Apple has unveiled their latest must have gadget, the iPad. It's a tablet, or a slate, or at least it fits into that form factor category. But in terms of functionality it falls into one of these new niches that the portable computing or MID (mobile internet device) sector seems to keep spawning.
The iPad looks and feels much like a big iPhone, albeit one with a 9.7" LED display. It will be available with either wifi or wifi and 3G connectivity, but it doesn't support cellular voice. It seems to attack the burgeoning e-reader space, dominated by the likes of Amazon's Kindle, and the forthcoming Android-based devices that offer more features and functionality, yet it doesn't support multitasking, at least not with third party apps.
Apple will open up a new section in the App Store to cater to the iPad, although the device is also able to use 140,000 existing iPhone and iPod Touch applications. However, some have noted that once some of these apps scale up to the available resolution of the iPad (1024 by 768 pixels at 132 pixels per inch) they look a bit like the blocky graphics of the Commodore 64.
Taking the e-reader market head on, the iPad will feature an iBooks app that allows users to browse, purchase and download e-books to read on the device. The screen isn't up to the same standards as electronic ink, but that's because it's being pitched as a jack of all trades when teamed with the iWork suite of office tools, Safari browser (with the same lack of support for Flash and Java that the iPhone suffers from), email client, and photo, video and music player apps.
The wifi only model will start shipping in late March 2010, while the wifi and 3G models will be available in April. (telecoms.com, January 2010)
