iPad is here Saturday Jan 30th
Apple long awaited and much hyped tablet computer made its debut at Apples 27th Jan event. The new device, described by Steve Jobs as a completely new class of device, and by others as an iPod touch on steroids brings Apples famed style and user experience to the previously moribund tablet market sector.
The iPad will be available in two flavours, wifi only and 3G connectivity, and three sizes of storage capacity, 16, 32 and 64GB. The wifi models will be available in two months (in the US) with the 3G model following 30 days later. Prices start at $499 and range up to $829 for the 64GB 3G model. All 3G models come with an all you can eat data plan for an additional $30 per month.
The iPad is powered by Apples own A4 1GHz processor and features a 9.7in lcd backlit colour screen running at 1024x768 resolution. Apple promises 10 hours battery use.
The iPad contains full iPod functionality as well as the ability to use all existing iPhone and iPod touch apps, however developers will be free to take full advantage of the iPads larger screen and greatly increased processing power. The iPad also features Apples new iBook online book store designed to support the devices claim to being the worlds best eBook reader.
With subscription downloads to national and local newspapers as well as thousands of ebook titles, Apple is hoping that the iPad will do for the publishing industry what the iPod did for music.
For a full review of the iPad and the launch event Doctor Happy Mac can recommend tech journalist Andy Ihnatko's review for the Chicago Sun Times (also available on Andy's own blog the celestial waste of bandwidth.
