The biggest tech news today has to be the live event where Apple showed the world the new iPad 2 and Steve Jobs made an appearance too.  I watched the event via the live blogs on both Engadget and Gizmodo.

Below is a recap and summary of the new features and design of the new iPad 2.

Apple iPad 2 – All new design

Not only is the iPad 2 thirty-three percent thinner it us up to 15 percent lighter. Part of the new look of the iPad 2 is that it now comes in a color for AT&T and one for Verizon.  The new white one goes with Verizon.   AT&T gets the black one.

Included in the new design is also a powerful dual-core A5 chip.  Apple claims this will make surfing the web, watching movies, making FactTime video calls, gaming, and going from app to app to app faster and smoother.

Along with the dual-core A5, you will get superfast graphics performance.  Apple states that graphics will be 9x faster with the iPad 2.

To sum this up:

• Dual-core processors
• Up to 2X faster CUP
• Up to 9X faster graphics
• Same low power as A4
• First dual core tablet to ship in volumn

Apple iPad 2 – Video cameras

Apple didn’t just add one camera.  They added two cameras.  Which means we will be able to not only use our iPhone for FaceTime, we will now be able to use our iPad 2 for FaceTime.  There is a camera on the front and one on the back of the new iPad 2.

Apple iPad 2 – Battery life

Apple made the iPad 2 thinner and lighter.  They gave it more speed.  And they gave it faster graphics than the first iPad.  Once again, Apple is telling us to expect 10 hours of battery life.  ”That’s enough juice for one flight across the ocean, or one movie-watching all-nighter, or a week’s commute across town.”  What it really means is someone using the iPad 2 for work or play can expect a full days worth.

Apple iPad 2 – Price

The base price for wifi only will be $499.  And the price for wifi + 3G will be $629.  This gets you the16 GB model.

Apple iPad 2 – Available on March 11th

You can order your own iPad 2 from the Apple online store starting on March 11th.

There is a lot more one can learn about the new iPad 2 directly from the Apple site.  It will be interesting to watch over the next few days and weeks how the competition reacts to the new iPad 2.

Photo credit – Engadget

However, there’s one statistic that’s been almost overlooked by many, who have covered this story!

Apple Mac sales up too – not that you would notice though

Most of the news coverage surrounding these impressive figures are focused on how well the iPhone range is doing.  However, Mac sales have also increased by 4% on the same period last year.

As we reported recently, PC sales dropped by around 5%  last year.  The primary reason given for this drop in sales has been the recession; yet Macs are typically more expensive to buy than similar spec PC’s.  This would suggest that once again, Apple’s ability to design, market and deliver computers that inspire the market is what’s leading their recession-busting performance.

Apple iPod sales down

The only area where sales were down, was with Apple’s iPod range. However, with over 5 million iPhone’s sold last month, it’s probably fair to assume that many iPhone users are now using their iPhone as their primary portable media player too.  This would have an impact on sales.

Overall, it seems 2009 is going to be a great year for Apple Inc. As well as these sales figures, Steve Jobs is back at the helm and there are growing rumours that an Apple Tablet computer will hit the market later this year too.

Image credit: Apple Inc.

Apple will start selling a cheaper, ‘entry-level’ iPhone sometime this summer, for around $99 after subsidy, according to “checks,” RBC analyst Mark Abramsky said in a note this morning.

There are obvious advantages to Apple of getting a $99 iPhone into the marketplace. Increased iPhone user numbers means a bigger market for their extremely profitable App Store and iTunes.

However, some of the rumours regarding what features will be stripped from a $99 iPhone (like ‘no multi-touch’) make little sense to me.  Stripping key features like that from an iPhone, would ruin the user experience (not very Apple!!)  I’m taking all current iPhone reports with a pinch of salt, though the number of industry insiders and analyst’s predicting a $99 entry evel machine is increasing. Food for thought!

The rumour / prediction comes from Peter Misek, an analyst with Canaccord Adams; following recent checks he made with carrier partners.   According to seekingalpha.com

Three new iPhones could be coming in 2009. The first is a 32G iPhone in multiple colours that is likely to arrive during the next six months. Next up is a lower-cost handset based on the 2.5G iPhone, which is targeted for China and India. Third is a smaller version – about one-third the size of the 3G iPhone – that costs 40% less and is also likely before year-end.

After posting the best revenue and profit figures in their history, it seems Apple are looking to gain an even greater share of the mobile / cell phone market with these new models.

I think the low cost 3G iPhone (if it were to be 40% cheaper), would certainly open a whole new market for Apple. This makes economic sense. With a lower cost iPhone, the userbase would increase and with it, even more customers for the App Store and Apple’s add-on hardware.

Despite the credit crunch, the daily reports of doom and gloom (and lay-offs across the IT sector), Apple are growing like never before.

Apple record profits

Apple.com reported some amazing results pretty-much across the board, though iPhone sales where below many experts expectations. Here’s a direct quote from Apple:

CUPERTINO, California—January 21, 2009—Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2009 first quarter ended December 27, 2008. The Company posted record revenue of $10.17 billion and record net quarterly profit of $1.61 billion, or $1.78 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $9.6 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.58 billion, or $1.76 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter.

Gross margin was 34.7 percent, equal to the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 46 percent of the quarter’s revenue.

Apple in 2009

It remains to be seen, if this trend will continue as we go through what most industry watchers believe will be an extremely challenging year.  Equally, the recent concerns regarding Steve Jobs’ health could impact confidence in the Apple brand.

Apple, despite what many people say, is more than ‘just’ Steve Jobs.  There are a lot of talented people in that Company and I think these latest figures show just what a strong position Apple are in right now.

These guys know better than most, that with some simple software and an Internet connection, you can now attend seminars / keynotes and also review software – without actually leaving your computer.  This stuff’s been around for years!

However, it seems that although they all have an iPhone and a laptop – many tech journalists don’t actually USE technology as much as their readers do!

Macworld and CES

Every major technology journalist flew off to the recent Macworld or CES events.  For example, Cnet sent most of their senior technology reporters.  I love Cnet, but if a review by Tom Merritt or Molly Wood is good enough for their listeners / readers – why isn’t it reliable enough for their colleagues to use? Did they ALL really need to see the same thing in person – wasn’t the reporting and hours of video enough?

Some tech journalists claim to be big time, tree-hugging  supporters of the environment.  Maybe it’s time they stopped just reviewing technology and started using it?

I’m certainly not saying that no one should attend these events in person.  I’m simply suggesting that with better use of technology, it’s possible to reduce the numbers and the environmental impact.

I thought long and hard about this and decided; ya know what – I’m gonna keep it!  That’s right, after a year and a half of stunning pictures and video from the N95′s 5-megapixel camera, excellent built-in GPS, 3.5G mobile connection speeds, wi-fi and a superb browser (plus all that great symbian software) – I decided not to upgrade.

Why didn’t I upgrade?

I am a tech geek, a natural ‘early adopter’.  I’m the guy that ALWAYS buys ‘the next big thing’ and happily pays a premium too.  I smiled when my iPhone shot down in price a couple of months after I bought it (on import.)  I even laughed when my £350 ($600 US) Saga Dreamcast bundle was worth less than a cup of coffee within a year of buying it.

The reason I didn’t upgrade was simple; I love my N95 and the way it integrates with my business and my life!  I simply saw no reason (yet) for me personally to trash a great phone.

By the way, my N95 is with 02 (I’m based in the UK), with unlimited data (and it’s fast), plus 800 minutes of any time / network calls, 1000 sms texts plus monthly added extras for £20, (less than $40 US a month!)

I have played with the 3G iPhone for two weeks and enjoyed it; but my iPod Touch has lots of the same features.  I also own stacks of great software for my N95, which makes it even harder to cast it aside.

The N96?

Of course, when the N96 has been in the wild for a while, I might change my mind – but for now, it’s business as usual.

What’s YOUR favourite cell phone / mobile phone and why?

Rory Cellan-Jones quoted me in his blog and Jeremy Hillman, the Editor of their Business and Economics Unit has actually linked to the post and explained what he thinks. Here’s his post and why he thinks I am wrong!

Now, I do not agree with the insane amount of coverage the BBC has given the iPhone launch; however, I salute their decision to bring the story of their coverage out into the open.

I wonder how many other news gathering organizations would have done the same?

Thank you Rory and Jeremy for being ‘proper’ about this!

Their pre-launch and now post launch iPhone publicity is all the more mystifying; as the BBC is NOT ALLOWED to advertise products here in the UK! Equally, the iPhone has a very small percentage of the UK mobile phone market – making it of limited interest.

Both here in this blog and on the BBC’s own blog, people are asking for answers – and not getting them.

What do you think?
Are the BBC right to GIVE hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of free publicity to Apple?

UPDATE:
What do I know about the power of this kind of advertising? I should disclose that whilst I am NOT a professional tech journalist, I own and run an international marketing company and produce one of Europe’s best known marketing blogs

I have just been answered (kind of) by Darren Waters at the BBC.

I say I was answered, I was actually insulted, accused of using their blog as link bait and told that the BBC had only given iPhone one article and one blog post – which is 100% incorrect! One of the other comments in their blog, listed 4 recent iPhone stories and gave links to them!

So, we still know nothing about why they are dishing so much free publicity out to Apple – they are just denying it – even when it is presented to them.

Is it possible that the blog’s Editor REALLY didn’t know that his staff had already written a massive blog post about the iphone launch?

In the UK, the BBC are not allowed to advertise; yet they are giving stacks of powerful publicity to Apple’s iPhone, which would cost a company a fortune to buy, because the BBC is seen as being ‘neutral.’

No one at the BBC has been bothered to respond to the various questions raised regarding this publicity in their blog. This is unusual, as they often do respond to posts on their blogs. Could it be that they realised their gaffe and want it to die down?

Nope – they are at it again!
They may not have answered the questions surrounding their iPhone coverage, but they have managed to crank out yet another pre-launch promotional piece for their beloved iPhone.
You can read it here!

Apple love
I love the iPhone too, use a Mac most days and will not go near a gym without my beloved iPod. My issue is not with Apple; my issue is with the double standards at the BBC.

That same BBC blog, which promotes Apple and the iPhone and gives acres of space to it, has a set of rules, which clearly state that no one can post anything that promotes products or services. You can’t even comment on their blog, if your user name is linked in any way to a business (seriously.)

BBC love
I am a big fan of the BBC and I work on the BBC occasionally as a reviewer for BBC radio. I Find it disappointing that no one has clarified the situation or explained why it’s OK to promote / publicise ‘some’ companies and products and not others.

Dear BBC
If there IS a reason that explains what ‘seems’ to be a real double standard, let us know!