Mobile Insiders

Yesterday's iPad announcement seemed to be the only thing I read, but for good reason - its a pretty sleek device. Although I have my own issues with what the device offers, I'm sure it will sell. One of the major announcements is the availability of 3G supported by AT&T at $14.99 for 250 MB per month or $29.99 for unlimited usage. The announcement has many scratching their heads, because like others, I thought that was the biggest complaint by consumers with their iPhones. Just when Apple is getting off their exclusive contract with AT&T, they go and do something like this.

What I wrote earlier may confuse the readers, so let me clarify. Steve Jobs did say that the device would be available on AT&T's 3G network, but the device is unlocked and can be used with other carriers. But it seems that it may only be available on GSM networks. So that leaves AT&T and T-Mobile, among the larger carriers in the US. I'm sure Apple had realized that AT&T has been their Achilles heel, so why go back to bad? My guess is that it was a higher profit margin with AT&T, or just the simple fact that they were working on making it available on all networks, but they just ran out of time? iWork is pretty cool, and it will be a little easier to be productive. iBook is a great app that will likely cut out a significant market share from its Nook and Kindle competitors, but is it worth the purchase? Yes, it does look cool, and the price is significantly lower than analyst estimates, starting at $499, but on the flip side, it is kind of a new version of an iPod Touch with a larger screen and better hardware, right? Specs on the iPad include:

• 0.5″ thick and 1.5lbs light
• 9.7″ IPS display, capacitive multitouch touchscreen
• Built-in accelerometer, mic, 30-pin connector, 802.11n Wi-Fi, compass, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
• 10 hours of battery life, one month standby time
• 1GHz Apple A4 processor
• 16GB, 32GB and 64GB Flash storage
• WiFi available in about 60 days from now, WiFi with 3G in 90 days.

Already rumors are beginning to spread that this was rushed out, and the next update will include many more features, including the new iPhone 4.0 OS. Hopefully by then, they'll have added support for other networks to really unlock this device.

EDIT: Check out what I got in the mail earlier this afternoon. Apple doesn't spare a moment to get its developers into making applications for the iPad.