Apple unveils iPad tablet with onscreen keyboard

http://www.timesofearth.com/Business/?NT=4&nid=16691 SAN FRANCISCO - Steve Jobs, Apple Inc's chief executive, has unveiled the most anticipated Apple product for years - the "iPad" tablet.
The device launched at an Apple Special Event in San Francisco on Wednesday,
aims to define a new category of wireless device that will play video, games, music, and offer the new ability to read "iBooks".

"It's so much more intimate than a laptop and so much more capable than a
smart phone," Jobs said.

Jobs, who returned to the helm last year after a liver transplant, is hoping to sell consumers on the value of tablet computing after numerous technology
companies had failed to do so in recent years.

Called the "iPad," the device is Apple's biggest product launch since the iPhone three years ago, and arguably rivals the smartphone as the most anticipated in Apple's history.

After months of feverish speculation on the internet and among investors, Jobs took the stage at a jam-packed theatre and began detailing the device's basic features.

The iPad has a near life-sized touch keyboard and supports Web browsing. It comes with a built-in calendar and address book, Jobs said.

Technology enthusiasts had expected to see the sleek, full-colour, 10-inch gadget with a touchscreen interface and wireless connectivity, designed for playing all sorts of media from videos to games to electronic books and newspapers.

Presenting the iBook store, Jobs told the audience: "It looks like a bookshelf and there's a button to a store. It's an iBook Store to allow you to discover, purchase, and download e-books right on your iPad."

Despite the buzz surrounding the launch and Apple's storied golden touch on consumer electronics, the tablet is not necessarily an easy sell, analysts say.

Consumer appetite for a gadget that sits somewhere between a smartphone and a laptop has yet to be proven, though plenty of devices such as Amazon's Kindle e-reader are vying for that market.

As iPod sales wane, Apple is looking for another growth engine and hopes to find one in the tablet. But the move is not without risk. Consumers have never warmed to tablet computers, despite many previous attempts by other companies.

A 16GB wifi-enabled iPad will set customers back $499, while an iPad with wifi with 3G connectivity will cost $829, Jobs announced.

In an online poll on reuters.com, 37 per cent of more than 1,000 respondents said they would pay $500-$699 for the tablet.

Nearly 30 per cent weren't interested, while 20 per cent said they would pay $700-$899.

A keyboard dock is available for the 0.5 inch-thin device, which weighs only 1.5 pounds and has a battery that lasts 10 hours.


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Category:

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Tags:

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• announces
• iPad
• touchscreen
• tablet

[GHOSTFACE323]

So if you upgrade it to maximum performance, will it be called a MaxiPad?

[brizzle19900]

HOLY SHIT. tHiS is MINNND BLOWWING

steve jobs just totaly fucked my brain in the ass .

it's an incredible experience.

this is so much more than a macbook. anyone that disagrees can lick their moms BOLLZ and put it in a slide show, and then you know what....

put it in landscape form.

i just turned my macbook sideways and it didn't do crap!

it must be made out ostupid

[codrin84]

Great marketing strategy for a such a simple device! Well done Steve!

[RogueBrit]

Incredible experience, except in day light

[back2schoolboo]

@GHOSTFACE323 lolz

[shalerson]

@ bassguitarFTW68: It's too big to comfortably carry with you and not as functional as a laptop. Any way you look at it, the ipad is one of the most worthless peices of technology to come along in a long time. Nobody in their right mind is going to carry one around, and if it just sits in your house, you might as well have a laptop... or a desktop for that matter.

[fdawg1001]

@TheInfiniteSeries

 lol k

[sondano]

@TheInfiniteSeries they can get a job but no way a garbage man will ever be able to afford this and just think what the world would look like without garbage men

[starstarstar42]

I heard the rechargeable battery can not be replaced, is that TRUE?!?

[dipakmistry94]

sounds to me like it is just for web browsing.... if its better then a laptop, can u play games like cod4, 5 mw2? oh and.. ur worth millions of dollars and ur belt is amazing... is it invisible?