Archive for January 27th, 2010

The Apple iPad press release

You no doubt saw our live coverage of the Apple iPad press event but I’ve just been sent the full and official press release which you can see below:

The new Apple iPad!

Apple® today introduced iPad, a revolutionary device for browsing the web, reading and sending email, enjoying photos, watching videos, listening to music, playing games, reading e-books and much more. iPad’s responsive high-resolution Multi-Touch(TM) display lets users physically interact with applications and content. iPad is just 0.5 inches thick and weighs just 1.5 pounds- thinner and lighter than any laptop or netbook. iPad includes 12 new innovative apps designed especially for the iPad, and will run almost all of the over 140,000 apps in the App Store. iPad will be available in late March starting at the breakthrough price of just $499.

“iPad is our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “iPad creates and defines an entirely new category of devices that will connect users with their apps and content in a much more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before.”

iPad features 12 next-generation Multi-Touch applications. Every app works in both portrait and landscape, automatically animating between views as the user rotates iPad in any direction. The precise Multi-Touch interface makes surfing the web on iPad an entirely new experience, dramatically more interactive and intimate than on a computer. Reading and sending email is fun and easy on iPad’s large screen and almost full-size “soft” keyboard. Import photos from a Mac®, PC or digital camera, see them organized as albums, and enjoy and share them using iPad’s elegant slideshows. Watch movies, TV shows and YouTube, all in HD or flip through pages of an e-book you downloaded from Apple’s new iBookstore while listening to your music collection.

iPad runs almost all of the over 140,000 apps on the App Store, including apps already purchased for your iPhone® or iPod touch®. The iTunes® Store gives you access to the world’s most popular online music, TV and movie store with a catalog of over 11 million songs, over 50,000 TV episodes and over 8,000 films including over 2,000 in stunning high definition video. Apple also announced the new iBooks app for iPad, which includes Apple’s new iBookstore, the best way to browse, buy and read books on a mobile device. The iBookstore will feature books from major and independent publishers.

Apple also introduced a new version of iWork® for iPad, the first desktop-class productivity suite designed specifically for Multi-Touch. With Pages®, Keynote® and Numbers® you can create beautifully formatted documents, stunning presentations with animations and transitions, and spreadsheets with charts, functions and formulas. The three apps will be available separately through the App Store for $9.99 each.

iPad syncs with iTunes just like the iPhone and iPod touch, using the standard Apple 30-pin to USB cable, so you can sync all of your contacts, photos, music, movies, TV shows, applications and more from your Mac or PC. All the apps and content you download on iPad from the App Store, iTunes Store and iBookstore will be automatically synced to your iTunes library the next time you connect with your computer.

iPad’s brilliant 9.7-inch, LED-backlit display features IPS technology to deliver crisp, clear images and consistent color with an ultra-wide 178 degree viewing angle. The highly precise, capacitive Multi-Touch display is amazingly accurate and responsive whether scrolling web pages or playing games. The intelligent soft keyboard pioneered on iPhone takes advantage of iPad’s larger display to offer an almost full-size soft keyboard. iPad also connects to the new iPad Keyboard Dock with a full-size traditional keyboard.
iPad is powered by A4, Apple’s next-generation system-on-a-chip. Designed by Apple, the new A4 chip provides exceptional processor and graphics performance along with long battery life of up to 10 hours.* Apple’s advanced chemistry and Adaptive Charging technology deliver up to 1,000 charge cycles without a significant decrease in battery capacity over a typical five year lifespan.**
iPad comes in two versions-one with Wi-Fi and the other with both Wi-Fi and 3G. iPad includes the latest 802.11n Wi-Fi, and the 3G versions support speeds up to 7.2 Mbps on HSDPA networks. Apple and AT&T announced breakthrough 3G pre-paid data plans for iPad with easy, on-device activation and management.

Continuing Apple’s dedication to designing and creating environmentally responsible products, each iPad enclosure is made of highly recyclable aluminum and comes standard with energy-efficient LED-backlit displays that are mercury-free and made with arsenic-free glass. iPad contains no brominated flame retardants and is completely PVC-free.

Apple today released a new Software Development Kit (SDK) for iPad, so developers can create amazing new applications designed to take advantage of iPad’s capabilities. The SDK includes a simulator that lets developers test and debug their iPad apps on a Mac, and also lets developers create Universal Applications that run on iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.

Pricing & Availability
iPad will be available in late March worldwide for a suggested retail price of $499 (US) for the 16GB model, $599 (US) for the 32GB model, $699 (US) for the 64GB model. The Wi-Fi + 3G models of iPad will be available in April in the US and selected countries for a suggested retail price of $629 (US) for the 16GB model, $729 (US) for the 32GB model and $829 (US) for the 64GB model. iPad will be sold in the US through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers. International pricing and worldwide availability will be announced at a later date. iBookstore will be available in the US at launch.

 

Posted by: Matt

Live Updates From The Apple Event

I am gonna attempt to post updates as and when they happen at the Apple Press Event which is rumoured  to be launching the new Apple Tablet. This won’t be an easy job to do on a blog site however I would urge you all to press F5 every so often to ensure you get the latest updates on this post.

Event Items:

REFRESHING FREQUENTLY:

17:56 GMT The event will begin in 4 minutes, people have been told to silence their phones

18:05 Announcing the iPAD!

18:15 Looks just like the leaked images. Has iPhone style interface with more space

18:18 E-mail demo: Looks very much like iPhone OS version of e-mail

18:22 virtual keypad is half screen size in height and full length, In widescreen mode, the iPad shifts the homescreen

18:24 Built in ipod; more BobDylan music being played, Being reffered to as BIG iPhone

18:25 New Calendar lets you switch views and easily tap on events to see more detail. Contacts application address book resembles an actual book.

18:26 iTunes built in – device handles zooming on maps very easily, not struggling at all – Youtube in HD format Videos show cover artwork when you want to select things rather than just text

18:30 hardware: 1/2 inch thin, 1 1/2 lbs, 9.7″ display, multitouch. 1GHZ Apple A4 chip. 16-64GB of flash storage. Chip developed by Apple. WiFi 802.11n and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR. Accelerometer, compass, speaker, microphone, 30-pin connector – battery life: Apple can get 10 hours of battery life.

18:33 Can run all iPhone apps unmodified out of the box: Can run pixel for pixel accurate black box in the centre of the screen, or pixel double to run the apps in full screen. Facebook can run in the centre of the screen with a glossy frame around the image. You can hit a 2X button to scale application up to full screen.

18:38 iPhone SDK now supports development for the iPad. every iPad comes with the app store on it

18:40 Gameloft one of first devs to work on it, Mark Hickey of Gameloft. N.O.V.A. on iPad.

18:43 price is speculated $699 (I’ll have one please!)

18:45 Electronic Arts. Has over 40 titles already in the store – processor handles games so quickly not jerky at all "Building for the iPad is a little different — it’s kind of like holding an HD display up to your face. It’s really cool."

18:52 Chad Evans from MLB.com — "We were excited to build something for the iPad. We had to create a whole new experience for this display."

18:54 Back with Steve Jobs – ibookstore integrated to get e-books, most books to retail at $4.99 You can turn pages slowly – really fast animation between flicking pages, iBooks use the epub format

18:59 iWork office suite to be included, new items designed spec for iPad (spreadsheets look great)

19:08 simple to use word processor, menu’s built for ease of use

19:11 the virtual keypad changes dependant on the app being used

19:13 Actual price confirmed to be $829 (for 64GB 3G) – still quite good!

19:14 Steve Jobs: "Now I’d like to talk about wireless networking. Every iPad has WiFi… but we’re also going to have models with 3G."

19:15 Two awesome plans for iPad owners. The first one gives you 250MB of data a month for $14.99. "We have an unlimited plan for just $29.99 a month."

19:16 Free use of AT&T wifi hotspots throughout the US "So how do you turn this on and manage it? You can activate this right on the iPad. And there’s no contract  it’s prepaid."

19:18 International deals by June and uses new GSM micro SIMs

19:20 iPad 3g’s are unlocked

19:21 "And just like we were able to meet or exceed our tech goals, we have met our cost goals… iPad pricing starts at $499." Wifi – 16GB $499 – 32gb $599 64gb $699, WiFi & 3G $629 for 16gb, $729 for 32gb and $829 for 64gb

19:22 "We will be shipping these in 60 days. 3G models will ship in 90 days."

19:23 "We’ve got some really great accessories. First one is a dock. You know the slideshow I showed you? When it’s in the dock you have a great picture frame. We have another dock that’s interesting… the keyboard dock."

19:30 Some demo videos playing, probably drawing to a close.

19:38 Yep we’re all done. Will have some official photos and specs etc. when we can!

The offical Apple iPad press release is now live on site.

Posted by: John