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Buying Guide: Apple iPad 2: Second Thoughts
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- Apple iPad 2: Second Thoughts
- Need for Speed
Ever since I picked up an Apple iPad 2, I've spent more time with it than my original iPad. At 1.3 pounds, the 33 percent thinner iPad 2 is unquestionably more comfortable to hold and offers the promise of greater speed and utility. In some cases, doing what was once impossible with an iPad 1 is obvious. I could never, for instance, shoot or edit video with my old device. The remaining iPad 2 differences, however, are harder to spot; so I spent some time this weekend in search of them.
The iPad 2 has always had an accelerometer, which basically tells the device if it's in motion. It's great for, say, driving games, so you can steer with the whole device. I use this when playing Real Racing HD. Now the iPad 2 has a three-axis gyroscope, which not only recognizes motion, but the speed and angle of it. That's the good news. The bad news is that it's still hard to find any apps (from Apple or anyone else) that use it.
Apple reports at least two games that take advantage of the new gyroscope: "Dead Space" from EA and "N.O.V.A 2 Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance HD." According to the "Dead Space" page in the App Store, version 1.0.2, which was released on the same day the iPad 2 arrived in stores, now has "more intuitive controls of your movement". This is made possible through "Y-Axis Inversion". No mention of gyroscope axis, but I'm guessing that's probably what EA is talking about. I downloaded the game to try it out.
You have to play "Dead Space" for quite a while before you even begin to use the entire iPad 2 as a game control. To turn my weapon sideways, for example, I needed to turn the iPad 2 left or right. Interesting, but I don't think the gyroscope does anything to particularly enhance that activity. "Dead Space" grows increasingly intense (and frightening) as you play it, so I guess I'll see more gyroscope action later on.
Apple's not using the gyroscope with its newest apps, which include iMovie and the music-creation app Garage Band, but at least one of them takes decent advantage of some of the iPad 1 and 2's existing hardware. Inside Garage Band, for instance, is a virtual piano that not only mimics a physical keyboard's sounds, but can recognize if you tap the keys lightly or pound them like an angry circus monkey. I tried both methods on Garage Band on my iPad 2 and, sure enough, I could make sharp loud notes by hitting the keyboard hard.
The accelerometers inside the iPad 2 must be wicked sensitive. Even planting the iPad 2 on a hard surface and doing my best not to move it a millimeter, the virtual keyboard still recognized the difference between a tap and a pounding. It was not foolproof though, and sometimes the hard tap would sound just like the light tap. This was so random, though, that I couldn't figure out if it was a glitch in the software or simply the angle of my keystroke. Garage Band has a variety of virtual instruments, including an electric guitar. I'd suggest attaching the gyroscope to a virtual whammy bar so a downward thrust of the iPad 2 creates a cool whammy sound.
Another under-the-hood change that you could miss if you're not paying attention is the increased Web browser speed. This comes courtesy of iOS 4.3, and in my anecdotal tests on a Wi-Fi network, I saw some pretty significant differences. When I pitted the first-generation iPad running iOS 4.2 against the iPad 2 running iOS 4.3, the speed differences were dramatic. Upgrading the first-gen iPad to iOS 4.3 closed the gap significantly, but the iPad 2 still maintained a lead. Part of that must be due to the faster, dual-core A5 CPU (the iPad 1 has a single-core A4). Keep reading...