After months of speculation, Steve Jobs finally introduced Apple’s new tablet computer on Wednesday, a slender device called, perhaps predictably, the iPad.
Apple is positioning the device, which will cost $499 to $829 plus data charges for some models, as a pioneer in a new genre of computing devices, somewhere between a laptop computer and a smart phone.
Jobs said the device was better for certain kinds of computing, like browsing the Web, reading e-books and playing video. “The bar is pretty high,” he acknowledged. “It has to be far better at doing some key things.”
The question is whether the iPad has cleared that hurdle and can achieve the phenomenal success of the iPhone. The half-inch-thick, 1 1/2-pound device will vividly display books, newspapers, Web sites and videos on its 9.7-inch glass touch-screen. But the iPad lacks some features that are common in laptops and phones. Notably absent is a camera and the ability to conduct live video chats. Versions of the iPad with a cellular data plan will operate on the burdened AT&T network, which has come under criticism from iPhone owners upset by spotty service.
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