After months of speculation and rumours, the iPad has been launched. Taking the name from a trademark Fujitsu never fully completed, the iPad hasn’t been the most ideal name Apple could have chosen for its tablet computer. I awoke to see iTampon trending on Twitter instead of the iPad. Publicity yes, but clear case of naming convention gone bad.

Off-hand, the iPad is like a bigger version of the iPhone, with similar apps and ultimately guarantees as a wonderful gadget to do your surfing and read books (eat that Kindle). The specs are decent enough, though a lack of widescreen capability, NO camera, NO USB ports, NO SD ports are huge negatives. It means you literally would have difficult storing any data on it for that matter (songs alone could easily eat up that 16GB). EA & co. are supposedly developing games specifically for it, but I wouldn’t be interested in buying one just to play on it.

The biggest bugbear for me of the iPad is that there is NO Multi-tasking. Isn’t multi-tasking everyone is used to by now, be it listening to songs, instant messaging in the background while at work, et. al. This could well be the dealbreaker for many.

Apple promises that the iPad is “the best way to experience the web”. Not sure how they are going to keep to that promise when you can’t even surf flash-enabled websites.

The pricing just sums up an otherwise unjustifiable gadget in my book:

- US$499: 16 GB, Wi-Fi only
- US$599: 32 GB, Wi-Fi only
- US$629: 16 GB, Wi-Fi and 3G
- US$699: 64 GB, Wi-Fi only
- US$729: 32 GB, Wi-Fi and 3G
- US$829: 64 GB, Wi-Fi and 3G

Specifications of the iPad:

• SCREEN: 9.7-inch IPS LCD screen. The LCD provides the backlighting, but most of the technology is IPS, or In-plane switching. This gives it a stronger viewing angle than most screens.
• RESOLUTION: 1024×768 pixels (132 pixels per inch)
• SIZE: 0.5 inches thin.
• DIMENSIONS: 9.5 inches x 7.5 inches x 0.5 inches
• WEIGHT: 1.5 pounds (1.6 pounds for 3G)
• CHIP: 1 GHz Apple A4 chip. They went in-house instead of going to Intel.
• MEMORY: Three models with 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB solid state hard drives.
• INCLUSIONS: Accelerometer, Microphone, 30-pin connector, Compass, full capacitive multi-touch, Bluetooth 2.1, 802.11n Wi-Fi, 3G access on higher-end models
• BATTERY LIFE: 10 hours at full blast. On standby, it will last over a month.

If you weren’t that all impressed by the iPad like yours truly, here are 9 upcoming alternatives you can check out. None catches my eye though, guess I just don’t see the point in having something in between a mobile and a computer. Not when our phones are turning into superphones = )