Please see the video above.
Yesterday, Apple's CEO, Steve Jobs, officially launched the Apple iPad. (He is shown in the photo, below, holding up the iPad).
The Appple iPad is a Tablet PC which is also a cross between an iPhone 3G and a Netbook...meaning you can use this device for browsing the web, reading and sending email, enjoying photos, watching videos, listening to music, playing games, and reading e-books.
As with the iPhone 3G, it's multi-touch - just touch the screen to access menu items and gently roll your finger across the screen to scroll through pages of e-books and photos.
It also has 12 new apps and will run all 140,000 apps in the Apple's App Store...and yes, you can choose a Word Processing application from the myriad of applications in the App Store.
There are two versions available: the iPad WIFI and iPad 3G+WIFI. The 3G version will have support for 7.2Mbps HSDPA.
According to Apple Press Release, "Apple Launches iPad":
"iPad will be available in late March worldwide for a suggested retail price of $499 (US) for the 16GB model, $599 (US) for the 32GB model, $699 (US) for the 64GB model.
The Wi-Fi + 3G models of iPad will be available in April in the US and selected countries for a suggested retail price of $629 (US) for the 16GB model, $729 (US) for the 32GB model and $829 (US) for the 64GB model.
iPad will be sold in the US through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers."
The drawback with the iPad WIFI is that you'll have to find a WIFI hotspot to connect to the Internet. Whereas if you buy the 3G+WIFI version...all you'll have to do to get Internet service, is to have a 3G mobile connection from your mobile service provider.
What is interesting however, is the fact that Apple has positioned the iPad, so as not to compete with its MacBook Pro (a laptop)...in that they have limited the iPad's storage capacity to 64 GB.
(The following photo is a Screen shot of the Apple iPad in use by Tom Raftery).
However, I could easily see this device being the ultimate laptop replacement, in the future.
The iPad, however, is a very nifty device, especially for students and business persons, who can now carry it in their backpacks/briefcases, as it only weighs 1.5 pounds.
So parents, if you're in the market for a laptop or notebook, maybe you should consider buying this, instead, for your child.
The only differences, according to lukethepcdr (when comparing Laptops to netbooks), are that laptops have larger screens, built in DVD and in some cases, still have 3.5" floppy drives. They also have better speakers, more slots for inserting PCI cards and in some cases, better video cards for displaying graphics.
Additionally, laptops stay cooler during long computing sessions.
So you might want to consider this when making your purchasing decision.
(The other drawback in buying the iPad for a student, is that it's prone to theft, as it's one of the hottest devices out right now).
The iPad has a hard case, is 1/2 inch thick and has a LED screen size of 9.7 inches. It has between 16-64 GB of hard drive memory, right now...I see Apple eventually increasing this, so that it can better compete with laptops and notebooks which have between 120GB and 2TB of memory.
Unlike other PC tablets, The iPad doesn't need a keyboard, as it has a soft keyboard that you can bring up on the device, if you need keyboard functionality.
(I really long to see the day when we'll have no need for keyboards, but that everything we need to do via a computer, will be voice-activated).
(I'd like to thank:
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ITN News Channel for the use of their Youtube inset video entitled, "iPad: Steve Jobs presents Apple's new tablet"
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Andresus for his Flickr photo entitled, "iPad en Latinoamerica". It is of Steve Jobs holding up the iPad
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Tom Raftery for the use of his Flickr photo entitled,"Screen shot of Apple iPad in use").
Gillian
Sources Include
1) Article, "Apple IPad to Retail for $499", via Redline China, January 28,2010
2) Youtube video of Steve Jobs, launching the iPad, January 27,2010
3) CNET Reviews - Apple iPad Review by Brian Tong, January 27,2010
4) Article, "iPad versus the Kindle spec for spec", January 27,2010
5) Press Release, "Apple Launches iPad", January 27,2010
6) Lukethepcdr's thread on CNET forums, October 31,2008
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