Apple's latest phenomenon, the iPad, Jobs claimed in a glitzy event held at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Centre for the Arts, is "a magical and revolutionary product" that would fill the gap between the latest mobile phones and laptops.
"All of us use laptops and smartphones...the question has arisen, is there room for something in the middle? We've wondered for years as well. In order to create that category, they have to be far better at doing some key tasks - better than the laptop, better than the smartphone. We think we've got something that is better. And we call it the iPad," Jobs said.
The iPad, which Jobs claims is "more intimate than a laptop, more capable than a smartphone," weighs 1.5lbs (0.7kg), is only 0.5-inch (1.25cm) thick and comes with bells and whistles such as 1GHz Apple A4 chip (Jobs demonstrated how flawlessly the device could handle YouTube, Google Maps, and even play Disney Pixar's animated film Up and some impressive-looking 3D racing and sports games), a speaker, microphone, accelerometer sensor, digital compass, Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity. It has a virtual keyboard and using a special dock, the device can also hook up to a full-size traditional physical keyboard if you feel the need of one.
The iPad comes with three choices of flash memory - 16GB, 32B and 64GB - and offers 3G connectivity option as well.
The iPad, which boasts of a battery life of up to 10 hours (or a month on standby), has a sleek styling, user friendly interface and cutting edge high definition touchscreen that can be used for watching movies, playing games, typing emails and surfing the Internet.
The iPad can also be used as an e-reader (Jobs showed off how easily the device can handle digital magazines and newspapers) and Apple has already inked a deal with publishers including Penguin, Macmillan and Harper Collins to allow e-books to be downloaded directly to the device through a new iBook Store.
"You can download right onto your iPad," Jobs said.
The iPad will also be able to run many of the applications currently available in Apple App Store and it has built-in iTunes software that will allow users to purchase and download music and movies.
Other features include a 9.7-inch multitouch display, allowing people to type directly on to the screen, as well as manipulate pictures and control the action in games with their fingers and a special dock for plugging in a traditional physical keyboard.
And, if you're wondering whether purchasing the device, which will be available from March, will burn a hole in your pocket, the answer is no. The price tag of the iPad will range from £300 (entry-level 16GB version) to £500 (64GB version). Fancy 3G connectivity? Be ready to fork out an £80 extra.
It's not clear yet which network operator in the UK will support the iPad but one thing's certain – it sure would be interesting to find out which network operator will be the first to bag the deal with Apple.
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