Apple's $499 iPad you want it but do you need it? (1)

Technology showman Jobs claims that the iPad bridges the gap between smartphones and laptops, creating a new category of devices that is "more intimate than a laptop, more capable than a smartphone." But, blurbs aside, is it something that we really need?

The answer to that lies in what the iPad has to offer.

The iPad, which weighs 1.5lbs (0.7kg) and is only 0.5-inch (1.25cm) thick, comes with bells and whistles such as 1GHz Apple A4 chip (Jobs demonstrated how flawlessly the device could handle YouTube, Google Maps, and even play Disney's Pixars animated film Up and some impressive-looking 3D racing and sports games), a speaker, microphone, accelerometer sensor, digital compass, Bluetooth, 3G support and WiFi connectivity.

The iPad comes with three choices of flash memory - 16GB, 32B and 64GB - and offers 3G connectivity option as well.

The iPad, which boasts of a battery life of up to 10 hours (or a month on standby),

can also be used as an e-reader (Jobs showed off how easily the device can handle digital magazines and newspapers) and Apple has already inked a deal with publishers including Penguin, Macmillan and Harper Collins to allow e-books to be downloaded directly to the device through a new iBook Store. "You can download right onto your iPad," Jobs said.

The iPad will also be able to run many of the applications currently available in Apple App Store and it has built-in iTunes software that will allow users to purchase and download music and movies from Apple's iTunes store.

Other features include a 9.7-inch multitouch display, allowing people to type directly on to the screen, as well as manipulate pictures and control the action in games with their fingers and a special dock for plugging in a traditional physical keyboard.

Sounds good. But do you really need the iPad. To answer that we need to look at its flaws first. To continue, click   here  .