It became apparently clear from his first words that Steve Jobs was getting ready to unveil the Apple Tablet today at the Apple Press Conference, when he told the crowd in California, “We want to kick off 2010 by introducing a truly magical product today.”
Jobs first started by spouting off some impressive Apple sales numbers one by one. He mentioned Apple’s 284 retail stories that attract 50 million people a year, the 250 million iPods sold since 2001 and of course Apple’s recent financial reports which include over $50.6bn of revenue this year alone.
Then came the device, which is now officially known as the Apple iPad.
According to Jobs, the tablet offers the “best browsing experience you’ve ever had” while the music player is very similar to the iPhone player mixed with iTunes, that’s right folks, it’s a hybrid!
He also showed off a photo option which allows users to flick through photos, just as they do on the iPhone, while a built-in calendar option option is also available. The photos option includes the type of functionality iPhone and iPod Touch users have come to expect including the ability to flick through pictures, swipe to change slides, etc.
The Apple iPad also include a built-in iTunes store and YouTube support, while displaying high-def videos right on the tablet although its not widescreen and according to SlashGear it looks closer to 4:3 than 16:9.
Steve has also revealed that the OS is from the iPhone and not OS X which is a little disappointing, however the portrait to landscape mode is a nice feature for web browsing.
The iPad also has Mac and Windows compatibility, while photos from your Mac will pull GPS position data and locations using Places.
The unit also has some type of GPS or location based program alongside WiFi. Jobs used that location aware setup to find local places right from the tablet. Taking advantage of that location awareness is Google Maps software which allows users to check out regular Google Maps and Street views that take up the entire screen, a perfect option for navigating on your next vacation without the need for a secondary GPS unit.
Steve also mentioned the official Apple iPad specs :
- 9.7-inch display with 0.5-inches thickness.
- 16GB to 64GB of on-board flash memory
- 10 hrs of battery life. Over a month for standby
- 1GHz Apple A4 chip (developed for the iPad)
- WiFi 802.11n
- Bluetooth 2.1
- accelerometer
- digital compass
- speaker and a microphone
- 30-pin dock connector
iPad Environmental Specs :
- Arsenic free
- BFR free
- Mercury free
- PVC free
Scott Forstall also took the stage to show off apps for the Apple iPad. First it should be noted that your current iPhone/iPod Touch apps will run perfectly on the unit without any needed changes.
Scott started by showing off the Facebook app which starts as a small app in the middle of the tablets screen, once tapped the screen then doubles in size and operates just like you would move around on the Facebook page, definitely a cool setup for constant status update friendly users.
Developers can pick up the SDK today with an iPad simulator to test their apps.
If you’re worried about finding a ton of iPhone apps among the iPad apps, Scott has assured the crowd at the conference that iPad apps will be prioritized when the App store is opened using the iPad.
The New York Times have also announced that they are working on an iPad app just like they had done for the iPhone. With their new app users can change between landscape and portrait modes using the devices accelerometer, while pinch-zooming and text resizing can all be done from the units touchscreen, and a “live updates” sectionw ill auto pull breaking news into each section of the paper. Tapping also zooms into any chosen column, while embedded video playing is also part of the program.
The NYT doesn’t really come as a surprise to us as many old media outlets have shown interest in the device over the last few months, we’ll expect more media announcements regarding apps in the near future, even before the device officially releases for sale.
Several games were also shown off including Need for Speed Shift by Electronic Arts, which includes touchscreen capabilities, such as the ability to tap on your car to see an inside view, while a gear changer is also touch friendly and users can look behind their car with a tap of the rear view mirror, very cool! The graphics on Need for Speed look pretty good in screen shots, of course we can’t really tell until we get to hold the device on our own.
EA also showed off MLB which features the ability to watch “live game experiences” such as looking at scores, tracking the trajectory of every pitch and even tapping on the ball to see details and tapping on players to see their baseball cards. Again the graphics look half decent, definitely better than iPhone based games.
After a game preview jobs again took the stage to reveal a new app called “iBooks” which allows books to download right onto your bookshelf just like on the Kindle, it’s rather simple. Just like a real book users can then flip through pages by tapping anywhere on the right side of the page, and flip back by tapping on the left size. There is also the ability to drag pages over with a manual touch feature. As expected you can also jump to chapters from the table of contents and view pictures, nothing really ground break on that front.
For users looking into more user friendly interaction, publishers can also choose between black and white and color output and they can even embed videos directly into their books, which could potentially lead to a lot of annoying movie promotions as more books are picked up for movie rights…ugh.
It’s also important to notice that the program runs on theePub format, which could mean users can import their own ePub books into the program, although that fact has not been confirmed.
There are also iWork based apps and other productivity apps I’m sure will make it to market with the release of the device.
Jobs finally took the stage again to discuss the units connectivity options which includes WiFi on the basic models and WiFi + 3G on top end models. With 3G and WiFi users can purchase AT&T Wireless data plans which includes plans starting at $14.99 for 250MB per month up to an unlimited data plan for $29.99 with no contract required, a nice option for travelers who don’t want to sign a two year contract for 3G connectivity!
Also, 3G models are unlocked! Which makes this device a truly international partner for Apple buyers.
So what about pricing? Basic models start at an impressive $499 for a 16GB unit, while 3G will add an additional $130. Here’s the full price breakdown:
Apple iPad Non-3G Models:
$499, $599 and $699 for the 16, 32 and 64GB units respectively.
Apple iPad 3G Models:
$629, $729 and $899 for the same sized models listed above.
Overall an impressive debut, but I wouldn’t necessarily call the device a game changer at this point. [ Gizmodo Live / SlashGear Live]