Apple today introduced iPad, a revolutionary device for browsing the web, reading and sending email, enjoying photos, watching videos, listening to music, playing games, reading e-books and much more. iPad’s responsive high-resolution Multi-Touch display lets users physically interact with applications and content. iPad is just 0.5 inches thick and weighs just 1.5 pounds– thinner and lighter than any laptop or netbook. iPad includes 12 new innovative apps designed especially for the iPad, and will run almost all of the over 140,000 apps in the App Store. iPad will be available in late March starting at US$499.
Direct link via YouTube here.
Find about more about Apple’s iPad here.
LateRegistrant, “No cup holder?”
It’s an accessory for $29.95 unless you get it from, http://www.uxcell.com Where it will be $2.95 plus $5.00 shipping from China.
@ nighthealer
Yes – in two different ways: via usb cable or via sd reader.
Actually, you know who’d like this the more I think about it? My mum. My sister. my dad. My Grandad, etc. (always forget about that lot). For £400ish quid, they can’t go wrong.
I tell you what, my mums just about to retire and’ll need a computer at home, and I actually can’t think of how this could be any better for her, and it’s cheaper than anything else out there.
The major problem though is that, yeah, its just a big iPod – from what I can gather you need a computer in the first place to set it up, transfer your photos to it, music, films etc! Granted, I could get my mum round that issue by doing that for her, but it should be a standalone unit from the start, then we’re talking. I think thats the real missed opportunity here!
@Hm
> Yes – in two different ways: via usb cable or via sd reader.
Thanks for replying but as far as I can see it’s only got a dock connector – no USB or SD card slot.
Specs are at: http://www.apple.com/ipad/specs/
Where’s Verizon?
@reezle
>The major problem though is that, yeah, its just a big iPod – from what I can gather you need a >computer in the first place to set it up, transfer your photos to it, music, films etc! Granted, I >could get my mum round that issue by doing that for her, but it should be a standalone unit >from the start, then we’re talking. I think thats the real missed opportunity here!
I think you’re spot on the money – it should be standalone – then it becomes a cheap computer for people (like old people) who otherwise might not have had one – otherwise it’s an expensive luxury for people who’ve already got a computer.
@nighthealer
There is an SD card reader adapter for it which gets round the photos issue, but you’re still left with the music transferral issue really – Whenever I’ve helped someone who doesn’t really know what they’re doing transfer files from their (invariably
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” /> PC, they only ever have photos, office docs and music to move (not usually any movies anyway). So how do you transfer them, and where would all the office docs get stored?
I think Apple needed to launch a WiFi DVD/CD reader (external, if needs be) with this, and a place to store documents, then bingo.
However, I do feel a little like someone in 1998 complaining about a lack of floppy drive on the original iMac
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No Camera No Buy.
Steve You could have done better.
@ Hm…
Right, and it can’t even read your lips…
Despite its ‘faults’ this is going to be huge. It probably will eat into MacBook Air sales and will be a great gaming machine and school computer too.
So there is no camera. An advantage in some places including the classroom.
Near the end of the vidoe “built by our hardware team in concert with our software team.”
Harmony. It has been Apple’s approach.
Sure beats divide and conquer.
They will sell like hotcakes.
Seems pretty much perfect for me operating under the assumption that I’ll be able to tether it to my iPhone for those occasional times I might want to travel with it.
I guess my only real disappointment is that they didn’t squeeze some extra pixels in there, which they probably could have done by making it a tiny bit bigger and/or the bezel a tiny bit thinner.
If the iPad had 1280 pixels across then we’d be able to watch 720p, as it is we’ll only manage 576p in 16:9
If they’d used the same pixel density as the iPhone (163 vs the iPad’s 132) they would have been able to get in 1264 pixels across so a slightly larger display/slightly smaller bezel would have given them the chance to make 1280.
Oh well, I’m sure I’ll get at least 2 years worth of great experiences on this version and upgrade to 720p or better for the 3rd generation in 2012.
PS. As for a camera. I’d feel sorry for the other person if I was holding it in my hands or resting it in my lap. As still as you think you can be, there’s no way you could keep it steady for a long period of time and the nostril view would be horrible. And if you’re planning on being static for long enough to prop it up somewhere, then chances are you’d be using a desktop or laptop to do what you’re doing.
Forgot to add. This will destroy the other portable gaming platforms. If the iPhone and iPod Touch were popular mobile gaming machines, this will be 10 x bigger.
The screen is big enough and with high enough resolution to be truly immersive at the distance you would use it and the extra CPU power will deliver some awesome experiences.
So – how can I put “The Beef” magazine onto this? Our new digital edition is suddenly so Passé… when only last week I was telling advertisers how cutting-edge we were 🙁
Damn you, bloody technological advances!
1. Given how many people complain about 3g speeds (not just with AT&T;), the potential awkwardness, physical strain and annoyance of having to hold the iPad at just right angle to be seen, and the fact that neither the iPhones nor the iPod touch has it, did you all SERIOUSLY expect the iPad to have a front facing camera?!? Really?
2. I’ve seen so many complaints that the iPad is nothing more than a big iPod touch, as if that’s somehow a bad thing. I think that’s one of it’s biggest strengths! Why? Because as was pointed out, millions of people are already familiar with how the iPhone OS works, so they’ll feel comfortable with the iPad.
3. The price point is amazing! For $499 you get a device that has roughly 3 times the screen size of a PSP, over 6x the screen size of a DS, better looking screen and vastly more capable than a Kindle DX, Nook, and just about every other e-reader on the market. I bet my Apple stock that the iPad will in a very short amount of time will own the e-book and portable gaming markets.
4. The fact that iPhone apps can be used pretty much unmodified is huge. As a pro musician / semi-pro DJ, I already own dozens of music apps for my iPhone; the iPad will make it possible for me to actually use those apps on a regular basis. Anybody who has ever used or seen apps such as iDrum, Beatmaker Pro, ProChords, Looptastic or iRealBook know what I mean.
5. Someone pointed out at The Mac Observer before the iPad launch that those who would complain the most about the iPad are those who already have iPhones or laptops, and that the iPad is not intended for those people. I agree with that assessment. There are so many young people whom I suspect will go out in droves to buy an iPad, and at this price point and feature set, it’s kind of hard to resist.
The way I see it, its the techie geeks that are complaining the most. They are missing the point. Apple is filing a niche that has been forgotten, The 45-60 demo. This thing is meant to be read like a magazine, casually, not for power users. I want to get a recipe, I want to look up some weird fact on the net while on the couch. Crap, there’s nothing on tv, i’ll kick it and play a game.
This is NOT meant to be a computer. It’s meant to be that magazine thats laying around the house.
BUT…dont forget the huge potential for the educational market that will be tapped into.
All the haters should just relax. It’s all good, Apple is just filing a niche that hasn’t been explored before. This is the computer for my mom, my old aunt, the person who doesnt want to fuss around with computers.
geek boner!
<boing!>
@rude finger gesture
Definately – As long as you can set it up/maintain it without EVER connecting it to another computer though. However, in reality thats not going to stop my mum from getting one, once I tell her it exists of course
@ reezie. Exactly. And mum doesn’t know or care, she justs wants to do scrabble, surf and look at pictures. Thats all that mum needs. It fills a niche. Hell, Im a power user and the idea of having something portable and easy to use on the couch works for me. I get the real work done on my pro. My wife will love the damn thing. It’s a digital tabloid, thats all it needs to be.
Hey pc loser trolls … I’m going to buy one … just to p@#$ you off …
I had to go to the grocery store and buy my wife an iPad. I was very embarrassed standing in the check-out line.
M/W: “progress.” Some people are old fashioned, I guess.
Desktops: Mac Pro at home two because of the big screen and extended keyboard; iMac 27 at second residence for the same reason.
Portable: 15″MacBook Pro — purely for travel and synching the desktops (iPad is too limited).
Media: Mac mini (TV is too limited)
For an ultra-compact I’d use an iPod touch over the iPhone. I want a bullet-proof data-off button much like an iPod’s lock button because I don’t trust cell providers (a generic cellphone will do for now).