RWD gives you a quick preview into Apple’s latest innovation…

So here it is ladies and gentleman, last night Apple’s ‘Godfather’ Steve Jobs finally unveiled to the world their latest technical marvel in the form of the iPad.

From first glance, aesthetically, it looks like an iPhone/iPod touch on steroids which pretty much does the same things.

However it comes across as more than that, the iPad (which has been bombarded with Twitter disses already with such names as the ‘iTampon’) looks like a proper glimpse into the future making your PDAs, BlackBerry’s and iPhone’s look so irrelevant you’ll either try flogging them to off your nan or putting it in a coffin and burying it six feet under. This beast is more like a MacBook Pro with iPod touch capabilities and Mr Jobs has promised that this is going to ‘change our way of life’ (that’s what they all say though) from the way we work and surf the net to (dare we say it) play video games. According to Mr Jobs, “It’s much more intimate”.

Apple have really put all their cards on the table tablet with this thing and one good example is the net surfing capabilities. In iPhones and iPod touches you had a somewhat ‘limited’ view and access to a website, the iPad gives you full interactivity as if you’re on a desktop or a laptop.

Also any self-respecting Apple product wouldn’t come complete without an iTunes app (what would be the point of it then?) and the ‘Pad’ is no different. This time it looks way more pleasing to the eye, easily accessible in terms of selecting and playing songs and way more advanced in respect to it’s organisation of audio and video. It can play hi-definition videos on it’s 9.7 LED widescreen, has flash drives going up to 64GB and comes packed with some killer apps from games to you’re ‘all important’ Facebook.

However there are a few drawbacks with the iPad, for starters there is no camera (that means for all you posers out there looking for a new Facebook profile picture on the move you’re out of luck). You have to remember though this isn’t some supped-up iPhone they’re bringing out here, what they’re trying to achieve is a tablet laptop and, possibly, Mac Book Pro killer.

Another drawback is obviously the release date, it’s just been revealed to the media and to the public in the States, so it’ll take a few more months before the rest of the world can get there grubby mitts on it. Therefore that leads to the last issue… the dreaded price. It will cost you $499 for a 16GB iPad with Wi-Fi, that’s £307. If you include 3G the price goes up to $629 which is £387 and we’re still talking 16GB here (and as you all know 16GB isn’t enough to fit our ‘lives’ into).

For anyone with deep pockets and not a care in the world this is simply a must have when it hits UK shores, for the rest of us, we better start saving up them pennies.

UPDATE:

But if your not feeling the iPad then maybe this is up your street… the Mac Wheel (cough).

Tags: Apple, Gadgets, iPad