14 DAY TRIAL // Reports quoting a Russian blogger reveal that people close to Apple have learned of the company’s plans to implement USB support in the upcoming iteration rumored to launch no later than Q1 2011.
“Talked with a colleague while working with some ODM vendors connected with Apple,” Eldar Murtazin, editor-in-chief of the Mobile Review blog, wrote in a Dec. 28 tweet.
“He is research guy. According to his sources iPad2 will have usb port,” Murtazin said.
eWeek picked up on the story to note that Apple is facing tough competition from tablet vendors next year, unlike this year, when the iPad launched in a world that didn’t even know how to hold one properly.
In 2011, Apple will not only have to withstand a horde of Android-based devices, but also tablets from rivals Hewlett-Packard and Research In Motion, both of whom are planning to launch products based on OSes developed in-house.
Microsoft is also believed to prepare the launch of a range of Windows-based tablets.
In other words, Apple needs to step up its game, if it wants a record profitable 2011.
USB support, a feature even die hard Apple fans crave for in the iPad, is now a must for the iPad 2.
The addition of a USB port would open the door to a range of new possibilities with the tablet, including support for transferring files to and from NAND flash drives, as well as connecting various USB devices, such as digital cameras, without the need of adapters and additional cables.
Still, one analyst believes Apple has pretty much nailed it with the original tablet. Whatever it does from now on, competitors will have a tough time trying to catch up, Richard Shim, an analyst at DisplaySearch, believes.
eWeek cites the man as saying that “Many of the brands looking to compete in the slate market are strictly hardware companies.”
“They do not usually manage, promote, qualify and support developers,” Shim wrote in a Dec. 28 report.
“Those competencies take time to properly mature, but would-be iPad rivals have to learn fast or risk Apple running further away with the market. We should not forget that Apple is leveraging the success it built up with iPhone developers for the iPad,” Shim added.