The Wall Street Journal, one of America’s most popular newspapers for financial and political updates have recently announced that Apple have started ordering components for the next generation of mobile tablets the i-pad 3 due for release early 2012.

After a fantastic year for Apple with sales of the i-pad 2 surpassing sales of the original i-pad and with profits increasing every financial quarter, it is clear that Apple’s intentions to flood the market with high quality simplistic products is not going to end any time soon. The famous American tabloid went on to state that vital components have been ordered by the company for construction of the next generation i-pad due for release early next year. When they officially approached one of Apples major suppliers and assembly company Hon-Hai Precision Industry they declined to comment on any orders made and the future release of the i-pad 3.

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So by now you will have all heard the rumours that Apple are looking to make an investment with their billions in profit and that they are looking at either Sony, Disney or Adobe. So strong is this rumour that it has caused Sony’s share prices to rise by 3% and apparently it’s only speculation that came from this article.

So there’s the reality, now let’s deal in a little fantasy shall we?

If Apple were to buy Disney, lock, stock and barrel that would mean that they would also own all the subsidiaries owned by Disney which of course includes Marvel. What would that mean for Marvel? Would a second buy-out in as many years spell doom and gloom or would they have a ton load of cash and new resources to play with? We’ll probably never know but let’s just suppose...

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Link: http://www.suntimes.com/technology/ihnatko/2134294,marvel-ipad-comixology-ihnatko-033110.article

So in my last post about the i-pad I said when it comes to comic books it really does depend on what Marvel and DC do with regards to how successful it is, well Marvel have firmly thrown their hat into the ring with a Comixology app available at launch. From what I've read there doesn't appear to be much news or information about the app -not so true anymore now check out the update from Marvel below or the titles that will be available (or indeed most importantly how much they will cost) but I'm assuming as the app comes from Comixology it will follow very much the same format and business model as their current i-phone app.

This is an important step, I feel it's vital that comic books to have a big presence on the i-pad right from the start if this is indeed the way the industry is going. It doesn't seem to me that the i-pad is really a quantum leap in terms of technology or design when compared to the i-phone but what does matter most for comic book fans is that it's bigger, a simple obvious point but important nontheless. I was always put off the idea of reading on the i-phone due to the size of the screen, the i-pad however is just perfect, almost made for comic books.

Making comic books available to a larger audience has always been difficult, especially here in the UK, because of the way comics are distributed through the direct market. Anyone wanting to pick up a comic book would usually have to find a comic book shop and then find what they're looking for amongst the ridiculous amount of choice that is out there. This in itself is difficult enough without the factoring in the geeky social stigma and the condescending elitest attitude of some comic shop employees, not all but some, I don't want to get black balled. The i-pad takes all this away, comics at your fingertips right now whenever you want them and quite frankly looking better than ever.

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By now I'm sure most people that care will have heard about the launch of Apple's i-pad; their new intermediate device somewhere between a smart phone and laptop. If you have been on Mars however the below video of the press conference should get you up to date of all that it can do:

So the obvious question for us is what does this mean for comic books? Obviously it all depends on how well the device is supported and how well it's recieved by the masses. The first is pretty much a given, this is Apple we're talking about and they will the support the hell out of this, already launching their own i-book store and making it so that any apps that work with the i-phone will also work on this new i pad. That means apps like Comixology, i-verse and the like will be ready to go on the i-pad straight away making comic book reading very likey and very easy. The second issue of how well will it be recieved is really an unknown. Based on Apple's previous success with i-pods/i-phones you'd assume that this new device will be a 'must have' for most but I don't think that's necessarily the case. Sure, I'm excited about it but I'm a massive geek and love new gadgets but for a lot of people this will just seem like a big i-phone or a smaller less powerful laptop, and they wouldn't be far wrong. Even more of a concern is the price, let's assume we're only going to get the best one (why wouldn't you?!) it's mighty expensive at $899 to get a measley 64GB memory with 3G (that you'll have to pay a subscription for!). What that'll work out to be by the time it get's to good ol' Blighty is anybody's guess but I bet it'll be even more expensive here.

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