Apple Unveils the IPAD

Courtesy of Daily News:
After much industry and consumer anticipation, Apple introduced the iPad on Wednesday, a tablet-style device designed for browsing the web, reading and sending email, viewing photos, watching videos, listening to music, playing games, and reading e-books.

The device, which will be available in late March starting at U.S. $499, is 0.5 inches thick and weighs 1.5 pounds. A 9.7-inch, LED-backlit Multi-Touch display features an almost full-screen “soft keyboard” and allows users applications work in both portrait and landscape, automatically animating between views as the user rotates iPad in any direction.

Users can access 12 apps designed especially for the iPad as well as almost all of the 140,000 apps in the App Store, including for those available for the iPhone or iPod touch.

“iPad is our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “iPad creates and defines an entirely new category of devices that will connect users with their apps and content in a much more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before.”

As part of the product launch, Apple announced the new iBooks app for iPad, which allows users to read e-books directly from the unit. The company also introduced a new version of iWork for iPad, a desktop-class productivity suite designed specifically for Multi-Touch. The suite allows to create formatted documents, presentations with animations and transitions, and spreadsheets with charts, functions, and formulas. The unit also connects to the a iPad Keyboard Dock with a full-size traditional keyboard.

Powered by Apple’s A4 system-on-a-chip, the iPad comes in two versions—one with Wi-Fi and the other with both Wi-Fi and 3G. The company stuck with its iPhone partner, AT&T, which will offer both limited and unlimited monthly data plans.

Apple also released a new Software Development Kit (SDK) for iPad, so developers can create new applications for the device. The SDK includes a simulator that lets developers test and debug their iPad apps on a Mac, and also lets developers create Universal Applications that run on iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch.