Apple unveils revolutionary iPad

It looks like an oversized iPhone, and Apple CEO Steve Jobs is betting the world will be excited about the much-hyped and rumour-laden iPad tablet computer.

In introducing the new electronic gadget Wednesday in San Francisco, Jobs held up the touch-screen device, which is a little smaller than a magazine.

"And we call it the iPad," he told the audience.

"It is the best browsing experience you’ve ever had," Jobs said in front of a giant screen showing the new product.

The icons are like those on the iPhone, complete with a tray at the bottom, and the iPad runs on the iPhone’s operating system. Jobs spent some time showing off some of the iPad’s features, including e-mail and web browsing. It will ship with iTunes installed.

It has a 9.7-inch (25-centimetre) display that can show full web pages and has an onscreen QWERTY keyboard that is almost full-sized.

"It’s half-an-inch thin and weighs just 1.5 pounds (680 grams)," Jobs said.

It’s powered by a 1GHz Apple A4 chip, and has 16GB to 64GB of flash storage. It has 10 hours of battery life and over a month of standby power.

Taking advantage of the more than 140,000 applications already available for iPhones and iPod Touch devices, the iPad will be able to run any application in Apple’s App Store unmodified. To date, more than three billion apps have been downloaded for iPhone and iPod Touch devices.

The iPod is "our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price," Jobs said

"Because they’ve shipped 75 million iPhones and iPod touches, there’s 75 million people who already know how to use the iPad."

While every iPad will come with Wi-Fi technology, only some will be able to access next generation or 3G cellphone networks. Jobs said the iPad will start at $499 U.S. for the 16GB version, while a 32GB model will cost $599 and a 64 GB model will cost $799. Versions of the iPad with built in 3G connectivity will cost an extra $130, ranging in price from $629 to $829.

Jobs said the company hopes to have Wi-Fi models available within 60 days, including in Canada. These will be functionable without support from a wireless carrier.

An international carrier arrangement will be announced in the June or July time frame, raising the possibility that the 3G iPad be available in Canada this summer.

While Canada’s carriers were mum Wednesday when asked if they have plans to introduce the iPad on their networks, Richard Smith, a communications professor in Simon Fraser University near Vancouver, said Jobs’ move to end the subsidy model that locks consumers into long-term contracts with wireless carriers could change the way Canadians buy wireless devices.

"Apple is disrupting their business model, which is to lock people into three year plans," said Smith. "There is no subsidy; Apple is just selling it as it is… It is very scary for phone companies."

Alfred Hermida, journalism professor at the University of British Columbia, said while there may be been too much hype around the release of the iPad, its impact will be long-term.

"We have a tendency to underestimate the long-term impact of these kinds of devices," he said. "What Apple does really well is combine form and function… It is less about the hardware and much more about the user experience."

Video game maker Electronic Arts also debuted games designed for the iPad, while Major League Baseball showed off how it plans to use the iPad to enhance its own digital offerings.

Apple also unveiled a new online book store, iBooks, which will allow readers to download digital e-books to their iPad similar to the way users of Amazon.com Inc.’s Kindle device can download books over next generation cellphone networks. A note on Apples iPad features page acknowledges that so far the iBook store is only available in the U.S.

In a move designed to position the iPad as a device for business users, Apple also showcased a new version of its iWork productivity software designed for the new device.

Jobs said the iPad will sync with a computer over a USB connection just like an iPod or iPhone.

Meanwhile, Apple may run into trademark issues with the iPad name because of an older application for the name by Japanese computer maker Fujitsu Ltd., a lawyer said.

Fujitsu has been seeking a trademark on the name since 2003 for a handheld computing device, according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s website. Apple, which said in filings with the agency that it may oppose Fujitsu’s right to the name, has until February 28 to file an objection.

Slate Computing — thought to be a front company for Apple — registered the iPad trademark in Canada, Europe and Hong Kong in July 2009.

With files from Financial Post, Vancouver Sun, Bloomberg and PC World