At $499, is the iPad the missing link between the iPhone and a Mac?

So: it's going to be called the iPad.  The tablet we've all been waiting for was shown off yesterday in San Francisco.  It's a 'perfect mix of the iPhone and the Mac', with a 9.7'' display weighing just 680 grams.

We followed the event from San Francisco where hundreds of journalists covered the story.  Gizmodo, Engadget and French blog Teknologik all deserve a special mention for their excellent coverage though.

For weeks now the tension has been building, just like before the final round of an important sporting event--except that this time, we know the winner's name: Apple.  After revolutionising the way we think about computers, music and mobile phones, January 27 was reserved for creating a whole new market for consumer electronics.  The manufacturer's new touchscreen tablet has the difficult task of convincing consumers to shell out for yet another device, and change the way they look at connected services, something Apple has already managed with the iPhone.

6 pm: Steve Jobs comes on stage to a standing ovation.



He starts by promising a 'magical' new product for 2010, but first, some updates.

The AppStore now includes 140 000 apps, and over three billion have been downloads.  A spot of self-congratulation: Apple is now, by revenue, the biggest manufacturer of mobile devices in the world.  And that money is made from iPods, iPhones and Macs--but what if there was something in between smartphones and laptops?



Next, Steve looks at what a device like this would need to be able to do: browse the web, handle e-mail, display photos and videos, play music and games, and, of course, read e-books.


 
The first demo: Steve pulls up the New York Times website, and immediately links this new product with reading news media online.  He claims it's the 'best web browsing experience ever seen' and that it's incredible for e-mail.  The new interface includes an inbox on the left and the messages themselves on the right.  You type using a large virtual keyboard.




The Safari Mobile browser still doesn't support Flash, but can read PDFs (phew).  Steve shows off a map of the Paris metro to go with some holiday snaps.

All of this is controlled with just one finger--presumably to show how easy and fast it all is.  In this demo, the iPad seems to be as fluid and responsive as the iPhone.

Next up are the specs:

• 9.7'' multitouch capacitive screen with a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels
• 1.27 cm thick
• 680 grams
• Accelerometer and compass built-in
• WiFi, Bluetooth and 3G, with unlimited monthly data costing $29.99 in the US, or $14.99 for 250 MB.  Better still, in the US, there's no contract, so you can give up whenever you like.  Apple is hoping to strike deals around the world by June.
• 10 hours of battery life: enough to watch films and play games on a flight from San Francisco to Tokyo.
• Green: easily recyclable, no arsenic, PVC or mercury

After showing off the device itself, Steve moves over to look at the content available in the AppStore, Apple's strongest suit.  140 000 apps are already available, of course, but now developers are welcome to readapt their software for a new, larger screen.  A quick look at the Facebook app, but no mention of multitasking as yet.



The New York Times come onstage to explain what the iPad brings them.  The paper's iPhone app has already been downloaded three million times.  They're already working on a dedicated iPad version.  We can't wait to try it out, because, as the NYT point out, the iPad seems to bring together everything that's needed to recreate the experience of reading a physical newspaper.



And from what we can see, the reading experience seems incredible--especially with videos embedded in the page itself.

Thanks, Amazon

Next up: books.  Even with its record battery life, the Kindle is going to struggle to keep up with Cupertino's new app, iBooks, and its connection to the iBook Store, just like iTunes.  Saying that Apple is taking the concept further than Amazon, Steve thanks the company for being a 'pioneer' in the field of electronic books.  The first thing that's obvious is that, unlike current ebook readers, it's in colour.  The demo shows some books available for download.  Five big publishers--Penguin, Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins and Hachette--have signed up already.



Now, changing the font is all well and good, but it's like to read?  Is an LCD screen as easy on the eye as an ebook like the Kindle?  Books will be in the ePub format used by the Sony Reader.

Games are next, with the claim that it's like having a HD TV in front of your face.  Phil Schiller, Steve's head of marketing comes to talk about the new version of iWork.

Price: $499!

The pre-launch rumours talked of prices between $800 and $1000, which would fit entirely with Apple's price policy.  But there's a nice surprise: the basic version will be just $499!  We've never seen a move like this from Apple, which has obviously decided to come down hard on notebooks:

• From $499 for the 16 GB version with only WiFi
• $629 gets you 3G
• $829 for 64 GB, WiFi and 3G

The WiFi version will be available in sixty days, and the 3G version in ninety.

Two docks are available, one with a keyboard attachment:



We don't want to ruin your enthusiasm, but the black border around the screen is quite thick (although maybe that's for holding it?), and even 64 GB of doesn't seem that generous when 250 GB is now standard on a netbook …

One last look--although this certainly won't be the last time we mention the iPad ...



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