Unless you’ve been living on the moon or out in the middle of the desert somewhere, I’m almost certain you have heard about Apple’s much rumored Tablet. Rumors have been flying around the web for months on end and I’ve never heard so much hype over something that’s not as big a deal as it’s made out to be.
So what is the iPad then? Well it’s basically a giant iPod Touch with the option to have 3G data, and that’s all there really is to it, no joke. I’ve outlined below what you need to know about the iPad.
- It’s officially called the iPad and runs iPhone OS 3.2
- It has no support for multitasking or flash
- It has no camera or support for messaging or making phone calls
- It is just 0.5 inches thin, and weighs 1.5 pounds with a 9.7 inch display (1024 x 768 )
- It’s powered by a speedy 1GHz Apple A4 chip, with 802.11n, WiFi, and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, an accelerometer, compass, speaker, mic, dock connector.
- It will cost $499 for a 16GB, $599 for 32GB, $699 for 64GB and add an extra $130 for 3G models.
- 3G data will be provided by AT&T, with 250mb a month costing $14.99 and unlimited data for $29.99
- There is no contract required, you can cancel your data package anytime you wish
- It has a full on screen QWERTY keyboard, not sure what it will be like to use
- The Wi-Fi only version of the tablet will ship in 60 days, while the 3G version of the iPad will ship in 90 days
- All the apps currently on the app store will work on it, by either running in a box, or by doubling the number of pixels. Developers have also been given a new SDK to develop full screen apps.
- Steve Jobs says it will have an impressive 10 hours battery life with up to a months standby time.
- Apple have now announced a new eBook store called iBook, which offers electronic downloads of books, much like Amazon does for the kindle.
- They have completely redesigned iWork for it, giving it a new GUI and the apps will cost $9.99
And that’s basically it, so there isn’t that much of a difference between it and a iPod Touch, it just has a bigger screen, faster processor and is probably slightly easier to use.
What do you think of Apples long awaited and much anticipated iPad? Is it living up to all the hype it gained? Will it sell? Will you buy one?
Let us know in the comments
