Apple iPad – Hit or a miss ?

Apple’s  “Most awaited!”  Tablet device is out, unlike a full Tablet PC this is  more of an iPhone with a 10 inch screen. It runs the same iPhone OS and almost has identical features of the popular iPhone.Apple Lovers will crave for the device and critics still have a lot to complain.

But Apple has Maintained its consitant tactic of Beauty over features. With a thickness of 1.3 cm and weighing less than 0.75 kg this must be one of the thinnest and lightest computing devices around, also it sure will be a style statement, if you carry one around. But lets get down to business in terms of features.

It is available in two versions one with 3G and other without the 3G support. Below is the price for both versions available in 16GB,32GB and 64GB
                         16GB          32GB             64GB
Wi-Fi              $499             $599             $699
Wi-Fi + 3G    $629            $729            $829

Features –

– 9.7 inch LED-backlit glossy widescreen Multi-Touch display
(same multi touch as iphone)
– 1024-by-768-pixel resolution at 132 pixels per inch (ppi)
– Fingerprint-resistant coating
– Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n)
– Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR technology
– UMTS/HSDPA (850, 1900, 2100 MHz) (Data only)
– GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz) (Data only)
– Email and Document support
– Browser without Flash support
– Accelerometer
– Ambient light sensor
– 3.5-mm stereo headphone jack
– Built-in speakers (Mono)
– Microphone

Main Disadvantages
– Not a Full fledged computer OS (iPhone OS)
– No Multitasking support (it can run a maximum of two apple apps)
– No USB
– No Webcam
– Mono Speaker
– You can install apps only from Apple Appstore
– Need to use itunes on PC
– No Flash support in browser
– Limited to AT&T 3G network
– Too pricey for its limited feature set
– 16/32/64 GB Flash drive is too limited for a device like this

Overall Apple has created a device between a Phone and an Tablet PC, but for this form factor and price the functionality provided is very disappointing. Many who own Macs still install Winodws XP on them and use it for many applications which are not supported in the Apple OS.

Possibly a more feature packed version of the Ipad with a full featured Leopard OS will be much more appreciated than the shortcut taken by Apple here.