The iPad.
It's not a Tablet PC, despite the exclusive version of iWork it will be getting, and it's not an E-reader despite the iBooks and Kindle reader software it will also feature. The device is really a jack-of-all-trades device meant to grow Apple's iTunes-based ecosystem, by providing another screen for applications developers to publish on.
But if you watched today's presentation from Apple, and you watched the company's iPad promotion video, you heard Apple executives use a term that we're quite familiar with already: "Internet Tablet."
We've heard the term applied to a number of devices from Nokia in the last few years, The N800, N810, and the Maemo-driven N900 which is actually more of a phone than a tablet. It's also been applied to the Archos 5 and Archos 7 portable media players, and the WiMAX-enabled Samsung Mondi.
These devices all have different core uses and work on different operating systems; so how does the iPad shape up against them?
 iPad |
 Archos 7 |
 Nokia N900 |
 Viliv X70 EX |
|
| OS | iPhone OS 3.2 | Linux (Android version pending) | Maemo | Windows XP Home |
| Processor | 1GHz Apple A4 System-on-a-chip | 600MHz ARM Cortex A8 + 430MHz 32 bit DSP | 600MHz ARM Cortex A8 TI OMAP 3430 | 1.33 GHz Intel Atom Z520 (Silverthorne) |
| RAM | unknown | 128MB DDR SDRAM | 256MB RAM, 768MB Virtual | 1GB DDR |
| Storage | 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB Flash | 160GB, 320GB HDD | 32GB Flash +MicroSD | 16GB-32GB Flash +SDHC |
| Screen | 9.7" LED backlit touchscreen (1024 x 768) | 7" TFT LCD touchscreen (800x400) | 3.5" (800x400) touchscreen | 7" LED backlit touchscreen (1024x768) |
| Connections | 802.11n, Bluetooth 2.1, HSPA 3G, 30-pin iPod connector | 802.11b/g, USB 2.0 | 802.11b/g, Bluetooth 2.1, Quad-band GSM, EDGE, WCDMA, A-GPS, FM, AV out | 802.11b/g, HSPA 3G, GPS, USB 2.0, AV out |
| Profile | 9.56" x 7.47" x .5" | 7.48" x 4.33" x .629" | 4.36" x 2.35" x .7" | 4.6" x 8.25" x .89" |
| Weight | 1.5 lbs (1.6 with 3G module) | 1.4 lbs | 0.4 lbs | 2 lbs |
| Cost | $499.99-$849 | $349.99 | $549.99 (unlocked) | $599-$899 |
