iPad stands out as way to interact with content

Apple's new iPad may look like an oversized iPhone or iPod. Yet the experience of using the iPad turns out to be surprisingly different - its larger screen, speed and other features give it a unique feel. You are interacting directly with your content without the need to constantly zoom or resize, as you must on a smart phone - and without the mouse or other pointing device you'd use on a desktop computer or laptop.

FIRST IMPRESSION

People may have to learn a new way of relating to a computer, almost like learning a new language. Luckily for them, though, Apple has made the new language both elegant and very easy to master.

The device is physically beautiful - a smooth slab, a bit smaller than a standard piece of paper, half-an-inch thick with a slightly convex back and weighing a pound and a half. The battery is sealed, as on the iPhone and iPod. While Apple claims a battery life of 10 hours, early tests suggest it may even go longer between charges.

THE SCREEN

The 9.7-inch-diagonal backlit screen is great for watching high-definition videos, playing games or reading, at least in normal conditions. The screen is something of a fingerprint magnet, though; keep a good cleaning cloth handy. The iPad's screen size makes Web surfing a nice experience, except for one thing: Like the iPhone and iPod Touch, the iPad doesn't support Adobe's widely used Flash animation software, meaning that video clips on thousands of sites won't play.

THE APPS

Your existing iPhone and iPod Touch apps will run at their normal size in the center of the iPad screen. You can also blow them up to take advantage of the extra real estate, in which case they may look a bit funky but seem to work fine. The really fun stuff, though, will be the apps specifically rewritten for the iPad. Apple expects to have about 1,000 of them in the App Store, and some that were made available before release are gorgeous.

Two examples: Firemint's RealRacing HD has you gripping the iPad like a steering wheel, taking advantage of the built-in accelerometer to roar down the speedway. Conde Nast Digital's Epicurious, an interactive cookbook, is a foodie's delight.

OUT NOW, AND LATER

The iPads start at $499 for a unit with 16 gigabytes of solid-state storage, and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity; 32- and 64-gigabyte models are $100 and $200 more, respectively.

Later this month, comparable models will go on sale that also connect to AT&T's 3G network. That feature will add another $130 to the price, plus an AT&T data plan at either $15 or $30 a month, depending on usage.

BUT ...

There are good reasons to be skeptical about the iPad's potential as a device for productivity. Unlike a Microsoft Windows PC or Mac, it doesn't run multiple applications at the same time. Storage is limited, and carrying the add-on keyboard might be a pain. With no camera, at least in version one, the iPad won't be handling videoconferences over Skype.