Apple iPad

After months of speculation and rumor, Apple has officially announced the long awaited Apple Tablet, now known as the iPad.

The new device features a 1 GHz Apple A4 chip (PA Semi) onboard, 16 to 64 GB of flash storage depending on model, 10 hours of battery life with Wi-Fi on (802.11n is supported) and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR support.  Apple promises over a month of standby time on a single charge running a modified version of the iPhone operating system.

Physical dimensions are set at 0.5″ thin at a weight of 1.5 pounds with a 9.7-inch IPS capacitive multitouch display. An accelerometer and compass are also confirmed on board with speaker, microphone and iPod dock connectors included.

For developers, an updated SDK will be released later today to take advantage of the new hardware for development, with Gameloft showing off games enhanced for the iPad and a new pixel doubling feature for iPhone/iPod Touch apps that aren’t redeveloped for iPad, making all of the current manga apps compatible with the device.

Update:

Apple has also confirmed that the iPad will support video output via the dock connector, all the way up to 1080p .  Apple has artificially limited iPad video output to 480p as it its on the iPhone/iPod Touch despite the hardware supporting 1080p HD output. 3G models have also been confirmed alongside Wi-Fi only models.

Two data plans from AT&T are being offered at 250 MB for $14.99/month and unlimited data for $29.99/month with no contracts.  In order for wireless carriers to support iPad, Apple is rolling out and requiring the use of the 3G SIM card derivative known as microSIM. iPads are unlocked otherwise but use  micro SIM for access to 3G networks.

Carriers must roll out micro SIM support on their networks to support iPad before they can be offered by carriers.  Pricing for the iPad has also been confirmed at $499 for the 16 GB Wi-Fi only model, $629 with 3G, the 32 GB model is set at $599 no 3G, $729 with 3G and the 64 GB model is set at $699 no 3G, $829 with 3G.

The devices will be available later today on Apple.com.  Apple has also opened a dedicated page for the iPad