Personal hands on with Aussie iPad thanks to Ch 9's A Current Affair - now with video

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Thursday, 08 April 2010 15:59

Your IT - Home IT

Updated: Now with video - Channel 9's A Current Affair has managed to get an Apple iPad into Australia and took the bold move of showing hundreds of Sydneysiders right in front of Apple's CDB store yesterday, causing huge excitement over Apple's latest and greatest which will be on air from 6.30pm tonight, with ACA inviting me to give some raw and ready iFeedback!

Apple's iPad has hit Australia through unofficial channels and I managed to have a good hour's play with the iDevice today thanks to Channel 9 and A Current Affair - and while I've clearly only had a chance to have the equivalent of a 'first look', the iPad is even better and more amazing than I expected!

Update: The video of A Current Affair's iPad Mania story is now available! The rest of the story and further explanation of my experiences is below which goes beyond what you see on the clip.

With the local iPad launch still three or more weeks away, depending on what 'late April' really means, the opportunity to see, touch and play with the long awaited iPad was something I definitely couldn't pass up or resist - and what fun it has been!

When the iPad does launch in Australia, we'll have both the Wi-Fi only, and the Wi-Fi/3G/GPS versions available, but for now, worldwide, the Wi-Fi version is it, which is the one I played with earlier today, and even though the 3G version is yet to be launched, the Wi-Fi iPad has already been selling like hotcakes.

Despite predictions that 700,000 iPads would sell on day one, Apple has announced that while over 300,000 were actually sold, but figures of pre-orders for the 3G version weren't included, so Apple's clever game of keeping everyone guessing continues - and with several more countries launching by the end of the month, the announcement of 1 million units sold globally, let alone locally in the US itself, can't be too far off

Some Australians have already made the trip to the US to bring iPads to Australia, with Anthony Agius from the MacTalk forum now famous for appearing on news programs in the US talking up his iPad purchases - and for bringing 18 or 19 back to Australia for himself and friends.

But even so, Australian iPads would have to be fairly thin on the ground right now, but Channel 9 managed to get one shipped urgently from the US - and they took it straight to Apple's flagship Sydney CBD store on the corners of King and George Sts in the city, immediately drawing crowds of hundreds of interested onlookers wanting to see the iPad in action!

We'll all get to see the reactions on the program tonight, but some were so impressed they walked into the Apple store to try and buy one on the spot, only to discover they're not coming until the end of the month.

So, what did I think after first doing the ACA interview, where I was filmed live looking at the iPad for the very first time, and taking around an hour to play with the iPad after that?

What was typing on the keyboard like, what was the screen like, what as the iPad like after all the hype?!?

To read my thoughts on my actual Australian iPad hands-on, please read on to page two, with photos on page three!