Apple iPad Preview

Overview

It's finally happened. In an unsuspecting Californian city, the mythical Apple Unicorn iPad was officially unveiled amid a crowd of leprechauns and gadget-wielding bloggers in a press hall full of magical apple trees and shimmering rainbows.

Apple, a 50 billion dollar company, is fresh off its most profitable quarter ever, and is now introducing its most unique device ever, capable of surfing the web, writing and sending emails, uploading photos, watching videos and TV shows in HD, playing games, downloading music, ebooks, digital newspapers and magazines, apps, and so on and so forth.

Featuring a 9.7-inch LED touchscreen, the iPad is essentially an iPhone on steroids, with several new goodies to draw Apple fans by the groves. It measures 9.6-inches tall by 7.5-inches wide, and is just a half-inch thick. It weighs 1.5 pounds and has an estimated battery life of 10 hours.

Pricing and Availability

Update: The Apple iPad will be available for pre-order on March 12th in the US, and will be released on April 3rd.

From the press release.

"Beginning a week from today, on March 12, US customers can pre-order both Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + 3G models from Apple’s online store (www.apple.com) or reserve a Wi-Fi model to pick up on Saturday, April 3, at an Apple retail store."

Regarding an international release date . . .

"iPad will be available in both Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + 3G models in late April in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. International pricing will be announced in April. iPad will ship in additional countries later this year."

There are six different models to choose from:

Apple iPad Announcement Video

Wireless Connectivity and Data Plans

All models have Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n) and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR technology. But the 3G models require monthly data plans that are activated via the iPad. Offered through AT&T, these plans are pre-paid with no contracts and can be canceled at any time. Additionally, all 3G models are unlocked and use GSM micro-SIMS to permit possible use with other wireless carriers.

Data Plan Option One: 250 MB per month for $14.99. This may sound like a fair amount of data, but anything more than checking email and occasional web-browsing will easily exceed this.

Data Plan Option Two: Unlimited for $29.99 a month.

Also with these plans, AT&T is throwing in free Wi-Fi at hotspots.

App Store

The Apple iPad runs almost all the 140,000+ apps available from the App Store, including apps already purchased for other Apple products. These will display in the original size or you can switch to fullscreen to take advantage of the iPad's larger screen.

There are also iPad-specific apps such as iWork that have been completely redesigned for this device, including Pages, Keynotes, and Numbers, which can even import Microsoft Office documents. These apps cost $9.99. And developers are working on many new apps specifically for the Apple iPad and its new features.

The Apple iPad As An eBook Reader

The Apple iPad is much more than an ebook reader, it's a full-fledged multimedia device that is more of a competitor to laptops and netbooks than it is to traditional E Ink ereaders. Because it uses backlit LED technology, many who like dedicated ebook readers will have trouble with the meager battery life and reflective display.

Nonetheless, the iPad is an ideal ebook reader for those who prefer reading on a backlit, larger screen, and for those already accustomed to reading on their iPhones and iPod touches.

Apple has yet to clarify the iPad's ebook reading capabilities, other than it supporting EPUB and having an iBook Store app that allows users to browse and download ebooks directly to the device (US-only, so far). The iBooks Store will feature titles from these publishers: Penguin, HarperCollins, Simon&Schuster, MacMillan, and Hachette.

But the biggest concern with Apple is that they won't support the open DRM version of EPUB, not to mention Flash for web browsing. And early reports from Adobe are confirming this. Meaning Apple's iBookstore content won't be viewable on other devices such as the Nook and Sony Readers, and the iPad's iBookstore won't be compatible with DRM-encrypted ebooks from other content providers, just Apple.

Kindle and Barnes and Noble on the iPad?

There are a number of third-party ebook reading apps already available, such as Kindle and Kobo Books and Barnes and Noble, that, in theory, should work on the iPad just fine, although this has not been confirmed, and would significantly cut into Apple's iBook Store revenue, especially since their prices and selection likely won't be as good as Amazon's and B&N's. But there's a chance that Apple will cripple these apps in some way to make them less effective than the iBookstore.

Feature List

• 9.7-inch captive multi-touch screen with 178 degree viewing angle.
• Web-browsing capabilities.
• App for iBook Store--EPUB format.
• Built-in iTunes store and App store.
• Large on-screen keyboard.
• Multi-language keyboards, menus, dictionaries.
• Custom iWork app with Keynotes, Pages, and Numbers.
• Works with all the popular email providers, including Yahoo!, Gmail, Hotmail, MobileMe, and AOL.
• Runs most apps from the App Store in two modes: full screen or original small screen.
• 10 Hour battery life, 1 month standby.
• Manage photos, modify, slideshow, send in emails.
• Plays TV shows, movies, and YouTube videos in HD.
• Built in a calendar, address book, clock.
• The iPad syncs everything over 30-pin USB cable exactly like an iPhone or iPod touch—contacts, photos, music, movies, TV shows, calendars, bookmarks, apps, etc.
• There’s an accelerometer, digital compass, speaker, ambient light sensor, microphone, and headphone jack.
• 1GHz Apple A4 chip, custom made for the iPad.
• Works with both Windows and Macs.
• New UI.

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