We are fast approaching that time of year again when Mac and iOS developers and enthusiasts descend on the Moscone Center in San Francisco to take part in Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference. The annual conference, famed throughout the technology world is one of the biggest and most popular of its kind, attracting delegates from all over the globe paying thousands of dollars each for the privilege to be in attendance.
Even by Apple's impeccably-high standards, the launch of the new iPad over the past seven days has gone exceptionally well. The usual congregation of devotees could be found outside any given Apple Store last Friday morning, waiting to get their hands on the Retina-toting, 5 megapixel-snapping, LTE compliant device.
With Apple bringing forth a 4G LTE-compliant iPad last week, most of the on looking tech world saw such an implementation in the next iPhone as something of a foregone conclusion.
You only need to stop for a second and have a look at the number of smartphone devices and tablets available in the marketplace to understand just how popular mobile devices are becoming in our everyday lives. For seasoned users of these devices, the ownership decision generally isn't a difficult one as they tend to have their preferred manufacturers and preferred OSes and will only deviate if something exceptional enters the public domain. However, for those who may be new to the smartphone or tablet ownership, the decision about what device or OS to opt for can be somewhat overwhelming.
An internal email that found its way out of the company and into the hands of Microsoft blogger Mary-Jo Foley reveals that Microsoft will be putting a new policy in place which will prevent employees of the company's Sales, Marketing, Services, IT, and Operations Group (SMSG) from purchasing Apple products - they specified Macs and iPads within the email - with company funds. The email was sent out by Alain Crozier, the CFO of the SMSG division, which encompasses around 46,000 employees worldwide.
Apple's recording breaking product, the new iPad, is not even a week old yet, but that hasn't stopped a subset of users picking up faults with the third-generation device. The new iPad officially went on sale last Friday, with Apple announcing in the last few days the they managed to ship a staggering three million units within the first weekend, making it the most successful iPad launch to date. Users have been queuing up outside Apple Stores in the hope of getting their hands on the tablet which features an A5X dual-core processor, a 5 mega-pixel rear camera and a beautiful high-resolution Retina display which contains a whopping 3.1 million pixels.
As a company, Apple is getting used to breaking their own sales records, so the fact that they shipped more than 3 million units of the new iPad in the first three days of availability shouldn't really come as a great surprise. The next-generation iPad has proved once again that Apple have the winning formula when it comes to tablet devices, something that has manifested through fantastic first weekend sales and will no doubt put the company on an even greater solid financial footing.
Believe it or not, and we still choose not to, but one young man has taken a more, helpless iPad and had at it with a couple of guns. The result? Utter devastation and, unsurprisingly, a devastated iPad.
Since Apple announced the new iPad nearly two weeks ago, the tech world has been inundated with questions - many of which have been answered with the subsequent release.
Apple's flagship tablet has dominated a market to which it is credited with creating when the first iPad back in 2010, and with Tim Cook revealing "record" sales - at the company’s uncalled for conference call - for last weekend's launch, that dominance isn't showing any sign of petering out.
