Review: Apple's iPad has potential

Ryan Kim, Chronicle Staff Writer

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Snap off the screen of a MacBook Pro laptop, shrink it down to 9.7 inches and outfit it with the iPhone operating system and this is the basic feel of the new iPad.

With all the hype swirling around the iPad, this description might come as a bit of letdown. You mean it's a big iPod Touch? Basically.

But that's good in many ways, especially when you consider how groundbreaking the iPhone and iPod Touch are. The added screen real estate brings videos, pictures, Web sites and e-books to life in ways that the iPhone can't.

But it also means you still don't have Adobe Flash for online video, no camera, multitasking or USB port, and a touch-screen that's still not ideal for typing.

After spending about 20 minutes with the iPad Wednesday, I want one. I'd rather have this than an e-reader or even a netbook. With prices that start at $499 for a Wi-Fi version or $629 for a 3G model (data plans sell for $15 and $30 a month), it's not exactly an easy purchase but it's still manageable, especially if you're already in the market for a netbook or e-reader.

But I think Apple still has a way to go, lining up new content and iPad-specific apps, and addressing some nagging omissions, before the device can win people over.

But let's start with the basics. The half-inch-thick iPad is built from a single aluminum enclosure with a glass LED-backlit display offering 1024 x 768 HD resolution. The aluminum gives it a solid feel, but at 1 1/2 pounds, it could stand to lose a couple ounces.

It has an earphone jack, microphone and an on/off button on top, as well as a volume switch and mute button on the side. The bottom of the device sports speaker holes. There's the familiar home button, which takes you back to the home screen from whatever app you're in.
A bigger way

As I tinkered with the iPad, I was struck by how nice it was to do certain things I've always wanted to do on an iPhone in a bigger way.

Pictures look beautiful and clear without any need for magnification, and the slide show feature is great, offering nice animations that pop on screen. I can hit a Web site and take it all in, without having to hover around, zooming in and out constantly.

Video is stunning on the iPad; no more holding the iPhone up to my face. The reading experience is quite nice, including a 3-D page flip as you move your finger through an e-book.

And I liked playing the first-person shooter Nova and having much more screen to see. The game was magnified two times but it still looked impressive.

Yes, you can do all these things on an iPhone in some form, but the iPad makes the content more immediate, more personal. And with Apple's new proprietary A4 processor inside, everything feels snappier.

Apple is also trying to get people to think of the iPad as a netbook alternative by offering reworked productivity apps. I was drawn by the ease of use of the presentation software Keynote, which feels more inviting than PowerPoint.

But the software also touches on a key weakness of the iPad. It has no physical keyboard, just an on-screen virtual keyboard that shifts between portrait and landscape view. I had trouble typing, and I found the space bar elusive. And typing with both hands requires you to lay the iPad on your lap or a table, which creates awkward viewing angles.

Apple is trying to remedy that with a $70 keyboard and dock. You also will be able to connect to your own keyboard via Bluetooth.

But the keyboard is less of a glaring issue than the lack of Adobe Flash. Without Flash, you can't watch most online video, such as Hulu or even the New York Times videos, which was awkwardly apparent during Wednesday's event.

Video is such a key element for Web consumption that its absence is going to limit the usefulness of the iPad at least until that is addressed.
No camera

What else is missing? I would have liked to see a camera for video chatting, which seems like a missed opportunity.

But the important thing to remember about the iPad is that, outside of the hardware limitations, its future is evolving. It might look like a big iPod Touch now, but as more content providers and developers build directly for the iPad, this could become something quite different than the iPhone or iPod Touch.

I can't wait to play new big-screen touch games or try out some painting apps. Even more tantalizing is the yet-to-be-developed program waiting to take shape on this big blank canvas.
The competition

With the introduction of the iPad, Apple is attempting to steal some thunder from competitors' products.

Laptops

$400 or more

The 9 1/2-by-7 1/2-inch, 1 1/2-pound iPad mimics some of the basic functions of a laptop, such as portability and Web browsing, while being "so much more intimate," says Steve Jobs.

E-readers

$150 to $500

The iPad's iBook app and built-in access to the new iBookstore mean Apple is going for the market dominated by Amazon.com and its popular Kindle.

Netbooks

$400 or less

The iPad's integration of Apple's iWork software makes it a productivity tool that is as attractive, if not more so, than the selection of netbooks on the market.

Smart phones

$30 to $529

In recent years, cell phones have evolved into more sophisticated smart phones, combining basic phone functions with Web browsing and GPS. The iPad shares many of those features.
Details

As anticipated, Apple unveiled its iPad Wednesday. The computer resembles a large iPhone and works with iPhone apps.

Size: about 7 1/2 inches wide by 9 1/2 inches tall. It's 1/2-inch think. It weighs 1 1/2 pounds.

Features: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Accelerometer, Ambient light sensor (3G model also available)

Battery life: Up to 10 hours

Processor: 1 GHz

Capacity: 16 GB, 32 GB or 64 GB

Screen: 9.7-inch display, multi-touch

Price: $499 to $829, depending on configuration