Live From The Apple Tablet Event

@mgsiegler / 9:26 am PST • January 27, 2010

We’re here in San Francisco for Apple’s event today where they’re expected to unveil their new tablet computer which may or may not be known as the iPad, iSlate, iBook, iTablet, the Apple Tablet or some other variation. The event starts at 10 AM PT.

More coverage can be found here.

Below find our live blog:

1:43 PM: MG I’m here sitting in the venue. Bob Dylan playing
1:52 PM: MG
1:53 PM: MG
1:56 PM: MG Note to silence cellphones. Event starting in a few minutes
1:57 PM: MG More Bob Dylan
2:00 PM: MG
2:00 PM: MG Lights going down. Event about to start.
2:01 PM: MG Jobs on stage
2:02 PM: MG We wanna kick of 2010 by introducing a truly magical and revolutionary product today
2:02 PM: MG But first – an update about iPods
2:02 PM: MG 250 millionth iPod sold a few days ago
2:02 PM: MG 284 retail stores
2:02 PM: MG 50,000,000 visitors to the stores last quarter
2:03 PM: MG 140,000 apps in app store now
2:03 PM: MG 3 billion applications in the app store in just 18 months
2:04 PM: MG $15.6 billion dollars in rev now – over $50 billion company
2:04 PM: MG where does apple get this revenue? 3 lines – ipods, iphones, and macs
2:05 PM: MG apple is the largest mobile devices company in the world now
2:05 PM: MG larger than sony, samsung, and even nokia. apple is the #1 mobile devices company in the world
2:06 PM: MG I chuckled when i saw the moses with tablet picture
2:07 PM: MG in 1991 apple shipped its first powerbooks – the first modern laptop
2:07 PM: MG in 2007 apple reinvented the phone with the iphone.
2:08 PM: MG everyone uses a laptop and a smartphone now – is there room for a 3rd category of device in the middle?
2:08 PM: MG this 3rd category needs to be better. “netbooks aren’t better at anything”
2:08 PM: MG everyone uses a laptop and a smartphone now – is there room for a 3rd category of device in the middle?
2:08 PM: MG we need something better at key tasks – things like browsing the web, doing email, sharing photographs, videos, music, playing games, reading ebooks
2:08 PM: MG the iPad
2:09 PM: MG we need something better at key tasks – things like browsing the web, doing email, sharing photographs, videos, music, playing games, reading ebooks
2:09 PM: MG i happen to have one
2:09 PM: MG very thin – customize background
2:10 PM: MG what this device does is extraordinary – best browsing experience ever
2:10 PM: parislemon “we call it the iPad”
2:10 PM: MG
2:11 PM: MG “it’s a dream to type on”
2:11 PM: MG maps works with google
2:11 PM: MG ipad is an awesome way to enjoy your music collection
2:11 PM: MG and of course, the itunes store
2:11 PM: ME hey did you know, apple sucks!
2:12 PM: MG youtube on it – including youtube in HD
2:12 PM: MG and of course, TV shows and movies
2:12 PM: MG here’s a demo
2:12 PM: MG steve on a leather seat using it
2:12 PM: MG so much more intimate than a laptop
2:12 PM: ME it also runs Windows 7
2:12 PM: CT Wow, a tablet. How ‘cutting edge’
2:14 PM: MG
2:14 PM: MG
2:14 PM: MG “whole website in the palm of your hands”
2:14 PM: MG browsing NYT. browsing Time. browsing fandango
2:15 PM: MG browsing NYT. browsing Time. browsing fandango
2:15 PM: MG
2:15 PM: MG “whole website in the palm of your hands”
2:15 PM: MG touch on anything you want to see
2:19 PM: MG “whole website in the palm of your hands”
2:19 PM: MG
2:20 PM: MG get events, places, and faces from iphoto
2:21 PM: MG flick through my photos
2:21 PM: MG
2:21 PM: MG get events, places, and faces from iphoto
2:21 PM: MG build in ipod. scroll through your albums
2:22 PM: MG a great way to enjoy your music
2:24 PM: MG
2:24 PM: MG google street view works great
2:25 PM: MG youtube videos very clear
2:25 PM: MG switch between portrait and landscape
2:26 PM: MG now watching star trek
2:27 PM: MG big cheers
2:27 PM: MG “a little bit of an overview of what the ipad can do” – “but watching it is nothing like getting it in your hands”
2:27 PM: MG let’s go back to the hardward – .5 inch thin. 1.5 pounds. thinner and lighter than any netbook
2:28 PM: MG 9.7″ IPS display
2:28 PM: MG very high quality display
2:28 PM: MG full capacitive multi-touch
2:28 PM: MG 1 GHz Apple A4 chip – custom made
2:28 PM: MG 16 GB – 64 GB of storage
2:29 PM: MG wifi 802.11n
2:29 PM: MG accelerometer, compass speaker, microphone, etc
2:29 PM: MG battery life: 10 hours
2:29 PM: MG big cheers again on the battery life
2:29 PM: MG take a flight to tokyo, use it on one charge
2:29 PM: MG and a month of standby life
2:30 PM: MG environmentally, the ipad is a great citizen
2:30 PM: MG aluminum and glass enclosure is recyclable
2:30 PM: MG third-party apps – here’s scott forstall, svp of iphone software
2:31 PM: MG app store has been a HUGE success in just a year and a half. 3 billion apps. 140,000 apps in the store. we built the iPad to run virtually EVERY app unmodified out of the box
2:31 PM: MG we can run them blackboxed in the middle of the screen OR pixel double to run full screen
2:32 PM: MG forstall showing facebook app running on iPad – there’s a 2x button that will scale the application to fullscreen
2:32 PM: MG here’s a game – X Games Snocross, built for iPhone but works great on iPad
2:33 PM: MG OpenGL graphics game, and it really drives on this hardware. steer with accelerometer
2:34 PM: MG right out of the app store – unmodified – big applause
2:34 PM: MG when you buy your iPad, hook it up to iTunes and your current apps transfer over
2:34 PM: MG if developers spend some time modifying their apps, they can really take advantage of this new display
2:35 PM: MG we’ve enhanced the iPhone SDK – released today
2:35 PM: MG this now supports iPad and iPhone
2:35 PM: MG devs go to apple.com today to get it
2:35 PM: MG it includes an iPad simulator
2:35 PM: MG run your apps on your Mac as you develop them
2:35 PM: MG every iPad comes with the App Store loaded on it – great distribution channel
2:36 PM: MG we’re going to highlight apps developed just for the iPad
2:36 PM: MG 2 weeks ago we invited a few devs to apple to get a sneak peek – here are a few
2:36 PM: MG Gameloft is one of them.
2:37 PM: MG gameloft showing off Nova on iPad, reworked just for it
2:39 PM: MG
2:39 PM: MG new multi-touch gestures for this game. to throw a grenade swipe across the screen for example
2:39 PM: MG game looks pretty great and built in just a few days
2:39 PM: MG iPad version will ship later this year
2:40 PM: MG next up: The New York Times
2:40 PM: MG been publishing for more than 150 years. “the paper of record” Martin Nisenholtz on stage.
2:41 PM: MG why did we come out here to do this new app for the iPad? our iPhone app has been downloaded 3 million times. now we want to do it again
2:41 PM: MG we think we’ve captured the essence of reading a newspaper. the typography even.
2:42 PM: MG but “it’s so much more” you can sync articles to your iPhone to read them on the go.
2:42 PM: MG you can resize text with a pinch, scroll through slideshows
2:43 PM: MG “this is the next version of digital journalism”
2:43 PM: MG Brushes is up next. Popular iPhone painting app
2:43 PM: MG this is a one person shop. Steve Sprang on stage
2:44 PM: MG
2:45 PM: MG by pinching you can zoom in up to 32 times – brushes app
2:45 PM: MG looks pretty great
2:46 PM: MG next up EA
2:46 PM: MG Travis Boatman on stage. We wanted to check out the performance on this device. So we tried Need For Speed.
2:47 PM: MG all the great EA games are going to go from the App Store (to be optimized) for this device in no time
2:47 PM: MG building for the iPad is different. It’s like holding a HD screen inches from your face
2:48 PM: MG to go in the car, you just tap on the car
2:48 PM: MG it’s great having this much more screen real estate
2:49 PM: MG
2:49 PM: MG last up MLB.com – one of the most popular apps in the App Store
2:49 PM: MG we couldn’t just take our existing iPhone app and make it bigger, we needed a new experience
2:50 PM: MG you can tap on a pitch to see stats, tap on a player to see their stats. see video, etc
2:51 PM: MG
2:51 PM: MG forstall – this is much better than carrying a transistor radio to listen to games
2:52 PM: MG while we wait for apps, again we can run existing iPhone apps
2:52 PM: MG Steve Jobs back on stage
2:52 PM: MG again these guys only had 2 or 2.5 weeks to get this stuff out . it’s gonna be crazy
2:52 PM: MG kindle on screen (laughs)
2:53 PM: MG amazon has done a great job of pioneering this tech. we’re gonna stand on their shoulders and go farther
2:53 PM: MG iBooks – new ereader app
2:53 PM: MG it had a bookshelf, click on one to read it
2:53 PM: MG the new iBooks Store
2:53 PM: MG fully integrated with new iBooks app
2:53 PM: MG download them right to the iPad
2:53 PM: MG pages are off-white
2:54 PM: MG 5 of the largest publishers in the world are supporting us with all their books
2:54 PM: MG and we want everyone in there
2:54 PM: MG demo time
2:54 PM: MG iTunes or the App Store is very similar to iBook Store. look at best sellers. NYT, etc
2:55 PM: MG First book shown is $14.99 – ted kennedy book
2:55 PM: MG tap to buy just like App Store/iTunes
2:55 PM: MG very fast download
2:55 PM: MG “it’s just so simple”
2:55 PM: MG now just tap on the book to read it
2:55 PM: MG tap on the right to flip forward – left to flip back
2:56 PM: MG drag it slowly to preview the next page (page curls – nice graphic)
2:56 PM: MG pick a chapter really easily
2:56 PM: MG you can have pictures, video, whatever the author wants
2:57 PM: MG change font size easily – even the font
2:57 PM: MG we use the ePub format – most popular open book format in the world
2:58 PM: MG we are very excited about text books as well
2:58 PM: MG now something very exciting – iWork
2:58 PM: MG a year ago i asked our iWork team to make a version for the iPad
2:58 PM: MG we needed a new UI and the power – both we solved
2:59 PM: MG here’s phil schiller to talk about it
2:59 PM: MG
2:59 PM: MG here’s a better pic
2:59 PM: MG
3:00 PM: MG completely new version of keynote made for the iPad
3:00 PM: MG and a new version of pages “the most beautiful word processor you will ever see”
3:00 PM: MG and a new version of numbers spreadsheet
3:00 PM: MG schiller now doing a demo of iWork apps
3:01 PM: MG
3:05 PM: MG schiller now showing off new version of Pages for iPad
3:05 PM: MG
3:05 PM: MG sorry, that pic was of keynote obviously| (upload error)
3:06 PM: MG you can drag text around really easily in pages. double tap to change the formatting
3:06 PM: MG finally here’s Numbers
3:07 PM: MG this stuff all looks great but is rather boring. we still dont know about text input
3:08 PM: MG default keyboard in Numbers is for data entry (advantage of soft keyboard)
3:10 PM: MG What are we gonna charge for iWork? $9.99 each
3:11 PM: MG to be clear – each app is $9.99
3:11 PM: MG Pages, Numbers, Keynote
3:11 PM: MG easily connect to projectors
3:11 PM: MG Jobs back on stage “isn’t it great”
3:11 PM: MG a few other things
3:11 PM: MG let’s talk about iTunes
3:12 PM: MG iPad syncs over USB through iTunes, just like iPhone or iPod touch
3:12 PM: MG You can sync everything – photos, music, movies, tv shows, contacts, apps, etc
3:12 PM: MG every iPad has WiFi
3:12 PM: MG but we also have ones with 3G
3:13 PM: MG so different models
3:13 PM: MG what does that cost? in the U.S. it’s usually $60 for a dataplan for a laptop – but we have a breakthrough
3:13 PM: MG two awesome plans – 250MB data for $14.99
3:13 PM: MG “most people will get by on that”
3:13 PM: MG or Unlimited for$29.99
3:13 PM: MG “breakthrough prices”
3:14 PM: MG Breakthrough deal with AT&T that is providing this service
3:14 PM: MG and they’re throwing in free use of WiFi hotspots – more than anyone
3:15 PM: MG So how do you activate? Do it right on the iPad itself – and NO CONTRACT
3:15 PM: MG big applause
3:15 PM: MG cancel anytime you want
3:15 PM: MG What about internationally? They should be in place by June
3:15 PM: MG we’re gonna start on that tomorrow
3:15 PM: MG but all iPad 3G models are UNLOCKED
3:16 PM: MG and new GSM micro SIMS
3:16 PM: MG so they could just work overseas
3:16 PM: MG “it’s phenomenal to hold the Internet in your hand”
3:17 PM: MG again runs almost all 140,000 apps (they won’t say which ones dont)
3:17 PM: MG so what’s the price?
3:18 PM: MG well if you listen to the pundits we’re going to price it under $1,000 – code for $999…
3:18 PM: MG but when we set out we had ambitious goals. also with the price
3:18 PM: MG we want to put this in the hands of lots of people
3:18 PM: MG we met our cost goals
3:18 PM: MG I am thrilled to announce to you that iPad will start at $499
3:18 PM: MG huge
3:19 PM: parislemon holy shit. iPad $499
3:19 PM: MG “a lot of people can afford an iPad”
3:19 PM: MG 16 GB version is $499 with WiFi
3:19 PM: MG 32 GB is $599 – 64 GB is $699
3:19 PM: MG but with 3G it’s more
3:19 PM: MG $130 more
3:20 PM: MG most expensive $829 – that’s 64GB plus 3G
3:20 PM: MG shipping in 60 days
3:20 PM: MG worldwide availability for Wifi models
3:20 PM: MG in 90 days will be the 3G models
3:20 PM: MG (dealing with carriers)
3:20 PM: MG there is a dock
3:21 PM: MG and a KEYBOARD DOCK
3:21 PM: MG full size mechanical keyboard
3:21 PM: MG if you have to write War & Peace, just plug this in
3:21 PM: MG and a protective case
3:22 PM: MG video demo time
3:22 PM: MG jony ive talking about iPad
3:22 PM: MG now schiller talking about it (on video)
3:24 PM: MG
3:24 PM: MG forstall on iPad “you just do”
3:25 PM: MG soft keyboard is practically the same size as a regular keyboard
3:25 PM: MG (when in landscape mode)
3:27 PM: MG “this multi-touch is the largest we’ve ever built into a product” – well over 1,000 sensors
3:27 PM: MG backlighting system is LED
3:28 PM: MG beyond that we use IPS
3:29 PM: parislemon Any doubt still that Apple planted that “around $1,000” price?
3:30 PM: MG steve back on stage
3:30 PM: MG “we think we’ve done it” “we’re so excited with this product”
3:31 PM: MG we’ve shipped over 75 million iPod Touches and iPhones, so they know how to use this
3:31 PM: MG we have over 125 million accounts enabled for one-click shopping in our stores (iTunes, App Store, iBooks)
3:31 PM: MG we are at scale and ready for the iPad
3:32 PM: MG “our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price”
3:32 PM: MG “we’ve always tried to be at the intersection of technology and liberal arts”
3:33 PM: MG we’ve got a hands on area
3:33 PM: MG “you’ll never want to go back”
3:34 PM: MG event over
3:35 PM: MG
5:34 PM: parislemon Video: The iPad In Action bit.ly
6:04 PM: parislemon Think iBooks Looks Familiar? You’re Not The Only One. bit.ly
6:41 PM: parislemon Pictures: The iPad Being Manhandled bit.ly
9:32 PM: parislemon OH: the oyster is not so much the important part, it is the pearl within
9:47 PM: parislemon note my bolded part from a post back in september. bit.ly
11:16 PM: parislemon The iPad Is Like Holding The Future. But Only Because I Graduated From iPhone School. bit.ly