Apple's New Tablet - The iPad at 13:02

Earlier this week Apple brought speculations to a close and unveiled their latest product, the iPad. It looks like an over-sized iPhone/iTouch, but according to Apple it can do more. Steve Jobs boldly claimed that it's the "best (web) browsing experience you've ever had. It's way better than a laptop or a smartphone." Personally, I wont be purchasing one of these devices, as I already have an iPod Touch and a Netbook. Additionally, watching movies on it would be somewhat irritating, as I don't plan on taking the dock out with me, so unless I'm at home I'll have to hold it in front of me for 2 hours plus.


The iPad will have a 9.7 inch screen and will be only half an inch thick. I'll have inside Apple's 'A4' 1GHz processor. The first model will come with Wifi and the second will be released a little later with 3G. The storage sizes are 16gb, 32gb or 64gb. It'll have bluetooth, a speaker and a mic. Additionally, you'll be able to hook up a keyboard if you dislike the nearly full size touch screen typing.  Of course, it also includes the accelerometer native to the
iPhone/iTouch. It'll be very much app-orientated and appears promising.


An interesting new addition to the iTunes store is an app called iBook, which will come with the iPad. It looks like Apple is going to be contending (and probably crushing) Amazon's Kindle ebook device. Steve has already confirmed that Simon & Schuster, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Penguin, and Macmillan have all signed up to provide the iTunes new Bookstore with publications, and more publishers are likely to follow.


I'm interested in Apple's A4 CPU, a SOC (system-on-chip) created with a custom semi-conductor. It looks like they could be implementing it into their products in the future - I'll read up on that an perhaps post an article about it in the future.


It seems that the iPad will be a "gold rush" for developers, as they'll no doubt be creating apps specifically for the device. While I think it's a good idea, everyone I've spoken to so far has no plans on buying one.


The Wi-Fi models will be shipping in late March, pricing at $499 (16gb), $599 (32gb) and $799 (64GB), while the 3G model will be shipping in April, priced at $629, $729 and $829.


Check out an official video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tjtrZl7sdQ&feature=popular


Til' Next Time,
-Andy