Apple's iPad Tablet Takes a Bow

Bridging the gap between the iPhone and the Macintosh, Apple today unveiled the iPad, its first tablet-style computer and possibly the worst-kept secret in technology ever.

The great unveiling took place in San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts by Apple CEO Steve Jobs, in his trademark jeans, black turtleneck and white sneakers.

“We want to kick off 2010 by introducing a truly magical and revolutionary product today,” Jobs said.

The iPad, Jobs said, is the third category of devices that sits between laptop and smartphone. Weighing in at 1.5 pounds, measuring a half-inch thick and featuring a 9.7-inch display, the iPad looks like a larger version of the iPhone. It also performs many of the same tasks as an iPhone, including Web browsing, e-mail and music. Its larger screen accommodates more visual apps such as photos, videos, gaming and e-books.

iPad is powered by A4, Apple’s next-generation system-on-a-chip. Designed by Apple, the new A4 chip provides integrated processor and graphics performance along with battery life of up to 10 hours. Apple’s advanced chemistry and Adaptive Charging technology deliver up to 1,000 charge cycles without a significant decrease in battery capacity over a typical five-year lifespan, they said.

The iPad also features a docking station like the iPod and iPhone, and will run the apps available at The App Store, Apple’s “There’s an app for that” online marketplace. iPad-specific apps will also be available.
In addition, Apple has enhanced and is releasing today its SDK for the iPhone to support development for the iPad.

While today’s announcement was decidedly consumer-focused, the iPad has serious business implications. iPad runs a reformulated version of the iWork suite of productivity tools – Keynote, Pages and Numbers – enabling users to stay productive away from their offices. The tools will be available for $9.99 each, and will be compatible with the regular iWork suite for the Mac.

iPad will be available in 16Gb, 32Gb an 64Gb versions, all with Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi with 3G. Prices will range from $499 to $829, plus data service plans from AT&T.