iPad, will uPad?

Had to laugh at the Apple press launch yesterday - quite literally the iPad is a giant iPod Touch. They could have even named it the iPod XL or something. Many were hoping for a touch-screen laptop minus the keyboard, like the Windows based tablets on show, which would be nice for business users and those wanting to integrate with their work. I can't say I'm overly surprised at what it turned out to be, and I doubt it will be that sucessful in its first version.

However, I really really really want one! Sure there's no GPS on the base model, no front mounted camera that would allow for awesome Skype video calls and no standard USB ports for adding storage, cameras, game controllers, midi devices etc. If there's one thing we have learned from Apple in recent years, it's "expect to be underwhelmed and the device to be underspecced compared to what others have been doing for years."

So why do I want one? Web browsing at a higher resolution would be great. My iPhone is already my main browser these days, so a bigger version has to be cool. No flash though (d'oh!). Being able to use my many apps without re-buying them would be great too, although I'm not that convinced about pixel-doubling meaning games will simply "just work" (not least of which due to the placement of on-screen controls that were designed for a 3" device not a 10" one). Video will also be amazing - BBC iPlayer, YouTube HD etc. Bring it on!

Mainly I look forward to music apps. Full width virtual keys, more stuff on screen, more multiple touches (is that one true, about the 10 finger multi-touch?). That's going to be awesome.

It's far from perfect, far from business-like, far from a Windows tablet killer, looks like it'll slip off your lap and smash into a thousand tiny pieces and far from pocketable. I love it :o)

Is Apple losing its edge?

First the iPhone 3GS was a major disappointment, with very little in the way of exciting updates from the 3G. I was poised to buy the 3GS if the camera was any good, but it turned out not to be. For that reason I stuck with my 1G iPod Touch and bought a fantastic Sony camera that does HD video. I felt that maybe the next generation of iPod Touch would be basically the iPhone 3GS minus the phone part, i.e added compass, GPS, camera and microphone. Like many others I patiently awaited the launch event.

What did we get? A faster processor and some more storage. And that's it. So underwhelming that Apple's share price seems to have taken a hit, and I have yet to see a good word written about this "new" model.

Insult to injury? Apple once again brags about the vast number of games on the App store (over 20,000) but fails to mention that you can't even install 200 of them and have them visible on your device. Ths is despite the new 3.1 operating system. What we can do is move the icons around in iTunes instead. R-i-i-i-g-g-h-h-h-h-t....

Someone please innovate in this space, because Apple has forgotten how to.

Ports I'm awaiting

Porting an app always sounds like such a simple idea, after all you've got the assets already right? Ok, sure you may have to change the resolution of some images, or change the sound format and quality of a few samples, and obviously there may be extra features of one platform, such as accelerometer and touch screen, or no buttons, and of course a finger-touch device needs a different interface to a stylus-touch device to a mouse-driven device to a keyboard-driven device, and it goes without saying that the RAM and storage will be different, and who would expect binary compatability with an entirely different OS and CPU, and .... oh, maybe it's not such a simple job. But anyway, those trivial things aside, I'd love to see the following make an appearance on the iPhone:

• CellDS
• GlitchDS
• Griff
• Pocket Stompbox
• MeTeoR
• DS10 (heh heh)
• ProteinDS

Anyone know if any of these are pending?