KOMPAS.com - The first official reviews of Apple's much puffed-up and publicised iPad have come in... and they are surprisingly positive. Many gadget gurus derided the tablet computer at its January launch, as a lack-lustre bigger version of the iPhone with few new features.
Now just two days before the U.S. launch, reviewers have been able to prise the devices from the notoriously secretive Apple for hands-on testing.
Critics from the Wall Street Journal and New York Times both praised the iPad's ease of use and battery life - which lasted longer than Apple's claim of 10 hours.
Reviewers at both papers said the tablet computer, which goes on sale in the UK this month, works nicely for web surfing or consuming media like video and books.
'If you're mainly a web surfer, note-taker, social-networker and emailer, and a consumer of photos, videos, books, periodicals and music ... this could be for you,' Mr Mossberg said.
However, he added that the speedy device, which will start at $499, had 'annoying limitations.'
'The email program lacks the ability to create local folders or rules for auto-sorting messages, and it doesn't allow group addressing. The browser lacks tabs. And the Wi-Fi-only version lacks GPS,' he said.
Mr Pogue described the 9.7" tablet as 'so bright and responsive', but added: 'The bottom line is that you can get a laptop for much less money with a full keyboard, DVD drive, USB jacks, camera-card slot, camera, the works.'
eReader war heats up
The reviewers were split over whether the iPad could topple Amazon's Kindle as the most popular eReader on the market. Currently the Kindle makes up 90 per cent of the eReader market. The Kindle DX, which has a 9.7" screen, is in a similar price bracket, at $489.
The Journal's Walt Mossberg said he preferred the iPad to the Kindle.
PC Mag's Tim Gideon added: 'Kindle: I like you, but I am nervous about your future.
'The iPad displays books in a way that is much flashier than your black and white e-ink screen. It shows illustrations in colour. Page turns actually look like page turns.'
However, David Pogue from the New York Times said the device's 1.5lb weight was too heavy for reading compared to Kindle's 10oz.
He added: 'You can't read well in direct sunlight' and 'You can't read books from the Apple bookstore on any other machine, not even a Mac or iPhone.'
However, Apple's iBook store will not come preloaded on the iPad, allowing other companies, including Amazon, to create online bookstore apps for the device.
Readers will therefore be able to buy eBooks from a number of different suppliers but read them on their iPad.
Amazon said the company would 'look forward to making Kindle for iPad available very soon,' but didn't confirm if the App would be ready for the U.S launch on Saturday.
Book publishers are set to reap the rewards as the battle heats up between Apple and Amazon for eReader customers.
Today, Amazon agreed to halt heavy discounting of eBook best sellers in new pricing deals with two major publishers.
The agreements with HarperCollins and CBS Corp's Simon & Schuster will allow publishers to charge up to $14.99 for some popular titles - more than the tough $9.99 pricing cap that Amazon had set previously.
The new deals, that mirror those struck with Apple, mean Amazon will have the same array of titles that rival what Apple will offer on its digital bookstore.
Currently Apple allows publishers to set the price for their own books, with Apple receiving 30 per cent from each sale. This is very different from the standard publishing pricing, as used by Amazon. In this version publishers sell books at a wholesale rate. Then Amazon makes a profit by marking up the books above this.
John Makinson, Chief Executive of Penguins Books, said: 'We have all struggled in this industry to find an online model that works successfully in terms of content and the consumer's propensity to pay.
'I think myself that the iPad represents the first real opportunity to create a paid model that will be attractive to consumers.'
Penguin will share 30 per cent of its revenue from eBook sales for iPads with Apple. Mr Makinson said this compared to the 50 per cent publishers typically paid to book retailers including Amazon.
Google :Attack in Vietnam
The cyberattacks targeted “potentially tens of thousands,” a posting on Google’s online security blog said Wednesday. It said it was drawing attention to the Vietnam attacks because they underscored the need for the international community “to take cybersecurity seriously to help keep free opinion flowing.”
Google apparently stumbled onto a scheme targeting Vietnamese-speaking Internet users around the world while investigating the surveillance of e-mail accounts belonging to Chinese human rights activists, one analyst suggested. The attackers appear to have targeted specific Web sites and duped users into downloading malware programs, said Nart Villeneuve from The Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto. That may have allowed the infiltration and surveillance of activists, he said.
“This kind of stuff happens all the time in China,” said Villeneuve. “It has a chilling effect. It silences people.”
Google engineer Neel Mehta wrote in the posting, “these attacks have tried to squelch opposition to bauxite mining efforts in Vietnam, an important and emotionally charged issue in the country.”
The mining project involving a subsidiary of Chinese state-run aluminum company Chinalco is planned for Vietnam’s Central Highlands and has attracted strong opposition. Foes fear the mine would cause major environmental problems and lead to Chinese workers flooding into the strategically sensitive region.
The computer security firm McAfee, which has investigated the malware, also discussed the attacks in a blog posting Tuesday. “We believe that the perpetrators may have political motivations and may have some allegiance to the government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,” wrote George Kurtz, McAfee’s chief technology officer.
Vietnamese officials did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday. Last fall, the government detained several bloggers who criticized the bauxite mine, and in December, a Web site called bauxitevietnam.info, which had drawn millions of visitors opposed to the mine, was hacked.
The malware apparently began circulating at about that time, according the McAfee blog. It said someone hacked into a Web site run by the California-based Vietnamese Professionals Society and replaced a keyboard program that can be downloaded from that site with a malicious program.
Google says its dispute with China was triggered by a hacking attack that emanated from the mainland and attempts to snoop on dissidents’ e-mail. Last week, Google shut down its search operations in China, Vietnam’s northern neighbor, after complaints of cyberattacks and censorship there. Google now redirects search queries from China’s mainland to the freer Chinese territory of Hong Kong.
On Tuesday, many users of the Chinese Google search engine experienced difficulties. Analysts suggested the troubles may be linked to the company’s decision to move to Hong Kong. Google initially said it was an in-house technical problem but later shifted its explanation, blaming the “Great Firewall” — the nickname for the network of filters that keep mainland China’s Web surfers from accessing material the government deems sensitive.
The sudden disruption and lack of explanation fit with how the government has brought companies to heel previously in the heavily monitored Chinese Internet industry, analysts said.
“I don’t think anyone should be surprised,” said Bill Bishop, a Beijing Internet entrepreneur and author of the technology blog Digicha. Tuesday’s problems were payback by the government, he said, because “Google humiliated China.”
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