The IOS4.2 Upgrade for iPad

by Dakota Noel    This week's release of IOS 4.2 for iPad was just in time for my wedding anniversary. While I'm sure my wife would really like a husband upgrade which would provide multitasking capability such as "talk and drive", the ability to store papers in file folders, and a "where's my husband?" app, I thought an upgrade to her iPad which provided similar enhancements was the next best thing in gifts.

Our iPad rarely gets docked to the PC and iTunes, so about 3 hours were needed to upgrade iTunes to version 10.1, do synchs, and do back-ups. This worked out OK since I got it started and then went to watch a movie.The iPad/PC where still churning away when the movie was done and I went to bed.

When attempting to actually do the OS upgrade this morning, I got a warning that there were files on the iPad which had not been backed up. I poked around to see what they may be, didn't identify any, and went ahead with the upgrade.

To get the upgrade going, the iPad needs to be connected to the PC (or Mac) running iTunes 10.1. With my 1.5 Mbs DSL connection, it took a little over an hour to download the upgrade, another four minutes to extract and install, ending in a restart of the iPad (BTW the iTune 10.1 upgrade requires a restart of the PC). After the iPad restarted, it went into a synch operation which appeared to hang up. I restarted iTunes and it re-hung. Tried restarting the iPad and it was hung. Used Task manager to shut down iTunes a second time and went on-line looking for help. I noticed the iPad screen went blank, restarted the iPad, and it seemed happy. Restarted iTunes and the synch went quickly and OK. I seem to be good for the moment. There is online support if you have a different problem during or after the upgrade.

The iPad IOS 4.2 manual is at support.apple.com/manuals/ and is just under 200 pages in length. There are only a few minor cosmetic changes to the UI from IOS 3.2, so minimal training should be needed for my wife. Pandora does multitask with Safari, email, and Kindle.

With IOS 4.2 installed and apparently working, I downloaded the "Find my iPhone" app from Apple which is one of the iPad benefits from the upgrade (I suppose if the husband has the iPad it would provide the "Find my Husband" functionality mentioned at the start of this post). You need to set up a free "MobileMe" account and link it to the device. Instructions are given as part of the FindMyiPhone app install from the app store.

With MobileMe set up and "use current location" enabled, the iPad was located. Since our iPad is wi-fi only, the localization was not great...within half a block. But still, how do they know my location that accurately using wi-fi through my home wireless access point connected to DSL? Is it traceable to a "junction box" on a nearby telephone pole?

The Coming of the Android Tablets

Last Sunday, very quietly in a number of flyers in the Sunday newspaper, the arrival of the Android tablet computers was announced. This week they occupy half of page 18 in the Best Buy Ad, but I'm not adding any I've seen to my 2010 Christmas list.

One, like Steve Jobs, can argue that the 7" displays are in the ugly spot between not being as big as an open book or as small as a smart phone. More concerning to me is the lack of resolution on the screens: 1024 x 600 on the Samsung Galaxy Tab, for example. The current versions of the Android OS won't support higher resolutions like 1200 x 768 which is where I'm at for the spec of the tablet I would like to have (iPad is at 1024 x 768 and iPod Touch is at 960 x 640 on a 3.5" screen)  . This is mainly for eBook reading a la Kindle DX's 1200 x 824. Thus, I'm holding out for a winter release of Android 3.0 which will support the higher resolution and look nice on a 9.7" or larger screen. Bonus points for a USB port or three and a 1.5 GHz processor. If the Gen 2 iPad had those features, it would also be worth considering. Maybe in time for my spring birthday....

Notable in the Best Buy ad today was the Huawei Ideos S7 tablet for its $299.99 price. On the downside was the 800 x 480 screen resolution which is comparable to my droid phone. No word on processor speed, on-board memory, etc. This leads to one of my pet peeves with smartphones and tablets which is how hard it is to find that sort of basic information, if it is listed on a web site. Companies: please note there are sophisticated buyers out there.