iPad

-Apple's long awaited tablet finally hits stores-

I figured it wouldn't be appropriate to write a blog entry this week that wasn't about the iPad - Apple's latest product - due to the fact that it uses an app for almost everything it does. However, it was hard to pick just one app to focus on, so I figured it would be better to look at the iPad as a whole and whether or not the hype behind it is totally justified.

The Apple iPad, first announced at the end of January, had been long-rumored to be in development by Apple for quite some time. It was revealed to be what is basically a 9.5" by 7.5" iPhone or iPod Touch. It uses the same OS as the previous products, but on a bigger screen, showing a 1024 by 768 resolution. The iPad that launched this Saturday was the Wi-Fi only model, whereas the 3G and Wi-Fi model will be released in another month or so. The Wi-Fi only model comes in three different storage sizes - 16, 32, or 64 GB, costing $499, $599, and $699 respectfully. It has all of the same features as the iPhone and iPod Touch (you can use all of the same apps for both devices), with a battery life of around 10 hours.

Read up on all of the iPad tech specs here.

While Apple refers to the iPad as a "magical, revolutionary device", critics have attacked it as being nothing more than a slightly larger iPhone/iPod Touch (as previously mentioned). This is mostly true thus far, as most apps available for the iPad at the current time are reworked iPhone apps for the iPad screen size. Before I make any personal judgements on the iPad, however, I am interested in seeing what new apps come out of the minds of developers specifically for the iPad to take advantage of its newer large screen. Several developers have already released more advanced games for the iPad than those available for iPhone, but other than that, nothing "revolutionary" is already out for the iPad. I feel that the iPad has a lot of potential to change the way we view and use tablet computers in our lives, similar to the way the iPod did for MP3 players and the iPhone did for smart phones (the influence of both of these is undeniable), however, what exactly the iPad can do for us that's totally new has yet to be seen. As of right now, I would agree that it is mostly an oversized iPhone/iPod Touch, but I think it will be interesting to see where the app development for the iPad has gone a year from now and see what interesting and inventive things developers have come up with to make our lives simpler and more interesting with Apple's new device.