Articles on Apple iPAD, don’t call it an iTablet

Here it is folks, the Apple iPad. The screen is gorgeous, tilting is responsive, and the thing is super thin. Still, if you’ve used the iPhone before — and you can see the two devices side-by-side here — there’s not a lot of surprises here so far. Here are some initial thoughts on the iPad:

• It’s not light. It feels pretty weighty in your hand.
• The screen is stunning, and it’s 1024 x 768. Feels just like a huge iPhone in your hands.
• The speed of the CPU is something to be marveled at. It is blazingly fast from what we can tell. Webpages loaded up super fast, and scrolling was without a hiccup. Moving into and out of apps was a breeze. Everything flew.
• There’s no multitasking at all. It’s a real disappointment. All this power and very little you can do with it at once. No multitasking means no streaming Pandora when you’re working in Pages… you can figure it out. It’s a real setback for this device.
• The ebook implementation is about as close as you can get to reading without a stack of bound paper in your hand. The visual stuff really helps flesh out the experience. It may be just for show, but it counts here.
• No camera. None, nada. Zip. No video conferencing here folks. Hell, it doesn’t have an SMS app!

Apple iPad first hands-on! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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At last, the moment you’ve all been waiting for! Two minimalistic slate-style devices, together at last. Check out our full hands-on for the rest of this holy war.

iPad vs. iPhone… fight! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPad has optional keyboard dock, camera connection kit and Apple-designed case originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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After nearly a decade of rumors and speculation, Apple’s finally unveiled the iPad. It’s a half-inch thick and weighs just 1.5 pounds, with a 9.7-inch capacitive touchscreen IPS LCD display, and it’s running a custom 1GHz Apple ‘A4′ chip developed by the P.A. Semi team, with a 10-hour battery life and a month of standby. It’ll come in 16, 32, and 64GB sizes, and it’s got the expected connectivity: very little. There’s a 30-pin Dock connector, a speaker, a microphone, Bluetooth, 802.11n WiFi and optional 3G, as well as an accelerometer and a compass. There’s also a keyboard dock, which connects underneath in the portrait orientation, support for up to 1024×768 VGA out and 480p composite out through new dock adapter cables, and a camera attachment kit that lets you import photos from your camera over USB or directly through an SD reader. The device is managed by iTunes, just like the iPhone — you sync everything over to your Mac. As expected, it can run iPhone apps — either pixel-for-pixel in a window, or pixel-doubled fullscreen — but developers can also target the new screen size using the updated iPhone OS SDK, which is available today. The 3G version runs on AT&T and comes with new data plans: 250MB for $14.99 and an unlimited plan for $29.99 a month contract-free. Activations are handled on the iPad, so you can activate and cancel whenever you want. Every iPad is unlocked and comes with a GSM ‘micro-SIM,’ so you can use it abroad, but there aren’t any international deals in place right now — Steve says they’ll be back ‘this summer’ with news on that front.

It starts at $499 for 16GB, 32GB for $599, and $699 64GB. Adding 3G costs a $130 per model, so the most expensive model (64GB / 3G) is $829. The WiFi-only model will ship in 60 days, and the 3G models will come in 90.

Developing… check out our first hands-on right here!

Continue reading The Apple iPad: starting at $499

The Apple iPad: starting at $499 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In a direct blow to everyone else with a netbook and an unlimited data plan, AT&T has scored a deal to offer unlimited 3G data on 3G-capable versions of the iPad for $29.99 a month (then again, this is the same as an iPhone plan, and you’re getting iPhone-level capability here). A 250MB plan, meanwhile, will be available for half that at $14.99 a month. Activation can happen right on the device — no store visits or calls are necessary — and there’s no contract involved. The device is fully unlocked, so if you absolutely want to, you’re welcome to take it to any other GSM carrier of your choice (assuming you can find a SIM that works — Apple’s talking up a new ‘micro SIM’ for it). International users, stay tuned: Apple expects to have deals in place for you by June of this year.

Apple iPad 3G service plans on AT&T, $30 for unlimited data originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, it looks like it’s not all just fun and games for Apple’s new iPad — the company has also just announced an edition of its iWork software suite for the device. That, of course, includes versions of Pages, Numbers and Keynote that have been ‘completely reimagined for iPad,’ which will be available individually for $9.99 apiece, and are are each basically what you’d expect from iPad versions of the desktop applications. It’s iWork you can touch, if you will.

Developing… check out our hands-on coverage!

Apple announces iWork for iPad originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Put this down as something else rumored that’s come to fruition today. Apple’s just announced iBooks, an e-reader app and bookstore (called iBookstore) for the iPad, using the ePub format. We’re seeing prices around $12.99 to $14.99 so far… looks pretty slick! We’re sure Jeff Bezos and Co. are none too pleased to see this one, but we’ll have to see for ourselves what reading’s like on a non-E Ink screen. There’s a gallery after the break.

Be sure to hit up our hands-on right here!Continue reading Apple reveals iBookstore and app for the iPad

Apple reveals iBookstore and app for the iPad originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple’s freshly announced iPad is a lot of things to a lot of people, but it appears that it’s not going to be the device that proves the appropriateness of Adobe Flash for enjoying rich media device on a mobile device. Better luck next time, Adobe!

Apple’s iPad keeping Adobe Flash away from your couch originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It looks like a ‘big iPhone,’ and apparently it acts like one too: the iPad can run traditional iPhone apps completely unmodified, and can even zoom them up to full screen. Additionally, a new iPhone SDK is out today to allow developers to tweak their apps for the specifics of the iPad. Of course, Apple has rebuilt its apps from the ground up for the iPad, and developers can do the same with the SDK.

Check out our hands-on with the iPad here.

iPad can run all iPhone apps unmodified, new iPhone SDK out today lets developers tweak apps for iPad use originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Look out Intel and friends, Apple is using its own P.A. Semi technology for a custom 1GHz ‘Apple A4′ chip in the iPad. Apple claims to get 10 hours of battery life out of this sucker, along with a month of standby.

Update: we got a picture of the processor courtesy of the iFixit Twitter feed. The chip was apparently manufactured in September of last year! Also, we’ve got hands-on with the iPad for your external fixations.

iPad powered by custom 1GHz Apple A4 chip originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Will the Apple tablet finally, really be unveiled? We’re at the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco (see above) patiently waiting to get inside and get this thing underway! Keep reading after the break for the minute by minute coverage!

Continue reading Live from the Apple ‘latest creation’ event