ipad2 will be in Singapore in April 2011

When will iPad2 arrive Singapore for sale? This is a question I am regularly asking to a reseller since iPad2 is announced. I held my self off buying a tablet for a year and I am now waiting for ipad2 to hit the shores in Singapore. Today, they have told me that it will be sold in Singapore in 2 to 3 weeks time (by mid April 2011). Price? Not announced yet. Demand? A lot. I have registered anyway to buy one but I can still catch the second batch if the first is sold off before I can get one.

Why iPad but not a Google Android device? I personally had chance to try iPad and several tablets in the market in several IT shows and the main difference between Apple (particularly Steve Jobs) and its rivals is the focus on user experience. There are some great android tablets out there with great hardware, greater than iPad hardware, but when it comes to user experience, Apple products are superior for now. Also i find 10'' screen just optimum for my user experience and 7'' small to use. For these reasons, despite 2 major drawbacks for me, iPad lacks smartphone functionality and flash support, I will probably buy iPad2.

iPad2 is slimmer than iPad which is good because although i like 9.7'' large screen, it is really hard to hold it for a long time. iPad2 will hopefully be better in this. I really do not care about the back camera because iPad is not something I will naturally use to take photo but front camera is good for video chat, which will be very useful for me to keep in touch with friends who are thousands of mile away.

I would really like to have flash in a tablet I use, android tablets beat iPad here since iPad2 also do not support flash. It is an inconvenience but not a big deal if you do not have a habit of watching streaming video.

Many iPad users out there are a little disappointed with this new iPad2 since it looks like an upgrade rather than a radical new version. Digital Life (The Straits Times) summarizes this quite well:

"The iPad2 is a different animal to different users. Those who have held off buying the iPad will find this second-generation tablet, with its additional features and more powerful hardware, a very good buy. But if you already own an iPad, the iPad2 will feel more like a version 1.5 than an all-new second generation product." 

No Flash Support in iPhone and iPad. In the image above, all superheros can be displayed by an Google Android device
but in the bottom one Flash has gone and it is replaced with a "lack of flash support" icon which is familier to iPhone and iPad users :)

So for people like me, who did not enter into tablet world, iPad2 will be a definitely good buy. But as long as a new iPadX does not come with Retina Display (as in iPhone), USB port, SD card slot and something catchy, a lot of existing iPad users probably will not upgrade.