With the new iPad ready to launch tomorrow, hardware disassembly experts at iFixit traveled to Australia to grab the new tablet and tear it apart before the rest of the world has a chance to get their hands on one.

While they note that the new iPad's internals aren't that different from the iPad 2's, the new device does have a downside for tinkerers: its sealed construction makes it harder to open, and the battery is much harder to replace (even for the pros at iFixit).

Gorgeous minimal design, or a great way to sell Apple's $100 battery replacement service? You decide.

[wired]

Apple is facing a class-action lawsuit filed by a customer who feels that Siri, the iPhone 4S's voice-controlled digital assistant, doesn't live up to the promises of the company's commercials.

Frank M. Fazio, a New York resident and unhappy iPhone 4S owner, has filed his complaint of false advertising with the U.S. District Court in San Jose, calling the ads "fundamentally and designedly false and misleading."

His complaint says ads showing people using Siri to "make appointments, find restaurants, and even learn the guitar chords to classic rock songs or how to tie a tie" are nothing like "the actual operating results and performance of Siri."

He also alleges that the iPhone 4S without Siri is just a more expensive iPhone 4, although it has a faster processor, improved antenna and better camera than its predecessor.

Apple has yet to comment on the suit.

[mashable]

Apple design guru Jony Ive, the man behind the iPod, iPhone, and iPad, as well as several generations of Macs, recently talked to the London Evening Standard about how competitors' attempts to replicate Apple's success in industrial design have gone wrong.

"Most of our competitors are interesting in doing something different, or want to appear new - I think those are completely the wrong goals," Ive said, "A product has to be genuinely better."

Although Ive didn't name any names, he had stern words for companies who let marketing drive their design decisions, instead of the other way around.

"It's not about price, schedule or a bizarre marketing goal to appear different - they are corporate goals with scant regard for people who use the product," he said.

Apple's focus on design has been well-publicized. Before his death, Steve Jobs told biographer Walter Isaacson that he had made sure Ive would have more "operation power" at the company than anyone else, other than CEO Tim Cook.

That plan seems to be working out for Apple, whose stock broke $500 a share for the first time last month.

It seems to be working out for Ive, as well. He's won several industry awards for his work at Apple, and recently received a knighthood for his contributions to design.

[slashgear]

Apple unveiled the highly-anticipated new iPad today in an event at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater, and the device's specs mostly matched the rumors.

The new iPad's form factor hasn't deviated much from the iPad 2's, but it sports a retina display with a resolution of 2048x1536, double the resolution of its predecessor.

It also has some major improvements under the hood. The new tablet is powered by an A5X chip, which features quad-core graphics and, Apple claims, offers four times the performance the competing Tegra 3 processor. It looks like Apple will be saving the rumored A6 processor for the iPhone 5.

The new iPad will also have a new 5-megapixel rear-facing lens, very similar to the iPhone 4S's camera setup, including the ability to record 1080p video.

It's also the first Apple device to take advantage of LTE technology, with Apple promising top speeds of 74Mbps over AT&T or Verizon LTE. Unfortunately, differences in LTE bands mean that Apple has to offer two versions of the tablet: one for AT&T and one for Verizon.

In Canada, Apple has confirmed LTE service from Rogers, Bell, and Telus.

The new iPad will hit store shelves on Friday, March 16th, starting at $499 for the Wi-Fi model and $629 for the 4G version. Pre-orders start today.

Along with the new tablet, Apple also introduced a new version of its Apple TV set-top box, featuring a new, iOS-inspired user interface, Bluetooth 4.0 support, and the ability to display 1080p HD video. Not coincidentally, movies and TV shows in Apple's iTunes store are now available in 1080p.

The new Apple TV arrives next week, at a price of $99. It will be available for pre-order today.

[verge / engadget / apple]