Forget the iPad 3, here are 14 features we want in the iPad 4
The iPad 3, iPad HD or whatever it's going to be called is the worst kept secret in the tech world. Based on all the rumors, we've got a nice solid picture of what Apple will probably announce on Wednesday.
The iPad 3 will likely include a dazzling 2048x1536 Retina Display, a faster processor (either dual-core or quad-core CPU), better graphics performance, bigger battery, upgraded cameras and more pronounced tapering along the edges. Despite the Wall Street Journal "confirming" 4G LTE, it's still on the fence. As is Siri support.
Does that sound slightly boring to you? Let us help you forget about the next iPad and tell you what we want to see in the next next iPad. We present to you 14 wild ideas that would have our pre-orders in faster than it would take Usain Bolt to run an Olympic sprint.
Note: These are features we would like to see in a future iPad (not necessarily all combined into one master tablet, although that would be very tempting).
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1. Bezel-less / Edge-to-edge Display We're big fans of high-dense/high resolution displays, but nothing quite screams "focus" like a screen that doesn't have any distractions. A bezel-less screen would finally make us feel like we literally have the content in our hands. (Image via here)
2. Bendy Body / Flexible Screen Samsung's rumored to be working on a real flexible mobile device to be released by the end of this year. An iPad is relatively thin, but in the future, all gadgets will be rolled up. Let's start this trend sooner, rather than later Apple!
3. Morphing Body At CES this year, Sony was showing off what it claimed was a concept tablet/laptop that had a shapeshifting back that could morph from being flat to being a stand. We would totally be down with not having to shell out $40 to $70 for a Smart Cover next time around.
4. Bye-bye Home Button Since the iPhone, this guy has been the lone button on the face of all iOS products and it’s time it goes away for good. Over time, the Home button tends to get stuck and becomes less responsive than on purchase day, so why not just be rid of it? iOS 5 also brought four/five-finger multitouch gestures that can call up the Home screen or bring up the multitasking bar. We don't need a Home button anymore.
7. 4K Resolution The most talked about TVs at CES this year weren't 3D or even glasses-free 3D sets. They were 4K resolution panels that showed such incredibly detailed pictures that it made you want to cry with real tears of joy at the clarity. 4K resolution TVs will be the norm in a couple of years, so why not help jumpstart the format with a 4K screen and content?
9. Biometric Scanner Even the strongest passwords can be cracked. Android's face-unlocking feature in Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich looked nifty until someone realized a portrait of the person could just as easily bypass the lock. No, we need something much stronger than numbers and letters. A fingerprint would ensure our cats aren't smart enough to access our iPad while we're away grocery shopping. (Image via here)
10. Holo Projector If there's one thing concept designs have taught me, it's that anything with the world "holo," "hologram" or "holographic" is automatically awesome. If the iPad had a holo projector, we'd all be typing on projected keyboards and accessing all kinds of menus that wouldn't fit on the 9.7-inch display. It'd be a lot like this awesome iPad 3 concept made by Aatma Studio. (Image via here)
11. Lytro / Nokia PureView Camera Tech The iPad isn't meant to be a used like a DSLR, but its optics have gotten better with every revision. How do you keep raising the bar? Toss in Lytro's "take first, adjust focus later" camera sensor and Nokia's 41-megapixel PureView sharp-picture-cruncher sensor and you've got yourself a device with a camera like no other. Thereâd be so much drool from shutterbugs that Apple would have to hire hordes of new employees armed with mops at its retail stores to clean up all the slime.
14. 802.22 Wi-Fi We're perfectly satisfied with 802.11n Wi-Fi. It's plenty fast for us to keep DVICE running from anywhere in the world, but we're greedy because we also want Wi-Fi to work from an insane range. 802.22 would allow for access from a range of 62 miles. It's only 22 Mbps, but we'd never have to deal weak Wi-Fi signals ever again.
5. 3D Depth Sensor / Eye Tracking Kinect and Tobii showed us how body gestures and eye-tracking can make for some powerful control and interface systems. Bring this stuff to the iPad and it'll do wonders for things like gaming on the device. And we can finally stop smudging up our iPad screens!
6. Wireless Charging / MagSafe Induction charging is the future. The now defunct Palm Pre had it and the technology is even being tested for electric cars. Either that or give us a magnetic MagSafe charging port like we have on Macs already. It's time for the annoying 30-pin conector to go. (Image via here)
13. Haptic Feedback Rumble is something that people either love or hate. We really like it. Most Android smartphones and tablets have some kind of tactile feedback when you type on the virtual keyboard or press buttons, but no such thing exists on the iPad. Save for a little "click" sound that lets you know you've touched a soft button, nada. We'd like some haptic feedback and or rumble in our games please!
8. More Ports The iPad is notorious for lacking any universal ports. An SD card slot, USB port (of any variety, but preferably 3.0), HDMI out and a Thunderbolt port would be swell on an iPad. We get that iCloud is Apple's future, but we know we're not alone when we say we’d like the option of connecting external storage devices to an iPad quickly and easily.
