By now you’ve probably heard about the new iPad from Apple. If not, it’s basically a really large iPhone but without the phone calling abilities. To be fair, I do know it has more memory and does more than the iPhone in terms of tasks normally suited to a laptop, but if you ask me, I’m not quite sure how different the iPad is from say the Macbook Air, which yes, is almost as thin as air. Apple CEO and iPad mastermind, Steve Jobs, puts it this way. “It is so much more intimate than a laptop and so much more capable than a smart phone”. (I love how Jobs said “smartphone” & not just iPhone, what with all the smartphone’s on the market these days. Take that Android!).

Oh wait, I almost forgot the most important thing of all – Money. iPad starts at $499, as opposed to the Macbook Air selling for about three times the price. iPhone goes for about the same price, but that’s not counting the ongoing data usage costs vacuumed up by AT&T. Then again, there’s a 3G version of the iPad ready to go as well, which starts off at $629 for the base 16GB iPad, $729 for the 32GB and $829 for the 64GB model. The Wi-Fi only model starts off at $499 and has 16GB of Flash storage. The 32GB device costs $599 and 64GB iPad comes in at $699.

So yes, the iPad definitely has an affordability factor. The question I pose now is whether or not the iPad is suited for online gambling. It certainly will be interesting to see if it catches on with the online gambling community. My guess is that online casinos will be having iPad sweepstakes within the year. By the way, although the iPad has officially debuted, Wi-Fi models won’t begin shipping until late March and 3G devices in April.

Apple is thus far marketing the iPad for its compatibility with eBooks (no doubt promoting the iBook App. Take that Kindle Reader!), personal organization tools, browsing the Web, browsing maps, sending email, uploading/sharing photos (even suggesting to use the iPad as a digital photo frame when it’s docked and charging), and of course, it’s syncopation with iTunes and YouTube. And with up to 64GB of Flash storage a 1GHz processor, iPad is definitely capable of handling more than a few online casino downloads, although I would think no-download Flash casinos will prove more popular on the iPad. FYI, a standard online casino download needs a minimum of 25MB of hard drive storage and a 333MHz processor.

Since we’re talking about Apple here, the user-friendly factor goes without saying. The iPad has well over 1,000 touch screen sensors, and according to Apple, an operating system that quite often knows what you want to do before you know yourself. Apple’s Senior VP of Hardware, Bob Mansfield, said in a promotional video, “This is the most advanced piece of technology I’ve worked on”, giving particular credit to the iPad’s custom-built silicon processor, A4, which is said to offer unparalleled performance and efficiency – one manifestation of which is a 10 hour battery life. Other specs for the iPad include a 9.7 inch display, LED back-lit IPS screen and 1024 x 768 pixel resolution.

If you couldn’t tell at the beginning of this post, I was a little skeptical about the iPad, and I suppose until I get one in my hands, I will remain that way. However, the more research I did, the more secrets of iPad were mysteriously revealed. I mean, really, I shouldn’t be surprised. Isn’t that Apple’s way? You know, abstain from telling you everything the iPad can do so that you will be even more wowed when you discover it for yourself firsthand. One of my foremost concerns up until I started writing this post was that the iPad could only be used by holding it one hand, thus making it impossible to type with two hands. Just about every picture you see on their website and in the promo video is of someone holding it with one hand, and when it’s not, the person is using their legs to prop it at a good angle for typing (see the pics in this post). Even though the 1/2 inch thin iPad has a 178 degree viewing angle (meaning you can see what’s taking place with your head practically on on the floor. I would think this would be a hindrance to someone trying to use the keypad touch-screen for traditional typing.

Now, I know there’s some good thumb texters out there, but you would have to be Boss Hog himself in order to cover the entire keypad with your thumbs. Perhaps that’s why Apple incorporated built-in Bluetooth wireless technology in the iPad (2.1+EDR) so that you can sync it up with Apple’s wireless keyboard. And just when I thought I had come up with a brilliant invention on my own – a kickstand to prop the iPad up at the perfect angle – I noticed a picture of the iPad case, which can be purchased for an additional price (how Apple of them), showing how it folds over itself to create such a kind of kickstand. See, I told you Apple thinks of everything.

In summary, hell yes I think the iPad has a place in the world of online casino gambling. Heck, it may even cause a dent in mobile gaming revenues this year. The portability, the touchscreen action, the screen resolution and vividness, battery life and internal memory make the iPad the perfect online gambling device for on the go. The only question I want to know is how fast will it catch on.

Tags: flash casinos, ipad, mobile online gambling, no download online gambling, sweepstakes

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 4th, 2010 at 11:27 pm and is filed under News, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.