— It’s called the iPad, it looks just like what everyone expected —
like a supersized iPod Touch — and it’s first and foremost a Web and
media tablet.
Introducing Apple’s much anticipated new gadget at a launch event in
better than a laptop, way better than a smart phone. … To see the
whole Web page is phenomenal.”
Apple will begin delivering the devices in 60 days and models with 3G wireless service from
Prices will start at
“At
A 32-gig WiFi model will cost
Versions with 3G wireless capability will cost an additional
Apple’s also selling a keyboard/docking station
accessory that could enable people to use the iPad as a low-powered
desktop workstation.
“The iPad, if you were to sum it up, is our most
advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an
unbelievable price,” Jobs said.
At its starting price, the iPad will compete with
lower-end laptop computers, media browsing devices and electronic
reading devices such as
In a direct challenge to Amazon, Jobs announced a
new online bookstore called iBooks that links to the iPad, has
one-click purchasing and places your purchased books onto a rendering
of a wooden bookshelf.
Jobs praised Amazon’s early work with the Kindle but said the iPad will “make a terrific e-book reader.”
“We’re going to stand on their shoulders and go a bit further,” he said.
Some models of the iPad will come with
The
service is contract-free, available month-to-month, and is activated
from the device. Internationally, the company plans to have service
plans available by June, but in the interim, carriers’ GSM micro SIM
cards may just work in the “unlocked” device.
After a quick review of its features, he sat in a
cushy leather chair for a full demo — simulating the at-home experience
of using the iPad. He began by showing how
The device has a nearly full-sized on-screen touch
keyboard that can be called up for doing email and other text-entry
tasks. The only button on its front bezel is a home button, just like
an iPhone or an iPod Touch.
“Watching it is nothing like getting one in your
hands and feeling all that right in your hands and right underneath
your fingertips,” he said.
The specs on the device:
—It’s 0.5 inches thin and weighs 1.5 pounds. “That is thinner and lighter than any netbook,” Jobs said.
—It has a 9.7 inch IPS touch-screen display.
—It has a 1 gigahertz Apple-engineered “A4” chip and
16 gigabytes to 64 gigabytes of Flash memory storage, 80211.n WiFi,
Bluetooth 2.1.
Jobs said the device has 10 hours of battery life
and a month of standby battery capability, drawing a big applause. “I
can take a flight from
Jobs demonstrated e-mail and a calendar on the device and searched maps (
The device also has a “built-in iPod” — he flicked through a media collection and tapped to play the Grateful Dead and
Despite the tension between Apple and
Before introducing the iPad, Jobs went over a few
news items: The company sold its 250 millionth iPod a few days ago, 3
billion apps have been downloaded from iTunes, and Apple just reported
“That means Apple is over a
Apple is a mobile devices company, Jobs said —
noting that its revenue comes from iPods, iPhones and Macs that are
mostly laptops nowadays.
“It turns out that by revenue Apple is the largest mobile device company in the world now.”
That was a setup for him to explain that there’s an opening for a new product sized between phones and laptops.
“All of us use laptops and smart phones now.
Everybody uses a laptop or a smart phone. The question has arisen
lately is there room for a third category of devices in the middle,
something that’s between a laptop and a smart phone? We’ve pondered
this question for years now. …
Those devices are going to have to be far better at
doing some key tasks … better than the laptop, better than the smart
phone.”
Netbooks were a solution seen by some but “the
problem is, netbooks aren’t better at anything — they’re slow, they
have low-quality displays, and they run clunky old PC software,” he
said.
Apple’s software senior vice president, Scott Forstall, later demonstrated how the iPad runs iPhone applications.
“All of those iPhone apps that you know and love will run on the iPad,” he said.
But it looks like iPhone apps may look best in a
roughly iPhone-sized window that runs in the middle of the screen.
That’s how he demonstrated the SnoCros, a snowmobile game, before
enlarging it to run full-screen.
Apps made for the iPhone will run on the iPad but
developers wanting to take advantage of the device’s larger screen are
being offered a new software developer kit.
“We think it’s going to be a whole ‘nother gold rush for developers as they build apps for the iPad,” Forstall said.
Apple also announced new word processing,
spreadsheet and presentation productivity applications developed for
the iPad with touch controls. The new iWork apps will sell for
—
(c) 2010, The Seattle Times.
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