At its media event in San Francisco on Jan. 27, 2010, Apple introduced its long-rumored tablet computer, the iPad.
iPad
The star of the event was the long-rumored tablet, the iPad. The iPad offers a 9.7-inch screen, Wi-Fi, 3G data on some models, 16GB-64GB of storage, and runs the iPhone OS, making it compatible with App Store.
The iPad employs the same multitouch technology as the iPhone and iPod touch for its screen. To take advantage of this, the iPad ships with a new, multitouch-enabled version of Apple’s productivity suite, iWork.
The iPad will go on sale on in late March 2010, with prices ranging from US$499-$829.
Apps and Content
To accompany the release of the iPad, Apple announced a number of apps and content partnerships, including:
- iBooks - an e-book app and store by Apple. The app will offer for sale content from five major publishing companies at launch: Penguin, MacMillan, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, and Hachette. Pricing has not been announced though the demo showed books priced at US$4.99 - $14.99
- iWork - a revised, multitouch version of Apple's productivity suite. The three iWork apps - Pages, Keynote, and Numbers - sell for US$9.99 each.
- Also shown - Demos of games from EA and Gameloft, and apps from Major League Baseball and the New York Times. No release date for these apps has been announced.
iPad SDK
Also announced was a new SDK (software development kit) to help developers write new apps for the device and port old ones. The iPad runs current iPhone apps and includes a feature to scale up existing apps to work on the device's larger screen. Using the new SDK, which is available today, developers can rewrite their apps to take advantage of the full-screen size with the new iPhone SDK announced today.
Accessories
To accompany the iPad, Apple announced a number of accessories, including:
- Dock - for syncing the iPad to a computer
- Keyboard Dock - combines dock with an Apple keyword (not quite full-size, but close)
- Case - protects device and screen
- Camera Connection Kit - to connect digital cameras via USB or SD card
