Apple iPad, Pictures: Phone Guide Germany

There it is: Apple has started selling the iPad in the United States. Again, people were waiting in line to be one of the first buyers of the mobile internet device, even though it seems as if there haven’t been such crowds as on the day the iPhone came out more than three years ago. Apple fans in Germany will have to wait until the end of this month until they will be able to buy the iPad here. While first apps for the new device are already available in the German iTunes App Store, there are only hints that Apple is planning to release the iPad globally on April 24th. Buyers in Germany will probably have to pay higher purchase prices for the iPad than in the US.

In the United States Apple is selling the basic version of the iPad with 16 GB storage capacity and WiFi for USD 499.00 before taxes which is approximately EUR 370.00. The most expensive version of the iPad with 64 GB storage capacity and WiFi and is available for USD 699.00 before taxes. Later on this month, there will three additional versions of the iPad allowing fast data transmissions via UMTS/HSDPA for purchase prices up to USD 829.00 before taxes. It will not be possible to make mobile phones calls via UMTS with the iPad, though.

German discount provider Simyo has been the first one to announce the launch of a prepaid micro SIM card for the Apple iPad. According to Simyo, there will only be a limited edition of the micro SIM card which will be available for a purchase price of EUR 14.90 and provide mobile internet access via GPRS, EDGE or UMTS over the network of operator E-Plus. Simyo offers a mobile internet tariff with 1 GB data volume per month for EUR 9.90 to iPad users. At the Simyo website interested users can register for one of these iPad SIM cards and will receive it as soon as they are available.

Lots of Hype and Enthusiasm, but also Criticism

As always, there is also a lot of criticism going along with all the hype and enthusiasm about the new Apple products. The iPad is unique because it sports a 9.7-inch capacitive multitouch LED-backlit color touchscreen with a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels which regular ebook readers with eInk technology do not have. The iPad runs on iPhone OS 3.2 and is powered by a 1-GHz processor Apple A4. It can play AAC, MP3 and WAV audio files as well as M4V, MP4, MOV and MPEG4 video files but does not support Adobe Flash. Other potential weaknesses are: The iPad does neither support multitasking nor Adobe Flash, there is no HDMI port and no USB port, and the battery cannot be exchanged by the user. According to Apple, the battery offers up to ten hours of running time of the iPad which does not seem to be a lot.

Like the iPhone, the iPad’s range of functions can be expanded by apps available at the Apple download platform iTunes App Store. Several publishing houses have already announced specific iPad apps for the iBooks section. For example, in Germany, Axel Springer Verlag wants to offer apps for the newspapers “Welt”, “Welt kompakt” and “Welt am Sonntag” for prices between EUR 7.99 to EUR 29.99 per month. Amazon offers its ebook reader app “Kindle for iPad” for free. However, even though the Apple iPad will probably be a strong competitor to ebook readers, it will not be able to serve as a substitute for a PC, a notebook or for the iPhone – it is rather a supplement to these devices.

To finish two recommendations:
Review of the Apple iPad by Engadget
Echtzeitgeist shows what video mags on the iPad could look like (in German, but you can just watch the videos!)

Comment on the photos of the Apple iPad: This device has been bought by teltarif.de in Dallas on the day of the launch. Please visit teltarif.de for more reviews and information on the iPad (in German).