After months of endless rumors and speculation, Apple finally lifted the veil and officially released their tablet-slash-oversized-iPod touch device. We all thought it would be the “iSlate,” but they turned the tables on everyone and gave it the most obvious name that everyone thought of, but never considered: the iPad. So what exactly is it? Apparently, the rumors were true: the iPad will run on a souped-up version of the iPhone operating system (iPhone OS 3.2), a new Apple-developed processor called the A4 chip, it looks like an oversized iPhone and features just about every function you can pack into a net-connected touchscreen tablet.
Thanks to a handful of major features, it can’t really be bunched up into a single niche or category; it’s not just a smart device, and it’s not just an ebook reader. It’s a mix of a lot of things, with the iPad designed to act as an eBook reader, a multimedia player with iTunes support, 3D gaming, and H.264 720p HD video playback capabilities, a full-featured internet browser, a photo viewer with album support, and a full-featured personal organizer with a notepad, contacts list, and calendar.
What makes it stand out is that it does everything pretty well (or at least it looks like it based on initial details), with everything done with Apple’s usual flair for creating an intuitive interface that just looks so cool. Page turns during eBook-reading are done with smooth “page-turning” animation, movies are crisp and brightly colored, and the iPhone-like interface makes it pretty easy to get around without having to go through a manual. The bright, LED-backlit, 9.7-inch widescreen (1024 x 768, 132ppi) display helps a lot with the visuals and controls; it supports multi-touch gestures and has a virtual keyboard that pops out for text input, so everything from typing and browsing comes naturally.
The iBooks app makes it stand out from other readers, showing a bookshelf that fills up with book titles that you add to it (making the experience of buying ebooks a bit more addicting). For downloading more books, there’s an iBookstore “behind” the bookshelf that opens up if you need more. Gaming is also pretty cool, with the demo of EA’s Need for Speed shown, where you use the built-in accelerometer for controls. The iPad comes with a link to Apple’s App store, and the SDK has been released, so there shouldn’t be any problem with new content for the long run.
It does a lot of things well, but you have to remember what it’s not. While it runs on Apple’s 1GHz A4 chip, it doesn’t run on a PC or Mac OS, so you don’t get multitasking. It also doesn’t come with a built-in camera, but that can easily be remedied with an accessory. Apple will also offer a keyboard dock accessory if you don’t feel like hammering out a long documents using the virtual keyboard.
The good news is that it’s not going to cost the $1,000 that some rumors said it would. The iPad’s price will start at $499 for the basic kit with 16GBs of storage and a Wi-fi connection, while the high-end model tops out at $829, with 64GBs of storage and Wi-fi + 3G connectivity. The Wi-fi-only units (including models that will sell for $599 for 32GB and $699 for 64GB) is set to be released in March, while the 3G-equipped units (via AT&T) will ship a month after.
Tags: Apple, iPad, Mobile Internet Device, Portable Media Player, Tablets
