Apple has introduced iPad, a device for browsing the web, reading and sending email, enjoying photos, watching videos, listening to music, playing games, reading e-books and much more. iPad's responsive high-resolution multi-touch display lets users physically interact with applications and content. iPad is just 0.5 inches thick and weighs just 1.5 pounds. iPad includes 12 new apps designed especially for the iPad. iPad will be available in late March starting at just US$499.
iPad features 12 next-generation multi-touch applications. Every app works in both portrait and landscape, automatically animating between views as the user rotates iPad in any direction.
iPad runs almost all of the over 140,000 apps on the App Store, including apps already purchased for the iPhone or iPod touch. Apple also announced the new iBooks app for iPad, which includes Apple's new iBookstore, a way to browse, buy and read books on a mobile device. The iBookstore will feature books from major and independent publishers.
Apple also introduced a new version of iWork for iPad, the first desktop-class productivity suite designed specifically for multi-touch. With Pages, Keynote and Numbers the user can create documents, presentations with animations and transitions, and spreadsheets with charts, functions and formulas. The three apps will be available separately through the App Store for US$9.99 each.
iPad syncs with iTunes just like the iPhone and iPod touch, using the standard Apple 30-pin to USB cable, so users can sync all of their contacts, photos, music, movies, TV shows, applications and more from their Mac or PC. All the apps and content users download on iPad from the App Store, iTunes Store and iBookstore will be automatically synced to their iTunes library the next time they connect with their computer.
iPad's 9.7-inch, LED-backlit display features IPS technology with a 178 degree viewing angle. The capacitive multi-touch display is accurate and responsive whether scrolling web pages or playing games, Apple said. The soft keyboard pioneered on iPhone takes advantage of iPad's larger display to offer an almost full-size soft keyboard. iPad also connects to the new iPad Keyboard Dock with a full-size traditional keyboard.
iPad is powered by A4, Apple's next-generation system-on-a-chip, with a battery life of up to 10 hours.
iPad comes in two versions - one with Wi-Fi and the other with both Wi-Fi and 3G. iPad includes the latest 802.11n Wi-Fi, and the 3G versions support speeds up to 7.2Mbps on HSDPA networks. Apple and AT&T announced 3G pre-paid data plans for iPad with on-device activation and management.
Each iPad enclosure is made of recyclable aluminum and comes standard with energy-efficient LED-backlit displays that are mercury-free and made with arsenic-free glass. iPad contains no brominated flame retardants and is completely PVC-free, Apple said.
Apple released a new software development kit (SDK) for iPad, so developers can create new applications designed to take advantage of iPad's capabilities. 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.
iPad will be available in late March worldwide for a suggested retail price of US$499 for the 16GB model, US$599 for the 32GB model, US$699 for the 64GB model. The Wi-Fi + 3G models of iPad will be available in April in the US and selected countries for a suggested retail price of US$629 for the 16GB model, US$729 for the 32GB model and US$829 for the 64GB model. iBookstore will be available in the US at launch.
Apple iPad
Photo: Company
Article translated by Joseph Tsai
