[Emmanuel]

New rumors are swirling about the iPad 2 (http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/26/next-ipad-likely-to-get-a-new-screen-front-facing-camera-usb-p/), and they're a bit of a grab bag. The source is the same Economic Daily News paper that made one of the early calls on the first iPad, but also the one that reported in August that there was a 7-inch display being sourced for the iPad's sequel (which Steve Jobs seems to differ with). The new report says that the next iPad will be out in Q1 2011, will have dual cameras, a new display with new touch tech, and a USB port for working with third party devices.

From our own information we know there were actually some last minute revisions on the first iPad that ended up killing the camera and nixing an extra dock connector, so the camera(s) seem a particularly natural "addition" for the iPad 2. We've also heard that a revised screen is happening, though it's unclear if this will be a "Retina Display" or something more minor. On the USB plug front, which could mark a sort of adolescent transition of the iPad into "computer," our source says it's, sadly, very unlikely. We're particularly interested in this mention of a new touchscreen technology from the EDN rumor (perhaps stylus support or pressure sensitivity?) but we don't have anything else to go on there. Overall, it's still hard to tell if the next iPad will be a small update or something more splashy, but it's certainly going to be something.- Engadget

[Ben]

Hi Emmanuel, welcome to Talk3G!

What do you think we'll get from the next iPad?

[The Mullet of G]

I think the next iPad will essentially be a scaled up iPod Touch 4G, I can't see Apple changing the formula too much. The USB thing is interesting though, aren't Apple currently being crushed by some EU busybodies about having to use a proper USB connection if they want to sell stuff in Europe?

[Hands0n]

I seem to recall that the EU want the mini-USB standard so that we can survive with one single charger type and I wholeheartedly agree with that. I have boxes upon boxes of chargers for kit I no longer use but have not discarded yet. All are different. Nokia are one of the worst offenders what with their different power connector types. But others have been similarly irresponsible.

There was also a push by the EU to enforce manufacturers to facilitate replaceable batteries - but that seems to have gone nowhere.

[The Mullet of G]

I seem to recall that the EU want the mini-USB standard so that we can survive with one single charger type and I wholeheartedly agree with that. I have boxes upon boxes of chargers for kit I no longer use but have not discarded yet. All are different. Nokia are one of the worst offenders what with their different power connector types. But others have been similarly irresponsible.

There was also a push by the EU to enforce manufacturers to facilitate replaceable batteries - but that seems to have gone nowhere.


Nokia? As far as I'm aware Nokia have only ever used 2 different chargers, the old one with the fat connector and the new one with the thinner connector, and all of their phones use the same one. What phone have you had that used a different charger? I presume you are confusing the charger with the data cable, which Nokia have changed occasionally, but as they now use Micro USB this isn't an issue.

I agree though all phones should have a removable battery and the ability to charge via USB/Micro USB/Mini USB, I'm also not sure why Apple are still using that huge and pointless connector as it just leaves an unsightly hole in the bottom of their devices.

[Emmanuel]

Hi Emmanuel, welcome to Talk3G!

What do you think we'll get from the next iPad?

Thanks for the welcome Ben!

As mentioned in the article, I think we'll definitely get the USB-port on the iPad 2. Personally I'd like to see a front an back facing camera, plus upgraded HD memory.

And yes, Nokia has only used two kinds of chargers.. which was definitely a big plus! I'm all up for the mini-USB standard. Would make things so much easier (read: when being out all day and having forgotten your charger!)

You guys already own the first generation iPad?

[Hands0n]

Nokia? As far as I'm aware Nokia have only ever used 2 different chargers, the old one with the fat connector and the new one with the thinner connector, and all of their phones use the same one. What phone have you had that used a different charger? I presume you are confusing the charger with the data cable, which Nokia have changed occasionally, but as they now use Micro USB this isn't an issue.

I agree though all phones should have a removable battery and the ability to charge via USB/Micro USB/Mini USB, I'm also not sure why Apple are still using that huge and pointless connector as it just leaves an unsightly hole in the bottom of their devices.


Nope - even with the fatter charger connector - the actual chargers themselves had different voltages (I believe from recollection 5v and 3v) and current capabilities - so if you mixed up charger it would not work with the handset. I still have a few of these lying around - went to charge up an older handset for the holiday and it would not charge. It had to switch around a number before I found one that would. So it wasn't just size, but the electronics also.

[The Mullet of G]

Nope - even with the fatter charger connector - the actual chargers themselves had different voltages (I believe from recollection 5v and 3v) and current capabilities - so if you mixed up charger it would not work with the handset. I still have a few of these lying around - went to charge up an older handset for the holiday and it would not charge. It had to switch around a number before I found one that would. So it wasn't just size, but the electronics also.

I've never encountered that and I've been buying Nokia phones for over a decade and charging them at other peoples houses and other such random places, thats always been the beauty of Nokia phones, no matter where you went you were never far from a compatible charger. Also its worth noting that Nokia phones have current and voltage regulators meaning they can accept a wide variety of current and voltage combinations and charge just fine. I'm pretty sure that at least 99% of the old fat plug chargers were 3.7v and the newer thin ones are 5v, so the only time you should have an issue is if you are using an adapter to convert an old 3.7v fat pin charger into a thin pin which requires 5v, if you plug a 5v charger into one requiring 3.7v it'll charge just fine. Just out of interest what was the phone you were trying to charge? :)

[Hands0n]

That would have been a rather nice burgundy Nokia 8210. In its day a rather nice basic handset when the novelty was simply all just about being able to make a call while out and about.

[miffed]

I had similar problems with Nokia chargers - the "fat" chargers that charged my 9110i & 9210i were not the same as my other Nokia hansdsets , and plugging a Charger from any other Nokia would not work , and I am pretty sure that using the communicator chargers on my 3330 fried it

This was a major pain in the ass , and it probably would have been better if the plugs HAD been different !! ,

Just to bring us up to date , the similar problem I am having is with the iPad ! - Now , I thought it was "just a big iPod" - therefore I could charge it the same way as I do my iPods / iPhones ? .... erm .... NOPE !!
An ipod charger will charge it VERY sllowly - , plugging it into a PC will power , but not charge it unless the LCD is off !! , (seems to work OK on my macs though ? ) , The iPad has to have it;s own "special" 10w charger - how do you tell the difference ? Well YOU DON'T !!! Because in their wisdom , Apple make it look near identical to an iPod charger !!! (Twats)
...Well to be fair , they put a couple of dimples in the edge that runs around the charger - you discover this when you painstakingly search for some kind of distinguishing feature !!)

Not sure what the implications of using the 10w charger on an iPod is ? ....would it have killed them to make the iPad charger look a little different ?
Not sure what

[Hands0n]

Well, thats the beauty of USB - it all operates to a standard voltage. Supplied voltage by a host or a powered hub port (http://pinouts.ru/Slots/USB_pinout.shtml) is between 4.75 V and 5.25 V.

However, the current of the charger/mains adapter becomes critical for some devices with large battery capacities, the iPad being one such device. The more wattage (power) that a charger can output the quicker the battery will charge. I suspect that the iPad is refusing to accept lower wattage chargers because it would take longer to charge the battery - and if the iPad is being used at the same time it may just cause an overload to the charger, and that could in itself be dangerous. So the iPad decides "Hey, not enough watts" and so will refuse to charge.

The iPad battery is a 3.75v 24.8 watt-hour (http://www.geek.com/articles/mobile/teardown-time-a-closer-look-at-the-ipads-battery-and-a4-processor-2010044/) capacity component. Therefore, using a 10 watt charger will charge the battery from flat in 2.48hrs.

An iPhone charger will also charge an iPad, but slower - also there are reports on Macrumors of users' iPhone chargers overheating and packing up when used with an iPad. So I'd recommend sticking with the pukka 10w charger and not chance it with anything lesser.

Some Mac and MacBook computers will also charge the iPad if they are equipped with "high power USB" port, as in some of the more recent Apple computers. My Mac Mini, for example, will not charge my iPad.

To answer Miffed's other question - using a 10w (iPad) charger on an iPhone will make no difference whatsoever. The iPhone will accept the charge at whatever rate it's charging circuit will permit. You may, just, find the device will charge quicker because of the increased power available from the charger. But certainly you'd do no damage to the iPhone itself.

[miffed]

...But don't you think it might have been prudent to make the 10w iPad charger look different to the 5w iPod ones ? rather than just finding out when you plug it in ? (or several hours later when the thing isn't charged ? or the charger is overheated ? )

[Hands0n]

LOL - yes, you're absolutely right of course. An aluminium unibody one would have been rather sexy :D

[Ben]

I've already pre-ordered the next iPad in my head. It has more RAM and cameras. That'd be just fine!

I don't think they need to revise the form factor at this time.

[The Mullet of G]

That would have been a rather nice burgundy Nokia 8210. In its day a rather nice basic handset when the novelty was simply all just about being able to make a call while out and about.

I have two of them, awesome phones.


I had similar problems with Nokia chargers - the "fat" chargers that charged my 9110i & 9210i were not the same as my other Nokia hansdsets , and plugging a Charger from any other Nokia would not work , and I am pretty sure that using the communicator chargers on my 3330 fried it

This was a major pain in the ass , and it probably would have been better if the plugs HAD been different !! ,

Just to bring us up to date , the similar problem I am having is with the iPad ! - Now , I thought it was "just a big iPod" - therefore I could charge it the same way as I do my iPods / iPhones ? .... erm .... NOPE !!
An ipod charger will charge it VERY sllowly - , plugging it into a PC will power , but not charge it unless the LCD is off !! , (seems to work OK on my macs though ? ) , The iPad has to have it;s own "special" 10w charger - how do you tell the difference ? Well YOU DON'T !!! Because in their wisdom , Apple make it look near identical to an iPod charger !!! (Twats)
...Well to be fair , they put a couple of dimples in the edge that runs around the charger - you discover this when you painstakingly search for some kind of distinguishing feature !!)

Not sure what the implications of using the 10w charger on an iPod is ? ....would it have killed them to make the iPad charger look a little different ?
Not sure what

I expect the Communicator series used the 5v charger, while the majority of other Nokia phones used 3.7v, as a result 99% of people would never have an issue with chargers. Not sure a 5v charger would be enough to fry a 3330 unless it was defective in some way, I sold my N95 to a mate and he plugged a 12v PSU from something else into it, fried the charging circuit but the phone still worked fine.

[The Mullet of G]

Well, thats the beauty of USB - it all operates to a standard voltage. Supplied voltage by a host or a powered hub port (http://pinouts.ru/Slots/USB_pinout.shtml) is between 4.75 V and 5.25 V.

However, the current of the charger/mains adapter becomes critical for some devices with large battery capacities, the iPad being one such device. The more wattage (power) that a charger can output the quicker the battery will charge. I suspect that the iPad is refusing to accept lower wattage chargers because it would take longer to charge the battery - and if the iPad is being used at the same time it may just cause an overload to the charger, and that could in itself be dangerous. So the iPad decides "Hey, not enough watts" and so will refuse to charge.

The iPad battery is a 3.75v 24.8 watt-hour (http://www.geek.com/articles/mobile/teardown-time-a-closer-look-at-the-ipads-battery-and-a4-processor-2010044/) capacity component. Therefore, using a 10 watt charger will charge the battery from flat in 2.48hrs.

An iPhone charger will also charge an iPad, but slower - also there are reports on Macrumors of users' iPhone chargers overheating and packing up when used with an iPad. So I'd recommend sticking with the pukka 10w charger and not chance it with anything lesser.

Some Mac and MacBook computers will also charge the iPad if they are equipped with "high power USB" port, as in some of the more recent Apple computers. My Mac Mini, for example, will not charge my iPad.

To answer Miffed's other question - using a 10w (iPad) charger on an iPhone will make no difference whatsoever. The iPhone will accept the charge at whatever rate it's charging circuit will permit. You may, just, find the device will charge quicker because of the increased power available from the charger. But certainly you'd do no damage to the iPhone itself.

My PC has high powered USB for charging stuff faster, works pretty well with my iPhone, but doesn't seem to work so well with the HTC Desire, that said neither does my iPhone mains charger. Just out of interest what is the output figures for the Desires charger?

[scott.allerdice]

i m not satisfied with iPad but maybe the next version with more features and specially an additive of a cam will make it special.

[Hands0n]

Just out of interest what is the output figures for the Desires charger?

A bit of a Google suggests

uk htc desire charger (model TCP300)
input: 100-240v~0.2A 50-60Hz
output: 5V 1A

Which is, as far as I recall, the same output as the iPhone 3GS charger (possibly also the iPhone 4).

[The Mullet of G]

A bit of a Google suggests


Which is, as far as I recall, the same output as the iPhone 3GS charger (possibly also the iPhone 4).


That does appear to be the same output as my iPhone 4 charger, I had suspected the Desire required more oomph as it takes an absolute age to charge. HTC definitely need to work on this as it takes about twice as long to charge than any phone I've ever owned.

[Hands0n]

Hmm, well it is as much about battery capacity as it is the charger's current output. I believe that it is a 1400mAh and so a charger at 1A (or 1,000mA) should be able to charge the battery in 1.4 hours. In reality the process is not quite that linear, there are other factors at play, but in any event I would anticipate from "flat" to full a healthy LiIon or LiPol should charge up in about 2hours. Unless, of course, the handset's charging circuit is limiting the current input to the battery - or the battery is signalling to the same circuit that it doesn't want a full amperage charge current.

[The Mullet of G]

I'm currently timing how long it takes to charge the Desire from flat to full, I'm currently approaching the 4 hour mark and its just over half charged. No phone should ever take that long to charge.