Tag Archives: Invite

Apple’s iPad event announcement cuts into Schmidt’s MWC Android groove

Apple's mastery of timing is impeccable. This morning, I was listening to Eric Schmidt ramble on about Android and Google during his Mobile World Congress keynote. As someone who follows technology, I found his talk mildly intriguing, until the iPad 3 invites began pouring out.

Right then, Schmidt went on mute and he became a mere talking head in the background. I hopped on IRC and Twitter and have been talking about the iPad 3 even since. At a time when the tech world was focusing on new Android devices and Windows Phone handsets, everyone will now focus on Apple and the iPad. Everything from missing home buttons to selling our iPad 2s will dominate our conversation over the next week.

So, did Apple time its announcement as a deliberate in-your-face or was it a happy coincidence? You tell us in the comments below.

Apple's iPad event announcement cuts into Schmidt's MWC Android groove originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 28 Feb 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple’s announcement timing is uncanny

Tony Bradley at Macworld points out something interesting that I've also been thinking about: Apple is being awfully sneaky with its timing when it comes to product announcements.

The upcoming March 2 event happens to land not only right around the time that Motorola's much-anticipated Xoom tablet will hit consumers' hands, but also right in the middle of next week's Game Developers Conference, when quite a few developers will be announcing new games for both the iPad and Android tablet platforms. The timing seems more than coincidental, especially with all of the announcements we've seen today.

And this isn't the only recent Apple announcement apparently targeted at shaking things up: The Mac App Store's launch date was set for January 6, right as this year's CES was underway in Las Vegas, and much of that show's sidetalk was taken up by rumors of the Verizon iPhone, which was announced a few days later on the 11th.

You could argue that this is just good business, and you'd be right -- with its keynote events, Apple is the uncontested leader in product messaging for tech, and timing is a big part of that. If Apple is going to announce an iPad 2, why wouldn't it be right when everyone's focused on tablet software? (Not to mention that the event is being held at Yerba Buena, right next door to the convention center). But at the same time, it's quite a coup, hijacking the attention of press and developers without any official involvement in the event they're there to attend.

Apple's announcement timing is uncanny originally appeared on TUAW on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Zaprudering the Invite: Anything to see?

Whatever you might think of Apple's grammar, there's not much this invitation's artwork is giving away. Of course, we all want to know: is there a camera up there? If so, we're not seeing evidence of it in the top-middle of the graphic. Perhaps there is a left-mounted camera hidden by March 2, or perhaps there is no camera to be seen at all, which will disappoint FaceTime chatters everywhere. Or perhaps Apple is simply being a tease ... as usual.

The volume toggle and mute switch appear unchanged, and I suppose it's nice to know that the virtual iPad has been fully charged before being incorporated into the invitation. The numeric battery charge meter is, however, out of action in this shot, which lends a certain falsity to the image.

The iPad appears to be sporting the iPhone 4 default wallpaper. Could that mean anything? Nah. Probably not.

Can you guess what technology or innovation will help define 2011 through the iPad? We're still scratching our head and making guesses here in TUAW-land.

Our own Kelly G. rolled her eyes at the language. While it's not TUAW's place to smack down Apple for a badly constructed sentence, we're more than happy to turn over pedant duties to our commenters. How would you have phrased your invitation? Let us know!

Zaprudering the Invite: Anything to see? originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 23 Feb 2011 13:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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