Five Excellent iPad Features

Submitted by lalit on May 31, 2010 - 10:42am.

Two weeks back we posted an article about five important missing features on iPad, but sales of iPad clearly indicate that Apple has done something right, which other tablet makers weren’t able to figure out before. Yes, Apple has iTunes, large iPods install base and marketing charisma. However, we think the five features that made the iPad such a huge success are as follows:

  • Long Battery Life: Tablets before iPad use to have 2-3 hours battery life making them almost impossible to use, the way they were designed to be used, as an on-the-go computing device. Many reviewers have pointed out iPad actually exceeds Apple’s 10-hour battery life claim. Walt Mossberg wrote in his review “The iPad lasted 11 hours and 28 minutes, about 15% more than Apple claimed.” This makes the iPad an excellent mobile computing device with a day’s worth of battery life.
  • Awesome LCD Screen: Once you have seen the 9.7-inch iPad display in action, you would never like displays on any netbooks or even midrange notebooks available today. Apple has used IPS LCD panel with LED backlighting, which not only gives wider viewing angle but also excellent color reproduction. This makes photos and movies vivid to watch and text crisp for reading.
  • App Store: iPad can run over 200,000 iPhone applications available on App Store, but check out the applications designed specifically for the iPad. Applications like The Elements and Wired Magazine show the true potential iPad has and the kind of experience a bigger touchscreen can offer. This is the first time such an excellent application ecosystem has been created for a tablet giving users a compelling reason to buy the iPad.
  • Excellent iPhone OS Adoption: Apple didn’t simply use the iPhone OS on iPad, the core of the OS is same, but then iPhone OS core is similar to Mac OS X, which doesn’t mean both the OSes are same. Apple tweaked the original iPhone OS for a bigger screen, which is highlighted in all the core applications like Mail, Calendar, Photos and iPod. That is also the reason why iPhone OS 4.0 for iPad will ship in fall and not in June, as it will for iPhone and iPod touch. The updated UI uses the bigger screen real estate to perfection, for example, stack and pinch features in Photo application.
  • Price: Even though the additional $130 for 3G and GPS is on the higher side, the starting price of $499 for 16GB WiFi model is perfect for average Apple consumer. Analysts expected Apple to price the iPad at about $1,000, but as always they were wrong. The $499 starting price makes the iPad a viable option for anyone planning to buy an e-Reader like Kindle DX ($489) or well-featured netbook. iPad offers many more features when compared to Kindle DX and easy of use when compared to netbooks.

The success of iPad has proved what an excellent device Apple has made. And when Apple adds the missing features that we mentioned in our previous article like webcam, wireless syncing and multitasking to the iPad. It will definitely increase the appeal of the device further, making it a must have gadget for consumers.