Well, as expected, today Apple introduced their entry in the tablet market and it’s called the iPad (the event video is now available on Apple’s web site.) Built to be better than the iPhone and MacBooks at common tasks such as web browsing, email and reading books, here’s a few quick specs:
[[via engadget]]
iPad Specs
- Officially called the iPad
- 1/2 inch thick, 9.7 inch IPS color LCD display w/LED backlight, 1.5 pounds
- Uses a custom 1GHz Apple processor (the A4)
- Storage: 16-64GB flash memory
- Wireless connectivity: 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1, 3G cellular (on some models)
- Speaker, microphone and the ubiquitous Apple Dock connector
- Accelerometer and compass built-in, same as iPhone
- 10 hour battery life
- Eco-friendly materials
Features:
- iTunes Store fully integrated
- Plays full screen HD video
- Will run all current iPhone apps unmodified
- Developers can update their apps specifically for the iPad
The iBooks Reader
Apple’s book reader application is called iBooks (guess that’s why they changed the name of the entry level laptops to MacBook) and has an associated iBooks Store where you can buy content (hmmm, iTunes / iTunes Store, iBooks / iBooks Store.)
iWork for the iPad
They brought iWork to the iPad: Numbers, Pages and Keynote, $9.99 for each.
3G Wireless
Some models available with 3G cellular wireless reception (still through AT&T.) Two plans:
- $14.99 for 250MB/month
- $29.99 for unlimited data
- NO CONTRACT, can cancel at any time
- All 3G models are sold UNLOCKED and use the new GSM microSIMs.
iPad Pricing
WiFi only:
- 16GB for $499
- 32GB for $599
- 64GB for $699
- shipping in 60 days
WiFi + 3G:
- 16GB for $629
- 32GB for $729
- 64GB for $829
- shipping in 90 days
Accessories
- Dock
- Dock with a keyboard!
- Case
OK, so who other than Dennis (and me) are planning to buy one? Post your comments!
More details and photos available at engadget: Live from the Apple ‘latest creation’ event
UPDATE: Here is an interesting post by John Gruber at Daring Fireball regarding his hands-on experience with an iPad:
And here is engadget’s round-up of all things iPad:
And definitely read the comments on the engadget story, they’re supremely entertaining. You’ll find out all the myriad ways Apple screwed up the iPad and made it an “epic fail”. Yeah, that Steve Jobs. He just doesn’t understand what people will buy.
One more take, this time by British actor, comedian and gadget freak Stephen Fry:
Sample quote:
I have always thought Hans Christian Andersen should have written a companion piece to the Emperor’s New Clothes, in which everyone points at the Emperor shouting, in a Nelson from the Simpson’s voice, “Ha ha! He’s naked.” And then a lone child pipes up, ‘No. He’s actually wearing a really fine suit of clothes.” And they all clap hands to their foreheads as they realise they have been duped into something worse than the confidence trick, they have fallen for what E. M. Forster called the lack of confidence trick. How much easier it is to distrust, to doubt, to fold the arms and say “Not impressed”. I’m not advocating dumb gullibility, but it is has always amused me that those who instinctively dislike Apple for being apparently cool, trendy, design fixated and so on are the ones who are actually so damned cool and so damned sensitive to stylistic nuance that they can’t bear to celebrate or recognise obvious class, beauty and desire. The fact is that Apple users like me are the uncoolest people on earth: we salivate, dribble, coo, sigh, grin and bubble with delight.
Comments & Trackbacks
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Well, I guess I’ll get in line behind you but not right away. I’m disappointed that multi-taking wasn’t included and was surprised that AT&T is the carrier after all the Verizon and/or talk. Does look like a great machine.
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Hmmm,
Less powerful than a laptop AND less portable than a smartphone. Since it runs iPhone OS I still can’t use it as a presentation tool since there is no way to output video. If I want built in cell networking I’m STILL stuck with AT&T and ANOTHER monthly bill (the argument for mobile hotspots grows and grows!).
On the plus side, Apple surprised me with the low starting price. Other than that, it’s just another tablet with all the good and bad that goes with that. Perhaps Steve will convince me when I watch the keynote but I’m not optimistic.
Bill
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I tried to purchase one already but I was too early!:( Somebody hold me back!
Dennis
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Bill, from what I read there is output to TV. From the tech specs …….am I wrong? Doesn’t this mean the iPad can be used for slide show/keynote presentations on a big screen?
Support for 1024 by 768 pixels with Dock Connector to VGA Adapter; 576p and 480p with Apple Component AV Cable; 576i and 480i with Apple Composite Cable H.264 video up to 720p, 30 frames per second, Main Profile level 3.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats
Carolyn
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Carolyn,
The output the iPad and iPhone/iPod Touch support is application specific. You can output a movie, or a Keynote slideshow etc. but I believe the apps have to be written specifically to do this. What you can’t do is what Steve Jobs and Co. do EVERY TIME they demo one of these devices which is to output EVERYTHING to an external display. I have to resort to jailbreaking in order to do things like how-to demos.
After watching the presentation and doing a little more reading, I’m SLIGHTLY more impressed. It appears it will now be easier to share files between applications (at least iPad optimized ones) and some of the UI improvements (particularly in Calendar) are very welcome. You almost HAVE to buy a case in order to solve problems like how to prop it up when your body gets tired of holding / supporting it so factor that into the price. Despite the form factor, I’m not sure enough people are going to want to look at a backlit screen long enough to read conventional books on it and Steve himself really didn’t pitch the book concept as hard as I thought he would.
For me, the plusses still don’t outweigh the minuses. We’ll soon see how many Dennis’ there really are in the world.
Bill
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I think non-flourescent LED backlights help eliminate a lot of the strain of reading LCD screens, at least I’m noticing that myself. I still do the bulk of my book reading on dead trees so I don’t know how much of a difference e-paper versus LCDs makes in terms of say reading a novel. Form factor has a lot to do with that for me, a laptop or desktop machine is just not suited to a pure reading session. Too bulky. In that respect at least I think Apple’s right, the iPad is better for reading. But you might be right, the backlight could wind up being a real issue.
When I was writing up the post for the iPad and watching the event video I realized that’s exactly what the iPad is made for and that’s what I’m looking at in terms of it’s primary use at least initially. I do think we’re going to see some genuine game-changing desktop-level apps written for it fairly quickly, just like what happened with the iPhone App Store. Yeah, it is basically just a much bigger iPod touch but that’s a Really Big Deal in terms of the types of things you can do on it.
One thing I’m not worried about is speed, especially after reading this from John Gruber (http://daringfireball.net/2010/01/ipadbigpicture):
“But: everyone I spoke to in the press room was raving first and foremost about the speed. None of us could shut up about it. It feels impossibly fast.”
I still don’t have a feel for the weight. I found a book that should be close if much thicker and it actually feels OK but maybe heavier than I’d be willing to hold by one hand for an extended period of time. I’m holding off final judgement until I can hold an actual iPad in my hand.
It’s pretty much exactly what I expected, a natural evolution of the iPod touch/iPhone rather than a revolution.
Did anyone else notice that Jobs actually seems to linger on parts of web pages that showed missing Flash content? I’m still perfectly OK with that. Flash video is a hack that’s outlived it’s usefulness. I’d much rather see sites migrate to better standards based ways to show video.
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Ack, Wordpress broke the Gruber link in my last comment. I’ll put it in the post itself.