Apple iPad Tablet: Is it a ‘BIG’ iPhone?

The launch of Apple iPad Tablet PC by Apple’s CEO, Steve Jobs in an exclusive event at San Francisco on Wednesday not only coddled the unerring senses of  the drooling Apple adherents, who queue up to buy the Apple products as soon as they hit the shores, but also the tech-freaks and the avid readers.

Why I mentioned the ‘readers’ here is because Apple iPad has been launched to set ablaze the ebook market, with a new content delivery system called iBooks. Featuring the virtual books from five prominent publishers such as Hapercollins, Penguin, MacMillan, Hachette and Simon & Shuster, Apple iPad brings forth both the popular books as well as the text books. Similar to Amazon’s Kindle App, users can preview the first few pages of the book before they purchase. You can read the book in both portrait mode as well as landscape mode. You can customize the readability, and once purchased the books are directly downloaded into the book shelf.

Although the in-built ‘iBooks’ is one major feature of Apple iPad, I am not here to talk about it or its effect on ebook market. It is about the similarities between the Apple iPod, iPhone and Apple iPad. Ouch! Even the names sound alike. Its Design? Apple iPad looks like a larger iPod Touch, with a 9.7 inches LCD display. The classic 4:3 aspect ratio has revived in it with a HD resolution of 1024 X 768 pixels.

The operating system employed in Apple iPad is iPhone OS, designed to run on large screen. It boasts of features such as an on-screen QWERTY keyboard, an accelerometer, a volume adjuster, a mute button, a home button, a dock connector, access to iPod, iTunes and App stores; all akin to iPhone. While most of the apps are comparable to iPhone’s, some apps have come up with fresh user interface. And the happiest part is that Apple iPad offers a full compatibility with all the apps in the App store (that is, 140,000 apps). Apple iPad can play back ten hours of video, which is again same as the latest iPhone. Besides, similar to the Adobe Flash of iPhone, the flash of Apple iPad  tablet PC too will not support the web plug-in.

Substantially, I feel Apple iPad as a nearest sibling to iPhone, an iPhone with no Phone functionality. Yes. I must tell you. The GREATEST DISAPPOINTMENT with Apple iPad is that it can’t act as a phone. Although, there is quad band GSM support and 3G, unfortunately, there is no phone functionality.

Technical Specifications and Pricing of Apple iPad:

Over to its technical specifications, Apple iPad tablet PC has a 1GHz Apple A4 high performance chip. It comes in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB flash drive capacities. There are two models available, one with in-built Wi-Fi, and the other with integrated Wi-Fi plus 3G. The former weighs 1.5 pounds, whereas the latter weighs 1.6 pounds.

The AT & T offers you the 3G service, either by a $14.99 (250MB limit) or by a $29.99 (unlimited) pre-paid plans. The ‘no-3G’ versions are available for $499 (16GB), $599 (32GB) and $699 (64GB) respectively. You can get these in your hands within 60 days. But you will have to wait till the end of March for the 3G integrated models. They are said to be priced at $629, $729 and $829, according to their capacities. The UK prices are not yet fixed, but most probably, the Euro conversion of the US costs can be expected. Moreover, some wonderful accessories too will accompany this Apple iPad, an all-in-one communication device.

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