JOBS COMES DOWN FROM MOUNTAIN WITH IPAD
"iPad is our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price," said Jobs. "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."
The device is for browsing the web, reading and sending e-mail, storing and sharing photos, watching videos, listening to music, playing games and reading e-books. The only features it doesn’t have are a phone and a camera. For more info, go to www.apple.com/ipad.
About the same size as a hardcover book with the patented “Multi-Touch” display, the iPad is just half an inch thick and weighs only 1.5 pounds, with 12 new innovative apps designed especially for it. The device will be available in late March at a low end of $499 for the 16GB version and WiFi only (and $629 for WiFi + 3G). There are also iterations available at 32 GB ($599, with 3G $729) and 64 GB ($699, with 3G $829).
Disney’s Bob Iger was among those on hand in San Francisco for Jobs’ presentation, presumably to announce a content deal between the two companies.
Jobs used the occasion to announce that Apple had recently sold its 250 millionth iPod, while the App store now features 140k apps, with 3 billion downloads over the past 18 months.
He also showed the Wall Street Journal article comparing him to Moses bringing down the tablets, joking, “I chuckled when I saw this.”
Jobs then demonstrated how the iPad worked, browsing the Internet, showing the interface with iTunes, Facebook, the N.Y. Times, Google maps, with full versions of the sites, not just mobile access.
The iPad has a built-in iPod, which plays music and displays album artwork. You can scroll through your music library and by selecting an album, a pop-up window will display all the songs on that release. It also includes a battery that lasts 10 hours, with one month of standby life.
