Early this morning Apple chief executive Steve Jobs finally announced the company’s worst-kept secret – a tablet device called the iPad.
The device features everything analysts could have hoped for, including the ability to use iPhone apps, a new range of dedicated iPad apps such as the iWorks office suite, a new iBooks store and a constant 3G connection.
But while the iPad is being praised as a cool gadget for consumers – and it is – what this device really represents is a new distribution model for a number of industries, and potentially a very important one.
Media publishers, app developers and entertainment providers now have a new device through which to release new content, free from the size and hardware limitations of the iPhone and iPod Touch.
The iPad isn’t just an over-sized iPod Touch, as some commentators have been describing. It is an entirely new platform through which businesses can gain new customers and add to their bottom line.
The lure of the iPad for developers is obvious – a bigger screen, a faster processor and more interesting ways to create features for games and apps.
Little wonder then that Australian app development house Firemint announced within hours of the iPad launch that it is already working on an iPad version of its top-selling iPhone game, Flight Control.
The iPad can already accommodate the App Store’s 140,000 apps, but the new software development kit allows developers to blow these apps into full screen and create faster, more powerful features.
Of course, one of the biggest draw cards here are the gaming capabilities. The iPhone and iPod Touch turned into gaming devices by accident, but now they are among the most popular apps available.
Apple knows this, and this morning a host of gaming developers, including major publisher Electronic Arts, showed off how the iPad could work with full-screen games at 1024×768 resolution.
Community manager for Australian games developer Firemint, Alexandra Peters, says the new gadget is “very exciting” and the company is already looking at developing apps for the device, including a new version of its popular Flight Control game.
Peters also said the iPad opens up a whole new distribution arm for the company, and targets an entirely new audience.
“I think this device is going to open up a whole new way for us to reach people. The iPod Touch in particular was for the music audience, and the iPad is very much geared towards the web-browsing and eBook reading audience. We are very excited about it all.”
Chief executive of development studio Bjango, Marc Edwards, says the addition of a larger screen will dramatically change how apps are designed and used.
“This is going to change the way a lot of apps can look and function, and there’s a lot more you can do now. You can show a whole lot more. While on the iPhone everything is split into screens and pages, you have to be conscious of work-flow, now you can just show everything on the one screen without worrying about it.”
The eReader market has been trying for years to bring newspapers and other print publications into the digital age, and on some levels they’ve done quite well. The Amazon Kindle is a popular device, at least in the United States where it has sold millions, and many publications have sold issues and subscriptions through the gadget.
But the iPad is attempting to undercut those offerings by giving more. Not only does the device work as an eReader, but it can also offer a suite of other functionalities and apps at the same time.
The in-built iBookstore is a direct attack on the Kindle, with Jobs even referencing the rival device in his keynote.
And while slightly cheaper prices for books are an advantage, they are not as important as the fact the iBookstore integrates with other iTunes and App Store accounts – all 125 million of them. There is an entirely new platform available for book publishers, and it’s no surprise that Apple has already announced deals with five major publishing houses – Penguin, Macmillan, HarperCollins, Hachett and Simon & Schuster.
The eReader market has been growing for some time, but just as the power of the iTunes Store helped push music labels into the digital age, the iBookstore could do the same for the publishing industry.
The tablet market has been hot for the past year, with companies including Hewlett Packard, Asus and LG releasing devices of their own. The Consumer Electronics Show earlier this month saw dozens of similar devices being released to the public – so what makes the iPad stand out?
The main difference here is experience. Consumers may not have used the iPad, but they know Apple, iTunes and the iPod.
Millions of users are already familiar with the iPod and iPhone touch-screen mechanisms, download music and apps through the iTunes Store and are comfortable with the company’s hardware.
The iPad has nearly a decade of digital infrastructure and a good reputation behind the company to put it ahead of the rest of the tablet market. All a new user has to do is hook it up to their computer, download their existing media files and away they go.
But the bigger question is whether businesses and executives will get on board. The iPhone has already succeeded in that regard but a slightly more complicated tablet could be where the line is drawn.
While Apple suggests the iPad is bridging the gap between high-end smartphones and laptops, the fact is many users are going to see this as a replacement for netbooks.
It’s easy to imagine a consumer carrying a tablet around, but whether an executive will use the iPad to write emails, send documents and read reports will be a big challenge for Apple.
It’s obvious the company is trying to cash in on this market, with Jobs showing off some accessories for the iPad including a dock which holds the screen in place and an accompanying keyboard.
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
