After months of speculation, Apple have finally announced the iPad. It has a 9.7-inch backlit screen, a 1GHz A4 processor, and comes with 16, 32 or 64GB flash storage.
Already nicknamed the ‘iPod Touch on steroids’ by some, it will run a version of the iPhone OS, meaning that almost all of the 140,000 existing iPhone apps are already compatible with the device. And if you own an iPhone or iPod Touch already, it’s just a case of sync'ing your apps, music and video libraries to the iPad from your iTunes account, and you're good to go.
Basic models (which will be shipping from late March) feature 802.11n WiFi and Bluetooth, with more expensive models gaining 3G (shipping April). All common audio formats are supported, as well as up to 720p video (using the H.264 codec), and the screen has a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels.
It remains to be seen how useful this device will be for audio professionals, but it does have a microphone and headphone jack, as well as the usual 30-pin iPod USB connector, and it could certainly find a role as a touch-sensitive MIDI control surface, while those accessing on-line content via iPhone apps will benefit from the large, multi-touch screen. Apple anticipate that it will find a place in the e-book market, with books already available to buy via Apple's own iBook Store (though this will probably not be available outside the UK at the time of launch).
The iWork suite of productivity applications, re-coded as apps for the iPad, were also announced. However iLife, which includes the popular entry-level music creation software GarageBand, was not, and will presumably take rather longer to rework. I for one can’t wait to try it when it does arrive.
The announced price of $499 for the entry-level model surprised many observers — let’s see how well that translates for the UK market! Mike Watkinson
