Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) unveiled the widely anticipated tablet today, which the company is hoping will create a whole new category of devices that fall somewhere between the laptop and the iPhone.
Following the formal ceremonies, analysts and members of the press were ushered into a crowded room to get their first impressions of what the iPad feels like in their hand. Instantly, you can see the beauty of the device is that all 75 million iPhone and iPod Touch owners will already know how to use it. Still, others will find the user interface intuitive from the start.
Weighing in at 1.5 pounds and a half-inch thick, the device is extraordinarily light-weight and sleek yet much heavier than a paperback. For those who are still in love with holding the newspaper while drinking a cup of coffee, the iPad’s crystal clear 9.7 inch display makes for a great digital option. However, the biggest learning curve will come in knowing how to hold it: Will you use a stand, hold it with one hand while you navigate with the other, or lay it in your lap? Will you type with all of your fingers, or will you use your pointer fingers like an iPhone? These were the things that did not come naturally.
— iBookstore: The device is designed to surf the web and consume media like a workhorse. Apple preloads it with the user-friendly iBookstore, which stocks an as-yet unannounced number of books from five of the largest book publishers. Books are stored on a virtual bookshelf with the images of the covers facing out. Flip the bookcase over, and you’ll enter the secret passageway to the store. When the book is loaded, it looks like actual pages of a novel. With a swipe of the finger, you’ll see the page fold over in front of of your eyes. Whether the screen is as easy on the eyes as other e-readers, like the Kindle, it was too soon to tell. The starkness of the white pages may get tiring, although the font size is easily changed. For now, the bookstore will be limited to the iPad, so users can’t read books interchangeably between the iPad and the iPhone.
— Photos: This is where the device really shines. Photo albums can easily be expanded to scan for the photo you are looking for. Photos are also viewable by location where they were taken. It’s extremely quick to jump back and forth. One nice feature, Origami, automatically creates collages of multiple photos in each slide.
— Applications: This is where things could have gone wrong, but Apple came up with a fairly easy solution. Today, there are 140,000 applications on the iPhone, and it would be a pain if each one had to be re-developed for the iPad’s larger screen. To get around this, the applications appear in their original size, so they look like a small box on the screen. Users have the option of blowing it up to fullscreen, making them readable, albeit pixelated. In a hands-on demo, I tried a stargazer app, which allows you to move around the device to see the various constellations.
— Typing: As I said before, how to hold it was sort of a mystery. This is only magnified when typing. When it’s in landscape mode, the Qwerty keyboard is almost equal in size to a laptop. It was confusing. Do you hunt and peck with your fingertips, or try to type regularly? Thumbing is completely out of the question. Apple CEO Steve Jobs even struggled with this on stage when he had spelling errors in an email he sent. After retyping it ended up being: “Wow we really announcing the iPad!” One solution for this is the keyboard dock accessory.
— Other hardware specs: The iPad is thinner and lighter than any netbook currently on the market, said Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs. What’s more, the screen is 9.7 inches and it has a 1 Ghz Apple-built processor using Apple’s own silicon. The iPad comes with at least 16 to 64 gigs of flash storage; WiFi; 3G is optional; Bluetooth; an accelerometer; compass; speaker; microphone, and a 30-pin connector for Apple accessories. Accessories include a keyboard and a case, which also converts to a stand. The battery life is expected to last for 10 hours (even when watching video on a cross-country flight, Jobs says). It does not have a camera.
— Pricing and shipping: Still with AT&T (NYSE: T) for 3G: Data plans: $14.99 for 250 megs a month, unlimited for $29.99. Free AT&T WiFi. No contract. Wi-Fi only models ship in 60 days; 3G models in 90. The price: $499 for the base model with Wi-Fi and 16GB; $599 for 32GB, $699 for 64 GB. Add $130 for 3G and the most expensive model is $829. Of course, that doesn

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