Apple iPad Is Ready for Its Closeup

by Nicholas Kolakowski

The iPad’s glossy 9.7-inch touch screen provides 1024 by 768 pixel resolution. The device is powered by a custom 1GHz A4 processor.

Apple is choosing to highlight the iPad’s environmental sustainability, including arsenic-free display glass, mercury-free LCD display, and a recyclable aluminum and glass frame.

The WiFi-only model weighs 1.5 pounds, while the WiFi- and 3G-enabled model, due later in April, will weigh 1.6 pounds.

The iBookstore, which appears to be built on an iTunes interface, is Apple’s platform for challenging other e-readers such as Amazon.com’s Kindle. Apple claims approximately 250,000 ebooks were downloaded by midnight on April 3.

The iPad’s backlit screen allows ebooks to be read in low-light conditions.

The dynamic e-book interface animates the image of a page turning when a finger is swiped across the screen.

Unlike other e-readers, the iPad can display books in full color.

The YouTube selection screen on the iPad allows easy selection of video clips.

The iPad’s iPod application makes use of the device’s larger screen to display lengthy playlists in full.

Here’s what a YouTube video looks like on the iPad. The device’s rechargeable lithium-polymer battery allows for up to 10 hours of surfing the Web via WiFi, watching video or listening to music.

Here’s Twitter, as displayed on the iPad.

The iPad runs on a modified version of the iPhone OS, and like the iPhone and iPod Touch displays pages of individual apps.

Input and output includes a dock connector port, 3.5-millimeter stereo headphone jack, and Micro-SIM card tray for the WiFi- and 3G-enabled iPad models.

The iPad measures 0.5-inch thick, making it slim enough to fit into virtually all cases built for laptops.