Leaked AppleTablet Details and Official Unveiling of the iPad

UPDATE- Steve Jobs in on stage now (10AM PST , 1 PM EST).
Author Comment/Review – Based on the feature demo, specs and $499 starting price. The iPad does look like a monster winner and one that lives up to the pre-release hype. Do you get in line to try to get this one now ? Or wait for next year when they have the iPad 4G ?

PC World notes several disappointments in the iPad features

* No multitasking (also noted in comments here)
* No handwriting recognition
* insufficient interface innovation to fully leverage screen size
* lack of flash support
* missing camera and inadequate video support
* and a list of other items

The official Apple iPad site with more pictures and video

We want to kick off 2010 by introducing a truly magical product today.

* 250 million iPods sold since 2001
* over 140,000 applications in the App Store
* a user downloaded the 3 billionth app from the App Store
* Wall Street Journal quote- “The last time there was this much excitement about a tablet there were some commandments written on them”
* a device between laptops and smartphones
* a device for web. Email. Photos. Videos. Music. Games. eBooks
* netbooks are not better than anything. Just cheap laptops
* it is called iPad
* there are interface enhancements that go beyond just supersizing an iPhone.
* it is primarily a touch screen interface
* there are map modes where many pictures are presented for selection or applications etc… depending upon the task that is active
* iPad seems able to do everything that an iPod or iPhone can do while taking advantage of the larger screen for high definition and superior interface/interaction

The iPad also comes with a connectable keyboard, docking station and leather carrying case that converts into a stand.

Enterprise Mobile Today reports that the price of the iPad starts at $499

* 9.7-inch screen with pixel-doubling technology to play back high-definition video
* 16 to 64GB of flash storage.
* Networking is support for 802.11n, Bluetooth and 3G wireless, which will be available on some models and supported via a carrier partnership with AT&T.
* half-inch thick, weighing just 1.5 pounds
* Apple A4 processor running at 1GHz
* 10 hours of battery life and one month of standby power

CNET also had liveblogging of the iPad event

Gizmodo live coverage.

Information Week reports on leaked details from Apple partners about the Apple Tablet

McGraw-Hill CEO Terry McGraw in an early morning interview with business channel CNBC – And the Tablet is going to be based on the iPhone operating system and so it will be transferable. So what you are going to be able to do now, we have a consortium of e-books, and we have 95% of all our materials that are in e-book format on that one. So now with the tablet you’re going to open up the higher education market, the professional market. The tablet is going to be just really terrific.

Apple has scheduled a press conference in San Francisco for Wednesday at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater. The conference is set to get underway at 1 pm Eastern time.

3 minute Youtube of Steve Jobs Demonstrating the iPad (the first 10-15 seconds are a goofy intro)

The CNBC interview leak – but who cares now that the real info is out

FURTHER READING

Earlier rumors about the Apple Tablet

More rumors and mockup pictures at Thisismoney UK