The iPad is Apple’s newest gadget. The iPad is technically defined as a tablet computer and marketed as a platform for audio and visual media as well as web content. In many ways the iPad is like Apple’s iPhone and iTouch, but larger. The screen display is 25 cm or 9.7 inches with 1024 x 768 pixels and weighs only one and a half pounds. It runs on the same operating system as earlier iPod Touch and iPhones and is controlled by a multitouch display sensitive to up to eleven fingers. The iPad uses Wi-Fi or a 3G mobile data connection so that one may browse the Internet, load and stream media and install software.

While the idea of a tablet computer is not new to Apple, it seems with the iPhone entering the market in 2007, consumers were more prepared to use a device ran by a touchscreen interface upon its later release. On January 27, 2010, Steve Jobs of Apple announced the iPad and with that, consumers have been gobbling them up. Analysts guess that Apple could sell up to 5 million units in the product’s first 12 months.

Like the iPhone, the iPad responds to the orientation in which it is being held – portrait, landscape-left and landscape-right. The device also has two internal speakers and an audio-out jack if one would like to connect stereo sound headphones. There is also a microphone for voice recording, a built-in Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR interface that allows wireless headphones and keyboards to be used with the iPad. If the screen isn’t big enough already, one can connect an external display or television to the device.

The battery used to provide the power for all of these bells and whistles is an internal lithium-ion polymer battery which is designed to be charged with a high current and should provide up to 10 hours of video, 140 hours of audio playback or a one month on standby.

In regards to storage, the iPad was released with three options for internal storage: a 16, 32 and 64 GB flash drive. There is no option to expand storage. The iPad is ready to run virtually all the 150,000 applications that have been created for the iPhone over the past two years. Thousands more designed specifically for the iPad will also be arriving on the scene including versions of Mac-based word processing, spreadsheets, presentation apps and such.

What is the downside of the iPad? As usual with Apple, one can only by software for the system through Apple. When it comes to web browsers, you can only use Safari, the one made by Apple. You can’t play videos that are created in Adobe’s Flash software, which is about 75 percent of all web videos, including videos from Hulu.com. When you buy from Apple’s iTunes, the software is encrypted so that you can only run it on Apple devices – which means, should you purchase another device down the road, you won’t be able to take your content with you.

What changes are already being discussed for the next generation of the iPad? It is most likely to sport a camera. This could mean the ability to use FaceTime for video chatting as well.

Like almost all of Apples iProducts – the iPad can be jailbroke. Once jailbroken, iPad users can download many applications previously unavailable through the App Store. But remember jailbreaking an Apple product isn’t easy and doing so voids all Apple’s warranties on their devices. But with a trusted specialist, you and your iPad could be playing with all the lastest apps at the touch of at least eleven fingers.

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