Apple launches $499 iPad
Steve Jobs has unveiled the $499 Apple iPad at an event in San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs, with the new iPad. Photo: Wired.com
The 10-inch tablet device can browse the Web, watch movies, play iTunes and use iPhone Apps, including games. It offers an integral touch screen keyboard as part of the multitouch display, and will act as a digital canvas (there’s a fingerpainting App) and digital book reader.
Jobs told the audience that the device was half an inch thin. “It weighs just 1 1/2 pounds, he said. “That’s thinner and lighter than any netbook.”
The iPad is powered by a custom-built 1 GHz Apple ‘A4’ chip. The device will come with 16GB, 32GB or 64 GB of Flash storage and includes 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1, an accelerometer, compass, speaker and microphone, as well as a calendar, address book and Maps. The battery life is 10 hours, with over a month of standby life.
Applications for the device include Brushes, a painting program that makes use of the multitouch display, iBook, an EPUB-compatible digital book application, new games and sports apps and dedicated iPad versions of iWork and Keynote.
The iPad announcement is joined by the launch of the iBookstore and a docking station with a physical keyboard. Pricing starts at $499.
Steve Jobs introduces the new iPad at today's launch event. Photo: Wired.com
