Apple Launches iPad with own chip

Aims at "Unbelievable Price" and new iBookstore - video at bottom

With global hoopla, Apple has launched its iPad with, for once, a key focus on price. The basic iPad with wifi and a 16Gbyte solid state drive is $499.
A key factor is the first use of its own chip, a 1GHz SoC designed by PA Semi. Details are scarce but I assume this is an ARM core with Imagination Technologies' PowerVR 3D, TFT and touchscreen drivers and system power management to achieve 10hrs of battery life. There are separate WiFi and WiFI+3G versions, which implies that the RF at least is separate, if not separate modules.
The iPad is just 1cm thick and weighs under a kilo — thinner and lighter than any laptop or netbook and includes 12 new apps designed especially for the iPad, and will run almost all of the over 140,000 apps in the App Store. iPad will be available in late March.
“iPad is our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “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.”
iPad features 12 next-generation Multi-Touch applications. Every app works in both portrait and landscape, automatically animating between views as the user rotates iPad in any direction. The precise Multi-Touch interface makes surfing the web on iPad an entirely new experience, dramatically more interactive and intimate than on a computer.
Apple also announced the new iBooks app for iPad, which includes Apple’s new iBookstore, the best way to browse, buy and read books on a mobile device. The iBookstore will feature books from major and independent publishers.
iPad’s 9.7-inch, LED-backlit display features IPS technology to deliver crisp, clear images and consistent color with a wide 178 degree viewing angle. Apple says its Adaptive Charging technology delivers up to 1,000 charge cycles without a significant decrease in battery capacity over a typical five year lifespan. iPad comes in two versions—one with Wi-Fi and the other with both Wi-Fi and 3G. iPad includes the latest 802.11n Wi-Fi, and the 3G versions support speeds up to 7.2 Mbps on HSDPA networks.
iPad will be available in late March worldwide for a suggested retail price of $499 (US) for the 16GB model, $599 (US) for the 32GB model, $699 (US) for the 64GB model. The Wi-Fi + 3G models of iPad will be available in April in the US and selected countries for a suggested retail price of $629 (US) for the 16GB model, $729 (US) for the 32GB model and $829 (US) for the 64GB model.

Related article

• BBC coverage
  
• Finally, Apple launches the iPad (mrgadget.com.au)
• Apple iPad Tablet RELEASE: See PICTURES Of New Tablet (huffingtonpost.com)
• iPad Details and Specifications - All You Want To Know About the Apple Tablet (techie-buzz.com)
• Apple iPad: the wait is over - but is it future of media or oversized phone? (guardian.co.uk)
• Apple Reveals iPad Device (online.wsj.com)