I know, this is a PC blog, but I couldn’t resist writing about the new addition to the Apple family – the ‘mighty’ iPad. It was introduced by Apple CEO Steve Jobs few days ago and you could hear something about it on almost every news channel. Now the tech community has a reason to be excited. I’m sure that Apple fans love the new toy, but there are also those who are quick to criticize and find faults.

Apple iPad is a computer, but it’s not a laptop or netbook. It looks like a big iPhone, but you cannot make phone calls with it. It’s designed to be used for Internet surfing, typing, audio/video playback, gaming, e-book reading and for satellite navigation.

First the specs:

• it weighs 1.5lbs
• it’s 0.5″ thick
• includes 9.7″ display with a resolution of 1024 by 768
• includes on-screen keyboard for writing text (handwriting recognition is not available)
• 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS are built in
• 3G capabilities are possible for $130 extra
• Battery life is 10hrs
• One month standby time

Prices start at $499 for the 16GB base model, $599 for the 32GB and $699 for the 64GB. The first versions of the iPad are available in the US only.

There have also been criticisms of the new iPad – actually surprisingly many, considering it was just released. Here are some bad things that were said about the iPad:

• The display – iPad’s LCD screen is too bright. This could be a problem when you want to read e-books.
• Battery life – At 10 hours, it’s better than netbooks, but still 20-30 hours behind e-books.
• Security – If your iPad is stolen, there’s no way to remotely lock it.
• Apps lock-out – iPad only runs apps from Apple’s App Store. That’s many apps, but people have been complaining about Apple’s inconsistency when it comes to what apps it allows for sale.
• Camera – There isn’t one.
• USB input – There isn’t any. Maybe with an adapter?
• No Flash – Without Flash, you cannot display the majority of internet content the way you could on a netbook or laptop.
• Multitasking – Is impossible on the iPad. You can only use one application at a time, and it becomes nothing more than a large iPhone.
• No HDMI – You cannot watch movies you download from iTunes on your TV.

I’m anxious to read some user reviews…

Source: news.com.au