LIVE: Steve Jobs Announces the Apple iPad

It looks like mock-ups we've seen over the last year so there's no surprises when it comes to aesthetics; it's just a giant iPod Touch.

As far as specs go, there's not a lot to go on. The chip inside seems to be handling Steve's demo perfectly. Maps, mail, browsing, music, video, photos. Steve is running through them all and it looks great.

That said, most of us here are disappointed. It's not like we wanted it to spout unicorns and sparkles when he switched it on but it's not the "magical device" he said it was, nor does it look "better than a laptop" or "the best web browsing experience you've ever had."

Stay tuned for constant updates, folks.

Update: Okay so specs! Half an inch thick, 1.5 pounds and a 9.7 inch display. It's Powered by one of Apple's own chips, a 1GHz Apple A4.

Update2: It's got both Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, Wifi, a 30-pin connector, a speaker, a microphone, an accelerometer and a compass. All iPhone applications will work out of the box. 10 hour battery life and a month of stand-by time. It'll be interesting to see if that 10 hour thing is true, especially when playing video. Steve says it'll last the flight from San Francisco to Tokyo and you can "watch the whole time." That'd be kind of nice.

Update3: Games running with no problem. In fact games are the only thing that have us intrigued right now as gaming on the iPod touch, while fun, isn't exactly comfortable.

Update4: The New York Times has developed a new app for the iPad which includes videos that can be played within articles. Nifty.

Update5: Interesting to note, Engadget points out that we still haven't seen any multitasking. Nice as it is to have a blazing processor that can seemingly handle anything thrown at it, but no multitasking? Lame.

Update6: Man by the name of Steve Sprang from Brushes is showing off the Brushes app. Finger painting on a 10-inch tablet looks nice.

Update7: EA is up and demoing Need for Speed Shift. Travis Boatman says, "Building for the iPad is a little different; it's kind of like holding an HD display up to your face. It's really cool."

Update8: Need for Speed looks great. Tuan points out that there's no 3G (at least, not yet). Again, kind of lame. It really does seem just like a giant iPod touch.

Update9: Next up, Apple's eBook reader App. Say hello to iBooks. The UI looks like a bookshelf. Kind of like coverflow for iTunes but prettier. From there you've got access to the bookstore which offers titles from the likes of Penguin, Macmillion, Simon & Shuster. A lot like iTunes but in a greenish hue (as opposed to a grey-blue). Uses the ePub format. Love that.

Update10: Oooh, interesting, iWork. Here comes Phill Schiller to tell us about a new UI.

Update11: Completely redone versions of Keynote presentations software, as well as Pages and Numbers. Great for iPad owners (of which there will be 5?) but meh.

Update12: I could talk more about iWork but I'm not going to because it's not all that interesting. Will people want to use Excel and Word on a tablet like this? Maybe, but probably not. Presentations makes a lot of sense, I'll give them that. Ooh, I stand corrected. A data entry keyboard for entering numbers into spreadsheets. Riveting. In all, it looks pretty slick and very rich but again, we (not the royal 'we' but Marcus, and I) can't really see the point in having iWork on there.

Update13: iWork is priced at $10 for each program so $20 if you want both Pages and Numbers, etc.

Update14: Steve is back. Says it syncs over USB and there's a version with both WiFi and 3G. Why not just bundle it? Nice to know you can get it off contract I guess.

Update15: Pricing for data as follows: $14.99 for 250MB, $29.99 for unlimited data and free use of AT&T hotspots. Yeah and this is a "breakthrough deal with AT&T" by the way. International deals coming in June. iPad 3G models are unlocked; I can get behind that. Uses new GSM micro SIMs. What?

Update16: Price? Starts at $499!

Update17: Well that's surprising to say the least. 16GB is $499, 32GB is $599 and 64GB is $699. If you want one with 3G, tack on an extra $130 to those prices. Worldwide availability of Wifi versions is set for 60 days.

Update18: Keyboard dock along with a regular dock. The keyboard dock will definitely be a hit. Maybe Pages will see some use after all. 

Update18: They're calling it "magical" again. I'm still not buying it. Literally. It's nice, it's pretty, they keyboard and price are HUGE selling points, sure. I'm willing to admit that there'll be more than a handful of people buying this but will you be one of them?

Update19: Steve is back asking, "Do we have what it takes to establish a third category of products [between the smartphone and the laptop]?" Earlier he trash-talked netbooks calling them low-quality computers. So is this better than a netbook/a better fit when you're trying to come up with a middle man between your smartphone and your lappy? You decide. 

Update20: And it's all over! Videos soon (thank God; my fingers are falling off) but you get the idea. I'll add more images over the next few minutes.

So what's the verdict? We were completely unmoved until the price and keyboard. Now we can see the appeal but are still lukewarm about it. Who's going to be buying one?

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