Standing ovation central. Steve Jobs entered the room in his ever-present black turtleneck and jeans, thinner but still a brand unto himself. We don’t expect, ever, to see him wearing something else at one of these events. And who would want him to? His familiar ensemble makes us happy, just as the quality of Apple products does. Judging by the sound greeting his arrival, the audience felt even more than the usual goodwill towards him today — a man who came back from medical leave (again) in order to bring us more remarkable Apple technology.

The iPad 2, in White. (Image courtesy of Apple)

A lot of the most-predicted features came to pass:

– Thinner and lighter. Now just over a third of an inch thick — 8.8mm to be exact (not even as thick as the iPhone 4), iPad 2 also weighs 0.2 lbs. less than the original, at 1.33 lbs. (1.34-1.35 lbs. for 3G model. Verizon’s version is just a tiny bit heavier.)

– Two cameras, one center front and one back-facing. Allows for videoconferencing, which is a touted feature with the FaceTime application. Both cameras are capable of HD video recording at 30 frames/second. Back camera has 5X digital zoom.

– Faster processor. Now it’s got a dual-core A5 chip (Apple’s own chip) making the CPU up to 2 times faster and the graphics about 9 times faster. (Remember that about the 9-times-faster-graphics, for later.) But it still is a low power consumer, as before. Anyway: faster, smoother multitasking, and surfing & video at 2X the speed.

– No Flash.

– It will be available from both AT&T and Verizon.

The iPad 2's Smartcover. ( Image courtesy of Apple)

New apps were expected, and delivered: PhotoBooth, FaceTime and iMovie for iPad, due to the new cameras. And GarageBand, which seemed a favorite of both Jobs and presenter Xander Soren. This is an app enabling you to play music on an instrument you have, or don’t have; Smart Instruments means you can play keyboard, guitar or drums without owning them.

All the new apps are made possible by the new operating system — iOS 4.3. This OS will be available as a free download on March 11. It’s for iPhone 4, all iPads, and the iPod Touch 3rd and 4th generation. Although the new OS can’t put cameras into the original iPad, it does speed up Safari for all iPads, and enables iTunes library play to all your other Apple devices (both music and video). It also adds the Lock Switch change, so you can adjust in Preferences if you’d like to use the side Lock Switch to lock the orientation of the display, or use it as a volume mute button. And lastly, iOS 4.3 turns the iPhone 4 into a personal Hotspot, which can supply internet connection for up to 5 devices whenever you’re in 3G territory. 3 of those 5 devices may be WiFi.

We’re looking forward to that download.

Colors of the iPad 2. (Image provided by Apple)

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***iPad 2 Orders begin March 11.***
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Pricing has remained exactly the same. (But the original iPad dropped by $100.)

There’s a FindMyiPad ability. All location-finding features such as the directional Compass must be permitted first by the owner, as a privacy protector. The gyroscope adjusts your screen for all turns and twists.
Comes in both black and white, from the start.
New cover for the device: called SmartCovers, it is a fold-back front cover that stays in place with magnets built into the iPad. Can serve as a stand. It provides easy access to ports.

Speaking of ports, there’s still no USB port.
And the battery life is about the same, at 10 hours, or a month on standby.

Here are my favorite things about the new iPad + iOS 4.3:

Great Feature==> You can now stream your music and video library wirelessly to an HDTV via Apple TV, with your WiFi network. This is called AirPlay.
Great Feature==> You can also print from the iPad wirelessly without downloading drivers. This feature is called AirPrint.
Great Feature==> With iOS 4.3, iPhone 4 can now become a personal Hotspot for up to 5 devices. The iPad (as well as the iPod Touch) just got a little more mobile.
Great Feature==> Video editing capability on iMovie. Apple continues to make it unnecessary to buy all those programs we used to have to shell out for separately.

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Our Review of the Release —-

This particular Apple event brought both more — and less — than we expected to be unveiled. The “more” included an updated operating system, increased speed, new software, and a thinner, lighter size.

The less? Well, that part is Apple’s fault for being as good as they are. Their MacBook Pro laptop had just been updated and made incredibly fast with new quad-core processors and the new Thunderbolt technology. So when we hear the iPad 2 is sped up by 2X, we’re left wanting a little more, like, for instance for our iPads to have that Thunderbolt and Lightfoot connectivity/transfer speed as well.

Less impressive, too, was the length of time Jobs and Soren devoted to touting GarageBand. Most of us make pretty serious use of our computing devices, in addition to entertainment use. GarageBand began to seem like an electronic babysitter for teenagers. Yes, it’s amazing. But not everyone is set on making music.

Also, the resolution of the iPad 2 is exactly the same as the original iPad. Nothing’s changed there. And yet, Apple gave its iPhone 4 a display with a resolution equal to the human eye. And it was actually mentioned, during the presentation of the video editing capability of iMovie, that these videos they were making “would look great on the iPhone 4′s Retina Display.” So they’re acknowledging that the visual experience of the iPad is somewhat lacking…

Leaving us waiting for the sound of the other shoe dropping. That’s why we feel sure there will be another release soon. How soon is a good question; Jobs more than once called 2011 “the Year of the iPad 2.” So this may indicate that iPad 3 will not be out until 2012. That seems a little far away.

Where’s our Retina Display, iPad owners whine. To them we say: Patience, Grasshopper. Can you not read the signs? No? Then let’s talk a little about tweetle beetles — I mean, about resolution… and pixels.

Consider the iPhone 4. An incredibly high-resolution little screen, at 960 X 640, at 326 pixels per inch (ppi). The numbers are approximately at the level at which the human eye cannot detect pixellation from 12″ away, if one has normal 20/20 vision.

It’s extremely difficult to create such a high-resolution display … and the larger the screen you’re attempting to do it on, the difficulty goes up by a few orders of magnitude. It is far easier to do on a tiny screen. They succeeded on the 3.5″ iPhone. To do it on a screen as large as the iPad — a 9.7″ diagonal — is not expected so soon.

What if it were smaller? Say, 5 or 6 inches? That might be doable. Why wasn’t a small Apple iPad introduced on Wednesday? That’s what we at ipads.com expected.

There are signs right now, though, that even the full-sized current version is moving rapidly toward a retinal level display. In fact it appears they hoped to create it with this model but it just didn’t happen…

Anyway, let’s see. Retina Display on the iPhone is 326 ppi; The iPad’s display is 132 ppi. If you want to triple the ppi, you must triple both the horizontal number of pixels and the vertical number.

To test that, let’s triple both those numbers, and calculate the PPI by first figuring the diagonal resolution, using the formula provided by wikipedia.org:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixel_density#Calculation_of_monitor_PPI

First, triple each axis’ number of pixels:
horizonal pixels — 1024(3) = 3072
vertical pixels — 768(3) = 2304

To get the diagonal resolution: Square each of those products, add them, then take the square root:
3072(3072) = 9,437,184
2304(2304) = 5,308,416

9,437,184 + 5,308,416 = 14,745,600

And √14,745,600 = 3840. That’s the Diagonal Resolution.

To get the PPI, divide the Diagonal Resolution by the diagonal measurement of the screen in inches:

3840 ÷ 9.7 = ~ 396.

So, that’s roughly correct — we actually end up with a higher ppi than we needed, since the Retina Display resolution is only about 2.5 times greater than the iPad’s, not 3 times as we used. No, I’m not going to do it again with 2.5. That’s still a lot of pixels they have to add.

And in order to display all those extra pixels in a timely manner, you need to speed up the graphics almost 9 times. Which, coincidentally, this version of the IPad has just done.

Clearly, Apple is going there soon — the Retina Display for iPad.

And that familiar shape, from the pages of Gizmodo, was there on the big screen above him.

There’s a rumor that Apple’s made an ad that jokes about the prototype loss, starring John Hodgeman of  the original “I’m a PC” fame. It supposedly takes place in a bar, where a young nerd is drinking too much… I definitely hope this is more than rumor and we get to see it. And for the favorable publicity, I hope Apple relents and makes peace with Gizmodo. They were not invited to this conference.

This unveiling comes quickly after the party the world gave for the Apple iPad, and the utter success of that launch allowed Jobs to be very brief on improvements of the iPad. This conference was really all about the iPhone.

Still, a couple of welcome items about the Apple iPad:

1) They’re adding PDF document viewing.

2) Apps such as the iBooks are improved; for instance you’ll be able to take notes in your iBooks. The bigger thing, though, is that iBooks will be available to the iPod Touch (2nd gen. or later) and iPhone too.

3) Certain other things, like the eBay app and the Netflix app which livestreams movies to iPad, will be available on iPhone 4 also, this summer.

The progress of apps development, and the success of the participating developers was lauded, and Marc Pincus, the owner of Farmville, one of the most popular games in the Apple App Store, spoke. An endearing quote from him: “I’m most excited about how good tractoring just got.”  Farmville for iPhone? Now available.

Jobs then said a few nice things about HTML 5 ( look at these amazing demos: http://www​.apple.com​/html5/ ), which we all know he loves while he does NOT love Adobe Flash for its battery hungry ways, supposedly …. and then gave all his attention to the new phone in town.

He announced a new operating system, called iOS 4. This is what iPhone 4 will be using.

A summary of the information given in his talk –

1. IPHONE 4 INTRODUCED. Jobs called it “the biggest leap since the original iPhone” and raved about its design. “Glass on the front and back, and steel around the sides.” The glass is a special kind developed by Apple, 30 times harder than plastic. Jobs compared it to a “beautiful old Leica camera.”

Cost: $199 for 16 GB, $299 for 32 GB.

On sale June 24th. Pre-orders start June 15th.

2. Some iPhone 4 Specs:

*New OS for iPhone announced: iOS 4.

*Thin, it is just 9.3 mm thick.

*Has two cameras, one front-facing for Video Calls and one on the back. These went from 3 megapixel to 5 and increased photon capture to aid in low-light photography. 5X digital zoom. LED flash/video light. Tap to focus picture. HD (720p) video recording too. You can record, edit, and email video right on the phone.

* 2 Microphones, noise suppression for clearer sound and reduced background noise.

* iMovie for iPhone is $4.95 in the App Store.

* iBooks for iPhone 4 will be available and will look like it does currently on Apple’s iPad.

* iBookstore right on the phone. (This will also be available on the iPod Touch.)

* Integrated antennas

* Retina Display offers Increased pixel density: 326/inch, better than the human eye. Has four times what the old iPhone had, or nearly 2/3 of the pixels the iPad has. Results in dramatically sharpened images and fonts. Increase was from 163×163 pixels/inch to 326×326 pixels/inch. No longer can you see the individual pixels / dots. Backlighting is LED.

* 3.5 inch, 960×640 screen resolution, a huge increase from 320×480.

- Old resolution: 153,600 pixels (320×480)  New: 614,400 (960×480). 4x. This is a huge difference for viewing videos, movies, and photos.

* Almost unscratchable/unbreakable screen and rear panel, 20-30x stronger than plastic, made out of a glass so tough it is used in helicopter windshields.

* New CPU – the same fast, power efficient A4 processor used in the Apple iPad.

* Smart Multitasking – applications can not drain the battery at will

* Bing Search added as an option to Google Search

* Increased battery life due to the battery being 40% larger.

Battery life, according to usage:

3G talk — 7hrs

Browsing, 3G — 6 hrs

Browsing, WiFi — 10 hrs

Video — 10 hrs

Music — 40 hrs

Standby — 300 hrs

*3-Axis Gyroscope, for precision sensing of motion and tilt – allowing remarkable gaming ability. This is the first phone in the world with this feature.

*Videocalls enabled for WIFi only, iPhone 4 to iPhone 4 only. This capability is called FaceTime. It can switch from the front camera to the back camera to show people what you are seeing. This feature offers an alternative to SkypeMobile, and a smack to VerizonWireless, I guess, if it goes beyond the U.S. as I expect it to.

*Accessories: Dock, called a “Bumper”. $29

3. Things Not Mentioned

What Jobs did not discuss was 4G connectivity, an advanced broadband network, that would be (not) be provided by carrier AT&T, or some other. And that’s rather vital:  4th generation refers to both the phone itself and the technology to improve the speed and integrity of data signals. He made some fleeting mention of carriers, but didn’t explain anything at all.

Also — Do they plan to unlock it in a reasonable period of time? Sprint in the U.S. is ready with 4G, but is any other broadband company? The international launch in France, Germany, UK,  and Japan will also be June 24th, with 22 more nations in July to receive the iPhone 4, and it’s likely they’re more prepared than we are here.

4. A Few More Good Things

Jobs announced that a free upgrade would be offered by AT&T to current  iPhone customers if your contract expires this year. This means you can get the new iOS 4 on your iPhone 3GS, 3G, and iPod Touch, too, except for the 1st generation. There are some limitations to the iOS 4 features you can utilize for some of these devices, as you might expect.

– Nearly all of the new info and features look pretty great. The increased capability of the cameras is a good thing, since many digital cameras of the smaller sort are not getting that much better, especially in low light. Apple rightly is addressing this problem.

– And Videocalls (without a clunky iSight camera hookup)? Wonderful.  Plus NetFlix Movies streaming right to the phone.

– The book Winnie the Pooh, given out free in the iBookstore, is now more famous than ever.  We expect the Heffalump to be on Dancing With The Stars any time now.

To help determine which ideas Apple will be using, you might think about what they want to achieve and make the iSlate do. The features they choose to include will be in the context of what devices you likely already have, whether you’re a devoted Apple user or one of the general public. Apple isn’t going to simply make a bigger iPhone, for instance. And they aren’t going to replicate the Tablet PC.

Writing Pad and Stylus

A “tablet” used to be a flat thing — of paper, unless you were Moses — that you wrote on with a pen. Apple’s word, “slate,” is also retro, suggesting a 19th-century student writing with chalk on a black slate. Both of these old items, the tablet and the slate, served us well through the ages. Suppose you took one and made it magic? To carry a slate that contains a computer is a pleasing thought that would make me feel like a sorcerer’s apprentice. Especially if it’s light enough to grab with one hand, tuck under your arm, and go. It’s rumored that Apple has registered the name “Magic Slate.” Excellent, if I may quote Mr. Burns.
For awhile now, computer companies have been trying to make that magic slate/tablet. Microsoft’s Tablet PC has a screen you use a touch-sensitive pen on, which seems cool until you think about how short a lifetime a heavily used screen like that is going to offer, getting scraped on all the time. The Tablet PC carries an adjusted version of their OS — XP Tablet — for the device. You can even load voice dictation software on it; and I’d like to make a note of that feature; that is nice. MacSpeech Dictate, anyone?

Yes, Virginia, There Will Be a iPad Involved

The thing about the iPad/iSlate that I can’t see clearly is how they’ll handle writing and drawing. A slate is meant to be used as such, but the toll that takes on a nice screen — this is difficult to surmount. If you’re sitting with your tablet computer taking a few notes, note-taking might be accomplished by writing on a small area of the screen, preserving the rest, but if you’re writing quite a bit of text you need a lot of room. And drawing certainly needs the entire screen area. Since I believe the Apple tablet will offer the ability to write and draw with a stylus, I’m going to assume they’ve come up with a really, really good screen. And I’ll also assume the writing features will have several alternatives. You may want, for instance, to handwrite notes and then save them. Your longhand notes, taken in a hurry at a work meeting or in a class, are likely to be in cursive and will not conform to a specific alphabet the device recognizes. So you should be able to save the notes simply as a series of images. (Which you could email immediately, etc.) If you happen to write shorthand, then you definitely must save your work as an image.
**Update: Since Wired.com has thoughtfully provided a look at the invitation Apple sent out for the Jan. 27 event, I am now confident their tablet will focus on drawing, writing, and… painting. This invitation is as colorful as ClarisWorks was on the original iMacs.

The Cuneiform Option

If you want to write and have the computer interpret it as text, then you’re asking for a second option. That should of course be included, but I don’t plan to use it much. I write messily and it is the only way I can write longhand. If we have to relearn an alphabet that the software can recognize in order to write on this slate, like we did years ago for the Palm, I’d just as soon have a clay tablet and write cuneiform.

But of course some people (youngsters) would like to have a secret script to use on this, just as they like to use numbers in their words instead of letters, and stuff like that.

Touchme-Feelme Screen

Like the iPhone, excellent touchscreen technology on the islate will be key. It eliminates the need for a mouse, stylus or keyboard. It’s cool. But it’s a delicate technology. Our ipods had to have special screen covers and we have to use sense when carrying them around. And many of us would far rather type, which is not easily done on a flat picture on glass of a keyboard. I need the keys. This is a given, that the slate will have a USB port for keyboard and even mouse.

Of Mice and Men

People should never assume the mouse is dying and about to disappear. To let it disappear would be going backward, not forward! The mouse, after all, is our Homer Simpson remote control: I know people who lie down, their arms at their sides, and holding the mouse in their hand, comfortably and lazily surf the internet, by moving the mouse around on the floor (if that’s what the person is lying on). They lift their eyes a mere few inches to gaze at their big screen display, which is placed perhaps on the nearby coffeetable. Or you can sit in your heated massage chair and run the mouse on the chair arm to surf, the screen upright on the table before you. You don’t have to reach your poor, tired arm out to touch the screen! (There will, of course, be a kickstand or dock to hold the iSlate up.) Let us be comfy, for heaven’s sake, and keep our mouses.

Apple is certain to give us some really neat shortcuts and new things, touch-wise. Drawing small circles or shapes to execute a function, for instance. Drawing your finger diagonally to do something else. They could be geared to make sense for specific applications. And some of the aforementioned Smartpeople® have said that Apple is instituting neat things like a wave of the hand to navigate. You don’t even have to touch the touchscreen. The inbuilt camera will facilitate this, they say.

Speaking of the camera, which is virtually certain to be included, I wish it could be on both the front and back, moveable; not just the back like Microsoft’s PC Tablet has. If not, then I’d like the camera on the front.

Other things we may want to do on the islate/ipad/imedia tablet:
1. download and read ebooks
2. surf internet
3. play movies, TV shows, other media
4. make calls
5. instant message/text
6. take still photos or video
7. edit photo & video
8. carry it around without plugging it in for a full day
9. connect it to a TV and play media
10. sync its media with a computer

Look at #6 in my list. I’m rather interested in that one. One of the uses of the tablet/slate computer has always been that it’s great to carry into a class or meeting and do stuff. Imagine creating a video presentation on your iPad/iSlate — propping it up o your work table, sitting down in front of it and recording an introduction, then taking your slate down to another location, filming (sorry, using the retro word) another bit of it, then going home and finishing it with a series of moving charts, graphs, and so on. Imagine taking your slate to the business conference room and playing it, perhaps hooking it up to a TV for a bigger screen for a group. Selfmade media has been one of the best things the computer industry has given us.

But if you like Kindle types of devices best, you may value most the ability to read books, or record text and notes as you write them, in a very, very portable device still big enough not to give you eyestrain, light enough to hold and tilt like a book. The Kindle’s popularity has surged, of late. Any voracious reader would be grateful for a similar non-glaring, paperlike screen.

Internet Service Providers

One of the biggest iPad/iSlate issues may be the internet connectibility and the question of monthly contracts to an ISP. If you already have an iPhone (or, for that matter, a Blackberry or other phone with broadband) are you very eager to sign up for another expensive carrier contract? Probably not. I look for Apple to have about 3 different connectivity options for the iPad/iSlate.

The first would be the iPhone type monthly contract, made more affordable because Apple grants one carrier all the business. This would be sensible for people intending to use it a great deal.

The second would be an option to plug in a 3G/4G broadband card which may come from any of several carriers, the same 3G broadband card you may have in your laptop.

Third, an option to have no internet contract at all, but Wi-Fi is built in and you can go online if you go somewhere providing connectivity. If you choose you can always go sign up for a contract.

Apple — The Infinite Loop of Quality

This is why we’re all queuing up to buy their stuff, yes? We expect that this will have a great look and feel, have excellent software and OS, long battery life. This device will outstrip the tablet PCs, some of which did very well on a PC format. Panasonic ToughBook had a good battery and great security features, as well as a camera. Pencept had good writing pad aspects. And then Dell, Gateway, and multiple other computer manufacturers came across with tablet computers which usually ran XP Tablet as their operating system but often disappointed, some looking simply like laptops that broke at the hinge. These had only middling popularity, but the fever for tablet computing had risen fast. The Kindle, then, made us crazy for tablets, since it was a unique answer to the same question, and our big brother, Apple, hadn’t even spoken his piece yet… and we were left waiting.

The Microsoft Courier is the one Apple will be pressed to beat. It is like an electronic journal plus web browsing. Very good for business meetings, or for solo work, in or out of the office. It has page/image capture, as well as text copy and save. You can share files with other Courier users by using the command “publish.” (This fileshare feature Apple users already have if they subscribe to a .Me account. And there are a host of other ways they can fileshare for free.) The Courier uses capacitive touchscreens, but you can use a stylus too. And there’s a camera on back. The whole thing is very student and/or workplace oriented. You can really get things done. It’s unusual, too, because it folds like a book and uses 2 screens, and you can drag things from one to the other. You can lift an image from a webpage on the right screen, “paperclip” it in the middle, while you bring up the journal page on the left where you want to file the paperclipped item. Then move it over.

The thing is, Microsoft seems to want to build its image as a dull work drone company. Dull but focused on the job; gets the work done! But to rely on this image is a big mistake when your rival has made such an effective spoof on it. John Hodgman and Justin Long are surely waiting to step out on our (Apple)TVs and have their little discussions on whether they are Macs or PCs all over again.

Apple can beat Microsoft easily if it makes its media work efficiently on the iPad/Slate. The iSight camera of the MacBook, the music and video player on the iPod, are already wonderful. We do have to get our work done but those things made it so much more enjoyable. We even made it part of our work. So just include those in the iSlate, please; hand me a stylus, and give me that thing. Sometime this century, Steve.

The article mentioned Mr. Jobs has been on top of his personnel and combing over every detail, much like he reportedly did right before the iPhone’s release in ’07.  It’s interesting that Apple and their representatives refuse to discuss any projects in the works, but clearly something is brewing.  Being hush about any future projects is standard procedure for them.  However, that hasn’t prevented the tech industry from being chatty about the likelihood of Apple releasing a multi media internet tablet.

Some are under the impression that is the first device of its kind, but it’s really not.  Companies like Nokia and Archos, have had their own internet tablets out for quite some time.  Archos refers to theirs as a “pc tablet” or a netbook without a keyboard.  They claim it performs in a big way, like a “high end PC” and is only small in size.  Nokia’s N810 has high ratings among users for portability, ease of use and all of the multi media functions it has available.

The article mentions how experts are saying the device will be priced anywhere between $399 all the way up to $999.  This could play a major roll on how well it will sell.  If it’s priced too high they might just alienate a huge chunk of consumers who might have otherwise wanted to purchase it, only at a more affordable price.

I think the big question on everyone’s mind is how will Apple surpass what’s already available on the market?  There are no confirmations on what features it will have or what operating system the tablet will run.  All the rumors are based purely on guesses and what little bits of information that have been leaked from inside Apple.  So that leaves us all wondering, what will the wow factor be for what they release?  It’s apparent from the WSJ article that Mr. Jobs is trying to make sure things are finished to perfection.  It is highly probable we’ll be wowed in a big way by Apple.

• Larger Size – It is estimated that their ipad will be anywhere from 6” to 10” large compared to their iPhone which is 3.5”.  Obviously this would make watching videos or movies a lot better in addition to making reading easier as well.    Nokia’s N810 ipad has a 4.13″ WVGA color display, so they would even be a couple inches larger than what’s currently on the market.
• Menu Appearance Change – Many think the menu might look different.    There’s speculation that it will either look like a pin-wheel of menu option or a menu of free floating objects.  Most agree the navigation system will be more advanced than what’s currently available.
• Touch screen – It will still have a similar touch screen technology.  There will not be a separate keyboard.  The keyboard will be on screen like the iPod Touch and iPhones currently on the market.
• Multi-Media Access – You’ll have full internet access.  You’ll be able to download songs, movies and e-books as it is rumored to have the Kindle application, in addition to surfing the net and emailing.  Many speculators believe they might offer a 3G network for better support through a carrier such as Verizon, but that has yet to be confirmed like most things having to do with their ipad.
• Possible Dialing Capabilities – If a carrier such as Verizon were to step in and offer support via their 3G network, it’s possible a dialing feature will be available.  However, most people won’t want to hold a 10” screen up to their ear, so use of a Bluetooth headset might come in handy here.

The essence of their internet tablet would be to tap into the “netbook” market and become a formidable competitor in that niche.  It is estimated that the launching price will be around $699 or more to start, but if there is a carrier involved like Verizon there might be discounts offered with contracts which would be a great incentive for consumers.  We’ll have to wait and see what develops to end all the speculation with facts.

Of course, all of this is based on industry chatter as nothing has been officially released by Apple saying they are releasing such a product in September as of today’s date.

Chris Messina over at FactoryJoe.com created some interesting mock ups of what he thinks the iPad will look like.  The first one is just demonstrating what it will look like with the touch screen.

This next one Messina came up with shows an example of what the software interface might look like.

Messina also speculated the menu might look like this instead:

Another blogger, Sam Johnston from samj.net had a few ideas of his own.

Thanks to the creativity of these bloggers, we’re given a possible depiction of what’s to come.  Now look at some of the ipads that are on the market already and have been for some time now.  Here is one of the more popular ones named the Nokia N810.

It’s hard to tell from the picture, but here are the actual dimensions of the device: 9.4 x 7.5 x 3.1 inches.  It weight 1.6 lbs.  Here’s another picture of it, but this time with the QWERTY keyboard that slides out and a mini stand.

Here’s another model of an ipad currently on the market.  It is an Archos 5 250 GB

Again, it’s hard to tell the size, but here are the dimensions of this model: 5 x 0.8 x 3.1 inches and it weighs 1.4 pounds.  By looking at these, you can tell the bloggers aren’t that far off.