrigued by this announcement and I can already see several applications for its unique form factor. Even with my tempered enthusiasm I recognize this is not a technology panacea that will be everything to everyone.

So far I have heard laments the device is too large while others complain it is not large enough. There are numerous complaints regarding what the device includes or does not include especially with regards to ports.

There were contingents complaining the iPad did not have a USB port, an SD card reader, a built-in keyboard, a hard drive, an HDMI connection, a camera, stereo speakers, multitasking, or Mac OS X. I even read one report blasting the iPad because it did not run Microsoft Windows Mobile.

Clearly Apple is learning once again, no matter what you introduce there are going to be detractors that will find fault with every design decision made. It is impossible to design or build the perfect device.

The diversity of the complaints of what the device includes or doesn’t include suggest Apple may be defining a new market segment. The iPad does not fit well in any current product category.

People who view the iPad as a computer attempt to compare it to the Apple MacBook or MacBook Air. They begin rattling off all of the features or functions found on a laptop that do not exist on the iPad.

Others look at this as a mobile communication devices ala an iPhone. They complain it lacks a camera, the form factor is too big, and the device includes too many unnecessary components.

Many of these arguments were similarly waged when the iPod came out. No one knew what it was supposed to be and therefore could not grasp the concept. It was not until the market began to evolve and users became familiar with where the iPod could fit within their lives did the device begin making strides in the market.

I predict a similar flow for the iPad. A few early adopters will take up the iPad and begin to establish where its capabilities fit in society’s information model. This coupled with applications that can take advantage of the iPad’s unique technology will hopefully help to define the market parameters and where the iPad makes sense.

I’ve been to enough Apple events to know the company and in particular Steve Jobs has these things down to a science. They maintain secrecy over all details of the event and subtly let out slight details at a rate that ensures the general public is spun up to a frenzy.

This was definitely the case for this event. It was perhaps the worst kept secret in the computer history that Apple would be releasing a tablet device. Despite that knowledge Apple customers and potential customers were glued to their computer screens waiting to learn the details of this new device.

After taking the stage Jobs wasted no time before bringing out the new product for everyone to see. It had been rumored the device would be named the “iPad” and that was accurate. At first glimpse it looks like an iPod Touch with a thyroid problem.

It has the same touch screen technology that the iPod Touch and the iPhone use. From the screen displays it runs a version of the iPhone Operating System with extensions that will utilize the larger screen real estate.

Apple is positioning the iPad to be missing link between the iPhone and the MacBook. It will run over 140,000 applications from the App Store with no modification giving the device an instant library of software on day one.

iPhone apps can run in two different modes. The first will set the application up in a window sized the same as an iPhone or iPod Touch. With a click you can expand the size of the window to four-times nearly filling the iPad’s screen.

The iPad is 9.56 inches high and 7.47 inches wide with a depth of 0.5 inches. It weighs approximately 1.5 pounds making it extremely light weight and portable for taking with you wherever you go. The 9.7 inch (diagonal) LED screen has a resolution of 1024 by 768 pixels at
132 pixels per inch.

The form factor was slightly different than I expected. I thought it would have a screen ratio of 16:9 rather than 4:3. While the additional width might be good for some applications, it results in black bars on two of the sides when watching video.

The iPad comes in several configurations to allow the customer to decide which one will meet their needs without overbuying the technology. There are two standard types. One is strictly Wi-Fi enabled allowing network connectivity to any Wi-Fi Hotspot in 802.11a/b/g/n flavors.

The other includes 3G networking in addition to Wi-Fi allowing the user to connect the device to a cellular network if Wi-Fi is unavailable. Apple announced that the 3G model comes unlocked meaning it can be used on any 3G network that utilize specific frequencies. AT&T immediately announced the iPad could be used on their network.

Besides the networking type, customers can also choose the device’s capacity. The iPad will be available in 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB of memory. Like the iPhone the iPad includes an accelerometer to sense when the device is rotated or tilted.

The iPad uses a graphical keyboard like the iPhone and can also utilize Bluetooth keyboards such as the Apple Wireless Keyboard. The iPad includes full support for Bluetooth 2.1 which should mean you could use wireless earphones.

The processor in the device is an Apple designed chip called the A4 which is running at 1GHz. The chip was designed to provide good performance while maintaining lower power consumption.

Power conservation was an important design criterion for the iPad allowing it to have up to 10 hours of use or 30 days of stand-by power, impressive considering the device’s minimal footprint.

The iPad is capable of playing music similar to an iPod Touch. It is also able to display High Definition video reproduction in 720p at 30 frames per second.

The device is initially being targeted to the traveler who wants to use multimedia while on the road. Its screen size would be perfect for watching a movie on an airplane or in a hotel room.

Besides audio and video, the device is also great as an electronic book reader. It was immediately clear that Apple was positioning this to compete head-to-head with Amazon and its Kindle product.

Besides the iPad, Apple also announced it would add books to iTunes allowing customers to purchase electronic books and have them downloaded directly to the iPad. Besides text and pictures, the electronic books can also include video and other media.

The demos of the electronic book media reminded me a lot of the newspapers in the Harry Potter movies where pictures move around the page. With networking capabilities there is no reason content could not be updated in real time as news unfolds.

Besides the iPad, Apple also introduced a version of their word processor Pages, presentation software Keynote, and spreadsheet Numbers for the iPad. This brings productivity apps to the mobile space. Perhaps the best news was that each of these applications will be priced at $9.99.

The whole pricing structure for the iPad was very aggressive. A 16GB iPad with Wi-Fi will sell for $499 putting it squarely in the Kindle’s market. Prices for the 32GB and 64GB models were set at $599 and $699 respectively. If you want 3G, it is $130 more. This means the most feature laden iPad will sell for $829; $170 less than the rumored price point.

The Wi-Fi versions of the iPad will begin shipping in late March 2010 while the 3G versions will ship in late April. Overall the iPad looks like an intriguing device that has a lot of potential allowing Apple to position themselves in another mobile market.

The most popular rumor is the release of the highly anticipated Apple Tablet which has been expected for over a year. As is always the case, Apple closely manages the information that is “leaked” prior to an announcement.

Steve Jobs and the crew at Apple have perfected the art of product releases to build the hype to a frenzied level making sure all media outlets will cover their event. You would think that the public would become accustomed to these events but Apple never seems to disappoint regardless of whether the introduction lives up to the rumors or not.

The January 27 event has been billed as being “mobile” specific. This could mean anything from an update to the successful MacBook laptops to an iPhone upgrade to the new tablet. Personally I am expecting this to be the tablet which some have suggested will be named the ‘iPad”.

Rather than regurgitating the various rumors surrounding this new product, I thought perhaps it would interesting to talk through some of the challenges Apple may have in this space.

While we all love to talk about cool hardware and get excited at seeing the device in person, it is important to keep in perspective that the success of new computing devices are less tied to hardware specifications. For a device such as the Apple Tablet to gain traction in the market it will require incredible software and one killer application.

When Apple Computer introduced the Apple I and later the Apple ][, it was largely described as a “hobbyist device”. To make it work required some software engineering to create a program each time the computer was powered up. It was relegated to a market segment of people who dabbled in electronics; definitely not a mainstream product.

All of this changed with the introduction of VisiCalc. VisiCalc was an electronic spreadsheet that allowed the user to complete mathematical tasks quickly and easily. When people saw what VisiCalc could do, the sales figures for Apple ][ computers literally took off. Suddenly people who before would never have looked at a personal computer were buying these devices and inventing ways to use spreadsheets in their daily lives.

In 1984 Apple introduced the Macintosh computer. It took some of the best design ideas from the Apple Lisa and built them into a compact computer. By itself the Macintosh was a novel experiment in alternative input/output. While the Lisa had a similar interface it did not penetrate the market as Apple had envisioned.

Apple made a decision to include two applications with the Macintosh, MacWrite and MacPaint. These two applications showcased the features of the new hardware and enabled users to envision their lives being better as a result of using the product.

Customers flocked to Apple stores after the Macintosh announcement and laid out $2,995 for a computer with 128K of RAM, a 9 inch Black & White monitor, a 400K disk drive, and a dot matrix printer. The shortage of Macintosh computers resulted in waiting lists that at times reached on for several weeks or months before delivery.

For nearly a year after its introduction the Macintosh had just MacWrite and MacPaint software available yet people continued to buy the hardware just to use these two applications.

When Apple introduced the iPod, it also included iTunes as a way for user to interact with their new handheld device. With iTunes users could not only load the iPod with music but would facilitate adding content changing the paradigm of how we buy music.

Now Apple appears to be set to introduce a tablet. The question becomes, what will be the killer application that will drive people to purchase the device. It has been rumored that the tablet will be able to act as an electronic book reader, a multimedia device capable of displaying video and photos, and provide surfing capabilities. Will that be enough to garner the interest of users beyond the current loyal Apple customer base?

Each of the markets (book reader, multimedia, and browser) is adequately covered by existing products both within Apple and elsewhere. Personally I think it will take a completely different piece of software to push the tablet to cult status that previous Apple products seem to have achieved.

It is hard to envision what that software may be especially since very few have been fortunate enough to see the device before its release. The announcement needs to not only provide a glimpse of the new hardware, it must also capture the imagination of software developers to inspire them to develop something that will capture the public driving not only software sales but also hardware.

Like many, I will be glued to my computer during the presentation to see what the device can do and hopefully be inspired to develop something that can push the limits of the device and enable the users to places they could not imagine before the product was announced.