(Sorry still using mock-ups)

Right now, Apple’s iPad event is still going on. Nothing surprising yet, but we’ve got the details on the hardware. (You’re not missing much, they’re going through and talking about on-line newspapers, and such).

What we know right now is Apple’s iPad will have these features:

• multi-touch interface (surprise!)
• 1Ghz Apple A4 chip (custom ARM processor)
• 16-64GB Flash storage
• Typical iPod Touch/iPhone feature set (accelerometer, compass, etc.)
• 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth
• 9.7in IPS display
• 10 hour battery life (with a month in standby)

The custom processor should be no surprise. Apple’s been burned by working exclusively with chip vendor in the past (IBM and Motorola) and they purchased a company called PA Semi back in 2008. You just knew they were going to do something with PA. A lot of folks had PA pegged to be the next iPhone chip supplier, but looks like Apple had bigger plans for them.

We dug up an awesome article by written by Daniel Dilger back in 2008 about the acquisition. It’s over at RoughlyDraftedMagazine and totally worth a read. Some great information.

IPS stands for “in plane switching”. It’s a display technology that’s been around since late 1990’s. Originally developed by Hitachi Ltd, this is a specific technology designed to make LCD/TFT displays easier to view. IPS allows for wide viewing angles and much better color reproduction and depth. If you’re an artist, then you’ll know IPS as it’s typically what your displays are. IPS is for high-end monitors and it’s totally cool to see it on a tablet.

We found an article on Wikipedia about IPS and it’ll provide a lot more technical information than we care to. Check it out here.

The battery life here is what we’re suspicious of. Let’s be frank. I’ve had iPods, PowerBooks, and Macbooks. The one thing that’s been a constant with them is that the battery inevitably fails to hold a charge after about a year’s worth of use. I’ve never had this problem using a PC laptop or other PMP’s, even using them more than I do my Apple gear, so I’m not sure why Apple has had a problem with their batteries. But, I’m totally suspect of this 10hour battery.

Hopefully my fears are unfounded and I won’t have to replace a battery in a year (and this battery doesn’t look user replaceable either). But we’ll wait and see.

Update: Apple’s going through their content providers now. Newspapers, games and books. They’re doing for those media what iPod did for music. If I were Amazon, I might be a little bit scared. This looks pretty good. Especially using a UI (iTunes Store) that folks are already using and familiar with.

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