Coverage of Apple’s Special Event: “Come See Our Latest Creation”

BY Jason

Published 27 Jan 2010

Come See Our Latest Creation

Apple's special event "Come See Our Latest Creation" should be underway shortly.

Based on all the rumors, speculations and leaks, we know that Apple will release a tablet computer, which might be called iTablet, iPad, iSlate or something else. Apple might also demo the next generation iPhone OS – iPhone OS 4.0, which apparently the Apple Tablet is also based on.

Apple's special event is being held at at the Yerba Buena Centre for Arts in San Francisco. 

So if you are looking for all the iPhone and Apple Tablet related news from Apple's special event then hit the jump for our coverage of the event.

Updates will be posted from top to bottom (bottom newest) so stay tuned (hit refresh to get the latest).

Folks at Engadget have posted three images of what appears to be the back shell of the Apple Tablet, which briefly appeared on Chinese website WeiPhone. 

The size of the device in the leaked photos definitely matches with the rumors we've heard.


Apple Tablet Photos leaked


Apple Tablet Photos leaked


Apple Tablet Photos leaked


Apple Tablet Photos leaked

The event should start very soon so stay tuned. 

Steve Jobs has just walked up on stage.

"We want to kick of 2010 by introducing a magical and revolutionary product today… but first I have a few updates."

He is talking about some numbers such as 140k iPhone apps, more than 50 billion dollars in revenues.

He has moved on to the main event, launch of Apple Tablet.

He is talking about a device that can do the following tasks: Browsing the web. Doing email. Enjoying and sharing pics. Watching videos. Enjoying music. Playing games. Reading ebooks.

Apple is calling their Tablet, the iPad.

And here is how the Apple iPad looks like.


Apple iPad

Jobs is now showing how you can surf the web with the Apple iPad. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to support Flash.

He is showing how to use it for email, the typing on the device looks quite impressive.

He is demoing the photo app, which is similar to the one on the iPhone. So you can use similar gestures.

He shows the iTunes app, Maps app and YouTube HD app. I think there is still a lot more to come as something is missing.

He is talking about the hardware: 1.5 pounds. 1/2" thin. 9.7" IPS Display. Super High Quality. Great viewing angles. Super responsive capacitive multi-touch screen.

It has 10 hours of battery life. 

It is powered by custom Apple chip called A4. 1GHz, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB storage. 802.11n, WiFi, Bluetooth. 

Scott Forstall is talking about the Apps for the iPad. All the iPhone apps can run on the iPad without any modifications.  

The iPhone SDK supports the development of Apps for the iPad and it is being released today.

Some of the iPhone developers will be showcasing their iPhone apps for the iPad. Gameloft is the first to come on stage.

They demo their iPhone game Nova for the iPad. New York Times is next.

New York Times: "We think we've captured the essence of reading the newspaper. A superior experience in a native application."

The layout is just like the newspaper with embed videos. It looks pretty cool.

Next up is Brushes showing off their app for iPad, it was an impressive demo. Next up is EA.

EA is demoing Need for Speed Shift.

Finally, we have MLB.com demoing their application for the iPad, which has been completely revamped for it.

Steve Jobs is back. 

He just announced a new application for iPad called iBooks, which comes with an iBooks Store to compete with Amazon.

He is demoing the iBooks Store application. It's very similar to iTunes store.

Steve Jobs has just announced iWork for the iPad, which completely new UI. 

Phil Shiller has come on stage to demo it. He is showing off spreadsheets.

As you can expect, it seems to be very intuitive such as with new multi-touch gestures, multi finger taps, pinch, double tap etc.

It has cool data entry features. A data entry keyboard just for entering info into a spreadsheet. There are a number of different keyboard for specific tasks, also a date and time keyboard.

Each of the iWork products such as Pages, Keynote will be available for $9.99.

Steve is back on stage.

You could buy two data plans for the iPad from AT&T: $14.99 for 250MB and $29.99 for unlimited data usage.

You don't need to buy any contract. Free use of AT&T Wi-Fi hotspots like you can with the iPhone.

iPad 3G models are unlocked and use GSM micro SIMs. You can expect international deals by June.

The Apple iPad pricing starts at $499. What do you think? Will you buy it?

Apple iPad will be shipping in 60 days.

More on the pricing: $499 for 16GB of iPad. That's our base model. 32GB is $599, 64GB is $799. 3G models cost an extra $130. $629, $729, and $829 with 3G.

Steve Jobs: "We've got some really great accessories. First one is a dock. You know the slideshow I showed you? When it's in the dock you have a great picture frame. We have another dock that's interesting… the keyboard dock.and third is the case."  - Now this is cool.


Apple Tablet Photos leaked


Apple Tablet Photos leaked


Apple Tablet Photos leaked

Steve Jobs is playing the video that they are going to put on the web.

Steve Jobs:  "We've always tried to be at the intersection of technology and liberal arts — we want to make the best tech, but have them be intuitive. It's the combination of these two things that have let us make the iPad." 

That's it, it looks like its time for hands on. 

The Apple iPad seems to be pretty impressive, however there were some disappoints as doesn't seem to be any Flash support, no front facing camera for video conferencing, no word about Notifications.

In terms of the event, I'm disappointed that there was no announcement about next generation iPhone OS – iPhone 4.0 or Verizon iPhone, which many readers I'm sure were hoping for. Let us know your views in the comments.

Thanks to folks at Engadget for the live blogging.