While I had not been invited to Apple’s preview event for its much-awaited tablet (as it was rumoured to be), I locked myself in a room that night waiting for the videos of the product preview to be available on the Internet. While the videos took some time to appear, a number of people kept updating the world (through Internet) by providing minute-by-minute update of how the iPad really looked and what one can do with it. By the time I hit the bed, I had a fairly good idea and a visual impression of what the device looked like.
I haven’t had the opportunity to play with the gadget yet, but having formed a reasonably good idea of what it’s all about, I am taking a shot at what the future of it would look like; and especially, what would be the impact in the Indian marketplace.
At the risk of repetition, Apple’s iPad is a class-leading device simply because it’s a device which has created a class of its own rather than being just another addition to a popular category. Yet again, Apple has done what many other companies would not dare—create a product and concept that is completely out-of-the-box, extraordinarily innovative, daringly positioned and, this time, even aggressively priced. In Steve Jobs’ words, iPad sits somewhere between an iPhone (smartphone) and a laptop.
The iPad follows Apple’s philosophy of simplicity, innovation and intuitive operations.
Undoubtedly, iPad generates a high degree of enthusiasm and has the usual Apple ‘wow’ factor, but at the end of the day, it disappoints techies a bit because it seems like a bigger iPhone, but one that doesn’t have a phone.
Apple has unveiled a number of features of the product. Some of these include:
E-books: This is one of the key features and sets iPad apart from other electronic book reading devices like eBook Reader (eg Kindle), smartphones and laptops. Apple takes the e-book experience to the next level with iBook. The iPad’s full colour display and intuitive interface work well for rich content. In comparison, many other e-book readers use grayscale e-ink technology. The latter is known to be easy on the eyes and more suitable for long reads, but I would give huge credit to Apple for having created a great eBook reading application on a very user-friendly device (form factor) with excellent battery life. Moreover, unlike many eBook Readers, iPad uses an open ePub e-book format. Apple has also announced iBook online store. iPad users can connect and download e-books of their choice directly.
Video and music: The iPad makes up for a great video experience due to its large screen and high resolution. The WiFi and 3G connectivity can support live streaming content. iPad can also connect with external speakers over WiFi and provide rich multimedia experience. Again, iPad has done an excellent job of creating a good form factor and very convenient video viewing experience. iPad carries on the music playing legacy from iPod. You can use iTunes to manage the music collection. The iPad does not support USB/Flash drives. This limits the multimedia storage capabilities of the device.
Web surfing: The iPad’s sharp display and wide screen make for an engrossing Web surfing experience. The multitouch screen provides an intuitive interface. However, iPad does not handle multiple windows/tabs well. The text input is handled by an on-screen keyboard that works well for short lengths. As with the iPhone, the iPad does not support Adobe Flash. This implies that content from many websites may not be displayed in the same way, as one would enjoy on a laptop. In my view, it would be a great experience to surf websites where one has to read a lot of content (eg news sites), but for usual Web surfing wherein one hops across a number of sites in multi-windows/tabs, it may not be as good.
Gaming: With a bigger processor and large form factor, iPad is well suited for portable gaming. Most of the games designed for iPhone will work on the iPad. However, one must keep in mind that iPad may not be a great substitute for your usual gaming console, which has greater processing power, accelerated graphics rendering and specialised gaming input devices.
Productivity suite: Apple has released iWorks productivity suite on iPad. It has three components: Notes, Pages and Numbers (with similar features as Microsoft PowerPoint, Word & Excel). These have been redesigned to take advantage of iPad’s multi- touch capabilities. Initial previews of iWorks on iPad are very impressive. However, on-screen keyboard is not well suited for large word processing requirements. iPad can connect with external (physical) keyboard, but the manoeuvrability of the setup becomes limited.
Applications: As we learn, all the iPhone apps will work on the iPad. Developers are expected to start leveraging the more advanced features and computer power to develop a wider set of applications. Users can download new applications from the App store with minimal effort. However, iPad does not support multitasking, which would limit its use as a personal compute device.
The writer is an executive director with KPMG’s IT advisory practice. These are his personal views

ipad

While I had not been invited to Apple’s preview event for its much-awaited tablet (as it was rumoured to be), I locked myself in a room that night waiting for the videos of the product preview to be available on the Internet. While the videos took some time to appear, a number of people kept updating the world (through Internet) by providing minute-by-minute update of how the iPad really looked and what one can do with it. By the time I hit the bed, I had a fairly good idea and a visual impression of what the device looked like.

I haven’t had the opportunity to play with the so called Symbol LS2208 gadget yet, but having formed a reasonably good idea of what it’s all about, I am taking a shot at what the future of it would look like; and especially, what would be the impact in the Indian marketplace.

At the risk of repetition, Apple’s iPad is a class-leading device simply because it’s a device which has created a class of its own rather than being just another addition to a popular category. Yet again, Apple has done what many other companies would not dare—create a product and concept that is completely out-of-the-box, extraordinarily innovative, daringly positioned and, this time, even aggressively priced. In Steve Jobs’ words, iPad sits somewhere between an iPhone (smartphone) and a laptop.

The iPad follows Apple’s philosophy of simplicity, innovation and intuitive operations.

Undoubtedly, iPad generates a high degree of enthusiasm and has the usual Apple ‘wow’ factor, but at the end of the day, it disappoints techies a bit because it seems like a bigger iPhone, but one that doesn’t have a phone.

Apple has unveiled a number of features of the product. Some of these include:

E-books: This is one of the key features and sets iPad apart from other electronic book reading devices like eBook Reader (eg Kindle), smartphones and laptops. Apple takes the e-book experience to the next level with iBook. The iPad’s full colour display and intuitive interface work well for rich content. In comparison, many other e-book readers use grayscale e-ink technology. The latter is known to be easy on the eyes and more suitable for long reads, but I would give huge credit to Apple for having created a great eBook reading application on a very user-friendly device (form factor) with excellent battery life. Moreover, unlike many eBook Readers, iPad uses an open ePub e-book format. Apple has also announced iBook online store. iPad users can connect and download e-books of their choice directly.

Video and music: The iPad makes up for a great video experience due to its large screen and high resolution. The WiFi and 3G connectivity can support live streaming content. iPad can also connect with external speakers over WiFi and provide rich multimedia experience. Again, iPad has done an excellent job of creating a good form factor and very convenient video viewing experience. iPad carries on the music playing legacy from iPod. You can use iTunes to manage the music collection. The iPad does not support USB/Flash drives. This limits the multimedia storage capabilities of the device.

Web surfing: The iPad’s sharp display and wide screen make for an engrossing Web surfing experience. The multitouch screen provides an intuitive interface. However, iPad does not handle multiple windows/tabs well. The text input is handled by an on-screen keyboard that works well for short lengths. As with the iPhone, the iPad does not support Adobe Flash. This implies that content from many websites may not be displayed in the same way, as one would enjoy on a laptop. In my view, it would be a great experience to surf websites where one has to read a lot of content (eg news sites), but for usual Web surfing wherein one hops across a number of sites in multi-windows/tabs, it may not be as good.

Gaming: With a bigger processor and large form factor, iPad is well suited for portable gaming. Most of the games designed for iPhone will work on the iPad. However, one must keep in mind that iPad may not be a great substitute for your usual gaming console, which has greater processing power, accelerated graphics rendering and specialised gaming input devices.

Productivity suite: Apple has released iWorks productivity suite on iPad. It has three components: Notes, Pages and Numbers (with similar features as Microsoft PowerPoint, Word & Excel). These have been redesigned to take advantage of iPad’s multi- touch capabilities. Initial previews of iWorks on iPad are very impressive. However, on-screen keyboard is not well suited for large word processing requirements. iPad can connect with external (physical) keyboard, but the manoeuvrability of the setup becomes limited.

Applications: As we learn, all the iPhone apps will work on the iPad. Developers are expected to start leveraging the more advanced features and computer power to develop a wider set of applications. Users can download new applications from the App store with minimal effort. However, iPad does not support multitasking, which would limit its use as a personal compute device.

The writer is an executive director with KPMG’s IT advisory practice. These are his personal views