Tim Bajarin: Apple’s new iPad sets the stage for innovation

Yesterday, “Apple introduced a new iPad and with it has raised the bar for anyone creating a competitive tablet,” Tim Bajarin writes for Tech.pinions. “The iPad, with its new Retina display that delivers 2048 X 1536 resolution, is clearly the highest definition tablet on the market. More importantly, as Apple pointed out, the work to create this type of HD quality experience on a tablet took many years of effort and tight integration with their new chip, which will make it very hard for competitors to match anytime soon.”
“One only has to view the new iPad against an older iPad 1 or 2 to see the major differences between the products,” Bajarin writes. “And it is even more pronounced when you view it next to an Amazon Kindle Fire or any of the other tablets on the market with standard definition displays… Apple also adds a new 5-megapixel camera that takes video in HD… also has an LTE option… the same battery life as iPads in the past… [and] prices are the same as on the older models… They are also introducing new apps from iPhoto to an updated iLife and an updated version of iMovie that allows for much finer creation tools to new ways to edit and distribute your movies via iCloud.. Software is clearly the key differentiator. The iPhoto demonstration alone will wow consumers and highlights the power of touch computing.”

Bajarin writes, “All of this new technology integrated into the new iPad will have a major impact on the market for tablets. From now on, this iPad will be the standard all other tablets will be compared to. And with it should come an even greater opportunity for Apple to pad their lead in tablets… That should give Apple a significant edge going into this holiday, as the iPad will clearly be the best tablet available bar none.”