Harnessing the powerful tools of the iPhone OS and applications from the App store, the new iPad ushers in an era of intimate, mobile computing on a completely different level from before.
The idea of a tablet is not new but the design and functionality of a tablet computer has never been as appealing as before. With its large, gorgeous screen display and multitouch interface, the iPad inspires an imaginative mobile experience. The move by Apple Inc. towards its ideal of an “intuitive” user interface has gotten closer and closer.
Clean, Simple User Interfaces for Mobile Apps
App development has brought attractive user interface design to the forefront. Simple and clear design stands out immediately on the small 3.5-inch screen of the iPhone. Mobile consumers reveal their preference for well-designed apps. Mobile apps also attract audiences with greater zeal than their companion or mother websites that are often cluttered with heavy and overstuffed tabs and sections. Many mobile websites are far more down to earth, friendlier, simple to navigate, with a cleaner design than their traditional website counterparts. Both however are equally functional but the mobile web version is by far more enjoyable to use.
iPad Changes Web Design
Described by some as a larger iPod Touch, the iPad enables app development on an unprecedented scale with its large 9.7-inch touchscreen and carves a new path for an enhanced mobile computing experience. Employing the same touchscreen technology available on the iPhone, the iPad offers a higher picture quality than a conventional LCD monitor and a wide viewing angle of up to 180 degrees with gorgeous vivid color. In addition, the iPad has a 1024 x 768 resolution with 132 pixels per inch. It is free of both arsenic and mercury and possesses an oleophobic coating that is resistant to fingerprints.
When the iPad is released into the market, competitors undoubtedly will arise to challenge its entry. The arrival of the iPad immediately will launch websites that are specifically geared to the best tablet browsing experience. This in turn, will make web browsing better than it is today. Mobile computing is thus changing both the content and the design of the online world.
Designing for the iPhone and now the iPad enables developers to be imaginative again and step away from old user interfaces. The multi-touch experience allows for an intimate interface that can be understood by anyone of any age immediately. Using or playing with the iPad will have more similarity to the way people learn naturally by touching and tinkering around than by reading user manuals and documentation. This in turn, changes the way people design and changes the way people interact with daily chores and events. Work thus incorporates more elements of play into it. Through this method, Apple has achieved a far greater success than a mere physical product. They have built a system that influences the way people interact and experience the world.
Tablets and Mobile Software
Skepticism about the success of tablet computers remains. For more than two decades, tablets built by Hewlett Packard and Acer have remained a niche market appealing primarily to graphic designers only. However, Apple’s phenomenal success with the iPhone and the App store, which has garnered 99.4% of the mobile software market, reveal that the company is building upon two powerful success stories that go hand in hand.
Competitors such as Dell and Intel are also busy building their own version. Dell and Intel are working together to build a touchscreen tablet with a subscription-based e-reader for content ranging from magazines and newspapers to books and other media. Microsoft has also been promoting its new Windows 7 for multitouch devices. TechCrunch and Fusion Garage are busy developing the CrunchPad slated for release in November of 2010.
The touchscreen market is expected to grow from $3.6 billion to $9 billion over the next few years according to market research firm Display Search. According to Zdnet.com, in the last quarter of 2009, AT&T added 2.7 million net wireless subscribers, attributed mainly to the adoption of smartphones, eReaders, netbooks and navigation devices. Wireless data revenue jumped 26.3 percent to $3.9 billion as well. Judging by AT&T’s success in the wireless market, mobile computing is only going upward.
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