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Apple's New iPad: Hands-On (CNET)
The iPad's new screen is a stunner. That's really all you need to know about the new iPad (yes, that's the name). That, and a reminder that pricing still starts at $499 for a 16-gigabyte Wi-Fi model, with 4G starting at $629. NYT Apple updated the iPad Wednesday with a high-definition screen, a faster wireless connection, and several other refinements, all packaged in a device without any major design changes. Yahoo! News / The Cutline Apple unveiled the third version of the iPad tablet Wednesday with its familiar charade: A casually dressed chief executive in front of an enormous screen, boasting gargantuan sales figures for the last generation of devices and then immediately rendering those obsolete by announcing a new one. Multichannel News The next-generation iPad is priced at $499 for 16 GB of storage; $599 for 32 GB; and $699 for 64 GB. The 4G wireless models will run an extra $130 on top of those prices. Both the iPad and the enhanced Apple TV are set to be available March 16. CNET Apple has introduced its first 4G LTE-enabled device, the new iPad. But will the speedier network connectivity drive sales of carrier-enabled iPads? Probably not. NYT / Bits The most immediate impact of an LTE iPad will be seen in the U.S., where AT&T and Verizon Wireless are building out 4G LTE networks, which are faster than their predecessors, in their race to win subscribers. Conversely, LTE on the iPad spells out potential problems for Sprint Nextel. Slate Before you throw your iPad 2 out the window, you should know one thing about the mobile information superhighway: Life in the fast lane ain't cheap. With an advertised top download speed of up to 73 megabits per second, the top-of-the-line iPad could theoretically burn through a basic 2-GB-per-month data plan in about four minutes. But oh, how delicious those four minutes would be! CNET / iPad Atlas Add this to the list of things that we didn't get with the next-gen iPad: a fancy new name. TechCrunch Wondering what to call the newly announced iPad hardware, demonstrated at Wednesday morning's Apple event in San Francisco? Well, it's not going to be the "iPad 3," the "iPad HD," or even the "iPad 2S." Nope, the new iPad will just be called "iPad." That's not confusing at all. TechCrunch It's sort of funny that the only major thing those in the rumor business got wrong was the name of the new iPad. Mashable You've seen the photos of the new iPad, you've heard about its specs, you know everything you need to know about it, and now it's time to let Apple's official ad explain to you why this is the tablet you should buy. NY Post The new iPad is contending with a cheaper rival: the old iPad. Time / Techland The iPad's biggest advantage over the competition may have little to do with new hardware. During the demo, Apple CEO Tim Cook compared the Yelp and Twitter iPad apps with their Android tablet counterparts, noting that the Android versions are nothing more than blown-up smartphone apps, while the iPad versions have been designed for the larger display. Later in the event, Apple brought out game developer Namco to show off a 3D air combat game called "Sky Gamblers." CNET The dust has finally settled, the rumors have been replaced by facts, and now we know what the new iPad is all about. So what's missing? Or what fell a little short of expectations? TechCrunch In a tweet earlier today, Box founder and CEO Aaron Levie tweeted an initial reaction to Apple's iPad announcement that likely resonated with many: "It would appear that iPad innovation is experiencing the law of diminishing returns." This strikes at the heart of the matter: innovation. CNET / Deep Tech Don't like playing by Apple's rules? Tough beans. Because for the foreseeable future, Apple's financial power and customer appeal gives it a powerful command over the industry -- everything from component suppliers to programmers. That poses all kinds of problems, but it also means we'll be moving much faster into the future of computing -- call it the post-post-PC era. GigaOM / The Apple Blog Beyond talk of tightly packed pixels, 4G speeds, and quad-core graphics, what defined this presentation was the emphasis on the software for the iPad, and how that software enables the iPad to be "the poster child for the post-PC world," as Cook put it several times. ReadWriteWeb Sure, the iPhone is still a bigger business for Apple, and probably will be for a while. But the iPhone is just Apple's small sliver of the giant phone market. The iPad, meanwhile, is a green field -- a totally new market that Apple is building and defining. And so far, it has it almost to itself. It's the future of Apple and potentially the future of the personal computer. That's a rare and tremendous opportunity. minOnline The good news is that publishers aren't scrambling this morning trying to figure out whether their apps will look broken or downright fugly on the new high-res iPad screen. Forbes Several features of this new model likely will help accelerate tablet advertising this year. FishbowlLA Apple couldn't have staged it any better. When Rich DeMuro encountered satellite-truck problems Wednesday morning while reporting from San Francisco about the 10 a.m. PT unveiling of the iPad 3, he found a synergistic solution. Using his iPad 2 and a Skype connection, the KTLA Morning News reporter was able to beam back down to Los Angeles, no problem. Mashable Twitter users seemed to have their money on the name iPad 3, which, at more than 11,000 tweets, was the most-talked-about. However, the iPad chatter dwarfed conversation about Apple TV, which received a little more than 2,100 tweets.

New Apple TV Delivers 1080p, Updated Interface (CNET)
As expected, a new Apple TV set-top box was announced at Apple's media event Wednesday. TechCrunch Meet the new Apple TV. It's a lot like the Apple TVs of old in that it does not feature a traditional iOS interface centering around apps: It's still all about media and content consumption. LA Times Finally, iTunes and the Apple TV set-top box will now be able to stream video in full, 1080p high definition. GigaOM / NewTeeVee Apple gave the devices a UI refresh that leaves more room for additional partner apps, and also added support for 1080p video playback. The new device will once again sell for $99. Time / Techland But anyone hoping for features like Siri voice recognition or a truly iOS-like interface was left wanting as Apple CEO Tim Cook raced through the new Apple TV presentation before turning to the main event: Apple's new higher-definition iPad. AllThingsD The new Apple TV is a fairly incremental technical upgrade. But the refresh also includes at least one interesting business deal: Apple will let users sign up for Netflix directly from the device, and will let them pay for the monthly streaming service using their iTunes account. CNET / Media Maverick Apple still has no subscription video service, and without it, Apple TV is nothing to get excited about, one industry analyst says. GigaOM / The Apple Blog But this Apple TV thing…it's disappointing. It's disappointing because it's the most incremental of all incremental updates for a product that hasn't been moving forward nearly as quickly as it should be. It's disappointing because I have this amazing vision in my head of what the Apple TV could be, what it should be, and Apple is not doing any of the things I hoped it would. Business Insider / Silicon Alley Insider When does the real Apple TV come out? You know, the full-fledged TV set that's supposed to look something like this? Business Insider / Silicon Alley Insider Not only will enterprises eat up the new iPad, but they could also become big users of Apple TV.

AshleyMadison.com CEO Offers To Buy Limbaugh Ads: 'We Are In The Business Of Selling Affairs, And Our Audience Is Absolutely His Audience' (Yahoo! News / The Cutline)
As the fallout surrounding Rush Limbaugh's comments about Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke continues unabated -- with as many as 48 local and national advertisers pulling out of his radio show, according to The Atlantic Wire -- controversial "dating" website AshleyMadison.com, which encourages affairs, has offered to buy all excess inventory from the marketers who've abandoned Limbaugh. Slate / XX Factor While many businesses don't want to be associated with a grade-A jerk like Limbaugh, some companies tacitly acknowledge that central defining characteristics of their customers is that they're jerks. Companies like Ashley Madison, a website for adulterers and wannabe adulterers, and Seeking Arrangements, a website for men who hire younger "girlfriends" or at least like to imagine they could, have signaled that they want a piece of Limbaugh's audience. HuffPost Limbaugh dismissed the growing advertiser exodus from his show Wednesday, saying that it was not having any impact at all on him or his finances.

Super PACs Could Drive Total 2012 Election Spending To $9.8B (AdAge / Campaign Trail)
The muscle of super PACs and their unhindered spending power has been observed in some of the early Republican presidential primary contests, but a new report aims to measure what impact they'll have across the election cycle. Street Fight If you thought the onslaught of political ads was overwhelming in 2008, just wait. More money than ever will be poured into campaign ads in 2012, according to a new report by Borrell Associates. TVNewser Being the morning after Super Tuesday, one might expect the GOP candidates to be all over the network and cable news morning shows. Not so, however. Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, and Rick Santorum skipped NBC, ABC, and CBS, as well as Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN. Romney did make one appearance Wednesday morning, however…on CNBC's Squawk Box. TVNewser The final numbers are in for Super Tuesday, and there are a couple of interesting take-aways, including a comparison to 2008. NYT / Media Decoder Fox News Channel easily outrated its cable news rivals Tuesday, the Super Tuesday night of primaries and caucuses in 10 states. The channel even topped the only broadcast network, NBC, to produce a primetime special about the primaries. TVNewser While the big story Tuesday night was the battle between Romney, Santorum, Gingrich, and Ron Paul, there was another surprising election, as Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich lost his primary battle against Rep. Marcy Kaptur. Kucinich was a staple on cable news, always speaking his mind. Could a paid gig in TV be far behind? MSNBC and Current TV have been stocking up on progressive commentators, and Kucinich is a proven TV personality. CJR / Campaign Desk As the results of the Super Tuesday primaries put Republican candidates in the headlines, President Barack Obama made his own bid for news coverage Wednesday. AllFacebook Gingrich just debuted a new Facebook page focused on attacking Romney's record. Mashable Santorum had the most total mentions throughout the night -- 40,000 mentions, to be exact, which was a new "2012 election Twitter record," according to Twitter. That's the highest number of mentions for a candidate on a single day since Gingrich won the South Carolina primary.

Game Change Review: Cliché With Compassion (TVNewser)
Game Change is not a flawless docudrama. Neither is it, in the words of a conservative blogger, "a heinous piece of propaganda" for President Barack Obama. What Game Change is, at its essence, is a wildly entertaining cautionary tale about presidential politics. Moral of the story: Be careful what you wish for. THR With HBO's Game Change premiering March 10 amid criticism from the right, The Hollywood Reporter took a look at the federal political donations of the movie's top executives and talent. HuffPost / The Backstory After concluding her debate with now-Vice President Joe Biden in the upcoming HBO movie Game Change, Sarah Palin tells John McCain's campaign manager, Steve Schmidt, why McCain needs to definitely win the 2008 presidential election. "I so don't want to go back to Alaska," Palin says. The line, uttered by actress Julianne Moore, who portrays Palin in the film, echoes a similar one from a book about Palin -- but it isn't Game Change, the bestseller by Time's Mark Halperin and New York magazine's John Heilemann. Instead, a slight variation of the quote can be found in Sarah from Alaska, a book written by political reporters Scott Conroy and Shushannah Walshe, both of whom were embedded with Palin during her two months on the Republican ticket. "I just don't want to go back to Alaska," Palin says in Sarah from Alaska after the debate.

Despite Feuding, Shuster Mourns Breitbart (FishbowlDC)
Current TV's David Shuster and the late Andrew Breitbart fought regularly on virtually every public platform there is. But Saturday, the bad blood between them seemed to vanish as Shuster paid tribute to Breitbart on his radio show, Take Action News.

Media Billionaires On The Move: Diller Rises, Dolan Falls (Forbes)
It's been a great year to be a media billionaire, as long as your name is William Randolph Hearst III, Barry Diller, Patrick McGovern ,or Sumner Redstone. If it's Ted Turner, Mark Cuban, or Charles Dolan -- well, it's still been a pretty good year, probably, but not nearly as great, since your fortune got smaller, at least relative to those of those guys I mentioned earlier.

Group Said To Have Sole Right To Try For PMN (Philadelphia Inquirer)
A group headed by businessman Lewis Katz and philanthropist H.F. "Gerry" Lenfest has entered into an exclusive agreement to negotiate for the purchase of The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia Daily News, and Philly.com, according to sources close to the process. JimRomekesko.com Why did longtime Philadelphia Inquirer editorial cartoonist Tony Auth decide to leave the paper and join WHYY's NewsWorks?

Richard Berke Was Offered Washington Post Managing Editor Job (JimRomekesko.com)
A Washington Post staffer tells me that the "newsroom is abuzz" over a "wild rumor" that New York Times assistant managing editor Richard Berke was offered the managing editor position at the Post and that he turned it down. I've confirmed that's true. One of the Post's ME slots has been vacant since Raju Narisetti jumped to The Wall Street Journal.

U.S. Warns Apple, Publishers (WSJ)
The Justice Department has warned Apple and five of the biggest U.S. publishers that it plans to sue them for allegedly colluding to raise the price of electronic books.

NBC Sports Doubles Olympic Digital Ad Revenue With Time Left On The Clock (paidContent)
NBC Sports sold $25 million in digital advertising for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, and it has more than doubled the amount for the London Games with months to go before the 17-day marquee event.

Redstone Attracts Spotlight By Stepping Back From It (WSJ)
All eyes will be on Sumner Redstone when the Viacom executive chairman takes the stage at the company's annual shareholder meeting in New York Thursday morning.

Channel 4 Booting Anchorwoman Sue Simmons After 32 Years (NY Post / Cindy Adams)
After more than three decades, WNBC/Channel 4 is tossing anchorwoman Sue Simmons overboard. NYT She was the local television anchor who fell off her chair, feigning boredom after a segment with Brian Williams. She was the one who scrunched up her face and wiggled her nose, imitating a groundhog on Groundhog Day. She was the one who cursed when her co-anchor missed a cue during a live promotional spot. Somehow, it all made Simmons one of those unforgettably authentic New York characters. TVSpy The winner of four Emmy Awards while at WNBC, Simmons joined the station in 1980 from WRC, NBC's Washington, D.C., station, where she spent four years as an anchor and reporter. FishbowlNY Chuck Scarborough, whose contract also expires in June, got a new three-year package as the station's lead anchor. TVSpy WNBC released a statement Wednesday after it was reported that the station had declined to renew the contract of longtime anchor Simmons: "We have tremendous respect and admiration for Sue Simmons. For decades, Sue has been a critical part of New York's longest-tenured anchor team in the city and has more than earned her iconic status. We have been engaged in ongoing conversations with Sue about her transition from WNBC and will continue to work with her on plans to celebrate her many contributions to WNBC and the New York market." NY Observer And now, the Internet outrage campaign begins. Gawker If you, like us, will miss Sue, why not take her with you? In the form of a ringtone, we mean.

Netflix Said To Be Aiming For A Cable Partnership (NYT)
Netflix's chief executive, Reed Hastings, has often compared his company's Web streaming service to HBO. That comparison is inching closer to reality. NY Post Hastings' Netflix, under pressure from a torrent of rivals and from moves by companies to throttle heavy broadband users, is hopping into bed with some surprising partners. Time / Techland If true, and Hastings manages to clinch a deal (or deals), it means Netflix could become another option in your cable TV programming lineup. paidContent Netflix, which is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to compete with premium cable channels like HBO and Showtime in the realm of original series, is apparently experiencing the downside of the creative process. Oscar-nominated director David Fincher, who is executive-producing Netflix's upcoming original, House of Cards, is reportedly battling with production company Media Rights Capital over the show's budget. THR / The Live Feed Just two days after Fox lowered the ax on Terra Nova, studio 20th Television is scrambling to find a new home for the dinosaur drama. At least one potential buyer apparently likes the idea of continuing the series. Streaming service Netflix has expressed interest in reviving the time-traveling show from executive producer Steven Spielberg.

Pregnant (And Naked) Celebrity Covers By The Numbers (WWD / Memo Pad)
It's been 21 years since Demi Moore's naked pregnancy pose appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair, and it appears that magazine editors still can't get enough of it.