The long-rumored and much-awaited Apple Tablet is now finally official. The CEO of Apple Steve Jobs has unveiled the device at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater in San Francisco. The tablet launched by Apple is sleek, beautiful, powerful and they named it as iPad.
The Apple iPad is a device that actually fills the gap between smartphone and laptop. There are more than hundreds of blog posts and articles written about the latest device unveiled by Apple. So I decided to write a post with all the information and details about the Apple iPad in one place.
Below is the everything you need to know about the Apple iPad tablet.
The Overview of Apple iPad
Steve Jobs has told us about the creation of a new category of device that will fills the gap between two devices, smartphone and laptop. He wants the device that is better than laptop and capable of playing all the entertainment and give its users a best web browsing experience. To fill the gap, he launched the device that they call the iPad.
The iPad is basically a large iPhone or iPod Touch. It features a 9.7-inch of touchscreen display, a storage capacity from 16 GB to the 64GB, play HD movies and videos, can run all the 140,000 apps available in the App Store, sync it with your Mac/PC via USB, use it as an ebook reader and much more.
You can see the video overview of the Apple iPad below.
This device has a lots of features and functions. The starting price of this device is just $499. Read more to find out the full detailed features, functions and specifications of this device.
Technical Specifications
Below are the know technical specifications of the Apple iPad.
- Size:
Height x Width x Depth = 9.56 inches x 7.47 inches x 0.5 inches - Weight:
1.5 pounds for Wi-Fi model
1.6 pounds for Wi-Fi + 3G model - Display Screen:
9.7-inches of widescreen full capacitive multi-touch display screen with IPS technology, and fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating - Display Resolution:
1024 x 768 pixels (132 pixels per inch) - Storage Memory / Capacity:
Comes in three models with 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB built-in flash drive - Battery Life:
10 hours of surfing the web, listening to music, or watching video
Over one month of standby
Charge via USB to computer system or power adapter - Processor:
1GHz of Apple A4 chip, designed by Apple. It consumes low power and gives high performance - Sensors:
Accelerometer
Ambient light sensor - Input and Output:
30-pin Dock connector
3.5 mm stereo headphone jack
Built-in speakers
Microphone
SIM card tray only for Wi-Fi + 3G model - Wireless and Cellular:
Wi-Fi model = 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR technology
Wi-Fi + 3G model = UMTS/HSDPA (850, 1900, 2100 MHz), GSM/EDGE (850,900,1800,1900 MHz), 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR technology - Audio Playback Supported Formats:
AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, and 4), Apple Lossless, AIFF, WAV - Video Playback Supported Formats:
H.264 video up to 720p, 30 frames per second, Main Profile level 3.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, .mov file formats - Supported Mail Attachments:
Images = .jpg, .tiff, .gif
Microsoft Word = .doc and .docx
Web Pages = .htm and .html
Keynote = .key
Adobe Acrobat = .pdf
Microsoft PowerPoint = .ppt and .pptx
Text = .txt
Rich Text = .rtf
Contact = .vcf
Microsoft Excel = .xls and .xlsx - Supported Languages:
English, French, German, Japanese, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Russian
Connectivity
The Apple iPad comes in two different models and are based on the connectivity. Both models comes with build-in Wi-Fi wireless internet and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR connectivity. But the other model comes also with the support for wireless 3G internet connectivity.
With iPad's built-in Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n wireless internet connectivity, you can take the advantage of the fastest wireless internet networks. The device automatically finds the available Wi-Fi wireless internet network and then you can easily join in just few taps. With Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR connectivity, you can connect your device with Bluetooth enabled wireless headphones or with the Apple wireless keyboard.
With iPad 3G connectivity model, you can connect your device with a superfast up to 7.2 Mbps data speed. This will be helpful when you are traveling in the area where a Wi-Fi network is not available. So, using the 3G connectivity, you can surf the web, download the emails, or get the directions. The 3G enabled model uses a microSIM card to connect your device to the internet.
Interface
The interface of the iPad's OS is very similar to the interface of the iPhone's OS. Steve Jobs has also mentioned that the interface of iPad is very easy to understand and learn because an estimate of 7.5 million people have an iPod Touch or iPhone.
Now the iPad has also bring a new SDK for the developers of apps. The SDK is specially for the iPad, that enables the apps developers to optimize their apps for an iPad interface. However, all the apps available in the App Store is compatible with iPad, even all the apps you have for either iPhone or iPod Touch can be installed on the iPad. The apps for iPhone and iPod Touch can run on iPad, either in their native resolution or in full-screen mode.
As I've said before that the whole interface of iPad is just like an iPod Touch or iPhone's interface, but everything is larger and enhanced. The onscreen keyboard of iPad is almost of same size as the keyboard of MacBook.
Performance
The Apple iPad has a A4 chip inside, the chip was custom-designed by the Apple engineers. The A4 chip gives the best performance and is extremely power efficient, which makes it best for everything from productivity to gaming. The A4 chip makes the iPad extremely power efficient that it can give you 10 hours of running time on a single charge, and gives the standby time of almost a month.
To give you the lots of room for your movies, apps, music, and more, the iPad is available in three different storage capacity, that are 16 GB, 32 GB, and 64 GB.
iBooks
In the Apple "Latest Creation" Event, they not only unveil an iPad but has also launched the iBooks. It is a new app for an iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad. With this app, you can find, purchase, download, and read the e-books right from your device.
The Steve Jobs has defined the iBooks apps as:
“The iBooks app is a great, new way to read and buy books. Just download the app for free from the App Store, and you’ll be able to buy everything from classics to bestsellers from the built-in iBookstore. Once you’ve bought a book, it’s displayed on your Bookshelf. To read it, all you have to do is tap on it and it opens up. The high-resolution, LED-backlit screen displays everything in sharp, rich, color, so it’s very easy to read, even in low light.”
iWork
Apple has also introduced the iWork app. It is specially designed for the touchscreen devices. This app will be helpful for those iPad users who wanted to use their device for business or production work. The iWork comes with some app to help you in your work, those apps are Pages, Numbers and Keynote. Each app will cost you around $10 in an App Store. This app allows you to open a files of Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Microsoft Word, that means you can edit your PC documents easily on your iPad.
Web
The 9.7-inch widescreen multi-touch display screen on iPad gives you the best web browsing experience with sharp text and vibrant color. Like iPhone and iPod Touch, it uses a Safari Mobile as a web browser. You can browser the web either in portrait or landscape.
The navigation on iPad is very easy and intuitive just because you use your finger as a pointing device. You can scroll through a page just by flicking your fingers up or down on the screen, just pinch to zoom in or out on a picture. There's also a thumbnail grid view that shows all the web pages you've opened, this will let you move from one page to other quickly.
You can view, read, and touch your email in ways you've never could before. In landscape, you can see a split-screen view which shows both, the messages in your email inbox and a selected mail. To see the mail you've selected, just turn an iPad into portrait, and then your email will automatically rotate and showed in the full screen. You can easily scroll through your mail, compose a new email message using the large onscreen keyboard, delete the messages just with a tap and flick.
iPad works with all the most popular email providers available, which includes AOL, Gmail, Hotmail, MobileMe, Yahoo! Mail. If you get an email with a photo, you can save the photo directly from email to the built-in Photos app.
Photos
On iPad, you can see the crisp, crystal clear, vibrant photos, and also with a unique software features. Sharing and viewing photos with this device is very easy. The built-in Photos app will display all the photos you've stored in an album in a stack view. To view any album, just tap the stack and then the whole album opens.
After opening a photo, you can easily flip, zoom in or zoom out, or start a slideshow. While it is on dock or charging, you can also use it as a beautiful digital photo frame. You can import your photos in many ways, you can sync them from your computer, import directly from your camera using via optional Camera Connection Kit, or download them from an email.
Video
The iPad has a large and high-resolution display screen that shows you videos in sharp and crisp quality, it is best for watching any type of video, from TV shows and podcasts to HD movies and music videos. You can easily switch between full screen and widescreen, just by double tapping the screen. You'll also get the options to fast-forward, rewind, bookmark, pause etc.
App Store
iPad can run almost all the 140,000 apps available in the App Store. You can choose from games to business and productivity apps and much more. The new apps that are specifically designed just for iPad are highlighted, so you can easily find those apps that will take full advantage of its features. To go to the App Store from your iPad, just tap the App Store icon on the screen, then browse, buy, and download apps wirelessly and directly from your iPad.
Accessories
Apple has designed lots of great accessories specially for iPad. There's a standalone Dock, Apple Wireless Keyboard, the Keyboard Dock, Camera Connection Kit, iPad Protection Case, and many other accessories.
The iPad has built-in Bluetooth wireless technology so you can connect it with the Apple Wireless Keyboard. The Keyboard Dock is a combination of a full size keyboard and a dock. The Camera Connection Kit will allows you to import photos from SD card or camera. The iPad Protection Case not only protects your iPad, but you can also use it as a stand for your iPad and use it in various positions, that will make it easier to look at photos, watch movies, or for typing. The other accessories will also include a Connection Kit for iPad, so that you can play the content on TV's, displays, and projectors.
Availability
The Apple has not announced any fixed date of the availability, but they has only mentioned that the Wi-Fi models will start shipping from the late March. But, if you want a 3G model, then you've to wait until April.
Prices
The price of an iPad is another unbelievable feature. The iPad has all the latest innovative features. It has all the advanced technologies in it. It is one of the most revolutionary device ever created by Apple and with the amazing prices. The starting price of iPad is just $499.
As you can see on the table above, the iPad comes in two different editions, that are Wi-Fi enabled or Wi-Fi + 3G enabled. Both editions are further divided into three models, that are 16 GB, 32 GB, and 64 GB.
The cheapest edition will cost you just $499 with Wi-Fi and 16 GB built-in flash memory. The expensive edition will cost you just $829 with Wi-Fi + 3G and 64 GB built-in flash memory. Below are the prices of Apple iPad:
Wi-Fi enabled iPad's
- $499 with 16 GB memory
- $599 with 32 GB memory
- $699 with 64 GB memory
Wi-Fi + 3G enabled iPad's
- $629 with 16 GB memory
- $729 with 32 GB memory
- $829 with 64 GB memory
Note: 3G data plans sold separately.
