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
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