the small things make all the difference

Basically the iPhone with a bigger face and an expandable keyboard... Apple's latest creation has caught the fancy of advertisers, marketers, bankers, investors and all of them! But, how new or spectacular a product is it actually? Netbooks were stripped down versions of laptops, and this Apple tablet attempts to be a further stripped down version of the netbook. Well, Apple introduced the revolutionary gesture recognition with the launch of the iPhone, and since then - there has been ennumorous gadgets trying to emulate the characteristics of the iPhone. Touch based electronics caught our fancy, and almost everything including robots are now getting touchy and feely. But, is it not Microsoft who first came up with surface computing? iPad is a mixture of Apple's multi-touch technology plus Microsoft's surface technology, that the software giant unvieled almost three years ago. Picture a surface that can recognise physical objects — from a paintbrush to a cell-phone — and allows finger control to content such as photos, multimedia and maps. You guessed it right. The sad part was that the gadget never really hit the markets. Apple's advancements now seem to have predominantly cropped from its competitors. Apple's biggest advancements have been with smartphones, and Jobs was smart enough to integrate its different lines of products. Just like McKinsey says, most people don't use advanced gadgets with complex features, so, there's no point cramming features, right? But. what happens when you have three great products which you put together to make one and also maintain its portability quotient? That's exactly what Apple has done with the iPad. Apple has added a slew of unique features to the iPad. In addition to running all the applications available for iPhone, it has a whole new "iBooks" store for browsing and building a book library. Kindle's days are numbered? Apple's iWork suite has also been brought to the iPad, offering full integration with the iPad's photo features, and a new set of interfaces to make working with multitouch more intuitive and appealing.. can't say more without laying my hands on the Apple's small wonder!