Apple iPad to hit NZ late March - what's hot & not

Apple iPad
HOT: Relatively low price; will run most iPhone apps; affiliated iBookstore service will take on Amazon, 3G in higher-end model

NOT: 3G model and iBookstore will be confined to US initially; no camera; no support for Flash; 3G is data-only, with no voice support; no mutlitasking; no HDMI or Video Out; no memory card slot or USB jack

Apple announced the launch of its new device the iPad, a tablet computer that promises to revolutionise digital media, in San Francisco this morning.

A wi-fi of the iPad will be available worldwide, including New Zealand, from late March. Local pricing will be announced closer to launch. In the US, the entry level model will sell for $US499.

A wi-fi/3G model - which supports voice, but not data - will be available from April, but initially only in the US and as-yet un-named "selected countries".

The announcement of Apple’s new product comes in the wake of the company’s highest ever first quarter results, which were released this week.

Steve Jobs (above) announced Apple partnerships with five major publishers for the iBookstore service associated with iPad — Hachette, Penguin, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster and Macmillan. iBookstore will be US-only, with no timetable for international availability.. 

Apple chief executive Steve Jobs said the iPad was the company’s “most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price.”

“iPad creates and defines an entirely new category of devices that will connect users with their apps and content in a much more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before.”

Users will be able to browse the web, read and send emails, load and view photos, watch videos and DVDs, listen to music, play games, read emails and will run most of the 140,000 iPhone applications.

The device is 1.3 centimeters thick and weights 680 grams; it is thinner and lighter than any other laptop or notebook. The Apple Store will give customers access to more than 11 million songs, more than 50,000 TV episodes and more than 8,000 films.

Apple announced the new iBooks application for iPad, which includes Apple’s new iBookstore. The iBookstore will feature books from major and independent publishers, putting it head-to-head with Amazon's Kindle reader and Kindle download service.

iPad will sync with iTunes like the iPhone and iPod touch do. It will use the standard Apple 30-pin to USB cable to sync contacts, photos, music, movies, TV shows and applications.

All the application and content customers download on iPad from the App Store, iTunes Store and iBookstore will be automatically synched to the iTunes library.

Pricing, availability & specs
The wi-fi-only iPad will be available in late March, worldwide, for a suggested retail price of $US499 for the 16GB model, $US599 for the 32GB model, $US699 for the 64GB model.

The Wi-Fi and 3G models of iPad will be available in April - in the US and as yet un-named "selected countries" only initially - and selected countries for a suggested retail price of $US629 for the 16GB model, $US729 for the 32GB model and $US829 for the 64GB model.

Support for Adobe's Flash, used by many websites, is conspicuously absent.

Neither is there any camera.

The associated iBookstore service will initially only be available in the US, with no time table for an international release.

Steve Jobs reveals plans with US telco AT&T.

Vodafone circles
Vodafone New Zealand  - the only telco to officially sell Apple's iPhone - hosted a live webcast of Steve Jobs' announcement at its Auckland office this morning.

Spokesman Paul Brislen said Vodafone had the capabilities to run iPad but had not yet secured a deal to distribute it, “as it was only launched two hours ago,”

“We would love to sell it,” he said.

Vodafone NZ has previously chased Amazon's Kindle, but the e-book reader has so far only reached as far as Australia.

The iPad as it was unveiled today runs on two 3G frequencies: 2100MHz (used by Telecom and Vodafone in urban areas) and 850MHz (used by Telecom's XT network nationwide).

On the face of it, like the iPhone, the iPad is a more XT-friendly device.