That’s the tagline for Apple’s new iPad, announced earlier today, and while it, of course, refers to the higher resolution display (2048×1536), one tidbit tucked in the spec sheet is perhaps more shocking: a 42.5Whr battery.

Now a 42.5Whr battery in itself is nothing to get excited over, but in this form factor, it’s a huge advancement over the typical ~25WHr. It’s not a marginal increase. It’s a 70% increase. Almost double. Apple has clearly invested heavily into the battery to have fit it into the 9.4mm thick casing. It also shows that there is no magic in physics. The higher resolution display, higher horsepower graphics, and LTE connectivity draw a heck of a lot more power, close to 70% more than iPad 2 + 3G, if the advertised battery life is accurate.

I also wonder if the new iPad will compress margins somewhat. The 2048×1536 display is a difficult manufacturing challenge, with yields almost certainly nowhere close to the 1024×768 used previously. Additionally, the battery should cost quite a bit more.

That battery size still gets me. The 11.6″ MBA has a 35Whr battery, while the 13.3″ version has a 50Whr battery. Just imagine what the next generation laptops could be outfitted with.

It’s been a while since I’ve carried a camera around town. I’ve made numerous excuses to myself, had to go do something specific, weather was poor, I forgot, etc, but this past weekend, enough was enough. I grabbed the GF1 along with the diminutive 20mm f/1.7 and headed out for the day. I’m glad I did.

I didn’t have any particular photo spots in mind, which is usually a prerequisite when I think about bringing any camera that doesn’t fit into my jeans pocket. First stop was Paseo, in Fremont. I had heard it was delicious, but when I got there, there was a long line out the door. Halfway through the line, I saw an interesting ad hoc decorations on the outermost post of a fence. The smell as I got closer and closer to the doorway was mouthwatering. The Caribbean Roast sandwich I ordered was delectable.

Although the early afternoon was cold and gloomy (thick clouds overhead), things quickly cleared up by the late afternoon. You could see low clouds being quickly whisked away by the gusty winds. I ventured down to the waterfront to catch some sun by the water, and then took a walk to Pike Place Market. Shops seem to start closing up around 5pm, so the crowds were thinning, but with each day growing longer towards spring, at least the place wasn’t plummeted into darkness. In another sign of warmer weather to come, the first non-dried flowers appeared, with the largest crowd gathered around one stand, which had tulips for sale.

On the walk back to the car, I passed by a herbs and spices shop near Pike Place. There were so many strange edible plants that I had never seen nor heard of before. It was interesting to read about some of the origins, as well as how they’re used in cooking and baking.

The day around Seattle made me want to carry a camera (and my cellphone camera doesn’t count) around more often. Granted, the jacket I had on had big pockets that allowed the GF1 to easily slip in, which helped. It’s been a while since I’ve looked into micro 4/3rd lenses. I had a brief look tonight, and the Panasonic Leica 25mm f/1.4, Olympus 12mm f/2 and Olympus 45mm f/1.8 all look pretty interesting.

The kimono is finally starting to open.

First, we announced that we’ll be hosting a Windows 8 Consumer Preview event, February 29th, on the outskirts of Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Here’s an article from Mary-Jo Foley, spreading the news. The previous milestone, the Developer Preview, was released at the //build conference, last September. This time, it’s the broader public’s turn to take it for a test drive, and experience Metro style first hand. I’m very excited!

Second, StevenSi posted an epic-long blog on Windows 8 on ARM, and in particular some of the design and engineering choices we made along the way. It’s been an absolutely crazy half year on the team for me, and we’re busying away at getting a high quality product out the door. Steven calls out the close co-engineering work being done with our partners -

Our goal is to make sure that a reimagined Windows delivers a seamless experience from the chipset through firmware, through hardware, through the OS, through applications, and ultimately to the person interacting with the PC. This is a new level of involvement that brings with it a new level of engineering work across all of the parties involved. This new approach is about delivering a unique combination of choice, experiences, and a reliable end-to-end experience over the life of the PC.

The close engineering work we undertake with our ARM silicon partners is the area of the project that I work on, to ensure we get that consumer electronics feel, taking advantage of the low power potential, high mobility designs, while eeking out as much performance as we can and giving users a flexible platform to both enjoy and be productive on, if they so choose. I self-hosted for over a week with the Samsung slate that we gave out at //build, and it was a wonderful software experience, with no productivity hold-backs. I cannot wait for that kind of do-anything experience, in a lighter form factor, with all-day battery life.

The accompanying video in the blog shows some key elements of Windows 8, as well as some first party app investments we’re making. Scott, in fact, sits down the hall from me!

I’ll write more on Windows 8, later this month, when you get a chance to download the Consumer Preview.

I’m behind the times.

After seemingly both the wax and wane had passed, I jumped on the Netflix wagon a week ago. I signed up and started my month trial of the streaming option. First impressions were fantastic; I could watch it on my computer, on my Xbox 360 and on my Windows Phone. The first movie I picked was also a doozie – Momento (great movie, watch it if you haven’t already).

This past weekend, I had some free time, so I went trawling through the IMDB top 250 for another movie to watch on Netflix.

Fight Club – DVD only.

Let’s try… City of God. Nope, DVD only as well.

Oh, The Usual Suspects looks interesting. Oh, not available for streaming either. Darn.

Pan’s Labyrinth, The King’s Speech. Not available, no. In Bruges, no. Same for Magnolia. DVD only for Gran Torino, Hotel Rwanda and Into the Wild.

At that point, I decided to cancel. Bye, Netflix. That was a brief encounter.