Apple iPad

In the movie Minority Report, Tom Cruise uses multi-touch technology to shuffle through video clips of psychic premonitions on a large screen computer interface. That scenario was set in 2054, a good forty years into the future. But the with recent launch of the iPad, the movie just might become a reality in the not so distant future, say, 10 years from now, considering how technology seems to be moving by leaps and bounds.

Apple’s iPhone has already made multi-touch available to the masses, albeit on a small scale. But a tablet that allows you to flip through movies, tv shows, and accessing the net, while lounging on the couch?  Amazing.
 
How cool is the ipad? For one, the 9.7 inch screen allows you to see web pages as they were meant to be seen — one page at a time. The orientation shifts from landscape to portrait depending on how you flip the tablet as you move your finger up and down the screen or pinch to zoom in and out. No matter which orientation you use, you can scroll through your mail, compose a new email using the large, onscreen keyboard, or delete messages with nothing more than a tap and a flick.You can also save the photos in an email directly to the built-in Photos app.

Weighing at a mere 1.5 pounds, the half-inch thick iPad comes with 10 hours of battery life,  16,32 or 64 gigabytes of flash memory storage and built-in WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity. It works with all the most popular email providers, including MobileMe, Yahoo! Mail, Gmail, Hotmail and AOL.

Although there have been mixed reviews even before the product (initially priced at  at 499USD) is set to be made available in March, you can’t fault Apple for going the extra mile when it comes to coming up with innovative products (ipod, iphone and Macbooks).