White iPhone 4 releases tomorrow, finally (update: Phil Schiller explains the delay)

The rare albino iPhone 4 has been spotted numerous times in the wild, skulking through the trees in the magical United Kingdom, cavorting across the mysterious lands of Vietnam, and most recently standing in formation in Belgium. Now it's coming somewhere rather less exotic: the Apple Store. Apple has finally announced it will release the white iPhone 4 tomorrow around the world. Here in the US it'll come in both AT&T and Verizon flavors, warming the hearts and minds of those who like a little less pigment on their handsets. Other than a proximity sensor tweak nothing else has changed on the device, and so the pricing remains the same: $199 on contract for the 16GB model, $299 for 32GB. Sadly, though, your contract also remains the same, and we're pretty sure really wanting a new phone to match your earbuds isn't grounds for avoiding an ETF.

Update: All Things D's Ina Fried had the pleasure to sit down with Steve Jobs and Phil Schiller to learn the reason behind the white iPhone 4's delay. According to Schiller, it wasn't as simple as getting the right whiteness like we reported previously -- turns out this is more to do with adding extra UV protection to keep the internal components behaving normally. Looking on the bright side, Jobs implied that this lesson allowed them to bring out the white iPad 2.

Separately, some time ago our sources added that the white iPhone 4's spring launch window was set in stone back in September (and consequently announced in October), as Apple foresaw the need to delay the iPhone 5 to free up resources for the OS X Lion team and the new maps team ahead of WWDC in June. All will be revealed in good time. 

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JBL intros OnBeat iPad / iPhone / iPod speaker dock, prices it at $150

This planet we call home needs another iDock about as bad as we need another Charlie Sheen running around aimlessly, but no matter -- we're getting one, and it's being delivered from JBL. The company has just outed its first-ever iPad speaker dock, the OnBeat. Truth be told, it's capable of handling iPod touches, iPhones and iPads (no word on the iPad 2), but it's clearly engineered to hold the largest of the bunch best. Aside from providing joints and jams to those situated in your living room (or basement, if that's how you roll), it can also pipe Netflix and YouTube content directly to one's television via a composite video output, and if you're running around sans an iDevice, the 3.5mm auxiliary jack ensures that any other source will still function just fine. You'll also be able to charge and sync any docked devices, but you'll be asked to dole out $149.95 in order to bring one home when it ships next month.

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Apple iPad 2 India Launch Announcement Soon?

The iPad 2 has already been launched in the US, and will be launched in several other countries on March 25, but India doesn t figure in that list yet. Apple has not yet confirmed any India date, but a senior manager at a leading Apple partner has revealed on informal enquiries, that the company is working on a launch date to be announced in just two weeks. This was discussed during the Apple partners meeting held in New Delhi last Wednesday. The source added, "iPad 2 launch figured prominently at the meeting and most partners were urging Apple's management to intimate them about the launch in advance so that they draw up sales strategies."

Apple partners are said to have expressed unhappiness about how Apple launched the original iPad in India, 10 long months after its US launch. The India launch of the iPad 2 seems even more feasible now because Apple has been promoting the iPad 2 on their Indian website, which they never did for the original iPad. So let's keep our fingers crossed and hope that iPad 2 would not be atrociously priced. Would you buy the iPad 2 if it is launched in India?

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iPad 2 review

To say Apple's iPad 2 is an easy tablet to review is somewhat of an understatement. The device, a follow up to last year's wildly successful (and currently market-defining) iPad, is nearly identical when it comes to software, and though improved, closely related on the hardware side as well. With a 9.7-inch, 1024 x 768 display, the general size and shape of the device has remained the same, and though inside there's a new dual core A5 CPU, more memory, and a pair of new cameras, most of the iPad 2's changes are cosmetic. Still, the previous tablet soared far above most of its competitors when it came to the quality of both the hardware (if not its raw specs) and its software selection -- something Apple still stands head and shoulders over its adversaries on. So this new model, a thinner, sleeker, faster variant of the original may not be breaking lots of new ground, but it's already at the front of the pack. But is the iPad 2 worth an upgrade for those that took the plunge on the first generation? More importantly, does the device have what it takes to bring new owners into the fold? Those questions -- and more -- are all about to be answered in the full Engadget review, so read on!

Gallery: iPad 2 review hands-on

Continue reading iPad 2 review

iPad 2 review originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Mar 2011 21:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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