Hooray! Apple finally put those rumours to rest yesterday as they officially announced the hugely anticipated Apple Tablet, now named the Apple iPad. Ok, so we might have got it wrong about the name as we thought it would be called the iSlate, but the name iPad is still an acceptable choice for the Apple Tablet. I am just relieved they weren’t tempted to call it the Etch-a-Sketch 2!
The Specs…
The Apple iPad has been described as being half-inch in thickness, weighing just only 1.5 pounds as well touting a 9.7 inch multi-touch screen. As well as this, the iPad will also include all the other mod cons that you would expect from a device like this, such as a-GPS, digital compass, 3.5mm audio, accelerometer, Bluetooth and 802.11n WiFi and syncing is just the same as you would expect with your iPhone.
With 10-hour battery life and over a month in standby, Apple are certainly pitching itself well as being better than a phone or a laptop. In terms of what this baby can hold, there’s the option of 16GB, 32GB or 64GB of flash storage. However, contrary to the rumours, the Apple iPad does not include a video camera, which is a little disappointing, but I suppose we can’t have everything in this super slimline device.
The Prices
It has also been announced by Apple that the 3G version will run on AT&T and comes with a new data plans, of 250MB for $14.99 and unlimited plan for $29.99 a month contract free which means that the user can activate and deactivate their plans whenever they want. Prices for the iPads start at $499 for 16GB, $599 for 32GB and $699 for the 64GB. To have 3G included per model it would cost an extra $130.
The Shipping – US and Beyond…
For the US, the WiFi-only model will ship in March, and the 3G models will come in April, a little later than what we had expected. So what about us poor folk in the UK? Well, Apple say that every iPad is unlocked and comes with a GSM “micro-SIM” so you can use it abroad, however there aren’t any international deals right now, but Steve Jobs did comment that there would be more news about this in the summer, so this means we could be looking at June/July time…maybe.
We should hopefully be able to give you more news about the iPad as more unravels so keep your eyes peeled on the blog this week. More details on specs and pictures can be found on the Apple website.
Are you wowed by the iPad? Would you be willing to buy one? Leave us a comment and let us know what you think…
Via Zath
2 thoughts on “Apple iPad: Apple Announces their New Tablet Device with Specs, Prices and Shipping!”
Al – December 30, 2009 You can talk all you like about the rnsaoes for not using a Kindle. But the simple fact for me is this :My wife and I both have Kindles. I am a techie, my wife is not. Both of us are lifelong avid readers. Both of use our Kindles constantly and instinctively. With our Kindles, we read more often, more enjoyably.Those are our results. Make whatever theoretical arguments you will, but pratcial application by owners (not tech bloggers who get excited by shininess and multitasking rather than genuine usefulness) is the real test.