Apple iPad: Summary & First Thoughts
The iPad presentation finished just few minutes ago and the whole Twitter network threatened to break down under excited tweets and retweets of people following different live coverages. And of course everything worked out perfectly for Apple and Steve Jobs. Even a huge surprise effect ensued when they revealed the unexpected low price of $499 for the cheapest version of the device; many of us expected about $1000.
As the presentation over at the keynotes was still going on, Apple put up the official iPad site with all the details and a video which – I must say – will make anyone want to hold one of these in their hands as soon they come out 
But here’s a list of the most important facts:
- The device itself looks like a giant iPhone. It can be turned in any way to view content and has a simple Home-button.
- There will be a virtual keyboard when you want to write something which looks like you can type smoothly on it, especially if you hold the iPad in “landscape” mode.
- Apps that run on the iPhone will run on the iPad as well. You’ll be able to transfer them too.
- New and polished apps: Safari-Browser, mail-client, photo app, YouTube, iBook, Maps, Calendar
- The mail-client has been reworked with a split screen to work through emails more efficiently than on the iPhone.
- The photo-application is completely new and it might truly be the most intuitive way of viewing photos ever. The highly polished app offers an organization in piles which you can zoom in and play around with, slideshows, transitions… You should best watch the video on the official iPad site to see how beautifully the iPad displays the pictures -feels like magic
- Videos have an amazing quality on the device. YouTube videos can be watched in HD. The high-resolution display uses a special, patented technology to allow easy viewing from all angles, even when looking at the screen from the side.
- iBooks is a completely new app for eBooks which looks like a beautiful, giant book shelf. Upon tapping, the bookshelf turns and reveals an eBook store. Apple has closed deals with five of the world’s biggest publishers for this, e.g. Harper Collins, Penguin etc.
- Reading on the iPad will be just as agreeable as on Amazon Kindle – with the difference, that everything displays in rich color: “The high-resolution, LED-backlit screen displays everything in sharp, rich, color, so it’s very easy to read, even in low light.” Flip through pages with your finger…
- A great new calendar application to organize and schedule things like todos.
- You slide to unlock.
- A focus has been put on mobile gaming.
- The NYT have a direct cooperation with Apple to offer their news content on the device.
- SPECS: 9.7 inch IPS display, 0.5 inches thin, 1.5 pounds in weight.
- MEMORY SIZE: 16, 32, or 64 GB solid state hard drives
- CHIP: 1 GHz Apple A4 chip.
- Wi-Fi: 802.11n
- BATTERY LIFE: 10 hours
- Includes Speaker, Microphone, 30-pin connector, Accelerometer, and compass
- iWork will be an office-like application to create spreadsheets etc. Cost $9.99.
- You’ll be able to sync the iPad with iTunes through USB with your PC or Mac.
- It has a 3G plan.
- COST: 250 MB of data per month: $14.99. Unlimited: $29.99. This is on AT&T. No contract, free to cancel. Free Wi-Fi hotspots on top.
- International deals to follow in June or July.
- Price: $499 for the cheapest version of the iPad, if you choose the smallest HD offered without 3G. Here are all the possible combinations:
- No camera.
- Wi-Fi models shipping in late March.
- 3G models shipping in April.
First of all, let’s just get it out, I’m a little disappointed that the iPad looks like a giant iPhone with a simple Home-button. Some additional or different functions, especially to improve functionality of the email client would have been nice.
The look and feel you anticipate by watching the video is amazing though. In the past, nothing bothered me more about reading eBooks than missing that handy feeling of a book or a newspaper. That’s why I went for a netbook 2 years ago which has been the best purchase I’ve made in a long time, simply because I enjoy the long battery life and due to being fairly light-weighted you can carry the device around just about anywhere you go.
Still, netbooks generally run rather slow and watching YouTube / Videos in general could be a pain sometimes. This is something I am REALLY looking forward to, to see how fast the iPad really goes and how the quality of the images looks like in real. A battery life of 10 hours would certainly be better than most netbooks out there currently.
One thing that put me off a bit is the fact that you’ll need to sync the device with iTunes. I haven’t seen the exact details yet but when I purchased a netbook back then I expected a fully functional computer, which I got. From the presentation alone the iPad doesn’t give me that impression.
But what surprised me the most of course is the price. Yes, there are some improvements compared to the iPhone but essentially they’re all a result of the bigger screen and a few simple adaptations of apps to that. That’s why they probably knew that many iPhone owners would just stick with their smartphone instead of paying $1000 for a bigger version of their cell. I think that’s why they made the WiFi only versions so cheap.
All in all I’m truly looking forward to seeing one in action as my netbook is slowly getting older too Here are a few more interesting links for you:
Official Apple iPad Demo [VIDEO]
Contest to win an iPad on Mashable
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Girl Goes Tech (GGT) is about a 26-year-old, female tech-addict exploring her geeky side and writing about social media, mobile trends and applications.